‘One Caribbean’

I HEARD the ‘One Caribbean’ slogan so many times during the first few days of CARIFESTA, and I thought about how clichéd it sounded. For the most part, it’s still a very clichéd slogan, but it is also one that is legitimately reflective of the shared culture across the Caribbean.

As part of CARIFESTA XIV which began on August 16 and ends on August 26 in Trinidad & Tobago, there was a festival in Arima that specifically focused on Indigenous Peoples of the Caribbean. Member of Guyana’s contingent here, Ingrid Devair commented that this indigenous festival was one which allowed indigenous people to share a space and celebrate each other.

More than that, she acknowledged that there are both instances of shared culture and varying cultures. And she hoped that she could take some of the cultural presentations and practices from the Caribbean to her village of Orealla.

Then, I was down in San Fernando, at the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts (SAPA) for a country by country cultural showcase. The night I was there, there were displays from Guyana, Anguilla, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Antigua and Barbuda. Naturally, the performances were all very well done, and they each made you want to experience it back in the home country (as expected, right? It’s CARIFESTA after all). More than the cultural showcase, however, here was one of those instances where that ‘One Caribbean’ slogan came to the fore.

In SAPA, I sat next to a Trinidadian family who kindly kept my company and tolerated the constant flickering of my camera’s shutter. When the masqueraders from St. Kitts and Nevis took to the stage, I was pleasantly surprised because their antics were quite similar to the (in)famous GT masqueraders at Christmas time. They danced around in a circle to the beat of the drums and the tune of a flute. Sounds familiar, right? Added to that, the aged Trinidadian man sitting next to me pointed out that the masquerade was similar to the traditional ‘mas’ done by Trinidadians during the carnival season, years ago.

For context, masquerade and the Caribbean carnival experience has its genesis in the days of enslavement. While the colonial whites would have their ‘high class’ festivities, the enslaved Africans developed a new culture using that European framework and adding their own culture to it. Years later, this plantation experience is a widely celebrated part of our culture- across the Caribbean.

At the youth village as well, the Indian Dance troupe representing Guyana did a small performance after which they did a freestyle dance to tassa drums. The beautiful part of this performance, for me, was when they left the stage and went into the audience in an attempt to get the youth to join in the freestyle. Guyana’s dancers and youth from Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda and Grenada formed a circle in the auditorium and took turns showing dance moves from the countries.

Our love for drums is also another shared bit of culture that Caribbean countries have drawn from that plantation culture. In some countries like Guyana and Trinidad, where there is a strong East Indian presence, you would find the influence of drums there as well.

Now, when the Guyanese dancers left for the changing room, an impromptu dance session broke out in the auditorium where the young people were trying out popular dances moves from Jamaica (‘genna bounce’ and ‘fling yuh shoulder’).

This leads to my own experience with the Jamaicans which has been the deeply personal affirmation of the One Caribbean mantra. For CARIFESTA, I am not staying with the rest of the Guyanese delegation, but somewhere much closer to the Queen’s Park Savannah (the central hub for the 10-day festival) with a handful of Jamaicans.

My first night here, I was a bit hesitant about being on my own (it is well known that Trinidad is not the safest place right now) and faring for the short while. But to say the least, those Jamaicans became my best friends during that time. Each night, they made sure this little Guyanese girl was getting home safe (they took me home with them!).

And throughout my entire CARIFESTA experience, I remembered what one of those very Jamaican friends said to me on the very first night. She said, “You might be cute and yuh hair straight and me got locs, but all ah we is one blood. We is one family in the Caribbean.”

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp
All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.