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 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 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 '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 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 . 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.

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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.

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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 . 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 , 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. He also worked with some of the progressive Hackney labour councillors who served in past times (people like Lloyd King and the late Lester Lewis and others). Key members of the left movement including the CP were also very helpful and close. He talked about the late Kay Beecham and the support he was getting from Elizabeth McGovern. There are also people like Ed Spring, Jeremy Corbyn MP and the late Bernie Grant who all assisted and touched his development. Buzz was also heavily involved in supporting the Anti Movement and it was through him I met people like Wally Serote and Essop Pahad who were his good friends. The Grenada progressive movement, the St Vincent progressive movement, and the list goes on and I apologise that time does not allow me to mention more names and the wide cross section from different disciplines. Many of these names you will see mentioned in some of the books he published. We are indeed grateful.

Work in Race Relations:

Buzz worked in the Hackney Community Race Relations Department for several years and used this vantage point to inspire and assist young groups and projects to emerge. When he left this organisation, he went full time into publishing.

Publishing and Karia Press:

We must give thanks to those who provided the example for a younger black publisher like Buzz. The late with New Beacon Book, Eric and the late with Bogle L’Ouverture publishers were standard bearers when he entered the market. Other prominent names have been (Allison and Busby), (Hansib Publications), and his work. They all provided examples that laid a basis for his own work in publishing.

Buzz made a sterling contribution to the black community in the UK and to black publishing here and in the Caribbean. His work through Karia Press is well known and pioneering in many respects and I know that many will tell in the gathering later about the impact of the work in this area.

I do not want to belabour the points so well made publicly by others but what I would say is that his work speaks for itself.

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His publishing started in a back room at Dynevor Road in Stoke Newington and I remember when I came to England to undertake graduate studies in 1981 and I reconnected with Buzz thereafter, he was now getting engaged in this activity. He used to print pamphlets, posters and booklets and if my memory is correct, he had a small printing press. His technical skills were called into play here. I remember one of the early books that he published on the "Non Capitalist Path to Development" written by Dr Ralph Gonsalves who is now the current serving Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines. Ralph was studying Law and lived for at the time with Buzz and Yvette. Buzz saw the importance of small Caribbean states looking at alternative models of economic, social and political development and this book is in that vein.

From early on in his publishing life he has been allowing others to tell their life stories. Several of his early books capture this aspect. The work by Amos Ford on the British Honduran Forestry unit in Scotland was an example. There are many people who over many years, he has been encouraging them to "write your story". He has been recently telling his Tobago Compatriot, Orthniel Bacchus (Tobago Crusoe) to write his story and even when as far as to provide him with a small tape to “talk his story”.

Transmission and Continuity:

Buzz understood clearly that there are many lessons to be learnt from the experiences of elders and this should be passed on to the younger generation and for posterity. He understood that writing and documentation persists over the years and what better place like Britain to learn this fact. All around us we see evidence of history and the recording of past times and culture. He understood that our oral tradition could get lost or distorted in the transmission from one generation to the next. However, if it is written, it can be easily transmitted without errors and direct from the active participants, or as we would say in local parlance “the horses mouth”.

Breath of work:

Karia Press published over 50 titles in so many diverse areas. He published in linguistics with authors like Professor Hubert Devonish of UWI, Mona. This is what Devonish had to say:

"The fact is that, without him, Language and Liberation may never have been published. If I am to believe what I am told, it has turned out to be a classic in the area of Caribbean and Creole language activism. I have been planning a third edition, updated and twice as long as the original work published by Buzz and Karia Press. It will be in honour of Buzz and in his memory. "

He also published work by Morgan Dalphinis - “For those who will come after”.

He published a vast array of poetry and novels - for example - "Word Rhythms from the life of a Woman by the late Elean Thomas, and “Because the Dawn Breaks” by Professor Merle Collins. He published "Godchild" by Eintou Pearl Springer. This is what Eintou had to say:

"Buzz was a great source of encouragement and warm unwavering friendship to me. He published my first collection of poetry He supported me in every way he could during my difficult years in England. On his recent visits to Tobago, he would always call. He opened my consciousness to the contribution of Claudia Jones. May the ancestors receive him warmly; may Mama Oya give him safe passage; may

5 he go to his well deserved rest, the soaring healing of his spirit and the shedding of an ailing, tired physical body. Truly he is travelling with great company, as we remember the passing of Stuart Hall."

Time does not permit me to delve further into some of the varied work that he published. The list of authors is like a "who is who" in our Caribbean Diaspora and elsewhere. To list a just a few: (Conversations), Rupert Lewis (on Marcus Garvey), , Jacob Ross, the late Richard Hart, Baaba Sillah, Hollis Liverpool, Lord Anthony Gifford, Brother Resistance, and the list goes on. We shall shortly reproduce a full catalogue of the titles.

He supported comrades in Grenada, , St Vincent and many other parts.

He published the reports on the Broadwater Farm riots and on the Liverpool Inquiry chaired by Lord Tony Gifford.

His work on Claudia Jones "I think of my Mother - Notes on the life and times of Claudia Jones" was pioneering and inspiring and let to work by other authors. This work was special to him and he visited the United States as part of his research and also consulted with all the close colleagues of Claudia here in Britain. People like among others. He recently published in 2012 further work on Claudia Jones in “A Rich Heritage of Struggle”.

Before I move on, while Karia Press represented Buzz as a one man operation, he did receive support and assistance from a few unsung heroes, as I would call them. Many books would not have seen the light of day if it was not for some of the last minute financial assistance he received from a few British folks. We thank them for their generosity and their part in building this important body of work.

CJO Organisation:

Buzz was instrumental in helping in the formation of the CJO (Claudia Jones) Caribbean Community Women’s Organisation in Stoke Newington and this organisation continues to survive after more than two decades in existence. CJO had a Saturday supplementary school, an elderly club, music club and provide services including counselling and assistance to community members.

Barren Period:

We have to treat with the vagaries of life and as an Ethiopian brother said we have to deal with the ups and downs and the sweet and the sour of life. Buzz went through a difficult and challenging period which resulted in him reaching a low ebb. He also had health challenges and in recent years this impacted his mobility. We are sorry for any difficulties caused to others by activities in this period. We are grateful for all those who stood by him during difficult times. We are grateful for the support given by people like Hazel Ellis, Elizabeth Ramlal, and all his friends and former partners; special mention to Nia Reynolds who stood like a rock during difficult times. Our love and respect is due. Of course his family never gave up hope and I count myself as part of his extended family.

Baaba Sillah from Gambia who was a close friend of Buzz at University and who spent some time with Buzz when he visited the UK with the last few years has remarked on his resilience

6 and the fact that notwithstanding mobility difficulties, he served the community where he lived and would give advice and assistance to many in his neighbourhood. This was indeed a wonderful human being.

He used his skills and experience to shine a light on the contribution of others and to help others. He was on an upward trajectory when he was taken from us. He was about to put together the papers of the late Trevor Carter, another giant from our community and the work of the late Syd Burke another important figure. This was all in the vein of letting others “tell their story”.

Private Person:

Buzz was essentially a private person with a quiet disposition but he enjoyed his private space for reflection. He was well read and we had many discourses on a wide range of areas. He particularly enjoyed talking with elders and absorbing social history in action.

Partners:

Buzz had a good relationship with all his close female friends and former partners. He appreciated all the good times and friendships he enjoyed. We give thanks to Yvette Thomas and Dawn Small who have played pivotal roles in bringing up very productive, upstanding and lovely children in Amandla, Jamila and Themba. We also give thanks to Nia Reynolds who provided love and support to Buzz at a crucial period in his life and gave him hope.

Children:

Buzz’s focus in recent years was to see his children fulfil their potential and he loved his children and I am glad that before his passing he recognised that they were displaying the strong independence and single-mindedness of purpose which was his hallmark.

Amandla has recently completed a programme (work/study blend) at City University in publishing and he served as associate editor with Buzz on the recent Claudia Jones book. Themba is developing on the engineering and practical skills area and this was stimulating to Buzz given his earlier work as an engineering technician. Jamila displays creative, independent thinking in her own work in dance and the creative arts and Buzz was very happy to see the emergence of a strong personality in her and in all of his children.

Family:

He was devoted to his Mother in Tobago and his extended Tobago family including his sister Cynthia who lived in Canada. Within recent years he connected with two other siblings from his Father's side.

Legacy:

I will sum up by saying simply “Let his work speak for itself”. This is exactly what he would have said in summary.

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Final Journey to Tobago:

Farewell, my comrade and very close friend. I will miss our engaging discussions and all the things that made our friendship special. Your light still shines brightly through your work, your children and those who will come after.

We shall work in support of your son, Amandla as he pursues the publishing part to ensure that Karia press lives on. We shall work to provide support to all your children as they pursue their life course.

May you rest in peace.

Godfrey J Martin, PhD, FIA March 1, 2014

Poem: Death must not find us thinking that we die.

Too soon, too soon Our banner draped for you. I would prefer the banner in the wind not bound so tightly in a scarlet fold - not sodden sodden with your people's tears but flashing on the pole we bear aloft down and beyond this dark dark lane of rags. Dear Comrade, if it must be you speak no more with me nor smile no more with me nor march no more with me then let me take a patience and a calm - for even now the greener leaf explodes sun brightens stone and all the river burns. Now from the mourning vanguard moving on dear Comrade I salute you and I say Death will not find us thinking that we die.

Martin Carter (1927 - 1997)

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