Friday, March 16, 2007

TORONTO, Canada:

Music, applause and peals of laughter echoed through the packed rows of University of Toronto’s William Doo Auditorium on Friday March 9, as hundreds of celebrants shared in a delightful event called “Louise Simone Bennett - Colonizing in reverse.”

The event was held in commemoration of the life and work of the noted Excelsiorian and celebrated Jamaican cultural icon popularly called Miss Lou, who passed away last year. The program was produced under the artistic directorship of Jamaican educator and theatre practitioner Dr. Honor Ford- Smith, the founder of Sistren Theatre Collective, who once taught speech and drama at Excelsior.

The evening of performances was preceded by a fascinating multimedia exhibition which, in the words of the printed program “broadly sketches the arc of Miss Lou’s life in the context of her time, and suggests ways in which her legacy might be translated visually through themes such as migration and the Diaspora, anti-colonialism, women and work, orality/writing, the trickster.”

The performances showcased a wide range of voices and genres from the soul stirring gospel of the Toronto Mass Choir and the hypnotic thunder of the pulsating drums of Quammie Williams and the Jump Music Collective to engaging insightful remarks by Professors Mervyn Morris and Ted Chamberlain. From poignant personal testimony by friend of Miss Lou and representative of the UWI Alumni (Toronto chapter) Maud Fuller, and dramatic presentation of Miss Lou’s work by Denise Jones, to a blues interpretation of the Louise Bennett classic “Evening Time” by Djanet Sears, to entertaining and biting poetry by Lillian Allen and Mutabaruka.

Based on the response of the audience though, it seemed that the real performance highlight of the evening was another Excelsioran and Miss Lou protégé Owen Blakka Ellis. Blakka appeared first on the program to set the tone and context and outline the format of the proceedings. This was done in character as “Chairman Jenkins”, an old time Jamaican tea meeting chairman. Chairman Jenkins delighted the

Owen Blakka Ellis

gathering with the extent and dexterity of his active vocabulary in the traditional tea meeting manner of mocking the pomposity and verbosity of the colonial masters by deliberately using bombastic multi-syllabic terminology.

People were howling with laughter. He later returned to don another hat and deliver a riveting reading of his poetry; first tackling serious issues like urban violence and male identity in “Tick Tock” then making searing political commentary in “Black History: Anancy Story”, before closing with the humorous observation on abuse of power in his popular piece “Gateman”.

That Friday evening made many feel proud to be Jamaican, and Excelsiorian.

The exhibition, as well as some of the performances, will be repeated in a similar event on Wednesday March 21 at York University where Dr. Ford-Smith is now an associate professor.