What about on a Cultural Level?

Different Aspects of Culture

FESTIVALS

CARIFESTA

Please click this link to view video about CARIFESTA

The video above shows how the Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA) brings the people of the Caribbean together. According to the CARICOM website, like other significant institutions such as cricket, CXC, and CARICOM that symbolize a Caribbean commonality, the Festival reinforces our unity in the midst of our splendid diversity (CARICOM).

The event is staged over a period of several days with varied presentation formats that include exhibitions, displays, demonstrations, concerts, shows, recitals, discussions, pageantry, and plays within a village atmosphere (CARICOM).

This festival depicts a high level of tolerance for the cultures of the islands of the Caribbean.

CARNIVAL

Different Caribbean countries observe different forms of carnivals. Examples are Crop Over in Barbadoes and Vincy Mas in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. These festivals celebrate the traditional art forms of the country. The costumes, folklore, music, and dance that were passed down from generations before are portrayed and celebrated. The carnival festival brings together different ethnic elements of the Caribbean. An example of this is through the playing of Mas, where some Carnival characters have European influence (eg. Dame Lorainne), some have African influence (eg. Midnight Robber), some have American influence (eg. the Wild Indian), among others.  The blending of ethnic elements is also seen in the music and the dances. 

Carnival also unifies the Caribbean in the sense that it stimulates persons to travel from one island to another to observe the festival in its host country. Tolerance and trust are displayed in these festivals.

MUSIC AND DANCE

A Vincentian UWI student enjoys the song "Leave Me Alone", a Soca Song by Calypso Rose, who is a Trinidadian artiste.

The zouk is a style of dance music originated from the French Caribbean Islands (Encyclopedia Britannica), Calypso primarily came from Trinidad but is sung throughout the Eastern Caribbean, Merengue originated from the Dominican Republic, Bomba arose out of Puerto Rico, and Reggae sprung out of Jamaica. All of these styles of music are enjoyed throughout the Caribbean, and more styles have stemmed from these over the years. For example, after the East Indians settled in the Caribbean, Chutney music was created, which involves Indian lyrics combined with Calypso elements. 

The birth of calypso can be traced to the arrival of the enslaved West Africans, who used their own kind of music and songs as a form of communication and self-expression (Murray 11).

'Diluted' forms of music have come into existence, such as Dancehall and Soca. Every person is entitled to their own preference in music. These music preferences may vary with the age of the persons, or the socialization and beliefs which they hold. Some persons may not tolerate the more recent, 'diluted' styles of music, while some may tolerate them. 

However, the fact that all of these music styles are played and promoted throughout the Caribbean shows tolerance for the styles of the different Caribbean islands.

According to Mr. Garcia, cultural and historical factors act as convergences towards Caribbean integration. Caribbean rhythms have traveled and continue to travel throughout the region following migration. Puerto Rican "bomba" is the Creole's Caribbean belle dance and reggaeton is the "syncretic" product of Marley's reggae, rap, and hip hop. Salsa, reggae, zouk, and merengue meet and redefine themselves in this migratory path (Garcia).

• These concepts of blending cultures and racial elements may give credit to Orlando Patterson’s updated Creole Society Model, where Synthetic Creolization is described as a society “in which each group, in the new setting, creates its own peculiar version of local culture” (Plummer 15). 

Please click here to view a music video that illustrates tolerance and trust through the collaboration of two Trinidadian artistes and one Vincentian artiste. The song speaks about being a unified family despite differences in Race or Culture. The song is entitled, 'Famalay.'