Media asked to leave Pan Trinbago meeting

Trinidad Guardian - Published:
Monday, July 16, 2012

Members of the media were ordered out of a meeting of Pan Trinbago yesterday at the Scherzando panyard in Curepe. The meeting was called following allegations levelled against Pan Trinbago president Keith Diaz, alleging lack of transparency and integrity, by two former members of the central executive who resigned abruptly.

At yesterday’s meeting, scheduled to start at 10 am, Diaz promised to reveal all. However,an hour later, Diaz spoke close to 30 minutes and was into discussions on the resignation letters filed by former assistant secretary Beverley Ramsey-Moore and trustee Keith Simpson. He then asked the media present to leave after a member questioned why the media were present in a “private” meeting called for the general membership.

The member said serious matters were being discussed and needed to be ironed out before they were presented to the public. Members of the media present complied with Diaz’s request to leave. Diaz came under fire last week when the resignation letters, made public, cited the executive was operating with a general lack of trust.

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Here in Ohio I have been reading the comments about PanTrinbago and its executive for quite some time and am aghast at the venomous and thoroughly unwarranted statements posted herein. Why is there so much hateration in Pan Land? It’s no big deal that two members of the organization decided to leave. That happens all the time. Organizations usually become more unified and stronger as the result of new blood, new energy and new intellect filling the void. Why is it that executive leaders of PanTrinbago are never or rarely identified in photos posted on this site? Why is that the case? That seems very disrespectful to me. It truly lifted my heart and my spirit to see the linkages that PanTrinbago is cementing with Nigeria. How often have relationships like this succeeded when we reach out to the Motherland? Not very. And why wouldn’t PanTrinbago make this move, after all it is the creativity in our shared genes that would inspire the genius to make melodic tones out of a metal drum. And it is this creation of a new musical art form—a brand new communications tool with a brand new groove—that would find its way to the Motherland and into the hearts and minds of our Brothers and Sisters in Nigeria through that shared genetic connection, that rhythmic syncopated connection, that binds us all. What PanTrinbago has done is a brilliant stroke of genius, courageous, progressive, and exciting and deserves to be celebrated instead of having all this negativity heaped upon it. All of us stolen Africans in the Western Hemisphere should be inspired by and follow the lead of Trinidad, and particularly PanTrinbago, to re-establish long lost ties to our African family. We all MUST follow this brilliant initiative. If we do, just think: our numbers could force the airlines to schedule flights that go nonstop to Africa from the Americas, instead of making us go out of our way by stopping in Europe first, enriching those countries in the process with all of the taxes and fees we have to pay just to make a stop we’re really not interested in making in the first place, not to mention the money we spend on food we don’t like and nights in hotels we don’t own. We MUST cease the practice of further enriching those who tore us apart and instead enrich our lives with each other. Cease with the baseless criticism. It smacks of a remnant of colonial shackles on our intellect when we don’t give each other the benefit of the doubt. Give the Brothers and Sisters in PanTrinbago the respect they deserve. We MUST to be about the business of uplifting each other, especially when others are hell bent and do a phenomenal job of tearing us down. Let’s always wait and allow all of the facts to see the light of day before we make judgments. And even if and when mistakes are made, we need to be assistive and instructive instead of being so critical. When one succeeds we all succeed!

Replies

Carol Hector-Harris July 18, 2012 at 7:28am

Here in Ohio I have been reading the comments about PanTrinbago and its executive for quite some time and am aghast at the venomous and thoroughly unwarranted statements posted herein. Why is there so much hateration in Pan Land? It’s no big deal that two members of the organization decided to leave. That happens all the time. Organizations usually become more unified and stronger as the result of new blood, new energy and new intellect filling the void. Why is it that executive leaders of PanTrinbago are never or rarely identified in photos posted on this site? Why is that the case? That seems very disrespectful to me. It truly lifted my heart and my spirit to see the linkages that PanTrinbago is cementing with Nigeria. How often have relationships like this succeeded when we reach out to the Motherland? Not very. And why wouldn’t PanTrinbago make this move, after all it is the creativity in our shared genes that would inspire the genius to make melodic tones out of a metal drum. And it is this creation of a new musical art form—a brand new communications tool with a brand new groove—that would find its way to the Motherland and into the hearts and minds of our Brothers and Sisters in Nigeria through that shared genetic connection, that rhythmic syncopated connection, that binds us all. What PanTrinbago has done is a brilliant stroke of genius, courageous, progressive, and exciting and deserves to be celebrated instead of having all this negativity heaped upon it. All of us stolen Africans in the Western Hemisphere should be inspired by and follow the lead of Trinidad, and particularly PanTrinbago, to re-establish long lost ties to our African family. We all MUST follow this brilliant initiative. If we do, just think: our numbers could force the airlines to schedule flights that go nonstop to Africa from the Americas, instead of making us go out of our way by stopping in Europe first, enriching those countries in the process with all of the taxes and fees we have to pay just to make a stop we’re really not interested in making in the first place, not to mention the money we spend on food we don’t like and nights in hotels we don’t own. We MUST cease the practice of further enriching those who tore us apart and instead enrich our lives with each other. Cease with the baseless criticism. It smacks of a remnant of colonial shackles on our intellect when we don’t give each other the benefit of the doubt. Give the Brothers and Sisters in PanTrinbago the respect they deserve. We MUST to be about the business of uplifting each other, especially when others are hell bent and do a phenomenal job of tearing us down. Let’s always wait and allow all of the facts to see the light of day before we make judgments. And even if and when mistakes are made, we need to be assistive and instructive instead of being so critical. When one succeeds we all succeed!
odw July 17, 2012 at 8:21pm

Diaz has since dismissed the allegations, saying: “People must be careful about what they are saying because litigation can follow.” I’m really scared now...lol.

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