![\"Commentary\"](\"http:\/\/dominicanewsonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/commentary2.jpg\")
Dominica cannot speak so we, her sons and daughters, must speak out for her.<\/p>\nDominica cannot speak so we, her sons and daughters, must speak out for her.<\/p>\n
Dominica is a Sovereign State. This means that it is an international, independent entity with its own rules and laws, headed by a centralized government that has supreme and independent authority over its geographic space.<\/p>\n
The citizens of Dominica, its \u201cpeople\u201d, are bound to the nation\u2019s sovereign rules and laws, and responds to no other governing convention which minimizes the \u201cpeople\u2019s\u201d worth and\/or places another group ahead of the Dominican citizen.<\/p>\n
Governing conventions create economic opportunities for the people. Such opportunities involve commercial investment opportunities and in this particular case, \u2018Cultural Tourism\u2019, through Dominica\u2019s World Creole Music Festival (WCMF). The WCMF is, therefore, indigenous to Dominica and is intended to benefit the \u201cpeople\u201d of Dominica first and foremost. It was also very strategically scheduled, by the founders, to respect and blend into the cultural uniqueness of the island\u2019s people.<\/p>\n
Since 1997, Dominica\u2019s WCMF has been staged to coincide with, and in respect of Dominica\u2019s \u2018Heritage Day celebration\u2019 and \u2018International Creole Week\u2019, which takes place on the final week of October each year. Creole Week commences with Heritage Day (Sunday), and runs into the World Creole Music Festival (Friday to Sunday); making it the most fascinating eight days of Creole activities on earth.<\/p>\n
Over the past eleven years (since 2002), a Creole in the Park (CITP)event has been added to the \u2018Creole Week\u2019 package and has been a major boost to Dominica\u2019s cultural\/heritage product. In fact, from the offset, the CITP ran for five days (Monday to Friday), but the organizers, LIME, quickly adjusted the schedule so the event would not interfere with Dominica\u2019s Creole Day (Friday). The CITP exposes thousands of people, visitors and locals alike, to a variety of Dominica\u2019s Creole cuisine, and also allows a large number of local musical groups and heritage musicians to showcase their craft in this extravagant day time event.<\/p>\n
The World Music Creole Festival is the \u2018Mother-of-all\u2019 Creole events. It climaxes the Creole Week activities with three nights of pulsating music, featuring international, regional and Dominican musical groups and Heritage Musicians. Thousands, mainly \u2018Dominicans\u2019 patronize the event each year. The WCMF also attracts many French and Creole patron from neighboring Guadeloupe and Martinique, and St. Lucia to some extent. Dominicans living overseas also plan their trips, most years in advance, to participate in the WCMF event.<\/p>\n
This year, 2014, organizers of the WCMF, the Discover Dominica Authority (DDA), through the Dominica Festival Committee (DFC), decided to change the regular date of the event. Colin Piper, Chair of the organizing committee explains the reason for the change as follows:<\/p>\n
November 3, which is our Independence day will fall on a Monday and typically at 8:30 am there will be the military parade,\u201d he explained. \u201cThat military parade will take place at the Windsor Park Sports Stadium which is the same place where the World Creole Music Festival will take place\u2026and so if we were to keep the date of the 31 (October), November 1 and 2, we will have Sunday night\u2019s event running into probably 2, 3, 4 am, then we will have [have] three or four hours to get the grounds prepared for the military parade, which was not possible (Piper, as quoted by DNO,).<\/p>\n
The DNO release states that, according to Piper, Discover Dominica Authority (DDA)\u201dwas alerted by the ferry service that November 3 is All Saints Day in the neighbouring islands which, according to him [Piper], is heavily patronized in the French markets\u201d (Piper, as quoted by DNO). The release continues by quoting Piper as saying: \u201cAnd so when they look back on their records they realized there is quite a bit of traffic between Guadeloupe and Martinique happening on those dates\u2026and so they advised us that if we wanted to get maximum patronage from Guadeloupe and Martinique in terms of availability of the ferry we should consider the 24th to the 26th\u2026\u201d (Piper, as quoted by DNO).<\/p>\n
After carefully considering all the given circumstances, I would like to place the following opinion on records: 1. Mr. Piper was misleading the public when he told the press that organizers had an audience with stakeholders before effecting the date change; the only stakeholders meeting in keeping with the change took place on Friday, March 21, 2014 at 8:30am, over a week after the decision had been taken. 2. The Ferry service, a stakeholder in itself, cannot mandate a change of date of the event. The other stakeholders should have a say and if such change were to be made, this idea had to have been taken to the people whom such change would affect most. From the best of my knowledge, the Dominicans stand to lose the most in that matter, seeing that the entire population of Dominica has a stake in the festivities. 3. The November 3, All Saints day argument just does not make sense in the context of the discussion. Why should a neighbouring island\u2019s indigenous\/spiritual (or what have you) celebration have more prominence than the heritage event of Dominica?<\/p>\n
I have a few questions:
\n1. Are you aware that the highlight of Dominica\u2019s Independence Celebrations is the \u2018Creole Week Activities\u2019, beginning with Heritage Day and stretching into the National Cultural Gala?
\n2. Are you also aware that the WCMF is an event which forms part of the overall Creole celebrations?
\n3. Are you further aware that your actions may destabilize the rhythm of the heritage observances; a legacy which has been established (and working) since 1965?
\n4. What do you, Mr. Piper; intend to do with the CITP?
\n5. What do you expect to happen at the end of your WCMF event; do you expect that the patrons\/visitors will remain on island for another week to enjoy \u2018Dominica\u2019s\u2019 Creole Week of activies?
\n6. Who advised you on this move?
\n7. Are you aware that decisions can be reversed in the interest of the overall good of a people, and that economic considerations \u2018alone\u2019 should not be used when deciding on matters of \u201cthe people\u2019s\u201d culture?
\n8. Do you know that as \u201ca people\u201d, we are best known by our culture?
\n9. If you believe, and are truly convinced that the WCMF is a superior to Dominica\u2019s Creole Cultural Heritage, why don\u2019t you move the event to some other time, away from the traditional Creole celebrations?<\/p>\n
I conclude by offering the following: 1. The 3rd of November Independence Day issue is a non-issue. Just please begin the Sunday WCMF event earlier and end earlier, say 1:00 pm (if something should give, it must be the WCMF \u2013 not the island\u2019s heritage. Mr. Piper, you could put a crew to work (overnight if needs be \u2013 as our Chinese do) to get the venue ready for the parade. I am willing to volunteer my expertise, pro bono.<\/p>\n
This is all which is needed. Yes, it is as simple as that, Mr. Colin Piper. Yes sir, Mr. Colin Piper, now is the time \u2013 once and for all \u2013 to move the Sunday leg of the WCFM from an evening event to an all day event.<\/p>\n
As I reflect, it seems easy to brush aside the little heritage nuances which are dear and unique to \u201ca people\u201d in the interest of the \u201ceconomic good\u201d. I ask that good sense prevail. I pray that Dominica\u2019s heritage be respected, and preserved, midst this period of political maneuvering and economic instability, because, at the end of it all, Dominica is all that we have.<\/p>\n
I hope that the cultural practitioners will find their tongues at this eleventh hour; may the spirits of the fallen cultural giants guide us perpetually.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dominica cannot speak so we, her sons and daughters, must speak out for her. Dominica is a Sovereign State. This means that it is an international, independent entity with its own rules and laws, headed by a centralized government that…","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n