The bottom line of these disputes is money, which in some ways can be perceived as simply a bid for wealth acquisition as they are purported to be playing for the highest bidder. But on the other hand there was a fight for equal rights by the players during the period of the development for West Indian cricket and today’s issues may be seen as a repeat of that past. 

To some these historical names represent memories but to others they simply represent oppression and commemoration of the atrocities these individuals may have committed. Nelson Mandela is a key South African freedom fighter who battled for social justice for African people however; King George had a direct influence on the Caribbean as his involvement in the development of Commonwealth is more a part of our historical past. Other place names such as Picton St., Lventille are influenced by a European but have not been changed. Lord Thomas Picton, was documented as being arrested and charged with excessive cruelty and subsequent execution of slaves; a book was published about the incident and is kept on display in our National Museum. Many can argue that this should be a part of our history that should be removed but again others would say that descendants must know what happened to their ancestors.

There are also claims that the change was politically motivated. It can be assumed that various elements of today’s society also influence the desire for change. Politicians may see changing the names of places as them making their mark on the history of the nation or as a way to stand in solidarity with a grouping whose interest is to be gained.  Our diverse community always calls to question the motives for solidarity and also influences the perspective from which history is told.

This cooperation seeks to develop economic integration, foreign policy coordination, human and social development and security. However, while these pillars may have had good intentions, they led to many Caribbean citizens to feel disheartened by it. While economic integration seemed like an ideal move for the Caribbean it created issues for sovereignty as States’ ability to run their own affairs were affected. The development of the single market single economy introduced the idea of one currency throughout the Caribbean. Some nations however, stood to lose economically from this if their national currency was already strong in foreign exchange markets eg. Barbados, while others like Jamaica would have stood to benefit from a united currency as theirs was much weaker. 

Single identity also brings about the thought of the people as one, which in the Caribbean’s case still has to take into consideration their variations in history, religion and ethnicity. But through CARICOM, xenophobic issues arose strongly contradicting the idea of singularity. From issues between Jamaica and Trinidad over port entry to the Dominican Republic and Haiti concerning its human rights issues, there is a break down in the desire for unity. These regional current affairs connect the historical theory of divide and conquer as throughout the European colonization and slavery but, it is up to each nation to allow itself to be either conquered or united. 

It was an interesting classroom experience as there was constant discussion with inputs of different perspectives from students’ native to other islands. For instance, when discussing the resistance of the enslaved people, a student from St. Lucia gave us his first hand experience of the Garifuna People and another student from Jamaica spoke about the Maroon community. I thoroughly enjoyed the classroom experience as our discussions were always very engaging and challenged the basic ideas that we all would have come to the University with.  

It was a challenge for me to come to class in the early stages of this term as I had already done this course a couple years ago for my first degree. However, I must say that this changed once I experienced the course with this year group and began to enjoy the manner in which the content was being imparted. I think that for future the course should continue to take a blended format providing students with face to face classes and the opportunity to interact with additional information through links, podcasts and websites. Nevertheless, I appreciate the effort that is taken to create awareness in all students that pass through the University of the West Indies of their region and the influence its history has on the lives of all its inhabitants.

     Nationalism. London: Verso. 1999.

Bagoo, Andre. “The King Is History.” Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, 20^th July 2014,

     http://newsday.co.tt/commentary/0,197915.html.

David Rudder. “Rally Rally Round the West Indies” Haiti, 1987, YouTube,

     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-MgkoLKMr0

Gollapudi, Nagraj. “Board and Players need to compromise- WICB President.”

     ESPNcricinfo: ESPN, 5^th April 2016,

     http://www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/content/story/995327.html. Accessed 5th July

     2017. 

Stevan Riley.“Fire in Babylon Movie 2010.” YouTube, uploaded by Char Rose, 21^st

     December 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fd3TzH21Yz8.