Little Miss Lawrence goes to Washington

By Monique Murray, Contributor

Careen Lawrence

SHE'S POLITE but her quiet disposition belies her creative abilities.

She lives in the quiet, but nondescript community of Retreat, just past the St. Thomas capital of Morant Bay.

She's 11, a Grade Six student at the Port Morant Primary and Junior High School.

She also plays the keyboard, the recorder, the drums and is a member of the school choir. She has entered festival in the past with a re-corder piece and her school choir recently won a silver medal for its festival performance.

There's one other thing about Careen Latoya Lawrence ­ she recently won an amateur poetry award from the International Society of Poets (ISP) for her dub poem "I am Black."

The ISP is the largest and most active poetry society worldwide with members in 60 countries. Its objective is to recognise and develop the talents of amateur poets such as Careen. It also seeks to encourage and support their achievements. The ISP sponsors annual conventions and monthly members-only competitions. The competition is open to anyone, provided a poem of 20 lines or less is submitted.

The shy 11-year-old who began writing poetry in grade one said she was surprised by her award. She heard about the competition she said through her mother, Hazeline Lawrence, who saw it on the Internet.

Careen's father, Courtney Lawrence said he was skeptical at first about putting the poem on the Internet, especially to an organisation which they knew little about. He was also concerned, he said, about the response from an international organisation to a poem which spoke so strongly about black consciousness. Mr. Lawrence added that though he was happy about his daughter's achievement, he was surprised that the piece won because she has done much better pieces.

Careen explained that she wrote the poem as a class project assigned earlier this year by her teacher, Shirley Hall. The assignment was to write creative pieces (some wrote songs) in keeping with the theme of Black History Month.

The Grade Six student who will be travelling to Washington D.C. in August to attend a convention put on by the ISP is no stranger to success. Her teacher, Mrs. Hall, describes her as a "disciplined, steady worker (who) gets along well with her classmates...she has performed well consistently."

A member of the Heritage Club and the Brownies, Careen said her favourite subjects are Mathematics, Social Studies and Music. In her spare time she likes to read and of course, write poems. She is of two minds about her career path though.

"Sometimes I want to be a teacher and other times I want to be a doctor." In Washington she will be performing her dub poem accompanied by a drum. There will also be recitals by other amateur poets at the three-day convention scheduled for August 17 through 19.

What does she expect from her trip? Careen answered that she was keeping an open mind, only expecting "to meet other people". Her parents are now making the necessary arrangements for the trip to Washington.

"I couldn't expect more of a child," beamed Mr. Lawrence.

I Am Black

I am black,

I am a proud black girl

My mother is black

And my father is too;

I am black.

I am proud of my culture,

My colour and my nation;

I am black.

My ancestors were black

And that's a fact;

I am black.

I was born black

And I shall die black too;

I am black.

I am proud to be a

Jamaica black girl.

Careen Latoya Lawrence

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