Whither ‘Brotherhood of the Boat’?

XENOPHOBIA MOST LIKEY SIMMERS just below the surface in the psyche of Caribbean nationals. It seems that it takes little for the cauldron to boil over – publicly – with incidents like those involving double world javelin champion, Grenadian, Anderson Peters.

Symbolically, the ‘Harbour Master’, popularly known as the ‘party boat’, was the site of the brawl involving the javelin champ, his brother Kiddon and at least six Trinidad and Tobago nationals.

Soberingly, unlike Brother Marvin’s catchy 1996 calypso which recalled the Caribbean peoples’ journey, whether by force from Africa, or through volunteering or trickery from India, there was no ‘Brotherhood of the Boat’ in Grand Anse, Grenada.

Abiola Benjamin was one of the six originally arrested for the assault on the Peters siblings. For him, unrefined emotions replaced facts, and rabid nationalism, regional solidarity among those whose brotherhood began to take root on ’the boat’.

“They (the Grenadian police) immediately started saying that we (‘Harbour Master’ crew) should be dead. How come we are still alive?” was their incredulous query, Benjamin recalled.

“They put me in the cell although I kept telling them that I am a victim here, and I have injuries and need to seek medical attention,” Benjamin recalled.

Those who got here by the boat forgot the painful history of the traumatic and deadly trans-Atlantic journey. That flashed before his eyes during their five days in police custody.

The Grenadian police were unprofessional and discriminatory, Benjamin remembered. He said another colleague in custody kept begging to get medical attention, but the police were snubbish.

Sadly, according to Benjamin, all the Grenadian police seemed interested in is exacting maximum punishment on them because every basic courtesy, including use of the washroom, was met with stiff opposition from the Caribbean lawmen.
The collective vitriol, he said was evident in their oft-repeated refrain: ‘They should all have been dead, because they came from Trinidad with their criminal behaviour’.

The vitriol, however, was not limited to the subsector of law-enforcement: it was from members of the wider Grenadian public too, noted the javelin champion.

He still believes that any reasonable person would have first sought details of the incident aboard ‘Harbour Master’ before jumping to conclusion.

This message is for his T&T natives too whom he accused on jumping on the bandwagon of negative comments.

The unfortunate incident which has left him physically and psychologically bruised and has changed his perspective of life. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience for

Although it is now public knowledge Grenadian Attorney General (AG) plans filing private criminal charges against the double world javelin champion, Benjamin doesn’t harbour ill-will against the global athletic star or Grenadians for that matter.

“Grenada is still one of the number one Caribbean Island to visit, and I will never say anything different even with my personal experience,” he emphasised.

Talk of brotherhood!

Brother Marvin says it best in ‘Brotherhood of the Boat’. Part of the lyrics noted:

I am proof of racial unity and that is the way everyone should be [achcha —-] Everyone should have each one in their prayer
Let’s show each other we care
As we all know ————————-, Jahaji Bhai
Brotherhood of the boat, Jahaji Bhai
Brotherhood of the boat, Jahaji Bhai