"EVERY time yuh just kill one, yuh doh just kill one/You killin' their sons and sons of their sons/African man, you killing generations."
This is the message calypsonian Mark Eastman, 38, wants to ensure everyone in TT hears and that it resonates with them.
Generations, written by fellow calypsonian Brian London, was Eastman's entry for the 2024 Calypso Monarch competition.
The former Young King was able to perform it before a packed Skinner Park, San Fernando audience for the semifinal on February 3, but did not advance to the final.
He told Sunday Newsday he was inspired to address this topic after seeing "alarming" and "disturbing" statistics on black homicide victims in TT, especially resulting from gang wars. On average, over 50 per cent of all murders annually are linked to gang violence.
Immediately, he expressed this interest to London, who asked if he was sure he wanted to cover this topic.
"I said, 'Yes,' and Brian said, 'Okay. Next week I'm going to send you a verse and chorus.'"
At the beginning of the song, Eastman directly speaks to young, black men, saying, "I really have to do this thing one-on-one and talk to you man-to-man...
"You're meh brother and brother, our connection goes deeper than that. We're tied together historically and spiritually, that's a fact."
But, he adds, the ties which once bound them seem to have been broken, and they have also forgotten the road they once walked together.
"The foundation it starting to shake, the wall crumbling ready to break/ African man, yuh actions today affecting generations."
Each time a young man picks up a gun, "Yuh leaving the tree without the roots," he also sings.
Reminding them that the survival of their race depends on them, he asks how TT would get more influential people like Singing Sandra, Makandal Daaga, The Mighty Shadow, Brian Lara and others if they continue killing each other.
Eastman told Sunday Newsday the crime situation "really hit home" in November 2023 when his cousin-in-law was murdered.
"I was sleeping in my bed a Sunday morning and my mother-in-law knocked, then opened the door and said, 'Mark, they killed Christian!' She was crying."
Christian Sansavior, 22, was among six men shot in a night-time drive-by shooting along Duncan Street, Port of Spain. He was the only one who died. This area is typically considered a crime hotspot.
[caption id="attachment_1062934" align="alignnone" width="683"] Mark Eastman singing ‘Generation’ at Calypso Fiesta, Skinner Park, San Fernando. - Lincoln Holder[/caption]
"Waking up in the morning to that kind of news was something else," Eastman said.
"I knew him since he was six years old. He used to live in St Ann's with his mother and father and decided to go live with his grandparents on Duncan Street."
He said he could "put his head on a block" that Sansavior was not involved in any illegal activity and was an innocent bystander.
This situation, he said, led to his 2024 performance being very passionate.
"That was really, really hurtful to the family and
