During this writer’s stay in Trinidad & Tobago as Visiting Professor in University of the West Indies (UWI), which has three campuses in three different countries, some programmes were held on August 1, 2011 in connection with ‘Emancipation Day’ celebrations. This was the year that was declared by the United Nations, as ‘TheYear of African Descent people’.
This writer remembers participating in various functions/seminars on the occasion of ‘Indian Arrival Day’ in Trinidad & Tobago on May 30, 2011. Going through the background of the two events, something did disturb me. African background people, who were brought to Trinidad as slaves from many parts of Africa, never celebrate their ‘Arrival’ in Trinidad or in any other countries of the world, whereas people of Indian descent celebrate ‘Indian Arrival Day’, not only in T&T, but in nearby Guyana and Suriname; also in Mauritius and Fiji, and probably in some other countries too.
One reason could be that there may not be any record of slaves being brought to Trinidad and other countries of the world. Though the exact date of slavery is difficult
— source newsclick.in | Chaman Lal | 28 Oct 2022