POSCC TO REMOVE COLUMBUS STATUE

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The Port of Spain City Corporation has taken the decision to remove the statue of Christopher Columbus and rename Columbus Square.  Speaking at this morning's African Emancipation Day Celerbation in the capital city, Mayor Chinua Alleyne says it is being done to honour victims of the genocide of indigenous people, and transatlantic slave trade.  Reporter Cindy Raghubar-Teekersingh tells us more.

Transcript

00:00It's been long debated and protested over, but on Friday morning during this year's African Emancipation Day celebration,

00:08Port of Spain Mayor Chinua Alain announced that the bronze statue of the man long credited for discovering TNT,

00:15Christopher Columbus, will be removed in keeping with the revised legacy of this seafarer.

00:21Alain says as we celebrate emancipation, colonial iconography still exists across the city,

00:27and he believes it is the responsibility of both central and local government to lead the process of restoration and repair.

00:35The council of the city of Port of Spain has taken the decision to remove the statue of Christopher Columbus

00:44from Independence Square and to make it available to the National Museum and Art Gallery for display.

01:01He says renaming Columbus Square where the statue stands is also going to happen.

01:06To establish a committee to recommend to the council a new name for the square

01:12in honor of all of the victims of the genocide of indigenous peoples, the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism.

01:22Additionally, they will be assembling a group of young artists to create a new monument

01:27to be erected on the renamed square in honor of those same victims.

01:31Mayor Alain, in addressing the crowd on Friday, said the city cooperation also intends to rename

01:38part of a street in the capital after African ancestor Kwame Touré, a man born in Port of Spain

01:44who was a monumental figure in the American civil rights and black power movements

01:49as well as pan-African movement.

01:52With such renaming, he says, the hope is to inspire future generations

01:57with the struggles and victories of those that came before.

02:00In honor of his contribution to the global fight against institutional racism and injustice,

02:09the Council of the City of Port of Spain has resolved to rename a portion of Oxford Street

02:17from Argyle Street to Charlotte Street, Kwame Touré Way.

02:23Cindy Raguban, Tika Singh, TV6 News.

02:30Y'all Jane

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