Not even one token woman!

Carolyn Cooper, Gleaner Writer

This month, it's black history; next month, it's women's history. Women, like black people, now get a whole month in which to celebrate our collective contribution to world culture. What a 'poppyshow'! Like black history, women's history really ought to be everyday history. But it is not.

In most societies, it is men who make history. And men also write or speak history. So, naturally, men are the prime subjects of history. Women end up on the margins or are completely written out of the story. So we women - especially black women - still have to put up a fight to insert ourselves into history.

Last Sunday, 'mi head tek mi' when I saw the poster for the conference on 'Collective Responsibility for the 21st Century', jointly hosted by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the Commonwealth Secretariat. I simply couldn't believe it. The advertisement featured 11 men. Not even one token woman! Nor a single young man. The combined age of those poster patriarchs for CARICOM and the UWI had to be no less than 700 years! Not quite Methuselah, but still. The face of Caribbean regional integration was completely male and totally old.

I immediately sent off a despondent email to head office: "I despair for our university and the region: The flyer for the conference features 11 men! Is there not one woman whose face can be used to advertise the conference? Are any women slated to speak? I would very much appreciate seeing the full programme. Was there a call for papers sent out for this conference? Or is this a closed shop?

"At this very late stage, I'm offering a paper for the panel on 'People-Centred Development: Representations of Caribbean Regional Integration in Jamaican Popular Culture'. It would be based on my essay published in Caribbean Imperatives: Regional Governance and Integrated Development. I've copied this email to the vice-chancellor but, just in case he doesn't see it, I would appreciate your bringing my concerns to his attention."

Appalling gender ratio

I got an apologetic response. The prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, had been invited to be the keynote speaker but she couldn't come after all. And most of the other women who had been asked to participate declined for one reason or another. The gender ratio of speakers was appalling; 23 male: 2 female.

I was offered the option of chairing a panel, which I graciously declined. I was settling for nothing less than giving a paper. My persistence paid off and I was allowed to speak on the panel, 'Regional Integration: Commonwealth Perspectives'. But I felt as if I'd committed a rapacious act, forcibly penetrating the programme. Why couldn't a call for papers have been issued so that potential participants, both male and female, could have felt free to offer their contribution?

That's the nature of patriarchy. Privilege is not readily surrendered. The authority to invite partici-pation guarantees complete control of the agenda. Of course, my being permitted to speak confirms the fact that patriarchy can afford to be indulgent while still holding on to absolute power. Indeed, my recommendation that another younger female scholar be invited to chair the panel I'd been offered was disregarded.

Whenever I hear that tired story about the gender 'imbalance' between male and female students at the University of the West Indies, especially at Mona, I just 'kiss my teeth'. I know that gender imbalance is not a problem at the higher reaches of university administration. Men still 'run tings' at the University of the West Indies.

It is true that a few token women have been appointed as administrators. But do they really challenge patriarchy? Or are they complicit with the system? For example, the post of deputy principal seems to be reserved for women: close enough to power but not really in the driver's seat.

It was the calypsonian Penguin who mischievously proposed "a deputy essential to keep you feeling vital". If women keep settling for deputy, we will certainly ensure the continued vitality of patriarchy. I keep wondering when the UWI will appoint the first competitively selected campus principal; or the first female vice-chancellor. In the next century?

Fi Wi Sinting

On an 'upful' note, I must applaud Sister Pauline Petinaud for making her own history and creating the wonderful Afrocentric festival, Fi Wi Sinting. Today, we celebrate the 21st staging of the event, which attracts visitors from across the globe to the magical venue of Somerset Falls in Portland.

I wonder if the Jamaica Tourist Boards (JTB) knows the magnetic appeal of this festival. Unlike the misnamed Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival which receives substantial support from the JTB, Fi Wi Sinting is an 'outside pikni' who gets the 'wat lef'. I would bet my last dollar that Fi Wi Sinting is a far better investment than some of the 'hot' cultural stocks that yield very few long-term returns.

Today's programme features kumina drumming, mento music, dub poetry, storytelling, choral singing and fire dancing. Fi Wi Wonderland will keep the children busy, and adults will get the chance to take a class from the master screenprinter, Ireko Baker. Mutabaruka's Blakk Muzik sound system will energise the African dance party.

There will be haute couture African fashion on stage and in the audience. Engaging talks on inspirational subjects will feed the mind. Tasty, nutritious food will keep us going all day and into the evening when the Ancestral Raft, laden with offerings, drifts out to sea. Fi Wi Sinting celebrates collective responsibility and people-centred development 'fi real'. Those poster patriarchs had better take lessons for a change.

Carolyn Cooper is an ideator. Visit her bilingual blog at http://carolynjoycooper.wordpress.com/. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and karokupa@gmail.com.