I read in the daily newspapers recently that the City of Port-of-Spain intends to honour our first Miss Universe winner, Janelle Penny Commissiong-Chow by adding her name to Queen Street in downtown Port-of-Spain. While this gesture is well deserved by Penny, and a little overdue, I can't help but think that this tribute is diminished by the fact that Queen Street will retain its original title as well. While the connotations in this amalgamation is obvious given that Penny will always remain a Queen in our eyes, the popularity of the existing Queen Street name will eventually overshadow the supplemental one.
Let us not also forget, that Penny's victory came not only for us in Trinidad and Tobago, but coloured women across the globe, as she was the first black woman ever to win the title in the fifteenth year the competition was held, and among the largest pool of contestants to that date. Today, she remains the first of only four black women in the world to ever bear that prestigious crown, with the third, Wendy Fitzwilliam, being another revered national. Whereas there are multiple national landmarks that bears Wendy's name however, Penny has been sorely under-appreciated in this regard.
To this end, I am humbly asking you, and the City Council, reconsider the decision to co-name Queen Street with Penny's and examine the following choices instead:
Attach Penny's name to a new street being constructed in or around Port-of-Spain; keep the name Queen Street for the portion which begins on Picadilly Street and continues West until Frederick, then rename the piece that extends West from Frederick Street to Richmond Street to Penny Commissiong Street; rename Oxford Street to Penny Commissiong Street in tribute to her childhood home.
Your Worship, other heroes such as Brian Lara, Hasely Crawford, Keshorn Walcott, Nelson Mandela and most recently Winston Nanan have all been allotted national landmarks which were renamed in their honor, as a mark of appreciation to their contribution to our society, and to secure their memory and legacy in our history. In keeping with these precedents, Janelle Penny Commissiong-Chow is a national icon who deserves no less than her peers, and should be immortalised for her accomplishments, without fear of that allotment being eclipsed.
Ravi Maharaj
Curepe