I remember during my research in the American Library of Congress a month ago listening to a recording done in 1935 hearing the great American folklorist, author and anthropologist Ms. Zora Neale Hurston saying that Bahamians were some of the BEST storytellers in the world while trying to describe our people in the 1930's improvising catchy African sounding melodies and chanting about anything that was happening in the community with unapologetic humor.

She watched them joyously dance around the fire waiting for the animal skin on the drums to cool not even knowing that she was actually describing them singing and dancing while making what we call "goat skin" drums to beat in our West African tradition of 'Junkanoo'. She had watched on in complete awe at our people's unique and natural ability to make our own narratives come alive.

Today we see it's not only through folk song and dance rushing through the crowd two-stepping to the infectious rhythms of the beating of the goat skin drums which is the true essence and the soul of Bahamian culture, but also in our cultural themes, aesthetics, expression and stories told and portrayed like no other festival around the world through our vibrant and colorful Junkanoo costumes that you recognize immediately through the vision of the common people that had made them.

Folk music and dance is the heart, voice and spirit of the common people that carry the true sentiment and common humanity of the people in their respective countries. In every other culture that we look to with the strongest cultural aesthetics in the world including America, Jamaica, Cuba and Trinidad, they took what was the STRONGEST cultural aesthetics at the time during their historical time periods of establishing their "identity" and not only established what it was but further DEVELOPED IT, INVESTED IN IT and resulted in what we see and recognize today as "THEIRS". They didn't accomplish what they did by TAKING an already established cultural aesthetic from other countries by placing their name on it calling it 'theirs'. I would have hoped that in the 1950's/60's during the Tourism golden age in The Bahamas would not have been the LAST TIME that our leaders actually had the vision to not only recognize the urgency and undeniable critical importance of establishing 'identity', but also the preservation of 'authentic' cultural heritage and expression, appreciation and the development of it.

I can say without a shadow of a doubt that 9 million dollars invested in 'Carnival' will NOT solve this identity crisis that we suffer from. But here in The Bahamas we seem to never 'agree' with our anthropologists, ethnomusicologists, trained educators, artists, dancers, musicians and cultural experts who've dedicated their entire lives, years of perfecting their craft, years and years of study abroad and at home at the most prestigious universities to receive every degree needed, years and years of experience and years and years of blood, SWEAT AND TEARS for 'the cause'. Even though I know this already, I will continue in hopes that ONE DAY, our leaders will get it.

I have a dream that ONE DAY we will understand that if we are to be truly respected and recognized, identity must be the biggest thing as it helps people to understand who they are from the culture that carries the social and cultural consciousness and without exploring our AUTHENTIC folk and vernacular expressions, we will never capture the true national and ethnic identity of The Bahamas. Carnival isn't the problem, the lack of passion and realization of the need for us to develop our own folk traditions and establish our own identify that will set us apart from the rest of the world IS.

Selah Poitier

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his/her private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of TheBahamasWeekly.com