A Beacon of Caribbean Culture and Identity

Beryl McBurnie is a big name in Caribbean culture, having made a huge impact on the region's identity. The book "Beryl McBurnie," written by Judy Raymond, an experienced journalist and editor from Trinidad, tells her story. Judy’s currently the editor in chief at Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. The book is part of a series on Caribbean biographies, featuring other cultural icons like Marcus Garvey, who pushed for pan-Africanism and started the Universal Negro Improvement Association, and Derek Walcott, a well-known poet and playwright. The book, split into five chapters, dives into the life of Beryl Eugenia McBurnie. Born on November 2, 1914, just before World War I, Beryl was a dancer from Trinidad. She set up the Little Carib Theatre to promote Trinidad's culture and kept supporting it until her death on March 30, 2000. Judy Raymond wanted to honor her because Beryl really influenced Caribbean culture. She sparked cultural awakening, embraced folk culture, and boosted the independence movement in Trinidad. Judy gives readers a glimpse of Trinidad’s history and society during Beryl’s time, discussing culture, identity, slavery, and freedom through stories and quotes, helping us understand why this book matters today.

To get what the book's about, you need to know a bit about Trinidad back then. Trinidad was the first crown colony and not yet independent. When Beryl was born, indentured Indian servants were still arriving, bringing their culture with them. The 1930s saw the Great Depression, marked by high unemployment, poverty, unrest, and anti-colonial sentiment. Beryl left Trinidad in 1938 to study dance in New York while calypso music was gaining popularity in her homeland. During World War II, American bases popped up in Trinidad, and the soldiers loved entertainment. Calypso put Trinidad on the map but later faded, and Beryl thought Carifesta could revive it. In New York, she studied and performed just before World War II, around the time the American Negro Theatre was founded. Both in Trinidad and New York, women were expected to be docile and handle domestic chores, but gender movements were gaining traction, eventually granting women the right to vote. By 1962, Beryl was choreographing dances for Trinidad's newly independent island, showcasing Caribbean culture.

The theme of culture runs throughout "Beryl McBurnie." Culture is described as the whole range of knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, laws, customs, and other capabilities and habits people acquire as members of society. The book also shows how Trinidadians viewed their culture and heritage. Beryl’s dances and songs mixed different cultural elements. For example, on page twelve, it’s mentioned that Beryl combined African, European, and Indian cultural practices. This highlights Trinidad's diversity, with its three main ethnic groups. Instead of just highlighting European dance and songs, Beryl showcased cultural minorities, resisting cultural assimilation – the process where a minority group starts resembling a dominant group. Beryl resisted acculturation too; she adopted and blended different cultures but didn't fully embrace the dominant British culture. She mostly used African aspects despite stereotypes. Her goal was to develop and preserve indigenous culture, blending them to create “unity in diversity” (Raymond 91), making Trinidad independent from colonial influence. Trinidadians didn’t fully embrace their culture, preferring European traditions. For instance, on page twelve, Molly Ahye, a principal dancer at Little Carib, noted that Beryl had a dance group before Little Carib but kept it private because her dance style, mostly African, was then seen as unacceptable and “primitive.” Semi-literate and illiterate folks were unashamed of their origins and continued Shouter and Shango practices, out of which steel-bands emerged. Ironically, steel-bands are now a big part of Trinidad's cultural identity. On page twenty-eight, Schwartz and Schwartz mentioned that one of Beryl's performances reflected Caribbean history, showing sacrifice, sorrow, and a cultural mix, including Spanish, French, English, and African dances, and rituals like Voodoo and Shango, often performed in rural areas away from public view due to their satanic connotation. Thus, calypso, a blend of these cultural art forms, developed. The book sheds more light on her work, like on page seventy-six, where it’s revealed she opened the ‘Folk House,’ her home turned training center for the Little Carib, showcasing various cultural artists and performances from different cultures. Another big theme in the book is identity.

Raymond explores personal identity, which is how one sees oneself over time. She presents Beryl’s character through friends and colleagues’ stories, Beryl’s interviews, and articles, especially in chapters one and three. This helps readers picture Beryl and her personality. According to Khan, Beryl’s identity was elusive; she didn't share personal info freely and was often vague. What people did know was her awareness of her African/European identity, shown in her performances. At age 7 or 8, her backyard concerts featured European songs and dances, a sign of eurocentrism, but this changed as she researched indigenous Caribbean dances. Beryl was also full of ideas and eccentric, as noted by Betty Reef, an American reporter. She was known for her bright, unique outfits. Friends’ recollections highlight her resourceful, influential, assertive, intelligent, humorous, grateful, and humble nature. Beryl was beautiful and admired despite being temperamental at times. Though kind, she could be intimidating when needed. She showed a split personality, as seen on page forty-nine, described as “volatile and tempestuous,” indicating sudden mood changes and conflicting emotions. Her identity was shaped by society; her fair complexion and middle-class status gave her confidence and status, allowing her to get an education up to the tertiary level, studying dance at Columbia University in New York under Martha Graham. But in New York, she found that people were either black or white, no in-between. However, she met the famous black American actor Paul Robeson, who later helped solidify the Little Carib. Beryl was aware of her double diasporic consciousness, struggling between adapting to a new place or staying true to her roots, and she chose the latter. This is evident as she represented her roots in dress and performance in New York and returned to help Trinidad instead of seeking fame. She resisted colonial rule, defying the Shouter Prohibition Ordinance by incorporating their practices in her research and performances, and performed dances for the West Indies Federation's government aiming for Caribbean independence. Her work involved her family; her sister Freya performed with her, and her aunt and/or mother helped with costumes at Little Carib, which started and developed around the family home. Her nephew eventually became chairman of The Little Carib Theatre. Beryl was somewhat religious; her family attended the Tranquillity Methodist Church, introduced by whites to help freed blacks. She wasn't against all European influences. On page seventy-eight, she mentioned giving her Folk House and Little Carib theatre to her country out of love, as Jesus taught. Lastly, the book highlights Beryl’s gender-defying actions. Few respectable, middle-class girls pursued dance careers and researched all over Trinidad (Raymond 16), as there was a stigma around women in dance, expected to be seductive in movement and dress, noted on page thirty-three. But Beryl countered this, changing perceptions of Caribbean women and culture through her performances. She was rightly honored for her contributions:

“the Order of the British Empire in 1959; two national awards from Trinidad and Tobago – the Humming Bird Gold Medal in 1969 and the country’s highest award, the Trinity Cross, in 1989; and an honorary doctorate from the St Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies in 1976” (Raymond 74).

The Little Carib hosted many anniversary celebrations featuring well-known musicians, dancers, and writers. So, it's no surprise that when she died of old age, her funeral was packed with family, friends, politicians, the Invaders (a popular steel-band she promoted), Rex Nettleford (then head of the Jamaica National Dance Theatre Company and vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies), who paid tribute to her, and some former dancers performing, as seen on pages eighty-five and eighty-six. Her contributions to the Caribbean are taught in schools to honor and remember her. Raymond also uses the theme of slavery and freedom in her book.

Raymond weaves together themes of slavery and freedom with civilization in "Beryl McBurnie" to deepen readers' understanding of past Caribbean society. This helps readers appreciate what Beryl did and what might have driven her actions and vision. Slavery is forced labor without pay, freedom is not being enslaved, and civilization is a group's unique way of seeing the world. The book highlights how villages where freed slaves first settled turned into cramped streets with tiny shacks (Raymond 5), explaining Beryl’s family-oriented nature, as multiple generations lived together. Despite oil discovery, Trinidad faced labor unrest and extreme poverty, making funds for building the Little Carib hard to come by. Enslaved people held dances on weekends, despite their masters’ fears of rebellion post-Haiti’s success, using these dances to escape their struggles mentally, as stated in chapter one, page fifteen. This likely influenced Beryl to use dance and songs to tell stories and express herself, serving as a form of passive resistance. People were also eager for independence, as expressed by Albert Gomes on page eight, encouraging black folks to seek their independence.

Considering all this, it’s clear Judy Raymond’s "Beryl McBurnie" is valuable for understanding Caribbean civilization. Beryl's research and determination to preserve and promote Caribbean dances inspired others like Rex Nettleford to start the Jamaica National Dance Theatre Company. She also helped Nobel Prize-winning writer Derek Walcott and influenced Louise Bennett, both cultural revolutionaries. She set trends for generations of dancers. Her dream theatre was realized by Paul Robeson, who began building the Little Carib Theatre on Roberts St, Woodbrook, the island’s first theatre and dance company. The book gives insights, examples, and descriptions of unique Caribbean dance moves, some of which have influenced modern dances. It helps understand Caribbean societal structure through various themes, explaining aspects of today’s society, like why many families live together in one yard or why women in dancehall dress provocatively. The text also highlights community involvement in projects, showing this has been a long-standing tradition. It explains the history behind Jamaican dances, noting Beryl’s influence in making ‘Caribbean dance’ official (Raymond 96). Her theatre housed and taught many famous Caribbean artists, contributing to the region's cultural popularity. Readers also understand how dance theatres became so popular in the Caribbean, with Beryl’s being the first and inspiring others to start their own.

The text really expands my knowledge of Caribbean civilization. I learned about how eurocentrism affected views on Caribbean culture, why dance is so important, and why there are so many theatres in the Caribbean. I also understand why Beryl McBurnie is such a key figure and the foundation for the works of Rex Nettleford and others. The book focuses on Beryl’s character, showing her bold, kind, assertive yet temperamental nature. It also reveals her struggles, like funding issues and her own temperamental nature. Lastly, it highlights her achievements, like popularizing Caribbean dance. The text is well-crafted, using various themes and styles to help readers grasp who Beryl was, what drove her, and her contributions to Caribbean society.