Beating the messenger ah-gain

Ah just don’t like how every body, de media, de various Ministries, from Education to youth, to culture to way-ever, beating up pon de lickle messengers, who in dis case is our young people, de producers and performers at de School’s Dance-off and Cheer-leaders Festival now dubbed de infamous “Vulgar Dance Show”. And is ah simple message dem youths bring is dat while parents have been missing in action, and de ministry faulted foh inaction, dey have gone ahead unsupervised, doing dey own ting.{{more}} Is only now dat snippets ah de show made big TV news headlines, we feel ashamed, de bad publicity is ah poor reflection of our parenting. Ah know ah go sound weird but how come de ministries don’t dissociate dem-selves from de set ah Dirty Dance dem lickle children and (over/under size) women do on stage during Carnival? Dat is de kind ah stuff dat needs to be banned as well.

Ah could overs how dem young people must be confused; dam when dey don’t, and now dam when dey do! Dat Dance-Off Show been going foh four years not widout de ministries blessings, how come is only now we smell de coffee. De youths must be more dan confused because is no condemnation foh we de adults doing we own ting, we Dirty Dancing too, maybe not in public but more discretely, we fornicating, adulterating and unexplained money laundering; do we hear ah Hew’n’Cry from any ah dem Ministries? Ah boy !

Now-ah-days we see ah lot ah dance and music video on TV, good as well as bad, and trust me, some ah dem dance is no dance at all, despicable and crass obscenity. But on de other hand some ah de better entertainment foh me, is dem Dance-off shows and de Colleges Cheer-leaders competition on channel 13. But is young people we dealing wid, is only natural dat dey would gravitate and identify wid their ting, their people dey age and kind. So dey going foh de Caribbean stuff , unfortunately de Caribbean music videos are among de worst in terms ah lewdness, so our Artistes got some cleaning up to do as well.

On de positive side dey’s still hope foh our young people. It is commendable dat widout stipulated guidance and supervision from de Ministries of Education and Culture, in other words de showed no interest; still dey kids could organize and pull together ah competition dat involves dey own young people. Some ah we see only de vulgar side but some ah de talent dat was on display, suggests dem youngsters trained very hard foh dat Show, misguided maybe, but some ah dem are quite serious and have dreams of becoming stars one day. De question is, who helping dem!

Dey’s ah small group ah youngsters (boys) regularly at Villa beach on afternoons, exercising, flipping, balancing on one hand, practicing de kind ah stuff dat we see on dem Dance-Off shows. Dey have no instructor or trainer, no professional help foh these lads, but ah believe dat dey were training foh dat same “Vulgar Show”. Yes, it is now our responsibility, to go beyond condemnation and channel these talents into careers. We as ah people got wuk to do, starting in de home, extending to de community and eventually encompassing de entire country. We need to better supervise de Television; we need to set aside ah few minutes before Retiring for Reading and Reflection. We need to be more involved in our children’s affairs, don’t send dem to Church, carry dem and similarly, don’t send dem to dance practice, go dey wid dem, see what’s going on, so dat when next year come, we will be excited and not shocked to watch dem perform.

RAFFLES RUFFLES

Lie-Za came to look foh me wid her hands stretched out like when yuh expect money. She heard dat ah B. Alexander was appointed as cheerman of National Properties and it got to be me. Ah simply told her dat dey’s four B. Alexander, three ah dem is Brian. NDP Brian at P.H. Veira he’s ah No! den is Brian at Customs, not ah chance and dey’s de Mystique Brian of Mustique, he has nature’s passport and ah’ll bet its him. Den she landed de real bomb, Raffles packing up all around, even in New York. Is hard knocks and steady blows foh our people in Can-one. I am so suspicious ah all these far-reign investors dat ah fraid to comment on any ah these developments, Book-ah-mint included.

DID DEY CLIP PEE-JON WING

Lie-Za say Pee-Jon does fly high but dey still have to come down foh eat. Social Commentator/Teacher, Pee-Jon was sent on Vacation Leave. Ah person can be sent on Vacation Leave at any time, especially Pee-Jon and Curt-is King. Wasn’t Pee-Jon who just said on Radio, dat de PM is being generous when he Sue his critics, how in other countries dey would ah just disappear. Ah suppose Pee-Jon could consider himself part ah de PM’s generosity too; in other countries he Pee-Jon would ah just disappear in de sky, sent home in de public interest. Nah worry Pee-Jon, Yuh and Curt-is King will have de last laugh! And wid dat is gone ah-gone ah-gain!

One Love Bassy

Bassy Alexander is a land surveyor, folklorist and social commentator.