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All Roads Lead to Antoine Lane

 Kendall Millington

Dan Antoine

Here are 2 young Antoines in front of our street. Picture yourself here. In about a year from now, all roads lead to Antoine Lane, Belmont!

Sankofa - Go Back and Fetch

Sankofa is a Ghanaian slang that means we must go back and reclaim our past so we can move forward; so we understand why and how we came to be who we are today. Some also interpret it to mean, no matter how far away one travels you must always return home. Another association is with the proverb it is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten. The symbol of Sankofa is that of a bird whose head is faced in the opposite direction of its body (as above) or of a stylized heart shape. However Sankofa is interpreted, we know that one's past is an important to one's future. So in order to make the best of our future, we must visit our past. Back to Belmont!

Rada or Ewe-Fon

If you have African friends, you may already have noticed that the term Rada is not used and is unfamiliar to modern Africans as well as history and geography texts.  We would be more correctly called Ewe-Fon. Conversely, in Trinidad, no one would use Ewe-Fon to describe us. But a rose by any other name is still is a rose. So call us Rada or Ewe-Fon, we’re here to stay!

Rada Song - Angelique Kidjo

We are told by our Rada scholar, Kwaku Senah, that this song, Fifa, is definitional of the Rada culture and has a good number of Rada religious symbolisms. Angelique Kidjo is a 'sister' from Benin who now lives in New York.

Pascal Roberts, R.I.P.

Sadly we have lost another family member. Pascal Roberts, 73 years old, died on June 20^th and was buried on the 27^th. Pascal was a well-known national cricketer in the 1970s who represented Trinidad and the West Indies. He was the son of Dennis Roberts and grandson of Gaetan Antoine aka Pappy (see June 21 post).

Click here for story from the Guardian

This is one of our favourite African Proverbs

This is one of our favourite African proverbs:

If we stand tall it is because we stand on the backs of those who came before us. (Yoruba)