July 1, 2022
Someone we can all share in Sir Shridath Ramphal has released papers of his best speeches and presentations over his 72 year diplomatic and political life. What a treasure trove of information, contained on the internet for us all to have.
Reading some of the material made me feel proud to share this region with a man like him. He was on another level, head and shoulders above many of our own leaders. His vision for the Pan-Caribbean was well beyond just the Commonwealth Caribbean, but for us all. He had us all in mind, from Haiti to the Dominican Republic, the Dutch, French and Spanish Caribbean.
To be honest, in my ignorance, I didn’t know who he was until last year. It’s sad, I know. Even though I have heard about his centre at the University of the West Indies, I didn’t care too much to look into it until I started this news site. But it’s never too late to find out something and his website was presented to me and I was pleasantly surprised by the content that is still relevant today.
Caribbean integration is still a primary issue of discussion at the CARICOM level. We need to continually build the ties that bind us and bring us together, for whatever it is, let’s do it. Come together and make this islands a better place.
There is no competition when we are all underneath our Lord and Saviour. We are all one. When we say we are looking for the next Rihanna with the TropicSpin Music and Song Competition, we mean it. WE want the next Derek Walcott with our Poetry Contest and/or the next George Lamming with our short story contest. They are out there and we will yank them out.
We would love to speak with Sir Shridath before he passes away, but we know he is over 90 years old and that may not be possible. So, we thank him for releasing his papers for us to get a feel of who he was, above and beyond just his centre at the UWI.