Sunday was April 6, 2014. On that day in 1970, NJAC’s Basil Davis was shot dead by police at the People’s Parliament (Woodford Square), Port-of-Spain. It was the potent Black Power time, when Afro and Indo Trinbagonians banded together to oppose official cronyism. Basil Davis made the ultimate sacrifice fighting against the then administration’s oppression of poor people. How many of us can/would voluntarily lay down our life for the same purpose? The least we must do is honour his contribution by setting things right.
The time is always right to do the right thing! In the face of the overflowing Unemployment Fund (it contains more than $7 billion), I wonder why we still tolerate poor people being chinksed of their entitlement to welfare programmes whose expenditure is exclusively met by monies collected via the Unemployment Levy—a levy which came about directly as a result of the Black Power protests? Power to the people! Give the people what is theirs! Basil Davis bought it by his blood! RIP, Basil Davis! NJAC might have forgotten you, but I haven't!
Richard Wm Thomas,
Arouca