He made a successful life of breaking all the rules, and on May 19 he came back home to boast about it. Author Dr Kelvin C James delivered an entertaining and informal talk called Reflections of a Non-Conformist: From Duke Street, Port-of-Spain, to Fifth Avenue New York, by way of Arima, at UWI's Institute for Critical Thinking, hosted by the Kairi Institute of Knowledge. James recounted how, fuelled by unflinching self-belief, he disregarded society's limitations and charted his own course. "My life is that of a person who makes himself happy," he said.
Born to an unwed mother in the mid 1940s, James was labelled "illegitimate". James said as a result, he "never felt like a legal person." He said in a way, he felt freed to bend or break the rules to make himself happy. He grew up in the East Dry River, on Duke Street, surrounded by "violence" and the "genius" of the pan yards. He said he witnessed how "the lowest of the low," those who society had discarded, were able to "create something from nothing" in the form of the steelband. He said he was saddened by reports of crime and violence emerging from the area that had given birth to pan on online news reports.
He urged citizens to take a second look at Morvant-Laventille and nurture the still-hidded brilliance that existed there. James credits the influence of his mother, who was "both father and mother" to him and his siblings. His school career, which started at Richmond Street EC, was marked with success and indifference. He was skipped ahead more than once, but was also "the most truant student you could hope to meet." Often referring to himself in the third person, he said he was very lazy, but felt this was not an obstacle to success. "If you are lazy, you just need to have systems to beat the overall system."
After studying chemistry at UWI, he worked as a lab supervisor at Harlem Hospital. He attended Colombia University, receiving several scholarships. After two masters degrees and a doctorate, he decided to abandon the field of science, despite the financial security it offered. "It was boring. I wanted to write, and travel, and understand people." He said, "I don't believe in hard work. I think it should be avoided at all costs," but also stressed that "confidence is not enough, you have to have the competence to back it up." James read a few of his poems, fables and short stories for the audience.
He said "everybody has stories; you should write yours down." He urged his listeners to keep a journal and witness their own development. He said he was able to break into the New York writing scene because of his brilliance. His first novel, Secrets, was critically acclaimed. He has written several published novels, including Fling with a Demon Lover and Web of Freedom, and won several prizes. "I know, I am so bragadocious," he said, "but how can I help myself? "I want to push the idea of being yourself. Get on your own path. Commit yourself to it."
