Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the perfect place for me to decompress before my return to life in Denmark. The faces are familiar and seem not too far from Trinidad, yet it prepares me for Denmark. How could I have ended up in a country so far removed from where I come from?
Holland, unlike Denmark, has had a very active colonial life, and one can see this just by walking down any Amsterdam street. There are faces that recall the East, Africa and Europe. I see old women dressed in saris, who wear yellow gold, the type of gold we treasure in Trinidad, calling it Guyanese gold. There are young sisters with killer weaves, rasta men donning red, gold and green, elderly women in dresses as bright as hisbiscus. In short, one sees all the possibility.
I've always loved Amsterdam. The Dutch have an unparalleled command of the English language and although I don't speak Dutch, you can see the similarities between Dutch colonial history and say, any other colony in the so-called new world. Take Suriname and Trinidad for example.
Did you know that Suriname has one of the highest ethnic mixes in the world? Where Trinidad boasts East Indians, Africans, Chinese in their mix, the Surinamese population includes, on top of that, Indonesians as well as a few other ethnicities as well? Did you know that there were many maroon communities in Suriname, where the run away Africans mixed with the indigenous people, and founded stable, independent communities?
I'm currently in Amsterdam for the Women of the African Diaspora Conference. I popped by the Kwakoe Festival yesterday to get a glimpse of where I needed to be today. What an experience! I ended up sitting in a Nigerian stall eating what could easily be the best fried fish I have ever had, with a side of cassava. It rained, it poured, but it didn't seem to deter any of us from having a good time. The Surinamese music blew me away. As a band called Moksi Morjon played (their name means mixed vegetables) a brother explains, "Did you know that in Suriname we speak the same language that came from Africa, 300 years after the fact?"
"We are still African", he says, as he moves his hips and nudges me to look on at two little girls in front of us. They move with expertise and skill: conjuring up centuries old dance moves.
"Where are you from?" He asks. "Trinidad" I say, not wanting to get into the complexity of it all. "Trinidad?" He asks, almost incredulous, "Ahhh," he continues, "Trinidadians have long ago forgotten Africa."
I think about Audrey Lorde and something I read in her Zami: A New Spelling of My Name. It is the first two sentences of this book and it reads, "Grenadians and Barbadians walk like African People. Trindadians do not."
In Trinidad it is said that "All a we is one" (All of us are One). Trinidadians pride themselves at being mixed. "There is no Black or white here", my Aunt for example, would insist, and to the mere visitor, it might even appear to be true: Africans with Chinese surnames, Indians with Christian, Portuguese who look African, the racial possibilities going on, seemingly limitless. But don't be fooled.
There are still many who consciously or unconsciously cling, like curry to rice, to old plantocracy rules of race.
Prestige is gained through the ability to trace one's ancestry to Europe (India even, depending on the crowd) but never Africa!
It is fortunately, not like this for all Trinidadians. But remember, Naipaul has been rewarded for his mastery of the master's tools. Unfortunately, he never takes it a step further to master himself and the state of his people. Remember, Naipaul does not even consider himself a Trinidadian! Typical and one must not forget this when one talks race in Trinidad.
Suriname however seems to challenge Trinidad in all the areas Trinidad prides itself. Trinidadian women are the most beautiful women in the world, Trinis say. After all, we had, what, was it 2 International Beauty Queens? Well, I say the Surinamese girls can give us a run for our money. And again, this seemingly unsevered tie to Africa, that this person tells me about. There must be so much incredible scholarship on Suriname! Just think of the areas: race, colonial history, slavery, the tales of migration, the intermingling of a people.
Ok, I gotta go now. Will be attending the Women of the African Diaspora Conference today, where I will be participating in a panel discussion. I'll also read my poem, A Blackgirl's Survival Guide.
farvel,
the lab