Old flyer... Just reminiscing
I am no politician
I have zero interest in that puppet show
It takes a special human to choose such a grimy job in my opinion
My grandmother was Iris King, once the mayor for Kingston, Jamaica and possibly the only mayor to serve two terms of office. She was certainly someone I and many in my family looked up to. She was a member of the People’s National Party, a friend and advisor to Michael Manley and P.J. Patterson; she still carries clout in certain spaces in my life
Gaga, as I and others hailed her as, was a special human
I must take a moment to also mention her rival at the time Ms. Rose Leon as many Jamaicans have deep love for both of these women, no matter which side of the fence you may be, cause a woman in politics in the 1950s is easily an unheard of proposition for those times where many women, globally barely worked or had positions of power
My maternal grandmother, Lena Melbourne was a pharmacist back in the late 30s to the 40s and for many years of her life. My grandmothers were boss ladies
My grandfather John Melbourne was a great man and died tragically in an explosion, working for the Jamaica Public service. He seemed to be a revered man
Herman King, my other grand pops was a Choice Pilot for Grace Kennedy, bringing ships into the warf area. A respected man by all accounts
Herman and Iris produced four children, Barbara, Hermon, Donald and Bentley
Donald is my pops
Unfortunately for me, pops took off to England, sometime in the early sixities and mom, Patricia, had us two to contend with (my sister Donna as well)
For most of my life, I lived what I considered to be a fairly “normal’ existence and for the most part, a very happy childhood
Through the years, Hermon and Bentley would check in on Donna, mom and myself, looking out for their brother’s family. I am well grateful to my uncles for this. The King Boys were like the three musketeers of old, “all for one and one for all” vibe which Hermon especially kept up his end of the bargain. He not only checked on us but was a great mentor to me as a youth
Woody was a special soul {that’s what folks close to him called him}
Grandmother King the mayor and Woody, her son, a big RasTaman
By all accounts, mother and son were very proud of each other
Woody King
The folks who knew him can tell you more of his exploits with RasTafari, reggae music as a promoter of sorts as well as the character of this man. Suffice to say that I hold Woody King in the highest regard
To give you the story of his life would be telling a Robin Hood, honest, conscious man, well loved by all his crew but was also known a no nonsense person and fairly quick to box a bwoy where necessary
One story, which we spoke of, was his life in Spanish Town
He told me that he and his wife went to live there and over a period of time more and more folks gathered to listen to charismatic Woody as a confidant as they read bible, chanted and lived respectfully. It is rumoured that man like Bob, Peter and Bunny came for reasoning sessions with Woody
One day while Woody was by himself, fourteen {14} babylon showed up, beat him up and trimmed his locks. When he recounted the story a couple years ago to me, I remember him saying that “there were just too many for him”
In that moment I knew that he did not go easily
I had always been aware of his defiance to injustice
I know that he was considered a dangerous man because of his affinity to justice and truth as well as very strong connections to RasTafari
Woody took the Jamaican Constabulary Police to court, sued them and won the case making it illegal to trim RasTafari, in Jamaica, to this very day
King vs Regina, you can look it up
Woody was a bongo man
Yet he was also from privilege as a youth
I once asked him why he chose RasTafari and he said, “Because they needed a voice”
He knew that he could make impact and he did
Even at the cost of brutality to himself
Woody helped to bring the Folks Brothers music, “Oh Carolina” to the world
Woody was a reggae man
And possibly my greatest influencer
I was way too young to have known all that he was doing yet several years after moving to Canada, my life with reggae, mirrors his as it pertained for the love of Jamaican music
I am grateful that he and I reconnected by phone over the years till he passed recently
We realized that DNA is a real thing...lol
Reggae
An uncompromising, spiritual energy that flashes around the globe like a bolt of lightening
It is a genre of music that the babylonian has set its sights on to try and control, using the same tactics of brutality through the use of the corrupt politicians in all Jamaican governments and leadership
Before you jump up to defend the JA government, I will list a few things that tell you a truth
How are the artists in Jamaica living today who set the foundation for the music?
Are they making any money from the impact of their music globally?
Has the Jamaican government ever set up a pension program for ailing or broken men and women of reggae?
Why aren’t Jamaican artists given jobs at resorts to make a proper living?
Why are there no major concerts in Jamaica but nuff concerts all over Europe?
How many vinyl pressing plants are there currently on the island? With the lucrative vinyl market making white children a ton of money, why doesn’t JA have a vinyl plant or two?
Why hasn’t the Jamaican government ever monetized the export of reggae to aid the economy (and I am not speaking of their use of Marley’s face for tourism selling}? I mean the rich heritage of reggae and the hundreds of talented men and women doing it over the years till this very day, why isn’t it monetized?
Why are the colonizer government beating down the clash culture with soldier and police?
The list could go on for a few more pages but you catch my drift
The goal it seems is to kill the music at the root, with the use of colonizer governments with politicians eager to sell out Jamaican people and Jamaican culture
Their abusive is undeniable and decades long and clearly visible to the world and CONSISTENT over several decades now
Undeniable
Babsy Grange
I have never had the pleasure of meeting this lady yet she is the Cultural Minister in the Jamaica Labor Party (Her title much longer but yu get mi)
Ms. Grange lived in Canada for a bit and elevated the reggae community here. Many mention her name
She booked events, created tours, advised artists, created a record label to sell reggae music. She went back to Jamaica to do the same thing and take reggae to the world
She is consistently reggae
I trust her far more than I trust politicians because of her consistent work of elevating reggae music
She ought to be recognized and honored as a “reggae soldier” while she is still above ground and breathing
I believe she is the beacon of this time in which we live
The corrupt babylonian venom encircling the earth need reggae eradicated or controlled
This is not possible
Spiritual energy cannot be contained
Brutality and bigotry can be brought to the people but this only makes reggae stronger because reggae comes from the spirit of the ancestors brutalized by the colonial yolk. The reactionary energy that oozes from oppression and abuse
“They” have made it clear
Only they can earn from reggae
We all want to eat food as well but nuh matta weh unnu do, reggae a go play. We reggae soldiers will keep on keeping on even with the spiteful venom of the colonizer “sucking the blood of the sufferer”
Reggae For Life is my vibe
Canadian Reggae World is a website that I have maintained for close to twenty years as a conduit for reggae music. We are not the most influential site yet here we still stand
All of the things that I used to rant about was a thought that when I became enlightened, I would spread the info, shine the light, folks could see the issue/s, change them and the world would be a better place
Yes naïve
I realize I am not writing to everybody
I also recognize “government” is perceived as bigger than me / us
Reggae is for life, so as we live and breathe, we must continue to seek the love, spirituality and sense of protection to those who cannot fight for themselves, which sometimes includes all of us
Yah man, reggae for life
~ ~ ~
Hit the link on the hoodie for RFL merchandise. We ship any place in the US and Canada only
I have zero interest in that puppet show
It takes a special human to choose such a grimy job in my opinion
My grandmother was Iris King, once the mayor for Kingston, Jamaica and possibly the only mayor to serve two terms of office. She was certainly someone I and many in my family looked up to. She was a member of the People’s National Party, a friend and advisor to Michael Manley and P.J. Patterson; she still carries clout in certain spaces in my life
Gaga, as I and others hailed her as, was a special human
I must take a moment to also mention her rival at the time Ms. Rose Leon as many Jamaicans have deep love for both of these women, no matter which side of the fence you may be, cause a woman in politics in the 1950s is easily an unheard of proposition for those times where many women, globally barely worked or had positions of power
My maternal grandmother, Lena Melbourne was a pharmacist back in the late 30s to the 40s and for many years of her life. My grandmothers were boss ladies
My grandfather John Melbourne was a great man and died tragically in an explosion, working for the Jamaica Public service. He seemed to be a revered man
Herman King, my other grand pops was a Choice Pilot for Grace Kennedy, bringing ships into the warf area. A respected man by all accounts
Herman and Iris produced four children, Barbara, Hermon, Donald and Bentley
Donald is my pops
Unfortunately for me, pops took off to England, sometime in the early sixities and mom, Patricia, had us two to contend with (my sister Donna as well)
For most of my life, I lived what I considered to be a fairly “normal’ existence and for the most part, a very happy childhood
Through the years, Hermon and Bentley would check in on Donna, mom and myself, looking out for their brother’s family. I am well grateful to my uncles for this. The King Boys were like the three musketeers of old, “all for one and one for all” vibe which Hermon especially kept up his end of the bargain. He not only checked on us but was a great mentor to me as a youth
Woody was a special soul {that’s what folks close to him called him}
Grandmother King the mayor and Woody, her son, a big RasTaman
By all accounts, mother and son were very proud of each other
Woody King
The folks who knew him can tell you more of his exploits with RasTafari, reggae music as a promoter of sorts as well as the character of this man. Suffice to say that I hold Woody King in the highest regard
To give you the story of his life would be telling a Robin Hood, honest, conscious man, well loved by all his crew but was also known a no nonsense person and fairly quick to box a bwoy where necessary
One story, which we spoke of, was his life in Spanish Town
He told me that he and his wife went to live there and over a period of time more and more folks gathered to listen to charismatic Woody as a confidant as they read bible, chanted and lived respectfully. It is rumoured that man like Bob, Peter and Bunny came for reasoning sessions with Woody
One day while Woody was by himself, fourteen {14} babylon showed up, beat him up and trimmed his locks. When he recounted the story a couple years ago to me, I remember him saying that “there were just too many for him”
In that moment I knew that he did not go easily
I had always been aware of his defiance to injustice
I know that he was considered a dangerous man because of his affinity to justice and truth as well as very strong connections to RasTafari
Woody took the Jamaican Constabulary Police to court, sued them and won the case making it illegal to trim RasTafari, in Jamaica, to this very day
King vs Regina, you can look it up
Woody was a bongo man
Yet he was also from privilege as a youth
I once asked him why he chose RasTafari and he said, “Because they needed a voice”
He knew that he could make impact and he did
Even at the cost of brutality to himself
Woody helped to bring the Folks Brothers music, “Oh Carolina” to the world
Woody was a reggae man
And possibly my greatest influencer
I was way too young to have known all that he was doing yet several years after moving to Canada, my life with reggae, mirrors his as it pertained for the love of Jamaican music
I am grateful that he and I reconnected by phone over the years till he passed recently
We realized that DNA is a real thing...lol
Reggae
An uncompromising, spiritual energy that flashes around the globe like a bolt of lightening
It is a genre of music that the babylonian has set its sights on to try and control, using the same tactics of brutality through the use of the corrupt politicians in all Jamaican governments and leadership
Before you jump up to defend the JA government, I will list a few things that tell you a truth
How are the artists in Jamaica living today who set the foundation for the music?
Are they making any money from the impact of their music globally?
Has the Jamaican government ever set up a pension program for ailing or broken men and women of reggae?
Why aren’t Jamaican artists given jobs at resorts to make a proper living?
Why are there no major concerts in Jamaica but nuff concerts all over Europe?
How many vinyl pressing plants are there currently on the island? With the lucrative vinyl market making white children a ton of money, why doesn’t JA have a vinyl plant or two?
Why hasn’t the Jamaican government ever monetized the export of reggae to aid the economy (and I am not speaking of their use of Marley’s face for tourism selling}? I mean the rich heritage of reggae and the hundreds of talented men and women doing it over the years till this very day, why isn’t it monetized?
Why are the colonizer government beating down the clash culture with soldier and police?
The list could go on for a few more pages but you catch my drift
The goal it seems is to kill the music at the root, with the use of colonizer governments with politicians eager to sell out Jamaican people and Jamaican culture
Their abusive is undeniable and decades long and clearly visible to the world and CONSISTENT over several decades now
Undeniable
Babsy Grange
I have never had the pleasure of meeting this lady yet she is the Cultural Minister in the Jamaica Labor Party (Her title much longer but yu get mi)
Ms. Grange lived in Canada for a bit and elevated the reggae community here. Many mention her name
She booked events, created tours, advised artists, created a record label to sell reggae music. She went back to Jamaica to do the same thing and take reggae to the world
She is consistently reggae
I trust her far more than I trust politicians because of her consistent work of elevating reggae music
She ought to be recognized and honored as a “reggae soldier” while she is still above ground and breathing
I believe she is the beacon of this time in which we live
The corrupt babylonian venom encircling the earth need reggae eradicated or controlled
This is not possible
Spiritual energy cannot be contained
Brutality and bigotry can be brought to the people but this only makes reggae stronger because reggae comes from the spirit of the ancestors brutalized by the colonial yolk. The reactionary energy that oozes from oppression and abuse
“They” have made it clear
Only they can earn from reggae
We all want to eat food as well but nuh matta weh unnu do, reggae a go play. We reggae soldiers will keep on keeping on even with the spiteful venom of the colonizer “sucking the blood of the sufferer”
Reggae For Life is my vibe
Canadian Reggae World is a website that I have maintained for close to twenty years as a conduit for reggae music. We are not the most influential site yet here we still stand
All of the things that I used to rant about was a thought that when I became enlightened, I would spread the info, shine the light, folks could see the issue/s, change them and the world would be a better place
Yes naïve
I realize I am not writing to everybody
I also recognize “government” is perceived as bigger than me / us
Reggae is for life, so as we live and breathe, we must continue to seek the love, spirituality and sense of protection to those who cannot fight for themselves, which sometimes includes all of us
Yah man, reggae for life
~ ~ ~
Hit the link on the hoodie for RFL merchandise. We ship any place in the US and Canada only
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