Sitting to take a patriotic stand

Every day it feels as though our citizenry is being underestimated, undervalued and taken for granted.

For any independent, intelligent, progressive-thinking Trinbagonian, trying to cope with the daily folly of living in this democratic dictatorship is beyond frustrating.

I love my country, but I have lost all respect for the people in charge (I refuse to call them leaders). Specifically, the President, the Prime Minister, the Opposition Leader, the Attorney General, several government ministers and many others who sit in our parliament can no longer get me to support them or, for that matter, even get me listen to the nonsense that escapes their lips.

Because of this lack of respect for the people in charge, I now question the meaning and purpose of our flag, our anthem, our watchwords and our motto.

‘Patriotism’ to many Trinbagonians is unconditional, unconsidered cheerleading for everything ‘Trini’, so anyone who speaks up and out about the failures plaguing “sweet T&T” is liable to be burnt at the stake for heresy. Being labelled as unpatriotic is a risk I’m willing to take because on November 11, 2016 when Trinidad and Tobago takes on Costa Rica at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, I will be sitting during the national anthem.

As usual, I’ll be in the covered stands in front of all the government officials and their financiers, so they’ll have a front-row seat to the dissidence. I cannot and will not recite words or show respect to a country that is run by people who do not regard or show an ounce of respect to its citizens; nor will I stand “side by side” with those compatriots who care little to nothing about their “native land”.

It’s an ambivalent feeling because I have not missed a Soca Warriors home game for many years, and since inception, I have always gone out in full national colours at every Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel/ Knight Riders CPLT20 match at the Queen’s Park Oval. I play neither sport (I play basketball), but I’ll be damned if I miss an opportunity to support our national teams in the flesh. But I will also not miss an opportunity to send a powerful message, even though I’m alone.

There’s no love or liberty because racial hatred is nurtured by politicians for votes, while criminals keep us locked away in self-constructed prisons with our families.

We’ve tried hope and prayer, but without common sense and political will, those activities continue to be an exercise in futility.

Every creed and race may eventually find a place when people like Satnarayan Maharaj are no longer given a voice in the media.

So how can we expect God to bless our nation when we have not done our part nor kept our promises? At the Independence youth rally in the Queen’s Park Oval on August 30, 1962, the citizenry was told that our national anthem was to be a code of everyday behaviour, whilst our watchwords: discipline, production and tolerance were proffered as ideals. Well, it has been decades since those words had any meaning. And when you wonder why we cannot achieve anything together, it’s because everyone has their own selfish aspirations.

Nevertheless, I will be sitting down during the anthem in my full national colours because I believe that my values embody our flag’s symbolism: courage to do something like this, dedication to a better Trinbago and a continued resolve for purity and equality from Icacos to Charlotteville.

This is not a waste of time. Sitting down to take a stand against corruption and the abject failure of every institution in this country is just as important as the national impact of when Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks refused to give up their seats on buses in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955.

Sitting down to take a stand against the re-introduction of hubristic politicians who unabashedly engaged in the most disturbing levels of thievery is no less significant than the four black college students who sat down at a “whites only” lunch counter at a Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina, and refused to leave after being denied service. It’s about starting a movement like Colin Kaepernick who continues to sit/ kneel at his NFL games in order to take a stand against the same type of ungovernable, anarchistic criminals in uniform who terrorise our countries.

My only regret going into this is that there aren’t more public events where I could sit out the anthem.