‘Freedom Songs’ in Selected Caribbean-Canadian Contexts: Retrospective Fragments

Cecille Depass

doi:10.20355/c5kk5b

Abstract

This article explores important variations in concepts of freedom and resistance for people in the English speaking Caribbean, who for the most part, still live in oppressive economic and social conditions. The article has a threefold purpose: Initially, it highlights the meaning of freedom in terms of the historical context of legally sanctioned enslavement of African people in the Caribbean which existed for several hundred years. Secondly, it identifies freedom in terms of Caribbean authors who deliberately publish in Creole as acts of resistance to empire’s dominance. Thirdly, the paper summarizes a few personal experiences of schooling and university teaching in terms of hooks’ (1994) concept of education ‘as the practice of freedom’ and a few classic concepts from Freire (1970, 1982).

Highlights

Personal, historical and cultural memories, often the forte of previously colonized people are usually disseminated through stories, oral histories and performance poetry (e.g., Bennett, 1966; DePass, 2006; Dobson, 2004; Donsky & Champion, 2007; Kwesi Johnson, 1989, 2002; Mordecai, 1989, 1995; Reinhartz, 1992; Ryan, 2011; Walrond, 2008; Wong, 2007)
Brown’s (2005) earlier theoretical analysis explicates the vital functions of memory and oral history
Brown’s (2005, 2010) life story, in a similar manner to personal memories of bell hooks (1994) and Patricia Hill Collins (2000), demonstrates effectively that a liberatory education plays a vital role in their lives

Summary

Introduction

Historical and cultural memories, often the forte of previously colonized people are usually disseminated through stories, oral histories and performance poetry (e.g., Bennett, 1966; DePass, 2006; Dobson, 2004; Donsky & Champion, 2007; Kwesi Johnson, 1989, 2002; Mordecai , 1989, 1995; Reinhartz, 1992; Ryan, 2011; Walrond, 2008; Wong, 2007). It explores significant variations of the concept of freedom, a vital issue to people, for example, in the English speaking Caribbean, who for the most part, still live in oppressive social and economic conditions.

Results

Conclusion