The Executive Chair of the Emancipation Support Committee (ESCTT) says emancipation is an opportunity to rebuild a people that has been abused for centuries.
As such, Zakiya Uzoma Wadada is now appealing to the Government to invest in T&T culture to inspire a sense of identity among Afro-Trinidadians, and ultimately reduce crime.
In a GML interview, Uzoma Wadada said that black people suffered a loss of self because of slavery, adding that the effects remained etched in the psyche of locals. She said this oppression had lent itself to a cycle of violence but noted that more firearm users licences was not the answer to the rise in serious crimes.
She said “Let’s invest our money in community development, in culture, in education because that’s what changes people’s minds. Guns don’t do that. Guns generate more violence.”
Uzoma Wadada also wants the Government to ensure that employees in the public service received cultural sensitivity training.
“People like our police services, immigration officers, they need cultural sensitivity training. Because a lot of the way they respond may not be deliberate and conscious. It’s just part of your psyche. It’s just part of how you have been trained. It’s just part of how you react because your training did not include this understanding,” she said.
According to Uzoma Wadada, the process of being emancipated is ongoing and she noted that this fight was evolving with time.