IN FOCUS
The UWI Vice-Chancellor, a renowned former cricketer, has also served as a member of the West Indies Cricket Board. In his musings on the Trinidad-born author, historian, political activist and cricket journalist, Sir Hilary said James was a “phenomenal, complicated man” . He spoke of James’ philosophical belief that leaders should always be in a state of transition; the struggles to get the Beyond a Boundary manuscript published; how he was able to obtain James’ original manuscript that contains an unpublished chapter with his handwritten notes; and the role George Lamming played in the latter two situations. According to the historian, the reason the chapter was not included in the book remains a matter of speculation. The treasured manuscript is housed at the CLR James Cricket Research Centre , which Sir Hilary founded and served as a director. The centre is located at Cave Hill Campus. The CLR James Distinguished Lecture was one of two activities held on campus to commemorate the sixtieth anniversary of Beyond a Boundary , the other being a two-day symposium held the same and previous day. u
“This book is a classic example of a Caribbean people who were bombarded with this British institution. They were deprived of institutions of their own and they were imposed with this hegemonic culture from Victorian Britain and we, the Black people, had to love it even though it wasn’t our own. It wasn’t indigenous to us … but we took it, and we improved upon it; and what we have done is our own. It is now something called the West Indian brand. That is the creativity of a people despite their oppression.”
CHILL NEWS 35
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