Submitted by William Skinner
Recently in a submission to BU, I mentioned a story appearing in the local press about a six-year-old citizen, selling her first piece of art. In the interview, her mother said that she was conflicted, in exposing her daughter to such activity at a very tender age. She did not want to send the message that everything is about money. However, she concluded that her daughter’s passion, came at the cost of some expensive art supplies. In the end common “cents’ became the reality.
We stupidly believed that the world would have waited on us, to embrace the emerging technologies. While we waited, teens in other countries, were already becoming millionaires by creating and selling computer programs /apps. We wasted almost twenty years boasting about “punching above our weight”.
Our children were therefore denied the excellent opportunity of mastering basic computer skills, and many have left school lacking the competence to turn on a computer. Edutech was a monumental failure. And to this day, the architect of that calamity has never explained the disaster.
Our children must compete in the global market. Countries with limited resources must have educational institutions that impart knowledge and skills to navigate their local, regional, and international challenges.
An honest assessment of successive administrations reveals their innate ability to prefer presentation over content. They always fail to deal with the issues and challenges we need to face within our educational system. The latest fallacy being promoted, suggests there are no “good or bad” schools. We should ask our children what they think about that! We are trying to convince ourselves that the system is not elitist. We are still contending that each child, who sits the Common Entrance, has an equal chance of “passing” a “fair “examination.
Many citizens are asking what will replace the Common Entrance. Almost two years have passed since the current administration informed the public that it would be abolished.
We continue to blame the parents and those teachers, whom we think are not the best ,for the failures of the system.
Our children are not responsible for poor parenting or teaching. No child chooses his or her parents. Our children should have at least one daily nutritious meal and be exposed to the best educational institutions. We must ensure that they are provided with all the means to enjoy a happy, healthy childhood. They must be protected from all forms of abuse.
Very urgent and comprehensive legislation is needed to give our children protection. For example, adults who are accused of abusing children, must be removed from the home immediately; children under the age of fourteen should not be required to give evidence at trials where they have accused adults of abuse. Once the state determines there is a case, there should be no need for the child to be a witness and be cross examined. The accused is at the mercy of the court and his innocence or guilt will be determined by a jury.
Those found guilty should be placed on a public record as molesters and be not permitted to reside or frequent anywhere where children gather this will include play parks, schools, and other places. There should be a minimum sentence of twenty-five years for anybody who rapes a child. Penetration could be any object.
As a nation, we must protect and develop our only natural resource. We are all parents and guardians of all our children.
As we embark on the new Republic journey, we need to ask ourselves: how seven of ten children in the nation’s care, from the Girls Industrial School, became patients, at the psychiatric hospital on suicide watch. The next question is are we collectively doing right by our nation’s children.
The alert parent mentioned at the beginning of this piece, knew, the difference between reality and illusion. Our children have all the inner resources to make the future of our country greater and like that parent, we need to always know the difference between cents and common sense
Sampa the Great feat. Mwanje, Theresa Mutale Tembo & Sunburnt Soul Choir
Mwana
We mwana
Ndi naiwe
We mwana wandi
Ndi naiwe
Ulemfwaya elyo ndi naiwe
Naba naiwe inshita yonse
Ndi naiwe
(My child
I’ve been with you all this time
You’re looking for me but I am with you)
Ayeh
Mwana wandi ikala panshi
Ikala panshi ikala panshi
Ndi naiwe
(My child sit down, sit down, sit down
I am with you)
Ayeh
Mwana wandi ikala panshi
Ikala panshi ikala panshi
Ndi naiwe
I can see them right beside me
I cannot tell
Why can’t I tell?
I can feel them
Right beside me
All through the hell
I cannot fail
Don’t give up on me
Ayeh
Mwana wandi ikala panshi
Ikala panshi ikala panshi
Ndi naiwe
Ndi naiwe
I guess I found my fortune
I don’t need home to feel important
But I need a feeling of peace
I’m not broken
Searching but soft spoken
Leaning up to the ether
Wonder if ancestors been living
On through my ugh
My DNA
Been searching for what’s inside of me
Physically displaced
And spiritually erased
Unceded space
This is a war about face
Physically sentenced us
Spiritual exodus
Kidnapped
I’m in space
But my own don’t recognise voice
Don’t know my face
Pace
This is a war about face
Physically sentenced us
Spiritual exodus
Ayeh
Mwana wandi ikala panshi
Ikala panshi ikala panshi
Ndi naiwe
Ndi naiwe
Mwanje
All the tears I felt
All the pain I felt
To find myself
I found myself again
All the strength I found
Feet are on the ground
They walked this ground again
I walk this ground again
Don’t cry again
Don’t be afraid
The voice I’ve found has said
Don’t cry again
Don’t be afraid
Ayeh
Mwana wandi ikala panshi
Ikala panshi ikala panshi
Ndi naiwe
Ndi naiwe
Ndi naiwe
Ndi naiwe
Ndi naiwe
Ndi naiwe
Ndi naiwe
Ndi naiwe
We mwana wandi
Naba naiwe inshita yonse
Ulemfwaya elyo ndi naiwe
Sampa!
(My child
I’ve been with you all this time
You’re looking for me but I am with you)
“Our children have all the inner resources to make the future of our country greater and like that parent, we need to always know the difference between cents and common sense.”
say it again….corrupt clowns will never get it, too focused on the next self-enriching SCAM..
this is what Afrikan minded THINKERS are about…..can’t find that in the minds of western educated negro slaves..
“The Africana Study Group will start our next book, Awakening the Natural
Genius of Black Children by Nana Amos Wilson on May 21st 10 am est.”
Sampa The Great – The Return
Mirror mirror
On the wall
Who’s the blackest of us all
I said
Mirror mirror
Ooh
On the wall
Who the blackest baby
Yeah
Well well well well well
I know your soul
Huh
You’re the place I call home
I know who you are
Baby
I’ve been known
Since the day you were born
Since the day you were born
The Return
The Return
The Return
The Return
The Return
The Return
The Return
The Return
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Bringing me in on back
Bring me in on fast
Living with my armour I’m
Tryna find me fast
Take me to my soul
Everything I know
I just want my spirit to wander off no more
Everything is here
Everything familiar
Everything I’ve seen and it’s everything I hear
Bring me in on near
Bring me to my soul
Take me to my spirit
And Bring me in back home
Because
I’m coming back
I’m coming back
I’m coming back home
I’m coming back
I’m coming back
I’m coming back home
I’m coming back
I’m coming back
I’m coming back home
I’m coming back home
I’m coming back home
I’m coming home
I’m coming home
I’m coming back home
I’m coming home
Broken, bruised and battered
Wandering this world aimlessly
As the house nigga of this country
As the house nigga of this country
I’d better find myself
Before I breed my self hate into this world
I’d better find myself
Before I breed my self hate into this world
I’m not here to plead
Or ask for your sympathy
Are you too blind to see
Who’s the blackest?
Is medicine your sole benefit
Did you develop it to for your menacing?
You wave your arms in victory
The cost of your opportunity
I don’t want ’em
You’re so clean and brown
So clean and brown
Ooh
To tell yourself the truth
Is hard to do
Ooh
The little lies
That build up just to get me through
Ooh
My day to day
My day to day
My day to fade away
Hide these eyes away
From the hard truths that you have to face
The world keeps turning
It will always change
Accept yourself
Return to late
Return to self
Return your fate
Return to love
Return to love
Return return
Yeiy yeah
The return
The return
The return
The return
Cause tomorrow’s not promised for me
Seeing my single momma
Surviving to struggle this way
(The return)
The return
The return
Of myself
To myself
Yo
This is the real story
I just wanna be back man
I just wanna be back
I wanna be back in the right state of mind
I wanna be back to my happy self
I wanna be back to my passionate mindset
I wanna be me again you know
Cause I
This sounds like I’m tryna do that RnB shit
But yo
Let me slow it down
To
It’s hard out here for a brother and sister
Going through this immigration mindset
We tryna find our own spot in here
And music is my way of expressing
My return
My self
My beginnings
I just wanna be me
I hope you can understand
And that’s where I’m at
So
Return to oneself
Return to the motherland
Return to your mind
Return
Somali translation:
Mama said everyone will find their home
Everyone will go back to their homes
No one should forget their home
Mamas teaching
Freedom
Oh, oh, oh Just to let you know We’ve won Don’t waste your time Don’t waste your time Oh ‘Cause I imagine freedom Oh, oh And just to let you know We are our own freedom, freedom Agh, damn When you come out the stands How you gonna live it when you come out to Stan? How you sellin’ shows when you don’t got fans? How you gonna live it when you don’t got fans? Agh, damn Once it was a while ago Music is the business, now I’m singin’ in the vehicle Singin’ ’bout my freedom while they plannin’ how it’s buyable Well, like I’m feelin’, how I’m feelin’ is maniacal My voice, my skin, my logo How you tryna package me when you don’t get a photo? In the end, no I.D., no Polo Shoutin’ to the heavens ’cause I don’t know where to go though Somebody tell the dealer I’m comin’ I-I-I’m comin’ My, oh, my, I know I’m stunnin’ My, oh, my, I know I’m runnin’ In the end so here I go We used to think the industry was five stars, define stars And now we itchin’ just to find stars, define stars But they was schemin’ when they find us, define us And now we token, now we open so then remind us From the beginnin’, we never winnin’ They want our image, we the spark You want my art, what’s hot, what’s not I’m undercharged, an overthought And after dark, and now I’m livin’ Tryna give in every melody of ours What’s hot, what’s not, what’s ours Sally sellin’ six figures, wearin’ Bantu knots I’m tryna make a livin’ Music is the source of all my end and my beginnin’, singin’ Freedom Freedom Freedom Freedom Fly Freedom in my heart and my soul (Freedom) Freedom in my heart and my soul (Freedom) Freedom in my heart and my soul (Freedom) And all I’m searching for are my goals So what’s it to ya? (Freedom) Ayy, ayy, ayy, so what’s it to ya? (Freedom) Ayy, ayy, ayy, so what’s it to ya? (Freedom) Ayy, ayy, ayy, so what’s it to ya? (Freedom) Ayy, ayy, ayy, so what’s it to ya? (Freedom) Freedom in my heart and my soul (Freedom) Ayy, ayy, ayy, so what’s it to ya? (Freedom) Freedom in my heart and my soul (Freedom) Ayy, ayy, ayy, so what’s it to ya? (Freedom) Freedom in my heart and my soul (Freedom) Ayy, ayy, ayy, so what’s it to ya? (Freedom) Got me feeling like Ooh, these visions Baby, baby, baby These visions I feel like I’m hypnotised (Just to let you know) Freedom, freedom So sweet (Freedom) M-m-my freedom Just to let you know We’ve won Don’t waste your time Don’t waste your time ‘Cause I imagine freedom Oh, oh, oh Just to let you know We’ve won Oh, oh, oh Freedom, freedom
Light Up Black Power
One must be VERY mindful of the world class Slaves/parliament dwellers/house negros still perpetrating WORLD CLASS LIES aimed at the Afrikan descended under the guise of a FAKE patriotism in a 400 year old slave society…to keep minds permanently TRAPPED…in poverty and 2nd class citizens..
under the guise of a FAKE patriotism TO a 400 year old slave society
Let me scale back on my appreciation of this fine (superb) and very relevant contribution from WS
@WS
I find your post likable. A continuation of the mirror image.
The ability for the Chinese govt to take its people and turn them into producers for the world economy is a text book story many small island should learn
@ TheOGazerts
Thank you. Continuously assessing where we come from, where we are and where we want to go , is imperative.
I read in this morning’s paper, the PM saying that there was a “ lapse in our planning”. She is more than correct.
The conversation is supposed to continue and diverse opinions build societies.
“The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has a critical role to play in securing significant and sustained change in rights and fundamental freedoms for all persons of African descent.”
me thinks they will be taken a whole lot MORE SERIOUSLY..if they would just stop acting like SLAVES to minorities, doing their nasty bidding by neglecting the majority, although paid a salary with perks by the AFRIKAN DESCENDED…
so what took them over HALF CENTURY to realize this though…..there had to be a brutal fight to remove the cursed nelson statue in case some forgot……
Rhymes To The East
“Barbados Celtic Festival Director Jeana Leslie said during Wednesday’s launch at Blakey’s Bar and Restaurant, Hastings, Christ Church, that as the festival returns this year, organisers have been hosting workshops in the schools to expose Barbadian children to the Celtic culture.”
William…do you now see why Black Afrikan children don’t stand a chance in Barbados, it’s always someone else’s toxic, DANGEROUS culture introduced in the schools but NEVER AFRIKAN CULTURE, the only one they need to be exposed to in order to reconnect to their AFRIKAN ANCESTRY..
A wash, rinse and repeat of cultural genocide..
MY MOTHER DID NOT TEACH ME ABOUT BLACK CULTURE RUBBISH, BUT ALL THREE OF OUR SONS GREW UP AND OWNED OR OWN BUSYNESSES AND HAVE GIVEN BACK TO BAJAN SOCIETY
AND SO ARE THE TWO OF HER SBLINGS THAT SHE RAISED
I DID NOT TEACH MY SONS ANY RUBBISH EITHER, AND THEY GREW UP AND HAVE DONE THE SAME.
THEY WENT TO THE SCHOOLS IN OUR FAILED EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AND GOT A’S AND B’S AT CXC, AND ARE COMPETENT AT THE SKILLS THEY LEARNED AT THE BCC WHICH IS ALSO A FAILED EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION.
MY GRANO DAUGHTER HAS JUST GAINED ADMISSION TO CAVE HILL . HER FATHER DID NOT TEACH HER ANY BLACK CULTURE RUBBISH EITHER.
Black Afrikan children don’t stand a chance in Barbados, BECAUSE OF THE NONSENSE THAT POLITICIANS DO, NOT BECAUSE THEY WERE NEVER TAUGHT AFRIKAN CULTURE,
WHEN LAST I CHECKED MANY AFRICANS WHO HAVE BEEN exposed to their AFRIKAN ANCESTRY.FOR LIFE SINCE THEY BORN OUT THERE CATCHING HELL,, AND ARE WORSE OFF IN NEARLY EVERY RESPECT TO THOSE OF OUR BAJAN CHILDREN.
YAWN YAWN YAWN.
we can expect no less from a Geriatric Pimperella..
@ GP
Your position is perhaps the view of a great number of Barbadians and other Caribbean people.
Are you suggesting that teaching children about their culture and history would stop them from “ learning “
Did teaching them European history stop them from learning.
Aren’t there Caribbean nationals in other countries doing better than those born there?
Have teaching Jewish children stopped them from “ learning” and achieving.
Aren’t there wealthy citizens throughout Africa? Aren’t there rich people in Haiti?
Do you know that three million children go to sleep hungry in America every night? Do you know that one in every seven senior citizens in America are literally starving?
So, explain to me why you are so determined to marginalize the teaching of their history to Black children.
Peace
@ WURA
It is obvious that they feel everything is going as planned. A rude awakening awaits us all.
The rain falls on the just and unjust.
Peace
A lot of them pretending professional status are the BIGGEST ASSES ON BU…don’t know how the geriatric idiot’s mother was supposed to teach him anything about Afrika WHEN IT WAS HIDDEN FROM HER…she herself did not know and was not supposed to…but the clown will have us believe otherwise…
Dr. No Common Sense…
“The rain falls on the just and unjust.”
they are about to get a DELUGE, soon come.
Dummy central…his Mom went to her grave not knowing who she is or anything about her ancestry, as designed, and he is headed in the same direction but got talk for people who know who they are and everything there is to know about their ancestors and the continent…and want our next generations to be just as clueless and unanchored as he has found himself……..
@ GP May 13, 2022 3:57 PM
(Quote):
MY MOTHER DID NOT TEACH ME ABOUT BLACK CULTURE RUBBISH, BUT ALL THREE OF OUR SONS GREW UP AND OWNED OR OWN BUSYNESSES AND HAVE GIVEN BACK TO BAJAN SOCIETY
AND SO ARE THE TWO OF HER SBLINGS THAT SHE RAISED
(Unquote).
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Doc GP- the idiot savant of all things medical and biblical- it seems you are a progeny of a very gifted (and materially successful) family. And, by spawning, you, on your own merit, have managed to clone amoeba of equal success.
Is Stephen Wiltshire the autistic savant/genius with a genuine photographic memory related to you?
Was his dad Colvin a sibling of yours?
@ GP
Your position is perhaps the view of a great number of Barbadians and other Caribbean people.
DOES THAT MAKE US WRONG OR STUPID. OR IGNORANT? OR JUST DIFFERENT IN OUR OPINION OR FOCUS?
EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO DECIDE WHAT TO THEM ARE THE INCIDENTALS AND WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIALS
EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO DECIDE WHAT TO THEM IS THE MAIN THING.
IT WAS/IS NOT ESSENTIAL OR THE MAIN THING FOR ME TO LEARN ABOUT AFRICANA
JUST THIS WEEK A PROGRAM I HELPED SET UP DELIVERED MONEY TO TWO ASSEMBLIES IN SOUTH KENYA TO PURCHASE GOATS FOR WIDOWS TO ADDRESS THIER FOOD SECURITY.
DID I HAVE TO BOAST ABOUT KNOWLEDGE OF MY AFRICAN HERITAGE TO DO THAT? AND TO GET WHITE PEOPLE TO DONATE TO THE PROJECT?
Are you suggesting that teaching children about their culture and history would stop them from “ learning “ NO
Did teaching them European history stop them from learning. NO
Aren’t there Caribbean nationals in other countries doing better than those born there? AND VICE VERSA
Have teaching Jewish children stopped them from “ learning” and achieving. NO
Aren’t there wealthy citizens throughout Africa? Aren’t there rich people in Haiti? YES
Do you know that three million children go to sleep hungry in America every night? YES
Do you know that one in every seven senior citizens in America are literally starving? YES
So, explain to me why you are so determined to marginalize the teaching of their history to Black children. THAT IS A NON SECQUITUR WILLIAM. FOR I HAVE NEVER SAID SO. IT JUST IS NOT THE MAIN THING FOR ME NOR DO I FIND IT ESSENTIAL.
AND I CAN NOT HONESTLY TELL YOU WHAT MAJOR BENEFIT I HAVE GOT IN LIFE BECAUSE I AM BLACK, EXCEPT I DONT BURN IF I GO INTO THE SUN.
I AM CURRENTLY MENTORING THREE BLACK PASTORS IN AFRICA AND BEGGING TO GET FUNDS TO SERVE THEIR NEEDS. GOD HAS BLEESED ME IN LIFE SO THAT I HAVE NEVER HAD TO BEG FOR ANYTHING, BUT HERE I AM FOR THE LAST 2-3 YEARS BEGGING TO SUPPLEMENT WHAT I CAN AFFORD TO ASSIST THESE MEN AND THEIR FAMILIES. DO I ALSO COME ON BU DAILY, AND ALL THROUGH THE DAY TO TALK RUBBISH ABOUT SOMME AFRICAN HERITAGE AND BE CUSSED ABOUT MY OPINION THEREOF?
Peace
@ GP
Well we agree then that those who feel that children should be taught about their black heritage is not the issue.
You said that it’s not your focus and not really that important.
You also said that people should be allowed to take their own positions.
Everybody has passions about matters that are dear to them.
Why do we have to object if they choose to advocate for the issues they care passionately about.
Continue to push your efforts in Africa. We all make contributions in our own way with the talents we have.
Thanks for your response.
Peace.
Very good point Angela Cox about the progress of the Chinese people, but it came at a very high cost with regards to human life because Millions of Chinese died under Moa’ tenure with his Great Leap Forwards. Not to mention the sacrifice from moving China from a Peasant society under Moa’ reigned to an industrialized one was an eminently challenging experienced as well.
Why do we always have to think in terms of materialism when it comes to the progress of children?
Why can’t we give them a moral worldview which in my estimation is essential or complementary to this ideology of materialism that we too often misinterpreted as over all success.
You have to give children an academic and moral worldview, and avail them the opportunity to determine the course their choose to take in life that is my position on this matter.
“DOES THAT MAKE US WRONG OR STUPID. OR IGNORANT? ”
no it makes you un-knowledgeable and unmoored….you can attribute whatever success you gained to ANCESTRAL INTELLIGENCE, and not the precise learned colonial indoctrination and brainwash that reduces you to a mental slave, but that escapes you of course…commonsense is NOT COMMON…
William…don’t know how going into majority Blacks schools and inputting Celtic shit in the form of an ALIEN culture in Black children’s heads, who don’t know their AFRIKAN CULTURE, HERITAGE or HISTORY solves anything or helps the current situation…these drunken bitches should never be able to go in the media to introduce anything so degrading, seem proud of themselves and not be called out…
……..would like to see Black people go into schools in Wales or any other European country and introduce Afrikan culture BEFORE.. European culture at the EXPENSE OF WHITE CHILDREN…..and watch how that turns out…your own UNIQUE culture COMES FIRST every time…..
The African thing can be viewed as a new way of thinking or new age thing, where people are looking eastwards to a culture where their soul would be more comfortable living in. Instead of looking at it from a historical past ancestors perspective it could or should be viewed as present and future lifestyle perspective for your family and future descendants lifestyle. Personally, I prefer an approach of aiming to set yourself up to live in both east and west traveling between both worlds to take advantage of opportunities bridging two different cultures.
Sampa The Great – HERoes (The Call)
Sampa The Great – HERoes (The Response)
Dompey one cannot overlooked how the progress of China economy depended on an educational model transformed and retooled to produce those things necessary for world economies and the rest is history
Also not forgetting that China was being economically isolated and handed embargoes from USA and other countries
There is a moral in that story that when life hands one lemons take the lemons and make lemonade
China is million of miles away from the USA small islands are much closer but not one of them have the vision to produce a product that the world economies depend on not even a hair clip
When a country educational system is useless and irrelevant to the well being of it’s economy
The people input also becomes outdated irrelevant and useless in building it’s economy
China took it’s educational system to build it’s economy while it was being isolated from the rest of world
last time telling the Geriatric Pervert, i did not BEG blogmaster to distribute my book to the BU family…..if you would MIND YOUR DAMN BUSINESS. ya may figure it out, and if blogmaster don’t tell you, i sure as hell wont….fake scholar.
..if those people in Afrika knew any better they would put a few more continents between you and them……and stay very far away from you and your fake christian poisions.
Is this ‘Celtic’ story being given the right spin. Exposure to a culture is not necessarily acceptance or adoption of that culture. I can assure you that attending a gay pride parade (limited exposure) did not change my sexual preference; it made me more aware of their behavior and concerns.
Could this Celtic festival be just part of a marketing tool geared towards filling hotel beds. Could it be just the idea of adding a Scottish flavor to our tourism product so as to attract more folks from Scotland.
I fully agree that we should promote our own culture but this should be done by parents, schools and other Barbados groups/associations/organizations. And let’s broaden the experiences of our children.
Like it or not, I do not, we are heavily dependent on tourism. Given the abundance of sun, sea and sand throughout the world, our tourism marketing must do their best to fill hotel beds. The have their role, so too does parents, schools and other Barbadian groups.
Let’s not cry ‘Wolf’.
@Son of Theo
You assessment is correct. It (Celtic Festival) has been going on since the 90s. It has become a cultural event on the tourism calendar. The Police Band and other local groups have engaged in exchange visits to Scotland. Some seem to feel there is an urgency to look for a slug under every rock.
https://fb.watch/c-iKTNG9wd/
Today, No fighting.
How can a group of anonymous folks engage each other in verbal battles day after day.
A little poke every now and then is acceptable,; even a compliment is understandable, but to fight the same person every day??? No! No! No!
Can someone be the bigger person and let the other person have the last wordS.
“is this ‘Celtic’ story being given the right spin. Exposure to a culture is not necessarily acceptance or adoption of that culture. ”
Theo…i am staying on top of it, don’t just run around blaming people for petty shit willy nilly….recently, just months ago it was Argentina saying they are introducing their culture and languages, very shortly after that Venezuela jumped in to introduce their culture and languages, now this Celtic shit,
WHEN will Afrikan culture AND LANGUAGES be INTRODUCED IN THE SCHOOLS in Black majority Barbados….it’s been over 400 YEARS….
“Could this Celtic festival be just part of a marketing tool geared towards filling hotel beds.”
if so it should be GENERAL and not in the schools..
“Like it or not, I do not, we are heavily dependent on tourism.”
they like it so, overly dependent on everyone, except for what they should REALLY be doing, not my problem..
There was a time, when I was ready to fight and even initiated a few. One day, I realized that I was just being ignorant. I tried my best to change that behavior.
I may poke at 🐇/🐰, Lawson, Lorenzo and a few others but I do not see myself or them exchanging insult
with each other every single day. Oops, I did not mention my new favorite 5555😃 (that smiley face will probably provoke him)
Exchange ideas; have a difference of opinion; but don’t let it become personal.
@Son of Theo
The blogmaster endorses your comment. Many commenters referred to as males are female. It makes those anonymous commenters who froth daily from the keyboard more than ignorant.
“Today, No fighting.”
when BUs CHAUVINIST PIGS finally realize that females are not afraid of them and their nasty personas….there will be none.
“Oops, I did not mention my new favorite 5555😃”
Son of Theo I have no quarrels with you but your father is a bitch
Geriatric Perv is a male, i know who he is, and a very dangerous one….
the females rarely hide, and it’s easier to tell their gender by their writing. except for fowl enuff who tries to wright like a billionaire gir……there are rarely any fights between females unless they have an agenda to “finish me off”….lol
it’s the shite males. chauvinistic in nature, who generate bitch fights and confusion on BU….i imagine that’s how they were raised…
write like a billionaire girl….lol…
TheOGazerts May 14, 2022 7:01 AM
RE: “Is this ‘Celtic’ story being given the right spin.”
No, it’s not.
Barbados Celtic Festival:
“A vibrant music and food festival celebrating the very deep history between the sunny Caribbean island of Barbados and the Celtic countries of Scotland, Ireland and Wales and all the areas of the world where the Celts flourish – in Nova Scotia in Canada, in Brittany in France, in north west Spain, in Australia.”
RE: “Exposure to a culture is not necessarily acceptance or adoption of that culture.”
I couldn’t agree with you more.
It’s just a matter of going into the schools and explaining the nature the festival.
Learning a different language, for example, will exposes us to learning some aspects of the particular country’s culture.
I understand years ago Latin was taught in schools, while French and Spanish continue to be on the school curriculum.
Does this mean we have Barbadian children walking around pretending to be ‘Romans, Frenchman or Spaniards?’
RE: “And let’s broaden the experiences of our children.”
I believe that’s what festival’s organisers were simply trying to achieve.
We’re ‘blowing this trivial issue way out of proportion.’
@Atax
Not WE.
Everybody’s Hero
The Plug
Black Girl Magik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZ9o14s2v4I
Part III – Inner Voice
and of course the disciples and students of whiteness will NEVER SEE anything wrong with every alien culture on earth introduced into Black majority schools EXCEPT for Afrikan culture and languages…as long as the pimping for tourist dollars is successful…which makes them hos/prostitutes…….don’t mind the degradation associated with children NEVER KNOWING THEIR REAL ANCESTRY, CULTURE AND LANGUAGES.
..but they are the first to complain about how young Black people are SPIRALING into the lowest levels of society, in prison and killing each other…while having POVERTY and lack of knowledge of self FORCED ON THEM EVERY GENERATION…
these are the ENABLERS of Black destruction…as they expose themselves shamelessly…
just so ya know, females of my caliber…DON’T RESPECT THAT…
i make no apology…..and see it as existing only to whore for tourist dollars while your YOUNG people are DYING…because that is all ya know and are indoctrinated to believe is living, no, it’s merely existing as tools…and that is why people lament the education system…
Me no know why they moan about cussing when most US TV shows are pure cussing in the script.
West is for making money, but in a career your work is directed and extracted for maximum benefit of somebody else for a salary. Many people will sell up or rent their homes for an income to retire in sunnier climes and cheaper places to live where their money goes a lot further.
Nowhere did I express any desire to finish you off. Those were GP’s words. I ignored him and them because his nastiness knows no bounds and I will not join with any misguided misogynist to attempt to finish off another woman. Unlike you, who recently rejoiced at his attacks on me, my son and my mother, I do have my limits. Besides which, I too believe in the need to reconnect with our African roots. I too believe that corruption is rife in Barbados and must be fought. I too believe that Barbados must be re-imagined and re-engineered to benefit the majority black population upon whose backs this country was built.
But….I believe that a centuries of diabolical programming cannot be undone in fifty years. I am patient because I, like Vincent Codrington, my fellow “cunt” understand how human beings ARE.
“OLD HABITS DIE HARD!”
Change is difficult for human beings. That is why there is a whole career to be had in CHANGE MANAGEMENT.
And so I plod on like the tortoise, believing that slow and steady will eventually win the race. Of course, I am preparing my son to take the baton. WE ALL SHOULD! “The race is not for the swift but for he or SHE who endures to the end.”
I had a CEO once who wanted every mess cleaned up STAT! I always told him that he could have it done right or right now. Nobody else had the guts to tell him. Therefore he informed me that I was the only one with the problem. I replied that I was the only one bold enough to tell him to his face. He continued to insist, with threats attached, on both. Therefore he got neither! The man had zero people skills. Everybody simply ran around like headless chickens to and fro, here then there, until their legs stopped getting the leftover messages from the brain. And just so, all his wonderful ideas went down the drain.
I do not believe that constantly berating the descendants of former slaves will do anything to open their minds to possibilities. I do not believe that verbal beatings can do anything more than remind them of the former overseers. I do not see it doing anything other than get their hackles up.
And THAT is where we differ!
@ WURA
The points being made by @ Artax and @ TheOGazerts are intellectually sound.
I don’t think that it can be seriously argued that a Bajan Tuk Band performing in any other country, will automatically turn them into Bajans.
That being said, the truth remains that it is ironic that we seldom see the promotion of authentic African culture on our island . We tend to restrict it to dancing and so on and this often degenerated into wukking up and almost pornographic vulgarity, that really may be our culture but has nothing to do with Africa.
In other words while other cultures within our community tend to produce elements of their culture, we often display that we are not that knowledgeable about our African culture.
This then, in my humble opinion, brings us back to your correct position that in order to counter this obvious ignorance of our authentic culture, we ought to teach our children from very early( primary schools) about their African heritage.
Quite frankly, regardless of what is said, in a country with a population that is 95% African, we have determined that the teaching of African culture/history in our schools , is not that important.
So therefore,if minority groups and expatriates in the country seek to promote their culture, we cannot honestly blame them.
It is our fault that we choose to be underlings in our own country.
Also, the point that our children should not be deprived of being exposed to other cultures is progressive. The best way to defeat and conquer your enemy is to understand his culture.
So again@ Artax and @ Theo position on this issue cannot be convincingly faulted.
“The fault is never in the stars it is in we ourselves, “
In all intellectually seriousness, a strong argument can be made that most of us seem more comfortable with the Eurocentric/ white culture.
I often observe how we gather inQueens Park, to promote “ stand pipe “ brawls and obnoxious portrayal of “ lower class “ people “ as our culture/ art.
I brought water from a standpipe for seventeen straight years and I never saw that behavior. I came up in a village with poor people and their were not loud and ignorant/ aggressive.
I say no more for now.
Peace.
“it’s the shite males. chauvinistic in nature, who generate bitch fights and confusion on BU….i imagine that’s how they were raised…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’ll invite contributors to read AOPC/WARU contributions beginning from Friday, May 13, 4:08 PM and the eleven (11) others thereafter.
You’ll FEEL the HOSTILITY and see the following pejorative remarks:
“Geriatric Pimperella, biggest asses on BU, dummy central, geriatric idiot, drunken bitches, fake scholar, Geriatric Perv, BUs CHAUVINIST PIGS and their nasty personas, Dr. No Common Sense, clown, hos/prostitutes…”
Surely it becomes clear WHO is “generating bitch fights and confusion” with GP and all those other persons who do not necessarily agree with her opinions.
But, “I imagine that’s how SHE was RAISED.”
The best Afrikan education for the children would be a trip to Afrika
“I don’t think that it can be seriously argued that a Bajan Tuk Band performing in any other country, will automatically turn them into Bajans.”
I repeat…the SCHOOLS are NOT THE PLACE for other people’s cultures, especially since BLACK CHILDREN IN BARBADOS do not know their own Afrikan cultures OR LANGUAGES…….that’s my only point, i don’t care what music they play in their wuk sessions or shite they put in the heads of adults who deserve their road to perdition…,…am speaking about FURTHER INDOCTRINATION of young vulnerable Black minds…
“we tend to restrict it to dancing and so on and this often degenerated into wukking up and almost pornographic vulgarity, that really may be our culture but has nothing to do with Africa.”
now they do it to entertain tourists and have young children wukking up for tourist and don’t even have the decency to engage an Afrikan dance group to show/teach them the real dance history of Afrika..
“Quite frankly, regardless of what is said, in a country with a population that is 95% African, we have determined that the teaching of African culture/history in our schools , is not that important.”
am all for exposure to OTHER CULTURES and languages, i speak other languages daily, as long as THEY KNOW THEIR OWN CULTURE AND LANGUAGES FIRST..the ignorant will never understand that, that’s why they are ignored..Again, there is no country in Europe or ANYWHERE ELSE will allow other people’s cultures AND LANGUAGES to take precedence in THEIR SCHOOLS BEFORE THEIR OWN…only the dumb asses in Barbados would..
“It is our fault that we choose to be underlings in our own country.”
they see it as a place of pride, shite misleaders…
“In all intellectually seriousness, a strong argument can be made that most of us seem more comfortable with the Eurocentric/ white culture.”
house negros, they can only relate to cultures that REJECT THEM….ignore and reject their own and get laughed at…like clockwork..
“This then, in my humble opinion, brings us back to your correct position that in order to counter this obvious ignorance of our authentic culture, we ought to teach our children from very early( primary schools) about their African heritage.”
and that’s why i brought it to the fore…that is the THIRD country in as many months claiming they are bringing THEIR CULTURE, THEIR LANGUAGES to Barbados, no doubt everyone is targeting the schools….BUT….NOT ONE CABINET CLOWN is saying that Afrikan cultures and languages ARE MANDATORY IN MAJORITY BLACK SCHOOLS OR they are actively introducing them any school….they have had ample time in the last 50 years, in the last 4 years and STILL…they refuse..
@ Mr. Skinner
I support African culture being taught in schools 100%, but, disagree with the absurd notion that some sinister plan was developed by politicians to hide African culture from Barbadians.
There are several aspects of our culture that can be easily identified as having originated in Africa.
For example, I used to see men playing ‘Warri’ when I was a youngster.
Did politicians enacted a law to prevent Bajans from playing that game?
We have to blame parents for ignoring ‘Warri’ in preference for introducing their children to games such a ‘Ludo, Snakes & Ladders and Monopoly.’
‘Pitching, hide and seek, catcher, rounders,’ etc are now frowned upon since we moved into the ‘heights and terraces,’ while story telling by the elderly folk in the villages has been replaced with TV.
How could someone say information on Africa was purposely hidden, especially when one, for example, considers the Barbados’ public library was established in 1847 and the internet went mainstream in 1993?
But, according to some sources, there are 54 soveign countries in Africa, with over 3,000 indigenous tribes and 2,000 languages and dialects.
French is the official language in 21 countries, while Arabic is spoken in 13. Then, you have indigenous languages such as Igbo, Hansa, Oromo, Zulu, Shona, Swahili, Yoruba and Somali.
There are also tribes that still practice their traditional cultures.
So, bearing these diverse cultures and languages in mind, the important question is, what aspect of African culture should be taught in schools?
Or, are you going to determine our ancestry and teach that specific country’s languages, dialects and cultures?
African Online
With all due respect …. I have to ask you this question: have you ever interacted with an African before?
So what are yall….black face whites….lol
If there was an African Cultural Centre in Barbados, people could attend if they wanted to broaden their knowledge and experience. Arts and crafts, music, singing, dancing, playing instruments, traditional storytelling are all enjoyable, creative and stimulating practical activities instead of dry academic text book studies. Most cosmopolitan cities have them.
African Online
And had you interacted with a Native African before you would have known that Western Africans dance with the lower part of their body ( like Bajans …Nigerians Ghanaians etc) and East Africans dance with the upper part of their body ( Ugandans Tanzanians etc).
Afrikans DANCE WITH THEIR WHOLE BODIES…
there have been Afrikan dance groups on the island for decades, but like with everything else, something always go cockup…and it obviously is not meant to INCLUDE THE WHOLE BLACK POPULATION in learning their Afrikan heritage through dance, none of them have ever produced an Angelique Kidjo or anyone of that caliber and they have had DECADES to get it right and spread in the schools…….so there seems to be some kinda pretense in play something like their fake pan africanists….
555dubstreet
There is no unilateralism with respect to the African cultural tapestry, linguistics and culinary etc…. and if I may add …. they are two- thousand different cultures and languages spoken on the African Continent, with the Bantu being the major spoken language on the Continent.
@ Mr. Skinner
The ‘Celtic Festival’ is a three (3) day event, which will be held this year from May 12-15.
According to news reports, the festival’s organizers planned to “host workshops in the schools to expose children to the Celtic culture.”
Is Waru suggesting that, rather than being held for a FEW HOURS, as they usually are,…. these workshops would become a PERMANENT fixture on the school’s curriculum?
Waru is being ‘over ridiculous.’
‘Much ado about nothing.’
“…….so there seems to be some kinda pretense in play something like their fake pan africanists….”
your own African deep immersion has been an extra curricula hobby driven by your interest to learn,
life lessons for personal growth go beyond schooling and are more about a journey than the destination
@ Artax
As I was very careful to point out: your position cannot be intellectually faulted.
I honestly think that your view that moving to the “ heights and terraces” apparently destroyed or marginalized all those wonderful character building games of our youth is something that most of us are afraid to say.
We have also lost the African oral tradition. We prefer to dump our senior citizens often family members at the QEH. We don’t listen to them anymore. Grandmothers are now in their late thirties and forties. We have therefore lost the skills of the African oral tradition.
I am no authority on African/Black studies , but the same way we bring in highly paid consultants ($25000 per month) to tell us how to beg the IMF, we could bring in retired Afro American schlolars to assist Afro Bajan scholars , to have a proper approach to design a progressive program of African studies.
@ WURA is only saying what progressive black citizens, such as Elombe Mottley, have been saying for over three decades.
A man once told me , when I was very young that all Bajans , regardless of color, are really white. I never forgot that !
Peace my Brother:
William…the damage is real…years ago, was speaking to this lady who worked in UK for 30 years, she was giving stories about her time there, this was a Black/Afrikan woman from Barbados, she says to me that the first time she ever saw an Afrikan was in UK and she had to stand up and watch him until he disappeared because she never saw one before, well you know i looked at that Slave like she was something under my shoe….
here is this clown now asking me if i ever met an Afrikan, instead of asking if i ever met anyone from the continent….next he will tell me he is Afrikan American, but we are ALL AFRIKAN AMERICANS born and bred in the Americas, due to ancestry, heritage and the fact that OUR AFRIKAN ANCESTORS POPULATED the AMERICAS THOUSANDS OF YEAR AGO long, long before any invasions or KIDNAPPING from the continent.. ..christ…
.i now see why Pacha has no patience for asses…
Artax,
One good idea she had was that we do DNA testing. I said then that it would be good to start the African Studies course with that. And then each child could research their own history and culture and make a presentation.
Seems easy enough to me!
Wouldn’t hurt for them to link up with people from the region either. Supervised of course.
“A man once told me , when I was very young that all Bajans , regardless of color, are really white. I never forgot that !”
don’t ever.. Fanon’s Black Skin White Masks called it, they will never be anything else UNTIL AFRIKAN EDUCATION, CULTURES AND LANGUAGES ARE TAUGHT IN THE SCHOOLS…, we know the conscious ones…
.the others can’t even bring themselves to call themselves Afrikans…
UNTIL THEN….the more alien cultures and languages are introduced in the schools and society, the whiter they become and will remain, those who are promoting this know exactly what they are doing…….right now all they will end up teaching the children is how to effectively prostitute themselves for the tourism dollar…WHILE NEVER HAVING A CULTURE OR LANGUAGE OF THEIR OWN..
@ WURA
These are the realities of a people who are afraid of their history and the naked, raw violence of it. We are subconsciously afraid to accept and confront what was done to us.
Just this morning, I was reading the Barbados Today and my heart was filled with joy , to see young Afro Bajan children enjoying their sports day.
I also saw a picture which included a white Barbadian child, with three Afro Bajans. It is best that all four of them know of their culture be it Euro or Afro.
I said to myself , we need to do right by all our children and to deny any of them to right to be taught of their culture is a mistake that must be corrected. The time to introduce such matters is in the nursery and primary schools.
Without vision we will all perish.
Keep up the good work.
African Online
I have been to quite a few of Ugandans and Ghanians parties during the years and I hadn’t observed what you have expressed regarding the African dance.
first….the DNA genetic test….get acquainted with WHO YOU REALLY ARE…most Black people in Barbados don’t know…reach out to all those cousins who will also reach out…
then….take it from there…
African Online
East Africans placed more emphasis with respect to their dance on the upper part of their body, but I am not suggesting that they do not use the lower part of their body as West Africans do.
“It is best that all four of them know of their culture be it Euro or Afro.
I said to myself , we need to do right by all our children and to deny any of them to right to be taught of their culture is a mistake that must be corrected. The time to introduce such matters is in the nursery and primary schools.”
many minorities know WHAT they will find even if it’s only 1%-3%, less or more of Afrikan or other indigenous bloodlines in their ancestry…, many of them carry it..although they will hide, but can’t hide it from themselves, so i have no problem with minority children knowing what they carry..
Afrikan heritage, cultures and languages should be second nature to the majority Black/Afrikan population in Barbados and across the region……it is a genocidal CRIME AGAINST BLACK PEOPLE especially in Barbados that it’s STILL not…
..don’t know how these animals from both sides of the divide can live with themselves for allowing this to continue in 2022..
the only people on earth, who DO NOT KNOW THEIR HERITAGE, ANCESTRY ETC..
@ Artax
When I was doing house to house campaigning ( canvassing) back in 1991,I was mortified, at the number of senior citizens , who lived alone, and were seldom visited by their children and other family members.
They would often let me enter their homes and I would see pictures mainly of Tom Adams and Errol Barrow. I soon figured out , that J may never get their vote. They were extremely gracious.
I discussed this with some other candidates from the other two parties and we came to the conclusion , that in many cases, they just wanted the interaction. They were lonely and just wanted a little company.
So, when I hear theses days , thirty years later ,of seniors being abandoned, J was far from surprise.
The Ministry of Elder Affairs needs to be renamed: The Ministry of Elders Fears.
Peace.
African Online
I don’t necessarily need a DNA test to determine my African heritage… I know my mother side of the family is of White, Black and East Indian, and my father side is of Black and Chinese ….my maternal grandmother was haft Chinese whom I used to visited as a kid….
I am on two other blogs and I never see the disrespect, insults and put downs I see here. We agree to disagree civilly. Of course, there are rules that have to be followed or your post will go to file 19 and you may be banned.
@ WURA
The simple truth is that 98 % of our parliamentarians and politicians from both major political parties , have no core philosophy or ideology about anything. They are empty , useless vessels. The sooner we come to that conclusion, the better. Expect nothing remotely progressive from them. They don’t give a shit. Simple as that.
Cultures are just ways of living in different places, when you go somewhere else your own culture are not the spectacles to wear when viewing the new culture looking for comparisons and differences, it is just their way of life. Young teenagers are not listening and dancing to African music they are just listening and dancing to music.
Most, if not all of us agree that African culture should be taught in the schools and by parents.
the dividing line is so thin that it is hardly observable and yet the difference is blown out of proportions.
Some of us are willing to see our children exposed to different cultures.
See this “Western Africans dance with the lower part of their body ( like Bajans …Nigerians Ghanaians etc) and East Africans dance with the upper part of their body ( Ugandans Tanzanians etc).’
Unable to contribute further.
If Bajans like to follow white people, then they can follow them when white people learn their African culture.
Schools in Europe are already sending their children to Africa on school trips to camps.
“Expect nothing remotely progressive from them. ”
exactly the same thing said on the show this morning….the whole of London heard it…
..they have only a few goals….promoting themselves, what they can get for themselves, how they can make themselves look good, even if they have to LIE, promoting tourism AND NOTHING ELSE….and keeping the black population as SHEEP, not knowing who they are, not able to get OUT FROM UNDER MINORITIES….trapped, under educated, rudderless.
..these things on two legs, cannot lead me anywhere. i take great offense..
lWilliam….when they started ABANDONING and DISRESPECTING THEIR ELDERLY….calling themselves world-class without anything to show, claiming this and that degree but families are adrift…….that was the final disconnect to any heritage….look at where it has gotten them…no matter what has happened or is still happening on the continent…that is one of the things they try really hard to keep together, because they KNOW once that is gone…all connection is lost..
“These are the realities of a people who are afraid of their history and the naked, raw violence of it.”
but they are all up in other people’s history, cultures etc AND HAVE NO CLUE WHERE THOSE CAME FROM…how it impacts them NEGATIVELY EVERY DAY….as long as they get to parade like they are important…nuisances..
” Sona Jobarteh performed in Weimar on invitation of the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar and its UNESCO Chair of Transcultural Music Studies (TMS). The TMS Chair regularly invites artists to bring the musicology students into contact with various musical cultures for inspiration and exchange. For further information visit https://www.hfm-weimar.de/tms.
Sona Jobarteh is the first female Kora virtuoso to come from a west African Griot family. The Kora is one of the most important instruments belonging to the Manding peoples of West Africa (Gambia, Senegal, Mali, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau). It belongs exclusively to griot families, and usually only men who are born into these families have the right to take up the instrument professionally. Sona Jobarteh combines various genres of African Music and western musical elements. “
“If Bajans like to follow white people, then they can follow them when white people learn their African culture.
Schools in Europe are already sending their children to Africa on school trips to camps.”
tell them…there are whites and others more Afrikan than them, know much more than any of those black faces …..who ache to be white… ”
exposure to DIFFERENT CULTURES IS ESSENTIAL…as long as you know YOURS first..
“Most, if not all of us agree that African culture should be taught in the schools and by parents.”
most of the parents have to be TAUGHT FIRST…they don’t know the first thing about Afrikan ancestry, heritage, culture etc so are unable to teach their children and grandchildren anything about the continent….it was banned for centuries, then decades after the black faces went into the parliaments in the 1950s and started pretending that they are white…that is when the new age disenfranchisement of Black people started all over again..with new legislation to de-Africanize them…..Afrikan culture was CRIMINALIZED, still on some islands……..and here we are from the fallout, even after those anti-Afrikan laws were relaxed maybe in the late 90s early 2000s, Barbados being one, the heritage is still largely frowned upon by Black people…when you are taught to hate yourself and it’s beaten into your psyche…that’s a very long road to recovery from..
couple years ago when i wore my head dress…..and it was not for anything other than to protect the volumes of hair i have and keep my head cool…it was frowned upon by Black people, but since then, lately i notice a change, so some are coming around, it will be a long hard road, because of the self-hatred instilled in Black minds….so you can appreciate why i don’t think Celtic culture is nearly as important as Afrikan culture given the circumstances..
Theo…i have said it on here repeatedly, don’t know how many other ways to tell them…..but…OUR AFRIKAN ANCESTORS ARE WORSHIPPED in certain areas of Europe…WORSHIPPED still, there are statutes of them….the vatican stole a lot of what should be in our possession belonging to our ancestors, there is even a body of at least one of them there….they dig them up every day in fake egypt…the real name is KEMET…
these clowns don’t want to hear about our ancestors who are revered by whites still…steuppssss..all they can do is marinate themselves in self-hate and don’t move away from it..
.then the idiots got talk for me…i only care about them not POISONING the minds of another generation with their evil mess……we have already lost quite a few in the last two and are losing more daily…
@WS
I will use some part of your earlier blog to have a conversation with you.
I know that I am putting words in your mouth, but I will try my best not to misrepresent your position. I welcome any response/explanation that you provide. I hope that you agree that we are not that far apart.
An fictitious interview of WS
TheO: Do we have our own culture? Could our culture be considered as African culture that evolved over time?
S2: That being said, the truth remains that it is ironic that we seldom see the promotion of authentic African culture on our island . We tend to restrict it to dancing and so on and this often degenerated into wukking up and almost pornographic vulgarity, that really may be our culture but has nothing to do with Africa.
TheO: You are saying we have our own culture which is separate from African culture and we may be ignorant of African culture
S2: In other words while other cultures within our community tend to produce elements of their culture, we often display that we are not that knowledgeable about our African culture.
TheO: So how do we gain l\knowledge of our African culture
S2: This then, in my humble opinion, brings us back to your correct position that in order to counter this obvious ignorance of our authentic culture, we ought to teach our children from very early( primary schools) about their African heritage.
TheO: Yes: But I think we need also to have this education springing from families and organizations. We cannot just rely on the schools..
S2: Quite frankly, regardless of what is said, in a country with a population that is 95% African, we have determined that the teaching of African culture/history in our schools , is not that important.
So therefore,if minority groups and expatriates in the country seek to promote their culture, we cannot honestly blame them.
It is our fault that we choose to be underlings in our own country.
Also, the point that our children should not be deprived of being exposed to other cultures is progressive. The best way to defeat and conquer your enemy is to understand his culture.
TheO: But we see Mia pivoting to Africa and some who loves and proclaim that African language and culture should be taught in our school will then criticize her every move towards Africa.
Theo: In reality we are not that far apart.
WS: In all intellectually seriousness, a strong argument can be made that most of us seem more comfortable with the Eurocentric/ white culture.
I often observe how we gather inQueens Park, to promote “ stand pipe “ brawls and obnoxious portrayal of “ lower class “ people “ as our culture/ art.
TheO: I am uncomfortable here. It would appear to me that you are saying, that what you see is not who we are. It is not our culture. It appears that your mirror image and the actual behavior of our people are in conflict. You would prefer to reject what is real.
WS: I brought water from a standpipe for seventeen straight years and I never saw that behavior. I came up in a village with poor people and their were not loud and ignorant/ aggressive.
TheO: How long ago was that? People change; so too does culture. The glorious/wonderful years are long gone and live only in your memory.
WS: I say no more for now.
TheO: Let me say a little more. At times, I think there is a lot of truth in what Waru says. But at times she is a blunt hammer just looking for nails. The smallest crack is made to appear like a gigantic chasm. Personally, I never come here with the idea that I am more African or less African than anyone. But I have no illusions about my origin.
@Wura
I added in a line that I should have edited out.
@Skinner, I direct this at you as you more seriously and respectfully address the matter here discussed: Why has @Artax’s FUNDAMENTALLY important points at 9:47AM been glossed over!???
This continuous harangue is often just lots of noisy rhetoric.
As u note so well we have been sensitized to Afro-centric realities most notably since Elombe’s return to the island back in 7os and obviously and clearly even beyond that the cohorts of Bajan students who studied in England starting in the 50’s and befriended the Africans who like them evolved to be transformational leaders back in their homelands ABSOLUTELY knew, understood and embraced their African culture!
As Artax also noted I believe it is ridiculous to suggest that the base culture or rather traditions of our African ancestors were not taught to us over the years. However, we cannot divorce the realities of how our Bajan society evolved as contrasted for example with our brethren in Jamaica whose foreparents rebelled into the hills; or for that matter our brethren in Haiti who grandly broke that yoke of slavery eons before any of the other islands!
To that point @Artax brings into sharp focus what is this ‘CULTURE’ really … but let’s not get lost in Islam, West or East African traditions, nor Xosha or Yoruba nor the myriad other cultural differences. The bottom line is did most of us identify as Black women and men who embraced the cutural awarewness that we are princesses and princes of our own destiny and NOT beholden to colonizers and slave traders!
Definitely THAT cultural awareness was fully accepted by the Barrows, Burnhams et al … by the Elombes and Stokelys et al and by you and @Vincent and many others here like a GP (despite his current ideology frame) … It was embraced by me and many of my neigborhood brethren who were at the Modern, Kolig, QC and all over.
Some of it we got from our proud parents, some from teachers and much from attending a Black doctor, seeing a Black police officer and proudly seeing a Black PM!
The arguments and debates are understood but are yet really overwrought… the struggle is endless and continues with renewed vigor in modern times but is is NOT new, was always FORTHRIGHT and should not be marginalized as some here do incessantly and ridiculously!
Lata.
Indeed, they were not able to beat ALL of the Africanness out of us. Some of it survived even if many do not recognise it as such.
I think though that we do need to recognise it as such and reconnect with its origins. I believe that an accelerated programme is absolutely necessary.
We are the ONLY people whose connection was broken in this way. And as much as some may deny it, it is evident in the way many wish for whiteness and all things white, that it needs to be corrected. I have seen comments where white racists tell black people that they are the only ones who have added nothing of value to the world.
And some blacks persons replied with tales of dustpan inventions.
Fancy that! We are reduced to dustpans!
RE here like a GP (despite his current ideology frame)
WHAT IS MY IDIEOLOGY FRAME SIR? PAST OR PRESENT…ANCIENT OR MODERN
WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT ME SIR?
WILLIAM
RE So, when I hear theses days , thirty years later ,of seniors being abandoned, J was far from surprise.
AROUND THE TIME OF WHICH YOU SPEAK I SAID TO THE ONE OF THE SMOH’S THAT SINCE OUR POSTMEN TENDED TO VISIT ALMOST EVERY HOME ON THIER ROUTE DAILY, THAT WE SHOULD GIVE THEM SOME BASIC TRAINING SO THAT IN ADDITION TO DELIVERING THE POSTS , THAT THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY THE LONELY ELDERLY AND THOSE AT HEALTH RISKS, SO THAT THEY COULD REPORT SUCH TO RELEVANT AGENCIES WITH A VIEW TO BOTH EARLY DETECTION AND MANAGEMENT OF ILLNESSES.
I WAS LAUGHED TO SCORN……..JUST AS IS DONE HERE ON BU.
ALL THAT WAS NEEDED WAS A LITTLE TRAINING AND A LITTLE EXTRA PAY — WHICH WOULD BE FAR LESS THAN TRETING FULL BLOWN DISEASE.
I OBSERVED THE SAME THINGS YOU DID WHEN I HAD TO ENTER HOMES WHILE ACTING AS PMO.
THE BIBLICAL AXIOM THAT WHERE THERE IS NO VISION (OR WHEN VISION IS NOT HEEDED ) THE PEOPLE PERISH IS SOUND DOCTRINE THAT CAN NOT BE REFUTED
ARTAX
I understand years ago Latin was taught in schools,
INDEED IT WAS…..DID A LOT FOR MY VOCABULARY IN ENGLISH
IT WAS ONE OF MY FAVOURITE SUBJECTS AND I CERTAINLY ENJOINED IT
MANY SCHOOL CHILDREN IN THOSE DAYS SANG THIS DITTY
Latin is a very hard subject, as hard as hard as could be
It killed the ancient Romans, and now its killing me.
I was in a Bible Reading recently, and a brother of that vintage in seeking to explain the concept of INTERCESSION, OPINED THAT THE WORD WAS DERIVED FROM THE TWO LATIN WORDS “INTER” =between & “CADEO”, TO FALL.
He then added to my delight that they are actually two CADEOS— one meaning to fall, and the other to kill.
This might explain passages of the OT where we read that some one “fell upon some one else that he died.”
“But we see Mia pivoting to Africa and some who loves and proclaim that African language and culture should be taught in our school will then criticize her every move towards Africa.”
if the intentions were HONORABLE from day one and not what was found hidden, there would have been absolutely no criticism…i never go out of my way to investigate what is helpful to our people unless i found bad intent……but that is NEVER THE INTENTION of those seeking to promote others above their own people, so it would make them look good…sellouts…..
“@Wura
I added in a line that I should have edited out.”
you see what is thrown at me daily and i don’t flinch…it’s when i start pelting back, then there is a problem with those who got bad agendas…….rest easy Theo..
for a people who had their CULTURE, LANGUAGE, HERITAGE, ANCESTRY CRIMINALIZED for 400-500 AFTER THE2500 YEARS that most know nothing about…, STOLEN, HIDDEN and all manner of crimes, now claim a standard of education above all others in similar situations….Barbados should be much further along in REINTRODUCING AFRIKANNESS/CULTURE…instead of the promotion of ONLY WHITENESS…which yall should be expert in that by now…but…
you do know am a student, yes, not as focused as i should be, have neglected certain things lately, it takes many decades to REAFRIKANIZE…any scholar or professor will tell you that, Pacha tries, but his time is wasted….there are those 50 years later STILL REAFRIKANIZING and these are the creme de la creme
…i know a lot more than the average Caribbean person and there are some a whole lot more knowledgeable than i am, saw one on FB recently saying straight up that Afrika is his home, could not get him to say that when we were teenagers…..so…we are mostly still learning about what is rightfully ours..
.wish some would research before putting their nonsense opinions out there..saying ya learned something from Elombe means nothing…there are REAL SCHOLARS who can guide us, many reside on the continent…many reside in the diaspora…and speak various AFRIKAN LANGUAGES am still at Yoruba and Kiswahili…
Each child is born African and raised Bajan.
there are those 50 years later STILL REAFRIKANIZING and these are the creme de la creme…which means that reafrikanization is for the NEXT and future generations to MASTER…the stage is set…..
for a people who had their CULTURE, LANGUAGE, HERITAGE, ANCESTRY CRIMINALIZED for 400-500 AFTER THE PREVIOUS 2500 YEARS anti-Afrikan criminality… that most know nothing about
Move your body
Dance in lower half or upper half of the body
or from centre the pelvis and sexual organs
Oh dear! Here we go again! Many people have been ridiculed for good ideas. Some of us have been labelled “mad”. It hurts for a while and then we move on.
As I recall, your postman idea was not ridiculed on BU.
Who would teach the children their African Roots and Culture
It must be the preaching of the Rastaman teaching
or Africans as every African is a Rasta
William Skinner May 14, 2022 10:45 AM
A few years ago a colleague and I had reason to visit an elderly gentleman who was living in the Bay Land with his wife at the time.
After identifying ourselves and telling him the purpose of our visit, he invited us inside. After our discussion, he offered us some refreshments and proceeded to engage us in a cordial discussion about his career at the ‘Light & Power’ and how he and his wife were coping post-retirement.
It was a sad situation where this polite, elderly couple were lonely and just needed other people to talk to.
I also had to visit another elderly gentleman pertaining to a certain issue, after which he went on to reminisce about his days as a police officer and that his official number was one (1). In other words, he was Police Constable (PC) 1.
I could provide you and the forum with several more examples.
But, the important point is, we are developing into more and more of a society in which younger people have become impatient, intolerant and uncaring, especially toward our senior citizens….. whether they are their parents, grandparents, relatives, acquaintances or strangers.
These heartless people abandon their elderly parents in their homes or at the QEH and senior citizens’ homes….. only to return after they die, to seize their money and property.
However, there are situations where some people do not have an understanding of the difficulties associated with the aging process or the patience to cope with them.
Hence, the easiest solution would be to ‘put their parents in a home’ or ‘leave them at the hospital.’
My great grandmother, great grandfather and grandmother were not abandoned. They took care of themselves up until the time they died, with assistance from my mother and siblings.
My mother took care of me when I was a child and worked hard to make sure I attended school. And, although I am an adult, she has never refused to offer help when I’m in need.
I WILL NEVER ABANDON my mother.
re As I recall, your postman idea was not ridiculed on BU.
WHY SHOULD IT
IT WAS MADE TO THE SMOH WHO AFTER SCOFFING TOOK IT TO THE MINISTER OF HEALTH WHO THEN RELATED IT TO THE PUBLIC HEALTH NURSES AS IF IT WAS HIS OWN IDEA
THE PUBLIC HEALTH NURSES TOLD ME WHEN SHE CAME FOR MENTORSHIP FOR HER MPH
BU USED TO BE GOOD AT THE BEGINNING
NOW WE HAVE FEMALE MORONS TRYING TO TEACH ME MEDICINE OR PROVE THAT I AM A LIAR OR MY ORIGINS FROM THE DOMINICAN PLANTOCRACY ETC ETC ETC
HOW YOU FOLK GIVE ME MIRTH AND FODDER TO ROCK AND MOCK
As I recall, your postman idea was not ridiculed on BU.
WHY SHOULD IT?
HOW COULD IT?
IT WAS BRILLIANT! WASNT IT?
IT IS SAD BUT ONE OF THE FACTS OF LIFE IS THAT WE LIVE IN A WORLD WITH MANY DUMMIES AROUND US, MANY OF WHOM THINK THAT THEY ARE SO VERY SMART……..BUT ARE JUST REALLY CANTANKEROUS. FORMER. PATIENTS OF MY GOOD FRIEND AND TEACHER DR MAHY.
HILARIOUS
@ Theo
Thanks for the interview.
As you said we are not far apart at all. I am not here to question any individual’s authenticity as an African. I think all peoples do develop a culture that maybe considered unique to them regardless of their historical journey. What I totally resent is so-called actors making very obnoxious mockery of the poor and it being passed off as culture.
As for @WURA’s approach to the subject, she is more than capable of defending herself. What I can say in defense of her contributions , is that she is extremely consistent in her views and I find that very admirable, both philosophically and ideologically.
As for the PM’s seeking closer ties with Africa, I have said on BU more than once that I support her on that desire.
Population: 1,275,920,972
There are 54 countries in Africa today, according to the United Nations
There are 54 countries in Africa today, according to the United Nations
GOOD AND IS THE CULTURE THE SAME FOR ALL RIGHT?
SO THEN THERE IS A DEFINITIVE EXPLICIT AFICAN CULTURE RIGHT?