“Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better.” (Albert Camus, French philosopher and author, 1913-1960)
I am a child of the 1950s. I will never forget the pomp and pageantry of the morning our national flag was first raised. I watched it with family members on iconic TTT, the country's sole television station - grainy images in black and white. I did not understand the full import of the occasion (I was nine) but I grasped its solemnity. Freedom from British colonial rule had arrived. For most citizens of the new nation it was an historic moment, long awaited and to be celebrated. We, the people, were facing a new reality. As our first Prime Minister said to citizens on that fateful morning, "You are on your own in a big world, in which you are one of many nations, some small, some medium size, some large. You are nobody's boss and nobody is your boss. What use will you make of your independence? What will you transmit to your children five years from today?"
Our new red, white and black flag was a symbol of opportunity to forge the future "with boundless faith in our destiny". For others, however, it represented profound political and psychological defeat, even loss, from which some still bear scars. I would come to understand the long historical process that brought us to that moment - from the spontaneous anti-colonial social rebellions of the 19th century to the political mass movements of the 20th; the evolution from the fight for cultural freedom to the fight for universal suffrage to the fight for internal self-government and ultimately for independence; the historical necessity of Dr. Eric Williams and the nationalist People's National Movement; and the inevitability of independence arriving as the imperative of History. But tragically, the opportunity was squandered. And others since.
The limitations of nationalism in the neocolonial world gradually emerged. Today, the fundamental political culture, and the socioeconomic structures and relations of colonial society remain essentially intact in our fragmented nation, which flounders in the social, political and moral crisis created over the decades by our economic and political elites. Today, some would have us believe nothing is historical fact, that everything is politically partisan, claiming to promote unity while reveling in division. Despite the challenge of those who seek to deny, distort and revise their meaning, our history and our national independence remain worthy of celebration . As Rudder and Montano exhort us, "Throw out your sorrow, children; listen wha ah telling you; THIS is the Trinidad; not the one that does make we blue, but the one we love too bad." ("Land of oil and music"). We celebrate our 64th Independence Day in a few days and I have, not one, but two gifts for you.
<Independence gifts for us>
"Write. Find a way to keep alive and write." (James Baldwin, 1924–1987, African American writer and social critic)
Richard J.M. Blackett is a a Trinidad-born historian and scholar. He is a prolific writer on American, African-American and Caribbean history and the trans-Atlantic abolitionist movement. He is currently Professor Emeritus at Vanderbilt University in the United States. His latest book "A history of Trinidad and Tobago football, 1908 to 2006" was recently published. This work takes a panoramic look at the history of the local game. It was brought to my attention by my St. Mary's College and Howard University friend and team mate Dr. Alvin Henderson only recently. Blackett says his work, "traces the first stirring of the sport in the capital city and its expansion to other parts of the twin islands". It begins with a look at the first recorded local football game, played by young Scots in the Savannah in 1893, and wends its way through the formation of the Trinidad Amateur Football Association in 1908 to our participation in the Germany 2006 World Cup. It is avaliable on Amazon.
Dr. Roy McCree is a Trinidad-born sociologist. He is Senior Fellow at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (UWI, St. Augustine). His work "The British, Soccer and Identity in the Caribbean: Class, Race and Nation, 1908–1973", published in July 2026, is another must read. The book examines social class, ethnicity and the growth of the local game under British influence. Alan Bairner of Loughborough University in the United Kingdom says, "McCree’s painstakingly researched and insightful book tells the story of how a group of imperialists used soccer in an attempt to consolidate their rule and also how once colonized people were able to commandeer the same sport to help to change their world." The book is available online at Routledge Soccer Histories. For the record, I have not read either book in its entirety. I propose not to review but to recommend them to all, football lovers or not, as essential reading. Our football is in crisis today, much like Society, but it has always served as a rallying point for accomplishment and hope for our people. We need to understand its roots, role and relevance over the decades. I highlight the fact that both authors are Trinidad-born. Unless our history is documented it is permanently threatened by revision and loss. And we must tell our own story. These two authors, their books, do a tremendous service to our young nation by making this aspect of our social history accessible to all of us. Get a copy of each. Interpret its content. Form your own opinion on it. As I will mine.
<Post script: Infantino knows the game>
“So I think overall positive, very, very happy with all the support I get here.” (Gianni Infantino last weekend at the CFU U14 tournament in Dominican Republic)
Global pressure continues to build on Greedy Gianni for his authoritarian rule in FIFA and his plan to sell the World Cup. International supporter groups have launched a petition calling for his resignation and six Nordic FIFA members – Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the Faroe Islands – have backed calls from three FIFA confederations - Asia, CONCACAF and Europe - for him to leave. Reports say they are set to drop threats to boycott all FIFA tournaments and forego schism but UEFA and its allies want him gone. Last weekend CONCACAF President Victor Montagliani warned him off from the Caribbean Football Union's U14 tournament in the Dominican Republic, saying his presence would overshadow the event due to mounting opposition to his leadership. But Greedy Gianni knows the post-World Cup game of survival he is embroiled in, and its players too. So he promptly turned up in Punta Cana and was seen on video paling it up in the tourist resort with CFU big shots. You see, Gianni understands the leaders of Caribbean football know they receive exponentially more in annual grants and subsidies from him than from CONCACAF. For example, TTFA's 2026 budget indicated a "forecasted" income of TTD 34 million dollars, with FIFA contributing TTD 10.2 million to CONCACAF's TTD 1.8 million. In fact, until he was stopped in his tracks from selling the World Cup to his crony capitalist friends, Greedy Gianni offered each FIFA member a one-off USD 20 million bonus to approve his idea by 19 September. That is TTD 140 million, folks.
In Punta Cana Infantino announced the opening of the FIFA spigot to release millions of dollars in development funding for regional projects which had previously been stuck in the pipeline for months. And these CFU guys follow the money. Montagliani may issue bold anti-Infantino statements on behalf of CONCACAF but he really cannot be sure he speaks for the Caribbean - the vast majority of the regional voting bloc. Indeed, we know he does not. Two Caribbean federations (Grenada and St. Kitt's and Nevis) have recently followed Mexico's early lead and broken CONCACAF formation to publicly state their support for Greedy Gianni. They went further to refuse support to any Member Association or Confederation seeking to undermine FIFA's "institutional processes", i.e. any attempt to remove him without a (secret ballot) vote. And it is the secret ballot that is Infantino's nuclear weapon. Some things done in secrecy never come to light. FIFA's next Congress is slated for 18 March 2027 in Rabat, Morocco and challengers for Greedy Gianni's post must declare their candidacy by 18 November 2026. This saga ain't over until its over. Stay tuned. The anti-Infantino coalition may yet get the shock of their lives.
