Time foh dis ripping off to stop

Madam Lie-Za say to tek warning! De shake up at Victoria Park last Sat-dey night is ah sign ah things in de making. Pay-trons pay’d E.C. $50. 00 foh de Jah Cure Show, after waiting foh hours, no sign ah Jah Cure, at 2:00 a.m. “de Beast let go!” Pandemonium broke loose!{{more}}

Just imagine ah Triny-daddy-Too-big-oh Promoter wid de Math, and ah Jah-mek-her Singer wid de Cure, drew up ah contract to perform in SVG, “nothing to do wid us” our role is to pay de bill, which we did, we bought tickets like madness, Feat and counter-Feat Tickets.

It was ah No Show, again, “nothing to do wid us,” nobody said anything bout refunding Pay-trons dey EC $50. 00, but Promoter and Singer were allowed to leave SVG, obviously wid Pay-trons money, was or wasn’t dat reason to cause ah Riot at Victoria Park?

Widout in-sight-in anybody, ley me warn would be Promoters and Producers of d’s Shows to Beware, do not come from way dey come from to dis peaceful land, and pull any Math-trick pon our Youths, money don’t grow pon trees in SVG.

Ah Vincy by nature is ah peaceful animal, too un-ass-zoom-in dat one would be led to believe dat we stupid; far from dat! We are Chatoyer pick-me, Garifuna, born and bread under de La Soufriere Volcano.

Everyting about us is volcanic, potentially explosive! We inhale volcanic fumes and gases, de soil dat produces de vegetables and fruits we eat is volcanic, de water we drink from de mineral springs, streams and rivers flow from de volcanic mountains; is from de belly ah dis sleeping giant we does get we sustenance and nourishment.

Lie-Za say even Mrs. Marie Warner living up in de Vincy hills, is ah monarch by she self. How Like it or not, our very psyche is Volcanic, Garifuna, calm and dormant, asleep, not really yuh know, we might appear to be sleeping on de outside, but boiling at high pressures and temperatures on de inside, resting till de pot-cover can no longer withstand de pressure. When we say E-nuff is E-nuff! ah boo-doom! And dat’s it, Fire! Larve! Brimstone! Ashes! Road Blocks! Like Bottles and Stones last Sun-dey morning!

Way happen at Victoria Park is ah clear example of ah Vincy tun beast. Ah don’t support de violence and de bottle throwing, but ah overs way go down, pro-vacation.

Police should ah lock-up de real puppy-traitors, and ah mean people who collected money, cash. And Guv-ah-mint got to tek another look into de business ah Artiste and Promoters coming into our land and ripping off our citizens. Firstly, in d’s hard e-can-nah-mek times, way de people in dis country can hardly afford to buy food and de basic necessities, it’s ridiculous to charge EC$50.00 to watch an Artiste sing foh one hour.

De Promoter, Mr. Money Trick oops, Mr. Math Trick said when he couldn’t come up wid de final payment, he asked Jah Cure to mek ah 20-30 minutes appearance foh de EC$ 40,000 down payment he already got, of course Jah Cure rightly refused foh safety reasons.

But even at dat figure, Jah Cure would ah receive close to two thousand dollars ah minute, foh 20 minutes singing. Is ah Rip Off country dis, Clico Ltd ah Rip Off! British American, another Rip Off! and now Jah Cure blaming Math Trick, and Vie say Ver saw, both ah dem lef wid de money we got no show, Rip Off!

Maybe dey should ah Boy-cut Jah Cure and saved dey $50. 00 to go watch de Cricket.

Talking everyting in one; Nuff Respects foh de Cricket Association foh being mindful ah “no money nah dey” situation in de country, and has reduced its prices foh de ODI matches West Indies vs Australia. De Double Decker Stand is $10.00.

And Hats Off to de Sports Council Cheer-man “OB” Browne and de Grounds-men, Tall Boy, Stumpy et al, foh delivering ah top class field foh de games. Arnos Vale never looked so good.

My predictions, ah fast and bouncy wicket, ah slowish out-field and WI winning 2-1; if no rain.

AH RACE DAT WAS BORH YAH

Ah checked wicked-Pee-dey yah foh ah definition ah Garifuna and it says: “An Afro-Latino people of West African, Carib and Arawak ancestry who now live on de Caribbean coasts of Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and Nicaragua.”

It didn’t say way dis unique Race ah people originated, but suddenly ah realize dat Garifuna is Vincy, it was conceived, strengthened, fertilized and gave birth right hey in Hairouna. And year after year, dis is de “Home Coming” message dat our Garifuna brothers and sisters from Belize and Honduras have been spreading, when de mek dey annual Pilgrimage to Balliceaux Island.

Hairouna is home-land of de Garifunas. Dis proud and noble Race, inspired and energized by de fighting Spirit of Paramount Chief Joseph Chatoyer, continues to spread across de Caribbean, North America and England de very country dat initiated its destruction. De Black Stalin would say:” “De more Garifuna dey killed de more Garifuna keep coming.” I am truly proud dat my paternal fore-parents were Garifunas, dey somehow escaped from being banished to Roatan Island, but remained as slaves and later peasants on de Argyle Estate. Long Live Garifuna!

And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

Bassy Alexander is a land surveyor, folklorist and social commentator.