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Remembering "Norris Buzz Johnson" November 2 1951 to February 11, 2014

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Remembering Eulogy: Remembering "Norris Buzz Johnson" November 2 1951 to February 11, 2014 Memorial Service Saturday March 1st. 2014 at 1 pm All Saint's Church Haggerston Road Hackney London E8 4EP I recall Buzz gave me a birthday gift many years ago and it was a book entitled “Return to the Source” written by the late Amilcar Cabral. My words today will be in the form of a journey where I briefly return to the source of our brother’s foundations in Tobago and then Trinidad and the journey here to the UK and his growth and development and he will be making his final journey when the body returns to Tobago. Return to the Source: Norris Chrisleventon Johnson was the first and only son of Mrs Adwina Johnson nee Phillips and the late Cornelius Arthur Johnson. He was born in the fishing village of Buccoo in Tobago on November 2 1951. The family migrated to Fyzabad in South Trinidad, one of the villages that housed many workers from the oilfields in Point Fortin and its environs. His father Cornelius was on oilfield worker and was obviously influenced and inspired by a key political and labour activist and leader, Tubal Uriah Buzz Butler. He therefore called his son Buzz. That name has stuck with him ever since. The Fyzabad area was the main bastion of the Butlerite movement. Tubal Uriah Buzz Butler was a fierce defender of workers’ rights and earned his place in Trinidad and Tobago's history for his role during the turbulent days of June 1937. This was the period of the labour riots and the development of the trade union movement in Trinidad & Tobago and in particular of the Oilfield Workers Trade Union. It represented a period of workers organising, uprising and demanding improved conditions and a better day for their family and themselves. Throughout the Caribbean, around this time, the rise of trade unionism stirred and workers recognised they needed to organise themselves to gain improved working and living conditions. Buzz was therefore growing up in an environment where community and organisation was important. This would have helped in the early formation of his character. In addition to this, we must remember he grew up in a Tobago family home with love and affection and emphasis was placed on the importance of Education in improving social and economic conditions and this was always well understood and instilled in children. Buzz attended primary school at Fyzabad Intermediate (I believe) and then went to attend the San Fernando Government Secondary School which was also called Modern Secondary. It is here our paths first crossed. This school was an inspiration and had a profound effect on our development and trajectory. 1 The advent of these Modern Secondary schools represented an attempt to break the mould of the traditional grammar school type and the intention was to build a model whereby technical, practical and academic education was housed under the same school. The thinking behind this model which was to make the teaching of subjects like science linked to the practical environment. The idea was also not to denigrate the importance of technical education but to attract talented resources to these areas given the role of industry, manufacturing and engineering in development. All the male students attended classes in woodwork including design but unfortunately the metal work component never really took off in our time. Role Models: Modern Secondary allowed us to see positive role models in the young black graduate teachers who had completed university degrees at the University of the West Indies in Mona Jamaica and St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago. In addition, there were those who came from the Teacher Training Colleges and young A level graduates en-route to university. These were in addition to the expatriate teachers from Canada and the UK. There was a strong sense of community in the school and in the various activities we engaged in, be it cricket, football, athletics, Drama, netball, inter school sports, etc. We had a wide cross-section of students from South Trinidad. Buzz travelled to school from Deli Road in Fyzabad, with several other contemporaries in a min-van owned and driven by one of the teachers who lived in the area. I should mention in passing, that a few of the teachers of the school became prominent and important leaders in the 1970 Black Power revolution in Trinidad and Tobago and many Modern Secondary students and past students supported the movement and many of us took part in marches in that period. Buzz would have been impacted by the debate among the youth and students of the time and our search for a better life, for greater rights for an end to racism. He would have seen the impact that the Sir George Williams Affair and Computer Riots of 1969 had on us, when several Caribbean students were expelled from Canada. These were things that made us yearn for answers as we questioned the establishment and started our search for enlightenment. After leaving Modern Secondary in 1968, Buzz went on to develop his love for technical and engineering side and attended the Point Fortin Technical and Vocational School and subsequently worked with Alcoa in north Trinidad and with the Neal and Massy group which manufactured cars. He then left for his journey to the UK in the early seventies. Journey to the UK: In coming to the UK, Buzz brought with him the experience of a sense of community and organisation. He had a belief in himself which was nurtured by schooling, by family and by examples of role models. He understood the importance of Education in the development of self and recognised the importance of Africa, of black identity and of culture in our development. It was these foundations that made him ready, willing and eager to absorb what Britain had to offer and to contribute to this society. 2 Study and Work in the UK: It must have been an experience for young Buzz operating in the UK in the early seventies. His path was however made easier by those stalwarts who came before him and laid important foundations for his own work. We give thanks to them for helping to mould and induct him into life in Britain in the early seventies. University: Buzz attended the Former Middlesex Polytechnic as it was then called and completed a degree in Economic Development. He also completed a Masters Degree at the City of London Polytechnic, as it was then called. It is not widely known but he was also initially trained in highway and traffic engineering and operated in that field before he turned to community race relations work and to publishing. It was only recently in September 2013, the Engineering Council sent him his Engineering Technician Title Certificate as a member of the Society of Operations Engineers. I also recall Buzz pursuing a course at the London College of Printing, as it was then called in Elephant and Castle in the early eighties. His formal education here in Britain demonstrates he was bright, multi-skilled and a multi- disciplinary resource and he used this to good advantage for our community. The experience of meeting and studying with an international group of young students including those from Africa and the Caribbean was a very important factor in his development. Inspiring Others: There are so many tales of younger people telling us how he helped them along the way. It could be reading an essay or explaining some topic or providing materials to help in research. There are those for whom he even went so far as to get university forms for them to register on a course. This profoundly changed their life course. He had an inner confidence and he sought to impart this to others. This was based on the idea that you do not give up but strive to achieve the best you can. Supplementary School: One of his compatriots who also studied in the UK commented as follows: "We were both volunteers at the Saturday Supplementary School at Twyford Secondary School in Acton (for Children of Caribbean extract). I managed to get him involved in the Ebony Steelband where he eventually replaced me as the tumba man when I switched to being the grundig player." Buzz made a contribution to the supplementary school movement. He came into contact with Anslem Samuel and provided valuable support together with Val Jones and Vernon Harris and others in the establishment of the Josina Machel Supplementary School in London E5. This was in keeping with his understanding of the importance of early education in the foundation of well rounded personalities. He understood this from his early beginnings in Trinidad &Tobago. 3 Linkages with Organisations: Buzz gravitated to the progressive left political movement and supported the trade union movement. He worked with veterans like Winston Pinder who ran the Afro Caribbean Organisation from Grays Inn Road. It was partly through browsing some of Winston's papers that he started the pioneering work on Claudia Jones. There were many people and organisations that he came into contact with and who touched his life and I am sure we will hear from many of them in the gathering later and subsequently. I want to however highlight a few names that were important in his development. These include Corrine Carter and the late Trevor Carter, Kelvin Pony Carballo, Aggrey Burke, Rawle Boland, Jim Barzey, the late Syd Burke and the late Ralph Straker, the Caribbean Labour Solidarity and in particular the elders who are no longer with us - the late Richard Hart, Cleston Taylor, Lionel Jefferies, Chris Le Maitre.
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