FCB chairman cites power of the arts as glue to society’s fabric

FCB CHAIRMAN Samuel L Martin believes that years of undervaluing the benefits of education, through the arts, has led to a breakdown of values in Trinidad and Tobago, and has given rise to crime. Speaking at Tuesday night’s First Citizens Bank Maestro Extraordinaire Awards 2005, Martin cited the power of the arts as the glue that holds the fabric of society “so tenuously together.” He said, “For years, when education was less accessible to the poorest communities, performers and storytellers were the teachers of our children, enabling valuable cultural development among people.”

He said he often wondered at the strength of character it required for those men and women to take such great responsibility in shaping the young minds in their communities. “Somehow I feel they did not even look at it as a responsibility, but more so a civic duty, to impart knowledge and carry on tradition.” At Tuesday night’s presentation, honours were bestowed onto 11 cultural legends in four categories, during the period 1960 to 1990. They were: Music - Joey Lewis and Mungal Patasar; Dance - Molly Ahye and Thora Dumbell; Drama - Paul Keens-Douglas, Errol Jones; Carnival Arts - Wayne Berkeley, Ivan and Wendy Kalicharan; Visual Arts - LeRoi Clarke and Pat Bishop.

The awards ceremony was attended by President George Maxwell Richards and Dr Jean Ramjohn Richards, Junior Culture Minister Edward Hart, Port-of-Spain Mayor Murchison Brown and wife Marjorie, awards committee chairman Justice Monica Barnes and other stakeholders. Turning to folklore, the FCB chairman remembered when old people used to say “if you feel you might encounter a La Diablesse on your way home, take off all your clothes, turn them inside out and put them on again, and this would surely protect you.” Or “to prevent the Douens from calling your children into the forest at dusk, never shout their names in open places, as Douens will take their names, call them and lure them away.”

These stories, according to Martin struck fear “in us” to not stay out late and to not speak loudly. “Really this was done to impose discipline in our lives.” Martin said, like the rest of the world, Trinidad and Tobago is labouring under great social burdens springing out of people’s skewed perception of their fellow man. He lamented that many of “us” put material gain before human development and are bereft of a true sense of identity within our own communities. Martin said, “This is a manifestation of a lack of respect for tradition. Crime and delinquency today are the products of individuals who fail to connect with society in a meaningful way. They do not have respect for the work done or people who are dedicated to getting us to this point of development.” The FCB chairman said his company’s impetus was aimed at keeping communities alive.