The Port of Spain City Council will begin formal arrangements in September to rename a section of Oxford Street in honor of pan-African revolutionary Kwame Ture, Mayor Chinua Alleyne has confirmed.
Alleyne first announced the change on August 1, African Emancipation Day, declaring that the stretch of Oxford Street between Argyle Street and Charlotte Street—where Ture was born—would be renamed Kwame Ture Way.
- Advertisement -
Born Stokely Carmichael in Trinidad and Tobago, Ture became a prominent figure in the U.S. civil rights movement, a leader in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and later a key voice in the global Pan-African and Black nationalist movements. His Port of Spain birthplace is already recognized as a heritage site.
“It is our hope that those yet to be born will grow up inspired by the work of this global pan-African hero from behind the bridge in Port of Spain,” Alleyne said earlier this month during Emancipation celebrations.
On August 21, the mayor told Newsday that the City Council will establish an “implementation committee” in September to oversee the renaming process and set a timeline.
The decision follows longstanding calls from the Emancipation Support Committee of Trinidad and Tobago (ESCTT), which in June reiterated its appeal to rename Oxford Street after Ture. The ESCTT also hosts the annual Kwame Ture Memorial Lecture series, honoring his legacy of African empowerment.
The renaming comes alongside other symbolic changes in the capital. On August 6, the Christopher Columbus statue was removed from Port of Spain and placed under the care of the National Trust after Alleyne announced it would be relocated to the National Museum.
