A Belated Father's Day Post

[Apologies for the lateness of this one. I am currently back in the UK for a short while and as such I'm taking the opportunity to catch up on some writing and attend to unfinished posts. Here's a delayed Father's day post] 

'Look a Fada'

Fathers Day 2013 in Dominica

@Harlem Plaza, Newtown, Roseau (16.6.13)

Harlem Plaza

Sunday was Father's Day 2013, and in the little south western corner of Dominica where I spend most of my days – between Loubiere and Newtown – there was an atmosphere of holiday.

From the moment I woke, I heard men outside my gate being greeted by villagers with a customary "good morning", followed by an extra special, "happy father’s day", as they ambled along to church in their Sunday finery.

Later in the day, during the normal lunchtime lull in village activity I noticed carloads of families moving up and down the road, presumably off to visit friends and kin, to bathe and relax by a river, or go to the beach as people like to do on any public holiday (if of course they can mobilize the funds).

I was headed to The Harlem Plaza (an outdoor concert venue) in Newtown, where there was to be a father’s day event organized by Norris Prevost (a United Workers Party parliamentary rep) and The Roseau Improvement Committee, in partnership with CariMAN Dominica. The event featured lunch, dominoes, musical performances (by local singers, Bouyon artists and calypsonians), along with the ceremonial giving of hampers to three ‘exemplary fathers’ who had been nominated by CariMAN members. The event also featured a photography exhibition called ‘Look A Fada’ put on by me and Dr Ramona Biholar (a UWI researcher on gender policy in Dominica), in association with ChildFund Caribbean and CariMAN Dominica (see bottom of post for details).

The event was well attended, with fathers coming from the Newtown community and across the country. Yet, whilst many reflected that father’s day is not observed with the same enthusiasm as mother’s day – the Harlem plaza had held a similar event for mother’s a month or so earlier, which I’m told drew greater numbers – the event was still a success given that this is was the first time such as function had been held in a long time (Mr Prevost told me he had attempted to host a similar such event 15years earlier but attendance was poor).

Whilst motherhood has a long history of public recognition in Dominica - understood to represent a  sacred and self sacrificial commitment to children, fatherhood by contrast is understood to be something optative (a choice) and more of an emergent idea. Although fathers have always existed in Dominica, fatherhood - as a mode of everyday male being that orients men towards their children - has only recently developed conceptually in Dominica as something men can publicly claim, celebrate and draw recognition for. Thus father's day 2013 offered a day for men to make the most of their new-found public personae - giving gifts to committed fathers, speeches on responsible fathering, and of course lime - enjoy the conviviality of drinking, eating, chatting koshoneey ('chatting shit') and playing dominoes amongst friends. 

Yet, interestingly only a minority of fathers present at the event came with their children. Father's day offered more of an opportunity for the men present to spend time with their 'padnas' ( friends) and 'free up' amongst other fadas, to relax and enjoy their day. Many of the men will have spent the morning with their children - if not co-resident with them then paying them a visit or receiving a visit from them. Hence, the fathering part of the day was done for most men present and the afternoon event was for them and their peers to free up. 

Leaving the event around 6pm I cycled through Newtown on the way to my Auntie's house. There was a festive ambiance in the air: music playing, men 'pulled up' (stood around chatting) in the street, laughing, joking, drinking. As I was passing by Mr Havre's shop, where fellas usually sit outside drinking and chatting, a padna (partner, acquaintance) from football called me over. As we stood and exchanged chit-chat fellas around us pulling up on scooters or passing in buses were shouting 'happy fadas day' to one another. "How many chil'ren you have?" one padna called to another, "two wii!" he replied proudly. 

At first I found it curious that fatherhood, was being celebrated without a child in sight. I then remembered a comment my cousin had made earlier that day: 'Father's Day? That's new, Dominicans will find any excuse for a lime' (an impromptu celebration). I came to the realization that it was not so much 'fathering' in any practical sense that was being celebrated, but rather the status of simply being a father, the idea of the father. Ironically, the turn towards fatherhood, specifically the idea of 'responsible fatherhood' - by organisations like CariMAN, Dominica Planned Parenthood, The Roseau Improvement Committee and others - that are trying to promote fathers day in an attempt to bring men 'in', from the road and life amongst peers, to home and family life - was being subverted by men who were simply celebrating their day - rum and all!