I live with my husband in the land of his birth, Barbados. We live in the Parish of Christ Church and as strange as it may seem, Robert Burnet Jones, the plantation owner from the 18th century I introduced you to in Post 3, also lived in Christ Church. Perhaps my ancestors really did work on his plantation – wouldn’t that be kismet!
Barbados is not the most inclusive of societies, but it’s a beautiful island and it’s now my home. Anyway, it turns out that inclusion isn’t so much a geographical place as a way of being. My mum didn’t really believe in boundaries and the legacy she left, the values she passed on to us have led to my family being the most inclusive on the planet. My immediate clan are from Sierra Leone and England yes, but we are also from the Philippines, India, Barbados, Dominica, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe and Poland. We come in all shades of white, brown, and black and we love each other. We know what it is to face racism and we have learned not to let racism define who we are and who we love.
I’m retired now and although, after 40 years in Social Work, I didn’t quite manage to save the world, I gave it my best shot… anyway I’m not done yet (retired ain’t dead!).
There’s a lot of peace to be found in the space I’ve created for myself; it’s in the joy of being with the grandchildren (between us we have 11); it’s in the orange hibiscus in my garden and it’s in my saxophone. It’s also in the sea – the sea bordering the south/west coast of Barbados is an expanse of the calmest blue and on the north/east coast, the Atlantic Ocean pounds the shore with an awesome ferocity. Finding the balance between the calm and the ferocious is where I’m heading. It isn’t easy to leave behind the abuse I’ve lived through and researched, but I’m working on it. Recently, I wrote a short story about how my father’s death released me from some of my most painful memories. It was disguised as a piece of fiction but its actually entirely true, except for two points – I didn’t buy my father a green silk tie and I didn’t kill him (that was simply for artistic effect).
If you’re interested in the story listen to this audio file – the essential art of dying
Though I live a quieter life now, there’s still a lot of noise in my head – mostly about the injustices in the world but also and more frequently, about what to cook for dinner. But there’s peace in noise too – listen to this orchestral performance by the whistling tree frogs in Barbados, after a rainy night.
One final thing; back in the day, the slave owner, Robert Burnet Jones was Governor General of Barbados. Today the Governor General is a black woman, Dame Sandra Mason…you can be sure this isn’t kismet, just hundreds of years of struggle.
I’m going to play you out of My World with the song that became the anthem of the Civil Rights Movement, ‘Amazing Grace’ – hope you like it.