A painting of Arnold Ford by local artist David ‘Guru’ McClean hangs in the background as Ambassador David Comissiong speaks about his new book.
The little-known story of two Barbadians who went from quiet beginnings to standing up as part of the resistance to the Italian invasion of Ethiopia serves as the centrepiece in Ambassador David Comissiong’s latest work – ‘The Pan-African Love Story of Arnold and Mignon Ford’.
Glowing with pride as he officially revealed his new book to the world on Sunday evening, Ambassador Comissiong streamed the event from the Clement Payne Cultural Centre.
Stating that the stories of the husband and wife struck a chord with him and inspired him since learning about them in the early 80s, Comissiong said that he knew then that he would someday produce a work that would help to tell the stories of these heroes and bring them to the attention of our people.
With the work dedicated to Professor Abiyi Ford, one of two sons from the union and Professor Cecil Crawford, the Ambassador to CARICOM noted that the book was not only about the love between the two, but also a love for Africa and Ethiopia.
Contributions came from noted veteran pan-africanist Queen Mother Dr Myrna Belgrave who was also present at the launch. She called the work a narrative of love on many levels, intertwining the pair’s love for several ideals inclusive of music, culture, ancestral history and family. “Such love produces a narrative that is fit for scripting a book, even for stage or screen. Fit for inspiring and giving good connections to one’s ancestral history and one’s countrymen. The author, Ambassador David Comissiong has woven these levels of love into this narrative. It is detailed, rich, informative, engaging, filled with graphics, well-researched and the narrative invokes a lasting pride within the reader as we follow the journey of one of our Barbadian sons and daughters. Indeed it is a love story for all ages – young and old. For all time – past, present and future,” Dr. Belgrave said.
The book is printed locally by Panagraphix and distributed by Chattel House Books in physical and electronic volumes, and Ambassador Comissiong is calling it a gift to the people. “We have to give our people their history. Unfortunately many of our people do not know who they really are. What their real capacities are. Because they have a distorted view of their history. They have a distorted view of the journey and the achievements of their forefathers and foremothers. And those of us who know the true story, we have a duty to share that story. We are a remarkable people!” he said.
With the book set in the early 1900s as Ford was born in 1877, just 39 years after the abolition of slavery in Barbados, Comissiong urged everyone to pick up the 97-page work as it was written for the people. “The book was consciously designed for a mass audience. This book is written for our people. This book is written for teenagers, for young adults, for mature people. It is written for the entire population. It is giving our people an extremely important component of their history,” he said. (MP)