African Emancipation Day celebrations in Trinidad and Tobago are actively about ethnic ownership, political legitimacy and national identity, hotly and persistently contested. There is more comfort when the People’s National Movement (PNM) is in power; greater anxiety when the United National Congress (UNC) is in power. Recent events and developments make this clear.
The African dilemma in T&T is navigating post-colonial power, ethnic political rivalry and socio-economic displacement constantly and all at once within a dual ethnic political party system in a multi-ethnic society, now that hegemonic power has receded.
With unassailable rule for 30 unbroken years by the PNM, Afro-Trinidadians enjoyed ethno-political hegemony from 1956 to 1986. The National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) broke this monopoly, but did not handle the ethno-political equation in government and party well and that facilitated the creation of Club 88, which evolved into the UNC, which inherited the core Indo-Trinidadian base of the United Labour Front and the Democratic Labour Party before it.
Since self-government, the restlessness of Afro-Trinis about political power began almost as soon as T&T became Independent, under the PNM, culminating in the 1970 Black Power uprising. Yet, for 16 years after that, the PNM stayed intact until the NAR, a coalition of four political parties pulling together multiple ethnic strands, became a force.
Since then, the battle has been for the marginal seats where elections have been won or lost based on the enthusiasm of voters, which could lead to withdrawal of commitment, or to energised effort and therefore affect voter turnout and electoral outcome. When this results in a change of the PNM and the installation of an Indo-Trinidadian majority party in government, it always causes anxiety among the hardcore Afro-Trini supporters of the PNM. This is not one-sided; when the PNM is in power, UNC supporters also feel marginalised and excluded. And in things like Divali Nagar and Indian Arrival Day, there is independent cultural assertion, as well as diplomatic engagement of political power.
But Indo-Trinis have had more experience of marginalisation and exclusion than Afro-Trinis in this country.
At the current time, every anxiety is exacerbated by the fact that national cash flow is limited, income is low and money scarce. In such a situation, which threatens State expenditure and subsidies to state enterprises, patronage jobs and economic mobility through the State sector is structurally diminished.
The core dilemma for Afro-Trinis is that hegemonic power can no longer be assumed. It must now be navigated and shared. And because patronage and the State and State enterprise sector cannot be relied upon in the same way, resilient self-reliance has to be embraced, the urban socio-economic gap needs to be closed and the effective navigation of power in a multi-ethnic society and the adaptation required must be accepted. This is true now for both Indo and Afro citizens of T&T.
Some Indo-Trinidadians, increasingly over time, embraced the PNM. Since the NAR especially, we have seen increasing movement of Afro-Trinis to the UNC. To the core UNC supporter, Indian embrace of the PNM is treachery. To core PNM supporters, African identification with the UNC is betrayal.
Recent controversies about African Emancipation Day celebrations highlight structural friction points that are clearly identifiable. For example, political partisanship, as seen in the political/executive friction triggered by the Prime Minister’s non-attendance at a major Emancipation event, and various interpretations of it, and responses to it. How the State should honour a major African civil space, respect for Government and its representatives, and divisive partisan quarrels all became issues. The issue of State power, State leadership and cultural alignment with these are central to the controversy.
The issue of cultural preservation vs integration was also highlighted through the inclusion of Indian artistes and Indian culture in Emancipation. Some saw what others regard as integration and fusion as nothing but intrusion and a dilution of purity.
And so, this 2026 African Emancipation Day has revealed to us the flaw in our political party system; it has highlighted the fragility of unity and mutuality among the two largest ethnic groups and has emphasised the pressure points in the society, which I have on many occasions highlighted before; 1) the need for shared political power rather than a winner take all system; 2) the need for a shared prosperity model that would reduce citizen dependence and, 3) the need for respectful acceptance of ethnic and cultural diversity and its practice, while making room for creativity, innovation, integration and fusion without pressure.
These are pressing matters which require great sensitivity.
