THE Emancipation Support Committee of Trinidad and Tobago (ESCTT) will, for the second year, present a virtual Yoruba Village Drum Festival on June 19. At this event, the committee will honour Jeffrey Hamilton Scott and Kardiesha Johnson for achievements in African culture and excellence in academics.

Scott will receive the Keeper of the Tradition Award, while the United Nations International Day of the African Child award for excellence will be presented to Kardiesha Johnson.

June 19 will mark the 12th annual event in which viewers will be entertained by drummers, dancers and chantuelles from all over TT. The event will premiere on ESCTT’s Facebook page from 5 pm.

In a media release, the ESCTT said it "remains steadfast in its commitment to ensure that the commemoration of Emancipation and the tribute to the ancestors and fathers of the Yoruba Village continue in spite of the challenges presented by the ongoing covid19 pandemic." The community is celebrated each year through the festival and in the recognition of an elder and a youth from the community, it said.

Yoruba Village community

The Yoruba Village, which is synonymous with East Port of Spain and includes Belmont, Gonzales, Morvant, Beetham Estate, Sea Lots, as well as Laventille, was named after the Yoruba-speaking population, who resided there from the 19th century. At that time the community was known as Yoruba Village and Yoruba Town. The Yoruba people, who survived the slave ships of the British, French and Spanish plunderers, following the abolition of the slave trade, were brought to that part of the city of Port of Spain, where they resided as free men and women. They came originally, mainly from Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, and Benin. Today, the only semblance of the town’s history and existence is the Yoruba Village Square.

The ECSTT said, despite the persistent, calculated and prolonged efforts to de-culturalise the community, many of the rich customs and tradition remain in the Yoruba Village. "Indeed, it is from within the bowels of this community of highly-spiritual and inventive Yoruba people that the steelband, calypso and many aspects of our Carnival traditions originated."

Drum festival

At this year’s Yoruba Village Drum Festival, Jeffrey Hamilton Scott will receive the Keeper of the Tradition Award, which is given annually to someone from the Yoruba Village community who has worked diligently to preserve and develop African cultural traditions.

Scott, who was born in Success Village, Laventille, has been playing drums within the Yoruba Village community from the age of six with groups such as Culture Lovers and Natural Expression. He first participated in the Prime Minister's Best Village Competition with the renowned North West Laventille Cultural Movement from 1989 to 1994 and then played with the Picton Folk Performing Company for three years. His deep love for his culture and his skill as a drummer and performer led him to become a tutor in folk drumming and folk songs