The Caribbean Review of Books (New vol. 1, no. 19, February 2009)
A sample of the new CRB, as published by MEP until 2009
A sample of the new CRB, as published by MEP until 2009
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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Caribbean</strong> <strong>Review</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Books</strong>, <strong>February</strong> <strong>2009</strong><br />
Portfolio<br />
Opposite page, above: one <strong>of</strong> the cardboard headpieces<br />
at the mas camp. Opposite page, below: T’in Cow Fat<br />
Cow at the Savannah judging point. Above: the herd<br />
downtown, near Woodford Square. Right: musician<br />
Roger Roberts <strong>of</strong> 3Canal dancing on <strong>New</strong> Street<br />
actors, articulated a variety <strong>of</strong> themes<br />
through the simple costumes — headpieces<br />
made from cardboard and paint,<br />
and ordinary white clothes splotched<br />
with black. For some, the band — assembled<br />
with <strong>vol</strong>unteer labour, using<br />
discarded and recycled materials — was<br />
a commentary on the commercialisation<br />
<strong>of</strong> mas. Others discerned an environmental<br />
message. Each cow brandished<br />
a punning placard, borrowed from the<br />
tradition <strong>of</strong> old mas, some <strong>of</strong> them making<br />
fun <strong>of</strong> politicians (Patrick’s National<br />
Moovement), or with slanted references<br />
to international affairs (Dow Cow,<br />
Cownter Insurgency). One cow was festooned<br />
with a feather boa, a<strong>no</strong>ther with<br />
black Mardi Gras beads. <strong>The</strong> gilded<br />
Emperor Cow was king <strong>of</strong> the band and<br />
golden calf at the same time.<br />
<strong>The</strong> cows were <strong>no</strong>t early risers, and<br />
it was eleven on Carnival Tuesday<br />
morning before they set out from their<br />
mas camp in Woodbrook, to the jangle<br />
<strong>of</strong> bells and a chorus <strong>of</strong> moos. <strong>The</strong><br />
cardboard headpieces wilted in the intermittent<br />
rain, and the herd made frequent<br />
grazing stops. Still, they moseyed<br />
round the whole parade circuit — in record<br />
time, squeezing past slow-moving<br />
larger bands downtown — and, though<br />
<strong>of</strong>ficially unregistered for competition,<br />
crossed the stage at four judging<br />
points, to the bemusement <strong>of</strong> the <strong>of</strong>ficial<br />
an<strong>no</strong>uncers. Spectators on the street<br />
squinted to read the placards. At the<br />
Savannah judging point, the traditional<br />
climax <strong>of</strong> the parade route, the cows<br />
pranced past the TV cameras, making<br />
up with their enthusiasm for the small<br />
size <strong>of</strong> the herd. By five in the after<strong>no</strong>on<br />
the band, re-nearing their starting point,<br />
began to split apart, and in their twos<br />
and threes the cows disappeared into<br />
the larger herd <strong>of</strong> las’ lap revelers.<br />
But that was <strong>no</strong>t the end <strong>of</strong> the bovine<br />
story. Two months later, the cows<br />
reappeared on the streets <strong>of</strong> Port <strong>of</strong><br />
Spain. Dressed in black, with bloodred<br />
tears running from the headpieces’<br />
eyes, and the masqueraders’ mouths<br />
bound with red cloth, they marched to<br />
Independence Square and sat silently<br />
among the decorative flowerbeds. It<br />
was the day before the opening <strong>of</strong> the<br />
controversial Summit <strong>of</strong> the Americas,<br />
hosted by Trinidad and Tobago at a cost<br />
<strong>of</strong> hundreds <strong>of</strong> millions <strong>of</strong> dollars and<br />
the temporary suspension <strong>of</strong> civil freedoms<br />
in the capital (thanks to a security<br />
lockdown around the summit venue).<br />
Through a printed manifesto, the<br />
cows declared: “We represent the voiceless.<br />
<strong>The</strong> many thousands <strong>of</strong> Trinbagonians<br />
. . . whose tax dollars are being<br />
invested in a display that does <strong>no</strong>t<br />
address their most urgent concerns . . .<br />
Who is listening?” But the more eloquent<br />
message was the medium itself,<br />
the spectacle <strong>of</strong> these stray cows lost<br />
in the shadows <strong>of</strong> Port <strong>of</strong> Spain’s latest<br />
skyscrapers. Red letters spelled out the<br />
rechristened band’s new name: <strong>The</strong> People<br />
Must Be Herd, a pun poised between<br />
the ideal <strong>of</strong> participatory democracy<br />
and the reality <strong>of</strong> a society stumbling<br />
mindlessly under the prods <strong>of</strong> cowboy<br />
politicians. Even Prime Minister Patrick<br />
Manning, famously oblivious to public<br />
opinion, might get the joke.<br />
Nicholas Laughlin<br />
29