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Trinidad & Tobago: “Please stand. . . for something”

Categories: Caribbean, Trinidad & Tobago, Development, Governance, Law, Politics, Protest

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Click on the image to play video

On the day of the reading of Trinidad and Tobago's 2007 budget [2] — which, from the talk on the streets, could include all manner of life-changing proposals — I figured this conceptual video by Trinidadian multimedia artist Elspeth Duncan [3] would be a timely presentation. Says Elspeth [4]:

This video was created from footage I shot of various protests taking place in Trinidad between late 2005 and early 2006. It represents the collective voice of the people at a time when the republic of Trinidad & Tobago is going through crisis and experiencing transformation on many levels. The statements (written in bold) below are from placards held and t-shirts worn within the video. The first few opening bars of music in the video are the first few bars of the national anthem of Trinidad & Tobago, for which it is always requested of us: “Ladies and gentlemen, please stand.” The video takes this request a step further and calls for each of us, once and for all, to stand for something.
(Rest of music – Elspeth Duncan, from the CD Manzanilla) (…more) [4]