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         8               CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM CONFERENCE

         9                      EDUCATION AND TRAINING

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1                   MS. HENNEMAN:  Good afternoon.  I am Carol

         2    Henneman.  For those of you who may not know me, I am the

         3    Executive Director of the Virgin Islands Board of Education,

         4    and I am here to moderate this very, very interesting

         5    discussion on the role that education and training will play

         6    in our cultural heritage product, project, whatever you want

         7    to call it.

         8                   Somehow, I think this should have been the

         9    opening discussion, simply because if our children don't get

        10    it all will be lost, and we'll be talking to ourselves while

        11    we're in the nursing home with no teeth, and there will be

        12    no young people who will follow our cultural traditions and

        13    so on to make certain that they are preserved.

        14                   So it's indeed an honor and a privilege, and

        15    we have an outstanding set of panelists who I'm going to

        16    allow to introduce themselves.  And I'm not going to talk

        17    very long, because I'm the moderator, not the panelist.

        18    Can't confuse the roles.  Okay?

        19                   My one premise is this:  The reason that our

        20    project and our product are still confused is that we don't

        21    have a clue who we are as a people, and everybody comes with

        22    a pen and writes on our slate, and we take it on as who we

        23    are, and so they market us, we don't market ourselves.

        24                   It's time for us to get the definition of

        25    self in place, and then say to the world, Here is our

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    definition.  Now you can come and live with us, you can come

         2    and work with us, you can come and marry us, you can come

         3    and cooperate with us, you can come and collaborate with us.

         4    But the bottom line is, this is who we are.

         5                   Everything cannot go in kalaloo.  You cannot

         6    have every fruit and vegetable in kalaloo.  I had kalaloo

         7    the other day from a place that will remain nameless, and

         8    there was macaroni in it.  I took it back.  I said, Sister,

         9    with all due respect to you, macaroni is not in my kalaloo.

        10    I actually am going to write a poem.  We can't be everything

        11    to everybody in every season in every time.  And as a

        12    result, if we are confused, how do you think the children

        13    feel?

        14                   If you look at our curriculum, and this is

        15    year number thirty-one for me, the curriculum looks like our

        16    children go to school in Minnesota.  Okay?  And to make the

        17    situation even more complicated, now we have a lot of people

        18    teaching our children who don't have a clue about our

        19    history and culture.  It's not their fault, because, like

        20    every place else, with the global economy and with the

        21    shortage of teachers, we're going to get people from all

        22    over the world.

        23                   It's our job to anchor their educational

        24    experiences with our children, in our truths and our

        25    understanding of self, so that we don't have confused

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    children.  A lot of our children can't attach to our way of

         2    living because they don't know what they're attaching to.

         3    They have not a clue.  They don't know who Hubert Harrison

         4    is.  They don't know who Karen Samuel is.  They don't know

         5    anything about us.  They know Michael Jordan and Kobe

         6    Bryant, and they might know Timmy Duncan because he happens

         7    to be in that arena.  But you ask them who Hubert Harrison

         8    is, ask them.  Ask any Virgin Islands’ cild you see on the

         9    street.  I even dare you to ask adults, who claim they're

        10    from the Virgin Islands, who Hubert Harrison is.  I bet you

        11    they can't fill in the blank.

        12                   And you know whose fault it is?  It's ours.

        13    Because if we thought we were important enough, we would

        14    teach our children what is important to us.  But we are so busy

        15    trying to look like somebody from California, and I love

        16    California, it's a beautiful place, but it's not home for

        17    Carol Henneman.

        18                   We have problems defining self.  We have to

        19    face it.  We have a lot of problems.  There are Virgin

        20    Islanders that look like me who are telling me that they're

        21    not Africans.  So where did you come from?  You weren't a

        22    Taino or Carib Indian.  But if you say the word "African"

        23    to them, they so “no.  I born in the Virgin Islands.  That's where I

        24    come from.”  But that's not true.  It's not true.  Other

        25    people have to tell us what our truths are.  We need to

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    really begin here with education and training.

         2                   So now, what I'm going to allow is for

         3    fifteen minutes for each panelist.  I'm going to ask them,

         4    just for time constraints, to come to the mic and to

         5    introduce themselves.  If you have questions, wait until the end.   
              I'm going to try to save a

         7    half an hour for you to ask questions and to get involved, because I

         8    see some outstanding educators in here who I'm sure are

         9    going to have some things to say about how we work and train

        10    our children.

        11                   So I'm going to start with Mr. Davis, Glenn

        12    "Kwabena" Davis.  I don't know what he's doing here without

        13    his guitar, but I'm going to forgive him because I have to

        14    let him talk for fifteen minutes.  Then we're going to go on

        15    to Mr. Willard John, our principal of Elena Christian High

        16    School, and to Mrs. Anna Wallace-Francis.  Senator Shawn

        17    Michael Malone is someplace wandering around trying to get

        18    here, so he'll have to be last because he's late.

        19                   MR. DAVIS:  Thank you very much, Carol.  I

        20    prefer to use this one because after putting down

        21    whirriating and dancing last night, my one instep killing me

        22    now.  So bear with me.

        23                   Good afternoon, everybody.

        24                   I once asked a student who was in my cultural

        25    heritage class, "Can you cook fish?"  The answer was, "Who?

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    My mother does do that."

         2                   I asked another student on another occasion,

         3    because I was teaching the cultural heritage class for ten

         4    years, "Do you know any Bro' Nansi stories?"  It was like,

         5    "Who he is?"

         6                   The point here is, there is a disconnect that

         7    we have had for a number of years.  From the turn of the

         8    century, the turn of the twentieth century, the cultural

         9    hero of the Virgin Islands was one who had an uncompromising

        10    sense of self.  Government employment was not an option in

        11    those days, so it was a matter of being able to sustain

        12    himself through some type of economic venture.  He always

        13    wanted to build himself a decent home, he wanted to be

        14    married, to have a family of his own.  It was an

        15    independent-type individual.

        16                   But then with the coming of the island films,

        17    and then the other types of movies, the cultural hero began

        18    to change.  He became the sharp boy.  Appearance was the

        19    most important thing.  He had a very superficial premise

        20    upon which he stood.  And from there, you would find the

        21    cultural disconnect, because the sharp boy no longer had the

        22    deep interests of family and the passing on of tradition.

        23    The focus was on appearance, and the value of cooperation

        24    changed to rugged individualism.  Not to rugged

        25    individualism in the sense of venturing out into things

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         1    creative, but rugged individualism in the sense that every

         2    man for himself, and God for us all.

         3                   With this in mind, we would find that the

         4    extended family, again, because of this type of cultural

         5    hero, shifted.  There was no appreciation for the

         6    grandparents, unless the grandparents could have done

         7    something for the family; they could a get something out of

         8    their grandparents.

         9                   So those adults, instead of seeing the

        10    connection between their children and the generation before,

        11    there was that clear disconnect.  To the extent that you

        12    would hear people saying, and grown people, "The only family

        13    I have is my husband and my children them, and my brothers

        14    and sisters."  Disconnect.  And from the time you have that

        15    disruption by the type of cultural hero that eventually

        16    became the main social image, you will find the destruction

        17    of the society.

        18                   Now, this is the second cultural and tourism

        19    type forum that I have been in.  One was twenty years ago,

        20    done by the St. Thomas Historical Trust, where they had the

        21    very same ideas in mind.  And I was vice-chairman of the

        22    Historical Trust at that time, and I remember they brought

        23    in Jamaica's definitive cultural icon, Rex Nettleford, to

        24    give the keynote address.

        25                   And the thing that he said was, it was as if

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    he was echoing what I have been saying for years, and it was

         2    simply that, unless the people are fully involved, your

         3    tourism success is going to continue to be an uphill battle.

         4                   We have been faced with this all the time.

         5    Willard John, right here with me, and Janice Pemberton, went

         6    to Canada, where we were representing the Virgin Islands.

         7    The first thing we did was ask, Where is the booth?  When we

         8    went, when they showed us where the booth was, they had a

         9    piece of fabric up there that was an interesting cross

        10    between the southern Confederate flag, and the British flag.

        11                   Right away, I think it was Mr. John who said, "Get

        12    that thing out of here.  That does not represent the Virgin

        13    Islands."  And so the three us, had to actually strip

        14    the entire thing and come up with something that barely

        15    represented the Virgin Islands.  The closest thing they had

        16    to represent the islands at that point was the image of a

        17    sailboat, and that was it.

        18                   Well, Janice got out -- I mean, she is so

        19    resourceful -- Janice brought out a bunch of seasonings that

        20    she had, and a variety of native crafts, and she started

        21    packaging little things, Here is the taste of the Virgin

        22    Islands.  You know?  And before you knew it, a bunch of

        23    people came around our booth.  It was so much so, that when

        24    Willard did his magnificent mocko jumbie performance, I mean

        25    he almost had the people like in a conga line behind him.  I

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    did some quelbe music, and then I had them do a spot

         2    quadrille, and the people had a ball.  Janice did some

         3    storytelling.

         4                   These are the kinds of things that are

         5    missing whenever we go out and say that we are promoting

         6    tourism for the Virgin Islands.  The people are not fully

         7    involved.  But, you see, we have to look at the thinking of

         8    the adults, and then try to make some changes regarding

         9    that.

        10                   At the high end of the tourism industry, and

        11    I'm speaking about the hotels, the marine industry and these

        12    folks, they speak, as everybody has been saying, sun, sand

        13    and sea.  They speak nothing about the culture of the Virgin

        14    Islands.  It's as though it is -- it is something that we

        15    need to keep on a shelf and pull down occasionally, just to

        16    remind people that there is some little thing, peculiarity,

        17    that we can share with people.  And if we do not get these

        18    people to buy into the fact that they have to start

        19    involving the native and the local people, our tourism

        20    product is going to continue to be an uphill battle.

        21                   These are the people who are in the

        22    policy-making levels of this industry, and they continuously

        23    feel that it must be about them, and what they have to give

        24    to the economic development, and not what the people have to

        25    give to the tourism industry.  If this continues, we are

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         1    going to end up failing miserably.

         2                   Again, the policymakers at the high end of

         3    this industry, they must recognize and appreciate the

         4    importance of the people being a resource that must be

         5    tapped to completely sell the package.

         6                   MS. HENNEMAN:  Mr. Davis, before you go on, I

         7    have a question.  I just taking on my role as moderator.

         8                   Since you are now in a policymaking position

         9    as Director of Cultural Education, I want to know what you

        10    are going to do to make sure that we have a cultural

        11    connection now, and not a cultural disconnection.

        12                   MR. DAVIS:  Good.

        13                   MS. MOORHEAD:  Thank you.

        14                   MR. DAVIS:  And thank you, Mistress Moorhead,

        15    for saying thank you.  Sometime you have to get a little

        16    carried away, so thank you for saying that.

        17                   Now, as the director, the law is, to me, very

        18    limited.  It speaks mainly to the history, to the heroes,

        19    and, minimally, to the traditions of the island.  I have

        20    been teaching a cultural heritage course for ten years at

        21    Kean High School, something to me that should have been a

        22    part of the curriculum, but apparently nobody was listening.

        23    But now, they have no choice but to listen, because I'm in

        24    this position where I am going to make spreading the

        25    cultural heritage course throughout the curriculum.

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1                   I intend to get our curriculum and

         2    instruction division, of course, on board with this idea

         3    because, to me, that is the priority.

         4                   MS. HENNEMAN:  Just remember that the board

         5    approves all, so now you're talking to the executive

         6    director.

         7                   MR. DAVIS:  Oh, of course.

         8                   MS. HENNEMAN:  Make sure we make the link so

         9    we can jump-start what needs to happen curriculum-wise.  It

        10    doesn't have to go through all the vines and waves of the

        11    department.  It can come to the board.

        12                   MR. DAVIS:  Okay.  Thank you very much.

        13                   One of the things that I have started to do

        14    and that I'm going to be doing on St. Croix, as well, I've

        15    started to meet with a lot of the entities, Planning &

        16    Natural Resources, Historic Preservation, Council on the

        17    Arts, Humanities Council.  We have had a meeting just to let

        18    them know who I am, who we are, and where we need to go with

        19    this.

        20                   I have to come to St. Croix, of course, and

        21    do the same thing, so that we can begin to start, mention

        22    some thoughts, because it isn't about Glenn Kwabena Davis

        23    and what he wants to do.  It's about what we have to do for

        24    the Virgin Islands.

        25                   MS. HENNEMAN:  And while you're planning it,

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    think of phase one, phase two, and phase three, first phase

         2    being history, heroes and tradition.  Then give us a second

         3    level course to approve, a third level, so the child who

         4    wants to become a culture bearer in his society can leave

         5    high school with the information, ready to perform with a

         6    product that he or she can market when they get out of high

         7    school.

         8                   I want to thank you.  I want to stop you

         9    there, I want to make sure we get through everybody today,

        10    but your point is well taken that the cultural disconnect is

        11    where we have to start to bridge the gap and to --

        12                   MR. DAVIS:  I just, if you don't mind, I just

        13    want to wrap up.

        14                   MS. HENNEMAN:  Yes.  Go right ahead.

        15                   MR. DAVIS:  It is very important that we stop

        16    having our young people, who are involved in the culture,

        17    feel that there are no financial opportunities nor rewards.

        18    I had a meeting a few years ago at Government House where

        19    the quadrille dancers from Kean High School and Lockhart

        20    School, they were asked to perform at an event.  And I

        21    asked, Are you going to give them some sort of financial

        22    reward?  The response to me was that, They should be honored

        23    to come to Government House to dance.  But being honored

        24    does not pay for their costumes when they're rotting and

        25    falling off.

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1                   MS. HENNEMAN:  And, you know what that is,

         2    that is cultural disrespect for our product that is supposed

         3    to be a superb product that we should be willing to pay for.

         4    If we're not willing to pay for it, why should anybody else?

         5                   MR. DAVIS:  Thank you.

         6                   MS. HENNEMAN:  Okay.  Mr. John, I'm going to

         7    ask you to make your comments.

         8                   MR. JOHN:  Good afternoon, everybody.  My

         9    name is Willard John.  I'm currently principal of Elena

        10    Christian Junior High School, but I've had an interest in

        11    career as it relates to culture.  Let me tell you a little

        12    bit about my experience, and then you will know where I'm

        13    coming from and we will move forward.

        14                   I grew up in St. Thomas.  My mother was a

        15    devout Catholic, so she sent me to the Catholic school.  I

        16    graduated there, and in the course of my education in the

        17    Catholic school, I did not get any courses in history or

        18    culture of the Virgin Islands, so I knew very little.  What

        19    I knew of culture is what I knew of my grandmother.  That's

        20    all I could say.

        21                   I then went on to Lincoln University in

        22    Pennsylvania.  It's an historically black college

        23    university, and in that particular school we had a

        24    significant amount of international students.  We had

        25    students from all over the world, and we spent many, many

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    hours sitting together, talking about our cultures and our

         2    experiences.

         3                   I felt very shorthanded, because I knew

         4    little about my culture and my history.  And I said to

         5    myself, When I go back home, I'm going to immerse myself in

         6    something that relates to culture, and become an expert,

         7    because I really feel shorthanded.

         8                   I then graduated and came back home to

         9    St. Thomas.  I met a cousin of mine, and he taught me to

        10    dance Mocko Jumbie.  I made my first appearance in a parade

        11    in 1975, and I'm still performing.  You will see me tonight

        12    right here at this hotel at 8:30 this evening.

        13                   I've been all over the world representing the

        14    Virgin Islands.  I've been to Africa on three or four

        15    occasions.  I've been through South America, I've been

        16    through Europe, and I've been through most of the Caribbean

        17    and most of the United States.  And in eighty percent of the

        18    time that I've made those travels, it was to represent the

        19    Virgin Islands.

        20                   So I have an idea of what it takes and what

        21    it is.  And, by the way, up until maybe five, six, seven

        22    years ago, I was never paid to do it.  They told me I should

        23    be proud to represent the Virgin Islands.

        24                   I then got involved in event management.  I

        25    do a lot of event management.  I also, I produce several

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    cultural shows.  I've done a cultural production that I

         2    researched, wrote and produced called Mockolution, which is

         3    the evolution of the Mocko Jumbie.  I do a narrative, and we

         4    take you back from Africa and bring you through the old West

         5    Indian to the modern Mocko Jumbie show; how the music, the

         6    dance, everything else that relates to it, how it evolved

         7    into what it is today.

         8                   I've also done a production called The

         9    Development of Quelbe Music in the Virgin Islands, where we,

        10    again, did the same thing:  We chronicled how quelbe music was

        11    born in the Virgin Islands, and how it developed into what

        12    it is today.  And I've had several other productions, but

        13    the point is, I do have that experience, having done that.

        14    So it is with this experience that I come here to you today.

        15                   I think, first and foremost, I'm going to

        16    echo a number of things that Kwabena has said, and other

        17    panelists have said, throughout today.  Our first task is

        18    for all the segments of this community to decide on what our

        19    product is.  Who are we, what are we about, what is it that

        20    we want to focus on as a tourism product?

        21                   One of the problems is that we haven't had

        22    agreement on that.  Now, many of us hear, Oh, it's some

        23    culture and cultural tourism, but how much of it do you

        24    actually see?  Let me ask a question.  When was the last

        25    time you went into a hotel and see a quelbe band playing?

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    Tell me.  Somebody raise their land.

         2                   AN AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Today.

         3                   MR. JOHN:  But, you know what, that was

         4    because of this conference, that's not because of the

         5    efforts of the hotel.

         6                   AN AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Exactly.  That's what

         7    I'm saying.

         8                   MR. JOHN:  So every segment of our community

         9    must buy into what the product is.  And if it's culture and

        10    heritage tourism, then let's decide that.  Once we all

        11    decide that, then we've got to develop that product.  And to

        12    echo what Kwabena says, the grass roots people must be

        13    involved in that development.  If they are not, you don't

        14    have a product.  Trust me.

        15                   Yes.

        16                   AN AUDIENCE MEMBER:  I just wanted to say,

        17    when did you last see a hotel owned locally?

        18                   MR. JOHN:  Doesn't matter.  If they're here,

        19    you know, I mean --

        20                   AN AUDIENCE MEMBER:  That could be part of

        21    the problem.

        22                   MR. JOHN:  When was the last time you went

        23    into a restaurant, and someone wearing madras with their

        24    head tie came up to greet you and ask you what you like to

        25    eat?  Is that a problem?  Can our people learn?  Can we

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    train them?  Can we train them to be professional waiters

         2    and waitresses in service?  They're not trainable?  They

         3    can't learn?  Why can't it be done from our cultural

         4    perspective?  What is the holdup?  What is the problem?

         5                   All I'm saying is that we have different

         6    segments of this community.  For example, the hotel segment.

         7    In my eyes, they think that people come to the Virgin

         8    Islands to stay in a hotel.  I got news for them, they come

         9    to meet, greet and experience our people and our culture.

        10    So all our hotels should be involved in developing that

        11    aspect, and in turn, they will benefit.  People will want to

        12    stay on their properties.

        13                   The private sector has to be involved.  The

        14    government has to be involved.  Our legislature has to be

        15    involved.

        16                   Thank you, Senator, for the legislation, but

        17    we want more.  We don't just want legislation saying that

        18    quelbe music is our official music of the Virgin Islands.

        19    How about providing some scholarships for four, five, six

        20    students to go and get a Ph.d. in music and come back and

        21    take quelbe to the next level now?

        22                   Just about every country I know have a

        23    national dance group or performing group.  We don't have one

        24    here.  Why not?  Why can't we fund one, and let them go on

        25    tour for two years.  And after those two years, they'll

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    probably be self-sustaining.  But they would be our

         2    ambassadors.  They will represent the Virgin Islands through

         3    our arts.

         4                   The accomplishments that we've made in

         5    culture and history in the Virgin Islands lay strictly on

         6    the back of individuals that have pushed it.  By in large,

         7    the government and the private sector have not helped us.

         8                   My craft is Mocko Jumbie.  I remember years

         9    ago, when I moved to St. Croix in 1978, in '79, I went to

        10    the Council of the Arts -- and this is nothing to you,

        11    Betsy, you weren't around.  You were young like me then --

        12    and I asked them for funding to start a Mocko Jumbie group.

        13    You know what they told me?  Oh, you have to be in existence

        14    for four years before we can fund you.

        15                   I asked them, "Why do I need you if I'm in

        16    existence for four years?  I want to start a group."  All I

        17    needed was money to make the stilts and the costumes and

        18    then get going.  But you know what?  I did it anyway.  I did

        19    it anyway.

        20                   MS. HENNEMAN:  Ask you a question now,

        21    Mr. John.  Now I want you to put on your principal's hat.

        22    What can you do now, as the instructional leader of

        23    Elena Christian Junior High School, to ensure that, when

        24    your students leave your campus, that they have a better

        25    understanding of who they are and what their cultural

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    product should be?

         2                   MR. JOHN:  I'm coming to that.  I was on my

         3    way, but I'll fast forward, and then I'll back up again.

         4    And I'll wrap it up in about three or four minutes.

         5                   MS. HENNEMAN:  No problem.

         6                   MR. JOHN:  One of the things I realize about

         7    education today is that, the children we have today, you

         8    can't just lecture to them and think they're going to learn.

         9    You have to be able to show them that what they are learning

        10    in the classroom, there's a link to real life.  That is why

        11    I'm making every effort to bring all types of programs into

        12    the school.  Programs that interest the children, so that

        13    they can realize -- I just spoke to Jonathan Cohen.  He's

        14    going to help me set up a radio station at my junior high

        15    school.  I got all these kids, "I want to be a D.J."  But

        16    now they have to understand that you have to perform well in

        17    English class if you want to be a D.J.  You understand?

        18                   I have a video program, I have a young man

        19    that I just hired with a degree in video production.  So now

        20    these kids are growing up learning how to use this technical

        21    equipment, and how to videotape.  And they want to make rap

        22    videos and all this.  But again, they have to realize that

        23    you have to know how to communicate verbally and in writing.

        24    You have to know how to read, and how to understand what

        25    you're reading.

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1                   So as it relates to culture, it's the same

         2    thing.  I've had my Mocko Jumbie group for twenty-five

         3    years, and children come and they go. I take them from the

         4    time they're ten years old, some of them are thirty years

         5    old and still in my group.  But they understand what the

         6    connection is.  When they come into my group, they have to

         7    learn the history of the art form.  They don't understand

         8    why, in the beginning, but then when they go up into the

         9    hotels and they perform, and then people approach them and

        10    say, Where does this come from?  What is that all about?

        11    Now they can intelligently communicate about their art form.

        12    They know about its history and its development, and they

        13    can talk about it.

        14                   More importantly, every time they dance, be

        15    it for fifteen minutes, they all get a minimum

        16    of seventy-five dollars each.  I put money in their pockets.

        17    Again, they understand this link:  It's not just show and

        18    tell.  This is a business.

        19                   So, in terms of training, now, we have to

        20    involve the grass roots community.  Many of them have the

        21    craft, but they don't know the business aspect.  That's

        22    where the training comes in.

        23                   We need to promote groups like CHANT, Crucian

        24    Heritage and Nature Tourism, because that's what they're

        25    about.  They're about getting these young people together

                                                                    21

              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    and preparing them, and preparing this tourism product.

         2                   But we all have to do our share.  The Mocko

         3    Jumbie is an icon of Virgin Islands culture, and I say that

         4    because there was one point in time, in the development of

         5    our history, where we were the only ones in the Caribbean

         6    doing it, because it died out everywhere else.  And you

         7    know, we, whose shoulders it lie upon, we never got any help

         8    from anybody, but we continued, because I know the

         9    importance of it.  And thirty-two years ago, when I did my

        10    first performance in a parade in St. Thomas, the joy and

        11    enthusiasm that I had, I'm going to have that same joy and

        12    enthusiasm 8:30 tonight when I put my stilts on.

        13                   But that's what it takes.  That's what it

        14    takes.  But we all have to hold hands and decide, we must

        15    move forward together, we must encourage our young people to

        16    get involved in it, we must show them that it's profitable

        17    to do it.  We must show them the link, and we must show them

        18    the value in their culture.  And when we do that, they will

        19    understand, and they will move forward.

        20                   Thank you.

        21                   MS. HENNEMAN:  Thank you very much.

        22                   MR. JOHN:  One more thing I want to say is

        23    that we have a number of events that occur in the Virgin

        24    Islands that are what I call "FUBU" events, "For Us, By Us.

        25    Okay?  We have carnival in all three islands, whether it's

                                                                    22

              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    Festival, 4th of July, or St. Thomas Carnival.  We have the

         2    Agricultural Fair.  Forty thousand people in three days we

         3    attract.  We have quadrille dancers, we have Sunset Jazz.

         4    This gentleman leads a group every Christmas that sings in

         5    Emancipation Gardens.

         6                   These are events that are for us and by us.

         7    And if we continue to do that, then people from all around

         8    the world say, What is it that they're doing that they enjoy

         9    so much?  Let me go and see what they're doing.

        10                   We don't have to stage events to please

        11    tourists.  We need to do events that we enjoy, that we do

        12    for ourselves, by ourselves, and then people will come in

        13    and join.

        14                   Thank you.

        15                   MS. HENNEMAN:  Thank you.

        16                   MS. WALLACE-FRANCIS:  Good afternoon,

        17    everyone.  I'm really pleased and honored to be here among

        18    so many distinguished educators.  When Mabel first told me

        19    about the conference, I thought she was simply inviting me

        20    to attend because she knows I like to learn.  And then when

        21    I found out I had to speak, I wanted to know, Well, what

        22    could I bring to the table?

        23                   And when I sat up here, Mr. John was asking,

        24    "Who are you?"  Because most of you know these people up

        25    here.  So who am I?  An educator for twenty-seven years.  I

                                                                    23

              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    must be here maybe because I'm trying to implement what

         2    we've been trying to teach.  Besides educating, now we need

         3    to implement.  So as the leader of the Environmental

         4    Rangers, and our family having Camp Imojo, what is it that I

         5    can bring to this discussion?

         6                   I first looked at the problem.  Being a

         7    science teacher, what's the problem?  We're supposed to

         8    discuss in what ways we can best promote awareness of

         9    culture and heritage resources in the Virgin Islands.

        10                   The first thing you have to do is analyze the

        11    definition of the words.  So, according to American Heritage

        12    Dictionary, it describes "culture" as the cultivation of

        13    something.  Is it the cultivation of the soil, the breeding

        14    of animals, or growing of plants, especially to produce a

        15    better improved stock?  Or is it a cultivation of social and

        16    intellectual formation?  All right?  Culture is basically

        17    what we transmit.

        18                   Heritage is our legacy or tradition that is

        19    passed down from preceding generations.  And resources are

        20    those things which we turn to for support.  All right?  An

        21    available supply.

        22                   Of course, being a science teacher, these

        23    questions generated other questions.  What is it that we are

        24    cultivating or want to cultivate?  What is our heritage, and

        25    what are our cultural resources?

                                                                    24

              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1                   Based on these definitions, and from my

         2    observations, I believe our environment is one of our most

         3    important and appealing cultural and heritage resources, for

         4    it is the environment, and the use of that environment, that

         5    shapes, promotes, and retains the culture and heritage of

         6    the people.

         7                   Having said that, the first thing we must

         8    promote is the protection and preservation of our

         9    environment.  Protecting our environment would show an

        10    appreciation for its natural resources, which have been

        11    preserved and passed down to us.  The manner in which a

        12    community treats its land, its people, its ecosystems,

        13    reflects its cultural values.  It is the use of the

        14    agricultural resources in these islands that created the

        15    culture and the lifestyle of our ancestors.

        16                   You know, after the initial deforestation of

        17    the virgin forests, for the most part our immediate

        18    ancestors used the natural resources that we had wisely, and

        19    carefully, and we recycled.  Compared to many parts of the

        20    world, we still have relatively healthy ecosystems.

        21                   All islands in the Caribbean, as everybody

        22    have said, have the sun, sand and sea, but it's the unique

        23    ecosystems which have developed each island, and the way the

        24    people use these resources, that shapes the culture.  This

        25    is a heritage that we can be proud of.

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1                   For example, St. Croix has a lot of flat

         2    agricultural land, which promoted the growth of sugar cane

         3    and the rum industry.  It has been called the bread basket

         4    of the Caribbean.  Its rainforests and vast mountainous

         5    terrain in the northwest supported a relatively successful

         6    maroon sanctuary.  Its spaciousness encouraged independence

         7    and self-reliance, so that the people developed a strong

         8    sense of self and a fire to be emancipated.

         9                   Today its environment still encourages

        10    historical and eco-tourism.  You find more cultural events

        11    occurring in St. Croix, and more fire for the culture and

        12    the maintenance of that culture in the big island.

        13                   St. Thomas's hilly train terrain and good harbors

        14    historically encouraged commercial commerce and trade.  As

        15    the people traded survival goods, they also traded ideas,

        16    values and lifestyles.  Its land form or terrain was

        17    transformed, constantly altered, to accommodate inter-island

        18    commerce, or the improvement of health conditions.

        19                   When we needed to build an airport, we didn't

        20    have the land, we tore down a mountain.  When there was a

        21    lot of pollution in the harbor, and when we wanted the

        22    submarines to go to Crown Bay, we removed the land.  We're

        23    constantly changing our land.  We want to build a hotel?  We

        24    deforest some land.  We don't try to fit in, work with

        25    nature.

                                                                    26

              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1                   Now, the extraordinary beauty of St. John led

         2    to the preservation of three-fourths of the island.  This

         3    created smaller, closer-knit families, but it forced a

         4    travel between islands, between the British and the Virgin

         5    Islands, to work, because there's no place to live.  You go

         6    to Red Hook in the morning, you see hundreds of people

         7    traveling daily to work.  Yet, you have an influx of

         8    tourists from all over the world to enjoy its beauty.  What

         9    are they selling – the beauty? What are we destroying?  Our

        10    beauty.

        11                   We must be aware, also, that cultural

        12    practices change as populations, landowners and environments

        13    of a place change.  Thus, one of the best ways for us to

        14    promote awareness of our culture and heritage resources in

        15    the Virgin Islands is for the government to maintain control

        16    over the development of our limited land resources:

        17    Building designs, heights, locations and availability to how

        18    we use our natural resources; most importantly, the

        19    education of ourselves first, newcomers, our children, and

        20    future generations, as to the value of our natural

        21    ecosystems, and the culture which developed out of them.

        22                   You know, education is passing of knowledge

        23    from one to another.  Education is continuous, and done in

        24    many forms.  Therefore, we have to educate the population

        25    through government policies which advocate the protection of

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    our natural resources, our environment.  We have to have

         2    pride in them.

         3                   We have to produce our music, television

         4    programs, movies, and any other type of written or

         5    electronic media that we are exposed to, our children are

         6    exposed to, which passes on our heritage.  What are we

         7    watching?  We have to teach other children the games and

         8    sports and cultural activities that have a historical

         9    significance.  Who's creating the Game Boys?  What games are

        10    they playing?  What are we playing outside?  We're

        11    destroying our basketball courts or football fields or

        12    football fields, to do what?

        13                   At school, we have to educate through a

        14    curriculum that analyzes the relationship between our

        15    history, culture and environment.  Community organizations

        16    and, most importantly, family groups, must pass on the

        17    traits of the island.  We are, people are, natural

        18    resources.  Our personal interactions come from a respect of

        19    the land, and a value to self, and life itself.  It is a

        20    reflection of our cultural heritage.

        21                   In general, we must share our culture and its

        22    history through our daily activities.  As one student said

        23    to me the other day, "We simply do it."  Each of us has a

        24    role to play.  You have the public school, and I want to

        25    say, the public school, you have to legislate and have

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    African, Caribbean, Taino and V.I. history and culture in

         2    the curriculum.

         3                   We need to have foreign languages, because

         4    your culture is passed through the language.  We used to

         5    speak patois.  Well, that was a unity among the people.

         6    They combine elements of each language to unify and produce

         7    a culture.

         8                   MS. HENNEMAN:  I'm so glad that, in the

         9    wisdom of the V.I. Humanities Council, that we married all

        10    of these different perspectives so well.  So you come from a

        11    scientific standpoint in terms of how you view the Virgin

        12    Islands and so on, and that's such a big part of our

        13    education.  So my question to you is, why did you organize

        14    the Environmental Rangers, and why did you feel the need to

        15    fill that void?

        16                   And notice, it wasn't the government.

        17                   MS. WALLACE-FRANCIS:  Okay.  Basically,

        18    because we are not teaching our culture.  Quickly, the

        19    Tourism Department really should be producing books for the

        20    school, because the magazines that are put out for the

        21    tourists, they teach more history and culture than we have

        22    in school.  And many of the teachers -- and, you know,

        23    teachers are resourceful -- we go down to the airport and

        24    take up their books and use them in school.  All right?

        25                   If you want to teach, your desire is to

                                                                    29

              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    teach, then you have to create that environment, and that's

         2    what we're trying to do.

         3                   We have to have apprenticeship programs.  We

         4    have to teach the culture.

         5                   MS. HENNEMAN:  While I agree with you that

         6    Tourism has a role to play, nobody ever gave me a sentence

         7    of anything I taught, culturally, in my classroom.  That was

         8    my job, because I was called Teacher.  We can't wait for

         9    somebody else to generate the information that we teach.  It

        10    is my job to make sure that, when my children leave my

        11    classroom, that they have a better understanding of self.

        12                   So even if I'm teaching, like I've been

        13    teaching for years now, Introduction to Humanities at UVI,

        14    there is no book that I can pick up.  I have spent years

        15    putting together all of the elements of Virgin Islands

        16    history and culture that I teach.  So there is no government

        17    and no department that's going to do it.  We have to do it

        18    one by one, everyone taking ownership of the product.

        19                   Thank you very much, and I'm going to get

        20    back around.  I'm watching the time so I can give you some

        21    more time, because we have until 3:30, so we're going to

        22    have some time for some questions and interaction.

        23                   Senator Shawn Michael Malone, Mr. Quelbe Man.

        24                   SENATOR MALONE:  This is my seat?

        25                   MS. HENNEMAN:  Yeah, your seat is right there.

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    That was your seat, but we put you in time out for coming

         2    late.

         3                   SENATOR MALONE:  That's okay.

         4                   MS. HENNEMAN:  No, you chose that seat for

         5    yourself.  We didn't give it to you.

         6                   SENATOR MALONE:  Okay.  Thank you very much,

         7    Madame Moderator, and to the fellow panelists, and to those

         8    who are here at this very important conference.

         9                   I'm very pleased with the attendance.  I want

        10    to thank Mabel Maduro, and others, who did a fantastic if

        11    job putting this together.  And most of you know, one of the

        12    primary items on my agenda is to link or connect the dots

        13    with the people and the place, and it's done in several

        14    ways.

        15                   I'd like to begin with a quote by a former

        16    senator, the late Valdemar Hill.  And I quote:  We need a

        17    cultural renaissance in the Virgin Islands if its indigenous

        18    people are to establish and identify a sense a belonging.

        19    In order to revitalize the culture of these islands, a

        20    concerted effort should be made to document the way of life

        21    of every Virgin Islander.  We need a massive program which

        22    would create textbooks on history, geography, folklore,

        23    traditions, music, dance, language and customs of the Virgin

        24    Islands; specifically, our West Indians, or West Indies, in

        25    general.  And that's a quote by Valdemar Hill, Jr. in the

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    book Virgin Islands Forum, Volume II, No. 1, January 1974.

         2    That's to show you how long we been talking about this.

         3                   Anyhow, let's fast forward to the present.  I

         4    came with my presentation specifically to talk about ways to

         5    promote awareness of our culture, and to promote awareness of our

         6    culture and heritage resources.  I was saying to the

         7    moderator, prior to this session, that before we talk about

         8    promoting anything, we need to know what those

         9    resources are.

        10                   So, from my vantage point as a government

        11    official, I'm going to talk about the institutions that we

        12    have that I don't think some people realize, or recognize,

        13    as resources.

        14                   The V.I. Cultural Heritage Institute is a

        15    resource.  The newly reestablished Division of Culture in

        16    the Department of Education is another resource.  The V.I.

        17    Council of the Arts.  The V.I. Humanities Council.  The

        18    Virgin Islands Carnival Committee, the Crucian Festival

        19    Organization, and the St. John Celebration Committee are

        20    resources.  Quelbe bands.  Heritage dance group

        21    organizations such as Monga Niles, St. Croix Heritage

        22    Dancers, and the St. Thomas Heritage Dancers, among others.

        23    Performing arts centers like the Reichhold Center, the

        24    Pistarkle Theater, the little theater at UVI.  Tradition

        25    bearers of all genres, like those who, I call him poet

                                                                    32

              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    laureate, Mr. Schraeder, and others who document and teach.

         2    The Department of Planning and Natural Resources.  The

         3    Division of Libraries, where the documentation should be.

         4    Existing, what we define as, "Material culture," in Act

         5    5778, such as ruins, the forts, the parks, those type of

         6    things.  The National Park System, of course.  And private

         7    organizations, like the historic trusts.  Those are our

         8    cultural resources.  Of course, the environment; these, of

         9    course, encompass the environment in which we live.  I thank

        10    you for that wonderful addition to this discussion.

        11                   So what has already been done in terms of

        12    promotion?  Well, again, my vantage point is to provide the

        13    leadership in the legislature or the senate to provide for

        14    the reinforcement and establishment of institutions,

        15    funding, and those types of things, so that these things can

        16    work.  Because, when you don't have that, then private

        17    groups, what our good panelist friend here has done, create

        18    programs where the government is void in doing it.

        19                   In 1992, Act 5778 established the V.I.

        20    Institute of Cultural Heritage.  And the Division of

        21    Cultural Education, believe it or not, was signed into law

        22    by Governor Farrelly.

        23                   In 2006, Governor Turnbull, by Executive

        24    Order 422-2006, which was redundant, but nonetheless,

        25    reestablished the Division of Cultural Education with a

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    million dollar appropriation that I sponsored through an

         2    omnibus budget bill.  So Kwabena deserve some money.

         3    Legislation to create Quelbe, Act 6642, and Quadrille, Act

         4    6718, as official music and dance for the territory.  You

         5    all know that.

         6                   In 2006-07, we increased the funding to the

         7    V.I. Institute of Culture.  They used to receive $120,00.

         8    Do you believe that?  Now they receive $250,000 going

         9    forward.  In fact, last fiscal year they got $470,000, but

        10    because they weren't organized, they couldn't spend half of

        11    it, so only two-fifty will be spent.  So they'll have

        12    two-fifty this fiscal year coming up.  That's how serious

        13    this is.

        14                   Legislation has been created, an act signed

        15    into law, creating the Territorial Park System by Senator

        16    Donastorg cosponsored by myself and others, in the 25th

        17    legislature, yet we haven't seen the plan yet.  DPNR needs

        18    to get busy.

        19                   A hundred thousand dollars appropriated to

        20    the Department of Education for Curriculum Revision

        21    Committee, Senator Liston Davis and myself sponsored that

        22    amendment, and the primary reason was to take a look at

        23    exactly what everybody up here is talking about:  Looking at

        24    the curriculum, revising it, so that it fits the economic

        25    needs of the territory.  And if we say tourism is our number

                                                                    34

              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    one industry, we need to act like it, and that's what

         2    children should be learning in schools.

         3                   In 2007, again, by legislative action, we

         4    increase the board of governor's of the institute -- listen

         5    to this carefully -- participation to a full complement

         6    of nine nongovernment members to allow for more leading

         7    culture tradition bearers to serve by eliminating government

         8    officials who are not coming to meetings.  See, you can't

         9    move forward unless you really examine what you have, clean

        10    it up and move forward after that.  And so I don't like to

        11    go bringing new things, and then not looking at what we have

        12    and improving upon it.

        13                   That simple move right there will see more

        14    action by the institute, and then from the institute should

        15    come the proposals to energize the community on where we

        16    should go with cultural development.  That's what they there

        17    for.  If you're creating it and funding it, let them act.

        18    Let them work.  And senators shouldn't be doing that.

        19                   Okay.  Continuing forward.  In 2006, Act 6802

        20    established the month of March as V.I. History Month.  That

        21    was legislation that I primarily sponsored.  Every senator

        22    supported it.  Establishment of St. Thomas Heritage Dancers,

        23    and increased funding to heritage dancers in both districts.

        24    I funded heritage dancers, with the help of Bally Christian

        25    in St. Croix, for the sole purpose of promoting traditional

                                                                    35

              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    dance in the St. Thomas and St. John District because it was

         2    absent at the time that the bill was passed and signed into

         3    law.  And every year both groups get $35,000 apiece to make

         4    sure that they continue to preserve, teach and promote, by

         5    troupe balls or whatever it is that they need to do, to let

         6    people know that it exists, until the Institute could get

         7    its act together.

         8                   I'll have to sidetrack, by the way, and thank

         9    Batima Hone, who's here with Council on the Arts, who was

        10    one of those who saw the vision and funded the first

        11    uniforms for the St. Thomas Heritage Dancers back in 2004,

        12    if I have my dates here right here.

        13                   2005-06, the Government of the Virgin Islands

        14    Operating Budget included a $5 million appropriation to

        15    upgrade our libraries and archive division.  That's very

        16    important in preserving our heritage and culture.  I have to

        17    thank Claudette Lewis for her work in spending that money.

        18    So you can probably go to the libraries in both districts

        19    and see the improvements and get documents.  Things should

        20    be on microfiche.  Check with Mr. Marone.

        21                   Governor Turnbull signed an agreement with

        22    the Danish Government a few years ago to begin the process

        23    of the Virgin Islands receiving V.I. records stored in

        24    Denmark.  That's also critical.  Several exchange programs

        25    between Denmark and the Virgin Islands were coordinated by

                                                                    36

              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    the USVI Department of Tourism under the leadership of

         2    Pamela Richards.  I think Wayne James was involved in some

         3    of that with the charters.  And that apprenticeship program

         4    that Myron Jackson spoke about earlier this morning was also

         5    part of that initiative.

         6                   Work with the Arthur Adams Musical Resource

         7    Institute to document quelbe and quadrille dancing in the

         8    territory through a series of workshops and exhibitions, and

         9    that's stated because that's documentation any of us would

        10    go to, pull off the shelf, look at, teach, share with

        11    others.  I want to thank them publicly for their

        12    contribution.

        13                   Increased government funding to Emancipation

        14    Day observances in St. Croix over the last two years,

        15    Ms. Mary Moore could testify to that.  The Reichhold Center,

        16    I have to thank them as well, for their initiative in

        17    producing Playing Ring I & II:  A Journey into Quelbe and

        18    Quadrille.

        19                   Danish Apprenticeship Program, as I mentioned

        20    before, is another thing.  These are things that have been

        21    done at least since I've been around, and there's a lot more

        22    Willard John to come.

        23                   I'll briefly say, I'm a senator, I'm a

        24    leader, but I am not the Institute of Culture, I'm not the

        25    Council on the Arts, I'm not Department of Education, I'm

                                                                    37

              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    not the Division of Libraries.  These people, these

         2    institutions, are created and funded to do these things.  So

         3    I don't believe in duplication, but when leadership calls

         4    for leaders like myself to step in and push it, and then all

         5    man, woman, to a child, must come in and start doing the

         6    same thing.

         7                   As has been alluded to many times this

         8    morning, if you're listening to the presentations, culture

         9    is not something that should be legislated.  It has to be

        10    the heart and soul of the people.  But since I didn't see

        11    heart and soul, I said, Let me use my heart and soul, let me

        12    push some things to get people to start thinking about where

        13    we're going so we can feel ourselves in the future.  I mean,

        14    that's what it really boils down to.

        15                   MS. HENNEMAN:  Senator Malone, what do you

        16    see as the role of the legislature in this whole

        17    conversation?

        18                   SENATOR MALONE:  Very good.  Good question.

        19    I just alluded to it:  To lead; to open up the people's

        20    vantage.  That's what people do in this position, to provide

        21    vision so that people can follow on a path for them to go.

        22    That's what I've been doing.  I don't just talk, I act.  And

        23    I'll tell you, I will continue to do it, which I have in my

        24    brief comments what's coming up next, of ideas to continue

        25    promoting the culture of the Virgin Islands, not just for

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    tourists, but as I told you earlier, we got to start with

         2    ourselves.  You aren’t going to sell something and you don't

         3    know what it is.  And people don't feel what it is we're

         4    promoting locally.

         5                   It's a shame that I were on the radio the

         6    other day talking about the same during the History Book

         7    Commission hearing.  Senator Dowe sponsored legislation to

         8    establish the V.I. History Book Commission.  I'm cosponsor

         9    with that bill.  But the funny thing is, when I talked about

        10    the legislation on the floor, like you, Mrs. Henneman, just

        11    like Felicita Donastorg and Euna B. Wheatley and others who

        12    taught me, I know that we're not told or required to teach

        13    culture, but because of their own initiative is why I know

        14    what I know.  And my grandmother and others, and our

        15    ambassador can testify to most of these things, too, Senator

        16    Ottley.

        17                   And if it wasn't for that, I don't think we

        18    would have anything going on.  I think most of us can relate

        19    to what I just said.

        20                   So what's next?  Working on legislation right

        21    now, and that's why I haven't pushed it yet, because I'm

        22    waiting for the Institute to sit.  I shouldn't be telling

        23    them what to do.  They should be directing the senate and

        24    guiding us in some of these areas, because I am not a

        25    tradition bearer.  So those people should be at the table

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    when we're doing legislation, to what?  Enhance the duties

         2    and responsibilities of the Institute, to include probably

         3    looking at Culture on the Arts is probably a major partner

         4    in that, and, of course, acquiring centers in both

         5    districts.  And Batima know what I'm talking about.  We're

         6    actually discussing those things now, to acquire places

         7    where these institutions can thrive, people can come to and

         8    exchange art forms, exhibit it, et cetera.  That's on the

         9    table right now as we speak.

        10                   The purchase of, as I said, cultural centers

        11    already, and development -- this is another one -- the next

        12    phase I want you to look at, those of us who are here in

        13    this room should be the first, or we should be the

        14    organizers, the charter members, of Friends of Virgin

        15    Islands Culture.  Just like parks have Friends of the Park,

        16    and the libraries have the Friends of the Library, everybody

        17    who signed up for this conference need to become the Friends

        18    of V.I. Culture.  Start writing checks to the Institute of

        19    Culture and the Council on the Arts, and maybe Reichhold

        20    Center, or other places where we can begin to raise money to

        21    promote this stuff, because it's expensive.  It isn’t cheap.

        22    Willard John knows that, and Kwabena and others.

        23                   So let's start organizing the Friends of V.I.

        24    Culture as a result of this conference.  Something should

        25    come out of it besides talking.  Tired of talking.

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1                   Working with the Department of Tourism to

         2    promote V.I. history.  I'm doing that with Commissioner

         3    Nicholson.  I have to give her credit, she's quite open to

         4    this.  She's a Frederiksteder, you know, and she understand

         5    what's happening.  And so we talking about Mocko Jumbies and

         6    quadrille groups and quelbe bands, not steel bands per se.

         7    I understand some people have issues with that, but I

         8    believe quelbe bands should be there at all ports of entry

         9    every week.  I had to write, and this is something I did,

        10    when they pass the legislation, I wrote to the West Indian

        11    Company, Tanny Thomas obliged.  I wrote to the Port

        12    Authority, they obliged, after a while -- you know how long

        13    it takes to get things done -- to play quelbe music in the

        14    halls of the ports, so when the cruise ship passengers come

        15    off the ship, they hearing the music.  Since we don't have

        16    the bands, specifically in St. Thomas, to play it live, at

        17    least listen to the music.  Have them hear it.  And so when

        18    you sit in the disembarkment area in St. Thomas in the

        19    airport, you will hear the music played.

        20                   In fact, Donald Burrow called and say,

        21    Senator, it playing, we playing now, we playing it now.  You

        22    see?  Instead of just serving rum punch to the people when

        23    they come off the plane.  You know, the music and dance

        24    should be, it's not just for special visitors who come.

        25                   Working to establish living history exhibits

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    in our historical landmarks, to bring our old forts and

         2    plantations to life.  Those are programs working with people

         3    like Felipe Ayala, and I think I forgot his name for the

         4    Hotel 1829 and that whole Blackbeards area, they did a good

         5    job --

         6                   AN AUDIENCE MEMBER:  Ball.

         7                   SENATOR MALONE:  Ball, thank you.

         8                   -- to restore those areas, working with him

         9    to identify him as a cultural partner.

        10                   Encourage the Institute of Culture, once they

        11    sit, to establish an official dress of the Virgin Islands, a

        12    cake, a pastry.  Something as simple as that is going to

        13    revive and make people stronger about the place here today.

        14                   Promote our local culture bearers in the

        15    territory.  That's another very serious one.  That don't

        16    cost that much money.  We identify them, we get them to come

        17    to the Institute or to Education, whoever we decide to be

        18    that place where they come and recultivate their craft, and

        19    then you coordinate getting them in front of students every

        20    week, or every semester, whatever it is, through Kwabena's

        21    program, now, the Division of Cultural Education, is a

        22    wonderful way to do that.  And funding is there to --

        23                   MS. HENNEMAN:  You're talking about like a

        24    speakers forum?

        25                   SENATOR MALONE:  Precisely.  Speakers forum,

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    so to speak.

         2                   Hotels are also interested.  When we passed

         3    the quelbe music bill, the Marriott -- have to give them

         4    kudos -- was the hotel that called and asked that a band --

         5    that's when we were getting Kwabena to get a band at Eudora

         6    Kean, and we were just in the process of starting it.  And

         7    they would have been the first people being employed by the

         8    Marriott.

         9                   Unfortunately, the gentleman who was

        10    coordinating that left, but the company is still open to

        11    having the local music and dance at the hotel.

        12                   Like Puerto Rico, I have sponsored

        13    legislation that requires that all government-sponsored

        14    functions must include the music and dance and food of the

        15    Virgin Islands.  Puerto Rico did it years ago.  I have a

        16    copy of the article right here.  We have to do that.  That's

        17    the way you make sure it stays.  Promoting awareness stays

        18    for generations.  That's why, in some cases, you legislate.

        19                   A comprehensive heritage tourism policy to be

        20    developed by the Institute, in conjunction with the

        21    Department of Tourism, must be done.  Now, we haven't began

        22    to start, but these are things that we should be doing going

        23    forward.  And I think Commissioner Nicholson is open to that

        24    idea once the Institute sits.

        25                   Incorporate more of traditional culture in

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    major carnivals, festivals and celebrations.  A lot more

         2    than just a cultural night.  It doesn't suffice for me.  I

         3    don't know how all of you feel about that.  You go to

         4    culture night in the Frederiksted Village, only Heritage

         5    Dancers and Sandy playing.  That's the only thing St. Croix

         6    culture got?  You go to St. Thomas, you get big costumes,

         7    that's not Virgin Islands culture.

         8                   MS. HENNEMAN:  That goes back to the whole

         9    discussion of definition of ourselves.

        10                   SENATOR MALONE:  Exactly.  Disconnection.

        11                   And, therefore, to make sure that happens,

        12    what should really happen -- and this is radical.  I don't

        13    mean to make these proposals -- but the V.I. Carnival

        14    Committee, the Crucian Festival Organization and the

        15    St. John Celebration Committee should be funded through the

        16    Institute of Culture.  The money does come from the Tourism

        17    Revolving Fund, it goes to the Institute, and they should be

        18    involved in these celebrations.

        19                   Identify tradition bearers and organize

        20    workshops for them to teach teachers and make presentations

        21    at schools, centers, and tourist-related venues.

        22                   And I done.

        23                   MS. HENNEMAN:  And the only word I will add

        24    to all of our discussion is technology.  We have to get all

        25    this stuff on the Web, because that's what our students

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    know.  They should be able to go on the internet and find

         2    anything they need to find about the Virgin Islands.  So

         3    when we're doing all this planning, we need to think about

         4    technology, because that's what our students are now

         5    involved in.

         6                   Thank you very, very much.  Very insightful

         7    and wonderful.

         8                   And now we're going to open it for short

         9    questions, and I'll ask you to come to mic because we want

        10    to make sure that everything is recorded, so that when

        11    people look at the videotapes -- I mean, excuse me, the DVD

        12    tapes -- they will see and hear your questions.

        13                   So here is the first culture bearer who wants

        14    to comes up here, because we're all culture bearers, you

        15    know.  Some just carry a bigger load than others -- and ask

        16    a question.

        17                   MS. JACOBS:  It isn't short.

        18                   My name is Soraida Jacobs, for those of you

        19    who don't know me.  I am happy that some of you spoke about

        20    the importance, or all of you spoke about the importance of

        21    the people, because in the presentation this morning with

        22    Mr. Leo Helms, they spoke about creating a museum and

        23    renovating buildings and removing people who are living in

        24    there.  Of course, they said that the people living in there

        25    were addicts.

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1                   However, I'm concerned that, maybe not there,

         2    but in other places, and here in the Virgin Islands,

         3    gentrification is happening.  They are renovating buildings,

         4    and the people, where are they going?  So I think if we are

         5    not -- if we don't look out for our people and make sure

         6    that they do not become homeless because somebody comes in

         7    and wants to renovate something, and make money off of it,

         8    and off of culture and museum, then they, like Mr. John

         9    said, that the people that disconnect, the people that

        10    disconnect with the culture, it's going to continue and it's

        11    going to be an uphill battle.

        12                   The other point I just wanted to make is in

        13    terms -- I'm glad you mentioned libraries.  However, there

        14    is much more that needs to be done for the libraries.  We

        15    need librarians in the libraries, both libraries.  I know

        16    especially of St. Croix.  They both each need an annex

        17    because they cannot contain the holdings that they have now.

        18                   And I wish that more importance had been

        19    given to reading, because we want to support our authors who

        20    are writing about culture.  And so I wish that more of that

        21    had been said.  You know, support reading.  Make sure the

        22    children are reading, make sure the children are using the

        23    libraries, and make sure that the children and others

        24    understand that the libraries are the cultural center of the

        25    community.

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1                   MS. HENNEMAN:  Thank you very much.

         2                   A QUESTIONER:  Good afternoon.

         3                   MS. HENNEMAN:  Good afternoon.

         4                   A QUESTIONER:  I have a comment, and then I

         5    have a question.

         6                   About seventeen years ago the Folk Life

         7    Festival took place in Washington, D.C. for Smithsonian, and

         8    U.S. Virgin Islands was a feature island.  As a result of

         9    that, an educational package was produced, and I know this

        10    for a fact because I narrated the video.

        11                   Whatever happened to that package?  Why is it

        12    not being used?  Can something similar to that be used to

        13    not only educate the students, but also the teachers?

        14    Because you can't have a history teacher come in and teach

        15    our culture and our heritage if they don't know about it.

        16                   MS. HENNEMAN:  That's very true.  Very true.

        17                   Well, you're standing at the mic, so perhaps

        18    you can initiate the project that gets it done.

        19                   A QUESTIONER:  It's a possibility.  I am

        20    still in touch with the facility --

        21                   MS. HENNEMAN:  That's how we have to look at

        22    it.  We can't just say somebody else has to do it.

        23    Remember, that's the point they been making all morning.

        24    All of us are the culture bearers, and all of us have a role

        25    to play.

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1                   A QUESTIONER:  But as the effort goes out to

         2    produce something like this, what is the guarantee that it's

         3    going to be used as a part of the educational system?

         4                   MS. HENNEMAN:  Well, you will have to

         5    guarantee that by doing your homework to make sure it's

         6    included.  See, a lot of times what we do in the Virgin

         7    Islands, we produce things and we drop them down someplace.

         8                   A QUESTIONER:  Well, this is what I'm talking

         9    about.

        10                   MS. HENNEMAN:  If it was produced, if you

        11    take it from the idea, you make sure when the idea is

        12    finished, it's where it belongs in the people's hands to

        13    whom it belongs.  That's part of the project.

        14                   A QUESTIONER:  The Department of Education,

        15    they have a package that was produced by the Smithsonian,

        16    paid for by the Smithsonian.  Our government didn't have to

        17    pay for it, and they still did not use the package.

        18                   MS. HENNEMAN:  Who's the "they"?

        19                   A QUESTIONER:  The Department of Education.

        20                   MS. HENNEMAN:  The "they" is the people of

        21    the Virgin Islands --

        22                   A QUESTIONER:  That's true.

        23                   MS. HENNEMAN:  Because, guess what?  How many

        24    years later, and you are the first person that I've heard

        25    say that the package is nowhere.

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1                   Do you have a package?

         2                   A QUESTIONER:  I have access to a package,

         3    yes.

         4                   MS. HENNEMAN:  You see, that's where the

         5    conversation should begin.  I am not playing this he, they,

         6    who, whatever ball game anymore.  If you come up with the

         7    idea and you say something, I want to know what is the next

         8    step you are going to take personally to see that it

         9    happens.

        10                   A QUESTIONER:  I take a step now.  I work at

        11    the Fort Frederik Museum.

        12                   MS. HENNEMAN:  I know, when we didn't have

        13    literature at the Charlotte Amalie High School when I was

        14    teaching, I, Carol O'Brien Henneman, took all the books

        15    home, read all of them, did all the teaching units, gave it

        16    to all my grade level teachers, and we all taught it in the

        17    curriculum.  That's how it happened.

        18                   A QUESTIONER:  Kudos to you, and I appreciate

        19    that, but I'm saying --

        20                   MS. HENNEMAN:  That's how it has to be.

        21                   A QUESTIONER:  -- okay, I work at the Fort

        22    Frederik Museum.

        23                   MS. HENNEMAN:  Yes.

        24                   A QUESTIONER:  We have tours, school tours

        25    that come in there.  Mr. McBean, kudos to Mr. McBean, this a

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    man knows his history.  But he asks these kids, and the

         2    teachers, basic questions:  When was emancipation?  And they

         3    can't answer.

         4                   MS. HENNEMAN:  I understand, and you're

         5    telling the truth.  I know you are.

         6                   But my question to you is, so what are you

         7    going to do about it?

         8                   A QUESTIONER:  Well, I know what I can do,

         9    but I'm saying, I can do but so much.  I'm one individual.

        10    So I present this to the Department of Education, and what

        11    are they going to do about it?  Thank you.

        12                   MS. HENNEMAN:  Okay.

        13                   A QUESTIONER:  Good afternoon.

        14                   MS. WALLACE-FRANCIS:  Excuse me.  One thing I

        15    would suggest, right?  I didn't catch your name, but since

        16    you work at the museum, what I would suggest is that you

        17    have programs and invite teachers.  Many times we don't

        18    know, so unless the information is disseminated --

        19                   For instance, the senator just told us about

        20    a lot of places.  Many of us may not have known.  So invite

        21    teachers directly.  Have somebody call the teachers

        22    directly.  "Come out today.  We're going to have a history

        23    program."  Because we do need to educate our educators.

        24                   MS. HENNEMAN:  Next?

        25                   MS. GEORGES:  Good afternoon.  I want to

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    thank everybody for being here, and also Mabel Maduro for

         2    sponsoring this event.

         3                   I want to expound on the Smithsonian Folk

         4    Life Festival.

         5                   Oh, my name is Denise Georges, and I work for

         6    the Virgin Islands National Park on the island of St. John.

         7                   AN AUDIENCE MEMBER:  How long?

         8                   MS. GEORGES:  1975.  Just the other day.

         9                   I too was a researcher for the Folk Life

        10    Festival that occurred seventeen years ago in Washington,

        11    D.C. and I also attended the festival.

        12                   When I returned to the island of St. John, I

        13    was told by my supervisor that I had to come up with an

        14    event to celebrate Black History Month.  And the only thing

        15    I could come up with was a folk life festival.  And I've

        16    been performing or in charge of this folk life festival for

        17    the last seventeen years on the island of St. John.  And it

        18    has been documented by TJX Television, Kwabena has been

        19    there, we've got sponsors from the Council on the Arts, West

        20    Indian Company.

        21                   It's really a beautiful event, and I'm

        22    inviting all of you to attend the coming festival for 2008.

        23    We'll be celebrating our ancestors is the theme, and the

        24    featured person that I choose is Edward Wilmot Blyden.  And

        25    also, to expand on that, our African tradition in dance in

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              EDUCATION AND TRAINING

         1    inviting the Kulu Mele Dance Company out of Philadelphia,

         2    which is the oldest African-American dance company in

         3    Philadelphia.

         4                   So the dates are February the 21st to the

         5    23rd.  You can always look my number up in the phone book.

         6                   MS. HENNEMAN:  I just wanted to make sure

         7    that you get all of Blyden's relatives, because my two

         8    nephews are his great grandchildren.

         9                   MS. GALLIVAN:  Okay.  Going to see you before

        10    I leave.  Okay?

        11                   MS. HENNEMAN:  Yes.

        12                   MS. GEORGES:  Because that's one thing I said

        13    to myself the other day.  They would be insulted if I did

        14    not do that.

        15                   MS. HENNEMAN:  You know the La Vida Creque --

        16                   MS. GALLIVAN:  Yeah.

        17                   MS. HENNEMAN:  Yeah.  Blyden, father of

        18    Panafricanism.  Preceded Marcus Mosiah Garvey, by the way.

        19                   MS. WHITE:  Good afternoon.  I'm Celeste

        20    White.  But before anything else, you know want to know what

        21    I doing?  I handing it to you, so everyone knows what I'm

        22    doing, what I'm involved in, so everyone knows what I'm

        23    involved in.

        24                   MS. HENNEMAN:  That's what you got to do.

        2