In Dominica, we once had creative public spaces within which a mostly peaceful and courteous community thrived. What were examples of such creative public spaces? There were our churches and church organizations. The churches organized the parish fairs which were held regularly around our island. We had playwrights such as Alwin Bully and Daniel Cauderon with the People's Action Theater putting on plays such as "Speak Brother Speak" or "Jesus Christ Superstar." The creativity of our local actors & actresses birthed mutual respect as such reflected the value which we saw in each other.
The well-appointed Dominica Botanic Gardens was a place for fantastic games of cricket, or Sunday strolls in one's Sunday best. One of the most delightful memories of my Dominica childhood was the Expo 1969 fair at the Botanic Gardens at which different islands exhibited their agricultural and industrial bounty. Grenada, the Spice Isle, built a two-storey nutmeg wreathed in the aroma of spices, while Dominica featured its produce and craftwork produced by the Government Social Welfare Division's Workshop for the Blind under the management of Alberta Christian. Amidst the creative bustle of that time was our modest, yet majestic, Roseau Public Library, where knowledge could be gathered in the quiet cocoon of that temple of knowledge. On the weekend, little children would lose themselves amidst the stacks of the Children's Section of the Roseau Public Library and travel the world in their minds. Where is that culture of learning which builds creativity& community now? Fixated on foreign fly by night schemes, our policy planners are blind to the jewels which reside in our people, where they can be burnished by a commitment to the creative commons.So gathered around knowledge, meaningful things and cooperation within a public space, we had a thriving and mostly peaceful country. The disappearance of the creative public space has left a gaping hole in our social architecture. That void has now been filled by gangs, gangsters, overall lawlessness in high and low places, and the violence inherent to the same.
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