Walk With Me

Leroy Carter Collin

Description

This publicationspeaks to many themes that easily resonate to persons of Afro-Caribbeandescent, and indeed any person who wishes an insider's view into theorigins and realities of working class Caribbean persons of that generation.Walk With Me looks back across three generations, but each era ispresented via the lens of the writer, a 'self-made' man who over a period oftime and character-shaping experiences has come to a greater understanding of self, purpose and his unique place in Caribbean diasporic history. In telling his story he has touched on many themes: the persistent legacyof slavery and plantation life; the institution of matriarch-led homes; the commitment to family; the importance of pride, self-respect and personal discipline; the need of hard work and sacrifice towards accomplishingmajor goals; and self confidence in pursuing business opportunities towards self and community empowerment.

Sujets

• Lettres et linguistique

Informations

• Publié par: Hansib Publications
• Date de parution: 29 mars 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781912662036
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

WALK WITH ME
WALK WITH ME
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
COLLIN LEROY CARTER
First published in Great Britain by Hansib Publications in 2017
Hansib Publications Limited
P.O. Box 226, Hertford, SG14 3WY
[e-mail]
www.hansibpublications.com
Reprinted 2018
Copyright Collin Leroy Carter, 2017

ISBN 978-1-910553-82-47 (PDF) ISBN 978-1-912662-03-6 (ePub) ISBN 978-1-912662-04-3 (Kindle)
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved.
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.
Front cover photo of Glendairy Prison Gully, Barbados, and back cover photo, courtesy of Annette Ione Smith
Design Production by Hansib Publications Ltd Cover design concept by Jonathan Lewis
Printed in Great Britain
Dedication
It is said that, no man is an island, but Mable Matilda Carter repeatedly told her five sons that she was, the only man in her home.
Hence, this book is dedicated to the late great Mable Matilda Carter, my mother, my mentor and my island
I would also like to dedicate this book to all of my Ancestors, on whose shoulders I stand.
To my wife, my brothers, my children, my grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am deeply indebted to the people who helped me to make my dream of publishing this book a reality. I am especially grateful to:
My brother, Rudolph Carter, a Griot in the true sense of the word. Thank you for filling in the missing pieces of our family s history.
My dear friend, Arif Ali, of Hansib Publications. Thank you for dropping everything at a moment s notice to publish Walk With Me .
My friends and acquaintances who, on hearing that I had commenced this walk , gave me much encouragement and made it known that they would be anxiously awaiting their own personally signed copy of this book.
My researcher, Annette Ione Smith, author of Etched and Rend . I met Annette whilst she was in Barbados doing research on one of her own books, but she graciously decided that mine was the greater cause! I am indebted to her for her sterling research work and her assistance in getting the idea of the book committed to paper.
For all those whose names are not mentioned here, but who have assisted in whichever way, I thank you ALL.
CONTENTS
Foreword
BOOK I
With this ring, I thee wed
BOOK II 1940-1950: The Weight of the World
Almost the weight of the world
School days and life at St Giles
School vacation
BOOK III 1950-1960: Raging Her Own War
A place called Carrington Village
The move
The standpipe
Getting up and coming in
Going to Church: My Mother and King Jesus
Til de Doris or hearse comes and turn round
My first job as a Cash Boy
A newly minted Cash Boy and a hurricane called Janet
Be careful what you wish forx you just might get it
Joining the Regiment
The more some things change, the more things remain the same
Stars in her crown
BOOK IV 1960-1970: Her Majesty s Subject
My British Passport
Going over in away
Arrival in London
First morning in England
My first few days - Finding my way
Even in England, you can find an old friend
No longer England s bastard child
The Phantom, Mandrake the Magician, Lothar and religion
Surging forward
The second floor flat
Black: Not just a colour, but a condition
Setting things right
Move to Leytonstone
Twenty-one days aboard a passenger vessel
BOOK V 1970-1980: Self-Sufficiency
Got to find a way to do for self
Forced into Independence
My foray into tertiary education
Getting started: Forging ahead and starting over and over
Friendship and business: Not always a good mix
The U.K. Caribbean Chamber of Commerce
African-Caribbean Funeral Services (May 1992)
When days stretch into years
Oh! That you would bless me indeed
The longest wait: Waiting on Lemuel
A seat at Jesus feet
Reflections on Mammy
BOOK VI 1980-1990: Planning and Planting
On becoming and being a father
BOOK VII 1990-2000: A True Pan-Africanist
Tears for the Ancestors
BOOK VIII 2000-2014: Still Pressing On
Bakes and fishcakes for lunch
BOOK IX Historical Reflections and Tributes
A tribute to Miss Riley
Memoriam: Tribute to Comrades in the Struggle and the Ancestors

Epilogue
The Author The Researcher
FOREWORD
An engaging and insightful look at growing up in Barbados in the 1940s and 1950s through the keyhole of one man s experiences, this first book is part historical text, part coming of age story, part Pan-Africanist manual. This publication speaks to many themes that easily resonate to persons of Afro-Caribbean descent, and indeed any person who wishes an insider s view into the origins and realities of working class Caribbean persons of that generation.
Walk with Me looks back across three generations, but each era is presented via the lens of the writer, a self-made man who over a period of time and character-shaping experiences has come to a greater understanding of self, purpose and his unique place in Caribbean diasporic history. In telling his story he has touched on many themes: the persistent legacy of slavery and plantation life; the institution of matriarch lead homes; the commitment to family; the importance of pride, self- respect and personal discipline; the need of hard work and sacrifice towards accomplishing major goals; and self confidence in pursuing business opportunities towards self and community empowerment.
Each aspect of this document has the potential to be an entire volume in itself and the reader is soon aware that for all that is shared so much more can be written. The activities and day to day life of any people has always been central to the culture of that nation. It is the ordinary folk who undertake their day-to-day practices utilising considerable indigenous knowledge daily in their food preparation, funerary traditions, etc. Mable Carter, by far the greatest influence in Collin Carter s life, actively used her culinary and vending skills to carve a livelihood for her family and with her grassroots entrepreneurship contributed to the national economy by this very act of expressing her native culture. There can be no doubt about the value of this too often overlooked contribution. Esteemed Barbadian academic and writer George Lamming 1 refers to the labour of our working class folk as that of intellectuals. He states:

The word intellectual may be applied to all forms of labour which could not possibly be done without some exercise of the mind ... the fisherman and the farmer may be regarded as cultural and intellectual workers in their own right. Social practise has provided them with a considerable body of knowledge and a capacity to make discriminating judgements in their daily work.
It is in recognition of such consistent contribution to Barbados at the community and national level that give us much cause to celebrate our cultural workers in the widest sense. Without a doubt it was his mother s entrepreneurial spirit and determined self-reliance that shaped Collin s confidence in stepping into the world of work and his eventual self-employment and investment in several business ventures. His mother s and indeed his intellectual work has been the basis of her and subsequently his success in the face of enormous challenges.
This book therefore recognizes and salutes the sterling efforts of the entrepreneurial working class whose work and commitment over generations has demonstrated the model of self-reliance as being a true expression of Independence. Professor Woodville Marshall 2 has noted that in a Post-Emancipation society, it was the working class that:

... initiated the conversion of those plantation territories into modern societies. In a variety of ways they attempted to build local self-generating communities. They founded villages and markets... they clamoured for extension of educational facilities, for improvements in communication and markets; they started the local co-operative movement... Peasant development was emancipation in action.
So in celebration of our common history, we celebrate our entrepreneurs in recognition of the key roles that they have played and continue to play in asserting a national identity, feeding the nation, demonstrating self-determination and maintaining a national marketplace.
It is also notable that following the path of members of such influential groups as the Caribbean Artists Movement, it is within the diaspora that much of the growing of awareness of the common struggle and history that unites the region is discovered and the need for social and political agitation for change is developed. It is the act of travelling to the centre of the colonial system that the truth about the system is clearly seen and the myths of the system as taught and perpetuated within the colonies challenged. Collin s journey, is then instructive to those who may have not had the privilege of that line of sight in not only understanding the experiences that shaped him but the relevance of his knowledge gained to all of us members of these societies and their diasporas.
The Community has always been important as a core of cultural and economic development, even if too often remaining unexploited. In travelling to the UK Collin s understanding of community embraced a wider diaspora, but his approach remained true to the source: It is within the traditions of each space and the resources of that environment that the innate creativity of our people can be harnessed for its expression and development. This is the lesson that his personal journey clearly shows us and the context within which his invitation to Walk with Me must be taken