Jai Parasram’s article on Indian Arrival Day was a well written and an adequate response to critics of the annual Indian Arrival commemoration in Trinidad and other parts of the Caribbean and world (Sunday Guardian, May 28, 2017, p 13 Indian Arrival Day Celebrates Spirit of Survival.)

A lot of discussion had taken place in the past on the issue of Indian Arrival Day as worthy of commemoration in and out of Parliament, and one would have thought that the issue was a settled one. That Mr Parasram had to address lingering concerns has shown otherwise.

Comments like “Indian Arrival...celebrates the beginning of our slavery sentence,” or “We would celebrate the beginning of bondage,” are some points which were made by critics in the 1980s against Indian Arrival Day, especially when activists and the Indian community began to call for a national public holiday in recognition of the occasion.

A small group of activists from Curepe called The Indian Reform and Revival Association (IRRA), began the commemoration and publicised the need for this by the Centennial Celebration of May 1945. These very issues were considered then.

The decision of mark the Centennial of Indian Arrival to Trinidad was arrived at in a most democratic manner by a cross-section of the Indian community. The Indian monthly journal, The Observer, An Organ of Indian Opinion, edited by SM Rameshwar, reported on the all-day conference held in San Fernando on Sunday March 4, 1945. The “large crowd” of delegates came from Princes Town, San Juan, Siparia, Penal, Port-of-Spain and other districts, all being representatives of Indian organisations. The report stated that “Indians of Trinidad, by resolution passed at a conference, have decided to celebrate the 100 years of successful settlement in the Colony. The conference felt that the progress made in the intervening century is worthy of record and recognition.”

During the conference “it was explained by various speakers that it was not intended to celebrate the conditions of our coming but the progress the Indian community had undoubtedly made over a period of 100 years.”

SM Rameshwar in the editorial wrote that “what we are to celebrate is not the fact that our forefathers came here under a system of indenture; we celebrate 100 years of successful settlement during which we, as a community, have made creditable strides in every walk of life, thereby contributing richly to the progress of the colony as a whole.” Indian Arrival Day was an occasion “to pay high tribute to our ancestors” and that “no intelligent Indian in the colony is unaware of the difficulties which our forefathers face and heroically surmounted.” The occasion should be regarded as “a time of stock-taking.” Further, “we shall have forever to thank our pioneering ancestors for remaining faithful repositories of the culture and traditions which they brought,” thus it is a celebration of cultural continuity.

There was Indian economic consciousness permeating the occasion of the Centenary Celebrations in 1945–the Indian community had made progress commenced by our Indian indentured ancestors and continued by their descendants, and that this progress was due to self-effort, by hard work and a disciplined life-style.

There was no scapegoating of anyone, of the system of indenture, the planters and plantations, of colonialism, of the British et al.

The few remaining critics of Indian Arrival Day should be aware of this history and the positions of Indians in 1945, positions which apply today. Jai Parasram is probably unaware of the details of this history but, after 72 years, he has faithfully recorded the thinking, the “mind” of Indians in 1945 in answer to critics.

Kamal Persad

The Indian Review Committee

Carapichaima

DALLAS —If you’re planning a big vacation trip this summer, move over. You’re going to have lots of company.

By air or car, traveler numbers are expected to rise over last year thanks to a decent economy and stable gasoline prices.

US airlines expect to carry 234 million passengers from June 1 through Aug 31, up from the summer record of 225 million a year ago, according to the trade group Airlines for America.

While fares are edging up overall, they are still relatively affordable by historical standards. And travelers can find deals, especially on routes flown by discount airlines such as Spirit.

Some of the lowest fares on popular routes are coming from United Airlines, which is trying to regain passengers lost to rivals in recent years and to overcome the image, replayed over and over on the news, of a passenger being brutally dragged off a United Express plane.

“I call them the mea culpa fares,” says George Hobica, founder of airfarewatchdog.com.

For example, he said, United recently offered US$79 roundtrip tickets for Chicago-Los Angeles and US$93 for Fort Lauderdale, Florida-Las Vegas.

It helps that Spirit Airlines and Southwest, the original low-fare airline, fly both those routes. Neither flies between San Francisco and Atlanta, which explains why Chris McGinnis, founder of the TravelSkills website, recently paid $520 for a ticket.

“That was an indication to me that the airlines are feeling pretty good about demand,” he says.

There is no evidence yet that a spate of viral videos like the United one have hurt ticket sales. Strong demand is helping airlines push up prices. Analysts predict that the amount passengers pay per mile, a rough approximation of average fares, will rise around 3 per cent over last summer.

At a few airports, travelers will face increased security measures including placing each large electronic device—laptop, tablet, camera—in a separate bin to go through the X-ray machines, which could slow the screening process.

The Transportation Security Administration struggled to keep up last spring, and tens of thousands of travelers missed flights. The TSA fared much better by summer, and spokesman Michael England said the agency is ready for this year’s vacation-season onslaught. TSA has 2,000 more screeners than last summer and increased allowances for overtime and part-time help, he says.

Airlines for America expects that for a fifth straight summer, occupancy on the average plane will top 83 per cent. Since the average includes less popular flights, like those late at night, it means that many flights will be full — or even overbooked.

Full planes make it harder to rebook passengers from flights that are canceled due to storms. Airlines often don’t recover quickly from storms, either. Last month it took Delta Air Lines five days to get over a one-day storm in Atlanta; it canceled 4,000 flights. (AP)

John Pillbeam, the Australian High Commissioner to T&T, Fortuna Belrose, the Commonwealth Games Federation Regional Vice President for the Caribbean, and the Queen’s Baton Relay (QBR) delegation and the T&T Commonwealth Games Association (TTCGA) received a warm welcoming ceremony upon their arrival on the sister isle from the Tobago House of Assembly (THA).

The delegation departed Piarco early yesterday morning and was greeted at the ANR Robinson Airport by THA Secretary for Sport and Youth Affairs Jomo Pitt and Secretary of Settlements, Urban Renewal and Public Utilities Clarence Jacob.

THA Technical Director of the Department of Sport and Youth Affairs (Acting), Theophilus Trim was happy to host the Baton in Tobago once again.

“We have hosted the Queen’s Baton in Tobago since 2006 and we (Tobago) are very excited to host this extremely important event.”

The Baton then made its way to the Pigeon Point Heritage Park featuring Paralympic Gold and Silver medallist Akeem Stewart, Middle Distance Track athlete Mark London and young athletes from Jubilee Stars Track Club.

On arrival at the Pigeon Point Heritage Park, Secretary Jomo Pitt ran the final few metres with the lovely display of the iconic Pigeon Point beach, dancers and musical accompaniment.

T&TCGA Secretary Annette Knott was thankful to the Commonwealth Games Federation for bringing the Baton to the Caribbean for a 4th time. She also expressed thanks to the Commonwealth Games Federation on behalf of the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.

The remainder of the visit to Tobago included activities with kids from Tobago.

By this week the line-up of schools in the Premier and Championship Division will be known, four months before the September 8 kick-off date of the 2017 Secondary Schools Football League (SSFL) season.

Williams Wallace, president of the SSFL said executive has sought legal advice on whether the decision of the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on May 17, to include demoted San Juan North Secondary School from the premier division could stand.

He is also calling for a review of the league’s constitution to deal with other potential issues that will hamper the league’s operations in the future.

From the meeting, it was agreed to include San Juan after its vice principal Joseph Taylor convinced the gathering at the Carapichaima Secondary School, that his school was unjustly punished for no reason.

San Juan was among three schools relegated when the SSFL posted its final standing for the 2016 season a month ago.

Taylor, however, challenged the decision, blaming the inefficiencies of the SSFL officers of the disciplinary and credentials committees for not dealing with the issues in a timely manner.

Among the issues in particular for which the committees had to address were protests from other schools as it related to the illegal use of players by East Mucurapo Secondary and Presentation College, San Fernando.

In the end they were both found to be in violation of the SSFL rules and regulations according to a media release from the SSFL a few weeks ago.

According to Taylor the matter should have been dealt with immediately by informing the guilty schools and stopping the players from further participation but instead the SSFL waited until the end of the season to make their decision and then informed the schools.

Taylor also made it clear that his school never had any decision by the SSFL overturned, but rather got the approval by the general council to be included.

The general council, he said, has the power to decide on the teams that will play in all tournaments.

However, yesterday, Wallace said a file of all the necessary documents was presented to a sport’s attorney for advice at the weekend and it was followed that up with a meeting of the legal counsel on Monday.

The SSFL executives are seeking clarity on the process that resulted in that decision regarding San Juan’s inclusion for the 2017 season.

Wallace said he and his executives are seriously concerned about the consequences the May 17 decision may have in the future.

“This has opened up a can of worms and therefore, what we are seeking to do is have the constitution reviewed, and possibly take steps to amend it if necessary.

“Not only with this particular matter, but there are other issues that I feel would require the constitution to be scrutinised by a legal person,” Wallace explained.

He ruled out the need for having a legal representative on the Board of the SSFL, but said the SSFL need someone it can consult with regularly, is definitely needed.

Wallace disagreed with Taylor’s comments in a newspaper report that the decision to include San Juan North came from the general council, saying it did not come from the general council.

“The general council is made up of the premier and championship divisions schools as well as zonal representatives and officers.

“That decision came from an extraordinary general meeting which comprises of all the schools in the league, including schools that did not take part in the premier and championship divisions.”

In the latest rankings released yesterday, T&T’s Narine dropped one place to fourth, and is still the only West Indies bowler in the top 10.

The 29-year-old, however, has not played for West Indies since the three-match one-day series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates last October, and with West Indies failing to qualify for the Champions Trophy, his ranking is expected to fall further.

He missed ODI series against England in March and against Pakistan last month, after failing to meet the eligibility requirement of making himself available for the Regional Super50 domestic limited overs tournament.

One-day captain Jason Holder is the other West Indies player in the top 20, dropping one place to 17th in the latest rankings. He and Narine are the only two Windies players in the top 50.

Rabada, meanwhile, who celebrated his 22nd birthday last Thursday, has jumped four places to displace fellow countryman Imran Tahir from the top spot.

He produced a brilliant four-wicket haul on Monday to help bowl South Africa to victory in the final ODI of the three-match series, and finish with a haul of seven wickets.

Leg-spinner Tahir lies second while Australia left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc occupies third spot. In the batting rankings, there is no West Indies player in the top 20, with Marlon Samuels–currently also ineligible for selection–the highest ranked at 32nd.

In fact, the veteran Jamaican is the only regional player in the top 50 with left-hander Darren Bravo, who has not played for West Indies since being sent home from the Tri-Nations Series last November for disciplinary reasons, the next best ranked at 54th.

West Indies are set to take on Afghanistan in a three-match one-day series at the Darren Sammy National Stadium in St Lucia from June 9-14. (CMC)

While rain pounded many areas in South Trinidad on Monday, the Gods smiled on South Zone and allowed them just enough time to get in a 20 overs affair against South West Zone, which they won and are now into the semi-finals of the 2017 Shell Interzone cricket series.

Needing to win the clash to have a chance of progressing, South restricted South West to 110 for seven in their 20 overs. Right hander Calvin Loubon looked a cut above the rest in the South West team and knocked 54. There were two wickets apiece for Kendall Poochoon and Jacen Agard, while skipper Liam Mamchan and off-spinner Avalon Changoor each grabbed a wicket and were very economical in their four overs conceding just 14 and 12 runs respectively.

When South went to bat, they got an opening partnership of 57 runs from Agard and Matheus Komal and this killed off any chances of victory the South West boys had. Agard fell for nine and Riyaad Mohammed came in to partner Komal and take the victory at 112 for one in 14 overs. Komal batted well to score an unbeaten 43, while Mohammed who counted 38 in the second game got an undefeated 20.

South by virtue of winning this match, ended on the same number of points as Central - 12. Central however topped Group A by virtue of a better net run rate and will now play East on Thursday in the first semi-finals. South will clash with Group B winners North Zone in the other semis on Friday. Both matches will be played at the National Cricket Centre (NCC) in Couva.

Youngstarz show the way in Nick’s T20

Youngstarz continued their fine display at the inaugural Nick Sporting Good’s Pink Ball T20 tournament, when they defeated Secret Storm by five wickets at Evergreen Recreation ground in Woodland.

Playing against Secret Storm, they restricted the opposition to 102 for eight in their 20 overs with D Ramnath taking three wickets for eight runs. National Under-15 cricketer Darren Samlal then stroked an aggressive 34 not out to take Youngstarz to victory at 103 for five.

In their second game, they came up against Church Street and won that encounter by 63 runs. Lorenzo Loubon led the batting with an unbeaten 68, as Youngstarz reached 163 for five. He was ably assisted by S Ramjattan and Darren Samlal with 29 and 21 respectively. Avinash Mahabirsingh then bowled brilliantly in claiming 4/23, as Church Street was humbled for just 100 runs in reply.

Rambarran hits 72 in losing cause

Andre Rambarran scored 72 runs but it could not prevent his team Bamboo Government from going down in the finals of Atlantic National Primary Schools contest against Arima Boys RC.

Rambarran caught the eye with a great batting display which included five sixes and seven fours. He fought a lone battle as no other batsman got into double figures. A Plaza bowling for Arima was the pick of the bowlers with 3/40, while K Ranjit took 2/19.

When Arima Boys went in to bat, they found the going easy, as the Bamboo bowlers were erratic. They allowed too many extras, which in the end totalled 67 which was the highest score in the innings. Apart from the extras, N Plaza counted 29, while N Ross escorted his team to victory with an unbeaten 17.

Bamboo Government 136 all out (18.4ovs) (Andrew Rambarran 72, D Plaza 3/40, K Ranjit 2/19) vs Arima Boys RC 138/4 (Extras 67, N Plaza 29, N Ross 17no) - Arima Boys won by 6 wkts.

The hospitality and warmth of the people of Blan­chisseuse is personified in Wabeen, the nickname a shuttle driver answers to in the sleepy north east community.

He was one of many drivers of max­is, buses and other forms of transport shuttling patrons to and from Port-of-Spain to the Blanchisseuse Rec­reation Ground last Saturday for the inaugural staging of North Coast Jazz.

Wabeen was a competent tour guide, expounding on the social and cultural attributes of his communi­ty, as well as what he hopes will be achieved by this event, in terms of domestic tourism.

For the premier staging of what is said will be an annual event, the turnout was huge and encouraging.

From as early as noon jazz fans from all points of the country began the two-hour journey to the venue via the shuttle service from the Queen’s Park Savannah.

Ably supported by sponsors and fa­cilitators the ministries of Tourism, Community Development, Culture and the Arts, CAL, NLCB, bmobile and Gittens & Gittens, the organising committee, piloted by former Port-of-Spain mayor Louis Lee Sing, was justifiably satisfied by the public’s response and the smooth running of the production.

Momentarily standing still from his countless jaunts around the venue, Lee Sing said: “People have come from all over and I am happy about the response. What I would like to achieve is to make Blanchisseuse a destination for the bed and break­fast industry.

“We want to empower the people of Blanchisseuse to open up their homes to generate the tourism thrust in this part of the country. Blanchisseuse is a viable destination for domestic tourism and for those coming from further afield.”

On the stroke of 4 pm, its advertised start time, North Coast Jazz was up and running, patrons welcomed by show host, popular radio personality Sharon Pitt.

Up first was young Gyerlini Clarke, followed by Point Fortin jazz musi­cian Adan Hagley and his band. Un­like a number of similar productions held locally through the year, under the misnomer of “jazz,” Hagley and his ensemble played the authentic stuff, executed by some excellent musicians.

The band was outstanding espe­cially for its interpretation of Carlton Zanda’s arrangement of Peter Ram’s Good Morning and Voice’s Far From Finished.

With Hagley on the piano, his ag­gregation included Tony Paul (alto saxophone/flute); Daniel Ryan (pi­ano); Joshua Pascuale (trombone); Miguel Charles (guitar); Rodney Alexander (bass); Aviel Scantlebury (pan); and, Dareem Chandler (drums).

Beginning her repertoire at 5.15 pm, and admitting it was her first-ever visit to Blanchisseuse, Tobago’s Prin­cess Adana also turned in an enjoy­able set.

In fact, she was called back at the end of her performance to repeat Someone Loves You Honey.

Acclaimed pan arranger/composer Ray Holman was a standout repre­sentative of the Woodbrook fraternity of excellent musicians.

His memorable items included Pan in Harmony, instrumentally harmo­nised with Tony Paul, Georgia and Charlotte Street.

Holman’s riveting solo of Oh Danny Boy was well worth the trip to Blan­chissesue.

Looking every inch an empress in her emerald green Heather Jones gown, Mavis John struck up an inti­mate conversation with her audience, revealing that she recently celebrated her 71st birthday. Opening with Jazz in the Callaloo, John’s set continued with David Rudder’s Music Makes Me Dance, Dream of Me, Andre Tanker’s Ben Lion and Tony Wilson’s How Can I love Again.

Rendering Somewhere Over the Rainbow, John also revealed another secret, the singing ability of elan par­le musical director Michael “Ming” Low Chew Tung, as the keyboardist joined her in a duet.

For Shadow’s Tan Tan, John peeled off another layer of her performance by having chorus singers Jamilla Hy­polite and Karla Gonzales embellish­ing this classic with well timed mo­tifs. To round off her performance, John sang You Are What Love Is, merged with Morena Osha.

As she has been doing these past couple years, pride of La Brea Vaugh­nette Bigford turned in yet another of her exhilarating performances, thrilling patrons with her unique treatment of “jazzised” local classics.

Things got even more intense when young Nialah Blackman brought the curtain down on an evening of out­standing music.

Given the success of the venture, North Coast Jazz is a welcome, permanent fixture on the local jazz circuit. Its organisers have further nourished the argument that an all-local cast of musicians can be equally as attractive and entertain­ing as any high-priced, big-name international artiste.

Mental disorders are very common. In fact, one in every four people has one of over 200 classified mental health issues, so, typ­ically, there’s at least one person in an av­erage household who may have a disorder.

That’s no reason to panic, to start self-di­agnosing or labelling all behaviours around you, but it’s every reason to be considerate about the health of those in your environment.

It’s important to reit­erate these facts because ample repetition may reach more people.

More people engaged could well mean more people offering care and compassion for those ex­periencing mental health challenges.

The pervasive igno­rance of people we wish would be more sensitive to our cause, at times, riddles us with deeper affliction than what the illness presents.

Very often this una­wareness exists because people are so engrossed in their own life struggles that it’s easier to overlook the challenged person rather than allocate time to assisting them in one way or the other.

Until we are faced with an actual situation or is­sue, most of us would go about our business with nary a care for those challenged by mental ill health.

A most difficult thing I’ve experienced is to be ill and to not be able to find one person who appears to care for your welfare during that time.

It’s even worse when the illness is that of a mind which automatically thinks the worst of every situation, and then to be placed in such periods of neglect.

Conversely, a person living with a mental dis­order has difficulty in asking for help because that requires reaching out from a syndrome that continuously reaches in, turns inside, and some­times even turns on itself.

And still, the stigma of being diagnosed or living with a mental disorder sometimes causes a per­son to shut down or shut out people who may be willing to help.

When a mental health patient is already battling inner frustrations and the attending demons, disap­pointments, crises, and the like, a lack of com­passion and consideration from others are damaging occurrences.

So, it was refreshing recently to have a friend reach out and ask how she should approach another friend who had been reacting character­istically—shutting out everyone—having been diagnosed with a mental illness.

First, I said to her that some disorders are more severe than others, but none should feel like a life/ death sentence for patient or family.

That mental disorders cause mild to severe dis­turbances in thought and/ or behaviour, and can re­sult in an inability to cope with simple everyday rou­tines.

And, that disorders which are considered severe and are most common are (clinical) depression, anxiety disorders, schizophre­nia, bipolar disorders, dementia, and panic.

“Symptoms of these disorders are either neurotic or psychotic symptoms. Neurotic covers those symptoms, which can be regarded as severe forms of normal emotional experiences (changes in mood, per­sonality, personal habits and/or social withdraw­al) such as depression, anxiety, or panic.

“Less common are psychotic symptoms, which interfere with a person’s perception of reality, and may include hallucinations such as seeing, hearing, smell­ing, or feeling things that no one else can” (www. mentalhealth.org.uk).

Most disorders are treatable and many pa­tients have been known to experience full re­covery with correct and timely intervention.

We, the diagnosed ones, understand that to have others treat on a regular basis with such peculiar issues can be “physically and emo­tionally trying, and can make (family and rela­tives) feel vulnerable to the opinions and judg­ments of others.”

So, inspired by my friend’s openness to learn, I now offer my top support measures for family/friends of the mentally ill to consider:

1. Educate yourself about the illness. “Edu­cating yourself is really the foundation of sup­port. Not knowing how the illness functions can create misconceptions” (psychcentral.com).

The mentally ill cannot just snap out of “it”, you’d know that if you educate yourself. So to say to someone with an “altered mental state” that you hope their illness could be “flagged less” betrays ignorance and a lack of compassion for how the person’s mind is engaged in the struggle.

Education facilitates friend’s/family’s ac­ceptance that aggressive or weird behaviours are a manifestation of the illness, not willful, pur­poseful actions against them.

2. Stop behaving as if it cannot happen to you.

3. Treat your friend/rel­ative with respect regard­less of how symptomatic they appear or may be­come. This may require a selflessness that does not personalise every infraction.

4. Recognise and ac­knowledge your loved one’s courage. It takes courage to battle the devastating symptoms every day and to seek and stay in recovery. “In our society, we view people with a physical illness, such as cancer or dia­betes, as courageous, but we don’t extend the same perspective to peo­ple with mental illness (psychcentral.com).

If you’re a friend or relative to someone who may have a mental dis­order of any degree, it’s important to remember there is hope and help, and many resources on the Internet are available for learning and teaching.

(This column was first published in 2014 under the title: Practise being supportive of the men­tally ill.)

CAROLINE C RAVELLO is a strategic communications and media practitioner with over 30 years of proficiency. She holds an MA in Mass Communications and is a candidate for the MSc in Public Health (MPH) from

The UWI. Write to: mindful.tt@ gmail.com

T&T’S Dexter St Louis and Anthony Corbin were denied a spot in the main draw of the Men’s Doubles competition at the Llebherr 2017 World Table Tennis Championship in Düsseldorf, Germany on Tuesday after losinng in the second round of the qualifiers.

The France-based St Louis and England-based Corbin began with an 11-9, 11-7, 11-13, 11-3 win over Sonpasith Mosangsinh and Thavisack Phathaphone of Laos in their round-of-128 knockout fixture to reach the last-64 where they were stopped by Czech Republic’s Lubomir Jancarik and Pavel Sirucek 5-11, 7-11, 8-11.

On Monday in the Mixed Doubles, St Louis and his step-daughter, fellow France-based player Rheann Chung, multiple-times Caribbean Mixed Doubles champions started well with an 11-7, 11-3, 11-8 over Nepal’s Gothe and Sivechchha Nembang but were then ousted by India’s Harmeet Desai and Madhurka Patkar 4-11, 8-11, 11-4, 6-11.

The T&T trio also failed to advance from their respective round-robin qualifying groups to get to the main draw competition with St Louis and Chung managing to win a game each.

In his men’s Group 56 qualifiers five-time Caribbean singles champion St Louis was beaten by Russian Vladimir Sidorenko 0-4 and Chile’s Juan Lamadrid 2-4 before he ended off group play with a 4-3 win over Mexican Ricardo Villa to avoid the cellar-spot in the pool while Corbin suffered defeats in his two Group 40 matches, by 0-4 margins to Denmark’s Anders Lin and Moldova’s Andrei Putuntica.

Meanwhile, Chung, also a five-time women’s regional singles champion was beaten by Slovakian Lucia Truksova 2-4 on Monday, and then went under to Denmark’s Stefanie Christensen 1-4, but trounced Bangladeshi Rahima 4-0 to complete Pool 50 play.

The visit of the Queen’s Baton to T&T was described as a success by T&T Commonwealth Games Association (T&TCGA) president, Brian Lewis.

He said the objectives for the relay included raising awareness of the CG 2018 Games as well as highlighting the natural and built heritage of the city of Port of Spain and Tobago.

The T&T Olympic Committee, which is also acts as the T&TCGA also sought to highlight the exploits of past and present commonwealth games medallist.

Leading was cycling legend Roger Gibbon whose presence was warmly received by the younger athletes and members of the public along the relay route.

Other well received athletes along the route were Olympic boxer Nigel Paul, Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Michael Alexander, T&T National Cricket Team (Red Force), Former Chairman of the Sports Company of T&T Michael Phillips—former National cyclist.

In Tobago, the steel pan and Tobago dancers were the highlight on arrival at the ANR Robinson Airport. Both Tobago House Assembly Secretary for Sport and Youth Affairs Jomo Pitt and Secretary of Settlements, Urban Renewal and Public Utilities Clarence Jacob carried the Baton along with Rio 2016 Paralympic Gold and Silver Medallist Akeem Stewart.

The baton was popular with the children on the Pigeon Point beach.

A week ago, Kwynn Johnson was patiently walking the obsidian black stage at Big Black Box, 3Canal’s performance space in Woodbrook.

Stanton Kewley, the bandmember who was to assist with the hanging of the work with his team, was running late, and the artwork—a massive panoramic measuring 30 feet wide by 43 inches high—was restless in the morning breezes, rousing intermittently from rest where it lay, a white canvas slash running diagonally across the stage, imposing even at the level of the feet of those in attendance.

The work was first shown at the 2017 edition of Bocas Lit Fest and represents another phase of Johnson’s investigation of Haiti through drawing.

“In 2012 (Jackie) Hinkson saw the early stages of a series of Haiti drawings I was working on, each 3x2 feet, and he said I should try to go larger,” Johnson said.

“My last solo exhibition in 2013 comprised 25 graphite drawings; so this is a continuation of this material use.”

The work’s mounting at the stage space is also a continuation. The artwork Place as Palimpsest includes, with the permission of the playwright Derek Walcott and his heirs, work done for the set design done by Johnson and Carol Williams for a 2004 staging of scenes from his play The Haitian Earth.

“The inclusion of this storyboard organically anchors the broader theme of the composition,” Johnson said, “but it does not overpower the other layers of history, for example, our understanding of the cholera bacteria in the ecology of 21st century Haiti.”

A palimpsest is, formally, a document which has been erased and written over, but retains traces of its earlier form.

For Johnson, who read for a 2015 PhD in Cultural Studies, this examination of Haiti and research of its culture through art, rather dryly described as “practice-based research”, has been an endeavour of decades.

“I draw from the idea of a palimpsest as a way to convey a metaphor for the earth, or rather, how the geology comes about and can come to be understood…place as a concept is understood in the ways people attach meaning to their physical environment through their daily routines.

“Place is also seen as a repository of history, in which repeated use becomes etched with layers of meaning. So that, when we look at a place in the present, we understand it in light of the past, which is never quite erased.”

Very specific geographic and cultural artifacts are pervasive and repeated elements in Place as Palimpsest, and provide crucial markers for an artist who has tied the two in exhibited works in 2007, examining Tobago’s Buccoo Reef and 2010’s Black Gold: playing with oil.

“As with my last exhibition, this work is primarily made for the Haitian audience, but it is always interesting to show it in Trinidad where there is some measure of interest in drawing.”

But, and she quotes Prof Matthew Smith of UWI, Mona here, “People are curious about Haiti, not interested.”

Hanging Place as Palimpsest

Place as Palimpsest is hung using carpenter’s clamps strung with fishing line.

“I’ve used this hanging technology in 2005 at the National Museum and Art Gallery when I exhibited a series of watercolours which resembled strips of celluloid film, the way they are hung in a darkroom,” Johnson said.

“These clamps worked perfectly at Bocas and at The Big Black Box, and I will use them in Jamaica and Haiti. Most spaces prohibit attaching object to their walls, so hanging is always safe.”

“This technology does not impose on or impinge on the integrity of this drawing. The stage of the Big Black Box was its perfect ‘frame’, and lit with stage lights, is truly potent.”

“This is also my very conscious move away from the vulgar and unnecessary thing we are plagued with called framing—cost.”

Next for Place as Palimpsest [Yon kote tankou Palimpseste]

Tonight, Kwynn Johnson will have a conversation with Wendell Manwarren, Script, Set, Scroll at Big Black Box from 7 pm.

Exhibitions are confirmed for Jamaica in October 2017 and Haiti in December 2017.

People’s search for information is itself information. This is the premise that data scientist Seth Stephens-Davidowitz uses to unlock various truths how Americans (and, to a lesser extent, people around the world) think. Google searches, he argues, “are the most important dataset ever collected on the human psyche.”

He also used Facebook, Wikipedia and PornHub to reveal people’s true attitudes to various issues, ranging from sex to racism to abortion. “When and where they search for facts, quotes, jokes, places, persons, things or help, it turns out, can tell us a lot more about what they really think, really desire, really fear and really do...,” Stephens-Davidowitz writes.

He points out that surveys are not reliable guides to people’s sex lives, for obvious reasons. (He also found Facebook wasn’t very useful, because people create a false image there.) Thus, in America, married men under 65 say they have sex once a week but, on Google, searches for “sexless marriage” are three-and-a-half times more frequent than “unhappy marriage.”

The night that Barack Obama was elected in 2008, Stephens-Davidowitz found, “searches and sign-ups for Stormfront, a white nationalist site with surprisingly high popularity in the United States, were more than ten times higher than normal.” By tracking racist search words by areas in the US, Stephens-Davidowitz found that surveys which placed racism mostly in the South and among Republicans were wrong. Rather, upstate New York and other supposedly liberal Democratic areas had high racism rates. “Republicans in the South may be more likely to admit to racism. But plenty of Democrats in the North have similar attitudes,” Stephens-Davidowitz writes. He adds, “My study was initially rejected by five academic journals. Many of the peer reviewers...said that it was impossible to believe that so many Americans harboured such vicious racism.”

Barack Obama won because conditions were favourable for Democrats, but racism reduced the margin of victory a white candidate would have had. And Stephens-Davidowitz’s findings explain both the victory of Donald Trump and why the pollsters were wrong. He found that African-Americans who had told pollsters they would come out to vote against Trump stayed at home, basing this finding on the number of searches about voting in predominantly black areas.

“Search data revealed that we lived in a very different society from the one academics and journalists, relying on polls, thought that we lived in. It revealed a nasty, scary, and widespread rage that was waiting for a candidate to give voice to it,” Stephens-Davidowitz concludes.

Among his contrary to conventional wisdom findings: unemployment is unrelated to racism, terrorist attacks don’t increase anxiety, a prevalent sexual fantasy among men in India and Bangladesh is being breastfed and the top concern for women about their vagina is odour. He also explores whether the American media are biased, if advertising works, whether Freudian slips really reveal what people are thinking, and how to impress a woman on a first date (basically, let her talk about herself and laugh at her jokes).

Unfortunately, this book is almost exclusively about Americans, and many of the findings may not apply to a society like ours. But it does tell us how likely it is that the image people present is false.

Everybody Lies

Seth Stephens-Davidowitz.

Dey Street Books, 2017

ASIN: B01AFXZ2F4; 357 pages.

REVIEW BY KEVIN BALDEOSINGH

Since 2013, United Way T&T’s (UWTT) National Day of Caring initiative has challenged companies to create a spirit of volunteerism among their employees. The objective is to encourage companies to give back to and impact change in communities. All companies in T&T are invited to participate. Projects have ranged from the cleaning and repair of schools to environmental clean-ups.

This year, Alta benefited from adoption by Republic Bank Ltd for the day. Alta runs a free National Adult Literacy Programme, teaching 1,500 students at more than 49 classes at 44 venues annually.

The NGO liaises with 267 active volunteer tutors; meets with 40 coordinators; holds weekly classes in its on-site training room plus two large annual meetings and other small meetings yearround.

With continued expansion, it is essential that Alta keeps the three office buildings in Belmont, Arima and San Fernando in good repair. It is also important to increase storage areas, and provide adequate furniture for human resource capacity in order to be effective in catering to students and volunteer tutors throughout Trinidad.

As Alta’s work in the communities is free, there is no income generation, and so the aforementioned needs are often postponed. Fortunately this year Republic Bank came to the rescue.

Employees from the bank sourced sponsored paint from Berger Paints and completed the interior painting of Alta’s Belmont training room, which also acts as a classroom and meeting room, as well as the San Fernando office space. They also removed the old carpeting at the South office and installed new carpets and blinds.

In the coming weeks, Republic Bank will donate an All-in-One Desktop computer to Alta’s Belmont office as well as a storage cabinet and office chair to the San Fernando office. The Arima office will also be furnished with a metal shelving unit, one office chair and an air-conditioning unit.

Alta’s Resource Development Officer, M’aisha Thomas, said: “The 2017 Day of Caring was very successful. Republic Bank went over and beyond, bending over backward to ensure everything was ready for the day. We were also extremely grateful that they were willing to have the day of caring last longer than one day, as there were some elements which—through no fault of theirs—could not be completed on the day. As always, Alta istruly grateful to RBL for continuously supporting literacy and ensuring that Alta can continue to operate efficiently and effectively.”

Thank you, United Way T&T, for encouraging a true spirit of volunteerism among companies here, and thanks to Republic Bank for brightening up Alta’s office spaces and helping Alta continue to empower adults through literacy.

More info 
​To volunteer, donate or sponsor a student, call
624-2582 or email Altapos.tt@gmail.com. Keep
up to date with Alta on Facebook, Twitter and
Instagram: Alta TT

A gift of drums and some spirited performances by T&T paranderos and Venezuelan musicians were highlights of last Tuesday’s Santísima Cruz de Mayo—May Cross—celebrations in Lopinot.

Santísima Cruz de Mayo is a holiday celebrated in May in many parts of East Venezuela, Spain and hispanic America. With its origins in the search for the true cross on which Christians believe the man-god Jesus was executed, the festival has changed over the centuries according to the cultures which have interpreted it, with African diaspora beliefs, for example, becoming part of the traditions all along parts of north coast and eastern Venezuela, where they sing devotional songs to St John the Baptist and decorate crosses during the month of May, sometimes extending into June.

In Venezuela, Santísima Cruz de Mayo or Festival of the Crosses is especially celebrated in Choroni, Aragua state, where the entire village has a large festival, dancing to drums until dawn. The Afro-Venezuelan believers hold festive and liturgical ceremonies, unfurling flags and walking in processions. There is much singing, drumming, dancing, and communal prayer meetings as part of the festival.

Venezuelans who settled in Trinidad’s Lopinot Valley to farm, often on cocoa estates, brought with them some of these religious traditions. They also brought musical traditions of galerones, fulias, and decimas songs, which helped shape Trinidad parang music.

The current Venezuelan embassy in T&T organised Tuesday’s Cruz de Mayo event in Lopinot to help build closer friendship ties between our two countries. And they brought the Caracas group, the Fundación Grupo Madera (of La Ruta del Tambor—the Way of the Drum—Programme) to do a special performance of songs and dances in Lopinot.

The local parang group Jugadores Unidos shared the stage with the Grupo Madera musicians to highlight their shared heritage.

Grupo Madera gave several drums to the local group. And in other performances, some students from the Venezuelan Embassy’s Institute of Culture and Cooperation showed their talent with the cuatro, conducted by Raul Landaeta.

Denise Chinpire-O’Riley plans to continue her father’s legacy of supporting Indian classical singing as part of T&T’s culture. On Saturday, May 27, Chinpire-O’Riley hosted the fourth instalment of Classical Cruise. It attracted scores of patrons to listen to performers including Jameer Hosein, Dubraj Persad, Lilly Ramcharan Moon and Rakesh Yankaran.

Chinpire-O’Riley picked up the cause after her father, Kunzru Sammy “KS” Chinpire, died in 2013. The elder Chinpire had played a pivotal role in the resurgence of Indian classical music in T&T. The artform was popular in the 1960s and 70s, but interest declined when chutney music rose. So KS Chinpire began hosting competitions dating from 2011 up until his death in 2013, sometimes doing two shows per year. After that period, Denise Chinpire-O’Reilly and her sister Diane Chinpire continued promoting Indian classical singing.

Imagine being accepted to attend the university of your heart’s desire. Wouldn’t that just make you ecstatic? Especially if you knew you worked long and hard to get there.

Well, imagine now, you can’t go, because you just don’t have the money you need to facilitate some requirements.

This has been 34-year-old Ivory Hayes’ predicament since being accepted to John Hopkins University (JHU, Bloomberg School of Public Health), in 2015 to do a Masters in Public Health. Hayes is a certified health coach and social entrepreneur. She has a BSc in Pharmacy and a post graduate diploma in Arts and Cultural Enterprise Management from the University of the West Indies (UWI, St Augustine).

The former Bishop Anstey High School student feels like she is running out of ideas to raise the US$96,000 needed for full time direct costs and living expenses.

“I am prepared to supplement whatever funds I raise with a loan,” she says.

In 13 days, her online campaign has only been able to raise US$130.

Hayne was accepted to pursue a Masters in Public Health at three top universities, including George Washington and Columbia universities as well as JHU. She prefers the last option. Hayes had hoped to start full-time in July, but with her financial setback, she may now have to wait until January 2018.

The spoken word poet has been doing social media campaigns, such as her Facebook page: Help Me Help More, to ask the public for funding assistance. The Arima native tells her story on generosity.com, which is a popular free crowd-funding website specifically developed as a fund-raising platform for public use. The platform helps people raise funds for education, medical needs, business, and other purposes.

On her Facebook page, she tells the public how they can assist by purchasing hand-designed T-shirts from the campaign’s online store. These T-shirts are all designed by Hayes, a collection from her-at the moment-dormant line, Empressive. Her latest bit of fund-raising, she says, will be an upcoming movie night, for which she is approaching companies to buy bulk tickets.

Hayes said she took the approach of crowd-funding after several failed attempts at scholarship programmes for part-funding.

What if, after all the effort, she still does not meet the finances needed? What is her plan B?

“This is my plan B.... But I will continue to do the work as best as I can with my certifications, although I know my reach and efficacy will be limited,” she said.

She noted she has helped hundreds of citizens through her work as a pharmacist and health/diabetes educator over the last 11 years and she hopes to be able to help many more.

If she receives the funding she needs, Hayes says she will certainly give back to the country of T&T through free health education lectures at community spaces across the country for one year, beginning in September 2017. She also promises one person will also receive six months of health coaching free of charge, among other ideas she intends to explore.

While some have asked why the continued fight when Hayes can just go to another university, she says this:

“I have seen the difference that research and well-thought-out programmes can make in the lives of individuals. I want to be a catalyst for the change that would significantly improve the health forecast of T&T and the region at large.

“My career goals are targeted at all levels of potential impact: the patients, my colleagues in health care, leaders and policy makers. I want to teach, to be actively involved in research and to design programmes that are efficient and effective. I have been blessed to be exposed to an avenue and an institution which I believe would make all of this possible.”

For more information or to support Ivory Hayes, visit the Facebook page: Ivory Hayes goes to Johns Hopkins University, Help me, Help More. Mobile and telephone contacts are all to be found on the page.

A new soca song with a decidedly dub-influenced beat, the song Beware is a catchy, upbeat, urgent warning song aimed at young people in poor circumstances tempted to follow false leaders. It’s both a cautionary song and an appeal for conscious change, and it’s the latest offering from soca singers Blaxx (Dexter Stewart) and Starr George (Brandon George).

Written by George, the Millbeatz produced song encourages all citizens to get involved in preventing young people at risk from turning to a destructive life of crime and violence.

Beware is the second topical message in as many years from the two veteran performers. They combined voices last year on the road safety anthem Designate which urged people on the roads to always have a sober driver. The song was picked up by local road safety NGO Arrive Alive and featured prominently at their rallies.

“It’s always been my aim to deliver positive messages in my songs. Over the years, that has never changed. Blaxx has always been a dear friend of mine and when I extended the invitation to him, he responded willingly on both occasions,” George said of their most recent collaboration.

Blaxx said: “Our youth are in trouble and it’s our responsibility as artistes, as parents, as nationals of T&T, to help them and guide them along the correct path.”

More info 
​Call in to your favourite radio stations to request Starr George and Blaxx’s Beware or log on to their social media pages for a personalised experience and more information about how you could become a part of the Beware movement.