POETS ARE THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE AND THE EXPRESSION OF SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS

"The arts can make us act, and we need action in response to the threats, and the realities of climate change"

Those are powerful words from award-winning St Lucian poet Kendel Hippolyte, speaking at the launch of a Caribbean campaign on Climate Justice at the Orchid Garden here last Thursday evening dubbed “The1point5tostayalive”. The purpose of this campaign was is to raise awareness, momentum and popular support in favour of the Caribbean’s negotiating position in the lead-up to the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be held in Paris in December.

 Climate impacts -- including elevated temperatures, sea level rise, changing rainfall patterns, more intense droughts, storms, and ocean acidification, all pose grave risks to coastal lands, water supply, agriculture, biodiversity, fisheries and other sectors and assets. But it goes beyond this as climate change threatens the very existence of some Caribbean islands. 

The poet, who has a long history of engagement in social and environmental justice, on Thursday called on “musicians, painters, dancers, writers, all artists to become involved in this campaign by using their arts, their shows, their websites, their Face book accounts and their concerts” in the coming weeks, to join the call of Panos Caribbean and its partners for Climate Justice for the Caribbean. .In particular, he called for participation in a weekend of action on 31 October – 1 December, a month prior to the start of the Paris Conference.

This is just another demonstration of the significance and power of poetry and the relevance of poets in societies as “the voice of the people and the expression of social consciousness. 

All poets, all writers are political. They either maintain the status quo, or they say, ’Something’s wrong, let’s change it for the better.’ – Sonia Sanchez