bigdrumnation

Reading Time 21 mins  October 30, 2020   “It is easy to remember the jocular nature of much of Sprangalang’s life on the stage. In fact, he might have wanted it that way. He was prepared to play second fiddle to his brother Anthony (Tony) who preceded by a mere five months, Sprangalang’s flight into the great beyond.” It took just sixty-two seconds of what must have been the finest exposition of extemporaneous witticism that a Skinner Park audience had ever witnessed, for Dennis Hall to etch his name, perhaps forever, upon the tombstone of Caribbean Comedy, in November 1998. One hapless… Read More »“I Wear Not Motley In My Brain”– Llewellyn Mac Intosh

Reading Time 4 minsEvery year somebody dear Give us cause to shed a tearAnd mourn for they are goneNow all that’s left is a faint memoryBased on the theme of a strange melodyStill we must think of themAnd recall their image with prideTelling people from deep insideThis is dedicated to those who died….Simple words cannot defineThe memories that fills the mindOf those who are left behindTo some of us its a kin or a friendOr a great love that was shared to the endSo it is our duty, I mean each and every oneSee that their memories live onEven though they are dead… Read More »Farewell, Halls….-Clyde Weatherhead (October 3, 2020)

Reading Time 1 minsToday we remember Sir Rupert ‘The Mighty Swallow’ Philo through “Wire’s” spontaneous reflections, which he extended and has agreed to share. We release these musings as they reflect an up-close-grassroots view of King Swallow, who felt particularly at home among and was warmly embraced by, that generation of Trinbagonians of the “earlies”–the latter part of the 1960s–who led the way carving a path, a cultural space, for calypso and then soca in New York. “Wire”–a talented cultural worker in his own right– comes out of, and belongs to, that generation of legendary cultural warriors, our unsung heroes,… Read More »Roger Toussaint, “In Conversation With ‘Wire’ On King Swallow”!

Reading Time 3 minsSwallow is the all-time KING OF LABOR DAY! There will never be another artist to capture the North American carnival seasons as he did with hit, after hit, after hit. There was always a hype among DJs to get a copy of his special party remix 12inches produced by Rawlston Charles from Charlie’s Records at 1271-1273 Fulton St, Brooklyn, New York.  Of Dr. Philo’s many positive traits, including his humility and kindness, the most important one was his total loyalty. He never forgot where he came from; Charlie’s Calypso City, where he first recorded when he came to the USA… Read More »Remembering Our “Soca Warrior”, Sir Rupert ‘The Mighty Swallow’ Philo! — John “Wire” Evelyn

Reading Time 1 mins Compatriots, We don’t forget, we won’t forget, we can’t forget.  It is October 19 th and our hearts ache as we remember the pain, the shock, the hurt, the incredulity, the numbness of that horror movie that was the beheading and the behearting of ourselves.   But as we remember, more than remembering, we must choose to put back on our heads and to heal back our hearts.  Yes, we can choose to do that.   Let us choose to understand, to dialogue, to pause when in doubt, to give up when we face inexplicable vexing challenges;  let… Read More »Let us Create a New Story – Dessima Williams

Reading Time 3 minsMartin P. Felix October 12, 2020 “Yeah. No school tomorrow [Monday]!” my 10th-grade son exclaims. “They call it Columbus Day. This is like having a public holiday for Ted Bundy. But I’ll take it anyway!” So-called Columbus Day has been a national holiday since 1934 when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt designated it as such. It is to mark the now infamous day on October 12, 1492, when Christopher Columbus encountered the new world, introducing a cycle of violence, expropriation of native Caribbean lands, and ultimately genocide and slavery. It was the beginning of the colonization of the… Read More »Happy Indigenous People Day 2020!

Reading Time 6 minsOctober 12, 2020 For years I have longed to write an article on what it means to hold a doctorate from an accredited university, but neglected so to do, since I too hold one from the University of Michigan, currently ranked as No. 22 among universities of the world. However, when during the last election campaign, I heard campaigners referring to our Prime Minister as Rowley, Growley, Rothweiller, the Bull dog, Keith, Bald Head, Black man, Oreo and Blank man, I felt that such names were totally rude, crude and disrespectful, for a person who holds a… Read More »Have Respect for Ph.Ds: Heroes of Academia – Dr. Hollis (Chalkdust) Liverpool

Reading Time 1 minsSeptember 25, 2020. Big Drum Nation pays tribute to the life and times of Black Stalin–who turned 79 yesterday–one of the region’s most beloved ‘Caribbean Man’ by revisiting selections of reflections from our vault.  However, let’s begin with a new release from James N. Cox, The Caribbean Man Turned 79, an almost extempo reflective composition inspired by a telephone conversation with BDN as feedback to our current Stalin tribute. We ‘Play [more than] One’ for Dr. Leroy Calliste and wish him the best of health as he continues the good fight!  I Was Once Afraid of Black… Read More »Acknowledging Black Stalin’s (Dr. Leroy Calliste’s) 79th Birthday and his Awesome Contributions to Caribbean Culture and Society!

Reading Time 2 minsSeptember 25, 2020   It was a pleasant and sunny day in April 1979, on the tranquil Caribbean island of Carriacou, when I first encountered Black Stalin. I had heard his song on the radio but paid little attention to the lyrics, but did find the structure of the music exciting and catchy. The tri-island country of Grenada, of which Carriacou is a part, had just, on March 13, 1979, executed a revolutionary change in government. The new Revolutionary Government had brought a few performers, including Valentino and Black Stalin, to perform in concert rallies around the… Read More »The Caribbean Man Turned 79 -James N. Cox