Eric Williams Memorial Collection newsletter

/^//Qn w0al
qL/atwa 096.",M OP

Newsletter

^d/c42 ^
ro^

December 2002

Eric Williams: His Scholarship, Work and Impact

The breadth of scholarly papers presented at the February
15-16, 2002 Conference, Eric Williams: His Scholarship, Work and
Impact, reinforced Williams' contributions in a manner that may
have exceeded all prior analyses. An estimated 1,000 participants
attended the host venue at New York City's Schomburg Center for
Research in Black Culture (affiliated with the New York Public
Library). This degree of support attests to the continued relevance
of Dr. Williams' life as a scholar, historian and statesman.
The range of nationalities represented by both scholars and
participants mirrored the diversity of the subject matter and the
interest it continues to elicit. Thirty-three academics from the US,
the Caribbean and China examined a variety of topics, while animated
and sometimes controversial audience discussion played a significant
role throughout.
The event afforded attendees the opportunity to glean a more
profound understanding of the multifaceted role Dr. Williams played
in West Indian and world history. It provided a comprehensive
exploration of its topic and brought to light issues that have left an
indelible imprint on the Caribbean and its peoples.
Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies, Rex
Nettleford, was the keynote speaker who introduced an overview of
Eric Williams, the man and his legacy. The President of the Republic
of Trinidad & Tobago, His Excellency A.N.R. Robinson, welcomed
guests via video-conferencing.
Of great interest to the audience was Chinese scholar Jiang
Shixue's (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) expose on the
relationship between Trinidad & Tobago and China since 1806. That
year, 339 Chinese immigrants sailed to Trinidad to work in the sugar
plantations. From these beginnings, China has paid significant
attention to the work of Dr. Williams: four of his books have been
translated into Chinese. Dr. Shixue stated that these have been
"helpful to Chinese scholars' research on slavery and the development
of capitalism."
I

Official First Day Cover Stamp

Trinidad &: Tobago
OFFICIAL FIRST DAY COVER
ONNOo ._. .NO..

IND EvNDENCE
Q"rd
rd September 200~

The University ofWoodford Square 1956

The Government of Trinidad & Tobago issued a set of four
stamps on September 23, 2002, in honour of the nation's 40th
anniversary of Independence and the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth II, Head of the Commonwealth. One of these
celebrates a yet unrivalled era of political enlightenment in Trinidad
& Tobago when massive crowds thronged Woodford Square (re-
named by Eric Williams) in the capital, Port of Spain. There, he
delivered his "university-type" lectures on themes ranging from
Aristotle to The Historical Background of Race Relations in the
Caribbean. This special issue stamp is reproduced from the original
acrylic painting by renowned local artist, Adrian Camps-Campins.
See Page 4...

In 1971, Trinidad & Tobago supported China's bid to regain
its UN seat and the two countries established diplomatic relations
in June 1974. Six months later, invited by Premier Zhou En Lai, Dr.
Williams visited China on the first of two trips. Three student
exchanges ensued, allowing Trinidad & Tobago nationals to pursue
linguistic studies there. In 1975, the two countries established formal
bi-lateral relations.
Several overseas observers attended the Conference: Kunihiko
Hama, a Japanese Ph.D. candidate in Latin American Studies at the
University of Tokyo; Professor Shin Yamamoto, Yokkaichi University,
Japan; and Benedicte Alliot, Universite de Paris, France.
An exhibit of memorabilia and photographs about Eric
Williams' life and achievements was on loan from the Eric Williams
Memorial Collection (EWMC) Museum for the duration of the
Conference. The EWMC resides at The University of the West Indies
(UWI), Trinidad & Tobago campus. Inaugurated by current US
Secretary of State, Colin Powell, in March 1998, it was named to
UNESCO's prestigious Memory of the World Register in 1999.

A UNESCO MEMORYOF PROJECT
THE WORLD

The Nation's Highest Honour,
The Trinity Cross

"I wish, and never have wished, no
honour, no tribute, no commendation, no
commemoration of any sort, no official or public
ceremonies when the time comes. I have asked
my daughter, who agrees with my decision, to
ensure compliance and plead for your goodwill
and your respect of what is a deeply personal
wish, aimed at nobody, critical of no policy."
Eric Williams
20h Annual PNM Convention, 1978

On August 31, 2002, Eric Williams was posthumously
awarded his country's highest honour, The Trinity Cross.

~dZC

I

P

^ 1SU8 /

Media Spotlight

FIU Eric E. Williams Memorial Lecture (Miami September):
* H-Net: H-Atlantic, H-Caribbean, H-Latin America;
Slavery websites academic discussion lists (August);
* Caribbean Contact
(Miami August/September/October);
* CaribSeek website online Caribbean magazine
(Curacao September);
* FIU's Book Report Newsletter, e-Newsletter, home page,
intra-university e-lists (September);
* South Florida Sun-Sentinel (September 20/22);
* The Sunday Herald (Jamaica September 15);
* The Daily Gleaner (Jamaica September 16);
* The Daily Observer (Jamaica September 16);
* The Miami Herald (Miami September 12/20);
* Caribbean American Commentary
(Miami September/October);
* Caribbean Today (Miami September/October);
* Trinidad & Tobago print media;
* Haitian website.

The University ofWoodford Square 1956 Stamp (September):
* Trinidad & Tobago print and broadcast media;
* Trinidad & Tobago Consulate Newsletter (New York October).

Caribbean Investment Profiles magazine (Barbados September).

Eric Williams Trinity Cross Award (August):
* Trinidad & Tobago print and broadcast media.

Director's Forum
In 2002, Trinidad & Tobago marked the 40th anniversary of its
Independence from Great Britain with 40 days of celebrations. The
Government Calendar ofEvents encouraged visits to the EWMC Museum
by members of the public. The inclusion of the Collection on the official
programme is testimony to the EWMC being part of the national
patrimony, as has long been recognized.
The EWMC Museum was also available to hundreds of aspiring
university entrants who toured the campus during its 'Open Days' for
high school students. A most touching experience occurred during one
particular visit a teenager was moved to tears.
The Collection continues to grow, thanks to further deposits
by Dr. Williams' daughter as well as his former associates. Scholars have
increasingly been donating books to the Collection. Thus, alongside Dr.
Williams' personal library of some 7,000 volumes, there is now a modest,
but current, library essentially focusing on West Indian history.
As we approach the fifth anniversary of the inauguration of the
EWMC, we remain confident of its future and committed to its further
development.
Dr. Margaret D. Rouse-Jones
Campus Librarian

Eric Williams Schomburg Conference, February 15-16, 2002:
* Caribbean Life (New York January);
* Immigrants Journal (New York January);
* Everybody's magazine (New York January);
* WLIB radio interviews (two, New York January);
* 1-92 FM radio interview (Trinidad & Tobago January);
* WHAT radio interview, nationally syndicated (Philadelphia January);
* The Nation (Barbados January);
* IRADAC website, City University of New York (January/February);
* WWRL radio interviews (New York January/February);
* WVCG radio (Miami January/February);
* Caribbean Contact (Miami January/March);
* New York Daily News Black History Month supplement (February);
* WBAI radio interview (New York February);
* New York Daily News, Caribbeat supplement (February);
* Carib News (New York February);
* Trinidad & Tobago print media (February);
* WEAA FM radio interview (Maryland February);
* Chronicle ofHigher Education website (February);
* WHUR FM radio interview (Maryland February);
* Amsterdam News (New York February 14/21);
* Schomburg Center website/Newsletter (February/September);
* Black Diaspora magazine (March);
* Trinidad & Tobago Consulate Newsletter (New York April);
* Caribbean Today (Miami June 2001).

The Elusive Eric Williams biography (anuary):
* Trinidad & Tobago print media;
* Caribbean Contact (Miami March);
* Trinidad & Tobago Review (May);
* Sunday Observer (Jamaica September 15);
* BWIA Caribbean Beat magazine (September 2001).

New Acquisitions

Professor Barbara Solow
Retired from both Boston and Harvard Universities,
Professor Solow organised the first Eric Williams Conference
in 1984, co-sponsored by the Rockefeller Conference and Study
Center in Bellagio, Italy. Her bequest of several books from
her private collection greatly enhances the EWMC. These focus
mainly on slavery and sugar plantations in the Americas.

Jean George
A retired public servant, Ms. George has generously
made available numerous speeches, press releases and newspaper
clippings relating to Eric Williams and to many other
government officials.

Andrew Newallo "Nello"Mitchell
The late former General Secretary of the People's
National Movement (PNM) the political party founded by
Williams Mr. Mitchell was at one time also its Public Relations
Officer. His memorabilia is invaluable for rounding out the
already substantial PNM documentation held by the EWMC.

I I

P

^ 1SU8 /

Eric Williams: His Scholarship, Work and Impact
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, February 15-16, 2002

Williams and the Making of the Caribbean
Chair: Linda Heywood, Howard University
* "Eric Williams, ca. 1943 Early Political Stirrings of a Scholar Activist"
Tony Martin, Wellesley College
* "Williams and the 1970 State of Emergency"
Colin Palmer, Princeton University
* "Eric Williams and the Chaguaramas Dispute, 1957-1960"
Cary Fraser, Pennsylvania State University
* "The Use of the Heliconia as a Political Symbol in the Caribbean"
Sandra Barnes, UWI, Trinidad & Tobago (slide presentation)
Eric Williams and Issues of Race, the State, and Political Ends
Chair: Carlton Wilson, North Carolina Central University
* "Eric Williams and the Ethnic, Racial, and Color Stratification of
the Caribbean"
William Darity, Universities of North Carolina (Chapel Hill)/Duke
"Williams, the State, and Economic Development"
Selwyn Ryan, UWI, Trinidad & Tobago
"What's America for the Goose is Britain for the Gander: Exploring the
Relationship between Eric Williams and C. L. R. James"
Grant Farred, Duke University
"Eric Williams: Protagonist or Antagonist of Caribbean Integration?"
Sharon Alexander-Gooding, UWI, Barbados
Eric Williams and National Policy
Chair: Winston James, Columbia University
* "Eric Williams and Public Sector Reform"
Roland Baptiste, UWI, Trinidad & Tobago
"Eric Williams and Tobago: Policies and Attitudes"
Learie Luke, South Carolina State University
"Eric Williams and the Labor Movement in Trinidad & Tobago, 1960-1980"
Jerome Teelucksingh, UWI, Trinidad & Tobago
Williams and Caribbean Integration
Chair: Saje Mathieu, Princeton University
* "We Integrate or We Perish: Forbes Burnham, Eric Williams and the
Regional Integration Movement"
Cecilia McAlmont, University of Guyana
"Williams and the Problem of Economic Autonomy in the Caribbean"
Gabraelle Lane, Independent Scholar
"Constructing West Indianness: Williams, Race, Regional Identity, and
the West Indies Federation"
Eric D. Duke, Michigan State University
Eric Williams, The Scholar
Chair: Colin Palmer, Princeton University
"The Nineteenth Century Origins of Capitalism and Slavery"
Demetrius Eudell, Wesleyan University
"Capitalism and Slavery Revisited"
Dale Tomich, State University of New York, Binghamton
"Williams, the Free Coloreds, and Abolition: A Reassessment"
Edward Cox, Rice University
"The Use and Abuse of Capitalism and Slavery"
Chris McCauley, University of California, Santa Barbara
Williams the Researcher and Theorist
Chair: Watson Jennison, University of Virginia
* "Williams, the Bibliophile and Scholar!"
Brinsley Samaroo, UWI, Trinidad & Tobago
"Williams: Publishing in the JournalofNegro History"
David Barry Gaspar, Duke University
"Trinidad & Tobago Intellectuals of International Stature: The Question
of Causation"
Winston James, Columbia University

L

Williams, Women, Scholarship and Political Change
Chair: Jeffrey Kerr-Ritchie, State University ofNew York, Binghamton
* "Eric Williams: The Social Construction of a Movement Intellectual"
Maurice St. Pierre, Morgan State University
* "The Black Woman in Williams' Capitalism and Slavery"
Hilary Beckles, UWI, Jamaica
* "Williams, Claudia Jones, and the Politics of Change"
Lydia Lindsey, North Carolina Central University
* "Williams and His Impact on Caribbean Historiography"
Selwyn Carrington, Howard University
Eric Williams and the Larger World of Scholarship
Chair: Selwyn Carrington, Howard University
* "Williams and the Chinese Optic"
Jiang Shixue, Institute of Latin American Studies, Beijing, China
* "The Function of History: Williams, Woodson, du Bois, and the
Counter-Narrative of History"
Derrick E. White, Ohio State University
* "The Portrait of Dr. Eric Williams in Earl
Lovelace's Salt"
George Ramos, UWI, Trinidad & Tobago '

Chinese versions of Eric Williams' books:
Capitalism and Slavery,
History of the People of Trinidad & Tobago,
From Columbus to Castro: The History of the
Caribbean, 1492- 1969,
Inward Hunger: The Education of a Prime Minister

Visitors of Note
2002
December Ryo Takagi, Ambassador, Japan
November Regla Diego, Pinillos, Cuba
Lucia Chen, Taiwan
Oryu Yoko, Japan
Patrick L. Mason, Florida State University
Alan Tomlinson, University of Brighton, UK
Miriam Hughston, Museum of Modern Art, New York
Mitchell Wolfson Jr., The Wolfsonian Museum, Miami, Florida
October Carmen Marquez Monte, Universidad Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
Arcesio Zapata Vinaso, Colombia
Selina Romero, Nicaragua
Javier Pinedo, Chile
Oscar Wingartz, Mexico
Alberto Rodriquez Carucci, Universidad de los Andes, Venezuela
Shirley Jackson, University of the District of Columbia
Marcia Roof, Howard University
Sandra John, UN Economic Commission Latin America/Caribbean
August J. Lorand Matory, Harvard University
Sebathu E Chiyapo, Botswana
July Dawn Taylor, University of California, Davis
Sir Trevor McDonald, ITN Broadcaster, UK
June Carmen Sanguinetti, University of Technology, Jamaica
Linda Rosa Lugo, University of Central Florida
March Azad Osman, Mauritius
February Dominique Aurelia, Universite des Antilles et de la Guyane, Martinique
January Ulrich Nitzschke, Ambassador, Germany
Johanna Dopson, Embassy of France
Maria Palacios, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina

2001
November

Luisa Vigo-Cepeda, University of Puerto Rico
John Aarons, National Library, Jamaica

Research Reports

P
LtL

o 8
% 1SU8

Accomplishment

October
Dr. Eric Williams' contributions as a scholar-
activist and historian and the high esteem in which
he was held by African America, formed the topic
of an unprecedented panel at the 2002 Convention
of the Association for the Study ofAfrican-American
Life and History (ASALH) in Orlando, Florida.
Dr. Learie Luke, South Carolina State University,
chaired the well-attended session on The Papers of
Eric Williams: Challenges and Opportunities for the
21st Century. Three other scholars participated:
Selwyn Carrington, Howard University; Tony
Martin, Wellesley College; and David Barry Gaspar,
Duke University. As at the Schomburg, audience
exchange was both lively and provocative.

Originally called the Association for the Study
ofNegro Life andHistory, the ASALH was founded
in 1915 by the distinguished American historian,
Carter G. Woodson. Dr. Woodson, Dean of
Howard University's College of Liberal Arts, was
also editor of its premier scholarly publication, The
Journal ofNegro History, in which Williams' essays
were frequently published.

September
Mr. Camps-Campins' The University of
Woodford Square 1956 is reproduced on greeting
cards complete with photographs and information
of historical importance relating to Eric Williams.
These, along with Limited Edition, signed and
numbered prints of the painting are available for
sale to benefit the EWMC. For orders, contact:
ewc.suilan@juno.com. Stamp and First Day Cover
orders, contact: TTPost, Philatelic Bureau,
National Mail Centre, P.O. Box 1, Piarco, Republic
of Trinidad & Tobago.

"Dr. Eric Williams started in a way which, to
my mind, is unique in the history of Caribbean
politics.... He turned .......the history of the
Caribbean into gossip."
George Lamming, novelist, Barbados
"As a distinguished historian ... there was no
better narrator who could take the theme to the
streets, create a university in a public square, and
turn the world upside down in an unprecedented
act of popular empowerment. Every citizen of the
new Nation-State became a student of history. The
tutor Prime Minister wrote the nationalist script
and starred in the production that was the making
of a nation."
Hilary Beckles
Principal and Pro-Vice Chancellor, UWI
Barbados
"He summoned an entire people to school
and taught so well and so imaginatively and with
such passion that the people were still electing him
25 years after he held his first class."
John Hearne, novelist, Jamaica

September
The Fourth Annual Florida International
University (FIU) Eric E. Williams Memorial Lecture
was held on September 20, 2002. The round-table
discussion, Women, Politics and the Caribbean,
featured (pictured left to right) former First Lady
of Jamaica, Mrs. Beverley Anderson-Manley;
Attorney General of Barbados/Minister of Home
Affairs, Hon. Mia Mottley; Deputy Prime Minister/
Minister of National Security of the Bahamas, Hon.
Cynthia Pratt; and Colin Palmer, Dodge Professor
of History, Princeton University, as moderator.

The Lecture, recognized appropriately by both
Miami City and County Mayors, other elected
officials, and endorsed by the Consuls General of
Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Bahamas and
Jamaica, attracted its best audience yet. More than
400 people were treated to a telling expose of the
Caribbean political "glass ceiling" its gender
specifics and the attempts being made to surmount
the problem. For the second consecutive year,
students from the University of Miami's

She University of Woodford Square 1956
Adrian Camps-Campins

"I have never seen or heard of any political
forum (in non-revolutionary periods) where
addresses of the level of Dr. Williams' speeches have
been consistently listened to by popular audiences...
for three, four, five hours at a time...."
C.L.R. James, Marxist intellectual
Trinidad & Tobago
The "University" of Woodford Square was "a
centre of free university education for the masses, of
political analysis and training in self-government, for
parallels of which we must go back to the city-state
of ancient Athens. The lectures have been university
dishes served with political sauce. They have given
the people of Trinidad & Tobago a vision and a
perspective...... they have reinforced their own
aspirations..... for human freedom and for colonial
emancipation. They have taught the people what one
French writer of the 18th century saw as the greatest
danger, that they have a mind."
Eric E. Williams, 1967

Department of English received extra credit for
attending what has become an important event on
the academic calendar.

This year, the following schools visited the EWMC:
Trinidad 6& Tobago
Anjuman Sunnatul Jaamat Ass'n. Girls,
San Fernando
Barrackpore Secondary Composite
Bishop Anstey's High
Bishop's Centenary College
BSCS
CAPS
Curepe Junior Secondary
El Dorado Secondary
Fyzabad Composite
Gasparillo Composite
Holy Faith Convent, Couva
Hillview College
Holy Faith Convent, Penal
Lakshmi Girls Hindu College
Lucia's Private School
Malick Secondary Comprehensive
Malabar Composite
Moruga Composite
Naparima College
Pt. Fortin Senior Secondary
Princes Town Senior Comprehensive
Tunapuna Secondary
Queen's Royal College
St. Augustine Girls High
San Juan Secondary Comprehensive
Shiva Boys Hindu College
Southeast Port of Spain Secondary
St. Augustine Senior Comprehensive
St. Charles High
St. George's College
Tableland High
Woodbrook Government Secondary

International
Guadeloupe, French West Indies
Soufriere Comprehensive Secondary, St. Lucia
US Virgin Islands

Highlights

Pt

' sl iU8 c,

On the Horizon

2005

* In honour of the 60th anniversary of Williams' tour deforce, Capitalism
and Slavery, a symposium, hosted by the University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill, will offer participants and attendees an opportunity for
continuous dialogue, reflection and assessment.

It is significant that the event is being planned by the book's original
publisher, and since many of its aspects have been thoroughly articulated
over the years, ground-breaking presentations are being actively sought.
The implications for education, and the critical role that Capitalism
and Slavery has played in reshaping the historiography and teaching of
the history of slavery, will be vital parts of the exchange.

2003

* The newly-opened, multi-million dollar African-American Research
Library and Cultural Center at the Broward County Library in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida, will exhibit portions of the EWMC Museum in
conjunction with their portrayal of African-American notables.

* El Instituto Moro and the Mexican Association of Caribbean Studies are
negotiating with the EWMC to publish two of Eric Williams' books in
Spanish, Capitalism and Slavery and From Columbus to Castro: The
History of the Caribbean, 1492-1969. The former, a re-publication, was
previously issued in Havana, Cuba. The latter will be a first.

* The Miami-Dade County, Florida, Public Schools Division of Social
Sciences will incorporate lesson plans on Eric Williams in its state-
mandated African-American curriculum. A draft has been submitted to
the relevant authority and the EWMC awaits detailed parameters. The
programme will be expanded to other areas in the US New Jersey
being the next target state, having recently followed Florida's lead.

* Professors Barbara Solow and Stanley Engerman (University of
Rochester), editors of British Capitalism and Caribbean Slavery: The
Legacy of Eric Williams, have confirmed that their book will be reprinted
in paperback at the request of Cambridge University Press. Originally
published in hard cover in 1987 and long out of print, the book is a
collection of papers presented at the Boston University co-sponsored
Conference on Eric Williams held in Bellagio, Italy, in 1984.

* The Society for Caribbean Research and the Post-Colonial Research
Group at Belgium's University of Antwerp is hosting its 8h
Interdisciplinary Congress in September, entitled Injustice and
Insubordination: The Caribbean Writer as "Warrior of the Imaginary. "
Colin Palmer, Dodge Professor of History, Princeton University, will
offer his paper, Eric Williams and the Anti-Colonial Struggle.

* The Journal ofAfrican-American History, formerly Carter G. Woodson's
prestigious Journal of Negro History, will feature three papers on Eric
Williams by Professors David Barry Gaspar and Selwyn Carrington, Duke
and Howard Universities, respectively, and Tony Martin, Wellesley
College. Erica Williams Connell will write an Introduction.

Accomplishments (continued)

Throughout each year, news about the Eric Williams Memorial
Collection and its activities is disseminated to every US college and
university with an African Studies programme. This includes the 17
campuses of City University of New York; individuals and
corporations in Trinidad & Tobago, the Caribbean, the US, UK and
Europe; broadcast, print and cyber media in the Caribbean and US;
and the following Associations: Caribbean Historians; French Black
Studies; Collegium for African American Research (Europe); Third
World Studies; Mexican Caribbean Studies; Caribbean Women
Writers and Scholars; African Diaspora (New York University); Japan
Black Studies; Black and Asian Studies (UK); Yale University's
Lehrman Center; Institute of Latin American Studies, Beijing, China.

The Collection also posts its annual newsletters to its website:
www.mainlib.uwi.tt/eric.html. This augments the long-established
Eric Williams site maintained by the University of Florida, where
the following Williams speeches are available: http://palmm.fcla.edu/
eew/.

Address to the 14th Annual PNM Convention
Chaguaramas, Trinidad
September 29 October 1, 1972

Perspectives for the West Indies
San Fernando, Trinidad
May 30, 1960

The Approach of Independence, 4th Annual PNM Convention
Trinidad
March 8, 1960

Perspectives for Our Party, 3rd Annual PNM Convention
Trinidad
October 17, 1958

Economic Problems of Trinidad e' Tobago
The "University" of Woodford Square
Trinidad
July 5, 1955

The Legacy lives on
in the Diaspora.
Caribbean students from
Richard R. Green
Middle School
Bronx, New York
Schomburg Conference
February 2002

Highlights

Pt

$ sl iU8 c,

History Revisie

Back in Time...
"What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore- And then run?"

As Trinidad & Tobago celebrated 40 years
of its Independence in 2002, Eric Williams'
exhortations to his people are instructive. The
following excerpts have been combined for
continuity:

"On August 31, 1962, a country will be free,
a miniature state will be established, but a society
and a nation will not have been formed. After
August 31, 1962, the people ofTrinidad & Tobago
will face the fiercest test in their history whether
they can invest with flesh and blood the bare
skeleton of their National Anthem, 'Here, every
creed and race find an equal place.' That is their
challenge. They may fail..... But merely to make
the attempt, merely to determine to succeed,
would be an enormous tribute to their capacity, a
powerful inspiration to frustrated humanity.....

"Together, the various groups in Trinidad &
Tobago have suffered, together they have aspired,
together they have achieved. Only together can
they succeed. And only together can they build a
society, can they build a nation, can they build a
homeland....

"There can be no Mother India, for those
whose ancestors came from India....there can be
no Mother Africa, for those of African origin, and
the Trinidad & Tobago society is living a lie and
heading for trouble if it seeks to create the
impression, or to allow others to act under the
delusion, that Trinidad & Tobago is an African
society. There can be no Mother England and no
dual loyalties.....There can be no Mother China,
even if one could agree on which China is the
Mother; and there can be no Mother Syria or no
Mother Lebanon. A nation, like an individual,
can have only one Mother. The only Mother we
recognize is Mother Trinidad & Tobago, and
Mother cannot discriminate between her
children.....

"What use [then] will you make of your
independence? What will you transmit to your
children [forty] years from today? Other countries
have ceased to exist in that period. Some, in much
less time, have become......a prey to anarchy and
civil war.

"The first responsibility that devolves upon
you is the protection and promotion of your
democracy. Democracy means more, much more,
than the right to vote..... Democracy means
recognition of the rights of others.... equality of
opportunity for all... .the production of the weak
against the strong... .the obligation of the minority

a

Contributors

Langston Hughes

to recognize the right of the majority. Democracy
means responsibility of the Government to its
citizens, the protection of the citizens from the
exercise of arbitrary power and the violation of
human freedoms and individual rights.
Democracy means freedom of worship for all and
the subordination of the right of any one race to
the overriding right of the human race.....That
democracy is but a....mockery and a....fraud... [if
it] is based on a ruling group's domination.... [and]
intolerance [of] others because of....race, colour,
creed, national origin....or other irrationality.
Democracy means freedom of expression and
assembly.....At home and abroad the symbol
of it is our Parliament.....Democracy, finally, rests
on [an even] higher power.....It rests on an
informed and cultivated and alert public opinion.

"The Nation is on the march. There is no
turning back. The road from now on leads forward
and only forward. Your responsibility, therefore,
is a...heavy one. If you shirk it, you betray our
Nation. If you fail..., you jeopardise our Nation.
I have given to the Nation as its watchwords,
Discipline, Production, Tolerance. They apply as
much to you, the young people, as to your parents.
The discipline is both individual and
national... .We must produce in order to enjoy....

"United at home in the common effort to
build a... Nation...you, the children, yours is the
great responsibility to educate your parents, teach
them to live together in harmony.. .To your tender
and loving hands, the future of the Nation is
entrusted. In your innocent hearts, the pride of
the Nation is enshrined. On your scholastic
development, the salvation of the Nation is
dependent... you carry the future of Trinidad &
Tobago in your school bags.

[So I call upon you allto] "build the Nation
of Trinidad & Tobago, bringing in all the races,
acknowledging all their contributions, elevating
lowly castes; dignifying despised colours, achieving
a syncretism here and a new autonomy there,
raising up the poor and the lowly and giving them
a positive stake in our society...

"The humblest antecedents are not
inconsistent with greatness of soul."
Eric E. Williams

"Each generation must, out ofrelative obscurity,
discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it."
Frantz Fanon

NATIONAL
Amalgamated Security Services, Ltd.
Angostura, Ltd.
Associated Brands, Ltd.
bpTT
BWIA West Indies Airways
Caribbean Steel Mill
CARICOM Secretariat
Citibank
CL Financial, Ltd.
Emile Elias & Co. Ltd.
Joseph Esau
First Citizens Bank
Fui Toong On Association
Government of Trinidad & Tobago
Inncogen, Ltd.
International Communications Network
I.T. McLeod Partnership
Lensyl Products, Ltd.
Errol and Yvonne Mahabir
Edmund Narine
National Gas Company, Ltd.
National Insurance Property
Development Co. Ltd.
Peter Pefia
Point Lisas Industrial Port
Development Corp. Ltd.
Radio Vision, Power 102 FM
Republic Bank, Ltd.
Royal Bank
Emile Sabga
Sportsman's Members Club
Titan Methanol Co.
TT Trans Cable, Ltd.
Jack Warner
William H. Scott, Ltd.
Ronald Jay Williams
Yorke Structures, Ltd.

INTERNATIONAL
Brown University
Florida International University
Princeton University
Schomburg Center, New York Public Library
Texaco
W. E. B. Du Bois Institute, Harvard University
Wellesley College

MILLISECOND	CLASS.METHOD	MESSAGE
0	sobekcm_page_globals.constructor
0	sobekcm_page_globals.constructor	Application State validated or built
0	sobekcm_database.verify_item_lookup_object
0	sobekcm_page_globals.constructor	Navigation Object created from URI query string
0	sobekcm_database.verify_item_lookup_object
0	sobekcm_page_globals.display_item	Retrieving item or group information
0	sobekcm_page_globals.get_entire_collection_hierarchy	Retrieving hierarchy information
0	sobekcm_assistant.get_entire_collection_hierarchy
0	cached_data_manager.retrieve_item_aggregation
0	cached_data_manager.retrieve_item_aggregation	Found item aggregation on local cache
0	item_aggregation_builder.get_item_aggregation	Found 'all' item aggregation in cache
0	system.web.ui.page.page_load (ufdc.page_load)
0	sobekcm_page_globals.constructor.on_page_load
0	html_echo_mainwriter.add_style_references	Adding style references to HTML
0	html_echo_mainwriter.add_text_to_page	Reading the text from the file and echoing back to the output stream
55	html_echo_mainwriter.add_text_to_page	Finished reading and writing the file