Dear Nesta,
But dere’s a t’ing, neh? Imagine you could call me up Friduh mornin’ gone, befo’ I even had time to wipe de sleep from muh eyes, to tell muh wunna know de outcome o’ we elections – an de final results din come t’rough ’til after 2 a.m.
Lord have ’Is mercy, I friten enuff fuh dah grapevine wunna got!
But um is true, yuh hear right. De Dems manage to win de elections after a hard neck-an’-neck fight dat had mos’ of de islan’ wid duh hearts in duh moufs, waitin’ fuh de final decision.
I know, not me, I din gine lose my night res’ ’waitin’ fuh results dat I c’n do neffin ’bout. Howevah it turn out – Dems or Bees – I still got to live. So leh’ we congratulate Mr Stuart an’ ’e team fuh winnin’ a hard-fought race, an’ get on wid livin’.
Somehow or ethuh, de Cadres polls din predick t’ings right dis time. I en know ef Bajans get friten at de Grenada results an’ decide dah would be a turrble t’ing to happen hey – an’ deed an’ faif it en right to gi’e summuch power to one party – so duh turn out an’ decide to gi’e de Dems anethuh chance.
All de carrots de BLP hol’ out to de public in duh manifesto – lower electricity prices, lower VAT, relief ’pon food prices, to name a few, c’n put duh ovuh de top.
Y’know, de Bible nevuh wrong. “Pride cometh befo’ a fall”, an’ “Yuh reap wuh yuh sow”. God don’ like ugly, an’ believe me, it din pretty when Mia Mottley had to step down as Opposition Leader.
Philomena, cryin’ ovuh CLICO as she was hopin’ fuh better days, dry she tears fuh a minute to tell muh she hope Mr Owen Arthur realize dat was one o’ de causes fuh ’e defeat. Mia win wid summuch votes in she constituency that it should help he to read de writin’ ’pon de wall, an’ as he’s a bright man, I feel it should tell ’e somet’ing.
Guvment win by two seats so t’ings should be real hot when de House open agen. Stannin’ ’way from de weekly sittin’s gine ha’ to be “no-no” in future. Votin’ might be so tight at times dat evah vote would counk. I can see life gettin’ real int’restin’ in de comin’ monfs.
Well, de VAT en gine down, electricity rates en movin, de high cos’ o’ livin’ still up dey an’ life got to go on, regardless. So we coulds well leh t’ings settle down an’ see wuh gine happen while we keep hopin’ fuh de bes’. Cyahn do neffin less.
Wid all de political excitement goin’ on, I nearly fuhget dis is Black Hist’ry Monf an’ only jes’ realize it comin’ to a en’ in couple days time.
As yuh know, de African Amuricans introduce it to try an’ gi’e black people – young an’ ole – a sense o’ pride dat still seem to be lackin’ among de black population.
Durin’ we schooldays, it did bare English an’ European hist’ry an’ we never had a chance to learn ’bout all de int’restin’ black people an’ de contributions duh mek long ago.
Duh lay de groun’work fuh quite a few inventions in use today – aldoh many never did get de recognition duh deserve. T’ings diff’rent now an’ all ovuh de worl’ black people mekkin’ duh mark – in science, medicine, sports, de arts.
We now got a black Amurican president an’ sence de Pope jes’ resign, who is to say a black Pope en comin’ nex’?
Anyhow, summuch fuh dat. I gine up de road at Philomena to see ef she in brighter spirits – she did too depress dis mornin’, po’ soul.
Tek care o’ yuhself
Yuh frien’ Babsie
