It is with a sense of profound loss and deep personal sadness that I have received the news of the passing of one of the Caribbean’s greatest sons, Lloyd Algernon Best, OCC.
When Mr. Best was awarded the Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC) in 2003 at the Fourteenth Inter-Sessional Meeting of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community in his native Trinidad and Tobago, his citation included the following description: “Best is without doubt one of the most fertile minds in the Caribbean and has bestrode the regional intellectual world like a colossus.” Truer words have never been spoken and that investiture was one of my proudest moments as Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community.
I have known Lloyd Best since my student days and, like many others, could not fail to be influenced by his sharp intellect, incisive debating skills, and his relentless search for truth and honest discourse. He was at the centre of a group of innovative thinkers whose views remain not only relevant, but have inspired succeeding generations of independent Caribbean thought.
The views expounded by the New World Group, a think-tank which flourished in the 1960s, reinforced the concept that the independence movement of the time must be driven by Caribbean reality and not be “mimic men” to European or any other models of government. This was an era that laid the foundations of the kind of debate and discourse still necessary as we continue the struggle towards true Caribbean integration. The thoughts and writings of Best, William Demas, Kari Levitt, Lloyd Braithwaite, M G Smith among others have set a benchmark for Caribbean intellectualism.
Lloyd Best’s wide range of interest is reflected in the many publications which bore his stamp, none more so than the Trinidad and Tobago Review which has lived through many incarnations but remains a beacon for Caribbean expression in so many areas. His foray into formal politics centred around his beloved Tapia with its headquarters in his equally beloved Tunapuna.
The force of Lloyd Best’s ideas are best gauged by the passion with which he advocated “Independent thought and Caribbean freedom”. That passion has inspired many and has influenced political and economic discourse for over four decades. Never one to be daunted, he remained to the end, dynamic, stimulating and provocative. Lloyd Algernon Best has left a legacy to this Region; his spirit will ever live.
To his wife Sunity, his children and grand-children, I offer sincerest condolences on behalf of the Caribbean Community, its Secretariat and on my own behalf. His was truly an outstanding and sustained contribution to the development of this Region. Farewell my friend!
