August 1st 1834 The Africans converge on the Treasury Building in Port of Spain From all over the island they assemble to hear the Emancipation Proclamation being read They are determined that the nightmare of enslavement against which they had fought so relentlessly MUST end Pas de six ans No more six years was the refrain They will not agree to the proposed period of apprenticeship

Kambule CanboulayCannes Brulees was refreshingly intimate this Friday morning as Pearl and her cast revisited the details of the event that started it all

Idakedas recently formed NGO the Indigenous Creative Arts Network or ICAN is about to start its workshops for young people in the arts culture and heritage A short Orientation Session with parentsguardians and students will take place at 10am on Saturday April 25th at the St Georges College Barataria and classes begin the following week on May 2nd at the same venue

Articles on culture written by Dara Healy for the TT Newsday newspaper

There is an erroneous and misguided conversation which has been gaining momentum over the past few years regarding the Carnival of the people of Trinidad and Tobago This conversation perpetuates centuriesold colonial and elitist perspectives of our celebration it disconnects the people from this expression of themselves and trivialises the labours of thousands of citizens over many months to create the very festival that is imitated all over the world Further this conversation which labels our Carnival a distraction displays ignorance of the spiritual resistance and ritualistic underpinnings of the celebration It is therefore time to articulate a more grounded philosophical perspective and begin a new and accurate conversation To be clear Carnival is not just a party

Written by poet and playwright Eintou Springer Kambule imagines the conversations between the stick fighters and jammettes as they prepared to do battle with then Police Commissioner Captain Baker and his men Springer uses the spelling Kambule a Kikongo word that means procession This meaning became conflated with the more widely known spelling Canboulaywhich is a French patois word meaning burnt canes

Veteran actor Brendon Lacaille will lend his considerable acting talents to the role of the Pierrot in Kambule this year Lacaille traditionally commanding in the role of the Governor will take up the challenge of one the Griots of the piece playing next to the equally formidable Muhammad Muwakil who has placed his signature style on the role over the years Young actors Makesi Algernon and Shanya Springer will take on the roles of the Governor and Cariso Jane respectively while noted dancer and choreographer Christopher Sheppard brings his expertise to the team once more

Rehearsals for the Eintou Springer play Kambule start this weekendThe play documents the victory by stick fighters over the colonial administration to save the Carnival of the ordinary people which we still enjoy today It takes place on the Piccadilly Greens Port of Spain at 430 am on Carnival Friday morning

African Heritage Sites in Trinidad and Tobago researched and written by Eintou Pearl Springer is now available at the Metropolitan Book Store in Port of Spain and the Blue Edition Bookstore in Tunapuna The book documents a number of sites across Trinidad and Tobago which are significant to people of African Heritage and includes places such as the Meriken communities in Moruga the Yoruba Village in Port of Spain the St Patricks Church in Tobago and the caves of Tamana