Man Up

Man Up
By Delroy Nesta Williams

Man Up young boy Man Up

Daddy's gone
Out there in the cold world
Loving these young girls
So you have to play his role
So Man Up young boy, Man Up
No more childhood games
You have to bear the brunt of your father's shame
Every time mommy's hurt
She will drag you through his dirt
Because you're a constant reminder
That your father walked out the door
Leaving her to raise 3 kids on her own
And to make it even worse
You have all his characteristics -
Sly with words and full of tricks,
You even sound exactly like him when you speak.
Man Up young boy, Man Up
No more all out fridays followed by lazy saturdays lingering out late
You've got to go out and earn money to put food on your family's plate
There's no more crying for you
Suck it up and be a man
The one that your daddy couldn't be
It has to be you since anatomically it can't be your mommy
You've got to look out for your sisters
Make sure they don't fall prey to the drug dealers and gangsters
Or even worst, men like your father!
Who just gave up on his family
To chase young skirts
Who are almost the same age as his children
Now he has left you with the burden
Picking up the slack where he dropped it
So Man Up young boy, Man Up!
Drop out of school and get a job
Now is the time to pull up your pants, tie your waist and be strong
Simply because daddy is running from his responsibility
And mommy is too busy casting blame and scapegoatting
So this young boy, has to Man Up
Grow some moustache and beard
And face the world
Even though he isn't prepared
And all of this frustration
Is so new to him
As he tries to be better than his father
But every mistake or misstep
Serves as a reminder from his mother
That he's just like his daddy
And only adds fire to his failure
So now he simply rolls over
From one day to the other
Living a man's life while only a child
And he wishes somewhere that his father would be suffering
The same pain that was bestowed upon him
When daddy left his mother and sisters
Forcing his boy child to Man Up!

Kalinago Love Scene

So I remixed this love scene that I found in a book that I was reading... I just felt that the scene needed an extended version instead of the 4 lines the scene got from the author. I am not sure how ethical this is in writing but it is accepted in music, through covers and remixes. I hope this won't offend anyone. 

It isn't my intent to reduce the work of the author, just to give my own take on the scene... would appreciate some feedback and comments, how did I do... 

The scene was taken from Kalinago Blood, a recently launched book by Dominican writer Alick Lazare: 

Kalinago Love Scene

Her long unkempt nails dug into his back as he entered her for the first time. A small electric shock riveted through her, at once jolting her body but also freeing her legs as she wrapped them around his waist.

The move made her tearful but the ecstasy it filled her with surpassed any pain that she had ever known. She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, a mixture of emotions that she was affronting for the very first time. 

Her long arms, one around the back of his neck and the other gripping his left shoulder kept her firmly in place as Captain Warner rocked back and forth. All this felt new to him as well, he never having had a woman as uncultured as a Kalinago.

A low moan escaped from Barbé’s mouth and although it surprised her, it felt too natural to raise any alarms. She bit the tip of the Captain's left ear, licking inside it. She could feel the Captain's penis touching the walls of her vagina, massaging her. His deep groans overshadowed hers, as he rushed his strokes, delving deeper and deeper, very eager to give her all of his member. Her waist now moved in unison with his, similar to how she had seen the waves crashing upon the sea shore.

The Captain’s back arched away from her and with one final thrust he collapsed upon the young lady, her body unable to hold him up as he crushed her, the sweat from his forehead splashing over her face and burning her eyes.

He laid there so immobile, that for a moment she thought him dead, except for the low gasps that he allowed to escape from his mouth.

She now felt fully awaken, her eyes lit up - she wanted more. But the old man just rolled over to the side and within minutes his deep snore meant it was all over. She laid there, a tingle between her thighs wondering when again The Captain would take her.

The Racial Rift – Kalinago versus Blacks

The racial rift – Kalinago versus Blacks

Before I knew what I now know, I had always considered Kalinagos as black people, a lighter shade with straighter hair but still very much black.

Maybe it was because although I am black, I spent a lot of time down the road at my neighbours house.

They were/are Kalinagos. I consider them family and although the patriarch of their family sometimes bellowed out "sacré negre" at some of us, I always thought it was more in jest; maybe it was because I didn't really understand the underlying emotions at the time or because my creole wasn't any good. He spoke better creole than most of us.

It was until I was an adult though, and started actively engaging in discussion with my Kalinago friends that I came to grasp resentment and even some bitterness towards “Black” people. I've also observed the same from black people towards Kalinagos in all honesty.

I have never been in a forum where race relations were discussed but in the new age of social media I have come across heated debates on Facebook that make me second-guess my place of abode. Is this Dominica that they're referring to? Are these things still on-going?

It's commonly "accepted" by many that the Kalinagos sold Roseau for a bottle of rum and that stigma has been attached to them for generations now and we wholeheartedly embrace this saying without gauging the effects or impacts that it is having on our present day environment.

I remember being at a presentation and the Kalinago man who was to report started his "presentation" by stating, "you know we are illiterate people already" clearly setting himself up for ridicule and failure. What a perception to have of your people and what a stigma to place and propagate about yourself! This isn't an image that professes self-confidence.

The Kalinago people feel slighted by history. Who can really blame them having been labeled as cannibals and other derogatory terms for centuries? But as Alick Lazare reminded us at the launching of his book Kalinago Blood, "it is so important that we avoid 'the danger of the single story' and tell our own, from our perspective and with our voice."

It is damn well time we (Kalinagos and Blacks) started to tell our own story.

Black people were also slighted by history as well and still bear a lot of the stigmas that were attached. The stories of resistance and perseverance, a commonality between black Dominicans and Kalinagos, though is what should be mostly of our focus but that's where we falter most. Even before the abolition of slavery a wedge was driven between the Blacks and Kalinagos and it continues today.

How do we break that wedge, break down that wall. Though outright acts of racism may not form part of our everyday society, we must honestly admit that underlying tones are there. I’ve seen it, I’ve experienced it too (knowingly and unknowingly) and I may have even contributed to it (unknowingly) but like I’ve come to understand from Dr. Maya Angelou, “when you know better, you must do better” so I urge us all, to now do better.

I think I will go back to considering Kalinagos as Blacks now, for they are my brothers and sisters on this island of Waitukubuli aka Dominica.

sexual experimentation - a rite of passage?

There's a white elephant in the room. Actually, the elephant isn't white


at all, it's mainly black, unless of course I'm colorblind. That elephant is thousands-strong and includes a lot of our Dominican young men and women.  

While our society parades itself as this happy group of heterosexuals we have a marauding, increasing number of young people who "dabble" in homosexual and bisexual lifestyle as a coming of age activity. 

I see it at activities, I hear about it from my younger family and friends. It's in their schools, churches, groups, etc. Young men and women who are secretly and not so secretly experimenting with their sexuality in an effort to "find" themselves. Since when does sex and sexual preference help you to find yourself? 

While we may never have the statistics to prove this, mainly because of the social taboos we place on sex as a society, we still need to have the fora where we can address/discuss youth sexuality. 

For too long we've allowed these discussions to be held behind closed doors and among friends, often times giving misguided or misleading information and with little or no guidance. No one to provide the basic facts and truths.

So as I write and you read, hundreds of Dominican young men and women are flirting with their sexuality. As a friend put it, "they're not exactly gay, they just prefer women for now because I know some of them who still have boyfriends" and once the experimentation is over, they will revert to their boyfriends. He was speaking about a group of young women but I'm sure it could have very well been a group of young men also and not simply because of their clothing or demeanour. Our young men are flirting with bisexuality as much as our young women. 

Is the experience worth it? Is this bisexual culture a healthy one? Is it a phase? Or is this culture something that has always been there, occurring behind closed doors? 

Is it solely due to the influence of the American media and culture that daily bombard us with images of the rainbow culture? No it isn't, Dominica already had gays, lesbians and bisexuals long before the first television was hooked up to electricity. While it is true that we have more overseas influence in this generation in comparison to past generations we can't simply lump the issue into that heap. 

Sexual experimentation long been heralded as a rite of passage for young people as they journey to adulthood but they should know that their sexual preferences shouldn't define who they are or who they want to be... 

It's one thing to experiment, it's a totally different arena when you think that the experimentation will somehow define the kind of person you will become in the future... 

How do we address this? Is there a need to address it? Who will address it? The Church? Schools? Government? Youth Council? 

One thing is for sure, our sexuality will continue having an impact on our individual and collective health as a society as we still grapple with the taboo and secrecy that exist in hypocritical Dominica. 

If we pretend it doesn't exist and we don't address the repercussions, it will just go away... Yea right, Dominica... Yea right!