Date: 16 March 2001
Contact: Kanchan Paser
Tel: 212-963-0343
Fax: 212-963-1395
For Immediate Release
Brooklyn Public Library and the SUNSHINE Awards™
Launch "Rituals of Power & Rebellion"
by Dr. Hollis "Chalkdust" Liverpool
Brooklyn Public Library, Central Library, Grand Army Plaza, Wednesday,
May 9, 5:30 - 8 p.m.
Teaneck, New Jersey, USA, 19 April, 2001….The
SUNSHINE Awards™ organization today issued the following statement:
The SUNSHINE Awards™ is very pleased to have joined
with the Brooklyn Public Library in the launching of this remarkable book on the
evolution of Carnival (1763 to 1962) in Trinidad & Tobago by Dr. Hollis
"Chalkdust" Liverpool. Rituals of Power & Rebellion is being
hailed as "a masterpiece of scholarship, insight and impressive
research", which "unravels the many layers of social, anthropological,
cultural and musical history, which have contributed to the survival and
evolution of Carnival".
Teacher, historian and calypsonian, Chalkdust was
ideally suited to write this remarkable, instructive and informative work.
Undoubtedly, his personal experience as a calypsonian, coming up in the days
when calypso and its exponents were considered undesirables, gave him first-hand
knowledge of the trials and tribulations through which this music has traveled
over the years. Chalkdust became enamoured of this Caribbean art form as a young
man, and started singing calypso in his early twenties. His decision to become a
calypsonian brought the wrath of the establishment on his head and, in fact,
resulted in the loss of his job as a teacher. Undeterred by this hostility and
opposition, Chalkdust not only survived, but also, over the years, combined his
skills as teacher and calypsonian to firmly establish himself as the "griot"
of calypso. It is therefore not surprising to learn that he writes the lyrics to
all his songs.
Over the years, Chalkdust has used his music to
educate and instruct while entertaining lovers of calypso. He admits to
frequently using his songs as teaching tools in his university lectures. The
publication of Rituals of Power & Rebellion, which comes out of his Ph.D.
dissertation, completed in 1992, can perhaps be considered the ultimate teaching
tool. It draws on his many years of experience and great depth of knowledge.
Chalkdust says that, "In a sense, I have actually been working on this
since I was 14 years of age". Indeed, as a youth, he was able to gain
first-hand knowledge of many of the early calypsonians, masqueraders and
pioneers of the steelband, whom he had the opportunity to interview as part of
school assignments. These early interactions became the groundwork for this very
fine historical account of the evolution of Carnival. Dr. Reginald Griffith of
the National Resource Development Institute in Trinidad, considers "Rituals
of Power & Rebellion", "A remarkable achievement to condense so
much authoritative information in one single volume for the benefit of Caribbean
people and social historians throughout the world."
Gil Figaro, Sr., Founder/Chairman of the SUNSHINE
Awards™ congratulates his long-time friend and co-founder of the SUNSHINE
Awards™ Hall of Fame on the publication of this outstanding work. "In
writing this book, Chalkdust has guaranteed that valuable information regarding
an important part of our cultural heritage, which for the most part is little
known, will be secured for future generations. Rituals of Power & Rebellion
is an outstanding contribution to Caribbean scholarship, which makes easily
accessible historical facts relevant to the culture of the Afro/Caribbean
people. Chalkdust has done a wonderful job."
Dr. Hollis "Chalkdust" Liverpool grew up in
Belmont, Trinidad, and also spent some of his early years in Tobago. He is
currently a visiting Assistant Professor in the Virgin Islands and was recently
appointed Director of the Carnival Institute of Trinidad & Tobago.
"Rituals of Power and Rebellion" will be officially launched in New
York on Wednesday, 9 May, 2001 at the Brooklyn Public Library, Central Library
at Grand Army Plaza and will be attended by a number of well-known artistes and
performers of Caribbean art forms.
