Summer 2002 Research Report Maisha Tulivu Fisher "Choosing Literacy: African Diaspora Participatory Literacy Communities"

I have had no youth/I gave it up/to causes/to commitment.
Building, building/black traditions/making links/across/the islands/and the black diaspora/teaching/the truth/of Africa/and pride/in our roots/that go deep/within her .

Poet laureate of Trinidad and Tobago, Pearl Eintou Springer, described her life of activism and commitment to the African Diaspora and the preservation of Black culture globally in her poem “I have had no youth: Reflections on 1970.” Growing up in a humble setting in San Juan, Trinidad, Ms. Springer explained in an interview this summer that her mother was obsessed with education and saw it as an opportunity for the young Pearl Springer to escape a life of poverty. However, it was unique for a young Afro-Trinidadian woman to excel academically in her community during the 1950’s. During a government exhibition in her primary school, Ms. Springer entered an essay and won. This was the beginning of her writing career and secondary school and college opened its doors to Ms. Springer.

My goal in Trinidad and Tobago this summer was to interview three artists who represent the different aspects of Afro-Trinidadian writing. Pearl Eintou Springer, Valerie Belgrave and Brother Resistance are all distinct writers in style, approach and purpose yet are representative of Trinidad’s diverse writing traditions (see Table 1). Trinidad has produced some of the world’s most talented writers such as Derek Walcott, V.S. Naipaul, Earl Lovelace and Merle Hodge; these writers are widely published and more visible in school curriculum. However, Springer, Belgrave and Brother Resistance make equal contributions in terms of their commitment to preserve Trinidadian culture through their artistry. Valerie Belgrave is a famous batik artist in Trinidad known for creating stories on fabric and most recently on canvas after retiring from batik in the late 1980’s.. Ms. Belgrave decided to write the novel, Ti Marie: A compelling tale of passion and adventure, which was re-released the year under the title Ti Marie: The towering historical epic of 18th century Trinidad because she was tired of waiting for someone else to tell this story. Ms. Belgrave shared in an interview that she wanted to recognize middle-class contributions to Trinidadian culture rather than focusing on barrack yards and poverty. According to Ms. Belgrave, this elevation of poverty in Trinidadian literature, sometimes referred to as “yard literature,” is an attempt by Trinidadians to write like the British and to write for a foreign audience. Ms. Belgrave is also committed to depicting the ethnic mixing that is a part of Trinidad and much of the Caribbean through her literature. Ms. Belgrave’s batiks and oil paintings adorn the walls of private collectors, commercial hotels throughout the Caribbean and now her novels are part of the libraries of people interested in Trinidadian history throughout the world. Brother Resistance is a co-father of Rapso which is also referred to the “poetry of Calypso.” Rapso is a blend of hip hop style lyricism, spoken word poetry consciousness and calypso rhythms. Brother Resistance is credited with exposing Rapso globally including New York, Canada, Korea and the UK. In our interview, Brother Resistance recalled learning poetry under the British school system in Trinidad and Tobago. Brother Resistance was told by his teacher that what he was writing was not to be considered poetry so early on he understood that he would create a new form, a new tradition for himself and others who did not fit the narrow definitions of poets outlined by a British system. Pearl Eintou Springer is currently the director of the Trinidad and Tobago Heritage Library in Port of Spain, Trinidad; she had a background in activism including the Black Panthers of London in 1969, National Joint Action Committee and the Emancipation Committee of Trinidad and Tobago. Additionally, Ms. Springer was a member of Walcott’s Theatre Workshop, the National Association of Trinidad and Tobago, Black Traditions in Art. Recently she wrote and produced the play “Shades of I/She” which she hopes to bring to California.

In my current study, “Choosing Literacy: African Diaspora Participatory Literacy Communities” I am documenting “preservers of Black culture” in two black-owned bookstores and two spoken word poetry venues. One of the preliminary findings of the study was that many of the community participants are not only African American but West Indian (Barbadian, Jamaican, Haitian and Puerto Rican) as well as immigrants from various countries in Africa (Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana and Sudan). Although many experiences differ for people of African decent; there are still overwhelming similarities and connections such as: a presence of self-determination, self-education and commitment to the spoken and written word. Additionally, one of my research sties, the Jahva House Café in Oakland, is owned by a husband/wife team; the husband is African American and the wife is Trinidadian. The café functions as a performance space for different aspects of African American, West Indian and African cultures including not only the spoken work poetry but steel drums, Afro-Caribbean music groups, reggae music and black films. During this summer field research study, I wanted to find connections between the spoken word poetry movements, those specifically influenced by people of African descent, and Trinidad and Tobago’s literacy practices.

I was fortunate to have guidance and mentorship during this summer field research project. I accompanied my former undergraduate professor of Anthropology and African/African American Studies, John Stewart, with a travel/study group from the University of California, Davis. Dr. Stewart, a respected Afro-Trinidadian anthropologist, writer and scholar, was able to provide background information that was pertinent to my work. In addition to attending and participating in a course taught by Dr. Stewart called “Performance and Society in Trinidad and Tobago” during the tenure of my summer field research project, I also had the opportunity to participate in lectures by University of the West Indies (see Table 2), St. Augustine scholars such as Funso Aiyejina who spoke to us about West African influences in Trinidadian culture; Rawle Gibbons, the Director for the Center for Creative and Festival Arts provided a lecture on Africa’s influence on the Trinidadian carnival tracing specific carnival characters to West African festivals; Gordon Roheler, a leading scholar of Calypso, provided a foundation for the origins of calypso which aided in understanding the concept of Rapso as presented by Brother Resistance. I was able to experience not only the calypso tradition while in Trinidad but a specific version called “extempo” which is similar to “freestlye” in hip hop where someone created the text in the moment or extemporaneously. The mentorship of Dr. Stewart and the contacts that I previously made with members of the Caribbean Association of Feminist Research and Action (CAFRA) gave me access to these aforementioned respected scholars in Trinidadian culture.

Table 1: Participants

Pearl Eintou Springer July 15th, 2002: Heritage Library in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago Moving into the Light (2000). Ian Randle Publishers: Kingston, Jamaica, Godchild: Stories and Poems for Children (1988). Karia Press: UK; Out of the Shadows (1986) Karia Press: UK

Valerie Belgrave July 24, 2002: Ms. Belgrave’s home in Petit Bourg, San Juan, Trinidad and Tobago Tigress: A Caribbean Love Story (1996). Ti Marie: The towering historical epic of 18th century Trinidad (1988; 2001): Heinemann and Jouvay Press.

Brother Resistance (Lutalo Masimba) July 24, 2002: Trinbago Unified Calypsonian’s Organization Queens Park Savannah, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago Recordings: De Power of Resistance (1996). Roots Caribbean Rhythms Publishing: Trinidad and Tobago.

Table 2: Lectures I attended during summer field research

Dr. John Stewart
Professor of African/African American Studies at University of California, Davis July 1, 2002: University of West Indies (UWI), St. Augustine
"Introduction to the study of Performance"

Dr. Funso Aiyejina
Professor of Literature at University of West Indies, St. Augustine July 2, 2002: UWI, St. Augustine
“The African Heritage of Trinidad and Tobago”

Mr. Rawle Gibbons
Director of the Centre for Creative and Festival Arts July 5, 2002: UWI, St. Augustine
“Festivals of Trinidad and Tobago”

Dr. Gordon Rohler July 8, 2002: UWI, St. Augustine, "Calypso"

Dr. Ken Parmasad July 9, 2002: UWI, St. Augustine
“The East Indian Heritage of Trinidad and Tobago”

Pearl Eintou Springer July 9, 2002: Heritage Library, Port of Spain
Background on heritage library, resources and her background

Baba Sam Phils July 23, 2002: Orisa Compound
West African influence on Trinidad and Tobago and Orisa Traditions

Dr. Carol Boyce Davies
Professor of African New World Studies at Florida International University July 25, 2002: Heritage Library, Port of Spain Performance and Society in Trinidad and Tobago: Feminist Perspective