Happy to be Vincy

Next Thursday we celebrate 37 years of In-deep-end-dense, Lie-Za prefer In-de-pen-dance. Same difference, sometimes if not most time, we behave like people jam-up in ah Jungle, dat’s Dense foh yuh; and foh most ah de other time we behave like people jam-up in ah Fete and dat is wah we love, Dance! In both cases we moving like marbles in ah bottle; movement foh so, we head; we hand, we waist or is it we waste, we foot, we whole body but we nah going no way. Did I men-shun we mouth but not we brain? We still in Grade 1, can’t get past dat two times Tables: “Two ones are two, two in two one!” So our overstanding of Strength, Growth and Unity is to divide everything into two: “Two pull-it-tek-all parties viciously divided.{{more}} Dat is why trying to build an International Airport wid half de country involved, is taking twice as long and twice de cost. Explain to me how after nine years we are told by a competent Engineering Firm on de other side of de divide, dat it has two more years to go. We divided by Colours Red or Yellow, Lie-Za say Black or White, hence de reason why we can’t come to grips with our White Sand and Black Sand. Buccama half Black and half White, divided! White Sand beaches in Can-One, too White and expensive foh de locals, ley we say locals, ah not imputing Race, but rather our men-tell-at-tea! Mt Wynne/Peter’s Hope Beach isVolcanic Black Sand wid minerals, suggested remedy foh joint pains (Arthur-write-dis), so why give it away foh two Canadian dollars ah sq. ft.

My biggest belly-ache is de lack-ah respect for, or absence of images of our first National Hero, Joseph Chatoyer. Can’t say de same foh de National Bird, our local parrot, de Amazona Guildingii, it’s de prettiest and its everywhere. No symbol of Chatoyer. Go to any city in Venezuela, within hours yuh will overs who is de National Hero, statues of Simon Bolivar all over. Lie-Za keep saying dat we must tek Chatoyer out ah pampas and put him in ah Colonial military outfit.

So after 37 years where do we go from here? Back to de Land where we had de largest single coconut plantation in de world; back to Bananas where 20 years ago, we grossed 120 million dollars ah year, now we down to five million. Into de deep sea and join our Tie-One-Ease fisher-folk brothers in de Tuna fishing craze! Put ah hold on alienate-shun of our blessed land, since Adult Suffrage we have alienated more lands in sixty years dan de Colonial Masters did in dey 150 years of tenure. And back to civil-I-say-shun way all ah we is Vincy. Way we can express our differences, disagree to agree widout hate and spite, or being victim-eyes. Happy In-deep-and-dance!

REMEMBER WAY MR DOYLE SAY

Lie-Za glued to her TV watching de Presidential debate and she say de elect-shun calm-pain in de USA and SVG got ah lot in common. After de voting in SVG de NDP cried “Fowl de Elect-shun was Rigged!” In de USA, Donny Trump crying Fowl, Before de voting, de US elect-shun rigged! Lie-Za say she renaming both Trump and Hillary Mr and Ms Doyle. Reminding me when our PM did say an ole man name Mr Doyle once told him: “Ralph, show me ah Liar and ah will show yuh ah bigger Thief!” Donald and Hilary does Lie bad, so dey had to be big-time thief. In SVG after de elect-shun, Sir Louis chanted Arm-in to “tek yuh licks like ah big man!” And Obama took dat up telling Trump to “stop whining and tek he licks.”

Ah asked her what she thinks about de Rape allegashuns against Trump, she say there is where Trump is strong, he’s de biggest thief! Gropping and teking way nah belong to him. But knowing Lie-Za already, she never out ah solutions. She say Trump needs to know dat in polly-ticks, dey’s ah Rally foh every O.K-Shun; including ah Rape Rally. And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

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