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31st
August 2010
FAREWELL
TO SESENNE
STAN BISHOP
(Photo)
END OF AN ERA: Sesenne's casket arrives at its
final resting place.
St.
Lucians from all walks of life paid tribute
to a legend larger than life as the late cultural
icon Dame Marie Selipha “Sesenne”
Descartes was laid to rest last Saturday.
And despite what many consider a low turnout
for a woman widely renowned for inspiring generations,
the tributes were plenty and poignant.
The day’s proceedings began around 10
am at the St. Lucy’s National Shrine in
Micoud where Sesenne’s body was exposed
for public viewing. From 1 pm, a packed church
witnessed a litany of tributes being poured
in from various sectors. Under a huge tent constructed
outside the church, scores of people sat as
they listened to giant speakers relaying the
messages being conveyed from inside the church.
The list of mourners was varied: Governor-General,
Her Excellency Dame Pearlette Louisy, Prime
Minister and Mrs. King, ministers of government
and other parliamentarians, family, relatives,
friends, cultural activists, the acting commissioner
of police and the media.
Micoud North MP, Honourable Jeanine Compton-Antoine
was poetic as she said gratitude towards Sesenne
for her selfless contribution to country should
be an imperative of all St. Lucians.
“For all of us who have had the opportunity
to hear Sesenne sing, words cannot adequately
describe the feeling that comes over you,”
Compton-Antoine said in her brief tribute. “To
me, it was like sweet cocoa tea on a cold, cold
December morning caressing the great essence
of your being.”
Laborie MP, Honourable Alva Baptiste, standing
in for opposition leader Dr. Kenny Anthony who
was absent, said the late icon is a “timeless”
cultural figure.
“She transcends age – she’s
timeless; Sesenne Descartes belongs to no age
but belongs to the world,” the opposition
MP said. “In the St. Lucian context, the
name Sesenne Descartes is synonymous with culture.
Say “Sesenne” and you will talk
about culture. Think about her and you will
be thinking about culture. See her perform or
hear her sing and you are held spellbound in
captivated admiration of one of the most talented
daughters of the land.”
St. Lucia’s Nobel laureate Honourable
Derek Walcott read one of his poems, “Homecoming,”
a tribute to Sesenne, in which he states:
“My country heart, I am not home till
Sesenne sings,
a voice with woodsmoke and ground-doves in it,
that cracks
like clay on a road whose tints are the dry
season’s,
whose cuatros tighten my heartstrings…”
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A number of cultural bands
and other individuals also paid their final
respects to Sesenne, who passed away on Wednesday,
August 11 at age 96. St. Lucian tenor Blaise
Pascal gave a riveting performance of “Ave
Maria.”
Prime Minister Honourable Stephenson King
recounted his early memories of the life of
the late cultural icon.
“Hers was as colourful and elegant as
those brilliantly-tailored outfits that she
often wore during performances,” King
said. “She was complemented by the radiance
of her contagious and captivating smiles.
Sesenne was indeed a cultural conqueror, a
cultural icon – she was St. Lucia’s
living cultural hero.”
King also revealed plans towards immortalizing
the legacy of the woman who gained tremendous
popularity in the Sixties when she appeared
on stage at Expo ‘67 in Grenada, performing
her signature song, “Why.”
“Our best form of recognition to Sesenne
in further appreciation of her life, her work
and her devotion, has to be the identification
and declaration of her birthplace and home.
(Also), the recording and preservation of
her music and the promotion and preservation
of the rich cultural heritage which she so
proudly upheld throughout her lifetime,”
the prime minister said.
King said a committee will be appointed to
review and develop a broad plan to commission
a museum in Sesenne’s honour. The renaming
of a road in her home community, special emphasis
on her legacy during Creole Heritage Month,
and the naming of a national endowment fund
in her honour, are some of the initiatives
government intends to institute shortly.
Following the tribute, the formal funeral
service commenced, during which Monsignor
Patrick “Paba” Anthony delivered
the homily. Monsignor referred to the occasion
as “the celebration of the life of a
wonderful woman, a wonderful St. Lucian.”
Following the funeral service, Sesenne’s
body was conveyed by the hearse from the church
to the Patience Gap, from where pallbearers
carried her dark brown casket, draped with
the St. Lucian flag, to her final resting
place just yards away from her home. A nearby
bar blasted her early musical recording as
the procession made its way to her burial
site where Sesenne was lowered into her tomb,
with the afternoon sun slowly giving way to
the Patience night.
Discuss
Story
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