Hello everyone!
Here is my orchestral re-arrangement of the Barbados national anthem to celebrate what has been a challenging year.
On vocals is the amazing Allison Norville!
A .pdf version of the arrangement is available to download under my Books and Arrangement tab.
Thank you, Barbados for everything.
Happy Independence.
Roy Byer was a cultural activist and archivist who passed away in 2014.
He was also one of the best commentators on Caribbean and Bajan culture I have ever come across. I have posted this short clip today because it goes some way to explain two social events happening currently in Barbados. These are:
1. The xenophobic public reaction to 90 Nigerian students studying here
2. The alleged/or not so alleged desires of a headmistress to patrol black natural hair
Here Roy is speaking about music but he is really addressing how black cultural practices have historically been viewed in Barbados.
This post might appear quite local but race and identity politics are Caribbean wide issues.
Over to you Roy!
* Banja was a term used by early 19th and 20th century Barbadians to denote rhythmic, black working class music.
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