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Brian Lara  current highest scorer in test cricket... ever
TRINIDAD BORN AND RAISED

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                                                     WHAT AM I SAYING??

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                                                     WHAT AM I SAYING??

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Essentially the plural society theory stipulates that plural societies like mine would have major groups that exist together but do not mix. For quite long due to the religious practices and cultural practices of endogamous marriage this was true but with the prolonged exposure to one another these groups have created small links not to mention the fact that prejudice is on the decline in the more educated sectors in Trinidad we see different elements of our culture that bring all groups together, what we see is the creation and exponential increase of

THE TIES THAT BIND

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REFLECTION

Coming out of C.A.P.E I always dreaded this course and now at the end of this 10 week long road, I know I am going to miss the conversations in tutorial classes, the informative lectures and the effortless nature to which I could partake in class discussions without fear of judgement or backlash. I am a big advocate for Caribbean identity, I feel like this course is vital to becoming a meaningful member of Caribbean society. Personally the largest issue was the online nature of the course, yes I appreciate the whole course unification in that I could be doing the same work as my friends in Mona and cave hill, I feel like the best course of action is to keep traditional face to face lectures until the technology is up to a higher standard, honestly the infernal nature of blackboard collaborate alone was enough to make some students never listen to any of the lectures (their loss). While a lot of the course work was just in depth explanations of what was touched upon in the C.A.P.E syllabus, the knowledge of Neo-Indians, Pre-Atlantic slave trade African presence in the Americas and even the female element of slave management, these themes will stay with me indefinitely as I pursue my higher education. Coming to the end of this course I identify even more strongly with my country and with my region and I wish all my friends who went abroad to study could have benefited from this vital course.

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the west indies cricket team brings the Caribbean together for when we compete on an international level and when T 20 starts (the intra-regional competition ) we see people forgetting all factors that divide them, we become one for the course of he competition.

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                                                                SPORT

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                                                                SPORT

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Within the Caribbean we have an appreciation for sports similar to many other regions, significantly subdued but still existent. One sport that brings Trinidadians and  more so west Indians together is cricket.

as defined and explained by Topend sports Cricket involves two teams with 11 players on each side. The captain who wins the toss decides whether his team bats or bowls first. If they bat first , their aim is to score a lot of runs and make sure the other team does not reach that score.
Cricket was invented in the vast fields of England, supposedly by shepherds who herded their flock. Later on this game was shown benevolence by aristocrats, and now has the stature of being England's national game. After a century now, cricket stands in the international arena, with a place of its own. cricket became very popular in the colonies especially India, Australia New Zealand and the West indies.

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                                CRICKET 

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                                CRICKET 

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Here we can see how Caribbean people appreciate the game of cricket

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If Trinidad were 100%a Plural Society then the extent to which the groups interact would be limited to basic greetings however through the culinary arts Trinidad attains a unique form of solidarity closer to mechanical solidarity over the expected organic solidarity of a Plural society. In this we see the culinary element of culture as a binding tie in Trinidadian society

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Trinidad's national instrument and one of the most modern instruments to date the steel pan has its place in unifying diverse groups in Trinidad as all identify and participate in the playing of steel pan

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in the carnival season we are privy to a myriad of diverse music, famously we hear our local artists with their newest soca songs, or chutney as contributed to the celebration by the into trinidadian community and most importantly steel band competitions or panorama

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One of the greatest shows on earth (subjective view of a Trini) carnival is a festival right before the Lenten season where large celebrations are had, people join bands and parade on the streets of the capital. This is usually celebrated in late February, in carnival we see the true unity of Trinidad. Many parties, or fetes are planned around this season

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Doubles, roti and pelau

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Within Trinidadian society there  are many diverse elements of our culture that promote divisions between groups, the way we dress, the way we speak who we pray to , just to name a few. This entire page is dedicated to the common ground, those elements which bring out our appreciation of each other

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due to our diverse ethnic groups we see many types of food in Trinidad, most of which is "creolized" to create a new unique taste that many Trinidadians can appreciate.

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Trinidadians love to boast on our "melting pot" while we have undercurrents of our segregationist practices. elements of our culture allow us to continue believing we are this melting pot of culture , some of these elements are; food, festivals, music and sports to name a few.

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Oddly enough , this term is used time and time again in daily conversations, however the true definition escapes us.  As defined by the Longman dictionary the beliefs, way of life, art, and customs that are shared and accepted by people in a particular society. Eloquently put by one of my sociology teachers culture is simply how we as humans dealt with problems we faced in our environment and we taught our children and they theirs and that solution became a cultural trait

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The majority of the Caribbean is considered to
have plural society. Plural society is a term coined by Caribbean sociologist M.G.Smith. what this means is that smith saw the Caribbean as a region where many diverse ethnic groups lived and interacted without mixing in any profound manner. this lack of mixing came from endogamous practices within much of the ethnic groups in the Caribbean.to better understand plural society just picture where two bodies of water meet the bodies interact but never mix. this lack of mixture is why we can see under tones of racial prejudice and in some instances racism within plural society. Unfortunately this is evident in Trinidadian society though our watch words are discipline tolerance and production we have far to go to that Utopian society.