Graham Holton begins this very interesting piece on Calypso music and the oil industry in Trinidad by explaining that British companies and colonial government were exploiting the oil reserves and at the same time engaging in socio-economic depression of lower class groups such as the black community of Trinidad. Entertainers, like great singer-songwriter Roaring Lion, used forms of entertainment to spread a political message throughout their own class. I believe that the use of statical writing is one of the best ways for an oppressed group to express their dissatisfaction with their situation, with out causing a major conflict. It takes the edge of for those being oppressed, and sends an indirect message to the oppressors which would hopefully make them question their actions. The oil companies in Trinidad took awe workers dignity and human rights.
However, this oppression served as inspiration for an entire genre of calypso music. Oil drums, became steal drums. Today steal drum music is considered the signature sound of the Caribbean. At what price did this come?
Is the calypso steal drum music that spawned from the oppression the silver lining to the cloud? Or is it a reminder of the abuse for those who were effected by it?
In my opinion it is both, however, the reminder of the abuse creates a sense of identity and progression amongst today's decedents of this time of oppression. Carnival is the pinnacle of the this dichotomy. Now an internationally revered cultural celebration, Carnival took its roots from oppression and exclusions of the blacks by the French during colonial times. I feel that Carnival is a unique and precious cultural celebration that should be preserved and revered with positive connotation. It is a vibrant demonstration of the fact that in the face of oppression, the Calypso people still appreciated, enjoyed, and celebrated life. As commercial oil production began during the early 1900s, the Calypso movement was faced with a new adversary, censorship. As the music became more and more popular, the oppressing colonial government became threatened by broadcasting of the political messages constrained in the music. As a result they created laws of censorship to regulate it. This situation makes me question American today. Although we have the right to "free speech" we also have allot of censorship laws, as well as governing bodies dedicated to censorship such as the FCC. Are there groups of oppressed people in America whose message is being censored just like the Calypsos in the early 1900s? How many messages, and cries for help are being censored today? How much information and how many opinions globally are never made publicly available due to censorship?
I believe that censorship is a powerful tool used by the people on top, such as people who control the oil industry, to oppress the voice of the population being exploited for their own economic benefit. Censorship is still used today but in a slightly different way. In 1957 a Calypso music group when platinum in the United States, very much due to the political messages expressed through the lyrics of the music. In todays popular music there is a complete lack of political messages. Popular music is very much controlled by large record companies. I think it is ironic, that these large companies rarely support music that actually contains a political message. For example, Hip Hop started out as a genre that conveyed political messages, often of an oppressed class of people in the United States. Today, Hip Hop has become popular dance music that does not convey any type of political message.
Calypso music from Trinidad has done an amazing job at historically documenting the political, societal, and cultural events that took place their during the 1900s from the perspective of the oppressed class. From the economic boom of the 1970s to the sinking ship with the 1986 drop in world oil prices, Calypso music has eternalized the perspective of the laboring class.
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