Sasha-Ann Moses: Calypso queen turns to law in pursuit of justice

Sasha-Ann Moses has had a passion for singing and the law since primary school. With determination, she set herself on both paths but almost stumbled when a teacher tried to discourage her from going into law. Fortunately, she ignored him and, on November 11, she passed the bar, making her the first female calypsonian attorney in TT.

Moses, 26, told WMN she felt very relieved when she learned she had passed her all her exams, because it was something she had been working, wishing and praying for since her pre-teens. At her graduation, she could not believe she was at the end if a six-year journey. It felt so unreal that she wandered if the school made a mistake or would want the certificate back. But, by the time she was called to the bar, her achievement had settled in and she was thankful for making it through.

“In primary school a teacher asked what we wanted to be when we grew up. I wanted to be a lawyer. I had a lot of questions as to why certain things were the way they were in the country.

“I realised most people don’t really know much about the law or their rights. I wanted to go down that route so I could help persons to be aware of the country’s legislation and what rights are afforded to them.”

Therefore, after attending Mt Lambert RC Primary School and San Juan South Secondary School, Moses went to UWI Open Campus where she did a certificate in business management and technology.

Many of her classmates also wanted to do law, but one teacher told them the law faculty was very difficult to get into, and instead advised them to apply to another faculty to stay in the university system.

“I don’t think he had a lot of confidence in us. After he said that, I was a bit two-minded about it. I was discouraged, thinking maybe I wasn’t good enough or that I underestimated what it took to start that journey in law. His statement was a hit in the face and it make me second-guess myself. But I still applied to the law faculty and I got through in 2016.”

She completed her bachelor of laws (LLB) at UWI in 2020, and her legal education certificate (LEC) at Hugh Wooding Law School earlier this year.

Around the same time she developed her legal ambition, Moses started singing background vocals for a friend in school competitions while attending Mt Lambert RC. At age 12, her standard five teacher encouraged the class, and her in particular, to participate in the National Schools Soca Monarch competition that year. She was hesitant to try it but she spoke with her mother, Noeline Brown, who was eager to see her daughter on stage.

“My mom is involved in Best Village, first as a dancer and now as a judge, so she was trying to get me involved in the arts for a long time, but she knew I was shy and didn’t push. So when I spoke to her about going up for the competition, she had nothing but encouragement and support.”

She went for it, and in her first lead performance, Moses placed second in the 2008 National Schools Soca Monarch competition. Buoyed by her excellent performance, she was looking forward to the next year’s competition but there was none.

In an effort to mitigate her daughter’s disappointment, Brown suggested she compete in the Junior Calypso Monarch competition. And although, at the time, she thought calypso was boring, she decided to try it and made it to the semifinals.

She realised singing calypso was more difficult than soca as the performer had to be articulate, have a good melody and lyrics, have complementary props, and tell a story. She thought of it as a new challenge and found it more interesting than soca. But, not being able to decide between the challenge of calypso and the fun of soca, she decided to do both.

In 2014, she placed second in Junior Calypso Monarch with the song Red, White and Black, written by Nadia Batson. She also placed first in the National Schools Soca Monarch with A Mother’s Love by Larry Harewood.

From 2015 to 2017, she made it to the semifinals of the International Soca Monarch competition, and into the semi-finals of the Calypso Monarch in 2016. She also performed in the Kaiso Karavan calypso tent in St Joseph from 2015 to 2016, and the Generation Next tent from 2016 to 2017.

She recalled that 2017 was a “huge year” for her in calypso. She sang The Main Witness which dealt with issues of the witness protection programme in TT as, at the time, a number of state witnesses were killed. With that song, she won the National Women's Action Committee's National Calypso Queen competition and the National Youth Action Committee’s Stars of Tomorrow calypso competition.

In 2019 and 2020, she made it to the semi-finals of the Calypso Monarch competition.

Also in 2017, she joined the band Mayaro 2.0, originally named Mayaro The Band, which was led by the late Joel Ali. There, she sang along with Heaven “Snakey” Charles and Shawn Joseph. But she had to step away from the band to focus on her studies. She also made the decision to stop singing soca and focus on calypso. So, in 2018, she joined the Calypso Review Tent where she continues to perform.

Moses said she loved performing in the calypso tent as it reminded her of her days singing with Mayaro 2.0. She said her tent-mates were “crazy” but they loved each other and had a great bond, which made performing fun.

“It’s really exciting. And yes, there are those empty seats, but it places more pressure on you to give the people that came out more than their money’s worth and remind them why they came out in the first place. So to me, it’s an encouragement.”

And since the tents open weeks before the Calypso Monarch competition, she said performing there gave her and other calypsonians time to perfect their songs and performances.

For years, Moses had been interested in civil law, but in 2021, she began interning at the Office of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs in the Criminal Justice Unit, which focussed on legislative reform. It made her change her focus.

“That experience kind of pushed me towards reform. I felt this is the area I could make an actual difference in the country, rather than just doing civil suits and civil actions.

“Even though I’m a performer, I’m a very shy individual and I don’t really like the spotlight too much. Because the work we do is in the background I feel very comfortable there, and it’s still a major part of the work the AG does.”

She recalled the times the students did mock court trials during Hugh Wooding’s trial advocacy course when her heart pounded and she felt very nervous. She thought that feeling was something she would just have to get over, so when the director of the Criminal Justice Unit invited her to stay on permanently as a legal research officer and she realised she did not have to litigate in her new job, she was very relieved and extremely thankful.

“I’m never nervous when I perform on stage so I, and everybody else, was baffled because we don’t know why that was happening to me. I think the major thing for me was, being a performer, if I mess up, the consequences fall on me alone. But in litigation, you actually have a client who you have to act in the best interest of, so if you mess up, you will mess up that person’s life as well. I think the pressure from that got to me.”

Between her calypsoes and her line of work, Moses felt she was furthering her goal of making TT a better place, not only by helping to improve the country’s legislation, but by informing people of their rights through the messages in her songs.

She felt further fulfilled when the Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister with responsibility for Gender and Child Affairs, Ayanna Webster-Roy, quoted the lyrics of her song, A Letter of Restraint, in Parliament. The song highlighted violence against women and the inefficiency of protection orders and Webster-Roy read the lyrics during the Administration of Justice (Electronic Monitoring) Bill debate.

“I feel like I’m actually making a difference. It’s very fulfilling and encouraging as well. And since both the law and performing are things I love, it was never hard to balance the two.”

Moses thanked her mother for her number one support over the years. She also thanked her family, friends, and every person who supported her in both her performing and legal careers, including song writers like Emmanuel Rudder, Dale Ryan, Philip “Black Sage” Murray, and Neville “Bunny B” Brown, as well as her legal mentors Justice Malcolm Holdip and Justice Gillian Lucky.

She added that she did not ever intend to stop performing, so long as she was passionate about it, and her hope was to have a long career in calypso like her heroine Calypso Rose.