We could make it

The date was also Black Stalin’s 75th birthday. Fittingly, the Friends of the Youths of Trinidad and Tobago hosted a massive celebration at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (South).

We laud the group for holding Saturday’s events. It is good that Stalin is around for us to pay tribute to him. Most of the time we fail to recognise the work of our notable artists until they have passed.

Stalin was awarded the Hummingbird Medal (Silver) for his contribution to culture. The list of his classics includes Wine Boy, Ism Schism, Wait Dorothy, Mr Panmaker, Play One, Look on the Bright Side and the controversial Bun ’Em. He even went into chutney in 1995 with Tribute to Sundar Popo in honour of his old friend and fellow singer.

Also, Caribbean Unity is a standard for the region’s integration movement. “Caricom is wasting time / The whole Caribbean gone blind / If we don’t know from where we coming / Then we can’t plan where we going,” he sings. In the age of Brexit, Jamaica/TT tensions, and doubts about the relevance of regional blocks, those words remain relevant.

We Can Make It If We Try, from 1988, might as well be the soundtrack of today. With many questions looming ahead of Friday’s Budget presentation, some might take comfort in Stalin’s words, “So the Treasury broke and they say that recession jamming / And so to foreign countries Trinis start migrating / They lose faith in their country, they say we gone down the drain / They say no more could we see happy times again / But the will to recover in my people I have confidence.” Yet, Black Man Feeling to Party is perhaps Stalin’s most wellknown work. In 1999, he won the title of Calypso King of the World for this song and Wine Boy. Like the best calypsoes, Black Man Feeling to Party is poetry which does not have to spell out its intent. It is a song of uplift, with its call for people to party.

“Leave we worries by the doorsteps / For that tonight we have no time / We go deal with that tomorrow / Tonight we going out to lime,” he sings.

Not only is the song a call for racial pride – itself a radical act in a world seemingly intent on perpetuating the barbaric outcomes of slavery – it was part of the general milieu that set the blueprint for all the soca which today dominates the airwaves.

When it comes to honouring artists, it is hoped some better days are coming.

Recently, at the National Awards in August, Scrunter and Baron were honoured for their long service. Emotional scenes played out at Queen’s Hall when both men received their awards, no doubt mindful of how many have not.

Stalin’s contribution is as unquestionable as Sparrow’s, Kitchener’s and Shadow’s. The question is how do we honour him in the future, as we move beyond last Saturday’s tearful event.

A few months ago, Sparrow’s medical expenses were paid by the State and his memorabilia acquired. However, Sparrow virtually had to grovel to get what the Government had promised and if we truly appreciate our heroes we must treat them in a manner that does not place them in embarrassing situations.

Recently, several outstanding artists have passed away. One of them was King Austin, known for his calypso Progress. There is a strong argument in support of that song becoming part of the calypso canon, if it is not already so. Its message is one warning of the price of poor priorities in national development, a lesson which, it seems, some politicians have failed to learn time and time again.

Another artist who died in the last few weeks was Valerie Belgrave, who was largely unsung towards the end of her life, though her writing and her batiks captured us beautifully.

For now, we are grateful for Stalin and his music. He is one of the many artists who make us proud, even if as a country we often do not reciprocate. In this regard, we must follow Stalin’s orders and try to do better.