Because the steel drum (pan) was the contribution of Trinidad's ex-slave African descendants, there has been an attempt to remove them from that history, by promoting "pan as a Trinidad invention". I ask, if you invented something, should I credit you, or your location? Or both? I say both, but not location over inventor. If location is relevant and important, then inventor should be even more relevant and important. What do you think?
GHOST.
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AN EMAIL I RECEIVED THIS MORNING. (Terry Samuel, there are WST members who appreciate what I do.)
"Hi
I saw your recent post on WST and was impressed by your writing, in fact, I share a similar sentiment re: the running of our organisation, and like you, is hoping for a miracle, to effect the change necessary, for good governance in the day to day affairs of Pan Trinbago. I am sending a document that will startle you, and you can come to your own conclusions, just like I did with mine.
Thanks to ALL who helped in making this discussion go over 1000 views. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to read my posts, which I know can be acrimonious, at times. Please understand that I am not here to be popular, nor do I have ANY personal agendas. My efforts, again, are in keeping with my dad's legacy, his vision, and convictions, which were ALL unapologetically for the local panman and panwoman. My dad placed himself in many dangerous positions, during an era when the steelband was a much more violent place to be. Courage is my driving force, and I am aware, that I am also placing myself in a certain level of danger, in shaking up both Pan Trinbago and this current Trinidad & Tobago government. I am driven by the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., who stated that "If you haven't found something worth dying for, you aren't fit to be living." I have found that something - TRUTH. I am willing to be a martyr for the masses of those who look like me, understanding that, as a human being, I have a responsibility, not just to my immediate family, but to a greater population. I see the young Black men in Trinidad & Tobago becoming extinct in the next fifty years or so, and that disturbs me. When my time comes, I plan on leaving this reality, after doing my part for humanity. That is the GREATEST reward for a full life; that I positively impacted society, and did my part. That is all one can do, during this short journey, we know as "life". Again, my sincerest gratitude. Shem Em Hotep (May you go in peace.)
Thanks Andre and Doc. Walter Rodney is another of my heroes - a TRUE CARIBBEAN MAN! I would also encourage them to look at the videos, "The Black Power Mixed Tapes", and "Che - A Revolutionary Life". Even on the battlefield, Che read profusely, and his "education" as a physician, did not quell his desire for further knowledge. One of his main agendas, was the education of the resistance soldiers. Again, Pan Trinbago and government, know the value of an illiterate pan body, and "educated" individuals will always be a threat to the status quo. That is why they place agents on forums such as this, to monitor the information that is being shared, and to combat them with propaganda of their own. Totally Machiavellian.
FYI - Most revolutions are started by the "educated", not the illiterate of society. Glad to see "educated" people on this WST forum.
NOTE: I keep placing "educated" in parenthesis for a reason. What do you think that "reason" is?
"When Yawching gets to the period after the British cession in 1763, she writes about agriculture developing apace and the establishment of windmills and waterwheels to power the sugar mills. Not a word about the people who cleared the jungle, cultivated the cane and ran those mills. She notes that Tobago planters were proverbially rich by the 1790s, not a word about whose labour made them rich." Bridget Brereton's Hidden From history or erased?
Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. - Abe Lincoln
In 1944, Caribbean historian Eric Williams wrote a book that appalled many British historians. His work, Capitalism and Slavery, charged that the praise given to British abolitionists had been misguided and overblown. Williams argues against historians such as Reginald Coupland, author of The British Anti-Slavery Movement (1933), who contended that the abolition movement in England in the late 18th and early 19th century was, first and foremost, a humanitarian crusade. Williams attempts to debunk this myth by showing that the rise of the British abolition movement coincided with the fall from preeminence of the slave trade and its importance to the British Empire.
Greetings My bredren: A good teacher is one that can recognize thst the student can be a teacher, too. You may also want to read Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Paulo Freire (Re 2004), Give thanks Dr. Lance Seunarine
Gretings. Thank you Mr Cupid for the education of the E pan. I must be frank here too, We Trinis are truly an eduacted and talented bunch of people. Give thanks Dr. Lance Seunarine
I certainly agree. Inventor gets credit over location. I'm sure that in some situation, location might have great influence over the invention. However, when that situation arises I can make my judgement on it. Lets use our calypsonians as an example. Some of them, like David Rudder, live abroad. When they do their compositions and their recordings in the foreign land they live in then they go to Trinidad and release it for carnival, is that an American or Canadian song? How about the steelpan arrangers who live abroad? The same thing applies. I am certainly a fine example of this topic. I have worked in Canada for the past 19 years (or should I say I live in Canada). Anyhow, I was sent here as an ambassador to teach our beloved national instrument, the steelpan. During those years I perfected my invention, the electronic steelpan. This has nothing to do with where I live (location). It is the world's first electronic steelpan, the E-Pan and it holds the one and only utility patent. Although this has nothing to do with where I am at present I will still credit my birthplace (Trinidad & Tobago), where I learned the steelpan art-form, as it is where my influence was when I began my invention. I will be very careful saying anything about who invented steelpan because there were no records kept by anyone on this topic. This is the reason I ensured that I patented my idea so there would be documented facts about who invented the world's first electronic steelpan. I was taught in school that Winston "Spree" Simon invented the steelpan. There was a big poster in "tong" supporting this. I was also taught in school that Christopher Columbus discovered Trinidad. We know today that is a big lie as there were native people on the island when he arrived, but if I did not put that on my test I would have gotten the answer wrong. We know today that Columbus did not discover Trinidad and it was not Winston "Spree" Simon who invented the steelpan. I am careful on these topics now as all the names of the people who are said to have invented the steelpan I personally will give them credit collectively. The new innovations and modifications that were documented over the past 60-70 or so years, those people can get credit for what they did (whether they came up with the double seconds, double tenor, quadraphonic or developed the 4ths and 5ths layout). Whatever your source is today, whether it is a website or a book, in most cases, they have no evidence of their content or "facts" to support their opinions about steelpan in history prior to the last 60-70 or so years. Their opinions stem from what they heard mummy, daddy, granny or auntie say. Don’t get me wrong. While what those people said may be true, nothing was done to document or acrchive the history in the treasury and library of Trinidad and Tobago so that we can reference that history as fact today. Now, please read what I said carefully. I am not suggesting that all the information is inaccurate. However, on this topic of inventor or location, where it seems that everyone has strayed with regard to the inventor of the steelpan, records have not been kept and I certainly was not around in those days. If I ask anyone to PROVE it by documentation, they will not be able to do so. They run with whatever their pumpkin vine said. Unfortunately, the different governments and leaderships in Pantrinbago have not been able to put information out there consistently. There is always a flip flop. How important is all of this? Who invented basketball? Most of the money that is made in basketball is made in the US. They employ the most basketballers and pay them the highest salary (NBA). Did America invent basketball? I was taught that it was a Canadian. In the case of basketball, all the innovation, research and development comes out of American because they hold basketball as a national interest. There are leagues from elementary school all the way through university leading to the NBA. Why can't Trinidad and Tobago follow that principle? Just in the Greater Toronto Area alone there are over 50 elementary schools that teach steelpan during the day at school in the different music programs. I'm not talking about something that happens after school as extra curricular. I'm talking as a subject like Maths and English. Those are the things that we should be making big conversation pieces on. Every other year, one of the bands I direct (the Toronto All Stars Steel Orchestra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxCFnfKOJ9w&list=UU-VkTAHwbeB7Ej...) participates in International Music Festivals, playing and sharing the love of steelpan all over the world. I go to these festivals with Canadian students and I always wonder why steelpan groups do not come out of Trinidad and Tobago to participate (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.147066912034036.37015.1173...). Another pet peeve of mine is material. There is not sufficient steelpan material out there from elementary to university in learning how to play the steelpan. Every year I try to pick an arranger to study. We recently completed Edwin Pouchet. We also did Len "Boogsie" Sharpe and Jit Samaroo over the past five years. My point is, these are some of the topics that need addressing asap. Maybe we need to find a way to fast track the blueprint for steelpan once it's edited. The inventor should always get the credit for the invention over location. In my above paragraph I talked about basketball to reference location where the research and development is being done and the advancement of science and technology for that sport. Trinidad and Tobago should be the location where the science and technology, research and development are mostly done. But, unfortunately that is not the case as we all know.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTStTR0ronk For those who mentioned the E-Pan and who will get credit for the first electronic steelpan, please let me make it clear, as of April 29, 2012, the E-Pan is the only electronic steelpan in existence. Some people may be saying at present that there are other electronic steelpans out there. Those are called controllers. There is information which describes and defines controllers and if you review you will understand what I am trying to say. Furthermore, my invention, the E-Pan, still precedes the release of those controllers on the market, particularly since the developers of those controllers tried to copy my invention. Since they did not have the science, technology and know-how they fell short and in the rush to get it on the market they settled on a controller. They took the horse, put it on top of the buggy and thought that the buggy was going to move. If you use the keyboard as an example, there are keyboards and there are keyboard controllers. Most of the world does not know that there is a difference. Controllers are still relatively new. The are just a shell. They're like a buggy that needs a horse to pull it. If you go and buy a controller by itself you will not get any sound coming out of it. It needs a brain in order for it to work just as the buggy needs a horse to pull it. The E-Pan does not need any external device to think for it. Everything is built into it like it is on a traditional keyboard. It does not need a computer, tone generator or any other external device for the sound to come out. UNFORTUNATELY, THOSE STEELPAN CONTROLLERS ARE BEING MARKETED AS THOUGH THEY PRODUCE/GENERATE THEIR OWN SOUNDS AND TONES TO CONFUSE THE CONSUMER SO THEY CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE. People even refer to the E-Pan as a controller WHICH IT IS NOT!!! The E-Pan is like a work station. It has its own built-in tones, does not rely on any computer or external device for the sounds to come out of it. It's like a modern vehicle today. It does not need a horse to pull it. US Utility Patent #: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITO... Canadian Utility Patent #: http://brevets-patents.ic.gc.ca/opic-cipo/cpd/eng/patent/2548255/su... European Utility Patent #: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/EP1837859.html
Replies
We dont have to think in the box We dont have to think outside the box. But we must THINK it through.
Thanks to ALL who helped in making this discussion go over 1000 views. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to read my posts, which I know can be acrimonious, at times. Please understand that I am not here to be popular, nor do I have ANY personal agendas. My efforts, again, are in keeping with my dad's legacy, his vision, and convictions, which were ALL unapologetically for the local panman and panwoman. My dad placed himself in many dangerous positions, during an era when the steelband was a much more violent place to be. Courage is my driving force, and I am aware, that I am also placing myself in a certain level of danger, in shaking up both Pan Trinbago and this current Trinidad & Tobago government. I am driven by the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., who stated that "If you haven't found something worth dying for, you aren't fit to be living." I have found that something - TRUTH. I am willing to be a martyr for the masses of those who look like me, understanding that, as a human being, I have a responsibility, not just to my immediate family, but to a greater population. I see the young Black men in Trinidad & Tobago becoming extinct in the next fifty years or so, and that disturbs me. When my time comes, I plan on leaving this reality, after doing my part for humanity. That is the GREATEST reward for a full life; that I positively impacted society, and did my part. That is all one can do, during this short journey, we know as "life". Again, my sincerest gratitude. Shem Em Hotep (May you go in peace.)
GHOST
You may also want to read How Europe Unsderdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney
Thanks Andre and Doc. Walter Rodney is another of my heroes - a TRUE CARIBBEAN MAN! I would also encourage them to look at the videos, "The Black Power Mixed Tapes", and "Che - A Revolutionary Life". Even on the battlefield, Che read profusely, and his "education" as a physician, did not quell his desire for further knowledge. One of his main agendas, was the education of the resistance soldiers. Again, Pan Trinbago and government, know the value of an illiterate pan body, and "educated" individuals will always be a threat to the status quo. That is why they place agents on forums such as this, to monitor the information that is being shared, and to combat them with propaganda of their own. Totally Machiavellian.
FYI - Most revolutions are started by the "educated", not the illiterate of society. Glad to see "educated" people on this WST forum.
NOTE: I keep placing "educated" in parenthesis for a reason. What do you think that "reason" is?
GHOST
"When Yawching gets to the period after the British cession in 1763, she writes about agriculture developing apace and the establishment of windmills and waterwheels to power the sugar mills. Not a word about the people who cleared the jungle, cultivated the cane and ran those mills. She notes that Tobago planters were proverbially rich by the 1790s, not a word about whose labour made them rich." Bridget Brereton's Hidden From history or erased?
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/commentaries/Hidden_from_history_or_...
Seems to me the sisters in Trinidad & Tobago ae the ones with the proverbial balls. Will the courageous men please stand up?
GHOST
In 1944, Caribbean historian Eric Williams wrote a book that appalled many British historians. His work, Capitalism and Slavery, charged that the praise given to British abolitionists had been misguided and overblown. Williams argues against historians such as Reginald Coupland, author of The British Anti-Slavery Movement (1933), who contended that the abolition movement in England in the late 18th and early 19th century was, first and foremost, a humanitarian crusade. Williams attempts to debunk this myth by showing that the rise of the British abolition movement coincided with the fall from preeminence of the slave trade and its importance to the British Empire.
Greetings My bredren: A good teacher is one that can recognize thst the student can be a teacher, too. You may also want to read Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Paulo Freire (Re 2004), Give thanks Dr. Lance Seunarine
Gretings. Thank you Mr Cupid for the education of the E pan. I must be frank here too, We Trinis are truly an eduacted and talented bunch of people. Give thanks Dr. Lance Seunarine
I certainly agree. Inventor gets credit over location. I'm sure that in some situation, location might have great influence over the invention. However, when that situation arises I can make my judgement on it. Lets use our calypsonians as an example. Some of them, like David Rudder, live abroad. When they do their compositions and their recordings in the foreign land they live in then they go to Trinidad and release it for carnival, is that an American or Canadian song? How about the steelpan arrangers who live abroad? The same thing applies. I am certainly a fine example of this topic. I have worked in Canada for the past 19 years (or should I say I live in Canada). Anyhow, I was sent here as an ambassador to teach our beloved national instrument, the steelpan. During those years I perfected my invention, the electronic steelpan. This has nothing to do with where I live (location). It is the world's first electronic steelpan, the E-Pan and it holds the one and only utility patent. Although this has nothing to do with where I am at present I will still credit my birthplace (Trinidad & Tobago), where I learned the steelpan art-form, as it is where my influence was when I began my invention.
I will be very careful saying anything about who invented steelpan because there were no records kept by anyone on this topic. This is the reason I ensured that I patented my idea so there would be documented facts about who invented the world's first electronic steelpan. I was taught in school that Winston "Spree" Simon invented the steelpan. There was a big poster in "tong" supporting this. I was also taught in school that Christopher Columbus discovered Trinidad. We know today that is a big lie as there were native people on the island when he arrived, but if I did not put that on my test I would have gotten the answer wrong. We know today that Columbus did not discover Trinidad and it was not Winston "Spree" Simon who invented the steelpan. I am careful on these topics now as all the names of the people who are said to have invented the steelpan I personally will give them credit collectively. The new innovations and modifications that were documented over the past 60-70 or so years, those people can get credit for what they did (whether they came up with the double seconds, double tenor, quadraphonic or developed the 4ths and 5ths layout). Whatever your source is today, whether it is a website or a book, in most cases, they have no evidence of their content or "facts" to support their opinions about steelpan in history prior to the last 60-70 or so years. Their opinions stem from what they heard mummy, daddy, granny or auntie say. Don’t get me wrong. While what those people said may be true, nothing was done to document or acrchive the history in the treasury and library of Trinidad and Tobago so that we can reference that history as fact today. Now, please read what I said carefully. I am not suggesting that all the information is inaccurate. However, on this topic of inventor or location, where it seems that everyone has strayed with regard to the inventor of the steelpan, records have not been kept and I certainly was not around in those days. If I ask anyone to PROVE it by documentation, they will not be able to do so. They run with whatever their pumpkin vine said. Unfortunately, the different governments and leaderships in Pantrinbago have not been able to put information out there consistently. There is always a flip flop.
How important is all of this? Who invented basketball? Most of the money that is made in basketball is made in the US. They employ the most basketballers and pay them the highest salary (NBA). Did America invent basketball? I was taught that it was a Canadian. In the case of basketball, all the innovation, research and development comes out of American because they hold basketball as a national interest. There are leagues from elementary school all the way through university leading to the NBA. Why can't Trinidad and Tobago follow that principle? Just in the Greater Toronto Area alone there are over 50 elementary schools that teach steelpan during the day at school in the different music programs. I'm not talking about something that happens after school as extra curricular. I'm talking as a subject like Maths and English. Those are the things that we should be making big conversation pieces on. Every other year, one of the bands I direct (the Toronto All Stars Steel Orchestra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxCFnfKOJ9w&list=UU-VkTAHwbeB7Ej...) participates in International Music Festivals, playing and sharing the love of steelpan all over the world. I go to these festivals with Canadian students and I always wonder why steelpan groups do not come out of Trinidad and Tobago to participate (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.147066912034036.37015.1173...). Another pet peeve of mine is material. There is not sufficient steelpan material out there from elementary to university in learning how to play the steelpan. Every year I try to pick an arranger to study. We recently completed Edwin Pouchet. We also did Len "Boogsie" Sharpe and Jit Samaroo over the past five years. My point is, these are some of the topics that need addressing asap. Maybe we need to find a way to fast track the blueprint for steelpan once it's edited.
The inventor should always get the credit for the invention over location. In my above paragraph I talked about basketball to reference location where the research and development is being done and the advancement of science and technology for that sport. Trinidad and Tobago should be the location where the science and technology, research and development are mostly done. But, unfortunately that is not the case as we all know.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTStTR0ronk
For those who mentioned the E-Pan and who will get credit for the first electronic steelpan, please let me make it clear, as of April 29, 2012, the E-Pan is the only electronic steelpan in existence. Some people may be saying at present that there are other electronic steelpans out there. Those are called controllers. There is information which describes and defines controllers and if you review you will understand what I am trying to say. Furthermore, my invention, the E-Pan, still precedes the release of those controllers on the market, particularly since the developers of those controllers tried to copy my invention. Since they did not have the science, technology and know-how they fell short and in the rush to get it on the market they settled on a controller. They took the horse, put it on top of the buggy and thought that the buggy was going to move. If you use the keyboard as an example, there are keyboards and there are keyboard controllers. Most of the world does not know that there is a difference. Controllers are still relatively new. The are just a shell. They're like a buggy that needs a horse to pull it. If you go and buy a controller by itself you will not get any sound coming out of it. It needs a brain in order for it to work just as the buggy needs a horse to pull it. The E-Pan does not need any external device to think for it. Everything is built into it like it is on a traditional keyboard. It does not need a computer, tone generator or any other external device for the sound to come out. UNFORTUNATELY, THOSE STEELPAN CONTROLLERS ARE BEING MARKETED AS THOUGH THEY PRODUCE/GENERATE THEIR OWN SOUNDS AND TONES TO CONFUSE THE CONSUMER SO THEY CAN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE. People even refer to the E-Pan as a controller WHICH IT IS NOT!!! The E-Pan is like a work station. It has its own built-in tones, does not rely on any computer or external device for the sounds to come out of it. It's like a modern vehicle today. It does not need a horse to pull it.
US Utility Patent #: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITO...
Canadian Utility Patent #: http://brevets-patents.ic.gc.ca/opic-cipo/cpd/eng/patent/2548255/su...
European Utility Patent #: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/EP1837859.html
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