The Old Songs
The Old Songs
“I sure hope The Mighty Dougla win the Calypso King Contest this year,” said Clyde. “That calypso is telling a truth people don’t understand. Because all of us have nowhere else to go, so must stay in this island. And, we all come from someplace else, starting with the Spaniards who killed off the Aboriginals by putting them in reserves and working them to death. Some of the Indians poisoned the Capuchin Monks, while some others threw themselves off a cliff rather than be enslaved any more. The Spanish allowed French people to the island because they were Catholic too. And when slavery was finished, the British and French plantation owners brought indentured workers from Portugal, China, and India, because the white planters couldn’t do the work in the hot sun.”
“And the Portuguese and Chinese couldn’t stand the hard work in the fields, either, so they went off and opened shops and businesses. But what I don’t understand is why the half-white people, the ones we call ‘red-skin’, believe they better than us?” Manny asked. “They have white skin but they have Black blood in them too, like me. And they have curly hair like mine.”
“Well, that,” said Clyde, “is because many white plantation owners had children with their Black slaves, and then they brought these children in from the fields into the house and educated them. This is why the ‘red-skin’ people always lording it over people like us. They had a head start over us Indians who came after them. But then the Syrians came, selling cloth. First, they carried the cloth in bundles on their heads, and later in suitcases, and very soon they move on to buy stores in Port of Spain, and now they richer than everybody else; they even have more money and business than the old English and French creole families. And now every race in this little island looking down on every other, instead of trying to get along when we all have to live in this little thirty-seven-by-fifty-mile island.”
Clyde knew all this from his West Indian reader history classes but also because he was a tireless reader of sociology, politics, and anthropology, and he always had information on all these topics at his fingertips.
Lucille added to Clyde’s diatribe, saying that they believed the people from Africa and India, should get along peaceably because they needed each other. They were both oppressed by the other racial groups on the island and were at the bottom of the barrel, she added. Tessa was surprised when her mother said this, for in the past she had heard Lucille and her sisters discussing suitable marriage partners for their children, and she knew that they did not approve of anyone in the family marrying a Black person. Adults have their own rules about everything, Tessa reflected. And they were so confusing.
Tessa Joseph is growing up during the age of independence from British rule in Trinidad, West Indies. As a country that has historically been ruled by white colonists gains independence, new, unofficial racial hierarchies develop. In addition to the white families, mixed-race, well-off Blacks, Chinese, Syrians, and Portuguese citizens dictate the social practices of all those living on the island. The East Indian families, including Tessa and her family, the group to most recently call the island home, find themselves at the bottom of the social ladder, having been brought over as agricultural workers after slavery was abolished.
Existing alongside the race-based social hierarchy, the racism that Tessa’s family faces pervades all aspects of their lives, including their social interactions, faith, school experiences, and the future educational and careers prospects of Tessa and her siblings. In addition to these challenging circumstances, the Joseph family is dealing with financial hardships, having had to move from their comfortable home in a middle class neighbourhood in Port of Spain, to a much smaller home in an impoverished suburb of San Juan de la Pina, after the death of Tessa’s father.
A perceptive and wise young lady, Tessa realizes that her family has its own prejudices and rules that she finds confusing. A diligent student, Tessa earns a spot to a prestigious Convent School, where she continues to face racism and classism from her fellow students and teachers alike. As the years pass, Tessa comes to recognize that her future opportunities are limited in Trinidad, and that her best chance at breaking free of poverty and racism is to throw herself into her studies and use her love of education as an opportunity to escape her circumstances.
The Old Songs is author Madeline Coopsammy’s latest offering for Inanna Publications’ “Young Feminist Series”. She has also authored a book of poetry, Prairie Journey. Additionally, her poems and short stories have been published in various anthologies and journals across North America, and she is a regular book reviewer for several publications, including the Winnipeg Free Press. Like the protagonist in this novel, Coopsammy grew up in Trinidad. The author attended university in India before immigrating to Canada in 1968 and completing B.Ed and M.Ed degrees. Currently retired from teaching, Coopsammy is spending her time writing, reading, and mastering the art of gourmet cooking.
Coopsammy has skilfully developed the protagonist in this novel through showing, not telling, readers exactly who Tessa is. Readers will gain a sense of what Tessa espouses as she comes of age throughout the novel via her actions, thoughts and reflections, and interactions with her family, peers, and other people in the community. As the identity of Tessa emerges through the prose, Coopsammy paints a picture of Tessa, a young feminist growing up in the 1940’s and 1950’s. An independent thinker who works hard at her studies in order to defy the expected life course for a young woman in that era, whilst also rising above other forms of oppression, such as discrimination based on race and breaking the cycle of poverty, Tessa is a worthy role model for young readers.
The Old Songs also provides historical and cultural perspectives that many readers may be reading and learning about for the first time. Throughout the text, the narration and dialogue reveal information related to Trinidad’s historical and cultural background, including the country’s history as a British colony, its independence, the immigration patterns of various groups that inhabit the island, and how the current and past racial hierarchies affect all aspects of life on the island, placing barriers on various residents in particular racial groups and subjecting them to discrimination daily. Older readers in the target audience may also find themselves making connections to various other current and historical instances of racism and social injustice in the world, as well as closer to home, here in Canada.
The Old Songs is a well-crafted coming-of-age story that expertly weaves in multicultural, feminist, and social justice perspectives. This book would be a valuable and relevant read for young people in the target audience in order to gain a well-rounded perspective on racism, oppression, identity, and gender equality. The Old Songs would be a valued addition to any classroom, school, or home library.
Chasity Findlay is a graduate of the Master of Education program in Language and Literacy at the University of Manitoba and an avid reader of young adult fiction.