That there was standing room only at the Port of Spain City Hall on Thursday night is the best indication of the growing strength of the so-called Third Force in TnT’s politics.

And while the Black Caucus, the brainchild of 36-year-old broadcaster and Nation of Islam (NOI) activist, David Muhammed, is not a political party, hundreds of Afro-Trinis who showed up for the meeting literally put their money forward, to kick-start the Caucus.

It was the first such showing since the National Joint Action Committee (NJAC) of the 1970s started its movement, which eventually mushroomed into the Black Power demonstrations.

Indeed, some of the old familiar faces, showing signs of déjà vu, were among those present at City Hall.

Even more promising for the Black Caucus is the fact that at least four new political parties were launched over the past few months with just a few members and all claiming to win 41 seats in the 2007 general election.

Cops working downstairs at City Hall reported that it was the biggest gathering they had seen for a week day meeting in a long time: their estimate was just over one thousand, half of which signed the membership forms that were available.

By Friday morning, Muhammed reported that his NOI assistants collected TT $8,000 cash, TT $11,000 in cheques, with TT $12,000 in outstanding pledges.

It was businessman William Munroe who made the first pledge of TT $5,000, followed by a brave declaration of TT $1,000 from Dr. Eugenia Springer, which set the pace for others like Mackie Padmore, for example.

It was clear that after the lecture -- and listening to Muhammed’s Black Agenda for years -- that Black folks were convinced they were investing money in an organisation from which they could reap returns.

It was nothing new: just a promise that all the various organisations that are now scattered all over the place could come together.

Outside of the People’s National Movement (PNM) and the United National Congress (UNC), no other movement in TnT could have filled the City Hall that was literally overflowing at the seams.

And even the UNC and the PNM are accustomed to rent-a crowd sometimes, in the height of the political season.

DAVID MUHAMMED (at podium) surrounded
by bodyguards.

No room in the inn, so the crowd fills the stairway.

A section of the thick crowd at City Hall
Thursday night.

Many signed up for the Black Caucus.

But there was a genuine turn-out of people who took up vantage positions on the steps, some sat across the street on the railings of Woodford Square, while some stood in front of City Hall, in silence, as they listened and nodded in silence as Muhammad laid out the statistics to show who’s really running the economy and why Black people have been left on the fringes to fight for the crumbs.

And Muhammed does not think that his following will be limited because of his involvement in the NOI.

“I honestly don’t think it will be limited.

“The NOI is the catalyst in the formation of the movement and has always been involved in efforts and projects like this,” he stated.

“Remember the Million Man March?” he asked rhetorically.

“And there was the Millions More Movement which attracted rappers, actors and entertainers.

“This is just a pulling together of the Black groups,’ Muhammed explained on Friday morning.

The Black Agenda website explains that the Black Caucus is non-political and non-partisan with regards to local electoral politics and that it rejects the notion of ‘blind ethnic voting’ based on racial bias. 

However, it plans to make a difference by introducing the concept of block voting which is common in US voting patterns.

“Each person who casts their vote must be incorporated justly and fairly into the decision-making process in whatever way possible.

“This can only be done through ‘block votes’,” the website stated.

“A pooling of community ‘political resources’ is required to get value out of our participation.

“The strength of many over-powers the effort of one.

“Before voting, groups who have been historically neglected by successive governments should itemise their concerns and present them to candidates and representatives, with the intention of even withholding or abstaining from voting if a certain proportion of these concerns are not met. We believe that for a political party to earn our support in a general election, they must agree to basic conditions that are long overdue in our country.”