|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Reading Time 3 mins
December 30, 2022
Big Drum Nation pays tribute to the legendary Kaisonian Black Stalin, our organic intellectual whose grounding in indigenous knowledge and eloquent immersion in resistance dialect–nation language in Kamau Brathwaite’s terms–provided a treasure trove of progressive and sustainable ideas that would continually refresh and animate our vision. Indeed, his subversive lyrics, conscious-raising music, and activism have left an indelible mark on the Caribbean and beyond in the Diaspora. Few calypsonians captured the spirit and sensibilities of our times like Black Stalin. As a result, his work has a pervasive timelessness.
Born Leroy Calliste in 1941 on Chisholm Street, San Fernando, around Free French Steelband, of which his older brother was a member and who took him around the pan from early, led Leroy to joke that his “first crib was a tenor pan.” Growing up in a community of Afro-conscious elders, young Leroy gravitated toward their message. His early immersion in pan extended to the calypso stage in 1959, where he affirmed: “Why I Want to be a Calypsonian” and continued journeying. Dubbed ‘Stalin’ by Lord Blakie, the Warlord, The MightyStalin, rose to prominence in 1969, capturing the public’s imagination with “The Immortal Message of Martin Luther King.” Today his stellar contribution to the public sphere continues to revitalize and uplift audiences wherever they congregate. His politically-laced lyrics, dispensed over a half-century, speak to the struggles and triumphs of the Caribbean people, addressing issues of (neo)colonialism, racism, and social justice with a bold and unapologetic voice yet deftly exploring almost every facet of calypso historiography.
After renaming himself Black Stalin in the 1970s, he asserted, in a 1988 T&T Review article: “I see my role as educator more than the entertainer.” And in 2008, T&T’s Emancipation Support Committee, in recognizing the audacity of his embrace and affirmation of Blackness, noted: ‘The Black Man’ is a statement of ontological significance: a declaration not of art, or politics, but of being“! Black Stalin was more than just a calypsonian – he was a fierce advocate for social justice and human rights, plus a champion and defender of indigenous culture. The Black Man used his One Mic to spread love and speak out against injustice and Caribbean disunity/parochialism. As such, he continually challenged the authorized history by constructing alternative narratives in his thesis/calypsos to incite positive change, thus imagining a more just and humane society as reflected in The Black Man teaming up with Mighty Gabby in the Caribbean’s Grassroots Anthem, “Santi Manitay.“
Throughout his career, Black Stalin released numerous albums and CDs and became known for masterpieces such as “Message To Sundar,” “Black Man Come Out To Party,” “Bun Dem,” “Sufferers,” “Vampire Year,” and the stirring “Stay Giving Praises.” His exhaustive discography befits a university reading list. Through his work flowing from a deep commitment to societal upliftment, he was embraced as a champion of grassroots communities and A Man of the People long before he won the Calypso Monarch titles five times, beginning in 1979 with “Caribbean Man” and “Play One.” And he won the Calypso King of the World title in 1999! Yet, humble to the bone, he asserts, “I sing for the people.”
Black Stalin’s advocacy and craft earned him numerous accolades and awards, including Trinidad and Tobago’s Humming Bird Medal (Silver), inclusion in the Sunshine Awards Hall of Fame (NY), and renaming part of Lord Street in San Fernando in his honor. In addition, his work has been sampled in and beyond the music halls as source texts, enlivening and challenging authorized curriculum and thinking in the halls of academia. Little wonder the hallowed halls of the University of the West Indies finally caught up with Black Stalin’s phenomenal outpouring distilled through his 400-plus calypsos/thesis and celebrated him with an Honorary Dr. of Letters in 2008!
Reflecting on Stalin’s contribution at a tribute eight years ago, Caldwell Taylor, a former culture minister of Grenada, pointed out that Black Stalin is “one of the great masters of the Calypso Arts.”
Black Stalin’s legacy lives on through his powerfully evocative lyrics and affecting music, which inspires and empowers listeners worldwide. We are grateful for his contributions to Trinbago’s and the region’s cultural landscape. We will remember him as a true pioneer and Caribbean philosopher—who challenged us to “Look on the Brighter Side!“
Click on the following links for more on Black Stalin, Producer Dalton Narine’s Black Stalin Moment, Richard Grant: I Was Once Afraid of Black Stalin, David Mitchell “Play(s) One” for Black Stalin, The Caribbean Man Turned 79 by James N. Cox and A Kaiso Doctor(Black Stalin): Give Praise and Thanks! by WR Holder.
From BDN Editors