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October 17, 2024
With its well-intentioned curricula of the Theory and Practice of the many aspects of its rudimentary ‘Mas Course,’ all being well, Caribbean Yard Campus would 
succeed in unearthing what goes on here and thereabouts in the region. Without embarking on the need to solidify the life-bleeding sustenance of the Culture Complex that greed has derailed from its trek along the communal path towards socially rounded development and consequently detoured Carnival unto the limitless highway of money making, let’s reflect on my growing up days in cosmopolitan Belmont from 1938 through adolescence.
From Sir Lennox O’Riley–a legislator–and stepping through every walk of life down to “Skinny,” the notorious fowl thief, Belmont was a melting pot of cultures. With a population that included Bajans, Vincentians, St Lucians, Grenadians, Antiguans, Dominicans, Kittitians, Chinese, Portuguese, Venezuelans, Jamaicans, migrants from Martinique, Guadeloupe, Englishmen, English women, Indian and African descendants, it was a true reflection of Trinidad and Tobago. This diverse mix was a perfect breeding ground for the Carnival Culture Complex, which played a significant role in the birth of the Caribbean Yard Campus.
The CYC has proudly offered a fantastic curriculum geared to distill cultural traits and amalgamate the total of the inherent relationships of the Caribbean community’s constituent members. This calls to question the philosophical foundation upon which such ambition rests. While the well-intentioned knowledge may explain what has been dubbed a “Carnival Mentality,” the actual need in the Caribbean Community is the development of a Caribbean Society in the true sense. This society should be built on sharing laws, traditions, values, cultural institutions, technological advancement, and political authority, and more rooted in our unique Caribbean identity.
In short, should these demands not be rooted in the foundation upon which CYC stands, the ambition will be vaulting and “falling on the other side,” where Black Stalin stood in his shoes and pondered:
Why bright people from Big Institutions?
Kyar unites seven million …
And how above all: Is something dem Rastas learn that dees politicians doh know.
