The parents of the boy from the previous blog, "Jack and Jill went up to Hill, but had to cut their hair", have successfully enrolled him at the St. Giles Primary School. From all accounts the boy is happy there and the parents are pleased. The matter concerning the Hill Top Preparatory School will not be pursued any further.
It remains a pity that in 2011 acts of discrimination of this nature still happen. C'est la vie...n'est-ce pas?
Had to leave home and venture to the internet cafe/ gaming arcade to put this together (my system is still not working properly).
There are certain naturally occurring things that can be detrimental to our personal and social growth and development. For example the naturally occurring phenomenon which takes place across the human body but is concentrated in the armpits can lead to social rejection, scorn and ultimately pariah status. This occurrence, called body odour or, when one can say of one's self, to quote Doddy from Azman "I smell like get from round me", is a serious thing but over time humanity has deal with this offensive scourge by bathing and the application of potent aromatics to the body which over power the natural stink with pleasant, and/or neutralising scents, in the form of deodorants, colognes and perfumes. Another naturally occurring condition which is even more serious and detrimental to ones personal and social growth and development is nakedness. The very core of one's being, the very manner in which one comes into this world is a terrible plague and without the safe cover of clothing one might suffer the scorned eye of society and the negativity of its wretched tongue. Beware of those who bare themselves disrobed in public, they are a vile and nasty creature, lost of morality and sanity. Trust me the sight of a naked man or woman walking down the street will scare you, especially if the man or woman is not within the social paradigm known as "attractive".
There are many more vile natural occurrences and states of being that offend the social order and hinder personal advancement. Being born black in a post Atlantic Slavery socio-politcal paradigm for example does provide one with a series of challenges automatically, another is being born on any of these god-forsaken back water, banana republic, third world small islands, and another is not cutting one's hair. Ok, maybe the location of one's birth is not a naturally occurring thing, but it is something over which one has no control. Anyways you might be wondering about the last of the three things mentioned just now in what you probably thought was my departure from the humours and shift towards the serious. You are probably wondering why has the strangest rastaman included not cutting one's hair to the list of naturally occurring, socially detracting features of society. Well we rastafari already know how hair in its natural state can detract from one's social progression and add to one's social alienation and stereotyping. In fact most women who have let their hair grow out naturally have encountered some form of "what you do that for?", "why you don't straighten it?", "how long you leaving it so?" and other questions about the hair's natural state.
Body odour, left to run rampant, can be quite an unpleasant thing. The naked human body, minus its obvious distracting potential (especially since it is such a taboo) does benefit from the protection of clothing. Hair, grown into dreadlocks, benefits from being cut; how? I fail to see how the removal of hair from one's head can positively change one's life, except in a world where having it grow is wrong. Ok fine I have defeated my own argument because we do live in a world where having it grow is wrong. And it is wrong for two very good reasons: firstly because it just is, and secondly because they said so.
Not good reasons? Are you sure? Because when I was younger a lot of the things that I had done wrong were met with the justice of "because I said so", and a lot of teachers told me that somethings are the way they are because that is just the way it is. For example "Why is the sky blue?" "Because it just is"
You cannot go to the Hill Top Preparatory School with locs, because that is how it is. Well there was the case of some people who went with locs, but that is how it was then, but you cannot go there with them now because that is how it is now. (confused? I am) There was this one kid who went to Hill Top Preparatory School with locs, but then he/she felt weird a few weeks into the term and wanted to cut them and this was confusing for all involved. (not sure how so, but again this is the way it is) Locs, or the state one's hair will enter if left uncombed for an extended period of time, and popularised by those terrible rasta people here in the Caribbean, are a no go currently at the Hill Top Preparatory School.
It is a scientifically known fact that people with locs cannot learn as quickly as their trimmed contemporaries. It is also a scientifically proven fact that, in addition to their reduced learning aptitude, persons with locs also decelerate the learning process of those in their immediate surroundings and environs. It is therefore best to keep those dreads out of regular schools and let them be schooled together (probably to cut coconuts and say irie mon to tourists), if we let them learn at all.
Atiba, the boy who was rejected because of his hair.
Look at that little tyrant to the left, he will surely render the entire student body stupid with those dangling dread-ful locs.
All jokes and sarcasm aside. The issue is this, a mother and a father looked to get their son into the school closest to where he lives, and long story (click for the long story) made short, when the child and his father went to the school to be oriented, the principal informed them, well informed the father; she had not paid any mind to the child, that the child's fancy haircut was not going to allowed at the institution. Yes, a private school has the right to decide whom it lets enroll in its classes, but this is a case of discrimination at a high level, and not only that but it is also a lesson in "them and us" to the younger generation. This child, the one pictured above, now has to realise that while mummy and daddy, and his family, biological and otherwise, love him regardless of his appearance, there are those out there who will not get to love him because they have decided in their minds that the hair on his head, in the dreadlocks, is unwanted/ to be frowned upon. The other youngsters, four and five years old who may have seen the interaction, now have a social equation in their heads; boy +locs = undesirable.
How can a country in 2011, boasting of all manner of good social features be caught refusing a child an education because of the hair on his head? Did not the incident at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic a few years ago show that discrimination based on hair is a stupid endeavour? Even in that instance the position of the faculty had some sort of "logical" rationale behind their position, claiming that it was a safety issue and they did not want the students potentially harmed by having their hair caught in the moving parts of the machinery. Simple solution cover and restrict the hair. How can Hill Top Preparatory School really want to dismiss this family, did they not read about one Kevyn Callender, who was unable to work for a certain airline at the airport (where had worked before mind you) for no reason other than because he had locs? (well maintained and styled locs by the way).
It might be because I am a rastaman that this irks me, but I cannot be, and I know that I am not, alone in feeling that this is wrong.
Black woman and child, for you I have so much love...
The detriment is to the school, not to the child nor his family. The school is stuck somewhere in the middle of the last century and should really examine its policies and open itself to the world as it is and should be.
Honestly, foolishness is foolishness, and while Hill Top Preparatory School has the right to admit whomever it desires, it should not be allowed to do so in a discriminatory fashion to the detriment of a child and a family for something as trivial as locs. I would love to organise some sort of protest. I have already suggested that sympathetic parents of the students at the same school and other schools purchase those "tourist tams" that come with the fake locs and send their children to school in them as a sign of protest, peaceful but to the point. I would love to see this happen, so if there is anyone interested hit me up in the comment section below or email me at enam.idrissa@gmail.com. Might just be wasting my time, but I think it is worthwhile and needed.
"They say I'm crazy for choosing rasta, but I stay natty, I love my culture..."
StrangeRasta is now on twitter so look up there above the toolbar ^ and follow me on twitter. New blogs will now be posted via Twitter along with Facebook and Blogger. More ways to connect with the strange one.
Just want to apologise for the long (2+ month) break. This was the result of some technical difficulties. These difficulties are not altogether sorted out, but hopefully they are sorted enough that I can keep posting weekly.
The new blog about premarital sex is up, not too analytical and a bit "all over the place" but I guess I just wanted to get something up. That said, I still stand by everything I have said in that post.
Sorry again and happy and insightful reading.
StrangeRasta is now on twitter so look up there above the toolbar ^ and follow me on twitter. New blogs will now be posted via Twitter along with Facebook and Blogger. More ways to connect with the strange one.
The one called Rev. Morris, controversial Christian minister, had the television, print media and internet all abuzz with his latest controversial biblical interpretations. The good reverend said something to the extent that the bible does not explicitly speak against premarital sex. With that said there is not much need to really get into what the traditionally "very religious" Barbadian society was saying on the airwaves and world wide web, but its opinions of Rev. Morris and his views were, in some instances, unpleasant, especially those views expressed in the colourful Bajan vernacular. There were calls for him to leave the clergy, calls for the clergy to part ways with him, calls for him to apologise to the Barbadian public and its impressionable youth (what for I'm not sure), all coming from a very hypocritical society. LBAR.
This is like the people who go to shows (Macy Gray) and are suprised when artists curse during performances, yet down in the rum shop or at the hair dresser every topic of conversation bout brass bowls and the ever growing population of female rabbits in the country. "Yuh Cunt."
Back to the issue of sex, or rather, premarital sex and its rightness or wrongness. I'll keep within the biblical framework for the time being since the issue of sex before marriage and the ethical and moral issues surrounding it arise from the bible, or any other Judeo-Christian religious text. A couple thousand years ago, when a marriage was not so much a written and signed legal contract, as it was an unwritten understanding between two people or in many cases, two families/tribes, and the wedding ceremony was as official as things got (had to clears it with the Lord) the bride was, in most cases, required to be a virgin, to signify purity and good will and good faith ( I think the men just wanted something fresh) so premarital sex was frowned upon. Also keep in mind that this whole business of premarital sex was devised by men in a time far more patriarchal than today, and that it also comes from a time when polygyny was practised much more heavily than today. (though with the amount of aunts and uncles and cousins I got...hmm) The point is that over those thousands of years the institution of marriage has undergone some changes: philosophically, socially and legally. The understanding of what a marriage was during the biblical era, is not what that understanding is today, what constituted a marriage then would not constitute one today, so to try to apply something written in and for a completely different social, philosophical and legal context and audience to another one eons later will lead to problems. As a friend of mine said, people are trying to run Microsoft Office 2010 on Windows 95, and surprised that a few things are going wrong.
Sex being the social taboo it is, is taken a bit more seriously or cautiously, at least in discussion, than some of the other antiquities in the bible, like the outlawed fabric mixes we so comfortably wear to church these days, but it really should not be analysed any differently than these fabric mixes, its biblical references with respect to its premarital protocol are just as antiquated.
One of the arguments that people love to bring when premarital sex comes up is STD's and STI's (not Subarus) as if premarital sex is the same thing as irresponsible sexual intercourse, or unprotected sexual intercourse. It is more likely that unmarried people will have more sexual partners than married ones and therefore have a higher probability of contracting and spreading STDs and STIs, but again this is not so much a result of their marital status, but of their sexual responsibility and ethical and moral standpoint. (I got nuff aunts and uncles and cousins, and my parents got half brothers and half sisters ages mixed up with full brothers and sisters, grandparents were married...just saying). There is this notion that with marriage comes sexual responsibility, which would come as a result of monogamy, which is made certain in the lines of most wedding vows and the law, and this is all written in unicorn blood on the back of a white elephant.
Back on the good reverend again. The comment that he made that really got to the public was when he so eloquently compared the premarital sex to trying on shoes, with the rationale that no one wants to be stuck with a pair of uncomfortable shoes. Some considered it crude, some thought it tasteless, but one cannot argue as to the accuracy of the analogy. Sex is an important part of marriage, or at least this is what people say, I'm not married so I'm not sure, but what I do know is that unsatisfying sexual relationships are chief among the reasons for infidelity in marriages. Some people are just not sexually compatible; love your smile, love your personality, love your family love you, but 20 toes just not wiggling right. I'm no expert, but if sex is a significant part of the marital relationship, and two people are just not connecting on that level, some issues will arise, and I'm not even talking about the issue of infidelity. More potentially devastating and long term problems can and are likely to arise. Sex has with it, anticipation and expectation, which is to be fulfilled by the intercourse and the climax, and if the anticipation and expectations are not met constantly and consistently then at best you can expect a general disinterest to develop, but more likely resentment and an animosity will develop. The 20 toes that cannot wiggle, now start to affect the "I love your smile" and the "I love your personality" parts of the relationship and the marriage suffers. Not saying to go and sex down the country, but explore your options responsibly and with persons that you would seriously consider marrying, ie. people in meaningful relationships.
Instead of trying to apply outdated doctrines to modern and contemporary societies exactly as they were practised in antiquity, maybe we should try to take the values, the general essence, of these doctrines and teachings and adapt them to work within the world as it is today, and where they cannot be applied because they are totally outdated (like polyester being a sinful garment) dash it weh and move on, this is called development and advancement. The idea of trying to live simultaneously in the past and the present, which is what a lot of people are trying to do, will not work, life is not a Renaissance Fair. What needs to happen is for people to start advocating responsibility, start teaching people about respect and love, develop a culture of respect and love, because there are a lot of loveless marriages out there and a lot of divorces to prove it and many more Jim and Jane Schreechies running around.
As for the Barbadian public, stop being so damned hypocritical. As I might have mentioned, I have a lot of uncles and aunts and cousins, my parents have some half brothers and half sisters, and this is so common that it is a feature of many Barbadian family trees. But I think I may have discovered the loophole. My grandparents, and many people from that generation did wait till marriage to have sex, so there was no premarital sex, a lot of extramarital sex, but not so much premarital. LBAR
Good thing the reverend did not speak about that, but then again he would not have to, the bible is pretty clear on that one, and everyone knows.
Basically people are focused on the wrong thing, that is what I think. Actually that is what I know.
"If she cannot excite, man the marriage brek up tonight!" Mac Fingall - Sex Before Marriage. Click to listen.
Relevance of this song to the topic? None. This is my mindset right now, I'm going to dance and sing away my problems for a bit. Alors on danse! lalalalala lalalalalalala
StrangeRasta is now on twitter so look up there above the toolbar ^ and follow me on twitter. New blogs will now be posted via Twitter along with Facebook and Blogger. More ways to connect with the strange one.
Next regular post coming this weekend. Look out for it.
Almost a month ago, on Saturday 9th of April 2011, the Rastafari business community known as Temple Yard was affected by a fire. This fire destroyed 10 shops, but had and continues to have an effect on the entire community, both from a business point of view and also from a personal/emotional level.
Some of the nation's treasures, in the forms of sculptures and other art works, have been damaged and lost in this blaze. There will be donation boxes and sponsor sheets in the public circle from next week so keep an eye out for them. I ask that we try to make donations to this community which is not just a part of Rastafari life, but Barbadian life as well.
Temple Yard has had a trying past, from the days at Rockers Alley through all the re-locations to its current location at the edge of Bridgetown. This fire is just another chapter in this history, with help from the general public Temple Yard can overcome this latest setback and get back on track.
I give thanks in the early for any help given to Temple Yard in this time.
For more information keep checking Our Afrikan Heritage Magazine on theirFacebook page, or on theirwebsite. Ras ILive can be contacted at 232-1222
When I look into the Caribbean, and anywhere where the African resides, I see beauty and I am reminded of floral arrangements and fruit baskets :D. A plethora of people, ideas, ideals, philosophies and hues. I know people usually go to the rainbow as a metaphor for broad spectrum beauty, and it does fit my purpose, but the rainbow lacks the depth of diversity I'm trying to portray, and a fruit basket , with its grapes and oranges and plums and apples and mangoes, or the floral arrangement with the roses, and orchids, and oleanders just does it much better. But the fruit basket and the floral arrangement do all share the feature I'm going to highlight, they are all cut off from their roots, and as such their beauty is fleeting, if anything it represents a facade of something already dead, and at best dying.
Marcus Mosiah Garvey said that a people without knowledge of their history are like a tree without its roots, and I look around in this fruit basket and floral arrangement (yes I'm in it) and see no roots. I look beneath it at the foundation and see wicker lined with decorative tissue and cut stems in water and that green thing - no roots. A rooted mahogany tree does not ask whether or not it is a mahogany tree, it knows it. A polished mahoganhy chair may, however, need to be reminded every now and again of it mahogany heritage. Comedian Kat Williams did a joke about tigers in a zoo, wherein the tigers begin to question whether or not they are tigers or "vicious ass koala bears." Until a break in the zoo routine occurs, the tigers are a shell of themselves and in limbo where their self image is concerned.
Hello Black people!! We are the tigers. We are the beautiful, rootless fruits and flowers, we are dead to ourselves and unsure of our heritage. Honestly, unlike the self questioning tigers, most of us do not know it or accept it.
I did not want to talk about it, I was really trying to avoid the entire debate and maybe blog about music again, or something else, but I am here at 4 in the AM writing about it; bleaching!
I was in a few online debates about it and well Sade's "Another Rasta Rant", pretty much hit it up already, but then I was here vibsing in my magical FB music group and listening to Tarrus Riley's "Shaka Zulu Pickney" and felt the need to write.
Bleaching is once again being highlighted in the popular media here in the Caribbean thanks to the new stylings of Vybz Kartel and his unashamed attitude about the entire thing. Bleaching has, for years, been a matter highlighted time and time again the the Jamaican media, with newspaper articles, television news segments and television specials, each time portrayed as something affecting the poorest of the population. (The middle and upper middle classes have other, more discreet ways of skin lightening - marriage/breeding for example. The underlying mentality or rationale, however, is the same.)
There is a running train of thought in society that, the fairer the skin, or the closer to white that one is the more success you will have or at least the more avenues/oppurtunities are available to you. Given the historical context that society is built upon this maybe an ugly notion or thought to some, but a quiet real one, that is it a real perception that people have. The lighter skinned blacks are the ones that dominate the popular media, dem and dem good, pretty hair. As the girl in the video said, no one can tell her anything at night in the club because she is white. So I know there are many out there that think that we live in a "post-racial" era, lol, or in a "colour blind society - not yet folks. Take a look at these videos here below and see why the society, and note that when I say the society I mean the global society, is not yet post racial or colour blind.
Video one is British based. The creams are illegal in Europe, but only to sell regionally, but can be made and exported. If they are too dangerous for Europeans why would they not be too dangerous for the rest of the world? Note that in the video the seized shipment being smuggled back into Europe is coming from Africa.
Video 2 is not so much about bleaching, but the girl Jenna does highlight and manifest within herself, the mentality of society taken to the confused extremes that lead to bleaching.
Video 3 is the first part of Tyra's episode about bleaching and also highlights that it is a fairly long standing African American subculture as well. (notice that these women's faces appear more matted than actually lightened and this is what I meant about Bajan women's faces looking over washed)
Notice that this is not a Caribbean phenomenon but exists in the "post-racial" American society and Britain, and from what we can gather from the first video shown, the continent, Africa, as well. This is a problem present in all post-colonial and former slave societies. Interestingly enough, the places with highest cited usage are poorest of the countries on that list.
Until recently bleaching was unheard of, or at least not spoken about in the popular and news media and seemed to evade the public sphere here in Barbados. Honestly, I always used to wonder sometimes about some women I used to see with faces that did not seem to match the rest of their heads, not to mention their bodies, and I said to myself these resemble the bleachers I see in the Jamaican and other international media. I, however, also said to myself that I never heard about bleaching in Barbados and dismissed them as women inept at applying makeup properly or persons who over washed their faces (yuh know what I mean too, dem girls dat does be washing dem face every chance them get at school, especially right before they leave to go to town on evenings after school). Apparently, I was wrong because they were most likely bleaching, and it has been happening here for a long time, but as a girl told me, "nuhbody din studying nuffin so back den, is only now dat Kartel start up pun it dat people talking." It really should not be surprising though, considering the reasons for bleaching are: poor self image and a belief in the concept that lighter is better, that it would have a subculture presence in Barbados and be overlooked by the media and society.
Well niggas (omg he called us niggas), guess what?!?! wait for it, wait for it... it is time to wake up and stop this shit.
I know it is not as simple as "wake up and stop it". It most definately is not as simple as, "when Kartel moves on, so too will this trend," because by and large this is not merely a trend, there is nothing trendy about it. It is a serious psychological problem deeply entrenched in the psyche of a diaspora longtold that they are second, third and fourth class citizens, not of any particular country but of the world. This psychological problem is socially and culturally maintained as the result of the colonial and neo-colonial world paradigm.
The world cannot get to a post-racial or colour blind state when the past is yet to be overcome. James Brown's song cannot do it, Bob Marley cannot do it, Michael Jackson cannot do it, H.I.M. Haile Selassie I in his speech to the United Nations cannot do it, Barack Obama cannot do it, and the month of February sure as hell will do it. It is a problem historically rooted and the first thing that must happen is that that history has to be properly and fully understood. This means not leaving out the bad parts or misleading people with omittances, like some historians traditionally do, neither does it mean romanticising and skewing the oppressed side as some other historians do. From there you work on changing the social elements used, overtly and discreetly, to create and maintain the existing psyche and attempt to neutralise and reverse them. This can only be done once the contemporary situation is understood through its historical context, so remember that it is history first before attempting to correct.
One has to see that the mindset and rationale behind bleaching is not exclusive to bleaching, and that it is deeply institutionalised. It is so entrenched in fact that some parts of it are seen almost as natural features of modern, contemporary society. I do not have to list or highlight any examples, you know them. (if you are from Mars, or live the delusion of a colour blind world, just listen to some of the rationalising given in the videos. The girl Jenna from the first Tyra clip manifests some of those things)
As I said we are pretty and diverse like the fruit baskets and floral arrangements, and just as rootless and slowly moving to a wilting stage. It is time to be more like orchards and gardens; lastingly beautiful and firmly rooted. This is not just for my African/Black people, but all humanity, just love yourself and respect others. Big up yourself without belittling others, that is pretty much the answer really.
I just like live music, especially live reggae, ain't nothing like a stageshow. <3
"Do you understand the power of the words that are coming out of my mouth?" -Adrian Green*
Honestly, at first I could not fathom the potential energy that is stored in words. The poet, in whatever incarnation, is a wealth of potential and their words are like fully charged batteries.
I always had a leaning towards English and the subjects generally referred to as the arts in school, so History caught my attention more so than Geography, and I preferred English to Mathematics. I was writing poetry from the age of 6/7 and talking foolishness, a skill in its own right, for as long as I can remember. Still this did not leave me immune to the trappings of adolescence and the tricky teenage years, so a lot of the things I did or liked were directly and indirectly influenced by peer pressure and the expectations of my peers and the general teenage consensus. In simpler terms, consciously and subconsciously my movements were dictated by one simple thing, coolness. I wrote poetry, lots of it actually, but never really did much with it, and I sure as hell was not going to listen to poetry albums, much less buy them, and especially not the rootsy, culture filled ones like AJA's, "Doing it Saf" - jokes!
However, as I said I did like History, and I was writing and reading poetry, though not as often as I wish I did now, so when I got to around 5th form and I began to mature(even if my actions did not reflect the intellectual growth) my perceptions started to change, my attention to "cool" started to change. This was as I was preparing my History SBA (School Based Assessment) which was based on the work of Dr. Ivan van Sertima, and more specifically, his book, "They Came Before Columbus". The work of van Sertima opened my mind's eye and shifted my existing historical paradigm and set me on a course to find out about Africa, in a pre-European era. As I began to connect with this history and this culture of "enlightenment" I began to lose some of the romantic notions I had early on when I first read van Sertima, and I began to see that everything in this subculture was not pristine and perfect. There were lazy people in "the struggle", there were out and out frauds, looking to capitalise on the hopefulness of others, but those eye openers aside, there was work to be done and not much people knew exactly how to set about this work. This annoyed me a bit, probably because I was, as are most teens, anxious and a bit impatient and expected that the elders would at least know what they were doing. This led to me writing a poem called "Rant" and it was, as the title suggests, me ranting about some of the inadequacies in the "Black Power/Pan African" movement.
All of this was not said to initiate any talk about the movement and its glories or its short comings and misgivings, but was a convoluted way of getting you to understand the mindset I was in when I wrote the poem linked above.
"Do you understand the power of the words that are coming out of my mouth?" I did not. My mother had AJA's album and I listened to it, under the rule of coolness, with the intention of getting some laughs at the "funny talking dashiki wearing rastaman", and I did get some laughs. The last laugh, however, was to be AJA's, because even though I was mocking the works at first, the words from some of the pieces became imprinted in my mind and remained there. Fast forward a few years and my mother, knowing I write poetry and do the NIFCA thing from time to time, brought home this book by a young Bajan poet who worked as the tech guy in her office, a little known guy with a sweet Riddim and Flo' going by the name DJ Simmons. I read the book, and at first the poems did not move me much, because at the time my poetry was in standard English with traditional structure and arrangement, so this dialect work was not so much my thing, it was nice, but just not my thing. Fast forward a little bit in time and I found myself at a show put on by "two roaring lions" and for the first time the question is posed to me, " Do you understand the power of the words that are coming out of my mouth?", and it was as if the poet had known that I was unsure, and he would have had to have been pretty damn intuitive because at the time I myself was not aware that I was unsure. He then told me what would happen if I understood the power of the words, he said," If you understood the power of the word you would understand and that you have the power to bring down the house..with a word", " because the power of life and death is on the tongue, but you know this, you feel it when certain songs are sung..when certain passages are read." In this moment I began to truly understand the power of the words and could answer the question that I had not known I was even to be asking with a quiet but certain; Yes!
As with my discovery of African greatness through the work of Dr. van Sertima, my fascination with the power of words was initially deeply romantic and a bit one sided. I had been fascinated with the potentially positive, almost magical, power of words and wordsmiths, but soon I would sober up from the romantic hangover and realise that with with all this potential that words had, there was no guarantee that once released their power would be used for good. Some of the most powerful words that can be uttered are "In the name of the Lord", and the evils committed under these words were/are unpleasant at best. Hitler and his Nazi regime were propelled largely by word power; manifested by means of his propaganda machinery, and his speeches.
"Djs and artists must know what their part is..."*, because "far too many of us are speaking poison."* Maybe the question that was posed to me should now be posed to them, or should be one of the questions posed during the interview when they apply to work at radio stations, "Do you understand the power of the words that are coming out of my mouth?" They might be just like me and not aware that they are unsure, or that there is even something to be unsure about.
The poet is right, far too many of us are speaking poison, and it is time for the positive potential in the words to be released. Released in the form of Positive Energy...RAH!*
*Blog title from Adrian Green's poem "Word Power". track 14 on his "Random Acts of Consciousness" album. *quotes come from Adrian Green's poem "Djs and Artists", track 6 on his "Random Acts of Conscience" album. *DJ Simmons' track "Energy", track 6 on his "Riddim & Flo" album. Check out track 18 for the remix with Adrian Green, its wickedly nice.
Once more we are back on music, and this time exploring non-indigenous genres in the local music industry. Local here of course refers to Barbados, but can easily apply to any music industry anywhere.
By now it should be no secret to anyone,living in Barbados, that Barbados has musical acts practising and representing a plethora of musical genres. From the internationally known soca acts like Krosfyah, Allison Hinds and Lil Rick to the amazing rock alternative stylings of Kite, Barbados goes hard. Standing Penance, Psilos, Threads of Scarlet, The Highgrade Band, The Fully Loaded Band, Nexcyx, Teff, Cover Drive, Daveny Ellis, Sunrok, Rhy Minister, Dundeal, Billy Kincaid(where you at son?) Red Star Lion, LRG, Ayana John, Betty Rose, and this list could and would go on. This list represents rock, reggae, r&b, pop, hip hop, indie and more, and is 100% Bajan. Anyone remember DJ Carlos and his Friday night techno-dance-trance sessions on Mix 96.9FM?
I claim this list as 100% Bajan and I stand by it, but they are some who would beg to differ, and for valid reasons, very valid reasons in fact. The arguments cited, in opposition of the 100% Bajan tag vary. There is the argument that Barbadians should stick to Bajan music and not get caught up in trying to do other peoples things, amd by other peoples things they usually mean pop, rap and hip hop, rock/alternative and reggae. The persons presenting this argument would prefer for Bajans to stick to soca and revitalise spouge, and stop all the banja. There is of course the slight issue in that soca is no more bajan than hip hop is, and a lot of people either do not know this, forgot this, or would love to pretend that it is. "Yuh hear lie, dat is lie." This argument is perpetuated by some narrow minded, but not ill-intentioned, people, who are gladly starting to fade from existance thanks mainly to the signing of a few young Bajans (Livvi Franc, Vita Chambers, Hal Linton, Shontelle and of course RiRi) to international labels, none practising any "indigenous" genres.
This next argument holds ground on this, its supporters and agitators have nothing against a diverse musical industry and in fact welcome the diversity, their peeve is that the artists are imitating the international and regional artists from which ever country their selected genre is from. Simplified, the rappers are rapping and phrasing like Americans, and rockers are singing like Americans, the reggae artists are chanting and singing and phrasing and speaking like Jamaicans, the Calypsonians and Soca artists are "phrasing like Trini".
This argument claims that the Barbadian self image, or perception of self, is in crisis since its artist are choosing to imitate, not emulate, the image and voices of others and not highlight their own, or create one that is uniquely and distinctly Bajan. It is a fairly valid point, and no doubt a serious one, no nation should let its national self image be weak enough to be erased by external influences, but is it really that bad, is the Barbadian self image so malleable? I'm not convinced, at least not from a musical stand point, that it is. If as a musician I lean towards rock, and choose that rock is the genre I wish to perform, then I would naturally seek to emulate other rock artist, especially the ones that I like and that influence me. It should come as no surprise to anyone that listens to me perform that I would have a similar sound to my influences, even in my original pieces. So when I go and listen to Adrian Green perform, I do not say, this is 75% Bajan, because I can hear the influence of Heru in him, neither do I ask whether Billy Kincaid has dual American/Bajan citizenship because he uses Bajan metaphors and analogies with some traces of an American accent and phrasing when rapping. Sunrok is hot in either dialect or the American flow, and 100% Bajan in both.
"Because when man luv ah ooman and ah ooman luv ah man ah jah jah bless eet" said the white Italian Rasta, and no one cares. Who remembers Snow from the 90's, the skinny white Canadian reggae artist, who on the radio sounded just like the skinny black boys from Kingston.
The genres these artists love and perform are not Bajan in origin, and while I can agree that some Barbadian influences coming through in the music would be nice (and it does happen, hell of a lot too) we really should not be disappointed when they sound like people from the respective lands of origin of whatever genre they perform, it is only natural. Listen to the junglist selections coming out of England, ever heard Mighty Crown or Black Chiney in a clash? Simon Pipe sounds like a Bay Area kid? So what? If these walls could talk they would tell you hush and just listen to the music.
These Bajan artist are some of the proudest Bajans we have, and they rep the country to the fullest when the chance arises. One of the guys from Kite had a customised guitar painted like the Barbados flag, unfortunately it was stolen. RiRi always has a trident somewhere in her videos. Buggy and the Fully Loaded Band always remixing songs and incorporating Barbadian things in their covers, "take a look down Baxters Road, do you see anything to smile bout?", "I got a hundred weight of collie weed coming from St. John..", and they had this crazy crazy spouge rendition of Culture's "A Song to Make the Whole World Sing" ..the engineer would tell you I love that version bad bad bad. The Highgrade Band started to incorporate some Bajan familiarities into their cover sets too. Do you know what I do when I hear Nexcyx perform? The same thing I do when Taio Cruz comes on, I get On The Floor and throw my hands in the air sometimes, it just feels a lot better when its to Nexcyx.
We have spouge(dead as it is) and Fling, and I hope that if fling ever gets regional and international followers that when I am overseas I can hear some Americans phrasing in Bajan and flinging it down like Azman. They will be no less American, just like The Bajan musicians are no less Bajan; Real Ting!
There are more but I'm getting bad energy from them so...moving on.
For the last few days I have been browsing a lot of internet blogs and forum discussions, actively taking part in some, but mostly just looking on. This was so that I could get a sense of what people were/are thinking and how their thoughts could/would develop into anything, if they did develop into anything at all.
Well here is the thing, most people are emotional, very emotional, coming to conclusions in an instant and making what would seem like rash judgment calls. This is a bad thing because of the mentality it develops in the social psyche of a nation and in this particular case, a region. This is even more disturbing in a region where there are supposed to be mechanisms and schemes in place to develop regional integration. When there is so much emotionally driven talk about boycotts, and reciprocal actions and disbandment of CARICOM and expulsion of countries from CARICOM, one has to get worried, if one is interested in an integrated and homogeneous region that is. If, however, you are seeking to be like the proverbial cheese and stand alone, then the recently highlighted events in the regional media and the emotional and irrational comments must be making you smile :D . They say that Kamla say she wants no part of CCJ, Bajans allegedly showing their xenophobic colours, Jamaicans calling for boycotts of Bajan products (btw BIM doan mek one shite) and it goes on and on and on and down and down.
The regional dis-integration movement was not the purpose of this particular blog though. As I was wandering the internet and going from blog to blog, newspaper to newspaper, forum to forum, I realised something, a lot of people had a lot to say, lots of it emotional, some of it clearly thought out and rationally put forward, some of it just plain ignorant, but there were a lot of things said by a lot of people. As I read the online papers today and the days following the Jamaican/Barbadian immigration saga I notice that there is something missing from the news...action. Where were the stories about the petitions, the photos of people picketing, people rallying? No where, there were none. People call for boycotts, no one ever does it, people call for action, no one ever acts. "Action" should be added to George Orwell's list of imaginary or meaningless words in his essay "Politics and the English Language", because this word as used in political rhetoric and when used in speaking about political elements is meaningless, the meaning is not defined but usually left to be contextually defined by the listener, meaning that everyone can get leave with a different interpretation of what was said the person saying it can leave without having to feel inadequate or offensive or whatever they would feel had they taken the time to tell the people what hey meant by "action", this is, of course, following the assumption that the speaker/the summoner to action has an idea of what action they were instigating :s.
In France people are called to action and respond to the calls fairly regularly, ever since they chopped off the heads of the royalty the leaders of that country tend to listen to the population. Here in the Caribbean, and Barbados seems to be most guilty, we are very inactive on a socio-political level. "Irie mon", "shit happens", "same shit different day", all of these phrases seem to be the social and political battle cry of the Caribbean populations. "Inaction over In Action!" our motto, manifested in our lives and daily goings about. Talk talk talk talk talk talk, seems like we just love to hear our beautiful accents in UPPER CASE and hushed tones commenting of the latest injustice and/or ignorant political move by our governments, but could not be bothered to make our words and opinions manifest with tangible actions and visible solidarity. (well for something other than a damn movie everybody watched online anyway)
Get up stand up, stand upfor your rights! Get up standup, don't forget to fight!
Bob had a nice tune, but we forgetting to get up and stand up, and we sure as hell ain't bout no fighting.
I bout some action, even if it just a picket demonstration. Time for some action...here is to hoping that I do not join the ranks of the "Inaction over In Action!" brigade.
There are a few people who sit in fancy chairs around fancy tables in each island and tattle amongst themselves, and then they meet with their counterparts from across the region and tattle amongst themselves again and then they stand behind lecterns, on top of podiums, in front of cameras and speak to us, the ordinary folk, and say we are moving towards integration, we are finding and working towards ways of unifying all almost 40 million people.
After this the brilliant ones amongst us sit in lecture theaters and and classrooms and library cubicles and analyse the implications and possibilities that would arise from this unification and integration. They write papers and present their findings to their peers who either cheer or chide and then it is filtered by removing jargon and convoluted terms and given to Joe Public so as to get them on board and in a mind state to facilitate what is called the integration movement.
All is fine and fair so far, here is where it gets tricky, and where the insulting of my intelligence begins; ready? Remember your parents back in the days of your youth telling you, "Do as I say not as I do."? Well the officials, the academics, the institutions, the governments are manifesting this parenting cliche. How? Like this.
The University of the West Indies, an institution created within the vision of regional integration, one university, three campuses, none offering the same specialties so as to make people leave home and travel (read as integrate) to other regional territories and foster relationships with a regional cross section of persons. This would facilitate a much smoother integration process...LOL! So fast forward a few years, and the campuses begin offering the same things as each other, so Bajans really do not need to leff home and Jamaicans don't haffi fly out and Trinis can stay home and lime. Well non-campus territories still have to send their people out, but integration is a all encompassing not selective, as some people would like to have us believe. University of Guyana? 4th UWI campus? Things of myth and legend I believe.
Caribbean Court of Justice, who sign on? Enough said, moving on.
Media. Yes media. "The integration movement is making significant strides to becoming a reality", says one news report, then the rest of the news program is dedicated to how Jamaicans are drug dealers and prostitutes and murderous bastards, Trinidadians are obnoxious, self centered people with serious internal integration problems based on a racial divide, the Winward and Leeward Islands are hopeless banana republics and the non-English speaking countries are not worth a once-over.
I sense a mixed message here..subtle.
This is an outrage and very shameful. The Jamaican government has many tools at its disposal to retaliate against the Barbados yet is seemingly polite about this travesty. Sadly, this is not an isolated incident and requires a string response. Jamaicans, if little Barbados can treat some of us like that, you retaliate by not vacationing there, don't buy goods made in Barbados and boycott Bajan owned companies in Jamaica. Support Jamaican owned enterprises.
Jamaicans, you have power. Use it!!!
Jamaica must go it alone, no to Caricom and no to CCJ. It is a good thing that Jamaica did get out of the West Indian Federation. This "Finger-raped" would never happened to Shanique if she was traveling on an US or Canadian or EU passport because those governments will "punish" Barbados.
It is bad when a "white country" theat Jamaicans "bad" but when it it a 'black country" doing the same there are no words to discribe shame shame on our so call " black" brothers and sistersin Barbados.
Someone somewhere thinks I am stupid.
Why produce/promote songs like this then nuh if wunna really aint bout this togetherness thing?
Piss in muh facking pocket and call it gold man, I stupid so. Would have to be.
Ok yeh its a bit odd, but I'm still on a music tip.
So here is the question, what is bashment? What makes a song bashment? Is it the song it self, the lyrical content or the instrumental? A combination? Let us take a look see.
From observation I'll have to say that all songs deemed bashment have a few things in common: they are bass heavy, usually very high bmp, and are more rhythm oriented than melody oriented so as to inspire waistline articulation in the form of juks and stabs, a wukkupp more than a wine or grind. These features are found in bashment without regard for the era from which the song originates.
Nothing too fantastic in the melodies of these songs: Little Lenny - Bum Flick and Vybz Kartel - Dumpa Truck, but they are bass heavy, rhythm oriented and the bmp is fairly high.
Now looking back at the list one might be asking, "but rastaman what about the lyrics?" In those two songs above the lyrics are, quite "bashy", but from observation lyrical content is not a determining factor in what is bashment or not. How many old dub fetes or bashment events (short pants vs short skirts/ leggins and heels) are advertised with these songs as part of the ad?
In fact Super Cat seems to be the go to guy for old bashment, but listen to the lyrics of these songs, the latter is a hail up to the veterans of dancehall music, a song of praise/celebration if anything, but let the DJ select it and the the girls will call on their energy reserves if they have to and bash right out...COME OUT TINGS!
Which Lil Rick is bashier? Which will fill a dance floor faster? I bet the first one will, and its is more socially conscious than the latter, which is just about the female ass and its effects on him.
What's the point? The point is this, bashment is not lyrically defined and I guess that is good and bad. On the one hand you get a larger selection of music to chose for bashment events, and as an artist you get to reach a larger demographic, but on the other hand the message in the song, in a case where there is a message, is potentially lost in the bashment frenzy since it is the beat, not the lyrics, that crowd responds to. In most cases I'm not sure people even listen to the lyrics, sure they hear the lyrics and given enough time they repeat the lyrics, but they are not listening to them. What therefore is bashment music? Bashment music is music that can bring out the bash within, and for that nuff nuff bass, high bmp and repetitive drum rhythms are all you need. So whether it "too scabical"* or "you can't walk the road as you like lately"* is not the determining factor, once it makes the people jump up, bruk out, skin out 6:30 pat and crank and dagger, it is bashment.
It is kinda hard to do all of those dances to the song below. Its so mellow you just have to listen to the lyrics, no inner bash to be summoned by bass and drums, maybe just a lil scant and a head bop.
Red Star Lion - Watching Me
*Peter Ram and Lil Rick references. The first reference is to Peter Ram's Pat and Crank, which is opened with him declaring 'this one too/to (no one is sure whether he is addressing scabicals or declaring the song itself as scabical) scabical'. The second is Lil Rick reference to his dub song from the 90's about gossiping people and how they talk about you behind your back and even to your face. The chorus begins with the line " i can't walk on the road as i like lately, everybody like dem got talk fuh me" It is also the source of this blog title.
There exists this magical place in cyberspace where music lovers come together and post 'tune' and vibe in the cyber company of one another. The cyber city wherein this little enclave is found is Facebook, but before you go "oh dear, a facebook thing/app, it has to be folly" hear me out. This little cyber hole might be a Facebook group, but it lives up, for the most part, to its name, "I dedicate this group to real tune..." For those outside of, or unfamiliar with Caribbean musical jargon, when a song/piece of music is titled as 'tune' it means its either very popular or it merits distinction from other songs. This merit could be based on things like the musical concept of the piece, to the arrangement, to the lyrical content, instrumentals, etc. but it has to be distinct and distinctly good. This group is dedicated to real tune..and by real tune I mean the songs merited above others, not for popularity, but for being distinctly good in some aspects, if not all.
Look at these offerings from last nights crazy, crazy reggae session:
Dennis Brown - Money in my Pocket
Beres Hammond - Warriors Don't Cry
Matisyahu - Jerusalem
Bushman - Call the Hearse
It is a group formed by Caribbean nationals, but its focus is not solely on Caribbean music like reggae and dancehall. Dubstep, rock, trance, hip hop and rap, r and b, have strong representation in this group too. This group is a private group, kinda like a members only club, but is has members from across the Caribbean and even as far as away as Sweden, so we are actually global in scope and representation and musical preference.
For this blog post I dedicate it to real tune... from which ever genre.
good morning good people, well it is actually afternoon, anyways i just thought i would get this little ball rolling and see what all the fuss about blogging is. honestly im not sure i get it, but time will tell.
in this my little corner of the web world i will expose you to some of my thoughts and ideas, philosophies and concepts, which are at times conflicting with the typical thoughts, concepts and philosophies of the average rastafari. life is made interesting by variety and differences, and i kinda thrive on/in conflict so at times the things i say will be said just to provoke reactions from people, but i will try my best not to be purposely combative.
