Should Roger Gibbs Stay In His Lane?

Re: Roger Gibbs’s letter in Pride News Magazine on May 14, 2021 (The Toronto Caribbean Carnival: Outdated Arts Development Approach? – Pride News)

Editor:
Gibb’s article is interwoven with fact and fiction. His blend of fact and fiction may lead you astray, in deriving a proper opinion, with which one can determine a useful direction to follow.

(The Gay) Pride (parade) is undoubtedly well-funded, with a strong following, as its membership is strongly supportive, with influence at the highest level, throughout the Diaspora.

Caribana, on the other hand, does not have that strong a support base, financially or influentially, through contacts in government, banks, legal and other fraternities.

Caribana is now dependent on young, non-founding members, who have to wave the culture flag, with some guidance from the fledgling old guard, weary from old battle scars.

Carnival is strongest, as a cultural event, in Trinidad and Tobago, among the Caribbean islands. This is a fact. Hence you have Trinidadians in the forefront. Yes, we, as West Indians, are one people in North America, (and) we have to find ways to come together, with a blend that incorporates our uniqueness.

All other groups have their fights, internally. Our issues are put on the street, allowing people, like Gibbs, to present themselves as expert critics. Stay in your lane Gibbs. No West Indians are writing critical reviews of your community. If any of us did, you would go after that individual’s throat, holding on to their jugular.

Stay in your lane Gibbs, and restrict your articles to your own community. If you have some positive advice, or contacts, forward the same.

Stay in your lane Gibbs. Nothing in your critique can be viewed as advice. You are attempting to kick us to the curb-side. Stay in your lane Gibbs.

Herb Bol
Ontario