20/04/2024
After graduating from high school CKHS/SJA 89 here in Antigua, I traveled to the USA just after my 17th birthday to attend Florida Institute of Technology
It didn't take long for me to realize that "CXC" history which was my best subject up until that point really didn't prepare me for life outside of the Caribbean. I knew so much about the original inhabitants of the Caribbean and also about the first colonists and the atrocities which led to the African slave trade and the enrichment of England thanks to the worldwide demand for sugar that was produced with slave labor across the West Indies. How exploiting these islands and the people here made England so unbelievably wealthy. Of course I had to learn also about post-colonialism and the road towards Independence in many islands after the islands were no longer slave fed cash cows.
Caribbean examinations Council for some reason thought that the "Arawaks to Africans" history curriculum was all we West Indians needed.
Anyway after I arrived in Florida at the university which was made up of at least half international students, I realized how little we knew about world history. Just think about it, the only history about the Roman Empire was garnered through bits and pieces taught during religious studies classes. We knew nothing of the second world war or the first world war, or anything to do with the cold war other than bits and pieces to do with Cuba.
Now that I'm 51 and I see little Antigua using its perceived power as an independent nation to get very close to China among others, I feel that maybe CXC history in the late 80s really was not enough for our people. Last night I watched the Netflix show "Turning Point - The Bomb and The Cold War" https://www.netflix.com/title/81614129.
It really confirmed what I've been thinking since September 1989 when I started meeting students from around the world. Caribbean people need to know more about world history. Maybe we all do.
This show is definitely important to watch. People with teenagers need to watch this. There's no doubt that the biggest world powers have been engaged in a new for some time with Russia and China working very hard to change the word order. The latest in Newsweek that I posted yesterday and the response from GB isn't a frivolous nothing. Nobody cares what Montserrat, Anguilla, Guadeloupe or any of the other non index Caribbean islands think or do on the international stage. We here in Antigua need to start thinking about how our leaders can influence word events and world history. I think we need to start paying more attention. Anyway, watch the show for now if you're from Antigua. Perspective and history is important. You know what they say about history repeating itself right?
With firsthand accounts and access to prominent figures around the world, this comprehensive docuseries explores the Cold War and its aftermath.
