By Baba Elombe Mottley
In the years preceding the Bussa Revolt in 1816, an African-born man, a slave at Three Houses plantation, took the name of his slave master. The owner’s name was Brathwaite. This man was so trusted by his master that he was permitted to marry/lived wid a white woman who owned about 50 acres south-east of Three Houses. According to the Historian Ronnie Hughes, when the African’s wife became iil, she made arrangements for some freedmen to look after her estate as slaves could not inherit property.
This African man Brathwaite, used to walk from Three Houses to his wife’s property every day after he finished his master’s work to manage the small property and to look after his children. He subsequently got married/live wid again, this time to the outside daughter of his master with a black woman.
Among the descendents of Brathwaite, the African man, are: Trinidadian Prof Lloyd Brathwaite, one of the founders of Caribbean sociology and former Principal of the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus; Grenadian Sir Nicholas Brathwaite, interim Prime Minister of Grenada after the failed revolution; and Barbadian Prof Farley Brathwaite, a former Dean of Social Studies at The University of the West indies at Cave Hill.
Excellent Elombe!
The bottomline should be a referendum among the people living within 1-2 miles who will have to live with this development. This should be preceded by presentations by the Project Team, Govt reps and then the dissenters.
Naturally if the locals feel that the negatives outweigh the positives ie they dont want the jobs etc then they vote their position and live with the result. Pur and simple.
BTW why does Doyle not redevelop Sam Lord’s as this has been in the community as such for a very long time.
Imagine if Elombe’s concept was continued south to long bay and North to River Bay.
Then we could buy 2 ferries for Bajan excursions to st.Vincent and st.Lucia.
Very nice!
@old onion bags…please, please,please read carefully what I have said… ….I said clearly that eff de development gine take place anyways why not ensure that it is done the way that will include St. Phillipians in de right way….hence my proposal as how it could work.
But eff dem doan want it, and de whole ting stop…so be it. I mentioned you ’cause I know you want to continue eating your jacks…but I nevah said dat was a bad thing. I totally agree that the people of St. P. are the ones to make the decision…knowing Elombe as I do I am sure he would tell ya de same ting.
An’ by de way, yes! I’ve eaten crispy fried jacks, also roasted straight from de sea…delightful. Now you see I would nevah use Ketchup ‘pun someting so sweet…first ’cause all ya does love to buy Ketchup from Amurrica and I does not eat dat…an pepper sauce ent someting I would eat neider ’cause I ent like peepers….too busy busy and malicious..but eff you meant peppa sauce…well den…now ya talking… de hotter de betta. Mauby is my ting too but made wiod real sugar cane juice hear? As I want to get Skeete’s Bay in dis’ book o’ mine… you gine invite me to de spot fuh dese jacks et al? and leh me tekk some pittures?..and eat nuff good food?….but it gotta be in de daytime…I doan mess wid duppy when de night come! Leh me know when…perhaps de weekend of March 10th? I gotta go see a young man dat does mekk sorrel and bay leaf wine in St. Farlip so a little twist over dah area would not be hard….buh doan let me get dere and find not a net throwing and all de houses shut down in secrecy ah beg!
PLEASE LET ME REITERATE. If Mac and Bag and the whole of the area do not want the development, get all de people dem to sign a petition and present it to government et al. March eff you want it so to Government House. Make nuff noise ’till ya get your way. Stand up for what de people want. I see no problem in dat at all, at all.
I am indeed extremely anti-development…leff to me dis’ island would ‘ah been de same as it was in de fifities but jess with independence…I loved de ol’ careenage, de boats emptying out all de produce from other islands, being loaded up with what we had was to sell…I loved de old policemen in de middle o’ de road conducting traffic, I like de ol’ buses with no sides and de donkey carts in town…and and and….dis’ would be paradise had development been done with fore-thought…but it was we who wanted all de concrete….we wanted a marine fuh big yachts…we wanted big cyars and big fancy buses spewing black smoke in we face….we wanted to forget our agriculture and bring in de goods from Amurrica to make we sick, we soil sick, even we water sick with dem pesticides too! Is we who wanted to look like we rich ’cause big concrete buildings and tons of hotels is how we saw development and money…and whilst the World Bank might think we developed, and we believe we should be proud of all dat, II would say we have under-developed ourselves to the point of stupidity.
BUT AH GINE DAY DIS’ LOUD AND CLEAR…eff de development gine go thru’ whatever de people say or doan say like so many already….den get the bull by the horns and ensure it done right. Dah is all.
@David….a visit to Skeete’s Bay will be a must when I return in six days time. As I said I went there years ago for a fete by Mac & Bag…cyan’t even remember much except we had a good time and ate nuff food too, it was so long ago.
And whoever above suggested Sam Lord’s castle for development got my vote if they bring the castle right back to its original state and again do the development properly. What went on there befo’ was a total disgrace. What other island can boast of a Pirate’s Castle?… and the story of how he worked the reefs is a classic…this is of great historic interest. But who cared? No one. And then of course and anyhow all those gorgeous properties that CLICO ‘bought’ cannot be touched….there’s one in St. John I could easily use as an artist and organic retreat buh….I too poor to be able to line somebody’s pocket fuh dat. Shame to see all that devastation of beautiful old houses and pieces of history.
Now is my turn Onion Bags (sorry Old Onion Bags) to make a typo….the first pepper sauce supposed to read peeper sauce like you wrote…ha ha haaaaa….
Re. Why not develop Sam Lords before Skeete’s Bay.
I believe this question was raised at the recent community meeting to discuss the proposed Skeete’s Bay development and one of the government ministers in attendance (can’t remember which one) said at the time that Sam Lords ownership is tied up in legalities concerning CLICO etc. and therefore nothing could be done with the property until the legal issues were sorted out.
As we all know, legal issues in Barbados can drag on for a lonnnnnnnnnngggggggg, lonnnnnnnnnngggggg time (my own comment not the ministers). So by the time the Sam Lords issues are sorted out, it could be that a lotta we will already be dead and gone.
@ Rosie….
….’Of course let me add… biggest mistake is to talk to someone like me with an pseudo-American accent….you have no idea how that irks my soul as it totally not necessary.
I agree with you 100% and likewise when people try to write in Bajan dialect when they have no clue how it is spoken.
It is a huge irony to have the Same Lords matter listed to be debated in parliament as it remains derelict (government proposes to acquire the property, would be a good injection of cash to the CLICO estate) and virgin land in one of our most natural habitats will be planted with concrete.
On the other hand we hear that the ‘crop’ will produce about 20,000 tonnes this time around.
Who sees the irony of it all!
@TECHNICIAN….just in case you are referring to the way I write in dialect…it is my own…we all have our own….there is no true 100% accepted way of writing dialect….one can do so as one hears it as well. Perhaps we need an official dictionary…or an official Bajan language in book form (like Oxford Dictionary and Theasurus) to ensure that those who write in this form, do so with accuracy….but then who gine put it together? A person who writes it as he hears it. Hmmmm….
@David….on that I will agree with you wholeheartedly….
…and just so that we get this straight…just in case there are those who think I am from ‘foreign’. I am a true Caribbean woman. And proud to be. I was born in Venezuela of Trinidadian parents, Bajan Grandfather, plenty Bajan family born and bred here, Grenadian and Jamaican family in all colours and hues. My only regret is dat I didn’t get a little hue ’cause de sun does mekk me you-know-what. Been in and out of Barbados since I was one month old so many eons of time ago…from 12 was schooled here until I left for England. Lived also in Trinidad, Tobago, Jamaica, Canada, Germany ….but when I add up the years, been here in Barbados longer than in any other place. Bless.
@ Rosie….
It just irks my soul….
Actually, there is a book on the subject in bookstores or a quick read of Lickmout Lou can help.
I so miss Bonny Pepper…lol
David | February 29, 2012 at 7:02 PM |
“On the other hand we hear that the ‘crop’ will produce about 20,000 tonnes this time around. ”
It’s time the government officials come clean with the people and admit that the industry is on its way out. At this level of output the industry is unsustainable and should be closed. A minimum production of 50,000 of sugar is required to bring down the unit cost of production and allow the industry to survive with minimum government subsidy.
The government does not have the money or access to local or foreign capital to revive this industry in whichever fancy form they peddle (fancy and special sugars, ethanol, etc). This would require millions of dollars of capital investment to rehabilitate the land and upgrade the processing plant. The EU would only offer grants for studies and consultancies done by the said EU hired people; not loans or grants for capital investment. We have in hand numerous studies but wait and you would soon hear the announcement of another one to be done.
Close the industry like St. Kitts, and call it “Wolly”.
@TECHNICIAN…it was Lickmout Lou (Jeanette Layne Clarke) herself who told me exactly what I said re the writing of dialect. It is as one hears it. Plus she added that as I write books that are for Bajans, Caribbean people and foreigners….best to write it that way so all understand. Just saying. Now if you read her successor in The Nation you will notice that her writing of dialect is also different. to Jeanette’s and they were real real close..funny both of them were born in Guyana…and as I said any books on dialect are written by persons in the way they receive the sounds…and everyone receives these differently. but this digresses from the original reason for this blog. I get your annoyance. Bless.
@millertheanunnaki – closing down the sugar industry would be a sad day in paradise…I would rather see China take it over….and that in itself would be stupid. Lawd…. what a mess we have made…..and continue to make. Sad. Sad. Sad.
Barbados sugar industry get set up. Now Europe can monoplise the world sugar with its lesser quality beet sugar.Guyana you will be next watch ! Someday we will HAIL CUBA !!!!!We like pawn in this world game fa digga dog to eat…even pun we lil rock dem always ready to exploit we.Giv dem like wuk and tek da maiden lands when dey grans mek men and women.How many beach houses motley want in Bim doa ?Man ya in Ja ..and ya still wanna be hey ?
Digga dog…..ya too watless
@Green Monkey
Maybe the new Chief Justice should focus on solving the judicial mess and rationalise the legal system, especially Real Estate conveyancing.
Business and most importantly JOBS, JOBS, JOBS come first in tight financial situations.
Every tonne of sugar Barbados makes, they are losing money, because it is more expensive to produce a tonne of sugar, than the price paid for it. Therefore, for heaven’s sake why should a government look to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build a new factory? to lose bigger? When I was involved in the sugar industry, the factory I worked at used to produce more sugar than what the whole island is producing now, and this was not the biggest of the twelve factories in operation at the time.
i love those stories but wished there was much to them in terms of how they ended etc
@old onion bags | February 29, 2012 at 11:27 AM |
are u an old retard? Elombe posted a very interesting and thought provoking article and u come with utter crap about Mi Mi (Mia) in lang. that sounds utterly retarded because it certainly does not sound like bajan dialect or even an attempt at it. people such as u make me sick…everything has to be about politics… your’re not only old and retarded but your’re pathetic… i pity u