MultiCultural/Gender Challenges Ahead Under Biden/Harris
Dr Kris Rampersad 
Sri Devi Dance group perform at LiTTribute to the Americas a celebration of arrivals with Dr Kris Rampersad author of LiTTscapes - Landscapes of Fiction
There is much ado about the ancestry of Vice-President-elect of the USA Kamala Harris. It represents the combined diasporas of Asia, Africa, Latin America & the Caribbean, while President-elect Joe Biden embodies the Euro-American diaspora.
Together and combined they reflect the world’s diversity, yet with some significant gaps. What are these and how can they harness and leverage this for equitable global developent into the Post Pandemic Planet? Drawing from our GLoCaL experience and most recent engagements with the Caribbean-American diaspora,let’s explore what has surfaced within the 2020 US Election the most significant global challenge ahead.
Across the world – many in the Caribbean, Asia and Africa embrace and celebrate the electoral victory of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the new team in the Oval Office, while those who have migrated from these places to the USA anticipate more equitable representation.
President-elect Joe Biden & Vice President-elect Kamala Harris America’s spotlighted, as they accepted, the challenge of harnessing and leveraging the diversity of the Americas into a new era of governance.
“…building cultural confidence to emerge from any sense of marginalization to self-esteem, … in the land of Walt Disney, that cannot be too lofty an ideal to consider, nor too much an impossibility to recreate!
Dr Kris Rampersad, LiTTribute to the Indigeneous & Migrant Americas – A Celebration of Arrivals and InterConnected Cultural Connections inspired by LiTTscapes – Landscapes of Fiction, by Dr Kris Rampersad
Over the weeks of the campaign and in the days of voter-counting, the complexity of the diversity question was dominated by media over simplification of identification of voting habits based on ethnicity and communities of origin.
Kamala Harris’ mixed Asian/AfroCaribbean origins along with being the first woman to be tasked with the heavy executive office of the Vice-Presidency have propelled focus on the issues of diversity that assumed larger than life proportions with the confrontational tactics of the past few years.
Both Biden & Harris acknowledged the task ahead in unifying America from the bitter and embattled just concluded election. But the complexion of the voting landscape, marginally different from the blue and red markers representing the contending two dominant Republican and Democratic parties, point to the need for deeper understanding and analyses of the multicultural challenges ahead.
Some of these challenges were identified in our LiTTribute to the Americas that delved into the multicultural flavours of the blended indigeneous and migrant communities of the Americas.The anxieties about walling off cultural communities were high and became the spotlight of focus as I was invited to share my insights and research into the processes of cultural evolution of migrant communities, as the diaspora shared their experiences of settlement, adaptation and adjustments.
In the coming days, I will unfold some of these challenges, especially those generally overlooked intangible elements, including one key one that the President-Elect Joe Biden missed in his acceptance speech, along with other cultural including the gender factors that further deepen the issues of diversity.
Congratulations to the new administation and the 46th President of the USA, Joe Biden and the USA in electing its first woman vice-president (elect) Kamala Harris.
Dr Kris Rampersad speaks on Gender & Power
Empowering the Presidency
LiTTribute to the Americas: From the GLoCal Knowledge Pot Archives
Sadly, we lost the gentleman featured in this article to the Covid pandemic, another of the crises that the new govenance team face and have pledged to tackle head-on. Stephen Chang in the photo/article below was awarded at the LiTTribute to the Americas for his support the development of the diaspora community in Florida.
Build bridges through walls – T&T Author urges at Tribute to the Americas
Dr Kris Rampersad, author, heritage educator and journalist, has urged the diverse populations of the Americas to build bridges through walls.
Build multicultural bridges through walls Dr Kris Rampersad call diaspora to action at LiTTribute to the Americas Global Interconnections
Rampersad is on a literary tour dubbed LiTTribute to the Americas 2018 across North America and Canada aimed to promote intercultural dialogue showcase the connections with literary heritage and other experiences of peoples of the Americas inspired by her commemorative book LiTTscapes – Landscapes of Fiction. LiTTscapes has been hailed for its efforts at bridging the gaps among the diverse cultures of the Caribbean.
The Canadian appearances begin as guest of the Zoomers’ Association annual Mothers’ Day celebrations at the Erin View Residence Hall, Mississauga, Ontario from 1 pm May 13, 2018 to autograph works and for interactive engagement on the theme Mothers, Motherlands and MotherCultures and from 3 pm May 20 2018 for A Roti and a Reading at Windies Restaurant, Scarborough Toronto.
Speaking at A Celebration of Arrivals in South Florida USA last week accompanied by steelpan music, calypso, and dances, Dr Rampersad told of how these cultural forms were the bedrock of the literary culture. Creating linkages between the two can encourage appreciation of literature and encourage reading that can foster greater appreciation of other peoples and cultures, she said.
A peace advocate, she observed a moment of remembrance for the victims of the recent school shooting that claimed the lives of 17 students in Florida and urged guests to harness their collective energies and knowledge of the strength of community gained from their villages of origin to counter the culture of violence and despair that seems to be crippling communities across the Americas.
Dr Rampersad recalled her early schooling, when “students did not have access to guns” and gave anecdotes of when “chalk was our only weapon!” in the presence of some of her early mentors, now resident in the diaspora including former Deacon of the Anglican Church Reverend Winston Joseph who said he attended as he has followed Dr Rampersad’s achievements since a student, and one of her early childhood teachers, Mrs Marion Karamath, a retired special education teacher of Canada who introduced her to the US audience.
Remind leaders of strengths of diversity
Dr Rampersad said that laying a solid foundation for children through a culture of reading and exchange of experiences can bridge the generation gap and redirect the anxieties that lead to violence, as she shared successes of the children of LiTTscapes who showcased their talent during the initial launch of the book at Whitehall, one of the Magnificent Seven heritage landmarks in Trinidad and Tobago and other LiTTributes held in the Caribbean, UK and Europe.
“We are nurturing and building cultural confidence so they emerge from any sense of marginalization to self-esteem,” she said, noting that “in the land of Walt Disney, that cannot be too lofty an ideal to consider, nor too much an impossibility to recreate!”
She recalled being tasked to recite before her entire school a poem which contained words that were “very bigly” and felt then the power of words to move apart the walls that also served as blackboards, and to build bridges of understanding through knowledge.
“It did leave me with the notion that reading has the capacity to remove walls that divide us,” she said, identifying some of the ‘bigly’ words in the poem as indelibly, phenomenal and unfathomable and challenged herself to put them into a sentence.
“Scaling first the walls of unfathomable words that have remained indelibly imbedded in my mind, I graduated into a phenomenal obsession to see those walls pulled aside so that we can build bridges and all share in a common vision for unity and camaraderie,” she said, to applause. She said she was connecting with people who share this vision to empower youth and to bring diverse communities together, not just those of who migrated from the Caribbean, and who came from other continents but also the indigeneous peoples of the Americas.
She said her research on many communities who have migrated show the journeys have been long and treacherous and “there are still tectonic jostlings in adjusting to the aftershocks that are similar in small islands as continental spaces dealing with diversity – jostling for recognition, for access, for equality of treatment. Sometimes it takes over our young and not so young, and spill over in frustrated and violent and extremist behaviour.
“It is my belief that if we create tracks through the imagination for a journey beyond the weight of that history, beyond the erasures and distortions of historical records, there will be a different tone to our conversations about diversity,” she said.
“It was my interest in the village space that grew from my focus on a rural spot on a small island the expanding contours of the global village, and my research grew to encompass a broad range of interests that now is described in those bigly words as sustainable development.”
Many eagerly shared their memories of growing up in villages, such as those represented in LiTTscapes, following the formal presentations of awards to diverse community members, as Gary Persad and Steven & Margaret Chang with an inscription from the Tao Te Ching – an ancient Chinese text – “The Heart that Gives, Gathers.”
Dr Rampersad’s will continue efforts at engagement through heritage in Toronto, Canada in May at the Erin View Residence Hall from 1 pm on May 13 2018 where she will speak on Mothers, Motherlands and MotherCultures, and at Windies Restaurant, Scarborough Toronto from 3 pm on May 20 2018. For details and bookings email [email protected].
Dr Kris Rampersad is a sustainable development educator, facilitator, consultant and journalist and author of LiTTscapes – Landscapes of Fiction.
Dr Rampersad is stimulating intercultural dialogue through cultural and literary heritage with LiTTscapes, LiTTours and LiTTributes. Dr Rampersad’s will continue efforts at engagement through heritage in Toronto, Canada in May at the Erin View Residence Hall from 1 pm on May 13 2018 where she will speak on Mothers, Motherlands and MotherCultures, and at Windies Restaurant, Scarborough Toronto from 3 pm on May 23 2018. For details and bookings email [email protected].
About LiTTribute
LiTTribute to the Americas (indigeneous & migrants) underscores the global connections of Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean in a range of forms from historical and cultural to other universal experiences and common outlooks and purpose. The rich interconnected literary and intellectual heritage traditions are the launchpad of exploration, discussions, engagements
LiTTribute to the Laureates evokes and pays tribute to literature, legacy and heritage through the works of writers featuring works of the two Nobel Laureates for Literature produced by Trinidad and Tobago, Sir Vidia Naipaul and Mr Derek Walcott and others. See the MultiMedia Gallery and Rquest the Virtual LiTTour on the Nobel Laureates
LiTTributes are special events that highlight linkages between the natural, physical, built and cultural heritage and creative synergies between them in print, music, dance, drama, art, cuisine and other lifestyle, graphic and audio-visual media. It is the fifth in a series of our global focus:
LiTTribute to the Republic: Tea With the First Lady: Knowsley Heritage Building Port of Spain Trinidad and Tobago
LiTTribute to LondonTTown: with Ros Atkins BBC, Director of Commonwealth Foundation, Vija Krishnarayan; Author Lakshmi Persaud, Filmaker London Aug 2013;
LiTTribute to the Antilles, Fragments of Epic Memory, June 2013,
LiTTribute to the ConTTinental Mainland, with Drama Guild of Guyana & Guyana Prize for Literature, Moray House, Guyana Feb 2013;
LiTTribute to AuTThors of the World at UNESCO, September 2015
LiTTribute To The Indigeneous & Migrant Americas: A Celebration of Arrivals, April 2018
LiTTribute To TToronto: May 2018
LiTTribute to the Laureates: August 2019
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Promise of change of course for development in Latin America and Caribbean as feuding leaders Guyana’s President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali and Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro meet for peace talks around border controversy more details on Boredr Wars www.krisrampersad.com - A New Agenda for Guyana-Venezuela Talks – Open Letter to Comrade Gonsalves & Peace Brokers from Limboing to Parranda-ing & Junkanooing on the Borderline
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- Brokering the Border Wars – LAC limbo on barbed lines of demarcation as Venezuela-Guyana dispute heightens
Political stability and peace in Latin America and the Caribbean sits on a fine filigree of loosely-knotted territorial disputes. What are the implications to the wider region of the Venezuela-Guyana Dispute Dr Kris Rampersad takes a broader and deeper view of fermenting feuds…www.krisrampersad.com - Critical Creative Triggers to social and economic development
Why we are failing the next generations and sending them into trigger-hapy youth and street gangs - Abused by a moody & angry AI on World Folklore Day! Taking on the Tech Giants!
On World Folklore Day When Open AI is Not Open Minded! Dr Kris Rampersad takes on the Tech Giants and gets into a head butting with a rude and angry AI Bot! - Look Whey Pan Dey! Happy World Steelpan Day
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Safeguarding Cultural Diversity in Digital Age Happy International Day of Diversity for Dialogue & Development - Among the 1 percent as ‘a rising creator’- new AI accolades on the cutting edge of creation
Spread the loveCongratulations, Kris Rampersad, you’ve earned a spot in the top 1% of rising creators … When - On the shoulders of Giants – the Unfinished Agender Happy IWD Women Techmakers Dare 2 B The Change
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As one of the few, if not only, individual globally who has closely collaborated with both Nobel Laureates for Literature of the Caribbean, sharing some successes and outcomes for the creative sector from these pioneering initiatives - Roots in the land, head in the sky my brother joins Ma in Gloryland
Knocked down in his youth, he refused to surrender to the ever-present ominous darkness that constantly threatened to engulf him. He warded them off with his generosity, his charitable spirit, his abiding optimism - On Trail of the Trials & Triumphs of Turtles Happy World Turtle Day
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Proud moment in Idea to Action in approach to data analyses that inform Global Policy for Global South, Developing worlds, SIDS, Latin America and the Caribbean - Media Talks Transitioning civil society action into age of new media
Media Analyst Dr Kris Rampersad addresses Caribbean Telecommunications Union anniversary - Join me in Taking the Lead at Google Women Tech Makers Summit
Education, media and culture – traditionally three forms of social engineering that have existed in silos, are now being forced to integrate in novel ways to meet the challenge How can traditional and conventional gaps be bridged?I will present my experience and experiments and innovations in breaking the silos to create a integrated models, modules and material that combine indigeneous and formal education in diverse societies like ours.
- Growing Fan Base of the GloCal Knowledge Pot
Shouldn’t your client and customer base match our readership and viewership fan base? Contact the GloGal Knowledge Pot for novel creative global outreach education and engagement initiatives. - The Sum of Us Ancestral Art Science and Cosmology of Pi – Happy International Pi Day
Celebrate the sum of us. In its primeval poetic context, Pi represents a confluence of the arts & science: mathematics & music, silence & sound, light and dark, sacred and sacrilegious, shadows & streams of subconscious. — Dr Kris Rampersad - Breaking The Bias culture change for gender equality into the Post Pandemic Planet
International Gender Strategist Dr Kris Rampersad provides insights into working to Break The Bias and the prospects, challenges and opportunities for gender equality into the Post Pandemic Planet. How a small island can make a difference. - LiTTscapes connects island to continental mainland in Guyana LiTTribute
One of the side effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and its disruption of education is forcing rethinking and revisioning developmental paths to be more relevant to regional realities and the experiences of our people. This initiative already has a ten year lead on the post pandemic plant reset. - Sustainable Heritage Development SIDS Climate Change Thru the Kristal Bowl
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As the Vice President of the UNESCO Executive Board and national representatives I was able to recommend advancing the cause of special needs and gifted children - Gender justice and minority rights at UN forum
The impacts of COVID 19 on the rights of minorities, marginalised, migrants and other disadvantaged and underprivileged groups in global focus - Caribbean Action Plan for World HeritageThe Caribbean Action Plan for World Heritage Considering interregional cooperation within the framework of the Small Islands Development States to support the effective implementation of the 1972 Convention in the Caribbean, by setting objectives, expected outcomes and the priority actions needed to achieve them
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A traditional open cremation at the Shore of Peace in La Romain, South Trinidad on Monday …. Owing to Covid-19 there will be a slight variation . Ma treasured her ancestral traditions but also adapted and composed new songs blending styles ..read more
