Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 01/Nov 08:57

Time to meddle in fowl party

DARA E HEALY “I know about the US occupation of Chaguaramas, but I never thought that I would actually have to live through something like that.” “Jean and Dinah going an be waiting on the corner again allyuh.” – Conversations with artists MY GRANDMOTHER talked about post-war rationing of food. I have a vague memory of seeing an actual card, but at the time it was just an interesting piece of information about something that happened a long time ago. I soon forgot about it. Then, this week, I was bombarded several times by a meme featuring a roach wearing the TT flag, positioned in the middle of two very large chickens. One chicken was dressed in the US flag and the other in Venezuelan colours. The effect was as disturbing as it was brilliantly creative. "Cockroach ent have no right in fowl party" is a local saying that cautions against meddling in affairs that do not concern you. Most times this is sound advice. However, the popularity of the meme suggests to me that this time the people of TT do not agree. In the midst of reports about stockpiling of food and essential items, I was drawn into another conversation about the importance of growing our own food. They were fascinated when I told them about my grandmother growing corn and other items in milk tins in the narrow space on our fourth-floor balcony. In their eyes and the words that were not openly expressed, I realised that mentally some of us are preparing for war. Of course, in our blood and memory, we have been here before. We understand now that indigenous warriors did not massacre priests, but were simply defending their way of life from complete eradication. We recognise that enslaved Africans who led countless rebellions across the region were engaged in an existential war for dignity, respect and humanity. We know that in 1884, this was the mission for East Indians who endured being shot at as they peacefully defended their right to religious and cultural expression. So when it is necessary, we meddle. We know that calypsonians prolifically documented their opinions and concerns about the impact of war on our society. One consequence was the loss of access to land as a result of leasing agreements made between the British and the Americans. Hollis Liverpool describes a sense of powerlessness as people lost their homes to this imperial arrangement. Around 1946, Atilla protested with his calypso No Nationality – “Long ago I was a real Trinidadian/I used to boast of my native land/But now to go near to Cumuto I am afraid/And at Teteron Bay I’m forbidden to bathe/So don’t bother with me and nationality/For that’s all abound in hypocrisy.” After 1945, movements against colonialism, racial inequity and political corruption were waged here in TT and across the Caribbean, through vehicles such as masquerade, music, dance, poetry and theatre. When the powerful voice of Walter Rodney was silenced by political assassination, poet Kamau Brathwaite penned a searing tribute to him: “..the headlines screaming dat…/POR CYAAN TEK NO MOORE/and the babies and their mothers and their mothers mothers and their mothers mothers mothers mothers/perished forever in the semi-automatic catcalls of the orange heat/sizzle fear flare up of siren howl of the scorch wind wail through the rat-a-tat…” In 1966, Brathwaite was instrumental in starting the Caribbean Artists Movement along with John La Rose from TT and Andrew Salkey from Jamaica. They built a collective of creatives to make sense of being from the Caribbean while living in the UK. In the 1970s, writers and activists like Merle Hodge, George Lamming, Nancy Morejon, Earl Lovelace and Eintou Springer travelled to Grenada to support Maurice Bishop in fulfilling his dream of a country that educated its people, managed its economy and determined its foreign policy based on a people-centred ideology. In times of crisis, the voice of the artist continues to be a powerful source of critical thinking and resistance. In 1956, Mighty Sparrow’s Jean and Dinah captured the frustration of the people and gave us the language almost 70 years later to express what we know instinctively – something is not right. In times of crisis, we must mark our space and fight in this gayelle of our nation. We must meddle. I am ready to be part of the next artist’s movement. Who will join me? Dara E Healy is a performing artist and founder of the Idakeda Group, a cultural organisation dedicated to empowering communities through the arts The post Time to meddle in fowl party appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.