[dropcap]T[/dropcap]his weekend, the Mabouya Valley Parade of the Bands will bring the always contentious carnival season to an end for 2018. Which gives us one more opportunity to reel the minds of Saint Lucians on what carnival means to us as a country and as a people— until next year. To say the least: government’s decision to invest $3million into the vibrant month that casually celebrates the Caribbean’s most desired vices has been contested. For many, carnival season is a joyous time to celebrate the culture of Saint Lucia; for others, carnival is a shade of its former self, all it offers is a month of state- endorsed debauchery.
Ace musician Mr. Ronald “Boo” Hinkson stands impartial as he addresses the impact carnival has on our children and what the consequences are of broken systems in a child’s life. “We must have carnival because it’s part of who we are but we must give it some direction. It can’t be a free-for-all because there are going to be consequences,” he says.
He adds: “Our lives are too caught up in bacchanal, party, drinking, revelry. We go from one thing to another, to another, to another, all year.”
Hinkson says there is danger in being a poor country that loves to have a drink . . . or seven. “That is not good for us, so we need to give our kids reasons not to go down that road. We should know when it is time to party and when it is time to settle down, work and produce in the interests of self and country.
“A lot of the stuff children are exposed to today, I wasn’t exposed to that kind of thing. The challenges today are much tougher, and because the family structure is not as strong as it used to be, something has to replace that.”
He speaks fondly of the community that raised him as a child. His mother, sisters, brothers, friends and extended family all nurtured him and created his “ethos”.
Hinkson proposes the example that school shouldn’t just be about passing tests and getting high grades. In this modern world, there needs to be more. “We cannot divorce the building of character from our education system, otherwise we are just policing people who can pass exams. We have to teach our young people how to be civil; we have to teach them about contributing to our country; a lot of things we have to do that are not being done.”
Perhaps hiring new teachers, training the ones we already have, changing curricula; any of these options, Hinkson thinks are viable. But most importantly, Saint Lucia needs to determine what truly is culture. Hinkson’s opinion: “Saint Lucia needs to address what part of its culture is truly worth holding on to. If everything to do with our culture is about alcohol, getting drunk, then we have to be careful about how important that part of our culture becomes to us.”
The musician worries about the long haul, the future of the country. “The thing I know is that the future doesn’t discriminate; the future doesn’t ask questions; the future simply accepts you as a representative of your past. As black people, our history, our journey, do not permit us to make fools of ourselves. We must take our future a lot more seriously. If we don’t, our history will inevitably revisit us.”
