Daly Bread: Delusions of dispelling dejection through fete and sporting feats

The celebrity sell-out festivals this June heralded the 2023 Carnival season as festival-goers celebrated “We’re Out Again.”

The upcoming season was loudly heralded by the Tribe Band launch in July, which drew large crowds behind music trucks on Ariapita Avenue. Other promoters stayed at the venues, but their models were widely featured in all forms of media.

Last week, St James was reportedly “rammed” at the religious Hosay procession – no doubt because the tassa drumming provokes an exuberance that fails to keep in mind the religious core of the procession.

Even before these recent events, it was said that hotels were sold out. So it seems that Carnival 2023 will be a big one and the ultimate conclusion to the insane breath-taking frenzy that began when lockdowns and curfews finally lifted. We’re still jamming. Moreover, more than usual, savagery buries the shackles of enforced restraint.

We can safely conclude that Covid did not compromise Trini fete’s DNA. But on the contrary.

However, Covid, coupled with a sluggish economy – scarred by shutdowns, mass cuts and the threat of more cuts – has impacted the lives and lifestyles of many more citizens than those who are still jamming. The pain of living in Trinidad and Tobago in the current conditions will not be healed by jamming alone.

Adding to the economic burden, the violent crime crisis is another factor contributing to the feeling of depression, anger and fear among citizens right now. We also now have a confirmed notoriety for the international sex trade.

This was therefore not a good time for Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley to comment on the brilliant gold medal successes of Nicholas Paul and Jereem Richards at the 2022 Commonwealth Games:

“Today’s activities and the achievements of cyclists coming back to back should dispel some of the negative vibes flowing through so many people who don’t believe we can do it or actually do it.”

Our current problems cannot be glossed over as just “negative vibes”. Furthermore, the usual reliance on festivals, fireworks and sporting achievements to pacify a now deeply divided and disaffected society – and a society that obviously contains smoldering flashpoints of civil unrest – is illusory.

In many places where things are desperately serious locally, the offering of escapism will not reverse the deprivation of citizens.

Is the government unable to shake itself up to provide the leadership needed for us to “make it” rather than nonchalantly handing over deeply troubling issues to one committee after another it appoints? If these committees have value, I ask again, why is the government keeping secret the report of the crucial Anthony Watkins-led Fellowship Restoration Committee?

Although the government offers no leadership on key governance issues, it is head and head with the opposition in the Gayelle of rough exchanges. Commentators have warned that such political divisions and a lack of trust in institutions and among each other encourage crime and violence.

See, for example, the statement by Professor Emeritus Dr. Ramesh Deosaran in the Trinidad Express newspaper on April 25 this year:

“A lot of verbal violence is exchanged between politicians and in high offices and important institutions in the country. So when you have a hostile environment, an antagonistic environment, it’s easy to allow further violence.”

In this bitter climate one must treat the parasitic takeover of the successes of other politicians with even greater caution. Often the state has contributed little beyond the free use of public spaces and politically suspect subsidies paid to cultural and sporting organizations and governing bodies, from which little or no accountability is demanded.

Readers will not be surprised if I remind them of the venomous treatment of Thema Williams, the accomplished folk gymnast (whom I represent).

The Minister of Culture and Tourism at the launch of the Tribe Band highlighted the success of the Tribe organization in the private sector, which has evolved into a conglomerate.

Does his ministry have a carefully considered policy aimed at realizing the economic growth potential of all elements of our performing arts?