"The Village Ethic": Vision for a journal

In Volume 1, Issue 2 of First Reads, editor I. Rhonda King presents her vision for the journal, which is heavily influenced by her observations of a group of epic village characters: Lyndon ("big man," leader, benefactor), the boys (his followers, workers, contributors), and "crazy man" (the one who helps spread the word, champions causes, acts as benefactor sometimes). Message? It does take a village, but for the task to be well executed, everyone has to know his / her role and perform to the best of his / her ability.

King's vision for the journal also entails keeping "external forces" at bay. Now what does that mean? It seems the following pronouncement on the Caribbean by British thinkers Anthony Payne and Paul Sutton bothers (or bothered) her enough to cause her to put up a few walls around the village she seeks to create:

British thinkers, Anthony Payne and Paul Sutton are saying, "The Commonwealth Caribbean’s current crisis of development is perhaps the gravest it has faced in the post-independence era. It has been generated by the region’s failure to establish for itself a viable role within the wider context of the globalization of the world economy.” And, this they see largely as a consequence of the fact that “from the beginning of the 1980’s onwards the script became one that was largely written elsewhere." [more]

One clear aspect of the "walls" of King's village is that she has resisted soliciting funding from international funding agencies to avoid "having our script written or commandeered by external forces," she says.

From what I've seen so far, "Lyndon and the boys" are doing quite well inside the walls of First Reads' village. See for yourself.

--Read and listen to "Me Vinci Tark," by Esther Edwards:

. . . .

Me ah war Vincentian.

Dis ah fu me country,

So me go tark me Vinci tark,

An nombady na go stop me.

Me ha fu tark me dialeck

Wid people who could understan me,

Cause if me start to put dung big words,

Dem go say me highty-tighty.

. . . . 

 

--Read "Monkey Say Cool Breeze," (short story) by Marlon Bute:

Once upon a time, not so long ago, there lived a pretty Indian lass by the name of Seetha. You should have seen this girl: she wasn’t just pretty, she was an astounding beauty. But, unfortunately, her heart was ugly. She was quite selfish and mean spirited, and was never able to accept the counsel of the elders, or the fact, that her father, a farmer who had moved to Arima  from San Fernando, was really trying his best to put food on the table for her and the 11 other siblings. [more]

--See Anneliese Percy's photo essay "Forgotten":

Browse the site for much more, and then feel free to join me in my "crazy man" role of spreading the word about First Reads. And those of you who are itching to be one of the "boys," and to have your writing acknowledged for publication, why don't you? The guidelines for submission are straightforward enough. And of course you have the option to become a benefactor and support First Reads' electronic infrastructure with a small fee (see details here).

Cheers to I. Rhonda King and her team over at First Reads!