Saturday, January 18, 2014

The King Makers

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Damn! Pat, this is a must-read for every intelligent Saint Lucian at home and abroad. Thanks. Bravo! Well said!

Anonymous said...

Fantastic article. Take a page Rick! Take a page!Saint Lucian writing trumps cheap American style sensationalism all the time. Take a page, God dammit!

Son-of-man said...

/

I am mad like Hell -

You two bloggers beat me to IT. What a piece of Scholarship.

Thanks Pat, you just keep getting BETTER!

Please Lucians read this article penned in gold.

Anonymous said...

Indeed, he's split our party in two, a very sad state of affair that will surely ensure the victory of Labour in the next general election.

I am a flambeau...I WILL NEVER VOTE CHASTANET, too divisive.

He should bring the party, if he could, together, not creating conflict within the UWP.

Anonymous said...

Brillant! Brillant! Thoroughly, completely and absolutely the truth.

What remarkable and truthful reporting!

Educate me Pat. I WANT MORE, PLEASE. Read your piece three times...cant get enough!

Anonymous said...

January 19, 2014 at 12:25 PM...Back...to say that my entire family shall vote Labour this time around...or just refrain from voting entirely.

Henry Giraudy, et al, must be turning in their graves and rightfully so.

OPTICAL. said...

DEAR MR, PAT BROWN
I AM VERY BLESS 2 B LIVING IN YOUR GENERATION.

MAY THE CREATOR ADD ANOTHER 190 YRS 2 YOUR LIFE.
THE TRUTH MUST COME TO LIGHT/LIFE. AMEN.

Anonymous said...

Pat, my friend, I always thought you were in the wrong profession. Instead of the Imperial College @ London, you would have done equally good or better at one of the Law schools at Oxford or Cambridge.

I even thought the very same for myself, but we cannot undo what was preordained for ourselves. We both have had a good life and I'm enjoying every bit of it even now.

The sad state of Politics in St. Lucia, and in the Party created by John Compton, makes me sick indeed. Look at the sorry state of that bunch in the Party leaves a lot to be desired.

Having said so, I must say one thing about the Labour Party.
1) You are in power, take care of the crime system, get tough.
2) Too many individuals on remand. Unlock the Logjam at the Courts.
3) How many criminals can we warehouse, and at what cost to the Tax payer.
4) hire more Judges. Why did we stop hanging, damn it.

That's it Pat, now tell Kenny I told you.

Anonymous said...

Pat at least dictate you biography. Please!

Let posterity gain from the benefits of your insights into our sordid colonial and post-independence past. Please!

Name names where you safely can, granted our elite-protecting libel laws!

Anonymous said...

I am a huge fan of Lennox Honychurch -Our Sister Nature Isle 'Dominica's" premier Historian politician.

This article was obviously written by an intellectual in possession of much historical acumen- much
respect. He wisely brought us "horses" frothing at the bit to a body of water but wisely offered no prescription on how to how to drink -
My take away is where or how should we have gone from there. My trajectory focuses on the generation with true potential for change- children.

The socio-economic-theologic-educratic quadrangle premised by the distinguished writer is an iconic snippet of the "Colonial Plaza" instituted by Ferdinand & Isabella's oligarcy. With minor modifications all other Euro colonial frameworks followed this successful model of power consolidation and its redistribution.

The problem with appropriate change first requires a "soulful" reading of "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou. Her eloquent prose can scour the stigma of "shame" -as exemplified by the vitriolic if not copious rants & raves of
"massa" read in many political blogs. Sidebar- St.Lu is more likely to implode from the patented obsession with playing mas (read 'A Rally with Something to Celebrate by the Of Cabbages & Kings columnist) than from any resurrected form of the iconic image of a colonial "massa".
Back to the quadrangle plaza-
First a thank you to the colonial era females for keeping "natural male testerone outrage" -at bay, in order to survive the dire straits of colonialism. The only gauntlet that newly free Africans (all hues and manifestations) could survive in order to create CHANGE is via learning a trade, skill, profession , craft etc. Moreover, to expedite this learning passage most efficiently (given our humble economic subsistence) would require the compounding of synergy's. Nonetheless, there were exemplary
instances of families pooling their meager earnings to bet on a promising relative to study abroad.
This brings us back to a cultural footnote seemingly inherited from the motherland with its 'gargantuan' multilingual, multitribal realities. Unfortunately, insular themes dominated this varied landscape ripening the opportunity and easy access of the slave trade- while confounding past- present potential collaborative synergys within the pan African diaspora "e.g., West Indies Federation and its dysfunctional half-hearted un committed offshoot's"
Fast forward the extreme pan African liberation movement. What are its iconic leftovers? 'Hello brother,sister' to total strangers. Swahili taught on college campus. The Afro & Dashiki, less so; but not missed by hollywood. Even a more matured McX touted the elixir of enterprise within neighborhoods. So why this COLLABORATIVE enhancement by "extremists" like Carmichael & Malcom? I wager that their intellectual studies pointed them to that seemingly inherited flaw from the impervious tribal insularism of Africa.
Additionally, Polygamous rights of privilleged chiefs may have incubated Collaborative Distrust between & within concubine and clan huts afield?
Too bad the haunting melodic African derivative of pulsating Bass beats that drives hip hop & dance Hall genres are too often topped off by lyrics that flatly diminish the value of females while promoting sexual exploitation,abusive social rites and the Cro Magnon machismo way of settling communication malfunctions "CUTLASS urass"! Many polygamous confrontations are swiftly dealt with by cutlass or pistol emulating our pirates of yore(who were part of the profit making & wholesale hedonism fabric of our colonial society). Perhaps they are still part of the genetic pool of grog & cutlass in solving differences -today?

Anonymous said...

Only our Tabla Rosa children will save StLu from its apparent spiral into Somalia like existence! (We lose Canadian NO Visa status and now on US List of countries with the likes of !)

First our children MUST learn to collaborate as teams in safe secure settings.Individuals have their unique capabilities - alas it is the synergy of the team that gives its members exponential power of success -against greater odds. Also the global standard of workplaces.
We must find away that allows them to inverse their current well developed sporting knowledge (e.g., cricket, football etc.) into their academic prowess. Gardener's theory of Multiple Intelligences debunks the old adage of the top of the Class, smartest etc. We should highlight teams over individuals in the acquisition of knowledge.
The triumphant chorus of "victory" is ours is far more gratifying for each and all than the lonely soliloquy of 'Victory is mine".

Yes sir, this is a doable recourse out of colonial stigmatization and self deprecation-

Teach the children early to think like scientists and to collaborate within their learning endeavors.

Let our children be more interactive within the process of acquiring knowledge. Infuse them with the Scientific method -very early. Empower them early on with the tools and practice of enquiry so that they become intrinsictly motivated and fluent with their skills- Children are masters of natural homeostasis-
They can champion delay of gratification which is an essential socio-emotional element in scholastic pursuits. Use the natural splendor of "Fair Helen" as a field museum & holistic lab to commune with and develop communication, enquiry, stewardship, as well as nation appreciation.

We adults must not allow the historically shame inducing passage into & out of colonialism seep into the proactive consciousness of our children so that they too fall into the vicious cycle of embracing
mediocrity as a standard of nationhood. Deter them from glorifying in the "crabs in a bucket" syndrome and couch potato diets of soapy operas depicting retrofitted gory repertoire @ Nero's Coliseum and other gratuitous acts of casual violence via adult rated video games (e.g., Halo, Grand Auto Theft etc)

Two very powerful "paternal" events that I read of recently merit mentioning with fervent accolades.
1- The police Chief Mr. V. Francois visited and interacted with students at several schools -
Moreover, photos reveal that he is most comfortable as honorary teacher /mentor .
2- The delivery of mobile computers to 4th graders by a PM besieged by global economic meltdown is astounding.

Whatever one's political persuasion, Solomon's wisdom (recall the saving of the child to its true mother) proclaims that their actions were not just intelligent at face value - they have seeded exponential value towards 'thinking outside the box" for a multitude of future fair minded intellectuals.

These two men have set an exemplary model. Let us find others (across all party lines)who can pick up this gauntlet - to save the children-the future of this "once a paradise".

Anonymous said...

The article larks intelectual fecundity.What about the future of St.Lucia and the PEOPLE?!

Opaq said...

Above you can't use the words "larks" and intellectual(which was also spelt incorrectly) in the same sentence, and expect to be taken seriously.

Anonymous said...

Opaq,you myopic bastard,its not about me!..its about St.Lucia and the People!