A Voice to Enlighten and Empower: The Speeches of Jerome Teelucksingh Volume 2

By Jerome Teelucksingh

This book is the second volume of academic and informal speeches that were delivered by Jerome Teelucksingh. The speeches include remarks, feature addresses, reviews of books, wedding speeches, and closing comments. The wide range of topics covered in A Voice to Enlighten and Empower include trade unionism, religion, gender relations, conflict resolution, class consciousness, and ethnicity. Excerpts from some of these speeches have been published. This second collection of speeches will be useful to those persons seeking to learn more of historical and current issues.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 18, 2015
• ISBN: 9781514406304

Jerome Teelucksingh

Jerome Teelucksingh has made numerous presentations on various aspects of society. He is also a prolific writer and has published chapters, books, and articles on Caribbean personalities, culture, literature, politics, masculinity, migration, and indentureship. His most recent academic publication is Labour and the Decolonization Struggle in Trinidad and Tobago.

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2

Centenary of the death of Rev. John Morton

(Delivered at the Aramalaya Presbyterian Church, Tunapuna, Trinidad and Tobago, 2013)

The children were all black and coloured. Owing to race prejudice there was scarcely an East Indian child to be found in schools in the whole island. This quotation from Sarah Morton’s John Morton of Trinidad was Rev. Dr. John Morton’s assessment of the state of education in the British West Indian colony of Trinidad.

Rev. Adrian Sieunarine, members of the Aramalya Presbyterian Church, fellow Presbyterians from other churches, specially invited guests, ladies and gentlemen, members of the media, I am honoured to be here at the centenary memorial of Rev. Dr. John Morton, the visionary Canadian missionary who initiated an amazing and revolutionary Reformation in education. This address focuses primarily on his impact on education in Trinidad.

By 1868, there were approximately 20,000 East Indians in Trinidad without an educational future East Indian parents refused to send their children to ward schools. Rev. Morton sympathetically understood the plight of the East Indians and their lack of interest in colonial education at the ward schools.

One notable feature of this pioneering effort in Education was the willingness of these Canadian missionaries to work in tandem with the existing Colonial Government in educating a wide section of the population.

In 1869, Rev. Morton appealed to Governor Gordon for financial support for schools for the East Indian immigrants. Morton’s intervention profoundly impacted on the Education system because in 1870, the government enacted an Education Ordinance which established dual control of primary schools. This was subsequently followed by the opening of the first government-supported East Indian school in San Fernando in 1871. In accordance with a provision in the school law, every Thursday, Morton was given the responsibility to oversee religious instruction at the ward schools.

The Canadian Mission Indian school or CMI school could be seen as the evangelizing arm of the church at that time. An obvious challenge to the missionaries was the establishment of schools to cater for the special needs of these East Indian children. Their educational thrust and persistent efforts targeted rural areas where the East Indian immigrants had settled.

On 3 March 1868, the education of three East Indian children on the doorsteps of the home of Rev. Morton heralded an endeavour which would supplement the educational mission of other denominational schools. This simple gesture exemplified the willingness of Morton to sacrifice his home and time for the children of poor, uneducated, indentured labourers. This act was symbolic of the Presbyterian Church’s future commitment and dedication in an uphill task of reforming education in Trinidad.

One of the most outstanding and enduring characteristics of this mission was its educational outreach in rural communities. CMI schools were established in such outlying villages as Barrackpore, Fyzabad, Rousillac, Santa Cruz, Cumuto, Biche, Plum Road, Cunaripo and Lengua. Apart from assistance from the Presbyterian Church in Canada, the planters and government in Trinidad supplemented the resources necessary to continue the educational mission. For instance, schools in the district of Couva were heavily supported by planters.

No attempt was made in the Presbyterian schools to separate the religious and the secular subjects and by 1899 when the Secretary of State began agricultural training at primary schools, Rev. Morton had already boldly initiated this practice in the Canadian Mission schools. Many of you would recall the garden competitions which were part of the culture of Canadian Mission schools.

Neither integration nor religious conversion was easily achieved as there was occasional friction between the traditional teachings of Christianity and East Indian culture. The missionaries were attempting to enrich and improve, as they sincerely and honestly believed the social and moral aspects of the lives of both the indentured labourers and their children by relying on the Bible. Thus, though the missionaries appeared to be offering an education with the hidden agenda of evangelism, the majority of the East Indians attending these schools were not forced into accepting Presbyterianism. Let us not be critical of an excellent education foundation that continues to enlighten and mould thousands of male and female Caribbean citizens of diverse religions, ethnicities and classes.

Conversion and Hindi literature

The Presbyterian Church in Canada was fully aware of the need to educate their missionaries in Indian thought and gain practical training in India, before appointment to the British West Indian colonies. For instance, as early as 1854, the Canadians sent a missionary to India to study that country’s history and philosophy. Additionally, Christian Indian books and pamphlets were imported by Presbyterians in the Caribbean.

Under Rev. John Morton, a concerted effort was made to understand the new language and culture that the missionaries encountered. All Canadian Mission schools had reading and writing in Hindi during the Religious Instruction period. By 1870, Bibles and other literature in Hindi were being imported from India by the Presbyterian missionaries in Trinidad. Morton had established the first Hindi press in the basement of his Tunapuna manse and his booklets were being used in day-schools and churches. His wife, Sarah, aided the cause by publishing a Hindi prayer book- Garland of Prayers (Ratna Mala). In 1896, a recent recruit from India, Rev. Babu Lal Behari reportedly sold 5,000 books and tracts in Hindi. Similarly, East Indian men such as Andrew Guyadeen who were high caste Hindus assisted in bridging the language and cultural barriers. East Indians belonging to the Brahmins and Kshatriyas (both high castes) were openly accepted in the Presbyterian Church in Trinidad.

The work of Rev. Morton extended beyond the classroom and church. In 1890, Sarah Morton founded a Girls’ Home at Tunapuna in which young women were taught English, Hindi, Hygiene, Religious Knowledge, Sewing, Cooking and Household Management. Due to social and cultural mores, East Indian females were usually illiterate or semi-literate and forced to enter marriages at a relatively young age and were often ostracized in widowhood. But the Presbyterian Church was able to offer East Indian women a new lease on life.

Not surprisingly, the children of John and Sarah continued the work of their parents. Their son, Harvey, who was also an ordained minister, used the Hindi press at Tunapuna to print a Hindi hymn book (Geeta Mala) in 1901, International Sunday School lessons and various religious literature in Hindi. Furthermore, Morton and other missionaries took the initiative in holding church services in Hindi and other native tongues of the congregation be it in the Tamil dialect or Chinese.

Agnes Morton, daughter of Rev. Morton, was fluent in Hindi and served at the Orange Grove School during the period 1882 to 1888. At the Iere Home, Hindi was a prominent item on the institution’s timetable. Each morning began with Hindi hymns and cathecism whilst Hindi writing and reading was conducted later in the day. The missionaries’ efforts in translation were to highlight the parallels between Hinduism and Presbyterianism.

In 1885, Rev. John Morton’s report on the mission in Trinidad revealed the positive impact of Christianity on the native population, Christian schools and Sunday schools are the special agency of the young and through the children they have a leavening effect upon their parents.

Despite the perceived benefits of offering education to East Indian children, it was given at a price. Islam and Hinduism and their accompanying beliefs, rites and customs were often denigrated by the missionaries to win converts to Christianity. Undoubtedly, certain segments of the East Indian population in Trinidad bitterly resisted these conversion attempts. Many historians and sociologists today, in retrospect view this aspect of the mission as a major flaw or weakness. The Muslims seemed more overtly protective of their religion and culture than the Hindus and this influenced the missionaries’ concentration of outreach activities among the Hindu element of the East Indians. The tension existing in the evangelization drive was apparent. In 1901, when Niamat Khan, a mullah (Muslim priest) from India was baptized and converted to Presbyterianism in Trinidad and upon conversion, had his name changed to Paul Niamat. This event was unfavourably received by the Muslim community and increased the resentment against the Presbyterian missionaries. This would have fostered the belief among missionaries as Rev. Kenneth Grant that Hindus were more approachable and amenable to Christian instruction.

So this work of the Presbyterian missionaries among Hindus and Muslims is still generating controversy among scholars who sometimes offer a harsh interpretation of the labours of the Canadian Presbyterian missionaries. However, can we say that the end justifies the means? The legacy of Naparima Training College (now closed), 5 high schools and 72 primary schools with their powerful impact on our education system today is a testimony in itself.

Few persons are aware of Rev. John Morton’s vital role in ensuring that Presbyterianism was nurtured in other British Caribbean colonies which had an East Indian population. Yes, Trinidad served as the base for a vibrant Canadian mission that expanded to Grenada in 1884, British Guiana and St. Lucia in 1885, and Jamaica in 1894. Indeed, it was a remarkable feat of the Trinidad Mission to simultaneously continue its work in Trinidad whilst initiating and assisting missionary work in other colonies. Undoubtedly, the work of the Trinidad Mission contributed to a rapid expansion of Christianity in the Caribbean and also increased the educational growth in the region. John and Sarah Morton and other Canadian missionaries and catechists were unintentionally and unknowingly contributing to regional integration.

As we reflect on the centenary of Rev. Morton’s death, we need to remember that he certainly did not singlehandedly undertake the mission in Trinidad. He was ably assisted by family members, cathecists, Canadian women, local Bible women, elders, pupil teachers and headmasters who served as missionaries, counsellors, humanitarians or philanthropists and were genuinely interested in improving and uplifting not only East Indians but all those who were alienated and ostracized.

As our nation celebrates 50 years of Independence, let us remember Rev. John Morton whose enduring legacy stretched beyond the shores of Trinidad and Tobago. We must never forget the values and principles of respect, discipline, organization and spirituality which the Canadian missionaries and native leaders sought to instill in schools, churches and communities.

I thank you.

3

The Contribution of CLR James to the Labour Movement in Trinidad and Tobago

(Presented at the University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago, September 2001)

Mr. Chairman, distinguished lecturers of the University of the West Indies, visiting scholars from other universities, the organizing staff of the CLR James Centennial Committee, students, guests, ladies and gentlemen.

It is an honour to join with you all in reflecting with appreciation, on the life and work of CLR James that eminent son of the soil, a true Caribbean man and a worthy prophet of Afro-consciousness in the pre-Independence era.

When CLR James died in London in 1989, the Independent, a London newspaper, eulogized him as probably the most versatile and accomplished Afro-American intellectual of the 20th century. I am sure that James’ classmates from Queen’s Royal College and his Oilfields Workers’ Trade Union friends would have corrected the Independent newspaper by asserting that probably he was the most versatile Trinbagonian intellectual of the 20th century.

We would have no difficulty in agreeing with Andrew Ross of the American Studies program at New York University whose assessment was that James had attained such prominence now matched only by DuBois. Indeed, we acknowledge that James belonged not merely to Trinidad and Tobago but he was one of the finest sons of the African Diaspora of the last century.

We honour him, but believe that Trinidad’s history would have been more glamorous and exciting if he had spent more of his life standing beside the few prominent leaders of Trinidad and Tobago who struggled in the critical pre-Independence decades.

It was a period of historic and conscious expressions of a colonial people who challenged metropolitan governance in their demand for constitutional reform; better conditions for the laboring class; and social equity in a fast-developing multi-ethnic society.

Let me speak of him as a defender of workers’ rights and the champion of Labour whose influence extended beyond Trinidad and Tobago. One of James’ early experiences of working class discontent was witnessing the dockworkers’ strike in Port-of-Spain during 1919. He was only a teenager but he knew some of the longshoremen who were Afro-workers. Many were Garveyites and like James had read Garvey’s paper- the Negro World with its emphasis on race consciousness.

James made his contributions to the development of the working class wherever he lived. In England he interfaced with the Independent Labour Party and Socialist Workers Party. He teamed up with George Padmore, a towering figure in the global working class movement. In England, James identified with movements for the unemployed; and frequently agitated among British workers for solidarity among the laboring class. Furthermore, he was acquainted with working class conditions in England, Scotland and Wales.

In the USA where James spent 15 years, he appreciated the deprivations and struggles of the Afro-working class and the iniquitous segregation policies of the USA which persisted long after emancipation. In 1941, he identified with the striking sharecroppers in Southern Missouri and inspired them as lecturer and pamphleteer.

June 1937 ushered in a new era in the history of the working class in Trinidad and Tobago. While the charismatic Tubal Uriah Butler held the centre-stage, it was the writings of CLR James which gave credence to the articulation of the working class in their response to the exploitation and oppression by the oil companies.

In the aftermath of the disturbances, the British authorities partly blamed James’ publication – The Life of Captain Cipriani which circulated among workers. It boldly emphasized the need for self-rule and better treatment of the labouring class. Even though James was in England at the outbreak of the 1937 riots, his contributions impacted on the crisis in Trinidad. James, a founding member of the International African Service Bureau, spoke at Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park, London where he defended the striking workers in Trinidad.

At Hyde Park, James heckled Marcus Garvey, another remarkable champion of the African Diaspora, for his verbal criticism of the Trinidad strikers and West Indian workers who were demanding better working conditions. James understood the underlying causes of the strike, the imperatives-political, economic and social-which inspired the strikes. It was an anti-colonial demonstration by workers who sought the