The humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues of the historic teachers’ strike of 1975, an unforgettable event in the annals of the SVGTU itself, the local trade union movement and the country as a whole. For me just to think that I am here, two years away from the 50th anniversary of that momentous event, brings treasured memories of a glorious chapter in our country’s history. The fact that teachers, so-called “white …
I concluded last week with a spirited defence of the 1935 uprising in St Vincent and the Grenadines, a rebellion de facto against British colonial rule, which while one of the earliest in the region, was replicated in almost every British colony in the Caribbean. Clearly, by their very nature, and indeed the response of the colonial government and the plantocracy, these were not considered as any mere rabble-rousing riots. …
I was happy to hear that at long last, there is to be some sort of official recognition of October 21, a seminal day in our history of resistance to colonial domination and rule by the plantocracy. Prime Minister Hon. Ralph Gonsalves has made calls for nation-wide community activities to mark the occasion over the weekend of October 21/22 this year. October 21 is a very special date in our …
On hearing the news that our country had been elected unanimously to the Presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), a community with a population of over 600 million people, amidst my pride, I remembered a quote for which a departed comrade of mine was famous. That comrade, Caspar London, among his other memorable quotes, had one from the legendary Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, which …
One cannot help but congratulate the St Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers Union (SVGTU) for their dogged determination not to let the memory of its historic struggles of 1975 fade from memory or appreciation. Each year the SVGTU organizes a week of activities to mark the strike of 1975 which provoked the wrath and drew the ire of the then St Vincent Labour party government. It is no easy feat …