The “slave gardens” (also known as “provision grounds”) were small plots of land on the estate offered to the enslaved by white planters as a means of encouraging their own self-subsistence ("Caribbean Civilisation Unit 4" 9). However, besides the obvious talking and socialising opportunities that these gardens certainly afforded the enslaved, they were, most importantly, crucial sites at which the enslaved could carry out resistance and revolt planning.

Now, if we move to the post-emancipation era, Calypso has been widely regarded a powerful vehicle through which the poor can fearlessly criticize the highest authorities, by its combined virtues of wit, humour and satire.

It allows ordinary people to openly lament on the prevailing state of affairs, as evidenced by Portrait of Trinidad where Mighty Sniper proclaims:

This also immediately warrants repaying a visit to King Austin’s classic Progress, where he insistently suggests:

Even very recently, Calypso has proven its ability to incite healthy national debate in Antigua, through this year’s song entitled Nastiness by Queen Ivena. The Prime Minister of this country has incessantly threatened to file a defamation suit against this accomplished calypsonian who, despite her brash style of delivery, is generally viewed as credible by the public. Here, we are served a reminder of how readily even today’s politicians would blatantly compromise a citizen’s rights to freedom of speech, simply in order to maintain a positive perception of themselves.

(Pictured below is both Queen Ivena and the Prime Minister of Antigua & Barbuda)

 

Even in Trinidad & Tobago, social media has also played a critical role in drawing attention to controversial issues. Such is evident in the case of UWI lecturer, Rhoda Bharath, who has presented evidence alleging that substantial misspending has taken place by hands of the President of Trinidad & Tobago. Her compelling revelations via her Facebook account have since prompted a police investigation into the spending affairs of the high-ranking public official.

 

Nonetheless, the focus of this entry is on the TV production, Parts Unknown, which showcased Trinidad. This episode was leaked on Facebook, 5 days before it was scheduled to be broadcast on CNN (click here) and thus, it signifies the power of social media's online community. A segment featured the Sabga-Aboud family, a member of which asserted that the Syrian community is the most powerful group in Trinidad, and that the middle class merely exists in order to provide a security between the most and least privileged in society (i.e., the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’). Consequently, Trinidadians strongly expressed their disapproval through social media (and even a protest). 

 

Considerable conceit can be derived and interpreted from the Sabga family’s comments. Not only do these sentiments exhibit a demeaning view of the middle and lower classes, but they also display ignorance of the role of white privilege in enabling the Syrian community’s rise to becoming the nation’s wealthiest ethnic group. Thus, as a result of the heavy criticism expressed, most notably via online media, Mario Sabga was promptly forced to issue a written apology.

Benedict Anderson defined the nation as “an imagined political community … imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each, lives the image of their communion” (6). How can we continue to have confidence in this image we hold of ourselves as citizens of a collective nation, especially if issues such as lack of transparency and due diligence are readily seen in approving applications for citizenship (by investment)? 

As a student of Actuarial Science, it is my hope that I can use the diverse skillset I acquire at the UWI to find creative ways to stimulate our economies through mathematical and statistical inquiry. I deeply believe that the objectivity that is inherent in quantitative study is particularly important in the 21^st century if we are to effectively tackle the corrupt politics and economic dependency that plague our region. However, it has been through this very course that I have been able to link the contemporary issues, with which our generation has been confronted, to our colonial history. 

Consequently, when this course asked us to carefully examine any story told about the Caribbean’s past we also had to take into consideration the perspective through which the story was told, namely those from Eurocentric sources. With this new understanding that “truth” is perspective-driven, I am now much more aware of the importance of questioning the motives of someone’s actions, particularly those that are supposedly intended to improve lives. Therefore, if I intend on effectively applying my UWI credential upon graduation, I must first have a solid understand of our historical situation before I lend my technical expertise to any developmental agenda.