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#selfie #outside #MayPen #Jamaica

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How it always ends

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Some words to use when writing things:

winking

clenching

pulsing

fluttering

contracting

twitching

sucking

quivering

pulsating

throbbing

beating

thumping

thudding

pounding

humming

palpitate

vibrate

grinding

crushing

hammering

lashing

knocking

driving

thrusting

pushing

force

injecting

filling

dilate

stretching

lingering

expanding

bouncing

reaming

elongate

enlarge

unfolding

yielding

sternly

firmly

tightly 

harshly

thoroughly

consistently

precision

accuracy

carefully

demanding

strictly

restriction

meticulously

scrupulously

rigorously

rim

edge

lip

circle

band

encircling

enclosing

surrounding

piercing

curl

lock

twist

coil

spiral

whorl

dip

wet

soak

madly

wildly

noisily

rowdily

rambunctiously

decadent

degenerate

immoral

indulgent

accept

take

invite

nook

indentation

niche

depression

indent

depress

delay

tossing

writhing

flailing

squirming

rolling

wriggling

wiggling

thrashing

struggling

grappling

striving

straining

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Roughly 60 years after the abolition of slavery, anthropologist Zora Neale Hurstonmade an incredible connection: She located the last surviving captive of the last slave ship to bring Africans to the United States.

Hurston, a known figure of the Harlem Renaissance who would later write the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, conducted interviews with the survivor but struggled to publish them as a book in the early 1930s. In fact, they are only now being released to the public in a book called Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” that comes out on May 8, 2018.

Hurston’s book tells the story of Cudjo Lewis, who was born in what is now the West African country of Benin. Originally named Kossula, he was only 19 years old when members of the neighboring Dahomian tribe captured him and took him to the coast. There, he and about 120 others were sold into slavery and crammed onto the Clotilda, the last slave ship to reach the continental United States.

The Clotilda brought its captives to Alabama in 1860, just a year before the outbreak of the Civil War. Even though slavery was legal at that time in the U.S., the international slave trade was not, and hadn’t been for over 50 years. Along with many European nations, the U.S. had outlawed the practice in 1807, but Lewis’ journey is an example of how slave traders went around the law to continue bringing over human cargo.

To avoid detection, Lewis’ captors snuck him and the other survivors into Alabama at night and made them hide in a swamp for several days. To hide the evidence of their crime, the 86-foot sailboat was then set ablaze on the banks of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta (its remains may have been uncovered in January 2018).

Most poignantly, Lewis’ narrative provides a first-hand account of the disorienting trauma of slavery. After being abducted from his home, Lewis was forced onto a ship with strangers. The abductees spent several months together during the treacherous passage to the United States, but were then separated in Alabama to go to different plantations.

“We very sorry to be parted from one ’nother,” Lewis told Hurston. “We seventy days cross de water from de Affica soil, and now dey part us from one ’nother. Derefore we cry. Our grief so heavy look lak we cain stand it. I think maybe I die in my sleep when I dream about my mama.”

THERE ARE PEOPLE ALIVE FROM THE 1930S TODAY!! THEY WOULD ONLY BE 88 YEARS OLD!! FUCK YOU WITH THIS “SLAVERY WAS SOOOOOOOO LONG AGO” BULLSHIT!

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“Territorial Fad” Triptych, 46" x 50" MIxed media, Young Artist V, 2010 

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“Lost at Sea 1”, 46" x 50" Mixed media on canvas, 2012

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“Untitled #4”, 30"x 54" Mixed Media, 2012

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“Church in Session #1”, 30"x 54" Mixed media, 2012

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“Brace”, 20" x 25" mixed media on canvas, 2013

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Burning Spear and Horse Mouth partaking in I-ses (praises: but referred in the first person); which is a form of meditation shared or alone. The song is called Jah Nuh Dead. Jah being God. In the first lines Burning Spear appeals to the obvious. Something widely understood in conscious communities:

“They tried to fool the Black population by telling them Jah Jah dead”

Reminding a one that we have been led to believe many lies as Africans in the diaspora.

In the first verse; third line Spear rejoices:

“It is I man who say, Heights (Red), Green and Gold it’s the rainbow. The Lion, the Lion did crown the King, in Addis Ababa, Africa”

A recognition of the spectrum of humanity and equality presented in the teachings of HIM Haile Selassie I. As if to remind his friend that we must be encouraged as we all share a common experience and skills.

This song is a work of high Jamaican art and philosophy. I have as much reverence for it as Christians have for Amazing Grace. Spiritually refreshing and calming in this delivery. In tough times this song always roots me.

Bless

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Art

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