Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says she was deeply affected by recent racist attacks directed at her, not because of the personal insults, but because they reflected a loss of humanity that threatens Trinidad and Tobago’s social fabric.
Speaking at the Office of the Prime Minister’s African Emancipation Day celebration at the Diplomatic Centre yesterday, Persad-Bissessar said the recent attacks underscored the need for citizens to reject prejudice and embrace the principles of unity embodied by Emancipation.
“Recently, I, too, have been the target of words rooted in deep racial prejudice. I will not pretend they did not affect me,” she said.
“But the hurt I felt was not for myself. I have served long enough to understand that public life demands resilience.”
Instead, she said what saddened her most was witnessing people abandon their shared humanity.
“Sometimes we forget our humanity and get caught up in the language of division. No nation can ever survive in that regard,” she said, adding that Trinidad and Tobago’s future depends on citizens aspiring and achieving together.
Persad-Bissessar used the occasion to argue that African Emancipation Day is not only a commemoration of the abolition of slavery but also a reminder to reject “the chains of prejudice, hatred, ignorance and fear.”
She said words have the power to either wound or heal and warned that racial division weakens the nation.
“They can divide a nation or unite one,” she said, adding that Trinidad and Tobago has always been at its strongest when its people “have chosen one another over division.”
“As Prime Minister, I will always serve every citizen equally, because this office belongs to every citizen,” she declared.
The Prime Minister was seemingly referencing leaked audio purported to be a conversation between Genevieve Hadeed and her relative Star Sabga, who used a derogatory term to reference people of Indian descent.
Earlier in her address, Persad-Bissessar reflected on the significance of African Emancipation Day, describing it as a time to remember the millions of African women, men and children who were forcibly taken from their homelands through the transatlantic slave trade.
She said they arrived in the Caribbean stripped of their freedom, families, languages and even their humanity, but carried “an unconquerable spirit” that no cruelty could extinguish.
“From unimaginable suffering emerged extraordinary resilience,” she said, arguing that their descendants helped lay the foundations of Trinidad and Tobago through their labour, courage and enduring contributions to every sphere of national life.
Persad-Bissessar said African Emancipation was not solely the story of one community but the beginning of the modern story of T&T.
Identifying herself as the daughter of descendants of Indian indentured labourers, she said her ancestors arrived in a country already transformed by the triumph of emancipated Africans.
“The opportunities they found and the future they helped build were made possible by those who had first endured slavery, resisted oppression, and won their freedom,” she said.
She said every community that followed, including those from India, Europe, China, the Middle East, Syria, Lebanon and the First Peoples, had enriched the nation, but stressed that the country’s diverse origins should never become a source of division.
“Our journeys began differently, but our destiny became one,” she said, describing diversity as T&T’s “greatest strength.”
The Prime Minister also reaffirmed her Government’s commitment to preserving the legacy of Emancipation by strengthening public education and outreach initiatives surrounding the observance.
She urged ministers to ensure that the principles of dignity, fairness, equality and inclusion guide every ministry and state agency, while thanking members of the diplomatic corps for joining the celebration and encouraging continued international partnerships built on freedom, equality and human dignity.
