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The late Austin Clarke published A Passage Back Home as a tribute to his friend, Samuel Selvon in 1994 (the year Selvon died). He wrote about them attending what he called Carifesta I in Georgetown, British Guiana.
“All of us from the various diasporas into which we had drifted, Europe and Latin-America, Amurca, Canada and the West Indies; all of us who had made some name and reputation for ourselves in the fight with words and with paint brush, trumpet and beaten clay, ‘all the fellars invited, yes!’ And we went.
(via The Globe and Mail.)
“[…] We were all invited. And all of us caught at the chance: to be relieved of the uncertain hazards of being the writer, the painter, the sculptor, the jazz musician; exchanging this treacherous existence for a place in the sun, where we could recall all the memories that immigration and the systems of racism had been corroding from our skin, from our mind, from our very healthiness.”
On the Caricom website is this paragraph:
“The enthusiasm of the artists attending a Caribbean Writers and Artists Convention in Georgetown in 1966 and again in 1970 during Guyana’s Independence and Republic celebrations, found favour with Prime Minister Forbes Burnham who spearheaded the conversion of the idea into a resplendent exposition of artistic forms and cultural artifacts that became the first Caribbean Festival of Arts in Guyana in 1972.”
Photo: Office of the Prime Minister.
I cite it because I wasn’t clear whether Clarke was referring to 1966.
I was reminded of the book as Carifesta celebrations are currently underway in Barbados. It has seemed distant and vague because I could not figure out how to access streams of coverage. I know there is stuff online, but there hardly seems to be any mainstream media attention.
With a lot of conversations taking place about notions of West Indian-ness and Caribbean-ness and the lost spirit of unity, it struck me how Clarke listed a range of invitees coming from the belly of the arts.
Photo: Office of the Prime Minister.
Burnham’s focus was inspiring to Clarke and Selvon until they encountered the full blast of his ego, the thing that has kept us splintered as a region.
As the body of islands and Guyana that now make up the West Indies began to emerge from colonialism, it must have seemed practical and prudent to come together as a bloc. Something moved them to decide that it was in the best developmental interest to form a federation, which they did in 1958.
Four years later, it disintegrated.
What was the cause for this mashup? Bright, bright men competing to be maximum leaders?
How Caricom still exists today is something of a miracle. Fashioned in 1973, with similar components to the failed federation enterprise, it continues to struggle to live up to expectations.
This is not to knock the Secretariat or the members of its staff. The heads of government have been notoriously sluggish to respond to the needs of the community it purports to serve.
The last item in its vision is of “a Community which is a unified and competitive force in the global arena.” Has it been that?
One needs only to look at the stuttering of the CSME (Caricom Single Market and Economy) which sought to remove trade and professional restrictions among member states. How successful has that been?
In today’s circumstances, one might be reminded of Dominica’s PM, Eugenia Charles, and the US invasion of Grenada back in 1983. Four years later, addressing the eighth heads of government meeting in St Lucia, she said:
Photo: Della Zuana Pascal/ Corbis Sygma.
“[…] I am of the firm opinion that Caricom must continue to exist, but it must exist for the purpose of improving the quality of life of all our people. If it does not succeed in doing this, then we must abandon it.
“We must emphasize that we are not in Caricom merely to show that there is ‘unity’ among us in the English-speaking Caribbean—no, we are in Caricom because the unity it aims at achieving will bring benefits to all our people.”
Is this the thinking of T&T’s Prime Minister? The ambition is obviously to align the country with what seems to be the most powerful ally. Neighbours are negligible.
Photo: UNC.
I try to steer clear of politics for many reasons. I don’t trust politicians and I don’t understand how they think. I believe there are many who do, and who offer their comments and analyses more usefully.
My concerns come from the distress I feel for the loss of this Caribbean identity; this thing we call our West Indian-ness. Austin Clarke was Barbadian, Sam Selvon was Trinidadian. Their friendship, like many others, was rooted in a Caribbean belly.
Long before the politicians grabbed their places, the writers, the artists, the musicians and the athletes have brought us the joy and fellowship that have been the true bond of our part of this world.
(Copyright Randy Brooks – CPL T20/ Getty Images.)
Every year when the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) matches are being played, we feel the spirit. The best part for me is that I don’t have angst about the performance of the West Indies teams.
Competitive spirit is relinquished and I can simply revel in the performances that come from anyone, anywhere. And I marvel at how much talent we have in this wonderful space.
The beauty of the host countries makes me wish to be there. How could we not want togetherness? It’s not about sovereignty to me, it’s about belonging.
Photo: Garth Archibald/ Wired868.
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Vaneisa Baksh is a columnist with the Trinidad Express, an editor and a cricket historian. She is the author of a biography of Sir Frank Worrell.
