Caring for Ownership
The thing about ownership is that it doesn't stop at possession. We can talk about staking claims and having the right to call something our own, but trudging along at its side is responsibility for it. A simple illustration lies in the maintenance of land.
Just because you have the deed for it doesn't give you the right to let it become an overgrown eyesore in your neighbourhood. The State can step in and order you to clean it up.
It is true that Caribbean society has been a site of creations and new beginnings and much that exists finds little precedent for comparison; but that is no reason for us to ignore what we have had and miss the chances to learn from our histories.
One site with great potential for illuminating our shadowed pasts is our cricket, and while more has been done in that quest through this medium than perhaps any other, it still remains full of unexplored territory.
A popular lament over West Indies cricketers is the absence of knowledge about their history, not the epic of West Indian society, but the specific stories of their cricket ancestry. Lost in limbo because those links in memory have been severed, they are seen to flounder and fritter away their talents without the guidance of experienced hands.
Reality is that this pilloried generation is not entirely to blame for this break with the past. Their elders, those who are most vocal about this loss of memory and connection, these elders should re-examine their roles in keeping this an open and living line. They have not invested deeply into education on these matters. They have not set examples of showing respect for the achievements of cricket heroes. They have not supported the production of films or books; have not facilitated the telling of tales: neither in the orchestrated setting of a packed hall nor in the simple intimacy of an anecdote told in a hallway. Neither artist nor artisan receives corporate or civic support. Heroes have been cast aside or diminished by puerile acrobatics.
These are the models that have encouraged the dismissive attitude that has become the whipping boy for West Indian cricket failings. It is instructive to seek the source of a cultural attribute. This generation's adoption of a disposable mentality, of irreverence and ignorance was bred by the irresponsibility of its ancestors.
Claim ownership of what is yours, I say, but with equal diligence take care of it or you will find yourself holding empty treasures.
As the days draw nearer for the World Cup, there is much anxiety over its success. Depending on how you measure success it will yield different results in various quarters. No matter what the perceived shortcomings, credit must be given for extraordinary effort at many levels. I certainly cannot imagine any West Indian not hoping for the whole affair to bring positive consequences to the region.
It seems there is still a tepid response from the general public to the spectacle about to unfold, and instinctively, I feel it is because people have not absorbed a sense of ownership for the event. A certain connection is missing.
But then the concept of ownership is a muddy one. The issue is further clouded because we still do not have a highly developed sense of the importance of recording our history and examining our pasts analytically.
We don't know what is ours to claim, and thus we remain easy pickings for those who do.