Let’s throw love and not stones

Ah have dis lickle Book dat ah keep in my vehicle as ah driver’s companion. Ah call it my Taste-ah-mint. Any question foh which ah want an answer, ah does check my Taste-ah-mint. Like ah asked my Taste-ah-mint: “How long has Stone Throwing been around?” And ah series of answers showed up: “De greatest battle ever won was as Stone Throwing duel, when ah lickle Israeli boy reached into his bag way he had five smooth stones, he took out one stone, den slung dat one stone and struck de Philistine giant named Go-lie-at on his face, de stone sunk into his forehead and he fell flat on his face!”{{more}} Lie-Za remembers her Sunday School Teacher telling her dat story; dat when Go-lie-at fell, de whole Philistine army did not wait, dey took off like ah Jet Plane, faster dan de first jet waiting to take off at Argyle in ah few months time.

Another Stone Throwing in-see-dent dat took place was when Stephen, ah disciple of Christ who, foh preaching de Gospel of Jesus Christ, he spoke de Truth, condemned wrong doings, exposing de corrupt-shun and dishonesty, and he was stoned to death. Still another story from my Taste-ah-mint, dis time de Stone Throwing was aborted. De Jews had found ah woe-man committing ah-dull-tree and took dis one woe-man alone to Jesus foh Judgement. Note dey did not carry de man. Is from way back den woe-men were disrespected and degraded, it has not changed. In SVG today, if ah woe-man cries out dat she was Raped, she is ridiculed and pulled down by Talk Show host in defence ah de De-muck-we-see under de ULP. Now in de matter wid de ah-dull-trust woe-man, de old Moses Law back back den stated dat ah woe-man found committing ah-dull-tree was to be put to death by stoning. We all know dat story, Jesus challenged any of dem wid-out sin to cast de first stone. De story says dat dey all walked away. Ah guess dat challenge is as good today as it was over 2,000 years ago.

Somewhere ah read way Stone Throwing is/was ah religious culture, ah think it’s Arabic or Islamic, but it’s ah ceremony way foh three days, de community “stone hell out ah de devil” or is it “stone de devil out ah hell?” The three days has something to do wid de three tempt-hey-shuns of Abraham. Maybe Christians should starting stoning de devil out ah hell, foh de three days too, ah day foh each day Satan tempted Jesus! Ah very interesting custom dat is, but ah love it.

But Stone Throwing has become ah culture in SVG too, ah don’t mean stoning mango or Wax Apple, it’s ah Pull-it-to-kill Culture. Once every five years when Elect-shuns are due, de records will show dat Bah-rob-us Party members does resort to Stone Throwing. Lie-Za is not easy, she says no wonder dey close down Bigger Biggs stone business. She likes to put ah lickle humor in my article, she asking how come my lickle Taste-ah-mint men-shun Stone Throwing foh all season, but no men-shun bout Stone Throwing foh church. Ah tell she check de book of Dan-yell!

But on ah very serious note, SVG has had terrible experiences wid Stone Throwing at Elect-shun time. Ah think it was back in 1989, ah young girl was struck in her face during ah Stone Throwing while travelling on ah Bus on ah NDP pull-it-to-call motor rally. She lost an eye and today, 16 years later she is very vocal on NDP New Times call-in program on Nice Radio station, appealing foh “No Violence! No Stone Throwing!” Listening to dat woman speak and reading her Facebook comments, one can feel her pain as she is still hurting deep!

De latest or most recent Stone Throwing incident took place last Sat-day night at Richland Park, way dey was ah NDP Eat-out, Tall Boy ah very peaceful, non-violence man was struck by ah Wax Apple dat bounced off ah house roof and buss his bloody head. Until ah see de evidence, ah won’t believe dat act was orchestrated by de Bo-rob-us party, at least ah would vouch foh de non-violence Jimmy Prince, dis is not his style. My girl heard some talk dat de stones came from children who were stoning Wax Apple, in de night??

But just suppose, just suppose we mek an allowance foh de smallest possibility dat de Stone Throwing at Richland Park was pull-it-to-kill-he motivated, den let dat be de first and de last. Ah want to appeal to my fellow Vincent-shuns, foh dis Elect-shun stay way from any violence or wrong doing, these things do back-fire. Listen to Becket’s 1984 Road March Kaiso, Horn Foh Dem” dat won it foh John Horn and de NDP: “Those who Horn will be Horned, Those who Butt will be Butt, Those who Rape will be Raped and those who Stone will be Stoned!” Last Sat-dey it was Stone Throwing, next time let it be Love. And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

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