Who thought that I would be giving a tribute to Randall Macedon, a man of great intellect and passion for these islands’ development. Let me get my thoughts together. How can I approach the life of the late Randall Macedon, also known as “Randy,” Professor, and Brother Macedon. Believe me, it is not easy when you’ve lost a great friend, a colleague, and a soul brother who loved his Virgin Islands people and the wider Caribbean region.
Born in the 1960s to Albena Richardson and Camille “King Derby” Macedon Jr., Randy was born in an era on St. Croix when sugarcane and livestock dominated the landscape of the island. His mother, Ms. Albena Richardson, migrated from Anguilla donkey years ago to make a life for herself. It was not unusual for Caribbean people to migrate throughout the region or elsewhere in the world.
In the 1680s, 1700s, the 1890s, and later during the Great Depression of the 1930s, many Anguillans migrated for better prospects of livelihoods in various places, especially in the Danish West Indies, and particularly the island of St. Croix and the British Virgin Islands. The economic stagnation of Anguilla and severe drought conditions on the island led many Anguillans to leave for a better way of life.
Whenever you hear Richardson, Hodge, Gum, Bryan, Vanterpool, Fleming, and Webster for example, those are Anguillan names. In fact, there is an estate on the south shore of St. Croix named Anguilla where Anguillans settled during the latter part of the 1700s. When you think about it, we Caribbean people are one pot of kalaloo. Believe me, we are one Caribbean people. Randy’s father known as “King Derby”, is a Crucian well known for his contribution in music and horse racing in the Virgin Islands, the Caribbean, and the world.
However, Randy was very fortunate to grow up around older people with a philosophy of expressing themselves in proverbs. These proverbs are West Indian. They might be in the form of a joke, wisdom, and basic philosophies of life. The proverbs can spring from planting sugarcane in the fields, droughts, storms, moonlight, hate, love etc. which tells about a people of an era. Such Crucian proverbs as, “DISH A HOT FOR FISH, FISH NO KNOW,” were often expressed. In other words, it means, “A trap is being set and you don’t know it. You may be getting into something deeper and more dangerous than you think.”
Randy loved people, especially older people with their wisdom of life. He had more than one godmother, especially the late Violet H. Connor, a great Virgin Islander and educator, and godfather, the late Sen. Augustin Adolphus Doward, and godsister Joyce Doward Webster. He attended St. Dunstan’s Episcopal School and one of his favorite teachers was the late Liz Wilson. He often told me how Ms. Wilson would take his class out on great field trips when he was a youngster.
In 1978, Randy graduated from St. Croix Central High School as valedictorian. He would say he learned from the older people, especially his mother who didn’t have a higher education like himself. His mother, Albena, believed strongly in higher education because she didn’t have the opportunity, and even named Randy after a great Virgin Islander, Dr. Randall James, a well-beloved medical doctor of St. Croix.
Randy attended the University of California at Irvine and earned a bachelor’s degree in economics. He loved math and wanted to major in engineering. He was a brilliant mathematician and made it look so simple for those of us who struggled in math. He could easily have earned his Ph.D. in economics, but he came home to help his beloved mother. It was in 1982 that Randy and I met at the then College of the Virgin Islands. I had just finished my undergraduate studies and later in the 1980s went onto graduate school.
Randy and I developed a strong bond. We had the same philosophy of life by treating others with respect as you would have them do unto you. For many years, Randy worked tirelessly at the School of Agriculture, University of the Virgin Islands giving his vast knowledge in agricultural economics and marketing. He taught classes at the university and conducted numerous workshops, particularly in farm marketing and record keeping for local farmers. He had a very deep passion for agricultural development of the Virgin Islands.
Randy was a great orator, political scholar, historian, intellectual thinker, and lover of people. He was always giving of himself to others. He was a very diverse person and able to speak on any subject matter. He read and wrote a lot and was able to articulate his point whenever you and he had a conversation. He was known by his friends and family for having very long conversations on many topics of interest. Before you knew it, you could have spent three, four, five hours or more talking with Randy without you realizing it.
When the conversation was sweet, Randy would run back and forth with laughter while jumping up and down. Believe me, if you knew Randy, he was a joyous person and passionate about life. Don’t take my word for it. Here is a text he sent me, not realizing it would be the last time communicating with me, before God saw it fit to take him from his Virgin Islands community:
“My Brother, please accept my apologies for not getting back to you since yesterday ….. after Derby told me that it would be alright to share his cell phone number with the Gasperis. He and I began one of many of our usual long and expanded ‘marathon’ length conversations: Yesterday’s conversation was on the history, philosophy, education, business, investment, economy, commercialization, privatization, etc. of Calypso, Caiso, and the other similar Caribbean ‘Minstrel Singing’ Traditions …”
He was a person that when he saw you, would give you a big hug while asking how yourself and your family was doing. When Randy passed, the St. Croix community was in utter shock! It was hard to believe he had fallen asleep in death. Many of his friends, colleagues of the university, especially School of Agriculture cried, and were confounded. Randy had a great influence on his family, friends and the community on St. Croix. I can say, Randy was a rare person of character and personality in life. He was an endangered species of a person.
Listen to an email message I got about Randy: “Amy told me about Randy. It’s hard to believe, because he was so full of life. Always animated about whatever was the subject of conversation, and always of laughter. I know he was a very good friend of yours, and you will miss him. So will I,” noted Tim, the Fishman.
— Olasee Davis is a bush professor who lectures and writes about the culture, history, ecology and environment of the Virgin Islands when he is not leading hiking tours of the wild places and spaces of St. Croix and beyond.
