Benjamin Dupuy 1931-2023

 (Herald)(Haiti Liberté)

Harry Belafonte 1927-2023

I can recall feeling sad a few years ago that he won't be around forever. Piri' Miri Muli' readers know that I am hyperattuned to the art and politics of the Caribbean, and Belafonte was one of the rare figures that showed you can create great art for a large audience and never compromise your principles, never betraying the legal and economic emancipation of the people, in times and island places that have become contemporary laboratories for celebrity con artistry. Modernissmo and Negritude are that and only that, despite the robust tradition of prominent pretenders.

John Tranter 1943-2023

 

I was arrested because of that internal memo,

and ended up in a cell, then I was told to sit

with the police and the local bigwigs.

In the hushed and fast darkening room they said

someone—someone—had reduced the safety margin

on the airport risk factor, and I got the blame.

The sky that day was a pale, clear blue, but

that was happening outside, and far away.

The cop on duty would not open the tomb

of the deported—sorry, departed—and as usual

he had a story. Every movie, he said, depends

on a script, and the narrative grows out of

market research: a set of standard deviations. Art? 

What would they know? Open the tomb, and let me in.    

(Sorehead)

 

Ahmad Jamal 1930-2023