tidings
Yvonne Webb
The misspelled sign renaming Short Street, San Fernando, in honor of soca creator Ras Shorty I (Garfield Blackman) has been removed and replaced with a corrected version.
San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello said the misspelled sign — “Ras Shortie I St” — was replaced hours after Thursday’s unveiling ceremony with a new, correct sign: Ras Shortie I St.
Abbi Blackman, via WhatsApp message on Friday, said she was glad the error had been corrected.
Regrello said the mistake involved a foreigner employed with the printer that the city corporation (SFCC) hired to do the job.
He said the stranger thought there was a spelling mistake that had been sent and “corrected” it without consulting.
Regrello also explained to Newsday on Friday, “The street naming ceremony was not scheduled to take place on Thursday, but at a later date.”
He said members of the Blackman family contacted him around 4pm on Wednesday with a request to hold the unveiling ceremony on Thursday morning. He said family members, who are all musicians and singers, told him they were scheduled to travel Thursday night for an engagement abroad.
Regrello said he looked for ways to fast-track the request and spent all night making preparations, but discovered the error when the sign was submitted.
“I contacted the family and told them there was a mistake and asked them what to do in the circumstances.
“Abbi Blackman said she wasn’t going to let that ruin her day. She said to go ahead with the cream and fix it later.”
That’s what he said, that’s what happened. The pole with the wrong road sign was not set in the ground, but strapped to the original Shortcut sign it replaced.
Regrello said he was sorry people weren’t seeing the bigger picture of the city honoring an icon, but instead were chasing the mistake and making it political.
At the unveiling ceremony, Abbi Blackman laughed off the mistake, saying she wouldn’t blame the mayor or the SFCC, which initiated the naming of the street in honor of her late father.
“This is about the technocrats. According to my cousin, it’s probably a German spelling,” she said.
She said she was completely overwhelmed by the gesture and wouldn’t let anything spoil the joy the family felt because for the past 22 years since Shorty I died, his children and his late widow, Claudette, had been knocking on the doors of successive ministers of culture. to recognize his contribution.
“This is long overdue. We brought in proposal after proposal for a museum and music and art school in his name. When my brother OC realized that nothing was being done, he mortgaged his house and invested in the Blackman Ranch in Piparo to make something of himself.
“His thinking was, if they don’t want to recognize it, we will.”
She said the family hoped that when the Southern Academy of Arts (SAPA) was built, it would be named after Shorty as the creator of three genres of music and having spent many hours at Library Corner creating music, including the classic Om Shanti Omg. .
“God bless Sundar Popo, after whom an auditorium is named, but I remember Sundar Popo sitting in my living room when I was seven years old. Shorty, I was still experimenting with soca chutney and Sundar Popo said he liked it and would use it. Sundar didn’t even sing then.
“Shorty was writing Indrani and he told Sundar he wasn’t done with it, but Sundar said he was. What Sundar did was Shorty I’s first experiment with that fusion, however he got a space at SAPA instead of Shorty I.
Isaac Blackman said: “My father loved this country and gave everything. To see him honored with a street named after him is a beautiful sight. As a family, we are grateful and happy that it happened.”
He encouraged people to research Shorty I and learn about his contribution to Trinidad and Tobago and how he has added value to music and culture, saying that kids know more about Jamaican and American artists than TT.
