The International Creole day : The 28th Of October

The International Creole day
by GDL

Today 28th October is the International Creole day as proclaimed by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation. It is the highest form of a recognition of our Creole culture. Since that proclamation the world now knows that we exist as a people with a specific cultural identity. This recognition of our culture and language by UNESCO did not arrive by pure chance or hazard, it is the fruit of a long battle by creole academics, militants and politicians. The process   started many years ago by academics of the Caribbean like Aime Cesaire, Edouard Glissant and Gilbert Gratiant and later taken over by Raphael Confiant, Jean Bernabe, Patrick Chamoiseau, Felix Lambert Prudent, Hector Poulet, Dany Laferiere, Rodolf Etienne. Creole academics like Gilbert Martin,Terrel Delphin, and The Creole Heritage Centre of Louisiana have also militate for their recognition as Creoles of the USA.
In the Indian Ocean,  the Republic of the Seychelles took the lead when President Albert Rene renamed the Seychelles "The Creole Republic of the Seychelles". The right hand person who organised the meetings of the representatives of the Creole world was Mrs D'Offay/ de St Jorre. She should be remembered as the Ambassador of the Creole world towards International Agencies like  Agence de Cooperation Culturel et Technique and the UNESCO.
Since 1982 there has been regular meetings in the Seychelles of academics, creolists, linguists, militants, artists, authors, cineastres, etc...and the organisation of an International Creole Festival with artists for the Creole world. These meeting and cultural activities  made echo around the world through intense media coverage. Gradually people of the creole world were getting to know more of each other, what they share in common and expressed the desire to move forward as a people who share the same culture. With such a momentum, books and literature from the creole world proliferated and received more coverage as more and more meetings of the Creole people were organised in different parts of the Creole countries. We also saw the emergence of  creole diasporas in countries like USA, Canada, France and Australia.
In La Reunion people like Alain Armand, Axel Gauvin,Mgr Gilbert Aubry and Jacqueline Fareyrole were talking more and more about the creole culture and its importance in the island.
In Rodrigies the pioneers who nurtured the creole culture were Georgy Lamvohee, Noel Allas and  Antoinette Prudence doing much to value the Rodriguan Creole culture. Serge Clair should also be credited for organising International Creole Festivals where the Rodriguan creoles started to know more about their counterparts in the Indian Ocean and elsewhere.

In Mauritius the combat was at the beginning more  focussed  on the recognition of the Creole language led by people like Dev Virasawmy and Vinesh Homooksing, Arnaud Corporan. But the Creole culture as such was more pushed forward by  Jean Maurice Labour, Jimmy Harmon, Jocelyn Gregoire. Minister Xaxier Luc Duval, should be praised by taking the lead to organise a yearly Festival International Creole in Mauritius while the Seychelles and Rodrigues have been doing if for years.

The Creole Diasporas, composed mainly of Haitians have also been very vocal by organising a yearly Creole month in Montreal with the backing of the Quebec Government. Many academics have also emerged from Haiti.

Today Creole people are found in many parts of the world, in the islands of the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean as well as in Europe, USA, Latin America, Cuba, Brazil, Canada, Australia.  They are proud to have brought a new culture and civilisation to the world and thus enriching the planet with a their food, their architecture, their language, their way of life, their music and dances. The Creole people have a history; from a culture which was born during the colonisation era, a culture born on the plantations, a culture born in sufferings but which has developed into a new, dynamic, rich  and modern one which keeps on rolling.
We are creoles and proud to be.

Australian Politics : We have a new Prime Minister

How Malcolm turned the bull around
by GDL

At the last elections the people of Australia chose to throw the Labor Party out of power and by default Tony Abbott became Prime Minister of Australia. Although having been a very good opposition leader, not many people liked Tony Abbott, some even hated him but voted for the Liberal party at the last general elections because they were fed up with Rudd, Gillard and...Bill Shorten. Tony Abbott was disliked as he was arrogant, a conservative and very right winger. Some would even say that ideologically he is on the far right and no different to Pauline Hanson. If difference there is ,Tony is more smart. Presenting the 2014 budget measures Joe Hockey became the most hatred politician in the land for his attacks on the working class, the students, the pensioners, families, the unemployed, the working class while favouring the big end of town. As Tony Abbott fully supported his Treasurer, he also shared the hatred from the Australian people and the media did not spare him neither. In fact Tony Abbott, who has never been popular, was worse as a PM. He was not even popular within his own party The Liberals!!!. While he survived a first revolt some months back, some weeks ago his party got rid of him and replaced him by Malcolm Turnbull. The party did the right thing as the government under Tony Abbott was very unpopular and was sure, according to the polls, of losing  at next year's general elections.
Malcolm Turnbull is a very rich man who worked hard in life to build his wealth. He was deposed as leader of the Liberals by Tony Abbott and deposing Tony Abbot as Prime Minister and leader of the Liberals was  a sweet revenge. However, Malcolm Turnbull has never been arrogant and has always been close to the people and sympathetic to the cause of  the working class and the middle class. Despite being a capitalist, Malcolm through his simplicity, has always talked sense. He is even popular among the Labor voters so much that many would wish he was a member of their party and would have wanted him as leader of the Labor Party. As he  always been  close to the people, a republican and a non-conservative, the right wingers of the Liberals do not like him and call him a man of the left. Among these ultra conservatives are Andrew Bolt, Ray Adley, Alan Jones, R Dean, Cory Berbardy who are admirers of Tony Abbott and now doing everything to undermine the Prime Ministership of Malcolm Turnbull. Some are even thinking of establishing a Conservative Party to protect the "values" of the conservatives which are extreme rights values to my analysis.
Since the change of  Prime Minister, the people of Australia from all walks of live are seeing a change of style of leadership, a new and simple PM, a man of the people at the head of government. Even those who are hard core labor voters are now showing sympathy for Malcolm and much prefer him to their actual leader Bill Shorten. The rating of Malcolm as preferred Prime Minister is as high as 68% which is quite significant. Malcolm and his new look cabinet of Ministers, which excludes Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey (of course), as well as some old farts, is a new start and give new hope to the people of Australia. More women are now in Cabinet which is a positive recognising the merit of  women like Kelly O'Dwyer and Marise Pierce. Julie Bishop is no more alone  as before in the boy's club of  Mikey Mouse and Donald Duck. Already Malcolm is communicating better to the people and his minsters are also adopting a new style far from being arrogant. Even Christopher Pierce is mo more riding on his high horses as he used to do. Malcolm Turnbull is gradually bringing the government from a right wing position to the middle and governing for the mainstream, more of a social democracy ideology. How much will be be successful remains to be seen while facing resistance from conservatives of the Liberal Party.
Looking at the polls, it is clear that the change of PM has put the Labor party from a winning position to  a very difficult situation. The 2014 budget of Tony Abbott has turned many voters away from the Liberal party and the government but today many are confused because we have a very popular PM coming from a party which normally do not like the middle and working class, a party which favours their rich friends and espousing the right wing ideology. The confusion is also in the fact that Bill Shorten is not popular with the Australian people and neither in his own party.
The question for the Australian voters is whether they will chose between Malcolm Turnbull or Bill Shorten or they will  vote for the party which will be more sympathetic to their cause with better and more progressive policies ?