The Island Of Trinidad Elects It's First Female Prime Minister

I can only recall one other female Prime Minister, the late Eugenia Charles of Dominica, being elected down in these parts of the Caribbean; now, we have another Woman who was elected in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad Bissessar. Trinidad is probably the richest island in the Caribbean due to its oil and reserves; it obviously cannot compare to the reserves in Saudi Arabia or Iraq, but for a relatively tiny island, it is worth mentioning.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="121" caption="Trinidad, Photo Credit: Kalamazadkhan"][/caption]

Trinidad is also the source of Calypso and Socca… not the nonsense you hear from Harry Belafonte, but complex music with the attendant lyrics, which speak about Caribbean history, pride, and the conditions of the people. The people of Trinidad are known as “Trinidadians.”

Like most of the islands in the Caribbean, Trinidad and its sister island, Tobago, are former British Protectorates. Trinidad is a country made up of Blacks, descendants of Africa, and Indians who came from India. From the outside, the typical tourist will see a country of camaraderie between the two groups, but all is not well between the two groups who have lived side by side in an uneasy peace… with tensions brewing underground for years. Now that the “Trinidadian” Indians have the numbers in demographics, they have been making inroads into political office and recently have gained the office of the Prime Minister.

The problem facing Trinidad is a malignant offshoot of racism, a microcosm of what is rampant, but is seldom spoken of in America and many of the Caribbean Islands: It is the light skinned blacks being treated better than those with darker hues. Like the caste system in India, many of the Indians in Trinidad embrace this social cancer - even though it is defacto than formal.