Mr Lidj Yasu Piankhi Omowale

Lidj Yasu Omowale
Bro Lidj Yasu Omowale

 

Bro. Lidj Yasu Piankhi Omowale, formerly Lidgissue Oliver, attended Trinity College from 1958 to 1965. He later obtained a Masters degree in Library Science from Pratt University in New York. Bro. Omowale was a member of the Central Committee of the National Joint Action Committee (NJAC) from 1970 until the eighties. In the early 1980’s he joined forces with Lancelot Layne in a group known as the National Emancipation and Freedom Day Council of Trinidad and Tobago in a drive to make Emancipation Day a public holiday. This finally happened in 1986.

He was the principal driving force in the formation of the Traditional Afrikan National Association (TANA) and the Confederation of African Associations of Trinidad and Tobago (C.O.A.A.T.T.), an umbrella organisation for groups involved in African culture in Trinidad and Tobago. He was also a pioneer of the Emancipation Support Committee (ESC).

He died in March 1996 and the Lidj Yasu Omowale Emancipation Village at which the yearly Emancipation celebrations take place was named in his honour.

The Trinity College Alumni Association recognises Bro. Lidj Yasu Omowale posthumously for his contribution to culture and his work in having the Government of Trinidad and Tobago recognise Emancipation Day as a public holiday.