Archbishop of the Children of the Light Spiritual Baptist International Archdiocese, Dr John Noel, is calling on Afro-Caribbean youths to stop killing each other and urged parents to teach children a culture of productivity. Speaking at Liberation Day festivities held by the Spiritual Baptist community at Harris Promenade, San Fernando, yesterday, Noel said it was time to change the African diaspora’s culture of crime.
Noel said while some Baptists like the great trade union leader Tubal Uriah Buzz Butler had done well in improving the lives of the working class, the Afro-Caribbean community was plagued by their involvement in crime and unproductivity. “The African youths seem to be responsible for their own demise because of what they choose to practise,” he said. Noel, who spent his early years in Grenada but migrated to Trinidad at the age of 12, said that he noticed a difference in the activities of the Afro-Trinidadian male.
“On mornings, most of the youths from other ethnic groups go to work or participate in some kind of economic activity but the majority of Afro-Trinidadians are liming or coming back from a party...Let us stop the excessive partying and liming and take charge of our destiny. “We have opportunity and we have to teach our children this culture of productivity that is lacking among many Afro-Trinidadian people., Noel said.
Bishop Leon John, who also spoke, said the suppression faced by the Baptist community from 1917 to 1951 had had an impact on the psyche of the people. “We went through 34 years of deprivation and nobody thinks to help us,” John lamented. He said in an attempt to help Baptists become financially independent, they launched the Baptist village at the promenade.
John said, however, Baptist villages in Indian Walk, Moruga and Princes Town were neglected by the Government. John also said affirmative action should be taken to provide scholarships for Baptist children through the Foundation for the Academic Advancement of Spiritual Baptist Youths.