Darm if you do! and Darm if yuh Don’t

Poor Grenada! ah think ah better say poor Sin-Vin-Sin. We are in ah War Zone. War is war and if war fighting and yuh dey in de way yuh will be dealt wid accordingly. Now forty-three short years ago Grenada had ah Rev-all-yuh-shun within de Rev-all-yuh-shun, De PM Bishop of Grenada was murdered.

De USA had some 600 medical students in Grenada’s St George’s University. Some students from Vincy were hostages as well. De unwritten story says dem lickle OECS world bosses panicked (just like how dey panicking right now), dey gave US President Reagan de green light, and Reagan ordered a military invasion of Grenada. De rest is his-story. Grenada is back on its feet, so Vincy visitors say. But one FEAR-FOR deserves another in return.
Grenada still owes de US an forty three year ole FEAR-FOR, and is now being asked by ah new US President, Trump, to return dat ole FEAR-FOR. Trump as we know, is ah Mad Monk! twice as igrant as Reagan! Thrice as dumb as Reagan. Poor PM Dick-on, he and all ah we carry-beyond people up sh…t street. Ah case of “Darm if yuh do, Darm if yuh don’t!

STILL NO HONOURS FOH IN-DIP-AND DANCE
Next weekend we will celebrate SVG’s 46th birthday as an In-deep-and-dent Nay-shun, and how well ah remember when one ah de high points at de anniversary military parade, was de official announcement of recipients of de Queen New Years Honours: “ OBE, MBE, CBE, KCM.” Ah gracious moment foh dedicated public servants wid years of faithful productive service. Over de years, people have lost interest and keep questioning de relevance of dis colonial or
British Empire All Fools Day game show. De consensus of opinion is dat de whole awarding of King/Queen honours is irrelevant, and has become ah pull-it-tek-all gift box, from which party stalwarts are rewarded foh dey loyalty.
However dey’s need foh ah Nah-shun-all Awards/ Honouring System dat is relevant to SVG; its History, its People, Places and Events. Ah system dat should be rewarding, designed to overcome challenge, instil and inspire dignity and pride among young and ole! De present ULP regime in year one of de first of its five, five year term in office, appointed Joseph Chatoyer as our first Nah-shun-all Hero. Dat was de beginning and de end ah dat. Twenty four years after Hero Chatoyer, we back as an after thought asking fo nominees foh one Nah-shun-all site. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame me!” And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

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