GREAT BAY, St. Martin (July 30, 2002)—Songs & Images of St. Martin, the only book of poems by the late Charles Borromeo Hodge, can now be found at the national museum of Senegal. The popular National Symbols of St. Martin – A Primer, is also now archived in that African country, “and at no more a special place than on its island of Gorée,” said House of Nehesi Publishers president Jacqueline Sample.
Shujah Reiph of St. Martin’s Conscious Lyrics Foundation presented the books to Senegalese government and library officials during his July 2002 pilgrimage to Gorée. “Both of these books represent historical and cultural experiences of the St. Martin people since many of our ancestors were stolen from Africa hundreds of years ago. The books also tell part of what we are contributing to the Caribbean,” said Reiph on Wednesday. The major part of his presentation, including a brief talk about St. Martin, was on the grounds of and inside Gorée’s Slave House or Maison des Esclaves. The house is a world heritage site museum, but was from the 17th to the 19th centuries one of the most notorious holding pens of the kidnapped Africans who were chained and shipped by Europeans to be enslaved in St. Martin, throughout the Caribbean and the Americas in the millions.
Reiph was in Africa as a member of the Caribbean network delegation to Gorée. The cultural exchange/educational tour was organized out of Guadeloupe and included over 100 people from Guadeloupe, St. Martin, Martinique, Montserrat and Haiti.
Reiph also presented a “dedication plaque” of the St. Martin nation, North and South, to the museum curator to be placed on the Slave House’s hauntingly historic walls. The St. Martin activist and talkshow host said that his trip was “a tremendous experience” and he remains proud that his sojourn was funded in part from monies donated by the general public. House of Nehesi, the book’s publisher, contributed the titles for the presentation.