As part of Yoruba culture, there is an annual celebration of Obatala, a deity of purity, wisdom, and justice. The annual celebration took place in Port of Spain on Sunday.
Scores of men, women, and children wore white, beat drums, and processed through the streets of Port of Spain as part of the Orisha Obatala procession.
President of the ISOSOTT Chapter in Trinidad and Tobago, Baba Awo Sanmi, highlighted the significance of the event. He recalled that there was once a stigma attached to the beating of drums and the celebration of festivals of this type in Trinidad and Tobago.
Baba explained that the local temples offer more than the staging of annual Orisha events. One of the young participants in the procession, Omari Taylor, said he was born into the Orisha faith, which was taught to him by his grandmother.
“We love the culture. We need to pass it down because it is something that is important to us. And it is good to know our roots and where we come from and what we should be doing, so yeah.”