Keep Birdsong in full flight

Tunapuna Hilltones and Turban Starland in 1974’s Panorama. Since then, Birdsong has entered every national Panorama competition. Organisations like Birdsong are vital. It is a non-profit, community- based organization with a predominantly young membership at its core. The Academy offers many programmes vital in passing on music skills and supports talented scholars. Additionally.

in 2011 the Birdsong Enterprises Company was registered to provide income generation and employment for members of the steelband. Board members who have managed this aspect of operations include names like: Col George Robinson (chairman); Leroy Calliste; Raymond Haynes; Dave Clement; and Lenny Tyson. Yet, despite its value and importance.

Birdsong has in recent times struggled to maintain its home. Though the State last week pledged assistance in the wake of the eviction, onlookers are likely to view such assurances askance. The band’s removal from its pan theatre was the culmination of more than 30 years of requests.

pleadings, meetings, third-party interventions and all other forms of civil communication. “Over this 30-year period, we have engaged every Minister of Culture and every parliamentary representative for Tunapuna,” the band said on Independence Day in a special statement. “In what passes for political leadership in this country it seems preferable to chinks, breaks and to make empty promises whenever there is a choice between investing in the youth of this nation at the front end or of spending billions on the police, the army, the prisons and the court systems at the back end.” “We cannot help but notice how badly our ruling elites fail to treat with bottom-up community- based initiatives.” This analysis reflects our reality. The environment of Trinidad and Tobago is sometimes not good at nurturing. At the same time, there is value in self-sufficiency, as well as sound practices in management. Birdsong has pursued both ideals with gusto, courting the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Inter- American Development Bank (IDB), the JB Fernandes Trust.

Rockefeller Foundation and United Way. The result has been thousands of students exposed to pan. Birdsong is a landmark. Both arms of the political divide last week focused on policy and legislative matters needed to curb crime. But we cannot forget initiatives that are right under our noses which can serve useful purposes when it comes to tackling and preventing social breakdown. Even if it has not been a financial success, Birdsong shows us why pan remains relevant to our society. It also provides a useful model of community engagement. The organisation’s example should be documented, analysed.

refined and spread. More immediately.

we hope enough support is provided to keep Birdsong in full fligh