VISION December Issue, 2019

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ISSUE NUMBER 03 ISSUE NUMBER DECEMBER ISSUE 03 2019 DECEMBER ISSUE 2019

THE BUTLER PLAN & PROJECT THE BUTLER PLAN & PROJECT

A VISION FOR A VISION FOR

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If you don't know that you're not free, If you don'thow know not process free, dothat youyou're begin the how do you begin the process of freeing yourself? of freeing yourself?

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Andrew “Hitz” Phillip, musician and singer Photographer – Ezra Braithwaite 1

Front Cover Photo by Meschida Philip www.thebutlerplanproject.org

The Butler Group Formed for the purpose of advancing the economic liberation of the Grenadian populace, The Butler Group, comprised of patriotic Grenadians at home and in the diaspora, deems it vital and strategic in the solemn interest of national development and security that a comprehensive home ownership programme (as outlined in the proposal: A Viable Plan for Grenada) be adopted by our national government and sustained with the use of the commonwealth of the tri-island state, as it will literally and figuratively give workers and their families a floor to stand on and a roof over their heads, in an increasingly complex and precarious global environment. Such project stands to be our most immediate economic engine, with the capacity to create 100% employment and boost the spending power of workers/citizens in dramatic fashion. Empowered workers are the true wealth of a just society is our mantra.

To effectively and efficiently engage and thus give greater life to this plan, members are principally tasked with the mission of informing and educating the Grenadian public as to why it is vital that workers of limited means be afforded a home using the commonwealth of the tri-island state, in a global environment as it is: rife with strife; thus, only aiding the precarious socioeconomic environment in which workers and their families find themselves.

The generation and dissemination of literature utilizing various media platforms, including online and traditional formats, is crucial in the effort to sustain a protracted grassroots campaign, to ensure such conversation that we are seeking to have with our people will advance the social conscience and consciousness of the nation at large.

In engaging the Grenadian populace, the principle of non-partisanship and nonalignment will be adhered to by its leadership team when carrying out the identified aims of the group, in order to prevent and rebuff possible attempts to dilute and misrepresent the aim of the Butler Plan & Project by potential non-supporters and distractors. The backing of The Butler Plan & Project by ordinary Grenadian citizens is the initial aim of our campaign, for there is no movement (literally and figuratively) without their support, as well as its protection from potential distractors at home and abroad.

Withstanding that there are numerous angles to view national development and security as there are conceivable plans, The Butler Group conceives of workers and their ability to have a greater stake in the ownership and governance of a democratic society to be of supreme importance in the shared task of national development and security.

Our relationship is directly with the Grenadian People, and thus the general posture of a pressure/advocacy group is key when engaging in dialogues with other representative bodies and actors, namely politicians and their respective parties, trade unionists, and the national government.

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Laureen Redhead with friend Everod Parke Photographer – Nigel Layne 3

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F EATURE D 05

Editor’s Note

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A Chained People: The Grenadian People Are No Different From their Elected Leaders by Yao Atunwa

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Capitalism Was Not Meant to Liberate Black People

by Yao Atunwa

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Creator and Curator Asher Mains on the 5th Grenada Contemporary Art Exhibit

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Black Hair is Worth Much More than Gold by Yao Atunwa

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Essential Botaniks

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Migration, Parental Separation, and the Children Left Behind by Meschida Philip

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Cronneit’s Forest Bows

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Poetry by Camonghne Felix

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Poetry by Donique C. Perez

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Great Quotes

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How to Venice Biennale by Samuel Ogilvie

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Poetry by Keisha-Gaye Anderson

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EDITOR’S NOTE Knowledge of self is key!

The appeal of black aesthetic beauty takes precedence as we draw the curtain on the Greco-Roman calendar for 2019. We owe it to ourselves as people of African descent (of which most Grenadians are) to affirm our Africanness. Pan-Africanism ought to hold its place as a guiding force in the lives of people of African descent, in the midst of Pan-Europeanism and the like.

It is our duty to give promotion to the kind of aesthetics that demonstrate our keenness to protect what gives our lives deep meaning and definition.

Hence, in a celebratory mood and with deep reflection, we showcase portraits that point to a healthy approach to the kinds of representations that allow us to grow in confidence and self-love, as a people constantly at war with the dominant force of a Euro-eccentric and paternalistic worldview.

Our challenge is no doubt enormous, particularly when the war is within and without for people of African descent throughout the globe, which speaks directly to the aim of this very publication, which is to raise the consciousness of our audience, of our people. The offering in this issue follows that of previous issues in terms of the social commentary and the arts, with a new segment on young entrepreneurs, namely Cronneit’s Forest Bows and Essential Botaniks. Poetry continues to be a staple, with a fresh take from three poets whose works are gracing the pages of VISION for the first time. Three ladies: Donique C. Parez, Camonghne Felix, and Keisha-Gaye Anderson. We are grateful to every contributor of this issue and those that preceded.

We are certainly looking forward to exploring the talents of more writers and artists in the new year, as we expand our view to capture the happenings in other sectors such as tourism, with a focus on local proprietorship and events. Should you have a perspective that you wish to share with our audience, feel free to connect with us on our website, www.thebutlerplanproject.org, or on Facebook: Vision, The Butler Plan and Project, or The Butler Group.

In the spirit of Sankofa, it is only proper to remember the words of Baba Walter Rodney, a great Pan-African scholar: “A culture is a total way of life. It embraces what a people ate and what they wore. The way they walked and the way they talked; the manner in which they treated death and greeted the new born.”

It is imperative that we remember who we are at all times, for it encapsulates our entire mission as a people.

Ase! Warm regards,

Yao Atunwa Editor

New York City, November, 2019

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A Chained People: The Grenadian People are the same as their Elected Leaders, not one Iota of Difference!

WRITTEN BY YAO ATUNWA

We Grenadians are a very insecure people. I say this irrespective of any other characteristic, be it constructive or otherwise. Our insecurity is a prevalent characteristic that is displayed in a myriad of ways in the day-to-day lives of our people, from withholding support, to not valuing things that are of critical importance to our upliftment as a group, to downrightly passive aggressive behavior towards others who have not injured us in any way. Our insecure disposition is a constant in the tapestry of social life on the island and with Grenadians in the Diaspora. More importantly, in order to

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDY JOHNSON

explore the wide claim just made, one of the questions that needs to be asked is: where does this leave us as a people? What are the implications of such a scenario? And perhaps a less interesting question for many: how did it come about in the first place?

It is obviously not hard to fathom the origin of our insecure disposition as a people who are still seeking to assert our right to be selfdefining four decades after receiving political independence from Britain. That insecurity is part and parcel with our un-freedom. That is,

it dwells in our culture, to produce a group of people who wrestle with the same dynamics and see the same results. Make no mistake about it, we are of the same cloth as our elected officials, no difference whatsoever.

Think about it, we only say that politicians are different and seek to isolate ourselves from them when they abuse the people’s trust with their indifference and lack of responsibility as stewards of the nation. What we do not realize is that the indifferent and irresponsible behavior that is often on display by elected officials share a common root with our very own indifference and crude behavior when we should be giving each other a hand and building collaboratively. But one can tell the nature of a people by the leadership that represents them.

A people are a reflection of their leadership, and vice versa. What both represent is a culture practiced by its many subjects – us individuals. In any given culture, there are major makers of identify that members are invested in, voluntarily and involuntarily, some more than others and at various intervals. Most of us are not necessarily conscious of what they are or in a position to articulate them clearly. Nonetheless, our psychological history is what is

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being denoted in such makers, essentially, because that is the black box where everything is recorded for playback. Take for example our esteem in one another, and how it would have increased or decreased based on where we are in seeking to overcome challenges pertaining to our survival, relatively and generally speaking.

One of those invisible makers is our great deficiency of knowledge about our history as a people, and more importantly our great history of resilience in the face of oppression.

This aspect of our history is hardly brought to the forefront, if at all. Not even our political and economic history is taught in our primary and secondary schools to any significant degree – much less our African history, of which a great many of us ought to be vested. The failure to engage seriously in teachings about the events that shaped our current realities leaves us very vulnerable and impressionable to agendas that are not conducive to our social and psychological development. This very situation is precisely why we remain dependent on the assistance of foreigners in almost all aspects of what supposed to be our internal affairs, to the point where the encroachment is becoming more brazen. For instance, laws pertaining to the financial governance and thus the regulations of our monetary activities are being infringed upon by OECD states, with laws such as the infamous Fiscal Responsibility Act that is adversely affecting workers’ ability to adequately bargain for very modest increases in salary and even obtain the level of benefits entitled to by law.

It is pretty much a situation where our constitution, which was created for us by our colonizers, is being updated in ways that are absolutely not progressive. Therefore, the yoke of colonialism is being given new life, when we should be busy shaping and affirming an identity that contrasts the oppressive legacy that has been the backdrop to our history, psychologically, economically, socially, and politically. All of which are being reinforced in our great failure to recognize that the playbook has not changed; that we remain dependent on Europeans mightily. And that

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they do not have our interest at heart; and will never be able to.

In such context, with progressivism lacking in both the mindset of our people and our political leadership, we will only witness the same patterns of behavior from our citizenry and as a result our elected officials who come from the very same citizenry with all the makers intact. The twin effect, in that of the values of the leadership in its failure to adopt or imagine progressive policies and the peoples’ own failure to move pass complacency and engage in progressive and serious challenges to the current order, remains. When such happens, it means there is very little respect for each other, as is typical in oppressive conditions.

The internalization of the oppression endured by multiple generations makes it rather difficult for progressive ideas and plans to gain traction, especially when there isn’t a great amount of resources available to execute such plans in the immediate and without a collective approach. The focus by most is on the immediate and agendas tend to get defined

along personal lines, i.e. mere self-interest.

The politicians, in representing the people, are merely facilitators of special interests and oftentimes their own separate interests. The insecurity that we are wired with as a people who are chained to an oppressive system continues to wreak havoc on our people’s mental and social condition, continuously. The socalled typical modes of behavior mentioned early (excessive competiveness and covetousness, overtly and covertly) are seen as “normal” in folks seeking to relate to each other.

Consequently, social, progressive movements are harder to come by under those acute conditions; that is, until conscientious and conscious members of the society begin to challenge the dominant narratives regarding the economic, political, and social dimensions of the society, to raise the consciousness level of the people. This is exactly what took place leading up to the revolution that came into effect on March 13th, 1979, and had to continue in order to save the processes that were undertaken to fundamentally change the Grenadian

society. In other words, a redefinition process was central to that movement that was led by a group of very young and politically astute Grenadians at the time.

For one, education was being redefined along social lines, to give greater purpose and aspiration to the endeavor of educating our citizens beyond personal aspiration and benefit. But like the revolution, that was short-lived for the most part when neoliberalism triumphed in the wake of the demise of our experiment in revolutionary processes. The messaging by the invaders helped greatly to reverse the progress made in our people, in how they came to understand and view themselves – the portal for all changes. The held view that the United States Army and its governmental leaders saved Grenadians made all the practical sense to many Grenadians made vulnerable vis-à -vis the great void that resulted, even with ones who conscientiously experienced the social and material benefits of the revolutionary processes: when the distrust

amidst the chaos would have raised its ugly head in a galvanizing way to seal the fate of the young revolution. So much so that there was little counterargument from even the staunchest proponents of the changes already started taking effect in the lives of Grenadians.

The grave errors made in the PRG leadership, to the extent that the lives of core members and other Grenadians were taken, pretty much gave Grenada over to the salivating U.S. that looked at our interest in self-determination as a direct assault on their hegemonic interest to dominate all colored nations. Now, we celebrate Thanksgiving on October 25 to commemorate the U.S. saving us from ourselves, if I can put it that way. And obviously we do not think much about it, especially at this juncture. If we only knew the geopolitics involved in the orchestration of the mighty U.S. Army invading a tiny Caribbean nation-state under the pretext that its students were in great danger, or the other infamous line, that we were building a Soviet-Cuba military base when all we intended to do is feed ourselves by seeking to broaden our reach to international markets with an international airport.

Now, more than ever, we look to U.S. culture for an understanding of our position in the world and ultimately ourselves. Our tastes and general consumption patterns are being tailored by their commentators and TV programming. Rugged individualism, the benchmark value of neoliberalism, is with us in a large way; not realizing that our freedom can never come from mere individual expressions and self-interests. Such is the deception that we succumb to. But all we have to do to realize the grand scheme of deception is to pay attention to the moral and social bankruptcy of the U.S. If you can, notice the high degree of freedom roughly half its population who are poor and low-income are enjoying when they cannot afford to rent in 70 percent of U.S. counties because they simply cannot afford rent on their low incomes; or the aging Baby-Boomers who are finding themselves unable to retire when they are currently struggling to stay afloat; or the countless young adults saddled with student loan debt to the point where it is a huge challenge to afford the very basic

necessities, and certainly not a mortgage in most cases. The sheer volume of people either underemployed or working multiple jobs just to stay afloat, with tens of millions unemployed, is only becoming worse, while a very tiny minority continue to increase their income levels and overall wealth under the capitalist system designed to produce those results invariably. Those who make up the one percent take home on average 39 times more in income that the bottom 90 percent. To make matters worse, those of the 0.1 percent income is 188 times more than the bottom 90 percent of the population. How much freedom are these people belonging to the bottom 90 percent enjoying?

While such calamity is happening in near silence on U.S. soil, our nation is mired in foreign debt. It was 108 percent of GDP in 2013, after being over 80 percent of GDP form 2004. Now it is in the region of 70 percent of GDP, while we are still struggling to employ our people in the midst of a very high cost of living. How are we to say that we are a free people, when we are hardly in charge of defining our destiny? Freedom can only be derived from group efficacy and dynamics. Freedom is a social phenomena. It is the organized imagination that sets a people free. Thus, ultimately, to free ourselves involves a conscious process of building healthy and sustainable communities from collective effort. The types of institutions and systems we seek to create would reflect our desire for freedom. An un-free people are an insecure people. The more un-free a people are, the more insecure they would be. The unfreedom is not an abstraction; it can only manifest in the social relations of the members of the society. That is why individual freedom is derived from group freedom or group dynamics. If the group is not free, the individual cannot be free. Our insecurity, not analyzed adequately, would never provide such revelation. Certainly, not when the escape is to seek to be the biggest consumer one can possibly be; and quite frankly, many are literally dying trying in the U.S. and everywhere the neoliberal tentacles have touched. A free people seek to solve their own problems; they don’t rely on others to do so.

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CAPITALISM WAS NOT MEANT TO LIBERATE BLACK PEOPLE, AND IT DEFINITELY WILL NOT! WRITTEN BY YAO ATUNWA

What is capitalism, one may ask? Though many, if not most, view it as an economic system, which it is, its proper or instructive definition would escape most just the same. Quite frankly, to grapple with the true nature of capitalism requires one to have at his/her disposal a historical knowledge of such a system. That is the only how, in fact, we will be able to address a more poignant question, as to the function of capitalism as it relates to black people, globally. There is, indeed, a historical relationship, and one that is irreversibly adverse no matter where in the river one places one’s feet or the given moment for that matter. That stream runs in one direction: discord and disunity for a group of people who by and large do not benefit from capitalism’s brand of development for lack of a better term. Certainly, not when it has historically been successful in under-developing African people throughout the globe. In short, capitalism is the tool of European masters. And as poet and activist Audrey Lorde put it, “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” We are living in the master’s house; we are currently purveyors of the capitalist order.

To begin to give proper definition, capitalism is more than an economic system; capitalism is an ideology that has been institutionalized for the very purpose of governing relationships between groups of people and between individuals. Contrary to popular perception, its focus is not merely to promote “free market” as is often touted by its proponents. In the capitalist enterprise, relationships are specifically and purposely structured based on the principle of hierarchy, to create situations for great exploitation of those made to be “underprivileged”, “superfluous”, or chained in the production chain. One of its chief mechanisms in structuring such skewed power relations or dynamics is its emphasis on a division of labor that does not adhere to the principle of democracy, and thus does not benefit workers as a group.

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Its division of labor serves as the centerpiece to such a system, with those seeking to sell their labor automatically placed at the bottom of the hierarchy. Workers in general, who are for the most part landless through deprivation, are placed at the bottom of the hierarchy irrespective of race or ethnicity, to be general, but even more so people of African descent. Again, with particular targeting and emphasis, which seeks to displace the cultural understandings and thus orientation to self and others, in social, economic, political, and psychological terms. In other words, a process of alienation which can take several forms, including from land, labor, and culture, is set in motion.

What is interesting is that capitalism was given birth as a bon-a-fide system during the colonial epoch, as the merchants and other investors of European origin gain predominance as investors in commerce largely oriented around enslaved labor in the Americas, and in turn were given pretty much a carte blanche check to give shape to an economic system that distinguishes itself from that of the dominant system of the time, mercantilism – most likely as a reward for their overall effectiveness (after the initial quarrels)in bolstering the commercial life of their respective empires, and ultimately freeing the hands of their respective monarchs from being heavily or directly vested in the creation of wealth, to sustain those empires.

With the mercantilist system, the monarchs visà-vis their agents directed commerce through companies chartered to sanction or regulate commercial activities in the colonies insofar as trading routes and taxation, and even wagging war. For instance, companies such as the British West India Company was set up by the British monarch to direct commerce between the British colonies in the Americas in relations to the crown,

to ensure that trade was strictly maintained between the United Kingdom and its colonies. Such was the structure of the relationship between merchants and the Crown in the prevailing economic system; one the American colonies especially despised, in seeking to gain their economic and political independence, having decided to trade with a prominent French colony in the West Indies in that of Haiti for molasses and other commodities, but chiefly molasses, as well as with their neighbor to the north, New France (Canada), for beaver fur among other commodities. Essentially, the American colonists, in so doing, defied the guarded arrangement, to benefit from having open trade with Haiti and other non-British colonies, in a very competitive environment for European monarchs and their principalities, which started the dismantling of that system.

While such was happening in the arena of international trade, another central component of the capitalist system was taking shape between planters and laborers. A marked distinction would be instituted between indentured laborers from Europe and enslaved Africans, to ensure that the two groups do not seek to benefit from an alliance, as the Bacon Rebellion (1676) in the colony of Virginia suggested when negroes and Europeans, and to an extent Native Americans, formed an alliance to disrupt the social order of Jamestown when the Governor had refused to provide redress to the harsh economic situation that stemmed from a number of factors, but primarily the exclusive rights Governor Berkeley had bestowed on native groups in the trade of beaver fur, which was put in place as a mitigating instrument for the settlers. The European indentured laborers, who were afforded the same rights as freed negroes and natives at the instance of their end of servitude, were made privileged through the passage of laws that made it unlawful for a person of African descent to testify against a European now

called a white person, or own a firearm or gunpowder; as well as outright barring of marriage between whites and persons of African descent or Native Americans for that matter. At this point the division of labor which capitalism would come to be known for had reached its most defining moment: more effective than it has ever been since it had made such more pronounced a feature among villagers than the feudal and mercantilist systems when it successfully removed a great many artisans and peasants from the countryside of Europe to become city dwellers, to work in the textile and other factories throughout England and Western Europe.

In other words, the invention of “whiteness” in Virginia in 1681, when it first appeared in law, cemented such division of labor even more for the capitalist enterprise, in two principal respects: It fueled the industrial revolution in Western European with the steady supply of raw material from the colonies which further shifted those economies from artisan-enterprising/ peasant-driven to factory/employment-based, and it also made permanent a rung on the economic ladder or hierarchy exclusively for a group of non-Europeans, Africans and their descendants in the colonies. I like to say this is the insurance policy that capitalism afforded itself to ensure its prosperity and very survival: racism.

As far as the origin of the social construct of race on American soil, there is a deep history as it relates to it being sanctioned by the U.S. federal government from the very inception of the union, and of course on the state and local levels through policies and the very function of the legal system to promote an oppressive general reality for primarily people of African descent, i.e., the very underwriting of such a system; thus, structuring relationships even before one decides to sell one’s labor in the labor market, or seeks to make purchase of a consumer commodity. An author such as Jacqueline Battalora would have chronicled such masterfully in her seminal work, Birth of a White Nation: The Invention of White People and its Relevance Today (2013), among other researchers who are seeking to unearth and expose structural racism in the American context.

With the advent of capitalism taking the reign of economic and social life in the 1600s, 1700s and 1800s, before the abolition of chattel slavery, we come to witness the prominence of the merchant class like never before, with their intent on maintaining an obviously imbalanced power dynamic with countless laborers, free, indentured and

enslaved, whereby the relationship remains one that is skewed from the outset: no different from that of the monarchs and their gentries in Europe and their respective peasants during the feudal epoch.

Capitalism is no longer relegated to the Britain and its colonial sphere; it is now a global system under the watchful eyes of U.S. hegemonic power, particularly so after World War II with the devastation of Western Europe’s economies, and eventually the establishment of the Bretton Woods system. Under such multilateral arrangement, the U.S. plays the role of primary banker and power broker in the international arena. Its currency is the new gold standard, though fiat.

Need I state that it is the same U.S. that is active in the oppression of its black population continually with little provision to actually reverse the deeply embedded and structural racism that has come to shape their existence for eons. However, to be most clear, a reversal of structural racism is not possible: racism is strategic and central in keeping the labor force divided within the U.S. as well as across borders.

While the economic standing of blacks in the U.S. continues to reflect the intent of a system that is designed to be oppressive, as it does for black people across the globe, the world would then enter the era of neoliberalism, which is essentially a recalibration of capitalism to extract even greater wealth and thus exert greater control on populations in different geographical locations in tandem via a hyper socialization of an ideo-

logy of rugged individualism with the efforts of key agents within and outside government, most notably from the Reagan/Thatcher reign (1980s) onwards, though it had been in gestation from the 1930s. It has served as the way to revitalize laissez-faire economic liberalism or free market enterprising. Basically, the aim in seeking to accomplish such was to weaken the welfare state that was crafted in the U.S. and Britain to counter the “excesses” of the capitalist enterprise. Now that the neoliberal order is set in place, greater emphasis is placed on competition and exchange value; thus, giving the marketplace a greater role in the lives of members of society. As such, we witness a greater push for the privatization of industries, including social services or social utilities, austerity measures, deregulation of industries, and free trade pacts such as NAFTA, which consequently only exacerbates the marginalization of certain segments of the U.S. population (the world’s largest economy), to the point where the wealth of the median black family is merely two percent of the median white family (or $3,500 to $147,000). And three men own as much wealth as the bottom half of Americans. Yes, the same U.S. that is advocating free market and democracy to the rest of the globe, as it seeks to market its popular consumer culture globally. But is the U.S. a democracy? How does a democracy produce so gross disparity in income and wealth, not just between racialized groups but among members of the general population?

It may not be a surprise to you, if you are following closely this macro analysis or is abreast of VISION MAGAZINE

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international relations, that the relationship that people of African descent have with the capitalist system within the American polity is the same the global south has with the global north, namely the relationship that countries southern hemisphere, which by and large are former colonies of European empires, have with the architects of the Bretton Woods system, largely European states.

With the system reaching global proportion and thus firmly in place, neoliberalism through its socialization effects as well as its overall impact on the material wellbeing and security of the least suspecting will only assist with further entrenchment of the skewed power relations between the groups within countries and between countries.

Moreover, it is much easier to commodify virtually all aspect of life when the emphasis is placed on individual freedom, as though such can exist without group freedom or more practical basic necessities being guaranteed with the promotion of group solidarity and more specifically collectivism as a principle for social development. To dominate and control or even defy the policies of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations’ bodies, it makes perfect sense for the U.S. and the capitalist enterprise on a whole to stress “free market” as the way forward or how the less developed nations of the world should approach development, notwithstanding their long history of protectionism (to strategically protect key industries, in pretty much the same manner its farmers are being subsidized while it seeks to dictate through the IMF and World Bank the opposite stance for the developing world).

The system is very much a locked system, producing pretty much the same results for workers wherever it is adhered to: the alienation and displacement of a great number of people. Substance abuse and homelessness, which have reached alarming proportions in the U.S and England, are two of the more obvious symptoms of this antipeople system. Perhaps a less discernable symptom would be the vicious cycle of black-on-black violence, which is delineated comprehensively by the late black psychologist Amos Wilson in his treatise on the subject, Black-on-Black Violence: The Psychodynamics of Black Self-Annihilation in the Service of White Denomination, 1990.

The most devastating impact of capitalism for people of African descent is the internalization of an inferiority complex that people of African descent have carried with them as a result of the brutalization done to their physical bodies and of course the intentional overall dehumanization

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facilitated through the falsification of their history and social treatment received by the dominant group. This grave condition would obviously be reinforced from generation to generation with the persistence of an economic order that continues to maintain their general victimization/ marginalization as a group in spite color-blinded policies, supposedly. The inferiority complex historically has been given chief support from the Christian denomination, in its depiction of “the savior.” But without this obvious example, the notion of adopting another people’s belief system puts one in a disadvantageous position, for the very fact that one is now adhering to a value system that is alien and thus intently seeks to reorient one to his/her understanding of self and ultimately ways of relating to self and others: the loss of an identity.

We see this represented in the growing dependency on skin-whitening and hair products to alter physical appearances, generating billions of dollars for those positioned to take advantage of this lingering sense of inferiority. The inferiority complex, in effect, represents a market onto itself, irrespective of the day-to-day abuses heaped on the victims, such as being targeted with subprime mortgages by the financial sector, which became the primary trigger for the 2007/08 meltdown of the U.S. economy that reverberated across the globe, causing great damage to countless lives. The victims of such a barbaric order, in which people are eaten alive quite literally because profits are valued more than human lives, are hardly suspecting of the role of not just the government but the church, in the upkeep of the capitalist order.

I wish to add, the paternalistic basis of Christianity undoubtedly gives support to capitalism, with its reliance on the individual to seek personal salvation or personal relationship with “god”, while for the most part the leaders of the church refrain from providing critical analysis of the governing institutions and the prevailing economic system, and are generally obstructed from developing a capacity to do so quite frankly. Cognitive scientist George Lakoff’s sought to shed light on in his book, Moral Politics (2008), explaining why so-called conservatives employ the frames that they do when it comes to social and ethical issues, which has to do with their predominant worldview, what he terms strict-father family worldview (as compared to a nurturing-parent family worldview), where personal responsibility is emphasized and credence is given to a mar-

ket economy. Thus, individuals are responsible for what happens to them in the marketplace. In short, morality, which is not static by any means, is viewed in narrow terms, unapologetically.

Interestingly, the case study of the paradox of Africa’s richest economy, Nigeria, with social ills to the tee, is the absolute epitome of the paradox of seeking to use the master’s tool(s) to liberate a people: Christianity included. Wealth disparity, with its many accompanying social ills, did not escape Nigeria as phenotypically black as it is or as naturally rich as it is in resources. There is no discernable difference in the relationship between wealthy West Africans (and their governments) in their respective economies as compared to wealthy Americans, in how they relate to the vast majorities in those locations, who by the way are the ones generating the vast wealth in those respective economies. Even if Nigeria were to create a welfare state, as the U.S. did after the Great Depression of the 1930s to stem the bleeding, the trajectory would be no different from that of the U.S., once it overriding principles for governing its economy and thus social relations are capitalist in design.

Only the practice of collectivism can liberate a people who have suffered the ploys of division and outright thievery and exploitation. The sooner we realize such, the better off we will be as nations and as individuals. Capitalism is inherently a class system based on gross exploitation of those purposely made to pay the highest price.

Black people have been made to pay its highest price, in historical and real terms. It is absolutely an ineffective and inefficient way to organize a society, for it is antithetical to democratic ideals and values. In the wake of the Great Recession, the world is witnessing Western governments stoking the flame of racial division with their anti-immigrant posturing that targets non-Europeans, many of whom have suffered the impact of economic globalization and regime overthrow by the U.S. for decades, in its effort to maintain economic hegemony by seeking to relegate and eventually defeat social democracies and any alternative to the capitalist order.

Still it is hard to tell for many who is foe from enemy. The enemy is an ideology that pits people against each other, in a general race to the bottom, whether it is within or across societies: preying upon their insecurities, when it purposely creates precarious conditions for the vast majority of people on the planet.

Creator and Curator Asher Mains on the 5th Grenada Contemporary Exhibit, “The Beach” The ocean has been at the heart of origin stories across cultures. Before anything else, there were the waters, the sea. These origin myths according to Édouard Glissant serve to strengthen a community or culture through filiation - or memory.

In Poetics of Relation Glissant describes a sociocultural phenomenon where filiation is used as a legitimising factor when cultures interact. The people who can remember the furthest back in history will dominate. Eastern and Western cultures both present water in front of sacred spaces. In the Western tradition, water was kept outside of the Tabernacle and later the Temple

for the priests to cleanse themselves but also as a symbol of the world and a reminder that the earth was once formless and void “…darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” 1 It is not lost on our Caribbean writers, Saint-John Perse, Derek Walcott, and Édouard Glissant, that whether the Sea is the Mediterranean or the Caribbean, remembering the waters is fundamental to the structure of a civilisation. When Derek Walcott wrote The Sea is History he absconded the Western tradition of domination through filiation and reasserted with Glissant - there is no me-

Environment/Sustainability A number of artists took the beach as a starting point to talk about climate change, stewardship of our environment and sustainability. Kirby Shaw, Ingrid Newman, Susan Mains, LaVanda Mireles, David Lemmer, Roxi Hermsen, Alex Stanco and Christine Renaudatall expressed the beach as an ecological metric - a place where one could nearly literally take a pulse of the planet because conditions change so quickly and the sea is eager to provide criminal evidence of its pollutants.

Pieces included paintings, installations, video and sound pieces that implored visitors to join in care for our beaches but also more broadly, our planet.

Sargassum Seaweed One of the current issues in Grenada on the beach is the prevalence of Sargassum seaweed causing disruption to life on the beach as well as the sea. As a problem that is potentially costly to either remove or process, artists such as Roxanne Marquez-Augustine and Xandra Fisher took this as their central theme.

Social Narratives Many of the works demonstrated a variety of perceptions that people have of the beach usually revolving around a story but always people in relation to each other with the beach as the stage. John Henry, Carol Youssef, Gihan Batihk, Farihah Khan, Billy Gerard Frank, Oliver Benoit, Suelin Low Chew Tung, Asher Mains, Patrick Lacaisse, Salomie Lawrence, Kriston Banfield, Amy Cannestra, Raily Steven Yance, Christine Norton, Susan Valentine, Deborah Thomas and Junior Wedderburn in different capacities relate to the beach as a setting for social exchange and cultural interaction.

Natural Narratives A few of the pieces, while they could have been included in other categories, focused on the beauty and natural activity of the beach free from human intervention.

These artists depict natural narratives for the viewer to be reminded and immersed in the beach for the beach sakes: Kadiejra O’Neal, Daniella Froehlich, Rick Feld, and Jessica Hobson.

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mory that is longer than the Sea itself. It is not lost, the gravitas of arriving then, to a beach. The sea is then the laver of the tabernacle, the Brazen Sea of Solomon’s Temple, the Wudu of the mosque, or the temizuya of a Shinto temple and the beach - a sacred space. The 5th Grenada Contemporary Exhibit, held by Susan Mains Gallery and hosted by Art House 473 in Calliste, Grenada, themed “The Beach”, was shown in what used to be a Pentecostal church. With a cross still in station on the back wall, “The Beach” occupied a deconsecrated yet still sacred space - this point of convergence to consider origins, culture, economy, environment, and most of all, a space of relation where cultures and ideas converged to consider the complex space that the beach represents.

If the setting of the Grenada Contemporary exhibit was established on these important elements of origins, memory, and sacred space, entry to the exhibit was equally irreverent. A spotify playlist called “Steel Drum Beach Party” played such idyllic hits as “Yellow Bird”, “Matilda”, or “Day O” played for guests upon entry to the exhibit. While these songs are absolutely part of the fabric of music and culture and by themselves represent endearing and timeless melodies, in the context Walcott would have cringed.

“What is the earthly paradise for our visitors? Two weeks without rain and a mahogany tan, and, at sunset, local troubadours in straw hats and floral shirts beating “Yellow Bird” and “Banana Boat Song” to death. There is a territory wider than this – wider than the limits made by the map of an island – which is the illimitable sea and what it remembers.” 2 The latter is what the artists were charged with exploring in their work. Guests to the exhibit would have had to have passed a small arsenal of Pure Grenada print material from the Grenada Tourism Authority, another small reminder that our sacred and complex space can easily be encompassed and commodified with saturated images of mostly empty beaches with enough room for you, the viewer, to occupy. Everything up to this point in the exhibit could confirm a status quo interpretation of the beach theme. Glissant’s voice is nearly palpable - “Have something to exchange that isn’t just sand and coconut trees but, instead, the result of our creative activity. Integrate what we have, even if it is sea and sun, with the adventure of a culture that is ours to share and for which we take responsibility”3 (Glissant, 153). All 31 ar-

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Artists and Organizers tists, admonished by Glissant and in the spirit of Walcott offered their exchange.

While categorising the work can be useful as far as thinking through the different paths taken to the beach, many of these pieces could easily span multiple categories and/or be a category unto themselves. It is important to remember the sea as illimitable but also the poetics of relation constantly seeks relation and new connections to synthesise rather than create inarguable outposts of ideas. Not one of the artists from the 9 countries represented at this exhibit were immune to the effect of the island, and by extension, the beach in their practice. Every artist is a collabora-

tor as we reassemble, from our different paths our memory, what continuously works towards a more complete vision of our collective identity. Glissant would urge us to remember that we assemble Walcott’s pieces of the Antillean memory we are as a result creating even more rhizomes and points for connection. This is what makes our civilisation rich. “Identity is no longer just permanence; it is a capacity for variation, yes, a variable - either under control or wildly fluctuating” (Glissant, 141). With this idea of ‘identity in relation’ as a preface we can take in Walcott’s poetic reminder that an exhibit like this is an effort in memory.

a capitalist framework is not seen as a valuable contributor to global civilisation. Walcott succinctly describes this “idyllic” place that people do not truly engage with and look to exploit.

“The Caribbean is not an idyll, not to its natives.

They draw their working strength from it organically, like trees, like the sea almond or the spice laurel of the heights. Its peasantry and its fishermen are not there to be loved or even photographed; they are trees who sweat, and whose bark is filmed with salt, but every day on some island, rootless trees in suits are signing favourable tax breaks with entrepreneurs, poisoning the sea almond and the spice laurel of the mountains to their roots. A morning could come in which governments might ask what happened not merely to the forests and the bays but to a whole people” (Walcott).

“All of the Antilles, every island, is an effort of memory; every mind, every racial biography culminating in amnesia and fog. Pieces of sunlight through the fog and sudden rainbows, arcs-en-ciel. That is the effort, the labour of the Antillean imagination, rebuilding its gods from bamboo frames, phrase by phrase” (Walcott).

In a way then, the Caribbean as a region, and an exhibit such as the Grenada Contemporary can be read as a surreptitious and devious engagement. Much like many species will lure prey towards it with attractive bait to achieve its own ends - the Grenada Contemporary Exhibit is full of beautiful, well-crafted pieces that intrigue and invite guests to have a closer look. If you were at

the opening you would have tapped your foot to the sound of steel pan and had one of the in-house made rum punches. It is in this beautiful space with beautiful work however that you should feel confronted. The Caribbean lures people from all over the world to engage in a practice of relation identity with its sea, sun, and sand. What the region gains in return are the elements that contribute to the complex identity of the Caribbean as a sounding board for the entire world. Glissant calls this the echoes-monde found within the chaos-monde. This positions the Caribbean identity at an advantage in an increasingly globalised world. Despite this unique position as a place where identity in relation is activated, it has not made equal strides economically and within

Just as someone may spend a week on an island and not think twice about their identity in relation to the island, art exhibits can be equally illusory. If you visited “The Beach” and went away with a mind full of craftsmanship and skill, which there were, and not the underlying subtext and messages, which there also were, then you may have only taken in a portion of the whole.

We miss opportunities constantly to embrace the complexity and fluidity of who we are especially in relation to the other. “Sometimes, by taking up the problems of the Other, it is possible to find oneself” (Glissant, 18). The beach, in the case of the 5th Grenada Contemporary, but also as a universally relatable space with many identities engaging with each other is not only a space where we can consider these ideas and themes, it is a space that through relation we can find each other and ourselves. If the waters are a place of origins, the beach is a place where we can all begin.

PHOTOS COURTESY ART HOUSE 473

Genesis 1:2, The Holy Bible, New International Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan House, 1984.

Print.

1

From Nobel Lectures, Literature 1991-1995, Editor Sture Allén, World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, 1997 2

Glissant Édouard. Poetics of Relation. University of Michigan Press, 2009.

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Nova Felder and friend

Kenson Phillip and Daughter

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Indira Makeda La Touche

Kadie Henderson

Martin Felix and Family

Meschida Philip

Shannelly Wooldridge

Shalrie Joseph

Renee Plenty

Karen Williams

Denis Lyons and girlfriend Josie Maitland

Lisa Cadoo

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Black Hair is worth much more than Gold!!

WRITTEN BY YAO ATUNWA It is hard to think of a more ubiquitous feature in black spaces these days than the sight of black women wearing an assortment of weave and other hair products bent on representing for the most part an aesthetics that is non-African. The automatic question has to be: Why do black women nonchalantly partake in what seems to have taken on cultural status? There are multiple reasons for indulging in this seemingly harmless plea to alter one’s appearance with artificially straight hair using the most popular hair product of the day, weave. The most convenient or useful one given is that it is much easier to care for, as it saves tremendous time and energy. A second stated reason is that it is more widely accepted by the opposite sex (in particular black men). And thirdly, it positions one to reap greater financial rewards in the professional world of business.

These reasons offered by the countless number of black women who sport weave and other hair products that seek to alter the aesthetic appeal of black hair would serve as the ultimate defense to contend with should one seek to protest this practice that could not be helping the healing process and the overall desire to liberate ourselves from mental slavery nor its counterpart, economic slavery, which we are severely stricken with as a group sill afflicted by the processes employed to rob a people of their identity and thus keep them captive. It is imperative that we parse the narrative brandished by those who seek to comport to what might appear to be a fashion statement or trend, not acknowledging the greater implication of a larger reality in terms of a trajectory that we tend to sometimes lose sight of (as though we are being purely independent participants in a world structured for us as Africans).

The truth is that black bodies, hair included, have endured oppression the minute Africans were brought to the West as captives in chains and ens17

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laved for the profits of another. That another, in this case, Europeans, saw huge monetary gains in oppressing the spirits, minds, and bodies of African people. Hence, their chosen manner of describing and classifying the various body parts of Africans turns out to be the most demeaning quite frankly (there have not been any other qualities or features on the planet described in the manner Europeans have in regards to African people), with the level of

negativity that was heaped on those bodies and minds of African people, when everything black or African was associated with ugly, crude or infantile, and downright evil. Such was the propaganda campaign needed to justify the brutal system of slavery and the economic system that followed, namely capitalism. So it is no surprise that those subjected to such treatments, having internalized

those negative stereotypes about the general group, will in turn seek to emulate the features of the dominant group while purposefully seeking to denigrate and dismiss their own natural features, as they wrestle with a force that is much larger than any individual, namely structural racism, a central component of the capitalist enterprise, as I and others have argued on other occasions.

Therefore, it is no surprise that black women will come to find it most convenient to don straight hair in the form of weave and extensions in the ready-made manner presented to them at this juncture; as it proves to be even more convenient and permanent than attempting to perm or slick one’s hair. After all, the hair that the weave is made of is either naturally or synthetically straight; no need to perm in this case. In other words, the weave proves to be the evolution of the perm and all the methods traditionally used to soften and straighten African hair textures.

The weave represents another stage of a hardly-interrupted onward march to stamp out the Africanness or black aesthetics in people of African descent in the present context – irresistibly so. It demonstrates the degree in which the market has come to represent itself in the lives of members of society, black individuals and their families; it represents a new level of commodification of our lives to the point where the family, in particular the black family, has been disintegrated severely within the last 40 years.

The precarious economic order has pretty much nullified extended families and to a very large extent the once-prized nuclear family. The reality is that the fastest growing family in the American context, the seat of the capitalist enterprise, is the family of one, as absurd as that may sound. This means that the individual has less of an immediate support system, less of a family economy to rely on, to invest in the caring of family members’ hair, which has traditionally been a familial/

communal activity. Hence, the plea of many black women that they do not have the time to care for their hair as they ought to proves to be a real concern, though admittedly at the same token a great many are not concerning themselves with the larger forces at play, to realize the choices that they are given as it relates to them caring for their hair and that of the loved ones are being streamed lined vis-Ă -vis the market forces of an economic system that has always sought to commodify their existence.

What we are witnessing is the greater commercialization of a realm of communal activity that seems to be squarely outside intimate settings, and consequently is most unnatural at the same time. But it makes perfect sense that with the greater involvement of the market in the lives of family members that the most appealing approach would be to represent an aesthetics that does very little to uplift the image of the same group that has been denigrated throughout the course of their involvement in Western societies.

The flipped side to the denigration, as alluded to earlier, is that one is rewarded for displaying an interest in emulating attributes that belong to the dominant group. This is the apparent arrangement in corporate America, where twisted locks and other natural hair styles of people of African descent have been scrutinized and in many instances barred, until it has gotten so blatant that even minors wearing afros and other natural hairdos are faced with harsh treatments from their school administrators, resulting in some parents with the assistance from lawmakers deciding to take steps to prevent the obvious discrimination by putting in place laws to deter such outlandish actions. Nonetheless, the negative appraisal and treatment of natural hairdos remains pervasive for people of African descent.

the beginning of time. But of course all this great history is being upended and lost the more our people, and in particular our sisters, indulge in a behavior that does not represent a responsible response to an undoing long set in motion and is now being reinvigorated in an era of rugged or hyper individualism, with the greater promotion of neoliberal policies the world-over: a situation where competition as a principle serves as the modus operandi in seeking to organize societies.

Then why would it not be most convenient for black women to feel justified in wearing weave?

Or to state that they have deemed themselves to be taken less seriously as a potential employee or spouse if they were to abandon the weave for their natural hair? In such competitive environment, every individual seems to be an island: detached from his/her true cultural parent, in making choices. The market, it appears, is the orienting institution.

The point that I wish to leave you with is that the practice of wearing the hair of others or designed to look like the hair of other groups is not a healthy one, and it absolutely does not promote the desire to be a free people. For one, it shows

the extent in which we are not free. To be free is to be self-defining, in seeking to create one’s own destiny. We could not be a free people and behaving the way we do. We are obviously still grappling with a self-hatred that is steep in our present culture and psychology. The wounds resulted from the denigration and overall dehumanization that we have endured during and post-chattel slavery are very much still with us.

In a real sense, we cannot be free should black women continue to wear hair that is representative of other groups. It is simply not affirming of a black identity. There is no mystery that hair has long served as an identifying attribute of African peoples in how it is cared for and worn. We seem to have been losing track of those rich traditions.

I would like to recommend a thoroughly researched book on the subject. It is entitled Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America by Ayana D. Byrd and Lori L. Tharps (2001). One may find it to be very illuminating, for its very purpose is to restore by and large a lost history of those rich traditions that were self-defining and affirming. History is intricately tied to identity. There is no freedom to be had without the reclamation of our history and our identity. Nil.

I must acknowledge that there is a movement of sorts in black communities to embrace the wearing of natural hair. However, it is prudent to understand that it is because of the predominance of the weave culture is why conscientious individuals are taking such a stance. And it is commendable, indeed, to see events such as Curl Fest and Afropunk established to promote not simply the wearing of natural African hair but to win back the positive self-image of black people. Image is central in seeking to give definition to oneself and a people, and it certainly extends beyond hair. Be not mistaken, hair is an essential part of rendering a quality and an image that is as important as it is distinct for the various African nations from VISION MAGAZINE

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Renee Plenty Photographer: Precision Focus 19

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Keizy Granger VISION MAGAZINE

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ESSENTIAL BOTANIKS Essential Botaniks is a cosmetic company that specializes in the creation of minimalistic, organic skin care products founded by Wendy Jean Louis, a native St. Lucian (with Grenadian roots) living in Brooklyn, New York. The company specializes in creating an organic, multi-purpose skincare line specifically prepared and formulated using fresh ingredients, without the need for any toxic or harsh chemicals and preservatives.

As she explains: “My quest for beautiful, healthy skin began as a result of my own very dry sensitive skin. Many of the products out there were not of any help; they were either too harsh, causing further dryness; or filled with so many toxic ingredients and artificial dyes and fragrances that further irritated my already delicate and reactive skin.”

At that point, she was unsatisfied and frustrated, and decided to embark on her own personal journey in creating her own skin products, which became something of an obsession for her. Spending every waking hour of her days doing research: not only about the harmful ingredients in skincare but as to how to incorporate better natural alternatives into her daily skincare routine: “Looking back, I probably ran my family members crazy! Like a student equipped with her trusty notebook, at all hours of the night mixing and perfecting her craft”.

When she first began, she never had any intentions of making her homemade recipes into a legitimate business. She was simply happy with making products for herself, friends and family.

It was not until one day, a very close friend of

hers whom she referred to as Nina encouraged her in the direction of creating a business, for she was so impressed by the results she had gotten from the homemade recipes. Nina began giving them out to some of her coworkers who also were pleased with the products, which led to them seeking to place orders. Hence EssentialBotaniks was born!

Wendy’s approach to skincare is very minimalistic. Her philosophy is: “Less is more.”

“Skincare does not have to be that complicated, especially with ingredients. Growing up in the caribbean as a young girl, the beauty supply store was right there in our backyards given to us by mother nature. The women in my family still to this day incorporate natural ingredients in their daily hair and beauty care. This is what I grew up on, rather that approach than the poisons that we see on shelves. Hence, my goal is to share with others and to give them the chance of natural, green beauty without having to worry about any harmful ingredients. I have made it my mission to stay true, and continue to bring products that are chemical and toxic-free, made with 100% natural, plant-based, cold-pressed ingredients and are never tested on animals.”

Find EssentialBotaniks on: www.essentialbotaniks.com And on social media: @essentialbotaniks

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Migration, Parental Separation and the Children Left Behind ― Barrel Children WRITTEN BY MESCHIDA PHILIP

My story is only a part of the universal migrant family experience. For seven years, my siblings and I were left in limbo, holding on to an uncertain, impending return of our mother, from her six-month vacation to America.

During my early childhood, I grew up in a singleparent home with my mother and older sister, surrounded by extended family: aunts, cousins, and close neighbors in a small community in St. George’s, Grenada. At around eight years old, my mother migrated to America. Her departure was hard for me. I anxiously awaited her return and was trapped in a mommy-soon-come mental phase. Several months after my mother’s departure to America, my life was disrupted again due to migration. My caregiver at the time moved to Trinidad, and I was sent to live with my older siblings at my paternal grandmother’s house.

My grandmother provided us with only the basic needs, shelter, and our daily meals, while my mother was responsible for financially supporting us. We received remittances frequently – barrels with foodstuff, clothes, school supplies and toys—a minimum of two-three times per year, and postcards with money on every holiday and birthday. Mommy also made it her duty to remain in constant communication with us with weekly phone calls.

Despite my mom’s attempts to stay active in our lives, the prolonged separation and distance took an emotional toll, breaking down the bond between us. Frequently, limited attention is given towards the emotional or psychological impact experienced by the children left behind.

As a result, unbeknownst to my family or me at the time, during my transition into adolescen-

ce, I suffered from a wide range of psychosocial and psychological well-being factors due to separation; most notably emotional detachment, anger, resentment, and distrustfulness. By the time reunification occurred, the emotional bond between my mother and I was gravely disrupted, making us practical strangers. Culturally, the migration of a parent(s) is widely accepted throughout the Caribbean, and as a result hardly is it closely examined.

While researching and analyzing the impact migration has on families left behind, specifically the children, the available research tends to focus primarily on the economic challenges and benefits of the remittances that is often sent back by the migrant parent to the families left behind, as opposed to the psycho-trauma, so I felt even more encouraged to tackle the subject head-on by doing a documentary film as my thesis project, with the focus being the trauma experienced by those left behind (individuals from Grenada). It is called Scars of Our Mother’s Dreams, which has been shown in several venues, including film festivals and academic campuses. Such was done in tandem with personal therapy.

Through therapy, I was able to unpack and discover the source of my trauma, linking it to my childhood separation from my mother. One of the bright spots in my research is my discovery of the term Barrel Child Syndrome coined by Dr. Crawford–Brown from Jamaica. The Barrel Child Syndrome contextualizes the experiences of Caribbean children left behind by parents due to migration.

Scars of Our Mother’s Dreams reveals both positive and negative factors during the period

of separation that impacted the interviewees; included but not limited to the physical living conditions, length of separation from their migrant parents, the age of the child at the time of separation, and when reunification occurred.

For some of the interviewees, they experienced emotional, psychological, physical, behavioral, educational, and health challenges. For others, the outcome was positive; they were able to benefit from the opportunities of their parents’ sacrifices. The common thread, however, did reveal that all of the interviewees were impacted and/or suffered from emotional scars.

My family healing process is ongoing. I have come to understand and acknowledge the impact the separation had on each of us individually. My experiences are unique to my family.

However, for the individuals still dealing with the emotional trauma as a result of the separation from their parent(s) due to migration, there is some fantastic resources now available surrounding childhood separation trauma due to migration. We live in a social era where virtual accessibility is easier to preserve relationships.

However, if there is no conversation surrounding the reason behind the separation, the impact could be very lasting for the child left behind. Parents are encouraged to communicate the reality of their status, especially if it’s an issue of legality within the host country. The truth is, most often resolutions come from understanding the WHY behind the action or decisions.

Migration is necessary. However, presents can never replace a parent presence.

Contact: https://www.facebook.com/Scarsofourmothersdreams/

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Sharon D. Charles was born on the beautiful island of Grenada, in the parish of St John. A former Athlete who represented Grenada in numerous athletic meets, including the Caribbean Games in the early 1980s, Sharon immigrated to Brooklyn, New York in 1988; and has been a resident of Brooklyn since. She attended Medgar Evers College of the City University of New York, in Brooklyn, where she completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Childhood Education.

Sharon is the author of Rising Above All Odds: The Memoir of an Immigrant in New York City, published in the fall of 2017, with the assistance of the late Historian and diplomat Dr. George Irish, founder of the Caribbean Research Center at Medgar Evers College. Sharon is currently working on two more books that are slated for publication by 2020.

Rising Above All Odds, as suggested in the very title, reveals the struggles, trials, and success of the author as an immigrant living in New York City. Immigrants go through many difficulties, trials, temptations and good times, but hardly write or speak about it. Sharon firmly believes that telling her story can make an impact in the lives of others. It can give others strength to stand up and make changes in his or her life. The powerful messages within the lines will be an eye-opening experience for many or a soul searching for others.

Sharon can be reached at:

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guava42@aol.com

Sharon Vincent

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CRONNEIT’S FOREST BOWS “We believe that you shouldn’t just settle for good but go for extraordinary.”

Meet Denny Cronneit, an environmental health officer and designer of Cronneit’s Forest Bows, who hails from Power Park, St. John, Grenada.

Cronneit is one of two young entrepreneurs from the region we spotlight on this occasion, capturing a view of their small businesses as they blossom into staples for communities near and far.

He shared with us how it all started: “From my teenage years, I was destined to being different. As a result, while others were wearing their normal cloth bowties, I will wear my wooden bowties. This idea sprung from preparing for a banquet at a Pathfinder Camporee. Everyone had to dress elegantly, and I thought about how I can be different. After that occasion, I started wearing them in church services, weddings and special dates etc. This little idea, has sprung into a small family business.”

Conservation and preservation are etched into the very design, as explained by Cronneit: Cronneit’s Forest Bows is the winner of GIDC (Grenada Investment Development Corporation) Young Innovators Challenge 2018-2019, and most recently (November 2019) the Most Creative Innovator Award also by the GIDC. It’s a small business that uses scrap materials from woodwork shops that are considered to be waste and scrap fabrics from sewing shops that are normally thrown away in the garbage and

converts them into fashionable wooden Bow ties. These waste materials after a time will occupy space in the landfill. As a result Cronneit’s Forest Bows steps in and helps recycle, reuse and reduce the amount of garbage going into the landfill by offering as an end product classy, unique and cool wooden bowties.”

He expounded on the evolution of his designs: “In addition, with the use of different colors of thread and patterns, we create unique pieces that are classified as our signature designs.”

You can find Cronneit’s Forest Bows on these platforms: Cronneit’s Forest Bows Cronneitsforestbows

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NO SHADE, THOUGH a faculty member thinks I am too involved in my own nostalgia. I say what nostalgia.

you mean black nostalgia. If I can’t recall the land of my umbilical severance then there

was no navel to begin with. when the memory finds the self – tapered and

running out of space, it goes around asking for its name and praying for the yes of a right answer.

that’s not nostalgia. That’s a requiem.

You assume that the source material

of a collective bleed could only be a misunderstanding of placement. What do you mean?

I know where I am. Therese are the Americas. It is 2014. I know my name and why I’m not dead.

that is more than you can say for you. Knowing is superior. Is infinite. To think nostalgia is to want for

something more beautiful than what sits dead at your table. What we’d share tomorrow has starved

overnight. What we’d share tomorrow has already left its stink in the bed.

Camonghne Felix ©

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Lost Poem# 5: I WON’T EVEN ASK WHY I try not to think about why all the black men on Tinder signed up for Tinder to date white women

Instead I daydream myself into frameless fantasies with the bartender, Questlove’s drummer, the unattainable

currents of harmless want, the impossible 4 a.m. solace of being touched gingerly in my sleep.

Camonghne Felix ©

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CAN YOU SURVIVE? It Takes A Strong Person And Mind To Survive Crisis In Our Lives; The Will To Go On And Triumph Despite What Life May Throw At You, Or Situation You May Have Created Or Is Placed In Your Life; Divorce, Death, Disaster, Catastrophe, And The List Goes On. Some Assume As Long As They Have A Comfortable Home, Job Or Great Bank Account Or Even Great Health, They Are Good To Go; They’re Almost Invincible. Sometimes We May Have All These Things, And Most People Aim For All These Criteria; To Make Them Feel Good About Ourselves; Worthy, And Then The Inevitable Happens. Some May Say That Bad Things Tend To Happen To Them On Time But Never Good. Sometimes, We Base Our Worthiness On Material Gains.

Life Is Full Of Complexities; Things Happen When We Least Expect Them To Or Ever Imagine. Live Every Moment Joyfully, So That Even When Things Around You Crumble, You Were Not Waiting For A Particular Moment To Enjoy It Or Life – But Were Doing It All The While….Bit

By Bit, Moment By Moment.

Be Appreciative, Thankful, Caring, Kind And Share With Others Because You May Never Know When You May Need Someone Else’s Help Or Kindness. Live Life, Enjoy Life And Have No Regrets….Our Survival Of Any Kind Depends On Our Thinking And Mindset. It Determines How Well We Will Be Able To Ride The Sometimes Rough Waves And Patches In And Of Life.

Can You Survive With Your Created Illusion; That You Are No One Without Those Identities?

That You Are Judged On Your Stand In Society Would You Be Able To Keep Your Sanity And Live Above Mediocrity, In Your Mind?

Because We All Stand A High Possibility That Our Lives Can Be Changed In An Instant No Matter How Well We May Have Planned Sometimes, Life Can Play You A Different Hand Would You Survive Your World?

Can You Survive Your World?

Can You Survive This World, Your World Created?

Donique C. Perez ©

I KNOW YOU I Know You Because My Soul Recognizes Your Semblance;

Think Positive Always….Tough Times Never Last If You Know How To Rise Above Them.

If Today You Were To Be Stripped Bare Stripped Clean Of Your Material Wealth You’ve Created Throughout The Years Your Physical Decorations And Additives Things That You Believe Is Your Identity, Your Comfortability Would You Survive Yourself, This World, Your World Can You Survive Your World?

The Way You Smile,

If Today You Were Stripped Of All The Things That Made Your Life Comfortable The Simple Things Yet, Necessary Things That Keep You Stable; Your Job, Your Home, Your Security; Things Taken For Granted By You And Me Would You Survive Your World?

Can You Survive Your World?

That Soothes My Senses

Would You Survive Without Friends, Your Dignity?

And Stand By Your Philosophy

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That You Have An Identity Engraved In Your Heart And Not On Your Face Or Your Past Or External Appearance Or Circumstance?

Or The Amount Of Money In Your Hand Would You Survive Your World?

Can You Survive Your World?

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That Twinkle In Your Eyes; That Holds My Stare And Hypnotizes Me, The Way You Move And Hold Your Head When You Speak; That Makes My Knees Weak Your Gestures; So Captivating To The Tone Of Your Voice; And Your Quiet Steps That Has My Heart Bubbling My Soul Recognizes You Not Only By These Things But Because Your Soul Speaks To Me Quietly, Soulfully And Intuitively In Recognition….

Donique C. Perez ©

MY PEN IS MY TEARS—Tears from my soul Of all my entire writings I have done, this is my most precious piece, as it is a telling chapter, stage and level in my journey of this part of my life, episode and continued journey in my life.

Every process one goes through in life prepares them for their eventuality. I was a very depressed individual over a good few years ago, and now I am led down a track of taking care of my Alzheimer’s mum.

There were times that I had cried out to my Creator how much can I bear because I’m too emotional for this job, but he knows my strength, I’ll cry at almost anything; this is not for me–but he cushioned me.. Oh yes, he cushions me with my pain and transferred my pain in my pen.

Yet, I still feel the need to cry – it’s my human emotion talking to me that makes me want to cry and redeem myself – but my pen does the overflowing and redeeming for me.

I have buried this from everyone as I come here every day to write to you but I was embalming myself as well by writing while I was encouraging and inspiring you as well, a beautiful karma.

I don’t believe anyone could have understood my strange overflow, yet inside, deep in my soul, it kept whispering to me–every time I need to cry–I simply write–no one knew my writings were tears from my soul.

I am not regretting taking the walk with my Mum because in that walk I discovered my purpose, discovered my strength or my strengths were moulded—–I found me– brought out through my writings and it’s so true that there is a certain stillness, peace and eerie void I feel when I write; a void that made me feel extremely happy in that ‘space’ as I feel redeemed in that space; the quiescence and serenity that I feel at that moment is inexplicable. It is totally blissful.

Everyone knows how and what pain feels like and what crying does to one’s soul; it cleanses and refreshes every pore and core of your being when that pain is released; a sudden joy results after all those painful or even joyful tears; those redeemed tears. This is what happens when I write, except that it has an added bliss to it that can’t be explained.

So when I come here sometimes and tell you to ‘Walk with me’—-it simply means I feel a bit overwhelmed at that moment—–it’s the human side of me; we all feel that way sometimes, and it’s quite alright, as long as you don’t dwell too long on that emotion, you be alright.

Whenever I write—–I feel like I’m in another realm—and don’t want to be disturbed— funny enough, noise doesn’t really affect me because my peace and stillness lives within; it overshadows my pain—it simply flows.. Yet, there is stillness when I write— my pains flow out instead of my tears.

This is my Creator’s intention in my life; an anointed one, and somehow I believe I am writing some of the unspoken feelings of my Mum as well...Who knows? Life is a mys-

tery…still unfolding–slowly unfolding before my eyes and deep within the confines of my being.

The Tears In My Eyes Won’t Fall Or Is It Because I Have Buried It Inside I Try To Cry Every Time In The Midst Of My Confusion In The Midst Of My Stillness But No Matter What They Won’t Flow I’ll Feel Redeemed If I Do Yet, They Won’t Flow I Look Into My Mum’s Eyes And Many Times I Try To Avoid Her Stare Cause I Feel Everything She Feels I Absorb Her; Her Quiet Unspoken Moments I Feel Every Chill She Feels; So Silent And Unspoken Yet I Can’t Avoid The Stare, For Inside Me, Lies A Full Dose Of Compassion For A Woman Who Taught Me Love, Kindness, Empathy, Patience Everything I Am Returning To Her; Compassion, Patience, Love, Empathy So Silently, So Painfully Yet, I Can’t Cry Instead, I Write The Prescription For Me From My Soul The Soothing Balm To Heal My Pains My Present Pain Or Even My Pains Of Past Yet I Need To Cry To Vent The Burdened Emotions Of My Soul For My Soul Is Weary With Its Confusions; Life’s Confusion; My Confusions Still, I Need To Cry To Redeem My Soul In The Midst Of This Journey; My Journey I Stop To Listen To The Echoes Of My Soul The Gentle Whispers Of My Soul; The Whispers Of A Voice I Know; An Oh So Familiar Voice; The Voice Of The Mysterious It Echoes Within The Walls Of My Mind That I’m Ok, And I’m Cushioned By My Pen In This Mysterious Walk Of Solitude It’s A Journey I Must Brave On My Own As My Strengths Are Resilient Yet, I Am Cushioned By My Pain And In My Stillness, The Tears Of My Pain Keep Flowing Though I Still Feel The Need To Cry Instead, My Pen Cry For Me Could It Be That The Mysterious Won’t Let Me Cry? Or Do My Tears Flow Endlessly In My Pen As I Write?

‘Cause I Feel Every Pain Slowly Releasing As I Write Could It Be That My Merciful Creator Is My Handkerchief; He Wipes And Dries My Tears Before They Flow And Hands Me A Pen To Write My Tears?

Oh My Journey Seems So Long My Burden Seem So Heavy Still, I Feel The Need To Cry But The Tears Won’t Flow

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Instead, I Write And My Pen Cries For Me Those Endless Writings I Do Are The Endless Tears Of My Pained Soul My Pen Has Become My Comfort In The Midst And Through My Journey My Pen Is My Anointing, It’s My Overflow From The Inner Depths Of My Soul There Lies My Hidden Pain Of Now Slowly Oozing Out In My Pen As I Write Now I Know Why I Can’t And Won’t Cry Donique C. Perez ©

OUR DEPENDENCY Are You Independent?

Are We Really Independent?

‘Cause We Need Each Other To Survive; To Co-Exist, Or Humanity Will Cease To Exist Because I Need You; We Need Each Other To Survive These Daily Harsh Punishments; Those Cruel Punishments Of Life; Called Life Are You Independent?

Are We Really Independent?

I Need You To Guide Me And Lead Me When I Stray; To My Path, Even A Path To My Solitude Where I Can Find The Fortitude, To Change My Attitude Yet, I Still Need For You To Echo For Me That Life Is Not That Bad It’s Not That Hard And That I Am Not Alone That We Are Not Alone; We Have To Come Together As Sisters And Brothers We Are Not Independent Of Each Other And Need To Be Co-Existent To Survive Our Existence Are You Independent?

Are We Really Independent?

I Watch Passers-By Move Swiftly On As Though Life Is Such A Mystery To Some, Everything Is About Rivalry Their Existence Is Part Of The System And Their Insistence That They Can Survive Without Co-Existence And Remain In Their World Only To Realize They Can’t Exist Without Co-Existing; With All Inhabitants Within Our Environment; Entwined With Interdependency In Everything That You See Are You Independent?

Are We Really Independent?

No Man Can Stand Alone Or My Creator Would Have Created Just One Human And Not Created Woman; Another Human Nor The Plants And Animal Kingdom, To Continue Our Dependence On One Another

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To Complement Each Other And Appreciate Its Wonder; Together In Harmony, In Synchronicity Are We Independent?

Are You Independent?

Because Life With No One Will Become Non-Existent I’m Happy To Know You, To Exist With You So Happy That You Are Part Of My Existence So Happy To Be Part Of Your Existence WE ARE NOT INDEPENDENT—We Are Dependent And Co-Existent Donique C. Perez ©

WHY DO I? Why Do I Want You Need You, To Be With Me; So Longingly So Passionately, You Weaken And Soften My Cold And Broken Heart To Mushy And Delightful Feeling That I Can’t Seem To Hide Why Do I Let You Control Me; You Calm Yet Explode My Unquenchable Desires; My Temptation To Be With You Is Only For You, And With You I Long To Be; To Hold Me To Tease Me To Please Me Why Do I Let You Hypnotize Me Tranquilize Me; Yes, You Sedate Me, The Melody That I Feel Of Your Vibrations Coming From Deep Within Your Soul; Your Love Vibration Is Pure Temptation, I Am Weak To You So Lovingly, So Willingly Why Do I Let You Melt Me Donique C. Perez ©

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My world did not Shrink because I Was a black Female writer.

It just got bigger.

- Toni Morrison, Novelist and Activist (February 18th, 1931 – August 5th, 20119)

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As long as we are not ourselves, we will try to be what other people are.

Healing comes when the individual remembers his or her identity – the purpose chosen in the world of ancestral wisdom – and reconnect with that world of spirit.

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If there is to be any proving of our humanity it must be by revolutionary means.

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- Malidoma Some’, Burkinabe’ writer (Born 1956)

A culture is a total way of life. It embraces what people are and what they wore; the way they walked and the way they talked; the manner in which they treated death and greeted the newborn.

- Walter Rodney, Pan-African Scholar (March 28th, 1942 – June 13th, 1980)

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The colonist care nothing for Africa for her own sake. They are attracted by African riches and their actions are guided by their desire to preserve their interests in Africa against the wishes of the African People.

For the colonists, all means are good if they help them to possess these riches.

Patrice Lumumba, First President of the Democratic Republic of The Congo (July 2nd, 1925 – January 17th, 1961)

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My mission in life is not merely to survive, But to thrive; and to do so with some passion, Some compassion, some humor And some style.

- Maya Angelou, poet, writer, activist (St. Louis, Missouri: April 4th, 1928 – May 28th, 2014)

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The revolution and women’s liberation go together.

We do not talk of women’s emancipation as an act of charity or out of a surge of human compassion.

It is a basic necessity for the revolution to triumph.

Women hold up the other half of the sky.

- Thomas Sankara, Revolutionary Leader and First President of Burkina Faso (December 21st, 1949 – October 15th, 1987)

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We were trained to despise ourselves and all of Africa. We felt that Africans were either primitive or semi-primitive, that they had no science and made no significant contribution to civilization. We did not realize that we were looking at a looted Africa, a shattered Africa. We did not realize that there were two Africas, Africa before and after the holocaust.

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- Ivan Van Sertima, Historian, Pan-Africanist, Professor (Guyanese-Born: January 26th, 1935 – May 25th, 2009)

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If you are black, the only roads into the mainland of American life are through subservience, cowardice, and loss of manhood. These are the white man’s roads.

- Amiri Baraka, Pan-Africanist, poet, playwright, and professor (Newark, NJ: October 7th, 1934 –January 9th, 2014)

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Each generation must discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it, in relative opacity.

- Frantz Fanon, Pan-Africanist Scholar and liberation fighter (July 20th, 1925 – December 6th, 1961)

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How to Venice Biennale WRITTEN BY SAMUEL OGILVIE

Mind-blowing. Epic. Interesting. All descriptions used by some who have experienced the Venice Art Biennale for the first time. Being (as of the writing this article) in the same boat myself, I venture to add another descriptor to the mix: eye-opening.

As a (somewhat) young visual creative working in Grenada, it’s rare to witness the global pinnacle of artistic endeavor in person, except perhaps through cinematic works. As such, in discovering the opportunity to attend and observe what the world considers the Olympics of the art world through the Grenada Venice Intensive program, I jumped at the chance.

There’s nothing, not even these words, that can really prepare you for the entire scope of what the Biennale – and Venice itself– has in store for you. But hopefully this will be enough to whet one’s curiosity and appetite to experience it for oneself.

Let’s begin with the island of Venice, which is a work of art itself. Literally a man-made island from the 13th century, Venice has become a major tourist attraction. In fact, there are more visitors than actual Venetians, and it can be a little

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY HERON FORTEAU

overwhelming to see the volume of humans walking through the narrow alley “streets” that count as Venice’s main thoroughfares.

wonder to see the multi-storied tenements line the canals with doors that open inches from water.

Speaking of walking, be prepared to do a lot of that to get around: there are no terrestrial motor vehicles on the island, except for a moped I saw parked safely behind a showcase as a prop for a very fashionably-dressed mannequin. Gondolas, possibly the most famous Venetian mode of public transport, are now expensive tourist rides – which you can indulge in at your own leisure.Vaporettos and water taxis that ply the Grand Canal and smaller channels are the main methods of transportation in Venice, but even so, be prepared to do a fair share of walking. Traveling light is highly recommended, especially as the climate (at the time of my visit in July) was very much like Grenada’s.

The Venice Art Biennale –now in its 58th iteration –is held every two years (as “Biennale” suggests), usually from May to November. With each new Biennale comes a new curator who selects individual artists and national representation through an application process. Though it has only been open to international participants officially since 2011, the number of national pavilions (areas where nations exhibit their art) have increased dramatically since then– and Grenada has had a pavilion consecutively since 2015! No small feat for one of the Caribbean’s smallest island nations.

You won’t be bored with all the walking though: Venice’s baroque architecture is a sight to behold, and their existence even today stands as a testament to the ingenuity of early Venetian builders. Time, however, has taken its toll, and the threat of buildings sinking into the unsanitary waters (a phenomenon coined as l’acquaalta) is evident at certain times of the year. Still, it is a

This year’s Biennale has a record high of 91 nations, as well as numbers collateral events exhibiting throughout Venice, and even a few on nearby isles that fall under Venetian jurisdiction.

Thus, visiting each and every pavilion almost feels like an engaging game of hide-and-see, or perhaps treasure hunt, as there are some art gems to be discovered.

The curated creme-de-la-creme, however, are

of creative endeavors to experience such as live violin and classical music (a personal highlight for me), museums, grand cathedrals with panoramic views of the city and other notable ancient architecture. Nearby isles of Murano and Burano have their own artistic flavors – glasswork and lacework, respectively. If you miss having a sea bath, head to the island of Lido, where motor vehicles exist and a long, manmade beach of acceptable quality (you know

all gathered in two main venues: the Arsenale and the Giardini. You can easily spend a full day at just one of these vast locations and still feel like you’ve missed something, so densely packed are they with fine art presentations. The Giardini in particular is its own adventure - just when you think you’ve reached the end of an exhibit, there’s a little curtained doorway or path that leads you to even more eye candy.

But art is not just limited to eye-candy, which was truly the eye opening thing for me at the Biennale.

Many exhibits also had audio components to it, and for some, there were no restrictions on how close you were able to go…some pieces, you could even touch. For me, to be able to see and hear feel and hear these works of art, to gain almost a microscopic view of the materials used in their creation, to even get a whiff of the tangential smells that come with said materials - all this made it a revelatory experience for me.

It is inspiring, too, as some of what was on display seemed very possible to make with resources available in Grenada. A big part of what makes the Biennale so prestigious is the scale of the works on show - an aspect that we may find difficult to achieve here in Grenada. But the spectacle of huge works does not take away from it took to make them: thread, old pieces of cloth, water, hose, wood. This and more tells me that Grenada has what it takes to create world-class fine art.

As a videographer and actor myself, I was intrigued by the amount of video art on display at all venues of the Biennale. Here I discovered the concept of multichannel video, where multiple screens (or moreso, projections) display synchronously or asynchronously, but tied together by their audio track. So for instance, in the case of a 2 channel video, one screen might display a person talking to another person off-camera, while the other, adjacent screen displays the other person listening and responding to the first person. The use of different channel videos was rather inventive in some exhibits, and made me think of ways I could implement similar techniques in my own video work – albeit, converted to one channel use. And who knows what the future may hold?

The seeds have definitely been sown in my consciousness to pursue more personal artistic expressions.

So, if you can make it to Venice by November 23, you’ll be able to bear witness to some of the most highly-regarded fine art in all the world.

And if you can’t make it then, Venice is still a captivating location to visit, with no shortage

we Grenadians have high beach standards) awaits you.

Just don’t set foot in the waters of Venice city proper – it’s illegal and dangerous, health-wise.

Bottled water is cheap and available, so do make sure to stay hydrated with all that walking you’ll definitely be doing. And sun block lotion or headwear is advised too. Food and other drinks can be expensive, especially if you plan on eating at a restaurant for every meal.

But oh, the food…you really can’t go wrong with any menu selection in Venice.

Grenada’s presence in Venice for the Art Biennale cannot be lauded enough. Many other countries have tried to earn a spot at this prestigious showcase, and for Grenada to be able to present for the third time in a row is a testament to the quality of artists coming from our shores. It has made a way for Grenadians to be able to travel and experience places and things we may otherwise not have had the chance to. The Grenada Arts Council, Art School Greenz and the government of Grenada are to be commended for their hard work in getting Grenada to be recognized on the global art stage, and for creating the opportunity for myself and other participants of the Grenada Venice Intensive to be able to partake in the event. Art opens doors.

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Dark of Moon Dark of moon night baptized by cold sweat and my heart beats out a name I remember Only from the black no-thing encircling the night sky behind my eyes This song Sounds like “mother” before the Atlantic covered her and left me half blind Where are you, Mami?

Can you help me see through this morass?

Pull the anchor of speech from behind my tongue and tune me to the melody that pushes mist up to sky Won’t you exhale and send the tides to carry me off this strange bridge between walking bodies and sleeping souls?

No. And she rocks me with her words spoken by my voice No one is going to help you do what you want to do, Little one Keep going.

Keisha-Gaye Anderson ©

Everything is Necessary Every thing is necessary, required to be is just is how you see is up to you are you pink and green caladium, a field of hearts in bloom, bowing beneath the rust/gold grown of a redwood tree? or are you misery? a spirit cemented to the stone walls of its temple, crumbling and crashing onto every mirror that enters forgetting that all you are is We, a thousand-petal flower rocking in the breeze called time

one second one breath to the great mind dreaming these colors and every shape that blooms in galaxies your mission is to see know that this is one cradle and we are an infant with infinite eyes we are dancing droplets fallen from the sky that speaks every thing into a whirlpool a black spool of sound that moves us like the ecstasy of lovers becoming one body one melody you are to sing until you have no more breath enjoy this vantage point now the only death is insisting that your eyes stay shut see clearly before time’s up Keisha-Gaye Anderson ©

the symphony of lives is merely

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Relay I’ma run the hell outta this relay soul stride Earth stint slow spring bone prison life mission to leave memory as a compass thin the veil end the time And I will move toward the horizon lead my daughters to the waters where I picked up this baton floating up from river bottom braided silver and gold adorned with black stones snail shells specks of starshine all spelling my name I crawled through the quicksand called commerce outran the makers of new ways to own freedom and grabbed the staff a road map to my very self Balanced it on my head carried it on my back leaned on it as I walked my beauty across the country like Sonia Sanchez told me birthed my blood child in poetry like Octavia Butler showed me spoke my home into reality like Tony Morrison said it should be swayed these hips like an offering when Lucille Clifton set me free Yes, I’m running with these words spelled out by my mothers mothers mothers whispered into my mind in the waters of the womb We coming now, y’all invisible like the new moon 41

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so mind the time is in the mind my mind is mine free to be I is we is now is ready to wake up Wake up Know the cast of characters that castrate the monoliths malign our mates kill our seeds tossed across swaths of dry earth consumed by birds of prey interlopers business brokers broken men You have been warned: this ain’t the end Keisha-Gaye Anderson ©

Live Louder I am a controlled explosion prisoner of war bred to be half a memory of conjure rhythm and myth with one foot fastened in progress but only deep enough to tether us to the spaces they place all our mothers lifters

scrubbers diggers lovers

sowers seers

pacifiers breeders chanters of praise songs hidden in lullabies especially for when the storm winds blow high --Hail bullets Lightning tasers Muddy soil

every bleeding body

of murdered black boys And when we start to overstand that up is down trace the grid with our laughter through dream drum and trance When we begin to hear the rattling insistence of salt bones marking the way of this route that could only end with us right here right now Then the ones who lay brick over forest

and weld their lives to trinkets beg us to release the battalion of our voices but only if the words are strapped to a bit as we haul the republic toward its next conquest They want rote recitation of the same old script so that the sufferers stand still sit and wait don’t hate this cage just pray for heaven it won’t come today but soon and very soon the lord is coming there’s no use running But there is one thing they should know: My damned body is bursting with memory is a library that has been burned so many times the ash runs through my veins is a river story cycling through lives etching our faces on stone in every anywhere that be And water has always been free go where it will seek its own embrace gather the memories leave the debris so that we can see as we pass through this hall of mirrors that projects shapes making industry look noble VISION MAGAZINE

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molds us all into cogs mops hammers respectable receptacles for square things built by children digging up the earth is search of their father’s faces and finding only ours We must know in this time that their names and spaces for us These categories filed between legal tender and concrete broadcast in handcuffed teens on screens are a deceit with an expiration date We be more like the ocean holding the world in place sending shapes up into this habitat for even the dimmest light to learn the faces of creation We are done with patience if they cannot learn the most obvious truth sitting inside a grain of corn wrapped in breath rushing through our chests then we will lift ourselves into a tsunami and wash lies from sight summon the sea of spirit scaffolding these bodies to raise the doorway out of this nightmare where clay tries to lasso the stars because they do not understand our birthright cannot see with such small eyes

Truly, we know no death we only forget lend ourselves to this story to add chapters play the parts that help to grow greater questions but we cannot rest here The dead cannot hold us force cannot control us When we decide when we accept that we are free are now are as it’s ever been a single moment flowing out from one idea We can no longer doubt what sits inside ourselves and watches it does not know never or fear or can’t it only grows out from where we stand So stand sure in the center of this all we did no fall without a net without an army riding on the waterfall of slumber whispering the way forward as we wander Our crowns are already paid for our names are already written on tomorrow so incinerate sorrow Live louder.

Keisha-Gaye Anderson ©

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Nova Felder Photographer: Quasar Felder VISION MAGAZINE

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Model: Winnie Dabero Hair by Derek DeCutter Clement Photographer: Peggy St. Claire Products: Sheamoist by Derek DeCutter Clement

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Artist : Denis Lyons