AROUND Independence each year, I pelt this quotation at my Research Paper students in the Division of Fine Arts (Graphic Design) at Barbados Community College:
“Elitism is a good thing and highly democratic, if rightly used on behalf of the majority. Democracy was not achieved to make us all mediocre, but to make us free and superior, each in his own way.” — Louis Dudek
As a class exercise, we riff on it for a while, trying to decipher collectively what the late poet-philosopher meant. We pick at words that juk us hard in our pride, like “elitism” and “democratic.” We wince at words that challenge our sense of industry, like “majority” and “mediocre.”
What does he mean, stringing all these words and concepts together like pearls then dangling them before us, especially the part about being “free and superior”?
My students respond, or attempt to. They seem to have some idea. As independent as they are, they are all also waiting for a leader of their country who is beyond political; a man or woman who inspires as much as guides. Someone who can convince them their dreams matter because freedom would not have been possible without them in this island, their island.
Last year, instead of just talking about freedom, I asked my students to write me something about freedom and themselves. These are their thoughts.
“One is truly free when he or she can sleep at night with open doors.” —Jeshua Bonas, 20. “Most things do not bother me, although I usually sit back and observe everything before I make my decisions in life. I am currently pursuing a degree in Graphic Design not only because I love it, but because my country needs it. Telling people how design should be done is one thing, showing them is more effective.”
“I lose my freedom when my decisions are tampered with both knowingly and unknowingly.” —Jawade Elibox, 24. “My aspirations are to be continuously knowledgeable in my field; if there is any success to follow, it will come in time. I want to improve the human race somehow.”
“Persons are only ‘free’ when they are satisfied with all the things that influence their surroundings. Persons who have not been exposed to any other stimuli can be ‘free’ but only relatively.” —Alexandre Haynes, 20, “aspiring graphic designer, photographer and illustrator.”
“My idea of freedom is living in your own world, away from the ideologies set by man. Free to do what you please, free to perceive reality for yourself, not trapped in the womb of the reality set by man.” —Anna Sonia Princess Standard, 22. “I’m a skater by day and do-whatever-I-feel-like graphic designer by night, though these days the roles have been reversed…. My dream job is to be the creative director of a well-known company.”
“Freedom, as we understand it, is a lie. A concept invented by men in order to define what those in power could dangle in front of those without power. At what point does the power you possess free you from the consequences of your actions to where only your innate sense of morality dictates what you do? Freedom is the point at which you find out exactly what kind of person you are.” —Joshua Clarke, 25, “humanist, atheist, information addict.”
“I am not mentally restrained by my environment, I am not physically constrained by my surroundings, and I am not spiritually bound by nature. My future is as wide as the ocean, and my present changes every second. Therefore, I am free.” — Paul Husbands, 21. “Optimist. One day, my name will stand for someone who understood life and whom life understood.”
“We cannot be free in all regards, for true freedom is to be under no power or form of control. True freedom, if given to seven billion people, would lead to perpetual turmoil. I believe we can be free within a societal context. We are all dependent on the body that governs us for amenities, justice, protection, and law.” —Jeremy Mereigh, 24, “graphic designer, aspiring art director and social activist.”
“Freedom in our contemporary world would mean no violence, no mental imprisonment, no debt, no starvation, no unfairness or inequality, and so on. If you remove these, you’ll create a more stress-free world, and more time. Time is a vital ingredient of being free. Having time allows you to be occupied with freedom.” —Mario E.D. Knight, 22. “I am an artist/graphic designer. I hope to be a piece of the puzzle that carries Barbados into a new dimension, and to carry out the work of God through whatever avenues He allows.”
—Robert Edison Sandiford
