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De More We are Togedda
Caribana 2009, Las Part of de Court Case

Queen Macoomeh speaks on the unnecessary abuse and difficulties encountered by Accredited Press/Media while trying to cover the 2009 Toronto Caribana.  The Pan Alive steelband panorama competition was severely impacted.

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by Queen Macoomeh

 

Copyright August 2009

 

Toronto, Canada - De ole people use to say 'plain talk, bad manners' an if dais de case, ah coming troo wid plenty bad manners today.

Watch meh:
I reach in Lamport Stadium wid all my coutrements - camera, tripod, notebook, a washrag to wipe my greazy face. You could see I come to wuk, not lime. My job is to observe an document tings to help big up my community wedda here, abroad or on de people internets. We tired see we face in de mainstream media wid some foolishness ent? So de more we could promote we talents, de better we all will be. Jump high, jump low, is we to ketch.

So why I getting boof? Why I have to stan insult from people who I suppose to be wukkin wid? An is not me alone eh, all accredited media was getting boof hard.

Move! Doh stan up dey! Go over so! Move back! Go so! Get out!

People talkin to you as doh dey ketch you dress up in a negligee interfering wid dey white fowl.

De media form you akse we to full out have all we business:
Who we wukking for. Where we snaps endin up. Where we living. What we phone number is. You give we a media badge to identify we from de ressa people. Yet still, when we reach, we getting rag up? When we akse you wha going on, you telling we is not you in charge an walk away? But ent is you who accredit we? So what you in charge of den?

Caribana Media an Public Relations People. I listen to de talk among members of de media de night of King an Queen an Pan Alive. It wasn nice. People was dere to wuk an cah get a chance to do it properly. Please explain to de volunteers dat we not dere to make dem vex. We doing a job too.

A nex ting. Where you put de cameras in King an Queen show is a bad place. You should know dat awready. You cah have we where de costumes coming onstage chook up in a tight corner. For most of de 2-3 minutes de costume onstage, dey have dey back to we. Put de VIPs dere. Dat space big an wide open. Move we to de sout side of de judges. Why? It give we a view of de approaching costume an as dey turn to face de judges, we could get de kinda full frontal snaps all yuh like to see in de papers an magazines an internets de nex morning! We cannot take proper snap at dat 45 degree angle!

Even if yuh scratch awf my name from yuh liss fuh 2010, make sure an accredit TROO media who dere to wuk. Check dere credentials so is not Snow White an all ninety-nine dwarfs coming een de media area. I see people wid camera phone jostling videographers! Oh shims man!

Volunteers. I appreciate all yuh bad. Some of all yuh save my life a few times. I do dat wuk for a few years an get so much cuss dat my ears still ringing. Trying to control a crowd is a lesson in patience an grace eh papa? Ah feel yuh. But ah beg yuh do. If you have a camera crew takin snap of we festival to carry it fuh de world to see, doh treat dem like ants.

Band leaders. I fully understand de need fuh dat net ting all yuh travelling wid. Toronto Revellers start up dat an ah notice Carib Nationz pick up a string dis year too. But how is media supposed to take all yuh snap of all yuh nice band if yuh not letting we near de masqueraders on parade day?

We have de badge rong we neck, check it, leh we take de snap. Once we know you heading fuh stage, we go move out yuh way. Give we up to 40-50 foot from de stage or jes past de stage so we could snap all yuh jumping up an making merry.

At Pan Alive, lawd, it was so much ro-ro dat I give to hell up, pack up meh camera an went to siddong in a corner to jes listen. I have no snaps of de winning band to help promote de ting - none! None of nearly all de bands. Why? Because dey want yuh move back. So unless I was going to snap de back of people head, I give up. One videographer try he bes to still do he wuk an a lady bawl behine he an try to shove away he equipment. Dey nearly come to blows. Ah feel so bad. So yuh could imagine how he report on we ting when he reach back in de TV station. We need positive media! We have nuff negative media awready.

Nah man all yuh. Ah does pride mehself on Caribana inspite de shortcomings but dis have me peevish an fretful. Dem big costumes corse how much? Tousands, not so? Ent yuh want some rememberance of it? Ent yuh want to see yuh costume on TV or on a newspaper or magazine cover? Ent yuh want a praising report? I for one cah help yuh out wid a orange net in front me. An even doh ah have a strong lens it cah see troo people to snap yuh an ah cah take a snap arong a corner.

Is not a simple ting, I understand dat. Dis festival bigger dan most people realize. De amount of organization an logistic is enough to make yuh whole head tun grey. I offer to buy de Festival Manager a Carib an a roti if he could stop de jam session from by de CNE gates. Poor fella was in trouble by about noon. I still going to buy yuh a roti an beer yes compere. Ah see yuh wukking like twenty tarzan to get people to clear de way.

Caribana 2009 was a masterpiece from a artistic stan-point. We calypso was strong - Red Man get my vote before he even finish he chune. Dem costumes had people reeling. Pan was sweetness self. We need de worl to know dat Toronto is a grand stage for Caribbean art forms. De same way Scotia plaster dey name all over we ting, is de same way we could promote we own festival an get some serious cacadah to boost we own ting.

Togedda we aspire, togedda we achieve. Separated we does fall dong an bounce we head an somebody else does grab we ting an run away laughing. We know dat. Yet still we cah work togedda to avoid it from happening?

People take money out dey pocket an pay to see mas. So when de cock crow an we hear how we in debt still it muss feel ahow. To know pan men play dey heart out an only getting a 'Yuh play good!', we muss feel ahow. To know you sing a bess chune but cah hear it on de radio, yuh muss feel ahow.

Get togedda an straighten out we business nuh?


Steupse!
 

For full story and pictures go to:
www.seenennennews.com
click on Volume 2, Issue 28

Walk Good!
Queen Macoomeh
Editor-in-Chief - See Nen Nen News

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Contact Queen Macoomeh: http://whensteeltalks.ning.com/profile/QueenMacoomeh 
 

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