From the beating of steel-pans in Trinidad, to John Canoe celebrations in Bahamas, to the Caribbean Queen Show in Antigua, to Jamaica's reggae stars;  right across the region the inherent richness of Caribbean culture permeates throughout the heart and soul of a proud people.

Clarence E Pilgrim is an advocate for social justice and human rights.  As an educator and a senior officer in the Antigua & Barbuda civil service, he is active in many voluntary organisations. He has passionately promoted the Caribbean integration movement, and is an ardent supporter of enviornmental protection, and the careful use of our natural resources. Among his collection of many articles, he has written on the subject of the crucial need to develop alternative energy resources in the Caribbean Community. Mr Pilgrim also provides advice on various social policy issues.

Recently, I listened with keen interest to the Leeward Islands Calypso competition. It reminded me of how remarkable men like Sparrow, Short Shirt, Obstinate and others, blazed the trail for many other talented musical artists to follow.

I challenge anyone to disagree with me that the Caribbean possesses such great human resource potential, that our talent is second to none, in this global village! Anthropologists and other social scientists, will tell you that the culture and heritage of the Caribbean is unique and is unlike anywhere else in the world.

The origins of the Caribbean people can rightly be said to have been manufactured in the furnace of blood, sweat and tears. The resistance struggle of the people of the region is a remarkable story of survival and resistance. The dehumanizing systems of servitude which were implemented and propagated, enslaved and defied our modern day concept of the worth and dignity of each person.

This is why our arts have played a significant medium of expression and outpouring to resist historic atrocities and outrages, and become a herald for change and enlightenment in a bold new world. This has shaped and conditioned us to embrace different learned attitudes and behavior that encompasses unique forms of morals, art, customs etc. This indeed has determined the destiny we wish to achieve for ourselves.

Caribbean cultural heritage should be viewed as an integral and vital investment, which has an important part in the economic horizons of the region. It should be clearly understood that the strength of any culture is in the ability to acknowledge, tolerate and even blend the ethnic and racial diversity which make a people collectively unique, and individually expressive. This is what makes the Caribbean Community a tremendous "melting pot" of many spices that blend into one wonderfully well-stirred appetizing dish.

It is important for Caribbean governments, individual businesses, business associations, etc.  to support and nurture the development of various forms of arts and crafts throughout the region. It is important that we support every major event like the Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA.) This event is reported to have had three main considerations which inspired its staging. They were :

• the Festival should be inspirational and should provide artists with the opportunity to discuss among themselves techniques and motivations.
• It should be educational in that the people of the Caribbean would be exposed to the values emerging from the various art forms
• and it should relate to people and be entertaining on a scale and in a fashion that would commend itself to the Caribbean people.

Guided by these, the first regional Caribbean festival of arts was held in Georgetown, Guyana in 1972. It attracted artistes from over 30 countries. This exposition of art in all its forms, which included dance, drama, craft, literature and more.

Under the theme Celebrating our People: Contesting the World Stage, the Ninth Caribbean Festival of Arts (CARIFESTA 1X)  will be held in Trinidad and Tobago, beginning late September 2006.
 
The vision for CARIFESTA is identified as "a world-renowned hallmark festival of Caribbean Cultural and artistic excellence, that generates economic benefits, unites the Region and excites all the peoples."
 
Our Governments must take the necessary steps to ensure that the Caribbean make progress in the areas of technology, which are able to capture and transmit our culture in the format, sequence and timing, which is so important to the protection of copyrights and trademarks. Our performing arts are particularly vulnerable to commercial exploitation.
 
We must develop the benefits of technology to superimpose modern business principles on our wealth of cultural resources, so that it can be cultivated into a viable and long term enterprise, whereby, the Caribbean people as shareholders can reap the benefits of investing in its development.

The Musical Recording Industry outside of the Caribbean has made billons of dollars, generated from various forms of indigenous music. The different brands of Calypso, Reggae, and other forms of Caribbean talent, have for many years invaded the international markets and produced a positive "dollar value" to a number of music and entertainment companies. How much of this profit finds its way back to the Caribbean and how much remains outside? The answer is that we have for many years seen a disproportionate equation which is in  favor of external interests.

In my earlier article Brain  vs  Brain - The Power & The Property, I indicated the need for intellectual property rights to be legally secured while creating its sustainable capacity and that the "Caribbean Community as a whole, must look beyond what has been the accepted norm in terms of economic forecasting. The community for the sake of its survival must establish a firm foundation and take concrete steps to improve productivity and competitiveness and embrace the global village and the competition which comes with that turf. We must be prepared to use every avenue to accelerate in some areas or create in other areas the need for growth and development...the Caribbean as one people can reposition ourselves strategically, to become an emerging trading bloc for goods and services..."

We must continue to give real value to this natural resource, and conserve its existence. Together, we must take the next logical step in its forward movement. I am confident that this is possible.