"His poem Caribbean Man tells all
this. Written in 1990, it speaks of his passion for
country, place and homeland. His poem "Flotsam" says
"Once jewels in a monarch's crown, now flotsam in a
carib sea" etc etc. His life-long search for
Caribbean unity was never forsaken. His light spirit
and optimistic personality covered a relentless and
purposful Will." .. . . from a note announcing
Alister's death on 28 February 2005
We're now independent, yes, massa day
done,
We're free. It's a new day which now has
begun.
So please, let's get working as hard as
we can
To foster the growth of Caribbean
Man.
Let's take a look backward, remember with
pride
Those brave ones who stood up and battled
the tide,
Who braced up and faced it when all
others ran,
Who fought for the birth of Caribbean
Man.
Paul Bogle, as brave as you ever will
find,
And Gordon, like true steel in fire
refined,
They died in Jamaica pursuing a
plan
To fight for the rights of Caribbean
Man.
And Critchlow, for gains to the workers
he fought,
And when he was fired that counted for
naught,
Guyana his country, farsighted his
scan,
He called for the vote for Caribbean
Man.
More noble nude freeman than full gilded
slave
He lived by that precept, and Donovan
gave
Example that we too with dignity
can
Though trampled, be proud of Caribbean
Man.
In Donovan's tracks then came Ted
Marryshow
His dream was that we had just one way to
go
One country, Westindies, division he'd
ban
One nation, one people, Caribbean
Man
These are but few of the great ones of
yore
Who faced the rough storm in the time
gone before
When it was easy to drift with all in the
van
With never a thought of Caribbean
Man
When all were so willing to swim with the
tide
Be accepted, and join in the social
ride
Kowtow to the massa, and pray that he
can
Forget that you are a Caribbean
Man
Be called in to dinner or Government
tea
Get an honour, a knighthood or
CBE
Think Limies superior and much
better
Black, brown or whatever, Caribbean
Man
Not so these great ones, much more noble
their game
Unselfish, farsighted the stars were
their aim
Society's glitter was not in their
plan
They knew the true worth of Caribbean
Man
They knew that the Masters did'nt dare
educate
The objects they ruled in colonial
state
The learning they gave us was 'Dan in the
van'
The basics, no more for Caribbean
Man.
And history for us never touched on our
shores
But focussed on Europe, kings, treaties
and wars
What mattered, developed, continued,
began
In no way included Caribbean
Man.
They taught us of Raleigh and Hawkings
and Drake
Their exploits and how brave a fight they
did make
We saw this with pride, as true British
eyes can
But not with the eyes of Caribbean
Man
We knew naught of Fedon, Toussaint or
Quacko
Nor Christophe, Quamina or loose-mouthed
Cudjoe
We knew not of Cuffie away down in
Guyan
And what he had done for Caribbean Man
But now we are free, and it's slavery no
more
Our fate is our own. We've the key to
the door
That leads to our future, let's find if
we can
What stuff that he's made of, Caribbean
Man
When we were colonials in long days gone
by,
To make like massa was what we did
try,
To be like the British, our aim and our
plan
A synthetic Limey, Caribbean
Man.
That's over but, sadly, we've not yet
begun
To see our own place, recognize our own
sun,
In place of the Limey, we're now
African,
Not yet do we know we're Caribbean
Man.
How dare we forget and consign to the
breeze
Our brother the Indian, our sister
Chinese
And others who cover the whole ethic
span
For they too, my friend, are Caribbean
Man.
We're all of this region, no matter the
skin,
Black, white, pink or yellow, we'd better
begin
To know we're a nation and one common
plan
Is what must develop Caribbean
Man.
Let's turn eyes inwards and scales from
them shed,
See us as a people, and not that we're
wed
And fixed to some Mother, whom never
can
We grow and develop Caribbean
Man
Not England nor China nor India nor
Spain
Not Africa, Scotland nor France nor
Bahrain
Can now be our Mother, that can't be our
plan.
We're nobody's child, we're Caribbean
Man
We have our own customs, traditions, folk
lore,
Like Carnival, John Canoe, Big Drum and
more
Anansi and Tigue, Lajabless and steel
pan
A heritage rich of Caribbean
Man
And pepper-pot, oil-down, ackra and bush
tea
With foo-foo and jug-jug, bul-jhol and
bodi
And ginger beer, sorrel, all foods that
we can
Be proud are produced by Caribbean Man
Walcott, Louise Bennet, Rhone, Peters and
Hill,
McBernie, Keens-Douglas and many more
still,
In drama and poetry, dance, none better
than
These greats, they're the soul of
Caribbean Man
Our foods and our culture are not second
place
The're unique and reflect our multiple
race
We're a nation, a wonderful blended
clan
We're special, we're vibrant Caribbean
Man
And why, in this climate, continue to
try
To ape the ex-masters with jacket and
tie.
That garb is for cold clime, can't we
find a plan
Of suitable dress for Caribbean Man
?
That may seem a small thing but symbols
must be
The pointers which prove to our children
that we
Are not orphan people who catch as they
can
At standards to govern Caribbean
Man
We must know and teach, we're a people by
right,
We're not bastard offspring in desperate
plight,
Pretending we're British or African
clan
Ignoring the fact we're Caribbean Man
Let's shake off inertia, let's find a new
birth,
Let's lift our heads high, recognize our
own worth,
Our future awaits with unlimited
span
Awake and move forward, Caribbean Man.
!!!
And this is Alister's "Explanatory Note" --- the page numbers refer to Alister's original typescript
of the poem.
CARIBBEAN
MAN
Explanation
Sheet
Cover Logo and word "CARICOM" refer to
the Caribbean Community and Common Market, the grouping of
Britain's ex-West Indian colonies.
Page 1, verse 3 Paul Bogle a former
slave in Jamaica, led an armed protest uprising (riot) in
1865 against injustices to ex-slaves in that country. He
was tried and hanged. George William Gordon, also born a
slave, a mulatto, educated himself and became a wealthy
influential landowner. He was a member of the Jamaica House
of Assembly and used his position to try to get better
conditions for the ex-slaves. He took no part in the riot
but, because he was known to be a friend of Bogle, he was
tried, with no opportunity to defend himself, and was
hanged.
Page 1, verse 4 Hubert Critchlow formed
the British Guiana Labour Union in 1919, the first
registered trade union in the dependent British Empire.
This came in the midst of serious labour unrest in British
Guiana and, championing the workers cause, Critchlow was
dismissed from his job.
Page 1, verse 5 William Galway Donovan,
Grenadian, newspaper-editor, patriot, lived late in the last
century, and is well known for his principle that "A naked
freeman is better than a guilded slave". He had the
vision of a united Westindies. He went to jail rather
then withdraw his public criticism of what he considered to
be an unjust decision of a corrupt Judge.
Page 2 verse 1 Theophilous Albert
Marryshow (1887-1958) was a protégé of Donovan
and inherited the drive for a united Westindies. He is
known as the "Father" of the West Indies Federation which,
born in 1958, died in 1961.
Page 2, verse 4 C.B.E., (Commander Of
the British Empire), an honour conferred by the Queen of
England.
Page 3 verse 1 Natives of Britain's
colonies had no vote in Britain and were, therefore, more "objects" belonging to the Queen than her "subjects". A
calypsonian, ridiculing a totally unsuitable and inadequate
booklet specially produced for the education of children in
the colonies, used, in his song, a line from that booklet,
"Dan Is The Man In The Van".
Page 3 verse 4 Julien Fédon led an
unsuccessful revolution in Grenada in 1795. Toussaint
Louverture and Henri Christophe were leaders of the Haitian
revolution in 1791. Quamina was the leader of a slave
up-rising in British Guiana in 1823. Cuffie was the
leader of a slave up-rising in British Guiana in 1763.
Cudjoe was one of the leaders of a slave conspiracy in the
Virgin Islands in 1759. However, he violated security
and the slave owners were able to avert an
up-rising.
Page 4 verse 5 and page 5 verse 1 With
the breaking of colonial ties to the "Mother Country",
Britain, there has been an unfortunate tendency of some
Westindians to seek Africa as a "Mother Country".
Page 5 verse 2 John Canoe, a Christmas
traditional street dancing in Jamaica. Big Drum, a
traditional dance routine in Carriacou, Grenada's sister
island. Anansi and Tigue, traditional folk tales.
Lajabless, a supernatural figure in folk lore.
Page 5, verses 3 and 4, Self explanatory.
