Nah-shun-all Hero
Nah-shun-all Hero Day reach round again and I am reminded that two weeks ago Minister Baptiste announced that de names Mc Intosh, Joshua and Cato will be coming up foh Nah-shun-all Hero Awe-ward. Normally ah suggestion like dat would turn on ah light inside me, but de opposite happening, ah fuse blow. Ah could only smile because ah was ah part ah de small committee dat was set up to select our first Nah-shun-all Hero, Paramount Chief Joseph Chatoyer. Actually de committee was pulled hurry-hurry to endorse what was virtually de inevitable.{{more}} At dat time it was felt dat de subject of Nah-shun-all Hero did not get enough national debate or public discussion, it was suggested that efforts were to be made to correct dat situation, document de life of Chatoyer foh de student population and future generations. Sadly, apart from the annual March 14th walk up to Dorsetshire Hill, way it is believed dat Chatoyer was killed, nothing near de expected has been done. Ah find dis is not like Minister Baptiste who is usually on de bawl wid her put-fool-yoh, hope dis is not another case way she getting STABotage, de talk is dat some-buddy inside, out to fix her and not de roads in her constituency.
Ah had de privilege of visiting Venezuela 20 years ago and if ah had never heard of dey Nah-shun-all Hero, Simon Bolivar, ah couldnât miss his presence every-way, de statue of Bolivar dey all over Caracas in every Square, public building even the very currency, de Bolivar was named after dis Great Leader. Not-in like dat was/is being done foh Chatoyer who was ah Great Leader too, if not de Gretest. By now his portrait should ah bin in every town, District Office, Police Station, Airport, Guv-earn-mint House, Par-liar-mint, NCB etc. Way ever deyâs ah picture ah de Prime Minister dey should be one of Joseph Chatoyer.
Not satisfied wid falling flat on we face wid Chief Chatoyer, we adding three more names to de list. Ah sure dat de list is now down to two after Dr Ken Johnâs column last week in which he completely disqualified Mr Cato as any Hero. Ken John is right, let us not water down de cry-terrior foh Nash-an-all He-row. Chatoyer fought many battles wid de British to keep dis country out ah far-reign hands. Is ah shame today how lickle we have learnt from what Chatoyer fought for. Ah-dam-ass walk into de NCB and walk out wid ah million dollars, Doc-dah-rule-yah walk wid millions, Stand-ford his billions. One man Sell-ah-dinner and Raffles three quarter ah Can-One, up to now we Nah-No how much Nah-No got. Renrick Rose put it nicely once, he said if yuh white, speak wid an accent yuh could MT yuh brief- case (cash) and full it up wid de whole ah SVG and lef.
If there must be a second candidate foh Nah-shun-all Hero, my choice will be Mc Intosh, he was de Moses who went to Pharaohâs Court to get our freedom to vote, dat Adult Suffrage, de first big step to In-de-pen-dance. When Joshua took over from âMosesâ de job was finished. Cato had In-deep-and-dence thrown on him, de British would ah do anyting to get rid ah we. But my personal view, which does not count anyway, is dat we not ready foh any more Nah-shun-all Hero. Right now we need to educate de youths about Nah-shun-all Hero using Paramount Chief Joseph Chatoyer as de model, de egg-sample.
AH FAMILY TIME TABLE
Our Women-folk had dey dey last Sun-dey, some were hosted by de Prime Ministerâs wife at de PMâs residence to discuss issues confronting women. Ah nex set ah Women in Fair Trade Farming jour neyed to Gâtown to talk about de struggle at grassroot level, farming and marketing in particular. Banks and Insurance Companies getting bail-out, and Banana dying, Farmers crying out foh de price ah fertilizer, only ah bail-out could save dem, but nobody listening to dem
But de Women looking foh solutions. Ah wrote already how ah went by UWI Centre ah night and when classes were over, ah saw about forty women and no more dan three men leaving de class. Yes de Women are on de move while de men and de children on de Re-move. Ah just want to pen ah thought. Something tells me dat dis bold step by our Women, mothers in particular, to continue dey education and become qualified foh better paying jobs, needs to be revisited. Yes, wid two substantial salaries coming in, money seems to be no longer de problem. But deyâs ah problem, and has to do wid Mammy going one way and Daddy de other, no one is around to show de kids de right way, so dey teking dey own way. Ah donât tink dat topic was up foh discussion last weekend, but we need to reflect on it. It is bad enough when Daddy is not around and Mammy alone got it all to deal wid, but it is worse now wid both Mammy and Daddy out dey trying to catch up wid de Jones, making big bucks to give de kids ah better material life, in exchange foh life widout parental Love! Life widout Family Prayer, Life widout Christ! No Time foh those tings, itâs all about Self now.
Unfortunately while Mom and Dad dey busily engaged at de wuk place, at home de cradle door is left wide open and de babies bolting away, too much freedom. So Dads and Moms we got to work out ah Family Time Table dat involves de well being of children, datâs before it is too late, ah tink we late already. And wid dat, is gone ah gone again.
One Love Bassy
Bassy Alexander is a land surveyor, folklorist and social commentator.
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