As Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago celebrate their 50th anniversaries of independence, much debate has sparked over the evolution of the two countries' fate. In honor of the golden jubilee debate, the Florida International University (FIU) Libraries' Special Collections Department is hosting a lecture, "50 | 50 The Road to Independence: Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago," on February 28, at 5.30 p.m. in the Green Library, room 220, at FIU.

The lecture and discussion session will be led by FIU professor of sociology Dr. Percy Hintzen and founder of the Eric Williams Memorial collection Erica Williams Connell. Dr. Percy Hintzen is a Caribbeanist known for his work exploring political upheavals in Trinidad and Tobago and on West Indian migration to the United States. The daughter of Trinidad and Tobago's founding father, Eric Williams, Erica Williams Connell has become a champion of her father's legacy and extensive research on Caribbean history and society.

Poet and FIU English professor, Donna Weir-Soley, will also be performing poems by iconic Jamaican poet and performer, Louise "Miss Lou" Bennett-Coverley, whose work often voiced the pride and anxieties of Caribbean cultures seeking independence. Admission to the event is free and open to the public.