Dear Nesta,
You know I don’ get in no arguments ’bout Rihanna at no time, ’cause I en got no desire to upset any o’ she followers!
Looka wuh happen to dah ole Irish farmer ’cause ’e t’ought he had de right to say who should, or shun be, ’pon he lan’! Yuh know, too, I always wish she de bes’ an’ glad to hear when a Bajan mekkin’ it to de top.
Yuh cyahn keep Rihanna out de news a-tall! Las’ week, when dah posh magazine Vogue put out duh lates’ copy, she was right dey ’pon de cover, an’ I onderstan’ you, an’ all de million ethuh tourisses, could now visit dah famous wax museum in London – Madame Tussauds – an’ see she large as life ’mong all de ethuh celebrities! In dese days when de touris’ aut’orities doin’ wuhevuh possible to put Buhbayduss ’pon de map, yuh mus’ admit all dese t’ings help to boos’ de islan’!
Dah all well an’ good, but in a recent interview, when she say de C-word offensive to evuhbody in de worl’ excep’ Bajans, an’ we use it in de same manner Black Amuricans use de N-word to duh brudders, she shoulda mek it clear she din speakin’ ’bout all Bajans! I objeck to she sayin’ so, to anybody dat mighta been lissenin’ – she so famous nowadays dat anyt’ing she say, is news! I know neffin ’bout Black Amuricans an’ duh lifestyle, but from wuh I read an’ hear, it appear de majority don’ like yuh to call duh de N-word! Duh en consider it a frien’ly word – evuhbody en a rapper! As fuh we Bajans, some use de C-word but mos’ o’ we still fine it offensive, an’ cyahn ’gree wid Rihanna! After all, she suppose to be we ambassador, an’ a lot o’ dem people ovuhseas would believe she speakin’ fuh all Bajans!
I well recognize dat as far as some youff concern, people like yuhself, me an’ anybody else in we age group, come from de age when dinosaurs did roamin’ de earf, an’ en got no right to be still hangin’ ’roun’, usin’ up de air duh t’ink belongks to dem! Wuh we say don’ matter tummuch, so ef we objeck to hearin’ de C-word knockin’ all ’bout, is a matter fuh we! Dem now rulin’ t’ings! Dah might be some o’ de youff! But we still got a lot o’ ethuh nice youngsters out dey, dat don’ carry on in dis way. I got a gran’son – de same age as Rihanna – an’ I don’ hear dah word flowin’ from he mout’, ’cause I know ’e muddah woulda settle dah type o’ talk once an’ fuh all, long ago! ’E frien’s don’ get on wid dah “rapper-type” talk neiduh, in de way Rihanna want people to believe, so it got muh wonderin’ whey she get dis impression from!
Ef she say dat in evryday talk, de “F-word” is somet’ing normal, not only fuh Bajans, but any an’ evuhbody else, I would ’gree wid she. When yuh talkin’ to some people, it seem dah is de onlies’ word duh learn. I only went to Brumley, but I was still able to pick up mo’ words dan dem! TV is de same t’ing dese days. Summuch bleepin’ go on in some movies, yuh almos’ could lose de t’read o’ de story ef yuh don’ lissen real careful! Comedy shows en much better but, as we hear all de time, dis is de way o’ de modern worl’!
Leh we face it, Rihanna, yuh mek a slip-up dis time! Nuff Bajans don’ like it when yuh call duh by de C-word!
Tek care o’ yuhself
Yuh frien’ Babsie
