Today Heartically Yours (HY) takes the form of an interview with Brother Afreekan Southwell (AS), one of the founders of the Strength to Strength movement responsible for bringing Brother Wayne Chandler to St. Thomas and thereby enabling the Athlyi Rogers Study Centre to bring him to Anguilla for the recently held public lecture.

Ijahnya Christian

HY – Brother Afreekan, let me extend to you a warm welcome to Anguilla.

AS – It is an honour to be a part of the Anguillian community and to have this experience of a first visit. I’ve been hearing a lot about Anguilla throughout the years and now I’m pleased to have this opportunity to come and do something spiritual and educational.
HY – When did the Strength to Strength movement actually begin?

AS – It started in 1990 when another brother and I sat contemplating his idea of how to disseminate information that is not easily available to a wider public. He was a very well-read individual and I found that I was good at being a catalyst of helping people to let their voices be heard. Shortly after that it was not by coincidence but by divine intervention that I met a brother called Ras Reg, who was already into radio and who had a broadcast spot that he wanted to fill with a programme of conscious reasoning. He advised me regarding getting sponsorship to enable the programme to be viable and ongoing. I got the sponsors and introduced the first programme Strength to Strength which involved a collaboration of minds and pooling of information for the broadcast. The programme was first broadcast in 1994 and we haven’t looked back.

HY – Brother Afreekan, I know that I have been invited to be on the Strength to Strength programme several times and did so by telephone link up but I do not know how it was that we actually made this connection.

AS – I went into a little superette on Backstreet in St. Thomas owned by a man Smitty, saw a newspaper called The Anguillian and the Heartically Yours column captured my interest. I asked Smitty who you were and as I read the article realized that we had common interests. I kept on buying The Anguillian just to read your column and also to see if you were consistent in what you were presenting. I asked other Anguillians in St. Thomas about you, called The Anguillian and got information about how to get your number. About five years before all of that, the Culture Department of Montserrat had brought a group to St. Thomas and one of the sisters in that group recommended you as a good person to have on the programme so this connection goes back a long time and you are one of those persons that we have as the Caribbean Link aspect of our programme.

HY – I’m really happy to learn of the role of The Anguillian and Heartically Yours in forging our relationship so it quite appropriate to interview you here. I know that Strength to Strength has evolved way beyond a radio programme. What are the areas of focus at this time?
AS – Now that we have acquired a physical location i.e. downtown Charlotte Amalie at the bottom of Fireburn Hill, our focus is on institutional development from an African-centred perspective. The complex includes a vegetarian restaurant where we provide foods for the four blood types, a cultural shop offering books, clothing, sculpture and other hand made items and soon to come will be a health food store, library and natural ice-cream factory. Already the courtyard is being used as a multi-purpose venue for public functions with a stage for performing arts and part of the plan is for accommodation for the various resource persons that we invite to share their knowledge and specialization as part of the Strength to Strength programme. The Caribbean is in need of these African Centred institutions and what you are doing with the Athlyi Rogers Study Centre is adding to the development of these institutions that are beginning to be established in several of the other islands. We need to advance to the stage where some of the African languages are taught. This is especially important to those who are planning to repatriate to the African continent.

HY – Brother Afreekan, I want to express profound thanks for your role in bringing Brother Chandler to our attention. Is there a calendar of speakers of his caliber for 2006?

AS - In December 2005 we will be having Dr. Tim Moore who area of study is the importance of melanin to the survival of the human race. In February we have Elombe Brath a noted PanAfricanist who will be speaking on PanAfrican development and the PanAfrican movement. Other programmes include a theatrical production and drama/poetry performance evening during 2006.

HY – The Athlyi Rogers Study Centre is still in the making and so I’d like to thank both you and Brother Wayne Chandler for coming to Anguilla and working with us just on the basis of recognizing the need for what we are doing from our various vantage points. I could not do it alone and so I’d like to name the individuals and businesses who provided the wherewithal to realize the vision. They are Cap Juluca Hotel, the Government of Anguilla’s Ministry of Social Development, Rebel Marine, J.W. Proctors, Island Transport Services Ltd., Simply Natural by Yinka, Papa Lash Food Van, Caribbean Juris Chambers and a secret donor from the Valley Community. We hope that all of them and all of you will come and see what we are doing to set up the Athlyi Rogers Study Centre, the motto of which is Promoting Self-Knowledge for Self-Determination.

AS – A global transformation is taking place, which means another cycle is coming into existence. If we in the Caribbean are aware, we will find the essence of our place in that transformation.

(Afreekan Soutwell was born in Antigua and has lived in the USVI for the past 23 years. He is a community activist, sculptor, painter, tailor, vegetarian chef, builder, poet and Rastafari Renaissance man).

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