A Backward Glance

By Vanessa Edwards

Do you want to know how Afro-Antiguans and Barbudans lived in the nineteen forties, fifties, and sixties? Do you wish to relate it to a younger person or find out for yourself? This is the book for you. The cultural, social, and economic lifestyle of the underprivileged class in the twin island state of the Caribbean gems is recorded in A Backward Glance. It contains oral traditions passed down to a young girl by her grandfather, whose parents lived in the late nineteenth century. Affected by the remnants of slavery, blacks stood at the base of the societal ladder. Were they going to always remain there? Read and discover!

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 12, 2016
• ISBN: 9781512757255

Vanessa Edwards

Vanessa Edwards is a retired lawyer and legal translator. The Grass Widow is her first novel; an earlier version (Some Like It Cold) was long listed for the Bath Novel Award 2019 and short listed for the Impress Prize for New Writers 2019 and the Retreat West Novel Prize 2019.

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Copyright © 2016 Vanessa Edwards.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-5127-5726-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-5725-5 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 12/08/2016

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

About the Book

Foreword

Chapter 1 My People

Chapter 2 Be A Figure

Chapter 3 Those Nursery Rhymes

Chapter 4 Faith and Fiction

Chapter 5 There’s A Black Girl In The Ring

Chapter 6 Transition

Chapter 7 Ends Meet

Chapter 8 Don’t Let Them Burn

Works Cited

Afterword

Glossary of Terms and Expressions

I

dedicate this book to my son, daughter, and grandchildren. My daughter and grandchildren were my sounding board. To them I say, Thanks for lending me a listening ear.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

From childhood, I always found it easier to express my thoughts in writing than verbally. To me, it was as if the thoughts, ideas, and images lose their mystery when they are ejected from the inner chambers of the mind and spoken.

I have observed and contemplated more of the issues of life than I have spoken about. From my earliest recollection, writing has been an escape route for me, and a sort of comforter, if you will. Indeed, it is thrilling to be able to add my memoir to the literary volumes of other authors.

Deeply grateful am I to God, the source of all knowledge, to Ayanna, Joy, and Althea for their suggestions, helpfulness and moral support. Gratitude goes out to Ms. Mary Parker for undertaking the tedious task of editing the manuscript. Photos of antique articles came from cultural displays in Antigua and Barbuda.

Thanks to Westbow Press for publishing my work, and to you readers, for reading.

Author

ABOUT THE BOOK

Do you want to know how Afro-Antiguans and Barbudans lived in the nineteen forties, fifties, and sixties? Do you wish to relate it to a younger person or find out for yourself? This is the book for you. The cultural, social, and economic life style of the underprivileged class in the twin island state of the Caribbean gems—is recorded in A Backward Glance. It contains oral traditions passed down to a young girl by her grandfather, whose parents lived in the late nineteenth century. Affected by the remnants of slavery, Blacks stood at the base of the societal ladder. Were they going to always remain there? Read and discover!

FOREWORD

A Backward Glance is a reflection of the author’s life as she experienced it growing up in Antigua and Barbuda in the nineteen fifties. This book will provide entertaining reading and may also serve as an instructional tool. It contains oral traditions, customs, and experiences common to most Caribbean people and will prove to be worthwhile reading

This is a literary piece informing the very young of Antigua and Barbuda and everyone else who reads it, as to the way of life experienced by villagers in the twin-island state before the advent of electricity and political independence. It will be a good addition to your library.

While very young, I read a book that encouraged others to write. I always believed that for some, including myself writing could only be a dream but with the vast improvement in technology, it has been made quite easy.

Despite the setbacks that Blacks in Antigua and Barbuda encountered, we have persevered, and My People have made great strides academically, socially, and politically.

As I glance backward, I can thankfully say, child abuse and neglect were not part of my story. I soaked up life’s pleasantries as a sponge and even though at the time of penning this memoir, I am a grandmother, my mind still drips with what I consider, THE CHARMS OF MY CHILDHOOD.

Over the years, I kept telling myself that Maybe I should write, but what? Well, here it is. Welcome and enjoy.

CHAPTER 1

My People

I grew up in the era when the crowing of the rooster or cock fowl and the braying of the Jackass or donkey in the early morning signaled that is was time for the early risers to get out of bed. There were few clocks then. Those were the days when some people had elephantitis which we called bigfoot, and several had very red lips which we tagged as redmouth. Those who could not afford toothbrushes rubbed their teeth with leaves from bushes and charcoal to clean them.

The class of people I am referring to is the significant majority of Antiguans and Barbudans. Children from poor families had to drop out of school to work and help support the younger ones in the family. They ate things like bread and sugar cake, bread and roasted saltfish, bread and sweetoil (cooking oil). Times were hard and the rich folks lived separate and apart from the poor communities, and you had no one to depend on but your own.

Go back in time when the highest level of education offered to students in the nineteen thirties until the nineteen forties, was a standard (class) seven. Unashamedly, I state that an aunt and uncle of mine were extremely smart, but were illiterate. Another uncle went up to standard seven. One aunt reached standard four and my mother made it up to standard five.

I fast forward the tape, however, and there stand before me my six sisters and two brothers. Even though my mother had only a standard five education, her children have made her proud of them in many ways, including educationally. You will find among us, some with PhD’s, Masters and Bachelors degrees. The same pertain to my aunts’ and uncles’ children. Talk about progress! Antiguans and Barbudans have made great strides, even as the world widened and I grew up.

*    *    *

My childhood memories sprung from two different households in two different villages where I resided. The first portion embraced the formative years of my life up to nine years of age and the second portion consists of ages ten to sixteen.

The former with ‘Mamie’, my grandmother, and the latter was with ‘Mother,’ my mom. You will note the similarities and differences of life, as I experienced them in two villages, located at two different points in Antigua.

I’m highlighting, not my Autobiography, but memories which are forever etched upon my mind and which children born in this the twenty-first century will marvel to hear about. Could they have existed in ‘my time’ without the use of electricity and the technological gadgets that scientific advancement now affords? Children of this generation would shake their