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Emancipation 2000
got off to an exciting start with the launch of the Kwame Ture Memorial
Lecture Series at the De Luxe Entertainment Centre, Port of Spain
on June 10th. The dignitaries and general public alike were welcomed
to the venue by the energetic drumming of the Emancipation Support
Performers, who lined the entryway. The Nigerian High Commissioner,
Her Excellency Nne Furo Kurubo, made a striking entrance garbed in
gold and flanked by an impressive entourage. A steel rendition of the National Anthem by the young and talented Sister Mia Gormandy formally opened the evening. Sheldon Blackman and the Love Circle, a dynamic, family band, kept the energy high with a captivating rendition of the rhythmic, soca-spliced, theme song of Emancipation, Oshé Baba. |
| This performance
was smoothly followed by the address of the Chairman of the Emancipation
Support Committee, Brother Khafra Kambon. Brother Kambon gave a warm
welcome to the dignitaries and specially invited guests, among them
the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Ralph Maraj, as well
as the general populace. He invited them all to be an active part of
this year's celebrations and gave a reminder of the significance of
the theme for the year 2000 - Rising to the Challenges of the 21st
Century. Her Excellency Nne Furo Kurubo went on to give a surprisingly moving speech in which she highlighted the many similarities between Africans on the continent and those dispersed throughout the globe. She emphasized the cultural similarities of Africans from the Caribbean and those from West Africa. She also made a strong point on the work that needs to be done in creating those essential links between the Africans of the two regions. The Honourable Ralph Maraj, Minister of Foreign Affairs did not break the trend of the evening. He gave a speech wrought with emotional undertones, in which he lauded the Black Power Movement and the substantial contribution of the movement and its leaders to the improvement of Trinbagonian society. A lively performance by Chaguanas Women's Group, the National Belé Champions, lead to the intermission. |
Sheldon Blackman, of the Love Circle, performs Emancipation theme song,Oshe Baba |
Master of Ceremonies, Brother Shabaka
Kambon used this opportunity to present Dr. Rawle Gibbons, Director of
the Creative Arts Centre of the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine
with an ancient African musical instrument, the kora. This instrument was
donated to the Emancipation Support Committee in 1999 by the Senegalese
musician, Brother Kebba Jobateh. It was presented by Brother Sheldon Blackman.
After a fifteen minute break, in
which members of the audience were treated to an assortment of local delicacies,
the program resumed with a powerful execution of her 2000 composition by calypsonian,
Lady Paula. Brother Lasana Kwesi reached out to the patrons with his poem Since
ah Small, Small, Small. This piece took the older generation of the crowd back
to the 1970's, the time of its creation, and brought home, to the younger generation,
the feeling of growing up as an African child in a Eurocentric society. The
crowd had been well prepared, by this time to graciously receive the much anticipated
feature speaker, Professor
Hilary Beckles who had travelled all the way from Jamaica to address the
people of Trinidad and Tobago. He spoke about Africans in a plural society,
globalization and the position of the young African male.
Professor Hilary Beckles gives
the feature address
Calypso King of the World, Black Stalin, giving a scintillating performance |
The calypso king of the world,
the Black Stalin himself, brought the night's entertainment to a climax.
He created quite a stir with some of his best loved hits and with all
of the charm he is so well known for. He left the audience thundering
applause and chanting for more Stalin.
The night came to a close
under the expert management of the Master of Ceremonies, Shabaka
Kambon, who had the unlucky task of informing the audience that
the night's proceedings were over. A satisfied crowd trickled out
of the auditorium to the rhythmic pulsation of the Emancipation
Support Performers. |