TL;DR Iconic Trinidadian Rapso Artist Brother Resistance Passes Away
Coming of age in 90’s Trinidad had me processing a number of things –Thundercats and Star Trek on the same television that the military coup of 1990 was chillingly announced, the loss of my grandmother and the fact that, despite attending a ‘good school’ and being ‘well spoken’, the police would routinely ask about my character & intentions throughout my youth whenever I was going to Music Festival/ Globe Cinema/ a concert/church youth group/ home/ a rehearsal/ the mall/ a friend’s home/ the pharmacy for Ms. Gracie’s tablets…
I was hard-pressed to find a Trinidadian voice whose music acknowledged, without euphemism, the challenges that came with being Black and urban - A Tribe Called Quest made much more sense than most of the fare on homeland radio at the time. The ONE local voice whose work shifted that perspective was Brother Resistance, a man whose eloquence and wry dignity made him the T.S. Eliot to the experience of growing up in a neighborhood like mine.
He passed away last night and we should walk alongside his family in their grief. If you’re not familiar with his work, I invite you to listen to a few examples from his discography listed below. He dignified the collective worth of the Black Trinidadian experience by sealing it in lyric and inspired many of us to stand our ground whenever someone disbelieves us - whether that be about a knowledge of Shakespeare or that we’re not a person of interest when the patrol car slows down.
D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rXVDNeP-hw&t=50s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtrIYBOAOPU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LGn50NYp10