UNWELCOME!!!
Yesterday's anti-smelter march in the Southwestern Peninsula ended in a moving inter-religious ceremony on a site which would have to be cleared if the proposed Alcoa smelter ever got clearance. Religious leaders and representatives (Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Orisha, Open Bible) prayed not only for the area, but for the entire country and its confused leaders. As these speakers said, this is a spiritual fight, in God's hands ... not man's. (click here to see some photos of the day)
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Meanwhile ... today's Guardian quotes ALCOA: T & T's 'opposition to the smelter is not unique ...'. (Ho hum). Have a look at today's Guardian and read more articles on this.
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The Trinidad Express also covers quite a few smelter issues ... from the march to Patrick saying the smelter will not harm south residents ... to the glowing promise of 'smelter to bring jobs for La Brea'.
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Anyway ... back to yesterday ... The children of the Chatham area did their own version of the A - Z concept. This was organised by Fitz who, when he saw the display at the March 21st meeting at CCA7, admitted that it brought tears to his eyes. For some of the letters they used the same words I had used in the original version ... but for other letters they had different words (e.g. R is for Rash ... whereas I had R is for Ruined Health). It was endearing and powerful, wrong spelling and all: Hearth Attack, Justics, Envoriment, etc.
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This shot shows some of the 26 letters created by people who responded to my e-mail to do an artistic representation of A - Z on brown paper. The alphabetical anti-smelter artwork embraced the room in which the anti-smelter meeting was held (CCA7).
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This one, created by Nicola, was a favourite. She depicted the letter U (which was eventually changed to UNWELCOME - instead of Union Village already ravaged). In this piece, a furry, rabid-looking dog (made with fur which she purchased from Samaroos Carnival supply shop) sinks its blood covered jaws into a leg which has SMELTER written on it.
Yes, you are UNWELCOME ... ALCOA!
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Tomorrow I will feature the video version of the Anti-smelter alphabet which was launched at that meeting.
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Elspeth
posted by Elspeth at Monday, March 27, 2006
4 Comments:
Haha...so you and "Patrick" are on a first name basis?
wow..WOW...WOWWWWW I am soooooo proud I could cry. I think I am going to get up after this and march up and down the corridor just to feel like I was part of it. Love the alphabet on the walls and in the hands of the children. WONDERFUL Elspeth! One of the most important outcomes of this will be the memories that the children take with them. Children really live what they learn and this experience is teaching them that it is their right and responsibility to speak up, to demand the quality of life that they deserve. Elspeth, I too proud...(sniff)
Webgrl got me started on this thing and now I am addicted. Just went down to word verification and got plaxmski and in addition to extracting "pax" peace from the letters, to me it suggested Lakshmi and all the wonderful virtues with which that goddess is associated. Yes it is a spiritual battle that you are fighting and I wish you the light and wisdom and spiritual power that Lakshmi brings. Also think about the lotus flower with which Lakshmi is associated, how although it is rooted in the mud, it is not tarnished or defeated by the mud but extends its beautiful blossoms above the water. In a sense this is what spiritual warriors strive to do. Against the encroaching darkness, this little light of mine is going to shine...I too proud.
You know Elspeth, from the mouths of babes and sucklings, the saying goes, comes wisdom. Well in this case, it's the pens of babes and sucklings. I am re-reading your post... and noticing how their "mistakes" can be viewed as protests within protests
Let's see:
hearth attack: Well apart from the obvious danger to the health of the human heart, what they are saying also is that the smelter is going to attack the hearth, i.e, the home and family life.
justics: They are demanding justice but they are also protesting against what they have been receiving so far - "justics", the word justice merged with antics, to describe the useless antics being performed to pretend that concerns are being addressed.
envoriment: I see this word as a menacing word. It seems at first glance to be harmless but that "vor" conveys something that is voracious, that swallows and crunches and stifles and taken as a whole it sounds like the process of being surrounded by a monster...the environment which was once beautiful is being turned into something threatening to our existence. The monster is now the environment-->envoriment.
I remain amazed by it all.
True what you say about the 'misspelt'words.
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