Former executive Director of the World Creole Music Festivals Val Cuffy has issued a call for Dominicans to “fully support Dominica’s Lady of Song Ophelia Maria who celebrates 40 years this year as an artist.
A two day event to be held on the weekend of Mother’s Day dubbed “Mama Creole” will bring together local artists Swinging Stars and First Serenade and Cool Sessions out of the USVI in musical concert in honour of Ophelia.
Cuffy called on the government and the Ministry of Tourism and Culture to change the names of streets in recognition of local artists.
“We really have to celebrate our icons, and I want to challenge the Ministry of Tourism & Culture, the government of Dominica. It is time to change Kennedy Avenue, Virgin Lane and all the names that don’t belong to us,” he said.
He continued, “We have 90 years of music of Gordon Henderson, Ophelia (Maria) the late Jeff Joe (Jeff Joseph). We walk to Guadeloupe, Martinique, Paris and these people are living legends. If the French had to come to fix the grave of the late Jeff Joe in Dominica, we can do better than that.”
Cuffy, who is a music promoter, stated, “We must stop talking and saying what we are going to do and do it. We can build an international airport; we can build a hospital but the only therapy you will hear at the airport and the hospital – what the nurses are listening to – is music.”
He said music “is the greatest therapy that you can have and we have to give that support to our artists. We are happy for this event and look forward to celebrating Gordon Henderson, Chubby and Halibut in the same way.”
Cuffy said that forty years in the music industry is a milestone which cannot be left unnoticed.
“I want Dominican to come out in large numbers if we have to shut down the country so be it. You have to be there to support Ophelia and others and we need a Mama and Papa creole every year.”
This is something that the National Reparation Committee has been advocating for. Not just in the field of music. The names that we now have were given to us to remove the history and influences of both our African and Kalinago heritage. We need to both reclaim these 2 histories as well as create our own local history that our children can look back on. This is now even more important given that we are undergoing the process of acculturation and interculturation now faster than when we the European culture was forced on us by the metropoles. However, be careful not to remove the entirety of the European influences because they too made us who we are: Creole People.
Shut down the country you say? That must be the dumbest thing I’ve read on the internet whole day.
Val, you are a child of God. When you witness to the trust in Jesus you are subject to all kinds of temptations and being confrontational is one of them. So just look to Jesus for solutions.
This in my opinion is a poor idea. Why not build a monument it a park? Where’s the creativity in the solutions?
Yes, absolutely change colonial street names, change colonial red tape and bureaucracy, place names like Victoria Falls, stop children marching, stop everyone marching, but for goodness sake, don’t rename these things after pop and calypso stars. Come on, surely you can do just a little bit better than that. You have Maroon chiefs, Kalinago chiefs, historical events, ecological and heritage sites, statesmen and women before you get to Triple Kay Avenue and Ophelia Lane.
Come on man, stop trying to stay relevant. You mean that there are no other prominent people in Dominica besides musicians to rename streets after? Besides what is the point of changing the street names? The current names form part of our history. We can always create a music hall of fame for our artists.
I trully agree to change the slave names,but i wished that when some people did the same about the airport that there was an out cry .
Dominicans let us work together. God bless you all.
What we need is the cleaning up and sanitization of Roseau. To many times i have to be jumping over broken drains, brown water and dog mess especially around the government headquarters area. I would hate to read of someone asking for a name change for Roseau. something like Roseau the “Dog Sh../mess city”of the OECS/Caribbean.
Very incoherent statement Val. I’m still trying to reconcile what you said with the purpose of the press conference.
Shut the country down for what exactly. There are many other ways to get things done. All you Dominicans too like daybah is all you so that have the country how it is stupes
Mark, do not entertain that sort of nonsense and allow them to draw your wife into this political crap!
There are lots of other ways that we can honor Ophelia. If the idea is to name every street in that old semi-city called Roseau, it makes absolutely no sense.
If the idea is to erase every name the British left behind that falls into the category of prejudice and bigotry!America was in Dominica too, I have proof!
Now; was there ever a British, or French person during the days of colonization by the French, or during the era of the British name Virgin in Dominica?
The names of the street are part of our history; and talking down Statues of British as the late Roosevelt “Rosie” Douglas ordered in Portsmouth made no sense.
In Antigua; however, they did not change the name from Nelson Dockyard to Antigua name, hence “Admiral Lord Nelson Dockyard has become a major tourist attraction on the island, generating millions in revenue.
Son!
Nonsense as usual, don’t worry about our old semi- city called Roseau Mr. Uncle Tom. Yes these names have to change starting with kenedy avenue. Strange a street in Dominica named after a white American president who did nothing for the Caribbean or black people.
Guy shut up, what do you know? The Civil Rights Bill signed by Lyndon Johnson was as a result of John F. Kennedy efforts, if John did not send the National Guard to protect the black children they threatened; told if the enter into a white only segregated school they would be killed where the hell were you?
You talk about white man, and their country; do you know how many Dominicans are here illegal some scrunching for a living, although they are here for more than forty years!
If you do not want an American name in Dominica, why don’t you stop cumming here and the US Virgin islands, burdening the welfare system; stay in Dominica and name your streets after you, then eat each other; fool!
You talk about Uncle Tom, ……………., you do not even know the story, it is the other way around; you are the Uncle Tom; it’s traitor like you which cause the one you call Tom murder by beating!
I agree 100%. All these names of streets and institutions that belongs to the colonial era should go. When you have renamed all of the streets, please ensure that the names are prominently displayed at every intersection of the respective streets. We have too many streets in the capital that do not have identifying signage.
Roseau is confusing enough, now you want to change everything. Most people will still go by the old name. Forget that idea. It will cost people a lot of money for nothing.
Clearly those who served in the leadership of post independence Dominica are the names that should be placed on streets to replace the leadership of our colonial history of kings and the British rule .it Is sad that we continue to ignore our past leaders
Despite our disdain for PJ we must reflect on his role as a father of our nation as did OJ who led us in the time of the national Constitutonal crisis and hurricane David .in 1979
Edison James who led our nation too cant he disregarded ….The naming of Liverpool who did not appear to contribute irectly to nation building or Mike Douglas who never led this country comes to mind also .give honor to who it is due
What was independence street before it was renamed?
ADMIN: Queen Mary Street.
Sorry, but PJ was convicted for treason perpetrated against our own. You want to name s street in honour of him? No, this goes too
Cuffy, get a damn job, if you do not have one, and stop this confounded bigotry which impedes your ridiculous vision!
What benefits will changing the name Kennedy Avenue, and Virgin Lane bring to Dominica?
You all are too ignorant; in the 1960’s we change the name to Kennedy after the late assassinated President of the United States in recognition for his performance in securing the world from a communists Soviet Union, annexation of the entire world.
Had he not stop the ships from the Soviet Union from entering Cuba the Missiles, you might be talking Russian today:
Do your remember Sparrow calypso “Stop Them Sink Them In The Bottom of The Ocean?”
In case you do not know the events took place in 1962; his vision caused man to land on the moon too!
Boy shut up, stop being an idiot!
If you wish to name a street after Ophelia, Dominica will develop, new communities will develop, name a street leading to a new community after her.
You are , as if by instinct, quick to refer to people as ignorant. Do you have a monopoly on knowledge? Everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion. Denigrating everyone who happens to differ from your point of view doesn’t make you look nor sound erudite. Some of these colonialists did unimaginable physical, emotional and psychological injury to our forebears. For what reasons should we still hold them in the highest esteem? What is so bigoted about wanting to replace their names with locals who have made very substantial and significant contributions to Dominica? Too many of you refuse to appreciate the monumental input of our fellow brothers and sisters to their native country. The residual effects of slavery still linger on mentally. Unchain your mind from mental slavery. Your egregious assault on Mr. Cuffy is unseemly and unwarranted.
If your comments are in reference to me; I suggest if you want to know if I do have a monopoly on knowledge all you have to do is keep on reading my comments!
How do you define ignorant, or ignorance?To people like you; you belief that to be ignorant means to be stupid, or conducting one self as a savage, with no intelligence.
For your information Madam/Sir, in the real world ignorance simply imply not knowing.”
“Ignorance of the fact;” are you familiar with such terminology?In legal terms we usually hear “ignorance of the law is no excuse,” meaning; because one does not know a certain exists is not an excuse, or the ramification of a law is not an excuse for breaking the law!
And let me put it to you bluntly you too are ignorant of many things; so do I!This guy sits there talking crap about change name from Kennedy Ave: They operate in hate even for America that’s his only reason!
” Unchain your mind from mental slavery. Your egregious assault on Mr. Cuffy is unseemly and unwarranted.” (So Called Ibo).
Let me show you just how ignorant you are; an ignorant person usually try to impress others; playing smart by using words they do not know the meaning in the wrong context.”
Your egregious assault” (So called Ibo).
“Egregious” is defined as distinguished: conspicuous: flagrant: mistake: erroneous: this is an indication you are even ignorant of the words you use; that tells me you lack knowledge, and comprehension of the English language.
I believe you are the one who need to unchain your captured mine from physical, mental, and economic slavery: if I was in that situation I would indulge Cuffy, and be as ignorant as both of you.
I unchained my mind when I paid my way through more than one four year college, and a four year university, and graduated; I’ve long freed myself the bondage of any kind of slavery, the chains are still binds you!
Francisco, I’m impervious to your asinine comments. They are just empty like a bag of wind. An intelligent person hardly, if ever, uses self praise to convince the public of his mental acumen. Your writing is mostly pedestrian and fraught with numerous spelling errors and very simple grammatical mistakes. You consistently spell the word ‘DOES’ as ‘DOSE’.
Some corrections from your most recent, indecorous , asinine rants:
*If I was – If I were
*you belief – you believe
* the chains are still binds you (This is just unadulterated nonsense.)
*egregious assault’ quite appropriate . (Meaning – shocking, awful, outrageous, atrocious, etc.)
What are the names of the bogus universities that you attended? Just reading a few of your posts reveal how severely ignorant you are. The emptiness is shockingly appalling.
*If I was – If I were
*you belief – you believe
* the chains are still binds you (This is just unadulterated nonsense.)
*egregious assault’ quite appropriate .
(Meaning – shocking, awful, outrageous, atrocious,).
As far as I am concern this symbol (*) indicates a fixed star, it is the same as an X with a horizontal line down in the middle, so you are not impressing me with that crap; and for your information that symbol is not used in an outline; I doubt you are knowledgeable to that!
In any event if you were not ignorant of the English language and the use of such symbols you would not have used it against someone like me who knows?
The word egregious means precisely what I said it means okay; and even if it means shocking, you used it in the wrong context!
I was told the English language in Dominica defers Cambridge English, I don’t know; nevertheless, if you were not ignorant you would know all your fixed star indication are errors!
Am…. Queen Mary Street was changed to Independence Street
What progress is changing the name of a street going to bring to Dominica?
That is a dumb issue: while he is talking about taking down Kennedy name, they have Chines Dragon head on bridge in Dominica, and call it friendship bridge.
Barrel of food are not arriving from China to feed their hungry families; they honor the communists, and reject a country which gives us refuge; we don’t go to China we flocked to America!
These people are so dumb; see if you would expect this:One day I driving back from San Francisco, and I noticed a very familiar Caribbean island name, on closer observation I drove past more than one familiar island name; that aroused my curiosity; I wanted to see if (we nature island) name appeared.
Low and behold I saw “Dominica” in a sequence I also saw ” Dominican Republic too!
If they take down Kennedy name, perhaps they should tell the authorities to remove the name Dominica from that street in the San Francisco area.
So true but people still call it Queen mary Street. How many people even know the name of the bay front road.
Behave yourself Val, and get a life. Naming streets people’s name has become a joke now.
Good suggestion Cuffy, although the renaming should not be restricted to artists .However Mr Cuffy, remember that Skerrit is the government. He will only do so if all the streets are renamed “Skerrit”. Skerrit only loves Skerrit!!! Don’t be hard headed Val “Skerrit only loves Skerrit..He hates reading, but if you relay that to him, he will be vex you didn’t suggest that Skerrit should be the names for all …
Well done Ophelia..Great Dominican .You taught me French at DGS..My favourite song is “””Hi Dominique”””..Keep Shining!
Skerrit Must Go
Skerrit Must Go
LAZY Skerrit Must Go Now
I endorse this message
why? just to confuse people more? Next you will want to change the names of national sites and popular locations. While i agree that we need to not praise our former masters and oppressors, we need to hold on to our history. So when our children asks us why a street is named after a past king of England we can sit them down and explain how and why. This adds culture, history, a sense of knowledge of self. Our youth need that. To teach them the good and the bad.
How is Kennedy Ave and Great George V St OUR history?
I see no issue with renaming the streets. To the contrary I believe they should be changed. Countries have gone on the change the name of the entire country to more represent who they are. Our street names and names of other public infrastructure must reflect OUR accomplishments as a young growing nation. Not names imposed on us from the outside.
Why Queen Mary St was RENAMED Independence St. And that my fellow Dominicans was a perfect name change. Now that’s what I call representing OUR history…OUR journey.
In that case we should not call ourselves Dominicans either because that name was given to our country by the European adventurer Columbus on behalf of the Queen of Spain. How far back you want to go? You want an African name perhaps but that not right either because we are now the colonisers, not necessarily by choice of a country that belongs to the Kalinago and then, what African language you want to use? There are more African languages than European ones.
Val, I understand you may not like certain names and like other people you have your reasons but you can not change history. Those names are part of our history. Maybe you can add to it by naming roads ,after icons like Ophilia, in new developments like we did in Goodwill years ago. Otherwise we keep changin names like underpants evey time a new vedette takes our fancy.
What history,all these names were given by slave masters,today we have all these great Dominicans,but many of you will come with this sort of ignorance.ONLY IN THIS COUNTRY SMDH.MIDNIGHT GROOVERS IS ONE OF OUR GREATEST GROUPS AND WHAT HAS BEEN NAMED AFTER THEM.JUST A DAMN SHAME.
I have repeatedly advocated for changing the name of the Princess Margaret Hospital. This is just a colonial relic. Instead, name it in honor of a nurse or healthcare worker who has given yeoman service to the health sector. Yes, I’m in total agreement with Mr. Cuffy, the time has come for us to recognize and celebrate our unsung heroes and heroines. A hero gets no honor in his own Dominica. That has to end.
That hospital was a gift to us from the British. Mr. Skerrit has a habit of calling us ungrateful at times but it appears he is not alone. I am quite happy with the name as it is.
val, Dominica is plagued with to many issue for us to now deal with these petty stuff