1st Edition 2019
Message from the Chairman of ESCTT in the 5th Year of the UN International Decade for People of African Descent including the ESCTT, scholars and activists, which was convened in Ghana in September 2018, a major move to trigger follow up.
Khafra Kambon, Chairman of ESCTT
In 2019, as the Emancipation Support Committee of Trinidad & Tobago hosts its 26th Pan-African Festival TT Commemorating Emancipation, we have selected for our theme: Pursuing Recognition Justice and Development. The theme pointedly incorporates the watchwords of the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent (IDPAD) January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2024: recognition , justice and development. The decision to host this decade with these watchwords was adopted at a meeting of the UN General Assembly on December 23, 2013. In December 2014, the delegates agreed on a Programme of Action (POA). The POA signaled that the Decade was not meant to be an empty gesture but the creation of an enabling environment to have major problems affecting African populations globally addressed at multiple levels - from non-governmental organizations (NGO’s), to private sector bodies, to national governments and multilateral agencies.
Our choice of theme declares our intention to step up the ESCTT’s role in a manner consistent with the importance of the Decade’s objectives and befitting our country’s legacy. Trinidad and Tobago historically distinguished itself in the Pan-African movement, a movement that played an important role in the global decolonization process. The very term “Pan-Africanism” entered the political vocabulary as a result of the First Pan-African Conference convened in London in 1900, by a Trinidad and Tobago citizen, Henry Sylvester Williams. Many significant national scholars, activists and political figures achieved high-level recognition within the pan-African movement, including CLR James, Kwame Ture, Claudia Jones and Dr. Eric Williams. The determination of the ESCTT to uphold and strengthen this legacy is demonstrated in core areas of its activity. These include the organization’s institutional relationship with arms of the African Union Commission, its focus on building this country’s economic and business links with the African continent, a prominent aspect of its annual Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Forum, the character of its annual marketplace with an African aesthetic and Pan-African participation, its educational thrust and cultural programmes. We invite fellow citizens and government to come together to embrace a momentum that can bring greater harmony to our country and progressively transform its development path. Indeed, our theme provides an opportunity and incentive for the government of Trinidad and Tobago to affirm its support for the UN Decade for People of African Descent and to commit to collaborative actions that would fulfill our country’s UN obligations in that regard.
In 2019, as we reach the halfway mark of the Decade, objectives are far from being realized. Many non-governmental organizations globally, including the Emancipation Support Committee of Trinidad & Tobago and several other local organizations, as well as the Caribbean Pan African Network, for which we serve as the Secretariat, have organized relevant programmes and sought to get 2019 Theme the involvement of respective governments. This is important since many of the activities of the 2014 Programme of Action, involve Pursuing Recognition, Justice and Development policy issues, institutional and legislative actions, which require governmental action. In the main however governments have not lived up to their commitments. In fact, concern about the low-keyed response to the decade triggered Human Rights entities within the United Nations to hold talks with representatives of the African Union (AU), following which the AU agreed to assist in stimulating the process. The first outcome of this was a meeting of UN representatives, government officials, global pan-African organizations, ……………...
2019 Adinkra Symbol OWO FORO ADOBE Steadfastness, Prudence, Diligence
Formal Installation of Plaque in Yoruba Village Square
improve and maintain the facilities at the Square. Attendees included Ms. Susan Shurland, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Community Development, Culture and the Arts; Dr. Deborah Austin-Thomas, Managing Director, East Port of Spain Development Corporation; Brother Valentino calypsonian; Dr Eintou Pearl Springer, playwright; Oba Kiteme of the Success Laventille Networking Committee and Roxanne Mohammed of the Kwame Ture Education Centre.
L-R Oba Kiteme, Success Laventille Networking Committee; Roxanne Muhammad, Black Agenda Project; Mr. Olawale John Isajimi, Representative of the High Commission, Federal Republic of Nigeria; His Worship Joel Martinez, Mayor of Port of Spain; Khafra Kambon, Chairman of ESCTT; Mr. Adrian Leonce, MP for Laventille East / Morvant; Eintou Pearl Springer & Brother Valentino, following the formal installation of the plaque.
The significance of the Yoruba Village Square and its connection to Nigeria in particular, lies in the historical origins of East Port of Spain, including Belmont, Gonzales, Laventille and Morvant. During the latter part of the 19th century, East Port-of-Spain was known as Yoruba Village or Yoruba Town, due to the large Yoruba speaking population in the area at that time. Today many of the rich customs and traditions of the Yoruba remain, mixed with other African influences, in spite of a persistent calculated and prolonged battle to deculturize the community. Indeed, it is from within the bowels of the highly spiritual and inventive Yoruba community, that the steelpan, calypso and many aspects of our carnival traditions originated.
In a significant follow up to the 2018 Pan African Festival Commemorating Emancipation, the Emancipation Support Committee of Trinidad and Tobago (ESCTT) hosted the formal installation of a plaque at Yoruba Village Square, in commemoration of the visit of His Excellency Eng. Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Governor of Osun State, Nigeria, his wife Mrs. Sherifat Aregbesola and members of his touring party, who were guests of the organization and visited the Yoruba Village Square on the 2nd August 2018. The formal installation took place on Thursday, January 24th, 2019. Khafra Kambon, Chairman of ESCTT; His Worship Joel Martinez, Mayor of Port of Spain; Mr. Olawale John Isajimi, representative of the High Commission, Federal Republic of Nigeria and Mr. Adrian Leonce, MP for Laventille East / Morvant, spoke at the event. Khafra Kambon highlighted the significance of visits of delegates from the continent as both an act of reaffirming the bond between the Diaspora and Africa as well as creating opportunities for trade and cultural exchange. His Worship, Joel Martinez indicated that the Square should be seen as a place where the community could gather and engage in positive activities and pledged the support of Port of Spain Corporation to improve the facilities at the Square and maintain its upkeep.
Drummers from Yoruba Village offered a performance at the event
Khafra Kambon, Chairman of ESCTT addresses attendees at the evet.
Today the only landmark named after the Yoruba people is the Yoruba Village Square, situated opposite the old Besson Street Police Station at the southern end of Piccadilly Street and St Joseph Road, Port–of–Spain.
Mr. Adrian Leonce, MP for Laventille East / Morvant addresses the audience at the event.
Year of Return, Ghana 2019 Atlantic Slave Trade had in fact begun in the 16th century.
El Mina Castle located in Accra, Ghana
The “Year of Return, Ghana 2019” is a campaign of the Ghanaian Government, which commemorates 400 years since the first enslaved Africans were forcibly brought to the United States of America. The ship which landed in Jamestown Virginia is reported to have transported 20 kidnapped Africans. The campaign seeks to strengthen the relationship between the Africans of the historical diaspora and Ghana, by encouraging them to visit Ghana. This initiative by the Ghanaian government is of great significance, particularly as the global African community observes the 5th year of the UN declared International Decade for People of African Descent. It should be noted that while the campaign recognizes the 1619 arrival of the slave ship to Virginia, the Trans- Atlantic Slave Trade had in fact begun in the 16th century.
Ghana the first African country to gain its independence has, had a significant historical relationship with Trinidad and Tobago. Trinbagonian calypsonian, Lord Kitchener composed, the Birth of Ghana, a national song in celebration of its independence and George Padmore, renowned Pan Africanist, born in Trinidad and Tobago, served in the government of Ghana’s first President, Kwame Nkrumah. Ghana, earned its independence in 1957 and served as an inspiration to West Indian nations to also fight for their independence. Ghana’s connection to Trinidad and Tobago runs even deeper as numerous cultural traditions practised among many communities in Ghana, can still be found in Trinidad and Tobago. Anansi stories which have their origins in Ghana form a critical part of Trinidad and Tobago’s folk traditions. In addition, sou, a form of cooperative economics practised in Trinidad and Tobago, is a retention from the Asante-Akan people of Ghana. There also exists a
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ESCTT Strategic Planning and Proposal Writing Workshop for Community Based & NonGovernmental Organisations From: 6th April 2019 to 11th May 2019 5 Saturdays: 10:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Community
current thriving trade in garments accessories and craft between Ghana and Trinidad and Tobago In 1997, then President of Ghana, Jerry Rawlings visited Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, where he took part in each island’s Emancipation Celebrations. The experience for President Rawlings was transformative and in 1998, he facilitated the first celebration of Emancipation in Ghana and he also renamed the infamous ‘Door of No Return’ of Cape Coast Castle, the ‘Door of Return’. That same year the remains of two enslaved Africans one from Jamaica, and the other from New York, whose roots could be traced back to Ghana, were exhumed and returned to Ghana via the Door of Return and reinterred. The gesture symbolized the indelible relationship between Africa and its Diaspora and that Ghana was prepared to welcome home the sons and daughters of Africa. President Nana Akufo-Addoe’s “Year of Return” follows the actions of President Rawlins in 1998 and the enactment in the year 2000 of the Immigration Act, which provides for a “Right of Abode” for any “Person of African descent in the Diaspora” to travel to and from the country “without hindrance.” Ghana is striving towards ensuring that 2019, the 5th year of the UN declared IDPAD, becomes the year of reconnection with Africa.
Mobilisation
and
Development
(CMD) The first CMD Meeting for 2019 was held on Saturday 9 th February at Emancipation House. Participants were presented with the ESCTT 2019 Calendar of Events, deliberated on the 2019 CMD Work Plan and engaged in discussions with Khafra Kambon, the Chairman of ESCTT on the 2019 Theme: Pursuing Recognition Justice and Development. The next CMD Meeting is carded for Saturday 16th March.
Contribution: $500.00TTD Tune into the INDABA Radio Programme
Please note weekly payments of $100.00TTD will also be accepted Deadline for registration: Friday 22nd March 2019 For more information contact ESCTT: Tele.: 628 5008 or Email: info.emnacipation@esctt.org
Every Wednesday from 8:00p.m. to 9:00p.m. on 91.1FM For the month of March, Indaba continues its coverage of the crises in Venezuela and Haiti and begins reflection on the Black Power Movement of the 1970’s. Listeners can also look forward to other new and interesting features.
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