Musical send-off for Claudette Blackman

Among those on the altar paying tribute in song was her grand daughter Nailah Blackman, a finalist in last night’s International Soca Monarch competition at the Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain. Last Sunday, Claudette, who mothered 14 of Shorty I’s many children, lost her long battle with ovarian cancer. Daughter Nehilet Blackman said their mother would have wanted it no other way since it was always mandatory at all family gatherings, the children sang. She loved singing and before Claudette passed away, Nehilet said her mother urged her to keep singing until she got old like Calypso Rose.

So infectious was the music, that not even the officiating pastors on the altar could resist the beat of Jamoo music which was created by Shorty I in the Piparo forest where he had taken his family to live after leaving “the world”. The gospel ministers kept with the beat by nodding and tapping their feet. Reverend Mark David said it was the kind of send-off he had expected from the talented family. According to the children, their mother never lived in their father’s shadow but was his partner and co-wrote many of his songs. But it was calypsonian Luta (Morel Peters) who brought the church down when he aptly eulogised her with “Jamoo Woman” a song Luta had written in Claudette’s honour back in 2001. Luta sang: “Behind every successful man, there is a woman/ and on this occasion, a woman of substance/ when things get rough and things get tough/ she could leave saying enough is enough/instead she decide to stay right dey /hold on to the family and pray, everyday, everyday/Oh what a woman, she is, what a woman she is...” His strong lyrics summed up the life of the woman who they said endured many challenges as the wife of the popular calypsonian Lord Shorty who was once described as the sexiest calypsonian.

After his conversion, he changed his name to Ras Shorty I and, together with Claudette and the children, began a new life in rural Piparo. During the two-hour service, the church was told of a Claudette who was very forgiving in spite of her husband’s infidelity and the number of children he fathered outside their marriage. Claudette was described as a strong woman and the “glue” that held the family and her marriage together.

Following Ras Shorty I’s death, Claudette and some members of the family moved out of Piparo.

An emotional Winston “Gypsy” Peters said Claudette deserves an award.

“I think if they have to give an award for mothers of all time and wife of all wives, Claudette deserves it,” the newly crowned National Extempo champion said between his tears.” Gypsy admitted that life was never easy for Claudette. “I know that people like myself and Shorty, when you have wives, it is a bit hard on them sometimes, it’s a bit hard on them.” Also speaking was close family friend Steve Rabathally who broke down in tears as he recalled how Shorty, when he returned from Canada “a broken man” he told him he would teach his (Shorty) children to sing.

“Today I witnessed the fruits of his efforts and that of Claudette,” he said.

Not all of the siblings were able to attend their mother’s funeral.

Dr Joseph Abraham and his wife Pastor Teresa La Borde-Abraham delivered the sermon.

Claudette was later laid to rest at Paradise Cemetery, San Fernando.