Bajan Hotsauce: Black Bajan Boomers
On CBS 60 minutes last evening, I watched an episode of Alive! 55 plus and kickin’ Wow! Wow! I was transfixed, moved, entertained, and in tears. The CBS host Leslie Stahl interviewed Vy Higginsen and Ken Wydro the creators and directors of the show. Each performer was over 55, black, and had an incredible story. Stories included men who were incarcerated for more than 40 years receiving redemption on stage. There was a story of a nurse, who cared for her own child suffering from cancer until he died. She realized, even with all her medical training, all she could do was provide relief until his death.
Yet, there was a story of a bent over older man, a janitor who never learned to read and turned to alcohol to bury his shame. The show transformed his life, took his shame and he went back to school in his fifties and eventually won a poetry contest. And finally, the toughest story was an ex convict who was abandoned at two weeks and never had a name or knew his mother. He turned to a life of crime and the most prominent thing in his mind was each of the prison numbers assigned to him. In the show he imagined his mother’s name was Georgia, he yearned to know her, so he sings Georgia on my mind as though he was signing to her.
We started Bajan hotsuace (Bajan hot peper sauce) as a project to tell our story of Barbados through a series of cultural, anecdotal, and sometimes-humorous stories. We believe that in many cases we have missed an opportunity to capture the rich, wonderful memories of our ancestry, to preserve them for future generations. Some might exclaim that we ought to abandon the local dialect and speak proper English. On the contrary. Soon many of us the Black Bajan Boomers, will start to replace the current fading generation and our stories of our Barbadian roots will fade with us.
Vy and Ken’s story does not end with the Black Boomers. Prior to the Alive! 55+ and kickin’ they started a program to introduce and teach black teens the music of the long forgotten era of doo wop, deep gospel, heavy jazz, and way back blues. To ingrain the rich history, pain, and beautiful music on these impressionable minds, Vy and Ken brought the 55+ and the teen groups together to learn from each other, but most importantly, to mentor the youth.
We want Bajan hotsauce to begin the journey of bringing together the rich cultural history of Barbados with the progressive youth experiences, especially the diaspora, to create a beautiful experience of learning. For example, I resisted social media for a long time until I found my voice with the Bajan hotsuace project. It has been the most amazing journey. I have more than 30+ years in the information technology industry, but little experience using social media and resisted using it until I started a project with my son and my granddaughter who built the entire Bajan hotsauce blog and integrated it with all the social media platforms. My granddaughter (18 years old) is amazing and has done a phenomenal job under the tutelage of her father. But most importantly, the experience has brought three generations of Bajans to work together for a common cause. To tell the Barbados story.
Each of us has a story, some more eventful than others, but it is our story. Each of us has a philosophical worldview and our own unique brand, and we want to share it. If you have a story, want to promote your personal brand, or create a social media presence for you and your family and not sure where to begin, please let us know. We are able and willing to help you get started. You deserve to tell your own story.
Bajan hotsauce: Stan