|
“Prize monies gone - who hit
me?” |
It has been 48
hours since the
Friday the 13th Steelband Massacre when the
NYC pan community was body slammed and kicked in
the ass. They lost their lollypop and all
their panorama prize money - thousands of
dollars worth, that is. Quite frankly, no
one has come forward with a logical reason why
they, the NYC pan community, should not
have been taken advantage of. Why not,
because WIADCA (the West Indian American Day
Carnival Association) are upstanding citizens
and protectors of the arts and culture? If
you believe that, we got a bridge to sell you.
Look, if WIADCA had not taken the New York pan
people’s lunch monies someone else would have. Let’s be honest: the New
York steelband franchises and community lack creditable and skilled leadership
in business and the art of exploiting their investments for their own benefit.
Moreover, what little ‘leadership’ there is has not behaved in a manner that
would make anyone believe that any form of intelligence or integrity was
operating here.
Do the NYC steelband franchises not operate in
New York - the entertainment, cultural and financial capital of the world?
Is this not the home of venture capitalists, media moguls, HBO, MTV, Yankee
Stadium, CNN, Madison Square Garden, Lincoln Center, Donald Trump and VH1 among
many others? So why are you attending a panorama competition in a parking
lot behind the museum for the last four decades? Are you not the talent,
the artists and the performers? Are you not the reason thousands of people
come out to see you perform every year? With such an abundance of arenas, shows,
promoters, choices and opportunities, why does any organization the level of a
WIADCA even have your telephone number? We have never heard one person say
they are going to panorama to see or hear the promoters of the panorama event.
The Battered Wife Syndrome that the NYC
leaders are living and exhibiting for years, is - while embarrassing - very
curable.
Simply put: NYC steelbands got “jacked-up”
because their management and leaders are not ready for prime time.
The NYC leadership have done awesome things in
regards to just surviving and keeping the culture alive in a very hostile
environment. And they should be commended for that. Outside of
Trinidad & Tobago - there is nothing like pan in New York. But what does
that have to do with the price of tea in China? As one of the posters in
the WST forum asked, “Do you think the New York Yankees didn’t get paid their
bonuses after the world series was over?”
Please, please, please, say
you signed a contract!
Leave a comment
on the
When Steel
Talks
Ning forum |