In his classic calypso Forward Home, the late Andre Tanker sings, “I went away. I leave and I forward home. I forward to stay. I must see meh way.” This chorus is a statement on return migration and indigenous development. In many ways, the three recipients of honorary doctorates at this year’s UWI St Augustine graduation ceremonies are also forwarding home.
Baroness Floella Benjamin, actress and singer Heather Headley, and writer Lawrence Scott are all Trinidad-born, but have made strides abroad. These honours are a doorway to the many possibilities of returning home.
Headley, who was conferred a Doctor of Letters (DLitt), was unable to attend the graduation physically, but gave her acceptance speech via video. Although she was upset about not being there in person, she dedicated the degree to the family members who represented her, including her cousin, Folade Ifouma Quamina, who graduated from UWI Cave Hill’s Faculty of Law in 2020, and accepted on Headley’s behalf. It was a touching moment as Quamina’s graduating class never crossed the stage due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Quamina is just one of Headley’s relatives with ties to The UWI – she has another relative who is an alumnus employed at the St Augustine campus. According to Headley, The UWI was an aspirational institution in her childhood consciousness.
“I think for all my life I have always looked to what is the best. So if I get to Broadway, what is the highest that I can go? You can get a Tony. If you do movies or television, you can get an Emmy. So, I was very aware that the best in the Caribbean, the best that I could do in Trinidad, was go to UWI, and so it was in my head that the people who went to UWI were very established and smart people, and that’s what you did after you left school, if you could,” shares the Tony and Grammy award-winning performer.
Headley described the honour as simply sweet. “I do believe it’s sweeter because it’s Trinidad; and it’s sweeter because it’s the Caribbean; and sweeter because it’s home. To some extent, this is the foundation of who I am. I am incredibly honoured and blessed that I would have such recognition.”
She wants up-and-coming local artists to know that Trinidad is just as viable a place to practise and perform as anywhere else. “A lot of times we think, ‘well, I’m in Trinidad, on this small island. I need to be in the States.’ But you don’t. You can become amazing there, and grow your craft there, and start your work there.”
Headley is planning to host a concert in Trinidad within the coming year and is open to working with theatre students during her time here.
Although Lawrence Scott is based in England, he’s no stranger to The UWI St Augustine. In 2004, he served as Writer in Residence for the MFA Creative Writing programme, and has since then returned to lecture in the programme and serve as an external examiner. He’s participated in numerous events, such as Campus Literature Week, and his archive is currently being deposited in the Alma Jordan Library.
Despite this long-standing relationship, Scott says the Doctor of Letters (DLitt) was a surprise. “I feel very privileged. I have had a long association with UWI, so this feels like a climax of recognition, particularly if you live abroad as a writer. My work is about Trinidad and about the Caribbean, so it feels good to be given that recognition at home. It is a warm embrace,” Scott tells UWI TODAY.
Scott, who has taught in the UK and has won international awards, including the Commonwealth Writers Prize, says he did not consider housing his archive overseas. “This is the natural place for my archive, this is the place where it should be. It is home. It would be very enriching for me to know of young Trinidadians looking at that work and the processes I’ve used for writing and engaging with that.”
As a child, Scott spent a sizable amount of time in the St Augustine neighbourhood with relatives, and even attended high school at Mt St Benedict. He says of the award that “even the landscape has resonance”.
He adds: “This award is really pleasing. It doesn’t come with money, but that’s not the central thing that pleases me. What pleases me is that my work has been captured. Your work sometimes can be awarded abroad, but you can feel they don't really get to the knob of what you’re saying. This is my best award because it comes with the background of having been at UWI and having the essence of my work truly captured.”
