Another Presumptuous Post About Calabash 2009

Geoffrey,
I've read your open letter to the Prime Minister of Jamaica and I think it's quite presumptuous.

This was the opening salvo from a prominent Caribbean writer/critic whose reaction to "An Open Letter to the Hon. Bruce Golding, Prime Minister of Jamaica," was to send me a personal e-mail that defended the Jamaican government's decision to reduce the funding for Calabash 2009, thus forcing the organizers to cancel the festival. But after "an amazing outpouring of sadness, disappointment, and disbelief from all around the world," the government decided to reverse its position and fully fund the festival.

I've decided not to reveal the person's name because his or her identity is not germane. Rather, it is his/her ideas and the manner that s/he chose to defend the government that interests me.

Geoffrey,
I've read your open letter to the Prime Minister of Jamaica and I think it's quite presumptuous.

I thought we lived in a democracy and as a citizen who had serious concerns about the direction of my government, I could voice my opinion through my blog to another citizen who had been entrusted to make decisions about our collective fate. Apparently, I was wrong. I continue to be wrong.

But not entirely.

As I wrote in a post some time ago, "Blogging Bypasses Gatekeepers," blogging is a threat to politicians and to people who want to continue the "mental slavery" against which they rail publicly. Blogging is a kind of freedom that can only survive in a democracy where there is a free flow of ideas and any attempt to shut down or diminish freedom of speech, especially given our collective history in the Caribbean, has the scent of empire and colonialism.

Mea culpa. I have breached the social order. I should know my place.

Geoffrey,
I've read your open letter to the Prime Minister of Jamaica and I think it's quite presumptuous.

Tell me which writer isn't?

I know this person and s/he knows me. But instead of publicly making a comment on the blog and revealing her/his identity, s/he chose to make this personal by sending me an e-mail.

It's not the first time I and/or my writings have been labeled "presumptuous." It's part of a larger pattern.

I've been called nuff, extra, and out-of-order. One of my classmates at Jamaica College once called me "Sister Big Stuff,"--a slap at my sexuality because everyone knows it's saaf battyboys who enjoy literature.

But as with all things Caribbean, only "certain people" are allowed to have an opinion. I am not one of those people. And I know this person. We've even been snapped in a few photographs together.

And you would have thought that after writing as many books as I have that I could have at least earned the right to criticize my government.

But no. Not quite.

This person is a professional writer, so his/her words were chosen deliberately to have a chilling effect on my criticism of the government. This scholar belongs to that class of Caribbean critics that continues to ignore my work at home even while my novel and short stories are being studied abroad. This writer belongs to that class of Caribbean critics that publishes articles about Bob Marley, Louise Bennett, Sparrow, and Kitchener and their ability to "speak truth to power," yet when they are given the chance to demonstrate this ability, they choose to attack someone whom they think has the audacity to speak his mind.

And the strange irony is that I am not the author of the letter. I am merely a co-signer and publisher of the letter. Yet I was the only one who received a personal e-mail.

Yet, this is not a poor me, pity me post. If anything, it is a post about disillusionment and reclaiming personal power.

There was a time when this would have shut me down because I would have thought, "This is a big person. They know what they are talking about. Boy, shut you mouth and keep quiet."

I would have folded my wings, gone back into my shell, and been silent.

But those days are over.

I will continue to be nuff, presumptuous, out-of-order and extra.

The times of being small are over. If there is one thing that the Calabash incident has proven to me is that we've had our YES WE CAN moment in Caribbean writing. We can and should build on that moment to extend democracy in all its forms to every part of Caribbean life.

But more than anything else, I will continue to be grateful to the readers of this blog who have supported me by reading, commenting, and linking to my blog. Freely. You haven't followed anyone's opinion. You've read because you think that I sometimes have interesting things to say.

Thank you. You have made me stronger.

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