Government owes apology to Superior

THE EDITOR: As I sat at NAPA on September 16 celebrating the life of legendary musician and bandleader Roy Cape alongside hundreds of others, I could not help but ask, “Why was calypsonian Superior not afforded a similar honour when he died in December, 2018.”

For those who may have forgotten, Lord Superior’s funeral was carded to take place at NAPA but at the last minute permission was rescinded. As a result, Superior’s wife, Dr Janet Stanley-Marcano and family, in the midst of their grief and sorrow, had to undergo tremendous pressure to organise an alternative venue at the family home in Dorington Gardens, Diego Martin, at the penultimate moment.

The reason given was that NAPA was reserved for state funerals. According to Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, who was Minister of Culture and the Arts in December 2018, “It is a performing space and as you would be aware, the only funerals that we had at NAPA would have been for the former prime minister of the country (Patrick Manning) and the former president (Arthur NR Robinson), while the body of former president George Maxwell Richards lay in state in the venue in January 2018. Having a funeral at NAPA is not strictly encouraged as there are a number of other venues in Port of Spain.”

Despite this explanation, Roy Cape’s funeral service took place at NAPA in a manner befitting a cultural icon, while both Ken "Professor" Philmore and Black Stalin had their funerals at SAPA, the equivalent of NAPA in San Fernando.

Whereas Philmore’s service took place in October 2018, two months before the minister’s hardline and definitive explanation, Black Stalin’s service took place in January 2023, some four years after the statement was made.

In light of this, I think the powers that be owe the citizenry an explanation. Has the policy as regards the use of both NAPA and SAPA for funeral services changed? And if so, when did it change? Failure to give a plausible explanation could only lead many to believe that the Government’s policy unfortunately varies in accordance with whom the Government does and does not favour.

It is a shame that Superior was treated so shabbily by the powers that be in life as well as death. Superior dedicated his life to uplifting the art form of calypso. It was Superior who single-handedly established an all-year calypso tent after Carnival 1976, suffering a huge personal financial loss in the process.

Again it was Superior who fought relentlessly for a licence to launch a radio station that would be devoted to playing calypso music exclusively. It was only some ten years after, during the tenure of the NAR administration (1086 to 1991), that the visionary decision to open up the media was taken and Superior finally realised his lifelong dream.

At least the UWI recognised his sterling contribution and so conferred an honorary doctorate to Superior in 2017. And so one has ask if this cultural icon was any less deserving of a funeral service at NAPA? Only the foolhardy or uninformed would think otherwise.

MIGUEL BROWNE

Retired history teacher

Calypso researcher