Jamaican reggae artiste Bunny Wailer will perform in St. Vincent on Sunday at the opening of the regional reparations conference, Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves says.
Gonsalves made the announcement on Saturday at the opening of the Georgetown Smart Hospital.
He said he suspects that the opening of the conference will have to be held at Victoria Park, a multi-purpose venue in Kingstown.
“They were going to have it inside of a building but Bunny Wailer has contacted me and says he is coming to the conference and he wants to perform.
“So, we said to Bunny, we say, ‘You want to perform with your tracks?’ He said, ‘Perform with my tracks? Bunny Wailer?’ He said, ‘I moving with my band.’ So he’s moving with his seven-member band.
“So you can’t put that in Methodist Church Hall. They don’t have space. Because although a number of the young people don’t know a great deal about Bunny Wailer, those in the know, those who follow music, I mean Bunny is not going to tell yo’, ‘Two, three, four; wave yo’ flag and wine!” Bunny is coming to you with conscious music,” Gonsalves said.
He further said that the 66-year-old artiste, whose real name is Neville O’Riley Livingston, wants to become a citizen of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
“He says [St. Vincent and the Grenadines] is the country in the Caribbean which is building the relationship properly with Africa and he loves what is happening in St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” Gonsalves said.
The conference comes in the wake of the formation of a CARICOM Reparations Commission to seek compensation from Europe for native genocide and slavery in the Caribbean.
Gonsalves started the initiative that his CARICOM colleagues signed on to in July.
And two weeks ahead of the conference, Gonsalves found himself, last week, defending his forebears against accusations that they were slave traders.
“… for the record again, my fore parents came here in 1845 as indentured servants, poor, like the proverbial church mouse.
“My great, great grandfather was illiterate in two languages – Portuguese and English,” Gonsalves said at a press conference.
“Call me anything, but don’t tell people that I am a descendant of a slave trader. But even if I were, of what relevance is that?” he said.
In a lecture on reparations last month, Barbadian academic, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles noted that many prominent families in Britain today gained their wealth through the slave trade.
So Bunny ask to perform? And then he asked to be a citizen of SVG? So that’s a different stroke comrade trying on we again. Like we that noticeably stupid so that we cannot discern that all that hogwash about Buinny Wailer is an orchestrated event with the markings of the ULP campaign mode kicking in.
I suspect that the statement by Gonsalves that Bunny asked to attend is just another lie on the part of Gonsalves, I do not believe it for one NANO second. As a self confirmed liar I believe nothing that he says anymore, without real time evidence.
If Bunny asked to come that must mean he is not being paid and its all for free.
I just hope its not the taxpayers who are paying this man and his bands fees and expenses.
If there is a fee or expenses please make sure its paid from Gonsalves pocket, because this is little more than electioneering in its worst form. Its playing with poor peoples minds once more, its mental slavery.
Its just pure mental slavery.
Greeting to every one, its nice to have an international Artist like Bunny Wailer who will like to become a citizen of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, I respect him for his conscious Reggae music and Message, as youth growing up in SVG, I use to always check out the wailers, I remember he had a song Call Black Hark man the words were uplifting. nought respect to the man Bunny new inheritance best wishes to the I still. (Gbigmack)
I’m excited to have Bunny Wailer perfom even though I wont be there. This man is an icon of reggae music, talk about concious vibes thats what you get.
One of my favorite song of his is Ballroom Floor, you hear that tune you have to skank.
Next step make the man a citizen so I can saw me and Bunny from the same place.
love you Website good job keeping us up to date keep it up.
AHA WONDER IF BUSH WILL SEE BUNNY STANDING ON THE VICTORIA PARK STAGE WITH RALPH , ANOTHER ELECTION GIMMIC POOR WE BLACK PEOPLE , YO MEAN WE SO DARN STUPID, RALPH STUDY WE TO THE BONES.
He is at it again pretending that the slave trading part of the family referred to by me and others was his great great grandparents, it was not and he knows that as well as I do, it goes much further back than that and I believe he is as aware as anyone else about his predecessors and slavery. They caught them, delivered them to slave market and shipped them.
If you would like me to send the whole history to CARICOM and UWI for future reference I will, just ask comrade, do you? Of course you will have to pay because it is copyright and unreleased.
Today I was told that Bunny was offered citizenship in return for playing 3 gigs here . Now I do not know if that’s true…
I hope that proves to be untrue, because if it is true it means that either the government is selling passports by barter, or the ULP are acting as agent in passport barter deals.
see also
https://www.iwnsvg.com/2013/09/08/we-are-what-we-are-with-some-exceptions/
I think Bunny Wailer should be ashamed of himself for collaborating with our Marxist regime.