As Caribbean community members in New York get ready to pay their last respects to the Mighty Sparrow, the president of the lone Vincentian calypso tent in North America has joined glowing tributes to the undisputed Calypso King of the World.
He has also called for a museum or a statue to be erected in the late calypsonian’s honour.
The Mighty Sparrow, whose real name is Slinger Francisco, died in Queens, New York, last Sunday. He was 91.
‘I felt like I just lost a very important part of my life,’ Carlos ‘Rejector’ Providence, president of the Dynamite Calypso Tent in Brooklyn, New York, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) on Friday.
‘From very early childhood, I remember listening to and singing calypsos from Sparrow throughout my life,’ added Providence, also a calypsonian. ‘Up to this day I still listen, sing and enjoy everything by Sparrow, and I admire his immense versatility, which allowed him the ease of also being a great crooner, doing numerous ballads and proving to be one of the greatest all-round entertainers of all time.’
Through his vast body of work, Providence added, ‘Sparrow exemplified the understanding of one’s gift/talent, and he used it for the upliftment of people of many races throughout the world, transcending generations.’
‘A true Caribbean son, Sparrow, very early in his life, through his outstanding intellect, wit, poetic skills and music, demonstrated his keen knowledge and understanding of our history, culture, heritage and general day-to-day way of life, reminding us of the many ills, brazen and disguised that were meted out to us, intending to keep us subjected, thus strengthening our awareness of the serious times in which we live, and preparing us for what lies ahead.
‘He made us laugh, cry, enjoy coming together as one people in the calypso tent, clubs, fete, concerts, on the streets Carnival Monday and Tuesday, and in the church, where I had the distinct honour of seeing him perform his gospel songs a few years ago,’ added Providence.
He said Sparrow was someone every calypsonian aspired to be like, on and off stage.
‘His multiple accolades are testament to the outstanding qualities he possessed,’ Providence said. ‘Yet, in my opinion, he deserved a lot more for showing the true power of our own art of calypso and taking it around the world.
‘Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique, Trinidad and Tobago and the entire Caribbean must be proud of this great Caribbean man, who, clearly, with such tremendous contribution of talent and vast body of work, can only be one in a lifetime.
‘It is, therefore, my hope that we, as a Caribbean people, would honour his legacy, either by establishing a Sparrow Museum, introducing his work in the school curriculum, [or] erecting a statue of him where it can be easily accessed by everyone.’
The late Slinger Francisco, the Mighty Sparrow.
Sparrow’s family said in a statement on Friday that his life will be celebrated at what is expected to be a massive funeral on Sunday at Linden Seventh Day Adventist Church in the Laurelton section of Queens, starting at 2 p.m.
The Government of Trinidad and Tobago said earlier this week that it will assist the family in providing an official state funeral for the Mighty Sparrow.
Culture and Community Development Minister Michelle Benjamin told the Trinidad and Tobago House of Representatives on Wednesday that a committee has already been established to work with Sparrow’s family in organising ‘a funeral fit for a legend’.
‘Under the direction of the prime minister, an official state-assisted funeral will be held,’ said Benjamin, stating that a date for the funeral is yet ‘to be fixed’.
The Mighty Sparrow’s name and accomplishments are already a part of the official historical record of the United States Congress.
It highlights Sparrow’s more than five decades, at the time, of musical accomplishments and his contributions to Caribbean culture and society.