The era of Chalkdust

Culture Matters

WHAT IS the significance of a calypsonian and teacher receiving the highest award of our country?

At 78 years of age, Dr Hollis Liverpool continues to be a mighty force in our nation. Decades ago, his passion for education intersected with his love of calypso and Carnival. In the 1970s, the dissertation for his education diploma explored “Carnival and education in secondary schools.”

Ahead of his time, he recognised the possibilities for empowering a developing nation through its indigenous art forms. The powers that be are yet to catch up with his recommendations from this publication and others such as Kaiso and Society. We are thus still a distance away from the true integration of our Carnival and other art forms in our school system that he envisaged.

Liverpool began performing in 1967, but he wrote calypsoes in school back in the 1950s. In 1968, one year after launching his professional career, he was dismissed from teaching for singing calypsoes while being a teacher. The media furore resulted in him being reinstated and he remains an avid educator today.

He has managed to successfully blend his passions – calypso and education – in his music. His work reflects “his unique ability to research and report his findings in song so that all levels of society can be inspired and better informed.”

Although it is said that he has recorded some 300 calypsoes, throughout his career Chalkdust has warned that he may actually stop singing. In 1976, a much younger (and rather virile looking) Chalkdust won the Calypso Monarch for the first time. He composed Ah Put on Meh Guns Again about his internal conflict. “I told Superior, 75 would be my last year/ ...For crowds now want tempo and I can’t sing fast so/ So before the crowds boo me down/ Let me leave the people town/ So as man I hang meh guns from this land...”

Ten years later, in 1986, he repeated his concerns about the direction in which the music was going in Too Much Quacks. In 1993 he lamented that Kaiso Sick in de Hospital. In this one, his clever turn of phrase saw our art form in a coma, with music pirates, soca, radio deejays and foreign music waiting to bury it.

In compositions such as How to Sing Calypso, Respect We Thing and The Tent Is It, he makes the point that we must give more respect to the art form. His calypsoes also reflect a focus on national pride, African identity and political leadership.

So what is the significance of a calypsonian and teacher receiving the highest award of our country? The power of calypso to bridge cultural gaps, teach lessons and educate about our history is undeniable. Yet, in a week when schools were again in the news for various forms of dysfunction, including racism, this honour bestowed on calypsonian Chalkdust calls to mind the gaps in the cultural education of our nation.

Generally speaking, there are signs of progress. This week, schools from Trinidad travelled to Tobago to participate in a speech band competition, for which they trained over several weeks. Students now do projects on festivals, learn different dance forms and have the opportunity to study the arts at Sixth Form level. And in October, the Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organisation (TUCO) will continue to implement its calypso in schools programme, teaching the art of writing, researching and developing content for the calypso.

But is it enough? How can this “victory for calypso,” as Chalkdust put it, translate into more profound appreciation of our differences? How can this honour help those in authority shed their colonial views about our culture?

One way would be to acknowledge that Carnival, which contributes significantly to our economy, is produced by the consistent hard work of all involved. This should cause a rethinking of how we structure and schedule our festival, and inspire an end to misguided threats to “return to work” on Ash Wednesday.

Chalkdust often speaks about the importance of keeping to the roots of calypso, that is the “2/2 beat, four verses, 16 bars in the verses and 16 bars in the chorus.” Others say we must accept the evolution of the art form, and move past the Chalkdust era. I believe both arguments have merit – the evolution must happen, but the foundation is necessary for meaningful growth.

But we need not worry. Even if Chalkdust hangs up his calypso gun, he has already predicted how his story will end: “...Goodbye fans, Chalky will teach the younger ones...”

Dara E Healy is a performance artist, communications specialist and founder of the NGO, the Indigenous Creative Arts Network – ICAN