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May/Jun 2019
5 Orlando Carnival Bands wow Crowd
Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond. Today Juneteenth commemorates African American freedom and emphasizes education and achievement. It is a day, a week, and in some areas a month marked with celebrations, guest speakers, picnics and family gatherings. It is a time for reflection and rejoicing. It is a time for assessment, self-improvement and for planning the future. Its growing popularity signifies a level of maturity and dignity in America long over due. Sensitized to the conditions and experiences of others, only then can we make significant and lasting improvements in our society.
From young to old, rich to poor, ornate costumes to paint, Orlando Carnival Downtown Bands showed up and showed out. The crowd enjoyed both the Carnival parade and the stage show.
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L I F E S T Y L E
Guenet Gittens-Roberts, Publisher/Editor
June, time to celebrate Caribbean American Heritage Month Samuel J. Roberts, Publisher/Editor
J une,
a month to celebrate who we are in America. A time to celebr-
ate who we are and what we add to this society. Caribbean people have been making a vital contribution to America, ever since one of the founding fathers - a March 2017 article by the New York Times described Alexander Hamilton as follows:
operatic twist, Alexander found himself living in the Christiansted home of a wealthy merchant’s family, and working for the import-export firm Beekman and Cruger. In 1772, a fierce storm devastated St. Croix. Hamilton described to his father the “prodigious glare of almost perpetual lightning, the crash of the falling houses, and the ear-piercing shrieks of the distressed”; it was a letter of such marked literary skill that it was published by the local newspaper, The Royal Danish American Gazette, where it attracted the attention of several prominent businessmen. They began a subscription fund for his education, and a few months later Hamilton was on a ship bound for Boston. “Men are generally too much attached to their native countries to leave it and dissolve all their connexions, unless they are driven to it by necessity,” Hamilton wrote in 1775. By the time he wrote these words, he was a student at King’s College in New York. "
"Before he achieved Revolutionary War glory, or became a founding father and an author of the Federalist Papers; before he established a sophisticated financial system, served as the nation’s first Treasury secretary or engaged in the type of petty political feud that would lead to his death in a duel at 49; before the $10 bill immortalized his beaked profile; and over two and a half centuries before a Broadway musical about his life would weave itself into the cultural spirit of the early 21st century, Alexander Hamilton was an orphan struggling to survive on the Caribbean island of St. Croix. Though he left as a teenager — This month is for all of us immigrants who have left our and never returned — Hamilton’s tragic West Indian childhood connections behind us as we forge a new path in this new informed his entire life, shaping his views on government, country that we adopted. We also bring with us, much like economics, slavery and much more....Alexander Hamilton was Alexander Hamilton, the experiences of our childhood to born on Nevis, an island in the British West Indies about 140 build this new country we love. Each contribution by each miles southeast of St. Croix, in either 1755 or 1757....His father, of you is what we celebrate this June, during this month. James Hamilton, the dissolute fourth son of a Scottish laird, had washed up on the island of St. Kitts. He met the beautiful and 1969 Alafaya Trail • Orlando, FL 32828 Office: spirited Rachel Faucette Lavien and the two embarked on an ill407-427-1800 Fax: 407-386-7925 fated romance. By the time she met James in her mid-20s, Rachel Toll Free: 877-220-8315 had experienced her share of scandal. After her French Huguenot For Media Information email: Publisher: father died in 1745, leaving her a modest inheritance, she and sroberts@caribbeanamericanpassport.com Info: .Info@caribbeanamericanpassport.com her British mother moved to St. Croix, then the capital of the Danish West Indies, where her married sister lived on a Should you desire to review past copies of the publicationgo to http://caribbeanamericanpassport.com and click on the 'Print Archive'. successful plantation called the Grange. “A handsome young woman having a snug fortune,” as Hamilton described her, Editor & Publisher................................................................................... Sam Roberts Rachel soon attracted the attentions of a debauched fortune- Publisher ............................................................................. Guenet Gittens-Roberts Graphic Design & Layout .....................................................................Aleia Roberts hunting Dane named Johann Michael Lavien, at least a dozen Contributing Writers: ................................................................................ Tony Dyal years her senior. With her mother “captivated by the glitter” of .......................................................................................................................Ryan Davis Lavien, the 16-year-old Rachel quickly found herself pressed into ...................................................................................................................Sandra Fatmi “a hated marriage” that would cast the rest of her life in misery. .......................................................................................................................Gail Seeram .................................................................................................................Sasha Watson The union, unhappy from the start, bore a son before she left the ..................................................................................................................Aleia Roberts home around 1750. A furious Lavien accused her of adultery and Contributing Photographers ............ .......................................................Ted Hollins invoked Danish law to have her thrown into a cell at Fort .....................................................................................................................Dilia Castillo Christiansvaern, the thick-wall stronghold that served as both .............................................. .............................................................Nancy-Joe Brown military post and prison for the town of Christiansted....In 1765, Central Florida Distribution........................................................Kadeem Roberts South Florida Distribution .............................................................Norman Williams abandoned by James Hamilton, Rachel moved with their two NorthFlorida Distribution .....................................................................Theo Jack Jr. sons to 34 Company Street where the three scratched out a Tampa Distribution ..................................................................................Julian Pina meager subsistence operating a small dry goods store that sold Copyright (C) 2016 GGR Marketing & Public Relations. All rights reserved. provisions like rice, flour and salted fish. In 1768, Rachel succumbed to a vicious fever and died here, leaving her sons essentially orphaned. Eighteen months later, their guardian cousin committed suicide. Penniless and alone, the brothers separated; James became an apprentice to a carpenter and, in an www.caribbeanamericanpassport.com
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Lakeland Tops List of Hottest Housing Markets in the U.S. By Anthony SanFilippo
People have different reasons for wanting to buy a home in a certain city or town, or even as specific as a community or a neighborhood. Maybe they want to live close to where they work, so they can have a short commute. Maybe they want to live nearby family and friends. Maybe it has to do with schools for their kids or for those without children, maybe the attraction of entertainment and lifestyle plays a part. Or maybe folks just want to find somewhere affordable. Whatever the reason, finding the right place to live is important for a would-be homeowner, but it’s also not the easiest task. Home prices and mortgage rates are expected to rise this year and the available housing supply within a buyer’s parameters may shrink.
But some markets are better than others. Realtor.com recently released their hottest markets list for 2019. Topping that list was Lakeland, Fla. Additionally, The Sunshine state had Miami making the top 10 list at No. 9. Economists for the website continuously track home prices, availability and how quickly homes will sell. To make this list, they combine that data with markets that are hotbeds for job growth, are experiencing an influx of new construction and are flush with millennials – the generation making up a majority of buyers in the U.S. ABOUT LAKELAND Lakeland tops the list because economists feel it brings the best of all worlds together into one place. Jobs are on the rise in Lakeland and it boasts a vibrant entertainment and nightlife scene with a bevy of restaurants, while still offering neighborhoods with comfortably-sized homes and space for kids to play.
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Lakeland Tops List of Hottest Housing Markets in the U.S. The median forecasted price of a home in Lakeland is $161,757 – nearly $100,000 less than the national average, making it an incredibly affordable city to live in, especially for young professionals and families who might be on a budget. Public schools in Lakeland are also considered some of the best in the state according to GreatSchools.org. Economists project a growth of 5 percent in home sales in Lakeland in 2019, well ahead of the national projection of minus-2 percent. Additionally, Lakeland is forecasted to see a price growth of 7.4 percent in 2019, more than triple the national projection (2.2 percent). WHY MIAMI? Miami may come as a bit of a surprise because of its size, however for a city so large and so attractive to Northern snowbirds, it’s actually expected to be a robust market for home sales in 2019. Economists project that 152,000 homes will be sold in Miami in 2019, more than any other metropolitan city on this list. Miami has always been a tourist destination, but what makes it an attractive city to live full-time is its diverse community. Yes, there are a lot of retirees in Miami, there are also a lot of young families.
And while Miami nights can be full of fun and energy, its days under the sun are more tranquil. It’s easy to fall in love with its white sand beaches, the frequent sun and the mild winters.
The city is also very vibrant and colorful with a lot of Cuban influence, offering much in the way of nightlife and entertainment options.
Economists forecast a 3.3 percent increase in home sales in Miami and a 5 percent increase in price growth, both well ahead of the national averages.
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The U.S. Census Bureau continues to recruit thousands of workers for temporary jobs available nationwide in advance of the 2020 Census. The 2020 Census Jobs website allows applicants to apply for a range of positions, including recruiting assistants, office operations supervisors, clerks, census field supervisors and census takers by completing a single application online. Opportunities are available nationwide and offer flexible work hours, including daytime, evenings and weekends.
Applicants are placed in an applicant pool for 2020 Census field positions and are considered as positions become available. Applications will remain active and updateable throughout the 2020 Census recruiting and hiring period. For more information, contact 1-855-JOB-2020 and select option three. Applicants may also contact the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339. For more information, please visit the 2020 Census Jobs page or the Census Bureau’s Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages.
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BRIGHTLINE FORMS STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH VIRGIN Brightline (soon to be rebranded as Virgin Trains USA) is the new benchmark for travel by train in America with express intercity passenger rail service connecting Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, with expected future service to Orlando and Tampa, and expected future service connecting Las Vegas and Southern California. Virgin Trains USA has started construction on a line that will take passengers from South Florida to Orlando. The train currently runs from Miami to Fort Lauderdale and West Palm. The company announced 10,000 workers will be on this project and hopes to start service by 2022. Virgin Trains, which is run by British billionaire Richard Branson, has raised nearly $2 billion dollars for the track expansion that stretches from West Palm Beach to Orlando. There are also future plans to extend service to Tampa. Additionally, the new line will also have stops at Walt Disney World. Those stops are expected to open around the same time as the one at Orlando International Airport. “Connecting Central and South Florida will bring thousands of jobs today and by modernizing infrastructure, we will strengthen Florida's economy for decades,” said Patrick Goddard, President of Virgin Trains USA. “For a project of this scope and magnitude, a world-class construction team has been assembled to undertake this tremendous assignment and we congratulate them helping us make history.”
Brightline and Rail Events Productions Celebrate Cuban Culture on Havana Special Rum Train Brightline and Rail Events Productions have announced the launch of the Havana Special Rum Train, departing Virgin MiamiCentral select dates June 14 to 29.
Designed for adults 21 years of age and older, the Havana Special Rum Train presents the deep historical and cultural connections between Cuba and Miami. Told through the lens of the railroad (which played a critical role in the development of Miami) and highlighting the future of South Florida rail travel via Brightline, the Havana Special Rum Train will transport passengers back to a golden era paired with premium rail travel. In partnership with Cuban-American rum distilleries, professional entertainment, and historical commentators, this one-of-a-kind summertime event is a must for lovers of Cuban culture.
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Caribbean Health Summit set for September 7th The Center for Multicultural Wellness and Prevention, Inc. (CMWP), along with several community partners (Florida Hospital, Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce of Florida, Center for Change, Greater Haitian American Chamber of Commerce of Orlando, Orange County Health Department) have planned and implemented the 16th Annual Caribbean Health Summit, which will be taking place on Saturday, September 7, 2019. The event is slated to start at 8:00am and ends at 2:00pm. The Caribbean Health Summit is the only program of its kind in Central Florida that targets the Caribbean community and provides "free" screenings and follow up for all participants. Some of the screenings that will be offered are blood pressure checks, prostate exams, complete blood count (CBC), glucose and cholesterol tests, Body Mass Index (BMI), dental, eye screenings, mental health assessment, HIV and Sexually Transmitted Disease tests and many more. Attendees are also exposed to as many as 95 different exhibitors, who are able to showcase products, services and information which address and promote solutions for healthy and positive lifestyles. This year’s event, with the theme “Motivate Yourself – Live Healthy “Body, Mind and Spirit”, is positioned to educate and empower men and women of a diverse and ethnic background to take a proactive approach to improving their health, wellness (mental as well as spiritual) and quality of life. More than 16,000 people have attended the event since its inception in 2002. Many attendees have traveled from different cities, such as Miami, Winter Haven, Daytona Beach, Haines City, Ocala, Kissimmee and Gainesville to attend the event in Orlando.
The Caribbean Health Summit is one of the many vehicles that the Center for Multicultural Wellness and prevention, Inc. (CMWP) are using to reach out to our community to help individuals to make positive lifestyle changes. Bring out your family, friends and neighbors on Saturday, September 7th to get Free Screenings. Know your number, it could save your life. www.cmwp.org.
12,000 pounds of Jamaican ‘Julie’ ‘East Indian’ mangoes shipped to US “This inaugural shipment of mangoes to the US tells us that the markets are there and we must grasp every opportunity to meet the demands of those markets,” Hutchinson said.
Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach in Florida are among the first areas to receive Jamaican mangoes in the United States.
He noted that Jamaica has, for some time, been exporting mangoes to Diaspora markets in the United Kingdom and Canada, and that in 2013, the country exported 654,954 kilograms of mangoes to Canada and 691,206 kilograms in 2014.
Twelve thousand pounds of ‘Julie’ and ‘East Indian’ mangoes were exported. Export of the mangoes, the first set to be exported to the US in 20 years, which is being facilitated through the Mango Irradiation Program, is expected to continue once or twice per week until the close of mango season in late July 2019. Addressing the official export ceremony at the Sangster International Airport Export Complex in Montego Bay, St James, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Agriculture, J.C. Hutchinson, said that the demand for Jamaican mangoes is high in the Diaspora
In 2014, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) gave clearance for Jamaica to export mangoes to the country. This, however, was subject to compliance with standards required by the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Chief Executive Officer of Xander Distributors in Florida, Leighton Hylton, will be among the first to receive the mangoes in the US to supply the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach areas in the state. Hylton said that Jamaicans in the Diaspora are very excited for the mangoes to arrive in the US.
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Orlando Carnival Downtown 2019
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Orlando Carnival Downtown 2019
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Former Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga dies at 89 Born May 28, 1930, in Massachusetts to Lebanese-Jamaican parents, Seaga renounced his U.S. citizenship at a young age to show his loyalty to Jamaica. He studied anthropology at Harvard University and published several papers on Afro-Jamaican folklore and Obeah, a religion combining Christian and African rituals. Seaga was known for a foreign policy that realigned Jamaica firmly with U.S. interests, including supporting the U.S. invasion of Grenada and supporting the blockade against Cuba. At home, he pushed for policies where privatizations were paramount to his economic policies. Prior to entering politics, Seaga was a major record producer who operated the West Indies Record Ltd. distribution company and played a role in introducing ska to the world. Edward Seaga, former Jamaican prime minister who shaped the island’s post-independence politics and cultural life, died at 89 on his birthday. Seaga, Jamaica’s prime minister from 1980 until 1989, was the only remaining member of the generation of leaders who drafted the constitution when Jamaica gained independence from Britain in 1962. His political career began in the late 1950s and he won a parliamentary seat in 1962. He was the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party from 1974 to 2005, during which time he lost five (1976, 1989, 1993, 1997, 2002) of the six general elections contested. Seaga was appointed to the Legislative Council at age 29. He was the youngest appointee ever. He was West Kingston’s representative for 40 consecutive years and held a parliamentary seat longer than anyone in Jamaica’s history.
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The iconic photo below is of Bob Marley and The Wailers performing while they had Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley (far left) and his political opponent Edward Seaga (third from left) on the stage during the One Love Peace Concert in Kingston, Jamaica. Marley brought Manley and Seaga up to the stage in the ultimate gesture of unity. Jamaica was not a good place to be in the ’70s. due to gangs, drugs, violence, corruption and political upheaval. The leaders on both sides, Prime Minister Michael Manley of the People’s National Party (PNP) and Edward Seaga of the rival Jamaica Labor Party (JLP), had hired local gangsters to help them increase their hold on power. After that epic concert, there was a period of calm — even somewhat of a truce among warring communities in and around Kingston, including Tivoli Gardens, Arnett Gardens and Trench Town. But a short two and a half years later, in October 1980, Jamaica would have one of its most violent elections an election which Seaga’s JLP won.
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2019 Clermont Caribbean American Jerk Festival The Clermont Jerk Festival raised thousands of dollars towards providing scholarships for Lake County students. To find out more about the Caribbean American Association of Lake County go to www.caalc-fl.org/
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Cedella Marley, Bob Marley’s daughter and the Reggae Girlz
Members of Jamaica National Women's Football Team celebrate after securing a spot at the World Cup in France, scheduled for June 7 to July 7, 2019. The team will make a stop in South Florida before heading to Europe
This year it seems like we have all heard about the Reggae Girlz, Jamaica's women's soccer team. But in 2014, it was just another day in the life of Cedella Marley, when her son brought home a flyer that he had gotten from his soccer coach. She looked at it, and her interest was piqued. She called the coach, who happened to be Jamaican and whose daughter was an under-17 player. That was Marley’s first encounter with the Reggae Girlz, Jamaica’s women’s national soccer team, which at the time was in danger of folding.
The Reggae Girlz had been disbanded before, in 2008, but the JFF had started a new effort to revive the program, gathering the most talented junior and senior girls to try to make a run at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
“They were getting ready to disband the entire team just because of the lack of funding — although we know there is funding in the Jamaica Football Federation, but it’s just that the women were not being prioritized,” she said.
"For me everyone should have the right to go after their dreams and passions without gender being a factor," she says.
The Reggae Girlz had been disbanded before, in 2008, but the JFF had started a new effort to revive the program, gathering the most talented junior and senior girls to try to make a run at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The Jamaican Football Federation disbanded the Reggae Girlz after they failed to qualify for the 2015 World Cup in Canada. Then, after they were resurrected, the Federation suspended funding for them again while facing budget shortfalls in 2016. The person most credited with turning the Jamaican national women's football team around is Cedella Marley, the daughter of reggae star Bob Marley. For Cedella Marley, when her son brought home a flyer he’d gotten from his soccer coach, it was the first she had heard of a Jamaican women's soccer team. She looked at it, and her interest was piqued. She called the coach, who happened to be Jamaican and whose daughter was an under-17 player. That was Marley’s first encounter with the Reggae Girlz, Jamaica’s women’s national soccer team. “They were getting ready to disband the entire team just because of the lack of funding — although we know there is funding in the Jamaica Football Federation, but it’s just that the women were not being prioritized,” she said.
We need to train. We need nutrition. We need gear. We need a ball," Marley says. In 2014, Marley, herself a singer, released a single "Strike Hard" to cover basic expenses for the team.Since releasing that single in 2014, Marley has become a tireless activist for the Jamaican female squad.
But to Marley it was clear that when it came to the Reggae Girlz, gender was a factor. Even with Marley championing their cause, the players, she said, had their doubts — slow to believe that somebody would support them with such vigor. “You could see that they were already broken. I remember one girl saying to me, ‘You really believe in us?’ I told her, ‘I believe in you, and it’s a real thing — a personal thing. I want to see you succeed, and I want the program to succeed.’ ” Fast forward to five years later and the Jamaican women's team is the first team from the Caribbean to ever qualify for a Women's World Cup. But even just getting to the World Cup playoffs was hard. Even flying to Europe, the entire team's reservation out of Florida was canceled because no one confirmed the tickets. The players got rebooked on flights that forced some of them to have to fly through Morocco to get to Scotland. Much of their luggage was lost and only arrived just before their game in Glasgow. The Reggae Girlz, made history, shattering attendance records in Scotland. They were in Glasgow to play the Scottish women's national team in a final warmup match before the month-long FIFA tournament, which started on June 7. The event destroyed the attendance record for a Scottish national women's team home game, attracting more than four times the previous record of 4,098 spectators.
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Robyn Rihanna Fenty Announced Richest Female Musician Earlier this month, Robyn “Rihanna” Fenty was declared the richest female musician in the world – putting her above icons such as Céline Dion, Beyoncé, and Madonna. At just 31 years old, this Bajan singer, fashion designer, actress, and businesswoman, has accrued a net worth of $600 million. While most widely known for her music, it is not at all the only source of her income. According to Forbes, the majority of Rihanna’s income comes from her partnership with LVMH, a French luxury goods company that owns brands such as Christian Dior, Givenchy and Louis Vuitton. In May, Rihanna launched her fashion label Fenty at a pop-up boutique in Paris, becoming the first black woman to create an original brand with LVMH. Fenty is just the latest of Rihanna's business ventures, joining her lingerie label Savage X Fenty, which she launched last year, and her cosmetics brand, Fenty Beauty, set up in 2017. The cosmetics firm generated an estimated $570 million in revenue in its first 15 months, according to Forbes, while the business magazine estimates that the operation is worth, conservatively, more than $3 billion.
Since she introduced her own clothing and beauty line, Rihanna has gone out of her way to ensure women of all colors and sizes are included. So fans were not surprised but impressed and quick to commend the singer for featuring curvy mannequins in the Fenty pop-up store that opened recently. Unlike the standard (and unrealistic), 24-inch waist mannequins used in most stores, Fenty’s ones had curves — full breasts, hips and even a little belly — highlighting features of the average female body.
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IMMIGRATION NEWS: On May 23, 2019, the President issued a Presidential Memorandum on Enforcing the Legal Responsibilities of Sponsors of Aliens. The memorandum directs relevant federal agencies to update or issue procedures, guidance, and regulations to comply with current law and ensure that ineligible immigrants do not receive federal means-tested benefits. The memorandum highlights the commitment of the Administration to enforcing existing immigration laws and protecting the American taxpayer.
www.deeteefreight.com 904-647-5167
As part of USCIS’ implementation of this memorandum, USCIS officers will now be required to remind individuals at their adjustment of status interviews of their sponsors’ responsibilities under existing law and regulations. Our officers must remind applicants and sponsors that the Affidavit of Support is a legal and enforceable contract between the sponsor and the federal government. The sponsor must be willing and able to financially support the intending immigrant as outlined by law and regulations (see INA 213A and 8 CFR 213a). If the sponsored immigrant receives any federal means-tested public benefits, the sponsor will be expected to reimburse the benefitsgranting agency for every dollar of benefits received by the immigrant.
DESTINATIONS
New restrictions on travel to Cuba The US announced major new restrictions on US citizens traveling to Cuba, blocking the most common way Americans are able to visit the island -- through organized tour groups that license US citizens to travel automatically -- and banning US cruise ships from stopping in the country.
The Treasury Department in a statement clarified that "certain group people-to-people educational travel that previously was authorized will continue to be authorized where the traveler had already completed at least one travelrelated transaction (such as purchasing a flight or reserving accommodation) prior to June 5, 2019."
American tourism is not explicitly permitted in Cuba. However, Americans were previously able to travel to Cuba if it was covered under specific categories, which included organized group travel, known as group people-to-people travel.
There are still 11 categories of approved travel to Cuba for Americans, all of which allow you to travel to Cuba legally. To travel under any one of the 11 categories, including the Support for the Cuban People category (the most popular) you simply need to declare that category when booking flights and lodging (as well as during re-entry into the US).
Cuban government statistics say US citizens have quickly grown to become the second largest foreign group visiting the island after Canadians.
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To travel legally, make sure to adhere to the requirements of that category.
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THE BEAT GOES ON BY TONY DEYAL
I grew up with engines – not just the massive and noisy Mack trucks owned by our neighbour, Mr Esack, but the green, steam-belching ones owned by the sugar estate that were up and down the narrow gauge railway line just about a hundred yards or so from our house in the little village of Carapichaima in Central Trinidad. Further west, intersecting the main road as it meandered towards the Gulf of Paria, was the east-west running train line of the Trinidad Government Railways (TGR), which linked the main cities of Port-of-Spain, San Fernando, Arima in the west and Siparia in the deep south, an artery through which goods, steam and people moved ceaselessly. It was then, too, when my cousin Harry was heading off to England to study and the entire family went to see him off at the Port-of-Spain docks on the ship, the SS Ribiero, that I took off on my own and ended up in a huge, noisy room filled with machines pumping, and I was grabbed by one of the sailors there and taken back to the top to rejoin my father and uncle who were so busy consuming the cheap whisky that they did not know that I had gone AWOL. These were the early days and, in addition to the calypsoes and Indian songs on the radio and from the raucous drinkers in the three rum shops within a few yards of my grandmother’s house, there was also what we called ‘Pan’. Our little village steelband was across the road in a little shack behind Miss Robinson’s huge clay oven. This was 1955, I was 10 years old, and the song was ‘The Happy Wanderer’, an original, lilting German composition that won the Road March. I still know the opening lines, “I love to go a-wandering…” and the chorus, “Valderi, Valdera…with a knapsack on my back”. In 1956, our village headmaster was transferred to Portof-Spain and our parents felt we should follow him. I ended up in an area that was among the most violent but also the most musical in Trinidad. As Carnival approached, I heard and learnt to differentiate among the sounds from the Laventille Hills (Desperadoes), Duke Street (All Stars), Observatory Street (Casablanca) and others all around, like Silver Stars and Dixieland, Invaders, Renegades, Hi-landers, Sunlanders, Boys Town and Katzenjammers. There were two things I learnt in that period. The first was the importance of the rhythm. The humble iron-man who was not in the front line ‘beating’ the pan was the one who set and maintained the timing for the tune. I can still see some of them, sweating profusely but not distracted from the task of hitting the brake-hub without stopping until the tune ended. The second was the leadership. While in today’s pan world, the ‘engine room’ is where the iron-men are housed, in the early days and still to a major extent today, it is the leader of the band who is the real engine room. In this sense, the men with the iron and the man with the iron will are the hub, wheel and dynamos of the band. This became even clearer to me when we moved to the town of Siparia and became part of a community known as‘Peyton Place’. The ‘panyard’ in those days was right across the narrow, downhill street from me and was a real yard, unpaved and for a while without electricity. The dynamo who ran the show was a pan-fanatic named Ellis Knights and he called the band the ‘Siparia Deltones’, a big name for a little band of mainly unemployed youths.
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While our leader for the entire community – cricket and football captain, as well as organiser of everything legal and illegal – was a tough, uncompromising, no-holdsbarred and no-quarter-given individual we called ‘Rabby’, who boasted openly that all his convictions were for wounding, Ellis remained on the periphery, focused on his steel band and dreams of pan glory. DUTTY SAILORS I remember one Carnival when Rabby decided we should have a Carnival Band of ‘Dutty Sailors’ – essentially, men in sailor outfits notorious for sprinkling powder on anyone they encountered in the street, rolling around on the ground in alcoholic splendour or stupor, and chanting, “What the sailor like?” to the chorus of “Big, fat women”. The band was supposed to move out at 10 a.m. and we were in the rum shop, costumed and waiting. Rabby was fuming. Nolan, a gambler and petty thief normally specialising in cattle, was on one of the two sets of bass drums mounted on a manually drawn, low wooden cart. He was keeping us back because he had no wheels on his cart. Rabby, angry and cursing loudly, threatened Nolan with grievous bodily harm if he was not ready. Nolan smiled and headed across the empty playground that separated us from civilisation and said, when he was out of Rabby’s reach, “Don’t worry. Ah coming back jes’ now.” About 40 minutes later, with Rabby fuming and even more impatient, almost murderously angry in fact, we saw Nolan heading down the hill on a bicycle. He rode past us down to the bottom of the street to an area we called the ‘Cave’, took the wheels off the bike, threw the rest into the cave, walked back up the hill, attached the wheels to the cart and off we went. Sailors ashore were in complete assurance we would win the local band of the year competition because we were the only band in town. I thought of this last week when I went back to Siparia to an event that the Deltones steel band, now the Deltones Institute of Steel and Music, held, featuring not only its superb music but also art produced by the young people from the community. The band’s executive director, Akinola Sennon, reiterated the band’s determination, based on a Sudanese proverb, to bequest two things to the children – the first one is roots; the other is wings. In the ensuing years, Deltones moved into the town’s abandoned train station, the last stop on the line, and used it as a springboard to excellence. Now the engine room is in a real engine room and the human engine room, Akinola, with his vision and energy, provides the tempo and rhythm for a sustainable and successful future. It has taken 62 years and will need more, but the train that Ellis Knights built and drove is on track and in good hands. *Tony Deyal was last seen reciting the Dutty Sailor’s chant but not loud enough for his wife Indranie to hear.
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