My hint in a previous post about creating an offshoot blog was “1D4TW”, which stands for One Day for the Watchman, which is now live. “One day for the watchman” is a line from a Trinidadian proverb, about everyday being for thieves, but only one day is for the watchman, that one day which is the last day for the thieving, and it is usually meant to convey the idea that all wrongdoing will come to an end. One can read more of these proverbs, selected to suit the themes of the blog, under “Words of Wisdom.”
1D4TW will not be replacing or substituting for Open Anthropology, but it will do some very different things. Posts that originally appeared here will remain, with some copied over to create 1D4TW. The themes of the 1D4TW will be narrower and more focused, while OA will be more about matters that are explicitly involved with anthropology, as reinterpreted on this site. Since my “Monday Morning Madness” features on this blog tended to be Caribbean-specific, I am discontinuing that here, and material that would have been used for such purposes will now be on 1D4TW.
The key foci of 1D4TW are, as listed under the “about” section which is retitled “Wha’ yuh say?“:
- radical indigenism and cultural revival
- the international politics of indigenous struggle
- Caribbean cultural identity, creolization, difference, history, and autonomy
- the politics of independence and decolonization
- critique of imperialism, capitalism, and modernity
- politics after the state, the world market, and Western hegemony
- anarchy and autarky
- ways of life based on self-sufficiency
- rethinking human-animal, our impermanence
My thanks to Guanaguanare (also Guacara Dreamtime), Black Girl on Mars, and the late Dr. Roi Kwabena for the obvious inspiration for this new blog. Thanks also to all those who commented and offered some very useful advice concerning this “split.” Also, my thanks to thumbprints.co.tt’s Free Speech photo website featuring some amazing Trinidadian graffiti.
From Guacara’s post on “Le Roi” I will end with some of Roi Kwabena’s famous signature lines that appeared at the end of his email messages:
swim deep as manatee
levitate as a kolibri
chanting like a macaw
SINGING as COKI
blowing like sandfly
wade as an anaconda
dig deeper than anteater
glimmer like the green horsewhip…
ZERO ANTHROPOLOGY 
anonyjw
*sighs*
I’ve a few graffiti pics of my own, and was looking to take more and post them on my blog to highlight some of my upcoming posts.
http://boboleepix.wordpress.com/2008/05/30/vote/
Some of MANF’s and Spade’s work is being removed or defaced (for example, that image you used above is now covered in black paint).
I wanted to take photos of as many as I could find, so I could keep “my own” copies for posterity, and I’ve been walking/driving around town taking my snaps when I had the time…
Imagine my surprise to see what you’ve done!
:-)
The irony is that the people doing the defacing are probably doing it to “keep the neighbourhood clean”, but they’ve actually made it uglier. At least before, I used to actually stop, stare and discuss. Now, I just drive by. I guess that’s what the neighbours would want, the crime rate being what it is these days…
Good job with the post importing… the new site is very appealing and looks great! Will definitely add it to my blogroll.
Take care, Max… and all the best with your new effort!
Maximilian Forte
Thanks so much JW. I am very much in awe of their beautiful work, and it’s great that you are getting photographs whenever you can, please keep it up. I realize that part of the beauty of their work is that it is not permanent, but nonetheless it is too good to just let go and forget.
I am reluctant to write about the crime, not because of some dishonest desire to keep it secret (I don’t have that power), but because it leaves me completely speechless and at a loss. I always knew that Trinidad was too complex for me to ever arrive at any stable “conclusions” and this is precisely one of those things that defeats and escapes me. I wander from moralistic positions, to materialistic ones, and nothing makes sense. I am just stuck in the fact that my time in other parts of the Caribbean, limited as it was, in places such as Dominica, presented a very different picture. Trinidad, Jamaica, and Guyana seem to have a history of serious everyday violence, and I don’t understand why them, and not Dominica, St. Lucia or St. Vincent.
Lesley-Ann Brown
You’ve been busy and it all looks pretty good but most importantly–your message continues to be important and amazing. I’m going to have to put some time aside especially for all of this. I know it will be worth it!
Hugs,
the lab
Maximilian Forte
Great to “see” you “here”, always grateful for the visits, and thanks for the comment. Let me know what you think.