SOLOMON, SIDEWALK AND THE SUMMIT
10
And Solomon said: Those who remain silent in the face of atrocity are as guilty as those who commit the atrocity.
What does Solomon, singer, entrepreneur, the owner of the beleaguered Sidewalk Radio, mean by this? He means: Don’t just sit and watch. Throw up a hand, speak a word, do something, anything, fling a dinner mint, a leaf. Do anything, except remain silent in the face of atrocity.
On New Year’s Day 2006, Solomon established his community radio station under a staircase at the Curepe Bus Terminal, two feet away from the populous sidewalk. He was granted a license by the Telecom Authority to broadcast on 92.1 FM, for a range of 16 km around his transmitter. The mission of Solomon’s Sidewalk Radio was to highlight that part of society that was not always served by other frequencies, the man in the street, the unknown artiste, and to raise issues such as the constitution, human rights, without chasing after the corporate advertising dollar. Sidewalk specialized in un-sanitized broadcasting.
But Sidewalk Radio soon encountered all kinds of problems, like Sauce Doubles next door, from slight, medium, to hot. First, the frequency of another community radio station began to interfere with Sidewalk 92.1 FM. Solomon appealed to the telecom Authority: the offending Radio station had boosted its power and was operation outside its legally permitted range. Solomon affirms that the owner of this interfering station was a “political favorite” and his pleas to the authorities were ignored; the offending station, on the other hand, was given a license to broadcast nationally. Eventually, the Telecom Authority appointed an arbiter, who ruled that indeed Sidewalk had suffered a wrong.
In February 2006, the Telecom Authority sought to upgrade all community radio stations, except Radio Toco, from community to national status. Community radios were granted new frequencies and given an extension of nine months to set up their amplified equipment and move to their new frequencies. On December 2th 2006, the State issued a summons to Solomon. He was accused of: “operating a broadcasting facility without a license granted by the Telecom Authority.”
Solomon recalls: “I was not broadcasting calypso. I never did in fact. Calypso, in its modern phase, is a circus, used to obliterate opposition and rational thought, a tool of frenzy and political control. I was broadcasting unknown artistes like myself. I was broadcasting a show hosted by Clive Nunez. He was talking No Smelter. I was broadcasting a series hosted by Wayne Kublalsingh. He was bringing experts from UWI to discuss the need for revolutionary change in agriculture, education, land use planning and so on. Before I was shut down, my license seized, this is what Sidewalk was broadcasting. I faced five years in jail and a fine of 250,000 dollars.”
“I remember two days before my license was seized a Government Minister called when Kublalsingh’s program was on. “Is that a paid program?” he asked. I said, “No. This is free un-sanitized radio.”
After two lonely years of battle, Solomon won his case against the State. One man, against the overwhelming authority of the State, against “a bottomless pit of State dollars”, had gained a victory of sound over silence. However, the State did not like this outcome. With nothing to gain but vengeance, it has appealed against the victory of Solomon.
Last Saturday, Drummit to the Summit Saturday, Solomon was down at the St James amphitheatre. He was wearing a plaster over his mouth. He was standing in the pit of the amphitheatre with a tall billboard: TO THE GOVERNMENT OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO. STOP THE PROSECUTION OF SIDEWALK RADIO RIGHT NOW.
Solomon was there to Drum Truth to the Summit. He was there to witness the victory of drums over dumbness, the victory of rhythm over repression. Citizens and community groups had gathered to Drum Truth to the Summit, to expose what was being smoothened over and silenced by the State’s Grand Silencer. The theme of the Summit was in direct contrast to actual State action: economic malfeasance in smelter and steel, social insecurity, ecological ruin on the West Coast, a mad headlong rush towards energy insecurity and unsustainable development. Again, Solomon, along with other Truth Drummers, achieved a victory. A routine event, behind God’s back, far away from the leaders of the Americas, was converted by a repressive executive order, into another defeat for State authority.
Three victories for Solomon against State authority and still the latter would not let Solomon go. This authority means to seize Solomon by the Adam’s Apple and asphyxiate.
But why, we ask Solomon, why don’t you use the national license granted to you and start broadcasting? Solomon replies, with deadly seriousness: “The victory for the Government right now is that I am off the air. But the State has done wrong. We cannot cowardly turn our backs on atrocities committed against us, especially by the State, cowardly saying ‘no big thing’.”
To Solomon, the voice of Sidewalk, of a just and fair media, is worth more than precious ointment, more than all the bible-gold and bible-gems of the ancient world. If we silence this voice, we suffer in biblical proportions: fire, brimstone, riot-squad.
This is the last of this series on the Summit of the Americas. Many thanks to the Sunday Editor and Newsday for the opportunity to write this series.
Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh
(Used with his permission)
The Fifth Summit Of The Americas 