The Emancipation Support Committee (ESC) wishes to make it clear that an article which appeared in the T&T Guardian on Saturday June 29 grossly misrepresented the views of panellists at the Kwame Ture memorial lecture on June 27 at the National Library.
The topic of the night was Steering our Youth away from Crime and a full hall heard criminologist Renee Cummings, social activist David Muhammad and dramatist/playwright and poet, Eintou Pearl Springer bring insights into what families and communities could do to address the issue.
The ESC, which does not censor the views of its panellists, feels that journalists, like listeners, who may agree or disagree with opinions expressed, should challenge what is actually said and not use the cover of reporting to attack by wilful distortion. We wish to make it clear that at no time during the night did any of the panellists state or infer that "a Hindu government and Christianity" were "causing young black men to commit crime" in T&T, views boldly attributed to "the panellists" by the headline and opening paragraph of the article.
It is unfortunate that a panel rich in content was so misrepresented. This panel, so important for the perspectives it advanced on the critical issue of crime facing our society, should not be distorted to feed divisiveness and deny those who were not present an opportunity to understand the views of people with expertise and insightful experiences.
Ms Cummings, in a comprehensive and technical presentation, advised the audience that the best predictor of future violence was exposure to past violence. She warned of the current fascination with violence.She delved into the complex relationships between violent crime and other social factors, including poverty, mental illness, abuse, marital violence and highly stressful situations. She also indicated that violence took different forms, all of which needed to be addressed.
She provided guidance about signs that families and communities should look for, particularly among at-risk youth. She advised that it was necessary to make communities more resilient to violence through actions such as child-protection training, community mediation programmes and community services and counselling. She emphasised that increased policing alone would not solve the problem.
Mr Muhammad reminded the audience that almost 8,000 young black men were picked up during the last state of emergency, stating that such a situation should not be allowed to take place again.Among the causes of crime he identified broken families, negative peer group pressures and gangs, all of which are increasing in scope in the context of the economic and cultural deprivation affecting our communities.
His essential message was that we ourselves must take responsibility for our social, spiritual and moral well-being. He challenged men to play a greater role in the upbringing of their sons.
Muhammad also spoke about the direct engagement and house-to-house outreach by himself and members of his organisation in marginalised and stigmatised communities such as Beetham, Sea Lots and other areas of East Port-of-Spain, and called on others from outside of these communities to follow the example of reaching out in whatever ways they could to help restore collective wellbeing.
Eintou Springer shared with participants her own experiences as she sought to empower young people through interventions in schools in so-called hot spot communities utilising drama, poetry, music and all aspects of culture. She spoke about the positive impact of introducing African drums in the schools and using Carnival characters and folktales as teaching tools for morality, identity and academics.
She bewailed the fact that authorities are often blind to the value of using indigenous and other non-European culture in education. She raised concerns about cultural insensitivity in a school curriculum that only provided for Indian dance, and related her own experience in a school which applied for African drums and instead received a dholak.
She warned about the damage that ill-prepared educators can do to young minds when they do not understand the importance of culture and ethnic identity as core elements in shaping children's self-esteem.Eintou gave a specific example of a teacher whose expressed opinion was that Christianity was the only identity needed and that African children should not see themselves as African.
In talking about the importance of reaching our children in the schools and the communities to transform the negative realities, Eintou stressed love as one of the most powerful tools for change.She said we have to love our children, ourselves and our communities more deeply.
Khafra Kambon
Chairman–Emancipation
Support Committee
�2EDITOR'S NOTE: The T&T Guardian stands by its story published on June 29, p A7.