The Trinidad Tradition We Can’t Afford to Lose | Jameel ‘Jappa’ Bisnath

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What is Hosay really about?

For many Trinidadians, it’s something we’ve grown up seeing—but few of us truly understand its history, meaning, or why it continues to unite an entire community.

In this episode, community leader and Hosay historian Jameel Bisnath explains the origins of Hosay, the story of Imam Hussein, why St. James has become the largest Hosay community in the Western Hemisphere, and how a tradition rooted in mourning became one of Trinidad & Tobago’s greatest examples of multicultural harmony.

We also...