PROLOGUE

This article originally appeared on Facebook, before this publication, verbal permission was sought and granted by original author, my thanks to former colleague – the inimitable Mr Walrond. Images of Independence Square that were incorporated here are based on direct attendance at Ronnie Clarke’s revelation… Also included is Ronnie’s full disclosure on the sequence of events… Any other visual augmentation were found on the ground after the address 😉

“When goat dung wants to roll, it will roll uphill”. The goat dung at Starcom Network is rolling uphill, in complete defiance of gravity, common sense and justice.

Whatever else is now being given as the reason for Clarke’s dismissal, it was the unwarranted banning of his song – played by all other media – that precipitated it. In defence of its action, the station’s management delivered itself of another ball of gobbledegook: The “disciplinary process was engaged with Mr Clarke in pursuance of the company’s internal protocols, national labour laws, and conducted by lawyers on both sides”.  

Well, that is surely a big surprise, given that only one year ago the station bestowed on Mr. Clarke a special appreciation award “in recognition of your exceptional dedication and unwavering commitment to the success of Starcom Network.” The grandiose citation goes on: “this award is a small token of gratitude and admiration for the remarkable dedication you have shown”. 

All of us – including the station’s management – know that “The National Carol Festival” is a benign piece of social commentary. The song falls easily into the category of satirical calypso. It took facts and storified them, using artistic license, to create a narrative that everyone (except the management of Starcom) understood to be a play on reality, rather than reality itself.  

It is ironic that the calypso artform, with its biting commentary and satirical tendencies should find a home in the Caribbean, a region overly deferential to officials of State and other elements of the ruling class. Going back into colonial times, freedom of expression in these parts has existed within very narrow and secure borders.  

“Sedition Law” by King Radio that addressed the abuses of civil liberties under the colonial government; “Money is King” by Growling Tiger that commented on corruption; “Netty Netty” by the Roaring Lion that touched the then taboo subject of a woman having an abortion. Deeming the song obscene, the colonial authorities in Trinidad seized a batch of records of the song and dumped them into the Port of Spain harbour.

“Commissioner’s Report” by Attila the Hun: that spoke to colonial mismanagement and was subject to censorship. And even a song called “The Banning of Records” by Attila was itself banned.

We’ve had our share of bannings in Barbados.  

We all remember the 1980’s and the banning of songs by the Mighty Gabby – Boots and One Day Coming Soon. I like to think that the era of political censorship of artistic expression is behind us. 

We have become a more tolerant society. Well – all of us except the people who run the Starcom Network.