Postby TriP » August 31st, 2016, 9:00 pm
Independence and the Black Stripe
For the occasion of Trinidad and Tobago’s anniversary of becoming an independent nation state, we thought to that if would be appropriate to use to opportunity to give a little insight into our take on the overall experience of Trinidad and Tobago nationalism and identity.
The track ‘Black Stripe’ is one of the tracks from our second full-length record ‘Children of a Globalised World’, and has a very special meaning to us. Like many songs we have written over the years, ‘Black Stripe’ started off its life as a short poem – or rather a short phrase (“Take the black stripe off of the flag so I can hang myself on the pole…”). The original visual was of a disenchanted citizen seeing a flag being hoisted at half-mast, and using the extra space on the flagpole to hang themselves.
Our Psychological Saviour…
As we continued the writing process of the COAGW record, it was clear that the ideas behind any commentary that the song was trying to make were much deeper issues stemming from the crisis we sometimes face in terms of the contemplation of one’s own identity and culture.
This being said, the lyrics of the song are inspired by two things – the first of which is the idea of cultural dissonance. Trinidad and Tobago is a young country, and its institutions are still developing. As a young person growing up in this environment, we go through emotional and cultural changes ourselves, which is made even more complex in a young society which in itself is going though a process of cultural evolution and social growth.
As children we are taught by our education system, and by our society in general that love of country is one of the merits of a model citizen. Growing up, patriotism and national pride are imposed as virtues to aspire towards, and a sense of obligation to one’s country is almost inherent in our socialization. One the other hand, part of growing up is the inevitable struggle to define one’s own personal identity, part of which might necessarily be in contradiction with certain aspects of national culture.
One of major issues here is that people tend to think of culture as being externally imposed, and like nationality, a function of purely uncontrollable circumstances. This is far from the truth – culture and identity are inherently linked, and identity is a notion that must be developed internally. This means that the concept of nationality and cultural identity do not have to align, as we are all free to adapt whatever elements of whatever cultural institutions we may choose, in the process of defining our personal identities. This conflict and resulting emotional tension is a driving force behind our personal development; after all how do we choose what to put first – love of self or love of country?
Of course, many aspects of national culture may be merely symbolic, and amongst these symbols, there seems to be one particular emblem, which seems to elicit the most emotional of responses while its subtle meanings seem to elude us.
This is your national flag…
The red…
The white...
The black…
The official explanation of the national of Trinidad and Tobago’s colours is as follows:
“The Black represents for us the dedication of the people joined together by one strong bond. It is the colour of strength, of unity of purpose, and of the wealth of the land. Red is the colour most expressive of our country; it represents the vitality of the land and its peoples; it is the warmth and energy of the sun, the courage and friendliness of the people. White is the sea by which these lands are bound; the cradle of our heritage; the purity of our aspirations and the equality of men and women under the sun. Thus, the colours chosen represent the elements of the Earth, Water and Fire, which encompass all our past, present and future; and inspire us as one united, vital, free and dedicated people.”
Wealth of the Land
In Trinidad and Tobago, our entire national infrastructure and economy is held up our energy sector – our reserves of oil and gas which we have been ‘blessed with’, albeit only under the luck of geography. While the energy sector has largely moved away from crude oil production, and more towards natural gas and associated downstream activities, the colour of this black gold natural resource that built our nation is still largely symbolic of ‘the wealth of the land’.
Over the decades, we have been depleting these natural resources at unsustainable rates (at the cost of our ecosystem), with very little success in our attempts to diversify to economy away from our hydrocarbon dependence.
The logical extension here is that if the wealth of the land is being depleted in an unsustainable manner (and may soon be exhausted altogether), what does that black stripe on the flag which is supposed to represent the ‘wealth of the land’ now mean?
In fact Trinidad and Tobago seems to be well placed as a case study of the Resource Curse – the paradox under which countries and regions with an abundance of natural resources, (particularly non-renewable resources) have tended to have poorer growth trends and developmental paths than their less resource-endowed counterparts.
What does this have to do with the national flag? Well, the mismanagement of these resources (the ‘wealth of the land’) has now become a synecdoche for the mismanagement of our country as a whole. The windfall profits associated with this wealth have become symbolically representative of decades of misguided developmental priorities, unsustainable economic paradigms, inequities income distribution and of course piss poor fiscal management. Seems that this is as good a reason as any to take the black stripe off and just drown in LNG.
Unity of the People
Furthermore, all of these symptoms seem to have become intertwined with our broken system of democracy. This system is characterized by a lack of accountability, bad governance, decision-making without consensus or even consultation, and an entrenched apathy towards civic responsibility amongst the population. Perhaps more critically, this is a system that is simultaneously the cause and result of a population segregated along primitive racial partisanships. Once again – what does this have to do with the flag?
Well if the black on the national flag is supposed to represent ‘the dedication of the people joined together by one strong bond’, and ‘unity of purpose’, it seems that the rhetoric of that black stripe is not enough to cover up the reality of the disunity, divergence and disassociation amongst the citizens of the nation.
What the black stripe does do successfully however, is to separate the red into two distinct halves. If the red on the flag is to represent the people of the nation, and the black represents the wealth of the land, then running that black stripe right through the red seems to symbolically mirror the way in which the wealth of the nation has divided the people of the nation, and causes disunity. There are two distinct groups separated by that line of wealth – two groups which are at either end of an obscene income and development gap – the’ haves’ and the ‘have-nots’.
There are few who would contest the fact that current crime situation in our country is unacceptable and totally out of control. Besides the entrenched corruption and divisive political system, crime and poverty are perhaps the most significant factors fueling the flames of disunity. On the micro level and more immediate, the income disparities represented by the black stripe is one of the major contributors to this vicious cycle of crime and persistent poverty.
One the macro level and more institutional level, the history of broken governance systems, poor fiscal management, and ineffective social policies (which are also represented by the black stripe) have resulted in a culture of entitlement and dependence on handouts, which has undermined genuine incentives for social mobility, and is perhaps the real root of national underdevelopment, poverty and consequently crime.
There seem to be two clear choices here: we can take the black stripe off the flag and take back out country, or just use it as a blindfold and go about our business for another five decades at which we can then celebrate a century of being an independent failed state.
Face the World…
To celebrate our independence, join us by symbolically taking the black stripe off of the flag and hanging yourself on the freaking poll… because you don’t have to face a world that you don’t want to face.
Nevertheless, Happy ‘Independence’ to all of our brothers and sisters of these red borders.
Peace and Love
