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You are here The Anguillian Columns HEARTICALLY YOURS The Politics Of Discovery
Publishing date: 22.06.2007 09:05

Not that I have any affinity whatsoever with Christopher “Come-bus-us” but having enjoyed last weekend’s visit to St. Lucia more than any of the times I have visited previously, I am still reflecting on my feelings of discovery. Once again I find myself wondering if Caribbean tourism truly values and incorporates the culture that makes each of our islands so very special. I cannot count the number of times I have visited beautiful St. Lucia and stayed in various hotels. Perhaps two years ago, I shared with you my experience of a night in St. Lucia that to this day remains one of the most intellectually stimulating nights I have ever had but this visit was a discovery, a discovery of Africa in St. Lucia manifested in the family and community experience that characterized my visit. For the first time I stayed with a family, a Rastafari family in the village of Goodlands. The setting included two houses and a soon to be finished third, comprising the household of a large, extended family, not dissimilar to the home in which I grew up. Movement between the two houses was quite fluid - children and adults moved easily between the two, pets moved and so did food - delicious food, grown on the family’s farm located elsewhere - food in which I could taste the vitamins - food that included my favourite fruit, the most juicy pineapples. Everyone kept an eye and ear out for the small children. The outdoor furniture in the spacious yard shaded by mango trees seemed to be the yard to which the community’s teenagers gravitated. I was amused to hear my Sistren fussing about a nephew whom she could not get to go home to his mother. Every day she tried to send him home but every morning he could be found leaving her house to go home to get ready for school. She laughed when I asked her when she was going to accept the fact that he lived with her. The whole thing reminded me so much of that son to whom I did not give birth but who decided years ago that my home would be his. He won. I was therefore quite at home and I am truly thankful for the warm hospitality provided. I will always remember the good people of Goodlands.

It was also my first experience of St. Lucia where Patios or Kweyol was spoken more than English and that was a real treat even though Patios is a harsh sounding language that reminds one of the context in which the language originated. This is not genteel French or a single African language. It was the mixture of languages forged by an enslaved people, on the run in resistance to their enslavement - hard on the ears but laced with the sweetness of freedom. This was the language of Negre-mawon. You should have heard me saying “oui” to everything. One month in Goodlands is all that I need to break the sound barrier or whatever barrier is broken to acquire a new language. I couldn’t help remembering how after three weeks in Benin, I was unconsciously listening and following in French until the conscious kicked in to remind me that I did not speak the language. I found the same thing happening in Goodlands and I know with great certainty that one day I will leave Anguilla long enough to master another language. Since the Rastafari family is already planning for my return to St. Lucia, that language may well be Kweyol but if there are any St. Lucians here who are ready to take me under their wings to learn this Nation Language, I would gladly accept your offer.

My mission in St. Lucia was a training workshop for Rastafari leaders entitled, Enhancing Leadership Capacity for Sustainable Organisation and Centralisation - big words and lofty sounding ideas that really signal a new level of seriousness on the part of those who committed to advancing the cause of the Rastafari Movement. The workshop was facilitated under the auspices of His Majesty’s Service, an organizational development programme offered by the Caribbean Rastafari Organisation (CRO) to its members. In St. Lucia, the organizational member of the CRO is the national Iyanola Council for the Advancemant of Rastafari (ICAR) but the workshop included other Rastafari leaders and it was sheer joy to have the fullticipation of the Empress Menen Organisation of the Nyahbinghi Order. One major challenge to Rastafari organizations is the tension between the rejection of Babylonian ways and the adoption of behaviours that are associated with Babylonian methods of organizing. For a facilitator like me, this translates into the necessity to become a marriage officer who reconciles the domination model of a God-King culture of theocracy with the bottom-up people power that is supposed to characterize the practice of democracy. The latter remains a concept that receives a fair dose of suspicion and cynicism especially to a people who experience marginalization within or by most of institutions of socialization, including the primary one, the family. Then again, it is known that abuse is sometimes experienced even in the homes and families of those who publicly espouse the principles of democracy. Rastafari therefore strives to find a Rastafari way that is in keeping with the ancient traditions that are the hallmarks of I and I trod.

The St. Lucia mission was planned to coincide with Leonard Percival Howell Day, a holy day in the Rastafari calendar. Following the workshop which ended at mid-day on Saturday, the group journeyed to the town of Canaries to join the Rastafari community there in the observation. We arrived just in time to join a very colorful march through the town, accompanied by the Nyahbingi drummers chanting and playing from the back of a pick-up equipped with a public address system. Marchers bore placards with photographs of Leonard Percival Howell, the first man to declare the divinity of Haile Selassie I in Jamaica and who first referred to those recognising His kingship as the Rastaites. Over time, these became known by the full name RasTafari or Rastafarians. I am not quite sure why the usual police escort was absent but as one brother announced, the police gave up the streets of Canaries to I and I and I (never forget the third I), and looked on with interest from the police station located on one street along the route. The rally which followed was educative and enlightening and I was thrilled to be able to bring greetings to the people of Canaries from the people of Anguilla and to share with the Rastafari community there, the news of the new awakening on the part of the family here. As I left home this morning to Iwandai’s playing “All A We A One Family”, I could not help but think of the wonderful experience of family living that I had just encountered and enjoyed to the max. It also made me think that if I could so strongly feel a sense of discovery on my umpteenth visit to St. Lucia in over twenty years, Anguilla will in some ways be the loser if we fail to seek ways and means of ushering in our participation in the integration of the OECS.

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A Family Legacy, Built to Withstand Dynamite...

A New Channel for Soft Money Starts Flowing in 08 Race...

Security Guard Fires, Killing Iraqi Driver...

Musharraf Sets No Date to End Emergency Rule...

Edwards Outlines Policies in Iowa...

Musharraf Sets Elections, but Will Maintain Rule by Decree...

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You are here The Anguillian Columns HEARTICALLY YOURS The Politics Of Discovery
Publishing date: 22.06.2007 09:05

Not that I have any affinity whatsoever with Christopher “Come-bus-us” but having enjoyed last weekend’s visit to St. Lucia more than any of the times I have visited previously, I am still reflecting on my feelings of discovery. Once again I find myself wondering if Caribbean tourism truly values and incorporates the culture that makes each of our islands so very special. I cannot count the number of times I have visited beautiful St. Lucia and stayed in various hotels. Perhaps two years ago, I shared with you my experience of a night in St. Lucia that to this day remains one of the most intellectually stimulating nights I have ever had but this visit was a discovery, a discovery of Africa in St. Lucia manifested in the family and community experience that characterized my visit. For the first time I stayed with a family, a Rastafari family in the village of Goodlands. The setting included two houses and a soon to be finished third, comprising the household of a large, extended family, not dissimilar to the home in which I grew up. Movement between the two houses was quite fluid - children and adults moved easily between the two, pets moved and so did food - delicious food, grown on the family’s farm located elsewhere - food in which I could taste the vitamins - food that included my favourite fruit, the most juicy pineapples. Everyone kept an eye and ear out for the small children. The outdoor furniture in the spacious yard shaded by mango trees seemed to be the yard to which the community’s teenagers gravitated. I was amused to hear my Sistren fussing about a nephew whom she could not get to go home to his mother. Every day she tried to send him home but every morning he could be found leaving her house to go home to get ready for school. She laughed when I asked her when she was going to accept the fact that he lived with her. The whole thing reminded me so much of that son to whom I did not give birth but who decided years ago that my home would be his. He won. I was therefore quite at home and I am truly thankful for the warm hospitality provided. I will always remember the good people of Goodlands.

It was also my first experience of St. Lucia where Patios or Kweyol was spoken more than English and that was a real treat even though Patios is a harsh sounding language that reminds one of the context in which the language originated. This is not genteel French or a single African language. It was the mixture of languages forged by an enslaved people, on the run in resistance to their enslavement - hard on the ears but laced with the sweetness of freedom. This was the language of Negre-mawon. You should have heard me saying “oui” to everything. One month in Goodlands is all that I need to break the sound barrier or whatever barrier is broken to acquire a new language. I couldn’t help remembering how after three weeks in Benin, I was unconsciously listening and following in French until the conscious kicked in to remind me that I did not speak the language. I found the same thing happening in Goodlands and I know with great certainty that one day I will leave Anguilla long enough to master another language. Since the Rastafari family is already planning for my return to St. Lucia, that language may well be Kweyol but if there are any St. Lucians here who are ready to take me under their wings to learn this Nation Language, I would gladly accept your offer.

My mission in St. Lucia was a training workshop for Rastafari leaders entitled, Enhancing Leadership Capacity for Sustainable Organisation and Centralisation - big words and lofty sounding ideas that really signal a new level of seriousness on the part of those who committed to advancing the cause of the Rastafari Movement. The workshop was facilitated under the auspices of His Majesty’s Service, an organizational development programme offered by the Caribbean Rastafari Organisation (CRO) to its members. In St. Lucia, the organizational member of the CRO is the national Iyanola Council for the Advancemant of Rastafari (ICAR) but the workshop included other Rastafari leaders and it was sheer joy to have the fullticipation of the Empress Menen Organisation of the Nyahbinghi Order. One major challenge to Rastafari organizations is the tension between the rejection of Babylonian ways and the adoption of behaviours that are associated with Babylonian methods of organizing. For a facilitator like me, this translates into the necessity to become a marriage officer who reconciles the domination model of a God-King culture of theocracy with the bottom-up people power that is supposed to characterize the practice of democracy. The latter remains a concept that receives a fair dose of suspicion and cynicism especially to a people who experience marginalization within or by most of institutions of socialization, including the primary one, the family. Then again, it is known that abuse is sometimes experienced even in the homes and families of those who publicly espouse the principles of democracy. Rastafari therefore strives to find a Rastafari way that is in keeping with the ancient traditions that are the hallmarks of I and I trod.

The St. Lucia mission was planned to coincide with Leonard Percival Howell Day, a holy day in the Rastafari calendar. Following the workshop which ended at mid-day on Saturday, the group journeyed to the town of Canaries to join the Rastafari community there in the observation. We arrived just in time to join a very colorful march through the town, accompanied by the Nyahbingi drummers chanting and playing from the back of a pick-up equipped with a public address system. Marchers bore placards with photographs of Leonard Percival Howell, the first man to declare the divinity of Haile Selassie I in Jamaica and who first referred to those recognising His kingship as the Rastaites. Over time, these became known by the full name RasTafari or Rastafarians. I am not quite sure why the usual police escort was absent but as one brother announced, the police gave up the streets of Canaries to I and I and I (never forget the third I), and looked on with interest from the police station located on one street along the route. The rally which followed was educative and enlightening and I was thrilled to be able to bring greetings to the people of Canaries from the people of Anguilla and to share with the Rastafari community there, the news of the new awakening on the part of the family here. As I left home this morning to Iwandai’s playing “All A We A One Family”, I could not help but think of the wonderful experience of family living that I had just encountered and enjoyed to the max. It also made me think that if I could so strongly feel a sense of discovery on my umpteenth visit to St. Lucia in over twenty years, Anguilla will in some ways be the loser if we fail to seek ways and means of ushering in our participation in the integration of the OECS.

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The Caucus: Veterans Are on Congressional Minds...

DealBook: I.B.M. to Buy Cognos in $4.9 Billion Deal...

For U.S. Exporters in Cuba, Business Trumps Politics...

Nikkei Wipes Out 2007 Gains...

A Family Legacy, Built to Withstand Dynamite...

A New Channel for Soft Money Starts Flowing in 08 Race...

Security Guard Fires, Killing Iraqi Driver...

Musharraf Sets No Date to End Emergency Rule...

Edwards Outlines Policies in Iowa...

Musharraf Sets Elections, but Will Maintain Rule by Decree...

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Copyright © NetConcepts 2001 - 2003; All Rights Reserved
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You are here The Anguillian Columns HEARTICALLY YOURS The Politics Of Discovery
Publishing date: 22.06.2007 09:05

Not that I have any affinity whatsoever with Christopher “Come-bus-us” but having enjoyed last weekend’s visit to St. Lucia more than any of the times I have visited previously, I am still reflecting on my feelings of discovery. Once again I find myself wondering if Caribbean tourism truly values and incorporates the culture that makes each of our islands so very special. I cannot count the number of times I have visited beautiful St. Lucia and stayed in various hotels. Perhaps two years ago, I shared with you my experience of a night in St. Lucia that to this day remains one of the most intellectually stimulating nights I have ever had but this visit was a discovery, a discovery of Africa in St. Lucia manifested in the family and community experience that characterized my visit. For the first time I stayed with a family, a Rastafari family in the village of Goodlands. The setting included two houses and a soon to be finished third, comprising the household of a large, extended family, not dissimilar to the home in which I grew up. Movement between the two houses was quite fluid - children and adults moved easily between the two, pets moved and so did food - delicious food, grown on the family’s farm located elsewhere - food in which I could taste the vitamins - food that included my favourite fruit, the most juicy pineapples. Everyone kept an eye and ear out for the small children. The outdoor furniture in the spacious yard shaded by mango trees seemed to be the yard to which the community’s teenagers gravitated. I was amused to hear my Sistren fussing about a nephew whom she could not get to go home to his mother. Every day she tried to send him home but every morning he could be found leaving her house to go home to get ready for school. She laughed when I asked her when she was going to accept the fact that he lived with her. The whole thing reminded me so much of that son to whom I did not give birth but who decided years ago that my home would be his. He won. I was therefore quite at home and I am truly thankful for the warm hospitality provided. I will always remember the good people of Goodlands.

It was also my first experience of St. Lucia where Patios or Kweyol was spoken more than English and that was a real treat even though Patios is a harsh sounding language that reminds one of the context in which the language originated. This is not genteel French or a single African language. It was the mixture of languages forged by an enslaved people, on the run in resistance to their enslavement - hard on the ears but laced with the sweetness of freedom. This was the language of Negre-mawon. You should have heard me saying “oui” to everything. One month in Goodlands is all that I need to break the sound barrier or whatever barrier is broken to acquire a new language. I couldn’t help remembering how after three weeks in Benin, I was unconsciously listening and following in French until the conscious kicked in to remind me that I did not speak the language. I found the same thing happening in Goodlands and I know with great certainty that one day I will leave Anguilla long enough to master another language. Since the Rastafari family is already planning for my return to St. Lucia, that language may well be Kweyol but if there are any St. Lucians here who are ready to take me under their wings to learn this Nation Language, I would gladly accept your offer.

My mission in St. Lucia was a training workshop for Rastafari leaders entitled, Enhancing Leadership Capacity for Sustainable Organisation and Centralisation - big words and lofty sounding ideas that really signal a new level of seriousness on the part of those who committed to advancing the cause of the Rastafari Movement. The workshop was facilitated under the auspices of His Majesty’s Service, an organizational development programme offered by the Caribbean Rastafari Organisation (CRO) to its members. In St. Lucia, the organizational member of the CRO is the national Iyanola Council for the Advancemant of Rastafari (ICAR) but the workshop included other Rastafari leaders and it was sheer joy to have the fullticipation of the Empress Menen Organisation of the Nyahbinghi Order. One major challenge to Rastafari organizations is the tension between the rejection of Babylonian ways and the adoption of behaviours that are associated with Babylonian methods of organizing. For a facilitator like me, this translates into the necessity to become a marriage officer who reconciles the domination model of a God-King culture of theocracy with the bottom-up people power that is supposed to characterize the practice of democracy. The latter remains a concept that receives a fair dose of suspicion and cynicism especially to a people who experience marginalization within or by most of institutions of socialization, including the primary one, the family. Then again, it is known that abuse is sometimes experienced even in the homes and families of those who publicly espouse the principles of democracy. Rastafari therefore strives to find a Rastafari way that is in keeping with the ancient traditions that are the hallmarks of I and I trod.

The St. Lucia mission was planned to coincide with Leonard Percival Howell Day, a holy day in the Rastafari calendar. Following the workshop which ended at mid-day on Saturday, the group journeyed to the town of Canaries to join the Rastafari community there in the observation. We arrived just in time to join a very colorful march through the town, accompanied by the Nyahbingi drummers chanting and playing from the back of a pick-up equipped with a public address system. Marchers bore placards with photographs of Leonard Percival Howell, the first man to declare the divinity of Haile Selassie I in Jamaica and who first referred to those recognising His kingship as the Rastaites. Over time, these became known by the full name RasTafari or Rastafarians. I am not quite sure why the usual police escort was absent but as one brother announced, the police gave up the streets of Canaries to I and I and I (never forget the third I), and looked on with interest from the police station located on one street along the route. The rally which followed was educative and enlightening and I was thrilled to be able to bring greetings to the people of Canaries from the people of Anguilla and to share with the Rastafari community there, the news of the new awakening on the part of the family here. As I left home this morning to Iwandai’s playing “All A We A One Family”, I could not help but think of the wonderful experience of family living that I had just encountered and enjoyed to the max. It also made me think that if I could so strongly feel a sense of discovery on my umpteenth visit to St. Lucia in over twenty years, Anguilla will in some ways be the loser if we fail to seek ways and means of ushering in our participation in the integration of the OECS.

| Printer-friendly page | Send this article to a friend | World News
The Caucus: Veterans Are on Congressional Minds...

DealBook: I.B.M. to Buy Cognos in $4.9 Billion Deal...

For U.S. Exporters in Cuba, Business Trumps Politics...

Nikkei Wipes Out 2007 Gains...

A Family Legacy, Built to Withstand Dynamite...

A New Channel for Soft Money Starts Flowing in 08 Race...

Security Guard Fires, Killing Iraqi Driver...

Musharraf Sets No Date to End Emergency Rule...

Edwards Outlines Policies in Iowa...

Musharraf Sets Elections, but Will Maintain Rule by Decree...

Add NYT headlines to your site

Copyright © NetConcepts 2001 - 2003; All Rights Reserved
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You are here The Anguillian Columns HEARTICALLY YOURS The Politics Of Discovery
Publishing date: 22.06.2007 09:05

Not that I have any affinity whatsoever with Christopher “Come-bus-us” but having enjoyed last weekend’s visit to St. Lucia more than any of the times I have visited previously, I am still reflecting on my feelings of discovery. Once again I find myself wondering if Caribbean tourism truly values and incorporates the culture that makes each of our islands so very special. I cannot count the number of times I have visited beautiful St. Lucia and stayed in various hotels. Perhaps two years ago, I shared with you my experience of a night in St. Lucia that to this day remains one of the most intellectually stimulating nights I have ever had but this visit was a discovery, a discovery of Africa in St. Lucia manifested in the family and community experience that characterized my visit. For the first time I stayed with a family, a Rastafari family in the village of Goodlands. The setting included two houses and a soon to be finished third, comprising the household of a large, extended family, not dissimilar to the home in which I grew up. Movement between the two houses was quite fluid - children and adults moved easily between the two, pets moved and so did food - delicious food, grown on the family’s farm located elsewhere - food in which I could taste the vitamins - food that included my favourite fruit, the most juicy pineapples. Everyone kept an eye and ear out for the small children. The outdoor furniture in the spacious yard shaded by mango trees seemed to be the yard to which the community’s teenagers gravitated. I was amused to hear my Sistren fussing about a nephew whom she could not get to go home to his mother. Every day she tried to send him home but every morning he could be found leaving her house to go home to get ready for school. She laughed when I asked her when she was going to accept the fact that he lived with her. The whole thing reminded me so much of that son to whom I did not give birth but who decided years ago that my home would be his. He won. I was therefore quite at home and I am truly thankful for the warm hospitality provided. I will always remember the good people of Goodlands.

It was also my first experience of St. Lucia where Patios or Kweyol was spoken more than English and that was a real treat even though Patios is a harsh sounding language that reminds one of the context in which the language originated. This is not genteel French or a single African language. It was the mixture of languages forged by an enslaved people, on the run in resistance to their enslavement - hard on the ears but laced with the sweetness of freedom. This was the language of Negre-mawon. You should have heard me saying “oui” to everything. One month in Goodlands is all that I need to break the sound barrier or whatever barrier is broken to acquire a new language. I couldn’t help remembering how after three weeks in Benin, I was unconsciously listening and following in French until the conscious kicked in to remind me that I did not speak the language. I found the same thing happening in Goodlands and I know with great certainty that one day I will leave Anguilla long enough to master another language. Since the Rastafari family is already planning for my return to St. Lucia, that language may well be Kweyol but if there are any St. Lucians here who are ready to take me under their wings to learn this Nation Language, I would gladly accept your offer.

My mission in St. Lucia was a training workshop for Rastafari leaders entitled, Enhancing Leadership Capacity for Sustainable Organisation and Centralisation - big words and lofty sounding ideas that really signal a new level of seriousness on the part of those who committed to advancing the cause of the Rastafari Movement. The workshop was facilitated under the auspices of His Majesty’s Service, an organizational development programme offered by the Caribbean Rastafari Organisation (CRO) to its members. In St. Lucia, the organizational member of the CRO is the national Iyanola Council for the Advancemant of Rastafari (ICAR) but the workshop included other Rastafari leaders and it was sheer joy to have the fullticipation of the Empress Menen Organisation of the Nyahbinghi Order. One major challenge to Rastafari organizations is the tension between the rejection of Babylonian ways and the adoption of behaviours that are associated with Babylonian methods of organizing. For a facilitator like me, this translates into the necessity to become a marriage officer who reconciles the domination model of a God-King culture of theocracy with the bottom-up people power that is supposed to characterize the practice of democracy. The latter remains a concept that receives a fair dose of suspicion and cynicism especially to a people who experience marginalization within or by most of institutions of socialization, including the primary one, the family. Then again, it is known that abuse is sometimes experienced even in the homes and families of those who publicly espouse the principles of democracy. Rastafari therefore strives to find a Rastafari way that is in keeping with the ancient traditions that are the hallmarks of I and I trod.

The St. Lucia mission was planned to coincide with Leonard Percival Howell Day, a holy day in the Rastafari calendar. Following the workshop which ended at mid-day on Saturday, the group journeyed to the town of Canaries to join the Rastafari community there in the observation. We arrived just in time to join a very colorful march through the town, accompanied by the Nyahbingi drummers chanting and playing from the back of a pick-up equipped with a public address system. Marchers bore placards with photographs of Leonard Percival Howell, the first man to declare the divinity of Haile Selassie I in Jamaica and who first referred to those recognising His kingship as the Rastaites. Over time, these became known by the full name RasTafari or Rastafarians. I am not quite sure why the usual police escort was absent but as one brother announced, the police gave up the streets of Canaries to I and I and I (never forget the third I), and looked on with interest from the police station located on one street along the route. The rally which followed was educative and enlightening and I was thrilled to be able to bring greetings to the people of Canaries from the people of Anguilla and to share with the Rastafari community there, the news of the new awakening on the part of the family here. As I left home this morning to Iwandai’s playing “All A We A One Family”, I could not help but think of the wonderful experience of family living that I had just encountered and enjoyed to the max. It also made me think that if I could so strongly feel a sense of discovery on my umpteenth visit to St. Lucia in over twenty years, Anguilla will in some ways be the loser if we fail to seek ways and means of ushering in our participation in the integration of the OECS.

| Printer-friendly page | Send this article to a friend | World News
The Caucus: Veterans Are on Congressional Minds...

DealBook: I.B.M. to Buy Cognos in $4.9 Billion Deal...

For U.S. Exporters in Cuba, Business Trumps Politics...

Nikkei Wipes Out 2007 Gains...

A Family Legacy, Built to Withstand Dynamite...

A New Channel for Soft Money Starts Flowing in 08 Race...

Security Guard Fires, Killing Iraqi Driver...

Musharraf Sets No Date to End Emergency Rule...

Edwards Outlines Policies in Iowa...

Musharraf Sets Elections, but Will Maintain Rule by Decree...

Add NYT headlines to your site

Copyright © NetConcepts 2001 - 2003; All Rights Reserved
myCaribbean | Net.ai | The Anguilla Guide | Anguilla Art Guide | Anguilla Festival| Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association

The Price of Freedom is Eternal Vigilance - John F. Kennedy

Sections
Anguilla Forum
Anguilla Guide
Anguilla Festival
myCaribbean

The Anguillian
Front page
News
Politics
Business
Tourism
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Regional
Columns
Art
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Local News
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Subscription information
You are here The Anguillian Columns HEARTICALLY YOURS The Politics Of Discovery
Publishing date: 22.06.2007 09:05

Not that I have any affinity whatsoever with Christopher “Come-bus-us” but having enjoyed last weekend’s visit to St. Lucia more than any of the times I have visited previously, I am still reflecting on my feelings of discovery. Once again I find myself wondering if Caribbean tourism truly values and incorporates the culture that makes each of our islands so very special. I cannot count the number of times I have visited beautiful St. Lucia and stayed in various hotels. Perhaps two years ago, I shared with you my experience of a night in St. Lucia that to this day remains one of the most intellectually stimulating nights I have ever had but this visit was a discovery, a discovery of Africa in St. Lucia manifested in the family and community experience that characterized my visit. For the first time I stayed with a family, a Rastafari family in the village of Goodlands. The setting included two houses and a soon to be finished third, comprising the household of a large, extended family, not dissimilar to the home in which I grew up. Movement between the two houses was quite fluid - children and adults moved easily between the two, pets moved and so did food - delicious food, grown on the family’s farm located elsewhere - food in which I could taste the vitamins - food that included my favourite fruit, the most juicy pineapples. Everyone kept an eye and ear out for the small children. The outdoor furniture in the spacious yard shaded by mango trees seemed to be the yard to which the community’s teenagers gravitated. I was amused to hear my Sistren fussing about a nephew whom she could not get to go home to his mother. Every day she tried to send him home but every morning he could be found leaving her house to go home to get ready for school. She laughed when I asked her when she was going to accept the fact that he lived with her. The whole thing reminded me so much of that son to whom I did not give birth but who decided years ago that my home would be his. He won. I was therefore quite at home and I am truly thankful for the warm hospitality provided. I will always remember the good people of Goodlands.

It was also my first experience of St. Lucia where Patios or Kweyol was spoken more than English and that was a real treat even though Patios is a harsh sounding language that reminds one of the context in which the language originated. This is not genteel French or a single African language. It was the mixture of languages forged by an enslaved people, on the run in resistance to their enslavement - hard on the ears but laced with the sweetness of freedom. This was the language of Negre-mawon. You should have heard me saying “oui” to everything. One month in Goodlands is all that I need to break the sound barrier or whatever barrier is broken to acquire a new language. I couldn’t help remembering how after three weeks in Benin, I was unconsciously listening and following in French until the conscious kicked in to remind me that I did not speak the language. I found the same thing happening in Goodlands and I know with great certainty that one day I will leave Anguilla long enough to master another language. Since the Rastafari family is already planning for my return to St. Lucia, that language may well be Kweyol but if there are any St. Lucians here who are ready to take me under their wings to learn this Nation Language, I would gladly accept your offer.

My mission in St. Lucia was a training workshop for Rastafari leaders entitled, Enhancing Leadership Capacity for Sustainable Organisation and Centralisation - big words and lofty sounding ideas that really signal a new level of seriousness on the part of those who committed to advancing the cause of the Rastafari Movement. The workshop was facilitated under the auspices of His Majesty’s Service, an organizational development programme offered by the Caribbean Rastafari Organisation (CRO) to its members. In St. Lucia, the organizational member of the CRO is the national Iyanola Council for the Advancemant of Rastafari (ICAR) but the workshop included other Rastafari leaders and it was sheer joy to have the fullticipation of the Empress Menen Organisation of the Nyahbinghi Order. One major challenge to Rastafari organizations is the tension between the rejection of Babylonian ways and the adoption of behaviours that are associated with Babylonian methods of organizing. For a facilitator like me, this translates into the necessity to become a marriage officer who reconciles the domination model of a God-King culture of theocracy with the bottom-up people power that is supposed to characterize the practice of democracy. The latter remains a concept that receives a fair dose of suspicion and cynicism especially to a people who experience marginalization within or by most of institutions of socialization, including the primary one, the family. Then again, it is known that abuse is sometimes experienced even in the homes and families of those who publicly espouse the principles of democracy. Rastafari therefore strives to find a Rastafari way that is in keeping with the ancient traditions that are the hallmarks of I and I trod.

The St. Lucia mission was planned to coincide with Leonard Percival Howell Day, a holy day in the Rastafari calendar. Following the workshop which ended at mid-day on Saturday, the group journeyed to the town of Canaries to join the Rastafari community there in the observation. We arrived just in time to join a very colorful march through the town, accompanied by the Nyahbingi drummers chanting and playing from the back of a pick-up equipped with a public address system. Marchers bore placards with photographs of Leonard Percival Howell, the first man to declare the divinity of Haile Selassie I in Jamaica and who first referred to those recognising His kingship as the Rastaites. Over time, these became known by the full name RasTafari or Rastafarians. I am not quite sure why the usual police escort was absent but as one brother announced, the police gave up the streets of Canaries to I and I and I (never forget the third I), and looked on with interest from the police station located on one street along the route. The rally which followed was educative and enlightening and I was thrilled to be able to bring greetings to the people of Canaries from the people of Anguilla and to share with the Rastafari community there, the news of the new awakening on the part of the family here. As I left home this morning to Iwandai’s playing “All A We A One Family”, I could not help but think of the wonderful experience of family living that I had just encountered and enjoyed to the max. It also made me think that if I could so strongly feel a sense of discovery on my umpteenth visit to St. Lucia in over twenty years, Anguilla will in some ways be the loser if we fail to seek ways and means of ushering in our participation in the integration of the OECS.

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You are here The Anguillian Columns HEARTICALLY YOURS The Politics Of Discovery
Publishing date: 22.06.2007 09:05

Not that I have any affinity whatsoever with Christopher “Come-bus-us” but having enjoyed last weekend’s visit to St. Lucia more than any of the times I have visited previously, I am still reflecting on my feelings of discovery. Once again I find myself wondering if Caribbean tourism truly values and incorporates the culture that makes each of our islands so very special. I cannot count the number of times I have visited beautiful St. Lucia and stayed in various hotels. Perhaps two years ago, I shared with you my experience of a night in St. Lucia that to this day remains one of the most intellectually stimulating nights I have ever had but this visit was a discovery, a discovery of Africa in St. Lucia manifested in the family and community experience that characterized my visit. For the first time I stayed with a family, a Rastafari family in the village of Goodlands. The setting included two houses and a soon to be finished third, comprising the household of a large, extended family, not dissimilar to the home in which I grew up. Movement between the two houses was quite fluid - children and adults moved easily between the two, pets moved and so did food - delicious food, grown on the family’s farm located elsewhere - food in which I could taste the vitamins - food that included my favourite fruit, the most juicy pineapples. Everyone kept an eye and ear out for the small children. The outdoor furniture in the spacious yard shaded by mango trees seemed to be the yard to which the community’s teenagers gravitated. I was amused to hear my Sistren fussing about a nephew whom she could not get to go home to his mother. Every day she tried to send him home but every morning he could be found leaving her house to go home to get ready for school. She laughed when I asked her when she was going to accept the fact that he lived with her. The whole thing reminded me so much of that son to whom I did not give birth but who decided years ago that my home would be his. He won. I was therefore quite at home and I am truly thankful for the warm hospitality provided. I will always remember the good people of Goodlands.

It was also my first experience of St. Lucia where Patios or Kweyol was spoken more than English and that was a real treat even though Patios is a harsh sounding language that reminds one of the context in which the language originated. This is not genteel French or a single African language. It was the mixture of languages forged by an enslaved people, on the run in resistance to their enslavement - hard on the ears but laced with the sweetness of freedom. This was the language of Negre-mawon. You should have heard me saying “oui” to everything. One month in Goodlands is all that I need to break the sound barrier or whatever barrier is broken to acquire a new language. I couldn’t help remembering how after three weeks in Benin, I was unconsciously listening and following in French until the conscious kicked in to remind me that I did not speak the language. I found the same thing happening in Goodlands and I know with great certainty that one day I will leave Anguilla long enough to master another language. Since the Rastafari family is already planning for my return to St. Lucia, that language may well be Kweyol but if there are any St. Lucians here who are ready to take me under their wings to learn this Nation Language, I would gladly accept your offer.

My mission in St. Lucia was a training workshop for Rastafari leaders entitled, Enhancing Leadership Capacity for Sustainable Organisation and Centralisation - big words and lofty sounding ideas that really signal a new level of seriousness on the part of those who committed to advancing the cause of the Rastafari Movement. The workshop was facilitated under the auspices of His Majesty’s Service, an organizational development programme offered by the Caribbean Rastafari Organisation (CRO) to its members. In St. Lucia, the organizational member of the CRO is the national Iyanola Council for the Advancemant of Rastafari (ICAR) but the workshop included other Rastafari leaders and it was sheer joy to have the fullticipation of the Empress Menen Organisation of the Nyahbinghi Order. One major challenge to Rastafari organizations is the tension between the rejection of Babylonian ways and the adoption of behaviours that are associated with Babylonian methods of organizing. For a facilitator like me, this translates into the necessity to become a marriage officer who reconciles the domination model of a God-King culture of theocracy with the bottom-up people power that is supposed to characterize the practice of democracy. The latter remains a concept that receives a fair dose of suspicion and cynicism especially to a people who experience marginalization within or by most of institutions of socialization, including the primary one, the family. Then again, it is known that abuse is sometimes experienced even in the homes and families of those who publicly espouse the principles of democracy. Rastafari therefore strives to find a Rastafari way that is in keeping with the ancient traditions that are the hallmarks of I and I trod.

The St. Lucia mission was planned to coincide with Leonard Percival Howell Day, a holy day in the Rastafari calendar. Following the workshop which ended at mid-day on Saturday, the group journeyed to the town of Canaries to join the Rastafari community there in the observation. We arrived just in time to join a very colorful march through the town, accompanied by the Nyahbingi drummers chanting and playing from the back of a pick-up equipped with a public address system. Marchers bore placards with photographs of Leonard Percival Howell, the first man to declare the divinity of Haile Selassie I in Jamaica and who first referred to those recognising His kingship as the Rastaites. Over time, these became known by the full name RasTafari or Rastafarians. I am not quite sure why the usual police escort was absent but as one brother announced, the police gave up the streets of Canaries to I and I and I (never forget the third I), and looked on with interest from the police station located on one street along the route. The rally which followed was educative and enlightening and I was thrilled to be able to bring greetings to the people of Canaries from the people of Anguilla and to share with the Rastafari community there, the news of the new awakening on the part of the family here. As I left home this morning to Iwandai’s playing “All A We A One Family”, I could not help but think of the wonderful experience of family living that I had just encountered and enjoyed to the max. It also made me think that if I could so strongly feel a sense of discovery on my umpteenth visit to St. Lucia in over twenty years, Anguilla will in some ways be the loser if we fail to seek ways and means of ushering in our participation in the integration of the OECS.

| Printer-friendly page | Send this article to a friend | World News
The Caucus: Veterans Are on Congressional Minds...

DealBook: I.B.M. to Buy Cognos in $4.9 Billion Deal...

For U.S. Exporters in Cuba, Business Trumps Politics...

Nikkei Wipes Out 2007 Gains...

A Family Legacy, Built to Withstand Dynamite...

A New Channel for Soft Money Starts Flowing in 08 Race...

Security Guard Fires, Killing Iraqi Driver...

Musharraf Sets No Date to End Emergency Rule...

Edwards Outlines Policies in Iowa...

Musharraf Sets Elections, but Will Maintain Rule by Decree...

Add NYT headlines to your site

Copyright © NetConcepts 2001 - 2003; All Rights Reserved
myCaribbean | Net.ai | The Anguilla Guide | Anguilla Art Guide | Anguilla Festival| Anguilla Hotel and Tourism Association