Debbie Jacob
SEVEN inmates from Women’s Prison, Golden Grove Convict Prison and Maximum Security Prison (MSP) faced judges on January 25 when they stepped on stage at the Unattached Calypso Competition in the Belmont Community Centre to vie for a place in Calypso Fiesta, the semifinal leg of the National Calypso Monarch competition.
They sang to the audience and calypso judges about violence and crime; morals, values and ruthless gangs – some of the most concerning problems in this country. Avelon Lett, 23, in prison for 4 ½ years, had already made history as the first female inmate to qualify for the national calypso queen finals.
Singing Seedlings in Society, petite and soft-spoken Letts doesn’t hold back on stage, criticising violence, guns and gangs in a strong, confident voice.
“Youths today can’t read or write,” she sand, “so they sign record deals with Trini Bad, and kill everyone in sight.”
Lett believes children aren’t getting the support and mental nourishment they need so instead of being thriving seedlings, they are growing like weeds.
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“I’d like people to stop blaming young people for the country’s problems. Society needs to take more responsibility and realise education is a problem. It’s not meaningful,” said Letts.
Letts attended St Francois Girls’ College and has seven CXC passes. She warns against stereotyping people.
“I have both parents. Some people don’t have both parents and an education, but they don’t end up in prison.”
Shanice Alleyne, 32, has been in prison for six years and eight months. Her calypso Letters vs Numbers tells the story of Trinidad gangs.
“The song came from an argument with another inmate and grew into a song I wrote in two weeks,” says Alleyne. Alleyne said she sings so her 12-year-old daughter can see her perform on stage.
Alleyne’s calypso focuses on education. “Long ago children were taught, now it’s about what gang you’re in,” said Alleyne.
Anthony Julien, 61, from Golden Grove Prison, grew up in San Fernando. His calypso, Message to the Youths is a plea for young people to find good role models and listen to good advice. Julien’s calypso and voice wowed the audience in last Sunday’s competition as he sang, “You don’t have to follow people who will carry you to do evil. You weren’t born to be a robber. Your father wasn’t born to be a murderer.”
Like other inmates, he is aware of those critical of inmates participating in Carnival. Julien said, “There’s always room for people to make changes. It doesn’t make sense to push people further down in life. Not everyone in prison murdered. There are a lot of people in prison who are innocent You can’t paint everyone with one brush.”
Kevin Cudjoe, 32, has the most surprising calypso, a humorous allegory about vegetables fighting with each other while they are cooking on the stove. It’s a clever socio-political double entendre that captures the absurdity of political infighting. Cudjoe says, “It makes sense. When I look around and see how politicians behave it feels like this song. It’s meant to be a funny song for people to laugh at the bacchanal in the pot. Cudjoe has spent 26 months in MSP.
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“I just want people to feel like the old time days and just be happy,” he said. “Life used to be fun for us.”
Like Julien, he wants people to know that some inmates can come out of prison and positively impact their neighborhoods.
Vernon Trotman, 60, has spent 40 years in prison, 26 of them in MSP. In 2001, he got the opportunity to participate in a prison calypso competition and later won prison calypso titles in MSP nine times. This is his third competition outside of prison, and he sings Parents Wake Up.
“When I look at the violence in schools and delinquency, I want to remind people of their responsibilities.” He feels crime is a parenting issue.
“It starts at home,” he said. “There are many things we can do. What they’re using now is not a deterrent. We are just looking at the end result. They’re not looking at the cause. Harsh penalties are in place, but they don’t work because authorities aren’t dealing with the problem.”
Trotman feels parents should take away electronic devices and raise their children instead of letting technology do it. “Nowadays you have to win your children’s trust,” he said. Trotman is a certified prison mentor. He said most of the time, when he visits schools, students ask what made him do what he did.
“I tell them, ‘Get someone you can trust genuinely, someone who won’t mislead you and take you down a negative path.’ Children need a guardian.” Trotman left school at Standard Four and went to learn mechanics.
Singing Magical Mirror, Marlon Lee, a familiar face in the prison calypso scene, said he wrote his calypso about life experiences.
“The most important person we need to collaborate with in life is ourselves. Once we have looked in the mirror, we see our character. Lee, 51 years old, took his inspiration from Michael Jackson’s song Man in the Mirror.” Lee, is one of calysonian Sugar Aloes’ (Michael Osuana’s) sons.
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“We have choices in life. We can’t blame politicians, teachers and parents. Don’t point fingers at other persons,” he said. “We need to do some introspection. When we have children, we become the mirror the children have to see themselves in. We reflect morals, ethics, values and spiritual consciousness, When we demonstrate it, our children will follow.”
Lee’s daughter is a lawyer; one son is a police officer and one is in the army.
“My children are doing a lot of things to make me proud,” he said. I am facing the consequences of my choices, I have forgiven myself, and that’s the first step to acceptance and responsibility. He has been in prison remand for 15 years and five months. He was considered an exemplary leader and master debater in Remand Prison, and only moved to MSP when officers moved inmates for renovations.
Kurt Wiseman, 34, has been in prison for 12 years. He sings Not All that Glitters for the national calypso competition and Out Dey, for the soca monarch competition.
His calypso highlights the mistakes we have made in the name of modernisation.
“Technology took away the soul of who we are as a culture,” he said. `”Without love for ourselves and love for others, we have nothing in life.” Wiseman is singing with Jalon Robinson, who made a name for himself on the Remand Prison debate team before the pandemic.
“We have an upbeat soca song, but it has a message,” said Wiseman.
Robinson said he and Wiseman began crafting their songs last year. “Out Dey shows how we have a good time together during Carnival. We come together and function well, but go back to the same fighting after Carnival. For both of us, the soca is about bringing back love year round.”
Robinson is 37. He has been in prison for 14 years. In prison, he is considered a master baker.
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Prison Officer II Joel Roberts, who co-ordinates the Carnival activities for inmates every year, said that this year’s calypsoes are lyrically stronger than before.
“We started preparing earlier than usual, from October this year and in November, inmates participated in a week-long workshop run by TUCO.
In the prejudging, inmates got tips on how to improve.
Roberts said the calypsoes are more relevant and diverse this year.
“Most of the calypsos were relatable to their personal lives and experiences. They wanted to put a message out there because of what they had learned. Some of the calypsoes really make you look at yourself and examine your conscience.
Roberts said the calypsoes and performances exceeded his expectations.
Together, the inmates had one compelling overall message: Don’t write us off.
