The Lion of Basdeo Panday
If you see a lion and me fighting, don't feel sorry
for me, I will find victory in my faith"
The words of a great union leader
who fought fearlessly for the rights
of workers in time once ruled
by colonial masters of the estate.
A little boy born in the sugar estate
and migrated to England to get an
education that will lead his
parents out of bondage and slavery.
A lion in human form with a powerful
voice to remove the mountain of fear
which forced him to wreck fear
amongst the slave masters
and to give freedom to a new generation
of two separate races and unite them
to carry the chain of unity
tied to the ashes and arrows
of the canefield.
The Legend of Basdeo Panday
have become immortal framed
inside the doorway of every home
He was a man more than a beast
with his blood flowing
in memories of every prison
where he was held captived
and chained that his
strength even grew one hundred
fold making a legacy of himself
as the Lion of Caroni
to prove the watchwords
"Together we aspire.
Together we achieve
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