Where sin increased…

By Matthew Woolford

According to Dr Eric Williams, in From Columbus to Castro, “In the sixteenth century, the Negro had been brought to the Caribbean to stay, to perpetuate… his tribal African customs… to produce a civilisation in the Caribbean in which, as Freyre says of Brazil, ‘it was Europe reigning without governing; it was Africa that governed’.”

Alongside, the holocaust of millions of European-based Jewish people during World War II and the holocaust of millions of Igbo tribespeople during the Nigeria-Biafra War (1966–67 to 1970), I shall personally place the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade as another reflection of great human degradation and moral compromise by persons and institutions who clearly had the capacity to make better decisions.

However, as St Paul wrote to the Romans, “…where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, and as sin caused death to reign, so grace will reign in its own time…” (Rom 5:20).

For all the blame associated with the legacy of slavery within the Western Hemisphere, I have found some things to celebrate amongst a people who have shown resilience, class and resourcefulness amidst deprivation and depravity:

The ingenuity with which we have blended spiritual and religious worship. According to the National Library and Information System Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (NALIS), “There are four theories that place the roots of the Spiritual Shouter Baptist Religion in Africa, Britain, North America and St Vincent… This explains the origins of the four Baptist groups in Trinidad and Tobago—the London Baptists, the Independent Baptists, the Fundamental Baptists and the Spiritual Shouter Baptists. Although the origins of the Spiritual Shouter Baptist Faith in Trinidad and Tobago can be traced to foreign countries, it has evolved over time to become a unique, indigenous religion. It has managed to fuse the spontaneity and rhythms of Africa with the restrained, traditional tenets of Christianity to produce a religion that is vibrant, expressive and dynamic.”

The ingenuity with which we have blended music and martial arts. According to Capoeira Para Ti, “Capoeira is a unique Afro-Brazilian art form and cultural expression that seamlessly combines fighting, dance, music and acrobatics. It originated from the resilience and struggles for emancipation of African enslaved people brought to Brazil during colonial times… Disguised as something that ‘looked like a dance’, it allowed them to prepare physically and mentally against their oppressors’ constant mistreatment while appearing to engage in a harmless activity.”

The ingenuity with which we have re-imagined Carnival. According to NALIS, “Cannes Brulées had its genesis during slavery. Whenever a fire broke out in the cane fields, the slaves on the surrounding properties were rounded up and marched to the spot, to the accompaniment of horns and shells. The gangs were followed by the drivers cracking their whips and urging them, with cries and blows, to harvest the cane before it was burnt. This event became known as the Cannes Brulées—later called Canboulay. After Emancipation the slaves used this celebration as a symbol of the change in their status. They engaged in masking, dancing, stick fighting, mocking the whites and reenacting scenes of past enslavement. The August 1st celebration lasted for about a decade, after which it was transferred to the pre-Lenten season.”

According to the Trinidad and Tobago Newsday article entitled, ‘A Carnival Love Affair: Carnival 2026 launches’, published on August 16, 2025, “THE STAGE is set for Carnival 2026. On August 15, the National Carnival Commission and the Ministry of Culture and Community Development launched Carnival 2026 at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA).”

I know some ever ready to touch on the ‘sinfulness’ of Carnival, but in my opinion, nothing could be further from the truth. Carnival, for me, is educational, therapeutic and poetic. From a prolonged period of injustice has come something ground-breaking, powerful and transformational.

According to NALIS, “[Jammette] was used by the French and English to describe the Carnival celebrations of the African population during the period 1860 to 1896. It comes from the French word ‘diametre’ meaning beneath the diameter of respectability, or the underworld.”

To be honest, I have flown beneath this line many times in my life through my words, thoughts and deeds. I have been accused of being ‘rude and disrespectful’, and ‘not caring about anybody but myself’. For all I know, there are some who even see me and my attitude as ‘stink and dutty’.

However, I have learnt not to place too much emphasis on what others think about me and to place even less on what I think about myself.

Life is too long to be unhappy! This is why I love Carnival: it allows space for humans to be human in an overly competitive and flawed world.

And in my opinion, it is still the perfect precursor to the Lenten Season.