Spoken Word workshops & Performances in Trinidad with Roots Foundation
by Shareefa Energy
This Summer I visited Trinidad to have some dedicated writing time away from England. I was introduced to Mtima Solwazi the founder of the Roots Foundation, a spoken word organisation using local oral traditions to uplift local poets and spoken word artists, advocating for social change. Immediately he decided to include me in their annual Cascadoo Festival in August, already familiar with my work. They had not had an international poet join their festival since before the lockdown.
I was their headline poet performing in different venues across Trinidad, from Wing It on ‘D Avenue’ to joining the event at the Urban Farmer’s restaurant in Enterprise. When arriving, there was a lot of fearmongering with Trinidad being notoriously known for having some of the highest crime and murder rates in the world. Everywhere I went, I was warned “be careful, stay safe”. The people of Trinidad and Tobago were really kind and welcoming, which challenged existing colonial stereotypes of such communities.
Alongside being spoilt witnessing epic steel pan bands playing regularly in Port of Spain and at the Emancipation Village, I was booked to perform and facilitate at NALIS Library, alongside Roots Foundation local poets. I facilitated a workshop to young people on using spoken word and poetry as a tool for change, using my poetry films as examples.
We discussed the flammable cladding on Grenfell in West London that took 72 lives, including 18 children predominantly from African and Muslim communities. We discussed the murder of child Tamir Rice in America by police in 2014, the genocide in Palestine and the unnecessary murder and crime rate in Trinidad. We drew parallels around the concerns of inner-city communities in both Trinidad and England, the impact of youth violence and neglected young people, police negligence and the residue of colonialism and white supremacy.
A young person who attended the workshop was moved to tears mentioning his godmother who lives in England, understandably worried about her safety since the rise of far-right fascists attacking Africans and Muslims in England this Summer. The ripple effect of British fascism impacting the psyche of a young man in Trinidad in the Caribbean, having to worry for his loved ones and anxieties of his own safety when intending to move to England was upsetting. A healing and honest space was provided for the young people in attendance at the workshop. We ended the session performing poetry for them.
We facilitated a workshop at St Jude’s School for Girls, a school attended by young girls who are part of the care system and removed from their homes after being victims of domestic and sexual violence, perceived as ‘difficult’. Deneka Thomas, Trinidad’s legendary poet and founder of poetry night Bacano Leaf and local National Poetry Slam finalist, joined us to facilitate alongside Geron Ruiz, a talented finalist for the recent Youth On Stage competition.
We supported the young people to understand how to write a spoken word piece, each of us performed to give them an example of what their poem could potentially look like. We gave them some writing time and the girls ended the session by sharing what they wrote. The majority wrote about their rights as young girls, feelings of disappointment and betrayal by those who were meant to take care of them, the impact of misogyny – their own words of resistance and affirmation was displayed. The benefit of sharing the art form we love and passing this cathartic tool on was experienced in it’s fullness.
The most profound workshop I appreciated being part of facilitating was at the Youth Training Centre, a jail for young people in Trinidad. There were 30 teenage boys in attendance and 2 young women. The incredible local Roots poets Emmanuel Villafana, Geron Ruiz and Michael Logie facilitated used Trinibad lyrics, Calypso and Soca lyrics as examples of poetic writing. I recited a poem l’d written about invasions in Jenin and Jenin’s youth martyred in Palestine. We collectively mind mapped topics they felt passionately about. Their growth and self-reflection could be felt in such a short space of time.
They wrote about not wanting to be back in jail, to want more for themselves, “I’ve done the crime now I’m doing the time”. They started off with examples like “squeeze the trigger like orange” to writing about wanting change. They were super talented and expressed themselves beautifully.
One of the boys he sat down twice not wanting to share what he wrote.I got up with him on the stage to support him and he sang his lyrics full of hope stunningly. We must never underestimate how far a little encouragement can go in empowering people.
Often, we can wait for Arts Council funding or a formal invitation prior to booking a flight. Sometimes it’s good as writers to network and reach out to organisations doing similar work when travelling, to have an experience as a writer and performer and not just merely sit by the swimming pool. My way of learning about a community I travel to live amongst and to understand their struggles is via grassroots organisations, through community work and immersing myself in the arts.
Youth work for me is not something I merely do on a whim in England, I continue the work informally or formally when in different countries to ensure youth empowerment continues and young people who do not have the means to travel, can broaden their perspective through engagement.
Trinidad and Tobago’s poets and performers are of a highly skilled standard as witnessed through Derron Sandy’s work. Their calibre and style encouraged me to step up and put more love into my performances, something I don’t usually have time to develop when always responding to emergency situations in the community or not having rehearsal space.
I walked away from Cascadoo Festival inspired as a writer and performer and hope to return and support the vision of the Roots Foundation collective as a second-generation Indian migrant poet raised in England with a love for Trinidad and Tobago and their rich culture.
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Shareefa Energy
Shareefa Energy is a working-class South Asian award winning poet, writer, activist, community organiser and creative campaigner challenging British state violence, based in Leicester and London. She is the author of poetry collection Galaxy Walk, endorsed by the late Benjamin Zephaniah. Her poetry has featured on BBC The One Show, Channel 4 and ITV. She’s facilitated creative writing, poetry, storytelling and performance workshops internationally, from Palestine to Sierra Leone with schools, universities, academics, in prisons and immigration detention centres, with survivors of domestic violence and with those impacted by state violence. She facilitates nature, poetry and wellbeing workshops too, inspired by her spent time in the Amazon rainforest in Venezuela. She is a long-term supporter of the Palestinian struggle for liberation and justice.