Kalinago Tribe Young Cultural Custodian-Dominica Photo courtesy of Senator Anette Sanford
WRITING JUSTICE
We utter the call for collective action and individual accountability.
Sound the Abeng presents the essential act of writing the lives of Black, Indigenous and Aboriginal peoples in celebration of the majesty of our existence, for we are one global family whose fire would not be extinguished despite all the forces of oppression that sought to extinguish us. We strive to document important historical struggles for dignity and justice that have been taken up by Black, Aboriginal and Indigenous peoples. We praise our political heroes and acknowledge the continued oppression we face despite knowing that our ancestors have already paid for our existence with their blood. Through the stories we tell, we not only express our frustrations, but also the pride and joy that is essential to our identity as survivors of historical trauma. We utter a call for collective action and individual accountability. Inspired by the past as well as contemporary acts of resistance against oppression, we proclaim and promote the positive identities, self-esteem and agency of Black folks like us, all across the globe.
We utter the call for collective action and individual accountability.
Sound the Abeng presents the essential act of writing the lives of Black, Indigenous and Aboriginal peoples in celebration of the majesty of our existence, for we are one global family whose fire would not be extinguished despite all the forces of oppression that sought to extinguish us. We strive to document important historical struggles for dignity and justice that have been taken up by Black, Aboriginal and Indigenous peoples. We praise our political heroes and acknowledge the continued oppression we face despite knowing that our ancestors have already paid for our existence with their blood. Through the stories we tell, we not only express our frustrations, but also the pride and joy that is essential to our identity as survivors of historical trauma. We utter a call for collective action and individual accountability. Inspired by the past as well as contemporary acts of resistance against oppression, we proclaim and promote the positive identities, self-esteem and agency of Black folks like us, all across the globe.
CONTRIBUTORS
EDITORIAL
Marva McClean
The writer cannot expect to be excused from the task of reeducation and regeneration that must be done. In fact, he should march right in front.
Chinua Achebe, Nigerian novelist
In this edition, writers from across the globe join me in an intergenerational inquiry of the meaning of the land in our lives; a meaning based on the philosophy of community and communal living; one that is in direct contrast to the Eurocentric view that land is a commodity to be dominated and plundered for the wealth it holds.
Writing is one of the most important tools we can use to craft a political process to unsettle coloniality and its ideology of land domination rooted in individualism and capitalism. It is essential in writing truth into the lives we live. It is essential to disseminate information that counters the long- standing white supremacist language of superiority and dominance. It is essential to share our ancient and contemporary stories about the greatness and the achievements of Black, Aboriginal and Indigenous peoples. It is essential in amassing an archive of our history across the ages and to confirm our courage, spiritual and physical warfare against colonialism.
Our writing is essential in keeping alive the beauty and the rhythm and the grace of our stories, folklore and proverbs. It is essential in gifting the youth the legacy of our ancestral heritage. It is essential to pave the way for youth to recover their connections to the past including ceremonial practices and rituals of their lineage and ancestors. Indigenous resistance to the exploration and exploitation of our sacred landscapes bears implications for how we may address climate change and seek to heal the expansive wounds that have been inflicted upon the land. What seeds may we plant at this time, to heal these wounds?
Marva McClean
The writer cannot expect to be excused from the task of reeducation and regeneration that must be done. In fact, he should march right in front.
Chinua Achebe, Nigerian novelist
In this edition, writers from across the globe join me in an intergenerational inquiry of the meaning of the land in our lives; a meaning based on the philosophy of community and communal living; one that is in direct contrast to the Eurocentric view that land is a commodity to be dominated and plundered for the wealth it holds.
Writing is one of the most important tools we can use to craft a political process to unsettle coloniality and its ideology of land domination rooted in individualism and capitalism. It is essential in writing truth into the lives we live. It is essential to disseminate information that counters the long- standing white supremacist language of superiority and dominance. It is essential to share our ancient and contemporary stories about the greatness and the achievements of Black, Aboriginal and Indigenous peoples. It is essential in amassing an archive of our history across the ages and to confirm our courage, spiritual and physical warfare against colonialism.
Our writing is essential in keeping alive the beauty and the rhythm and the grace of our stories, folklore and proverbs. It is essential in gifting the youth the legacy of our ancestral heritage. It is essential to pave the way for youth to recover their connections to the past including ceremonial practices and rituals of their lineage and ancestors. Indigenous resistance to the exploration and exploitation of our sacred landscapes bears implications for how we may address climate change and seek to heal the expansive wounds that have been inflicted upon the land. What seeds may we plant at this time, to heal these wounds?
Paying tribute to the ancestors buried on the former sugar plantation, Seville Heights, St. Ann, Jamaica
THE FULLNESS OF THE EARTH & THE BEAUTY THEREOF
Walaaybaa Marramali
HEAL COUNTRY/HEAL OUR HOME
Aboriginal/Indigenous people base their existence on respect for the land. Their life is rooted in the belief that man cannot own the land. In fact, he belongs to it and will one day return to it, dust to dust.
WELCOME TO COUNTRY:
ABORIGINALS ARE THE TRADITIONAL CUSTODIANS OF THE LAND
Author and researcher Steven Strong argues that the out of Africa narrative is wrong and that the world’s first modern people came directly from Australia with the Aboriginals being the oldest civilization on earth. Strong asserts the vast accomplishments of the Aboriginals to include advancement in technology, astronomy and brain surgery.
http://www.forgottenorigin.com
THE ORIGIN OF MODERN MAN: AUSTRALIA OR AFRICA?
Whether the African strand of Homo Sapiens emerged 40,000 years ago is of no account, our focus is on the much earlier Australian genes, journeys and heritage. We have examined a few of the locations reached, but as for the religious legacy of the Dreaming as evidenced through the nine shared mystical principles, underpinned by equality of gender and species, that is yet another chapter of an ancient story that spans eons and geography. Their intimate awareness of the divine, along with the lesser gifts of sailing, astronomy, brain surgery, penicillin, burial/cremation/embalming, amputations, axe-making, democracy, bows and arrows, and so much more, is part of a forgotten origin that deserves to be heard once more.
Steven Strong -New Dawn Magazine http://www.forgottenorigin.com
LET’S REJOICE IN THE WHOLENESS OF FAMILY
The following excerpt was taken from the keynote address given by Aboriginal author, Melissa Lucashenko at the First Nations Australian Writers Network workshop, 8/2018 https://www.fnawn.com.au/writing-as-a-sovereign-act/
We grow and learn as First Nations on this fragile round planet and we grow and learn by orbiting from Dreaming track to Dreaming track, from family home to family home, from Black Elder to Black Elder. From black heart to black heart, on our journey through this Indigenous life, which for many is a journey back to Aboriginality that has been stolen or taken or denied.
Melissa Lucashenko
ABORIGINALS ARE THE TRADITIONAL CUSTODIANS OF THE LAND
Author and researcher Steven Strong argues that the out of Africa narrative is wrong and that the world’s first modern people came directly from Australia with the Aboriginals being the oldest civilization on earth. Strong asserts the vast accomplishments of the Aboriginals to include advancement in technology, astronomy and brain surgery.
http://www.forgottenorigin.com
THE ORIGIN OF MODERN MAN: AUSTRALIA OR AFRICA?
Whether the African strand of Homo Sapiens emerged 40,000 years ago is of no account, our focus is on the much earlier Australian genes, journeys and heritage. We have examined a few of the locations reached, but as for the religious legacy of the Dreaming as evidenced through the nine shared mystical principles, underpinned by equality of gender and species, that is yet another chapter of an ancient story that spans eons and geography. Their intimate awareness of the divine, along with the lesser gifts of sailing, astronomy, brain surgery, penicillin, burial/cremation/embalming, amputations, axe-making, democracy, bows and arrows, and so much more, is part of a forgotten origin that deserves to be heard once more.
Steven Strong -New Dawn Magazine http://www.forgottenorigin.com
LET’S REJOICE IN THE WHOLENESS OF FAMILY
The following excerpt was taken from the keynote address given by Aboriginal author, Melissa Lucashenko at the First Nations Australian Writers Network workshop, 8/2018 https://www.fnawn.com.au/writing-as-a-sovereign-act/
We grow and learn as First Nations on this fragile round planet and we grow and learn by orbiting from Dreaming track to Dreaming track, from family home to family home, from Black Elder to Black Elder. From black heart to black heart, on our journey through this Indigenous life, which for many is a journey back to Aboriginality that has been stolen or taken or denied.
Melissa Lucashenko
Let’s rejoice in the wholeness of our families, and be careful to focus on what we have in common as First People, not what has been created to divide us from one another. Let’s practise what our Law tells us, and let’s keep going with the project we have as Black writers—to pay attention to what’s going on, to talk straight about our lives, and to remember to celebrate our beauty, our humour, our power, and most of all our land.
Melissa Lucashenko is a multi-award-winning Bundjalung novelist from Brisbane and a founding member of the human rights group Sisters Inside.
Melissa Lucashenko is a multi-award-winning Bundjalung novelist from Brisbane and a founding member of the human rights group Sisters Inside.
As spiritual people contemplating the effects of climate change on the land, we are all called to action. Tackling climate change means seeking environmental justice, and working collectively to end systemic racism and cultural appropriation. We must remind ourselves that our young people are at stake if we don't take action now for they will be inheriting the world we have created.
ROCKSTEADY
Chant with me this prayer
watch the song birds soar high
above the clear Blue Mountain sky
hear the anthology of choir voices
early Sunday morning
at Oracabessa Methodist Church
royal soulful voices, in cool rocksteady rhythm
singing words that burn with passion and wisdom
offering blessings to sprinkle
the ashes to ashes, dust to dust
that will immortalize us into this red dirt
that nature has carved out for our soul.
It’s no matter now that the winds of change will blow,
for we have found our place.
Marva McClean
Chant with me this prayer
watch the song birds soar high
above the clear Blue Mountain sky
hear the anthology of choir voices
early Sunday morning
at Oracabessa Methodist Church
royal soulful voices, in cool rocksteady rhythm
singing words that burn with passion and wisdom
offering blessings to sprinkle
the ashes to ashes, dust to dust
that will immortalize us into this red dirt
that nature has carved out for our soul.
It’s no matter now that the winds of change will blow,
for we have found our place.
Marva McClean
TO DRINK FROM THE GOURD OF MY ANCESTORS’ LAND
THE RED DIRT BENEATH MY FEET
My mother, however, kept telling us the Dressekie stories over the years and they always remained alive and active in my mind. Each Dressekie child was bequeathed a parcel of land and although much of it was sold off over the years, each tribe of the Dressekie clan retains a small parcel of the land to this day. My mother’s plot of land with its red dirt and lush vegetation and a small brook running through, is the compass that takes me right back to the seat of certainty during troubling times. It reminds me that I am rooted to a tribe of people and that I belong. There is a story tied to each piece of the Dressekie land. On each separate plot, our grandparents and uncles and aunts are buried there. A fact which signifies that the land can never be sold. This land is a significant geography of my family’s history for it holds the archives of many stories with chapters of our complex and interesting history. I realize that much of what concerns me has to do with the land and the vast unending circle, the red dirt, the hills and the valleys. Even though I moved away from my family home and the land many decades ago, I go back now, every few months or so, journeying from Florida to Jamaica, always with what feels like an urgent insatiable need to drink from the gourd of that land. To press my feet into its red dirt and to be revivified and anchored in my ancestral certainty. For I was born on this land and spent my earliest years in strong attachment to it living on my great grand -mother Elizabeth’s property.
Marva McClean, Excerpt from My Journey Home. Work in Progress.
THE RED DIRT BENEATH MY FEET
My mother, however, kept telling us the Dressekie stories over the years and they always remained alive and active in my mind. Each Dressekie child was bequeathed a parcel of land and although much of it was sold off over the years, each tribe of the Dressekie clan retains a small parcel of the land to this day. My mother’s plot of land with its red dirt and lush vegetation and a small brook running through, is the compass that takes me right back to the seat of certainty during troubling times. It reminds me that I am rooted to a tribe of people and that I belong. There is a story tied to each piece of the Dressekie land. On each separate plot, our grandparents and uncles and aunts are buried there. A fact which signifies that the land can never be sold. This land is a significant geography of my family’s history for it holds the archives of many stories with chapters of our complex and interesting history. I realize that much of what concerns me has to do with the land and the vast unending circle, the red dirt, the hills and the valleys. Even though I moved away from my family home and the land many decades ago, I go back now, every few months or so, journeying from Florida to Jamaica, always with what feels like an urgent insatiable need to drink from the gourd of that land. To press my feet into its red dirt and to be revivified and anchored in my ancestral certainty. For I was born on this land and spent my earliest years in strong attachment to it living on my great grand -mother Elizabeth’s property.
Marva McClean, Excerpt from My Journey Home. Work in Progress.
MY HYBRID ANCESTRY
My mother Desrene Elizabeth Wade is a descendant of the Dressekie family. Her mother Enid Mae Dressekie's father Sylvester Dressekie came from Europe in 1855 and bought a thousand acres of land in the parish of St. Mary, Jamaica. He had a plantation with a number of indentured Indian labourers working for him. Today that area of land is called Dressekie after him. The Dressekie family no longer owns that one thousand acres of land but is proud of their heritage and that their family history can be traced and recollected because of that area of land called Dressekie in the St. Mary parish.
Charmaine Wade Perry
Left-This gate was the entrance to my great-grandfather's plantation.
Below:Though the sign is updated, the post office is original to its 19th century construction.
My mother Desrene Elizabeth Wade is a descendant of the Dressekie family. Her mother Enid Mae Dressekie's father Sylvester Dressekie came from Europe in 1855 and bought a thousand acres of land in the parish of St. Mary, Jamaica. He had a plantation with a number of indentured Indian labourers working for him. Today that area of land is called Dressekie after him. The Dressekie family no longer owns that one thousand acres of land but is proud of their heritage and that their family history can be traced and recollected because of that area of land called Dressekie in the St. Mary parish.
Charmaine Wade Perry
Left-This gate was the entrance to my great-grandfather's plantation.
Below:Though the sign is updated, the post office is original to its 19th century construction.
GOD. GLORY. GOLD.
THE FIGHT FOR THE AMERICAS
Indigenous Peoples are still here – with their
resilient voices and heart.
A CLASH OF CIVILIZATION & MIGHT OVER SPIRITUALITY
Christopher Columbus’ landing in Hispaniola 1492, brought awareness to the existence of the Native peoples of the Americas and in other areas of the globe including the continent of Australia, leading to colonization, oppression, brutality and near genocide of its first inhabitants. As the Spanish set foot throughout the land they did not know existed before this, they encountered people whom they set out to Christianize in the name of God and at the same time to extract the gold from their land so as to achieve glory for themselves and their monarchy.
Indigenous Peoples are still here – with their
resilient voices and heart.
A CLASH OF CIVILIZATION & MIGHT OVER SPIRITUALITY
Christopher Columbus’ landing in Hispaniola 1492, brought awareness to the existence of the Native peoples of the Americas and in other areas of the globe including the continent of Australia, leading to colonization, oppression, brutality and near genocide of its first inhabitants. As the Spanish set foot throughout the land they did not know existed before this, they encountered people whom they set out to Christianize in the name of God and at the same time to extract the gold from their land so as to achieve glory for themselves and their monarchy.
AND STILL, THE PEOPLE RISE!
HONORING THE PAST: Recognizing Indigenous existence and honoring
Ancestral lives and their sacrifices.
CELEBRATING THE PRESENT: Indigenous Peoples are still here – with their resilient voices and heart.
BUILDING A FUTURE: Creating a future for the next generations to come.
Running is medicine. Running is tradition. Running is healing. Running is prayer. Running is community. Indigenous people are known for running – for the messages they carry – for the prayers they carry, for the tradition it brings. For Indigenous Peoples Day 2021, we run together as relatives, as a community, to recognize and celebrate Indigenous people! To acknowledge the past and what Native people have had to experience to be here today. We celebrate the present existence of Indigenous people and all the good medicine we bring to our relatives and to the lands. As we look ahead we have the opportunity to dismantle current systems of oppression and racism and rebuild a better and visible future! Our relatives across Turtle Island (North America) are sharing so much of their hard work to support their communities and build a future for our next generations. This virtual race is to bring and call people in – to support Indigenous People, uplift the real history and stories, their strength, and their resilience – because we are still here! We are thriving.” – Jordan Marie Daniel (Retrieved from Face Book)
Ancestral lives and their sacrifices.
CELEBRATING THE PRESENT: Indigenous Peoples are still here – with their resilient voices and heart.
BUILDING A FUTURE: Creating a future for the next generations to come.
Running is medicine. Running is tradition. Running is healing. Running is prayer. Running is community. Indigenous people are known for running – for the messages they carry – for the prayers they carry, for the tradition it brings. For Indigenous Peoples Day 2021, we run together as relatives, as a community, to recognize and celebrate Indigenous people! To acknowledge the past and what Native people have had to experience to be here today. We celebrate the present existence of Indigenous people and all the good medicine we bring to our relatives and to the lands. As we look ahead we have the opportunity to dismantle current systems of oppression and racism and rebuild a better and visible future! Our relatives across Turtle Island (North America) are sharing so much of their hard work to support their communities and build a future for our next generations. This virtual race is to bring and call people in – to support Indigenous People, uplift the real history and stories, their strength, and their resilience – because we are still here! We are thriving.” – Jordan Marie Daniel (Retrieved from Face Book)
WRITING TRUTH INTO HISTORY
It’s time to unravel, disrupt and remove the epic lies of the colonizers.
In a bid to protect their pillaging of Native lands and the cruel treatment of Indigenous people, white supremacists created many false narratives about Black and Indigenous peoples. One such narrative was that the Caribs they encountered in the Americas were cannibals and later, they asserted that all Caribs had died out. There was also the lie that the Tainos (Arawakan people) had died off. In the same vein, race was constructed in order to craft a racist lie about the status and abilities of Black people. None of this, of course is true. Indigenous peoples, including the Caribs have lived on, thrived and celebrated and continued their culture in repudiation of this monstrous lie told to justify colonization of people and land. Carib Queen Catherine Humming Bird (See Biography) notes that millions of Native peoples from the Aztecs and Mayans to the Tainos and Caribs, were enslaved, brutalized and murdered by Spanish explorers, conquerors and settlers in order to gain material wealth, individual glory and to spread Christianity in the Americas. And in spite of it all, they continue to thrive and practice their ancestral rites through ceremonies, prayers, truth-telling and communal living.
Every kind of weapon was used against the Indians, unsparingly: carbine blasts, the burning of villages, and later, a more fatherly method, alcohol and the law. The lawyer became a specialist at stripping them of their fields, the judge sentenced them when they protested, the priest threatened them with eternal fire. Pablo Neruda, Memorias (p. 7; 1974). London, England: Penguin Books
From the bowels of the earth, they drained the soil
in search of the fountain of youth,
gold, silver and the riches of the land.
Ode to La Florida, Marva McClean (2006). Bridges to Memory.
In a bid to protect their pillaging of Native lands and the cruel treatment of Indigenous people, white supremacists created many false narratives about Black and Indigenous peoples. One such narrative was that the Caribs they encountered in the Americas were cannibals and later, they asserted that all Caribs had died out. There was also the lie that the Tainos (Arawakan people) had died off. In the same vein, race was constructed in order to craft a racist lie about the status and abilities of Black people. None of this, of course is true. Indigenous peoples, including the Caribs have lived on, thrived and celebrated and continued their culture in repudiation of this monstrous lie told to justify colonization of people and land. Carib Queen Catherine Humming Bird (See Biography) notes that millions of Native peoples from the Aztecs and Mayans to the Tainos and Caribs, were enslaved, brutalized and murdered by Spanish explorers, conquerors and settlers in order to gain material wealth, individual glory and to spread Christianity in the Americas. And in spite of it all, they continue to thrive and practice their ancestral rites through ceremonies, prayers, truth-telling and communal living.
Every kind of weapon was used against the Indians, unsparingly: carbine blasts, the burning of villages, and later, a more fatherly method, alcohol and the law. The lawyer became a specialist at stripping them of their fields, the judge sentenced them when they protested, the priest threatened them with eternal fire. Pablo Neruda, Memorias (p. 7; 1974). London, England: Penguin Books
From the bowels of the earth, they drained the soil
in search of the fountain of youth,
gold, silver and the riches of the land.
Ode to La Florida, Marva McClean (2006). Bridges to Memory.
THE TRAIL OF TEARS
At the beginning of the 1830s, nearly 125,000 Native Americans lived on millions of acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida–land their ancestors had occupied and cultivated for generations. By the end of the decade, very few natives remained anywhere in the southeastern United States. Working on behalf of white settlers who wanted to grow cotton on the Indians’ land, the federal government forced them to leave their homelands and walk 5,043 miles across nine states to a specially designated Indian territory across the Mississippi River.
At the beginning of the 1830s, nearly 125,000 Native Americans lived on millions of acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida–land their ancestors had occupied and cultivated for generations. By the end of the decade, very few natives remained anywhere in the southeastern United States. Working on behalf of white settlers who wanted to grow cotton on the Indians’ land, the federal government forced them to leave their homelands and walk 5,043 miles across nine states to a specially designated Indian territory across the Mississippi River.
THE NAKED HEART OF POETRY
POEMS BY EMILY ZOBEL MARSHALL
So It Turns
(ka huri)
So the earth turns
ballerina clothed in gowns
of sloping sunshine spins
from golden light into
sleeping shadow
Leaves dance from
crabbed hands of beeches
into the blackened waters of the Strid
to collect in secret eddies
hungry for the final touch of one another;
kaleidoscopic safety rafts
for summer souls sinking
under winter’s weight
But these tapestries spread beneath my boots
hide earth-bound galaxies of seeds;
jewels in whispered chains of promises
tethering each illusion of endings
to the next unfurling birth
Sky Claim
Does Mum see me
as I cut a line
between earth and sky?
across heather and peat bog
along zig-zagging sheep tracks
in a bright red anorak
These fells have rarely seen
my mixedness
but I walk boldly
over ragged ridges
clawed by dying bracken
knowing that in Spring
the hosts of golden daffodils
belong to me
As the crescent moon rises
like an unfinished question
I marry map to compass
and feel her hand
gentle on my back
urging me to climb and claim
this earth and rock
this moon
and sky
On My Side
The ice-clear Croesor river
is on my side
so are the starry mosses
balancing dew drops in morning light
and the towering bracken that nods its head
so is the horse, steaming in his paddock
greeting with a rumbling neigh
I look up at marine sky;
imagine myself small, the fleck of me
in an ever-shifting solar system –
what happens on the school bus
is nothing, wind-blown dust
passing
I walk onto the bus and into pain
each taunt a rock thrown
with perfect precision;
because I have to change out of my wellies
I’m a sheep-shagger
and my hair is too curly
I am bushchild
Stig-of-the-dump
My nose is too wide
I speak too posh
Mum is too French
and too black
Out of the bus window
sun dances through the Spring leaves
throwing flowing shapes across my face
my white shirt, my striped tie
and I see that my Cwm
is embraced by the mountains that know me
and that this whole valley
is on my side
Emily, of French-Caribbean and British heritage, grew up in the mountains of Snowdonia in North Wales. She is a Reader in Postcolonial Literature at Leeds Beckett University. Her research specialisms are the cultures and literatures of the African Diaspora and she is widely published in these fields. She develops her creative work alongside her academic writing and has had poems published in the Peepal Tree Press anthology Weighted Words (2021), Magma (‘The Loss’, Issue 75, 2019), Smoke Magazine (Issue 67, 2020), The Caribbean Writer (Vol 34, 2020, Vol 35, 2021 & Vol 36, 2021) and Stand (Vol. 19, No. 4). She also consults with several arts, historical and educational organisations on decolonial methodologies and approaches.
Emily is Co-Chair of the David Oluwale Memorial Association, a charity committed to fighting racism and homelessness, and a Creative Associate of the arts-based youth charity The Geraldine Connor Foundation. She has lived in Leeds for over two decades, has two children and, when she’s not working, can often be found on her allotment or running in the mud in Meanwood woods.
(ka huri)
So the earth turns
ballerina clothed in gowns
of sloping sunshine spins
from golden light into
sleeping shadow
Leaves dance from
crabbed hands of beeches
into the blackened waters of the Strid
to collect in secret eddies
hungry for the final touch of one another;
kaleidoscopic safety rafts
for summer souls sinking
under winter’s weight
But these tapestries spread beneath my boots
hide earth-bound galaxies of seeds;
jewels in whispered chains of promises
tethering each illusion of endings
to the next unfurling birth
Sky Claim
Does Mum see me
as I cut a line
between earth and sky?
across heather and peat bog
along zig-zagging sheep tracks
in a bright red anorak
These fells have rarely seen
my mixedness
but I walk boldly
over ragged ridges
clawed by dying bracken
knowing that in Spring
the hosts of golden daffodils
belong to me
As the crescent moon rises
like an unfinished question
I marry map to compass
and feel her hand
gentle on my back
urging me to climb and claim
this earth and rock
this moon
and sky
On My Side
The ice-clear Croesor river
is on my side
so are the starry mosses
balancing dew drops in morning light
and the towering bracken that nods its head
so is the horse, steaming in his paddock
greeting with a rumbling neigh
I look up at marine sky;
imagine myself small, the fleck of me
in an ever-shifting solar system –
what happens on the school bus
is nothing, wind-blown dust
passing
I walk onto the bus and into pain
each taunt a rock thrown
with perfect precision;
because I have to change out of my wellies
I’m a sheep-shagger
and my hair is too curly
I am bushchild
Stig-of-the-dump
My nose is too wide
I speak too posh
Mum is too French
and too black
Out of the bus window
sun dances through the Spring leaves
throwing flowing shapes across my face
my white shirt, my striped tie
and I see that my Cwm
is embraced by the mountains that know me
and that this whole valley
is on my side
Emily, of French-Caribbean and British heritage, grew up in the mountains of Snowdonia in North Wales. She is a Reader in Postcolonial Literature at Leeds Beckett University. Her research specialisms are the cultures and literatures of the African Diaspora and she is widely published in these fields. She develops her creative work alongside her academic writing and has had poems published in the Peepal Tree Press anthology Weighted Words (2021), Magma (‘The Loss’, Issue 75, 2019), Smoke Magazine (Issue 67, 2020), The Caribbean Writer (Vol 34, 2020, Vol 35, 2021 & Vol 36, 2021) and Stand (Vol. 19, No. 4). She also consults with several arts, historical and educational organisations on decolonial methodologies and approaches.
Emily is Co-Chair of the David Oluwale Memorial Association, a charity committed to fighting racism and homelessness, and a Creative Associate of the arts-based youth charity The Geraldine Connor Foundation. She has lived in Leeds for over two decades, has two children and, when she’s not working, can often be found on her allotment or running in the mud in Meanwood woods.
WE HAVE LOOKED BACK, NOW IT IS TIME TO MOVE FORWARD
When we look back at the past, we see unspeakable atrocities. We also see a story that rises above powerlessness. We see peoples resisting terror and genocide. We see a resilient and thriving people, rooted in ancient wisdom who deeply understand man’s connection to the earth; for whom the land presents an exhilarating landscape on which to do soul work. We are intentional in bringing light to things that are difficult to talk about. We are also intentional in moving on and achieving justice. We recognize that now is the time to write a new narrative of success and upliftment beyond the traditional deficit narrative. We will lay it all on the table…then begin to script a narrative of empowerment and possibilities. In this story, there is no room to feel insignificant and undervalued. We are crafting powerful spaces of cultural enrichment and engaging scholarship across the globe. Indigenous people have always known and accepted that we are all connected. This is where our power lies. Marva McClean
When we look back at the past, we see unspeakable atrocities. We also see a story that rises above powerlessness. We see peoples resisting terror and genocide. We see a resilient and thriving people, rooted in ancient wisdom who deeply understand man’s connection to the earth; for whom the land presents an exhilarating landscape on which to do soul work. We are intentional in bringing light to things that are difficult to talk about. We are also intentional in moving on and achieving justice. We recognize that now is the time to write a new narrative of success and upliftment beyond the traditional deficit narrative. We will lay it all on the table…then begin to script a narrative of empowerment and possibilities. In this story, there is no room to feel insignificant and undervalued. We are crafting powerful spaces of cultural enrichment and engaging scholarship across the globe. Indigenous people have always known and accepted that we are all connected. This is where our power lies. Marva McClean
FEATURE STORY
THE ROOTS OF SLAVERY & THE CONSTRUCTION OF AMERICA
Dr. Marva McClean
Only the story...can continue beyond the war and the warrior. It is the story that outlives the sound of war-drums and the exploits of brave fighters.
Chinua Achebe
The 1619 Project asserts that the true Independence Day of America should be August 20, 1619 when the first Africans arrived here who would become the people on whose back this empire was constructed. It was the aggressive Portuguese who landed ships with about sixteen Africans at Port Comfort, Virginia, which was at that time, a British colony. This launched the American slave trade and initiated three hundred years of servitude and unpaid labor that built the USA while it deprived an entire group of people the opportunity to develop and advance. Interestingly, while the revolutionaries fought the British for their freedom and rights in 1776, they held captive, thousands of kidnapped Africans in bondage and wreaked on them some of the most inhumane atrocities that could ever be conceived.
BLACK LABOR AND THE BUILDING OF AMERICA
Former First Lady, Michelle Obama affirmed the significant contribution of African Americans to the building of the USA when she stated on national tv that the White House had been built by slaves. Since then, fact finding research in response to those who questioned the legitimacy of this claim, reveals that enslaved Africans constituted at least two thirds of the labor force that built the White House and other significant landmarks including the Capitol building and the home of George Washington.
Chinua Achebe
The 1619 Project asserts that the true Independence Day of America should be August 20, 1619 when the first Africans arrived here who would become the people on whose back this empire was constructed. It was the aggressive Portuguese who landed ships with about sixteen Africans at Port Comfort, Virginia, which was at that time, a British colony. This launched the American slave trade and initiated three hundred years of servitude and unpaid labor that built the USA while it deprived an entire group of people the opportunity to develop and advance. Interestingly, while the revolutionaries fought the British for their freedom and rights in 1776, they held captive, thousands of kidnapped Africans in bondage and wreaked on them some of the most inhumane atrocities that could ever be conceived.
BLACK LABOR AND THE BUILDING OF AMERICA
Former First Lady, Michelle Obama affirmed the significant contribution of African Americans to the building of the USA when she stated on national tv that the White House had been built by slaves. Since then, fact finding research in response to those who questioned the legitimacy of this claim, reveals that enslaved Africans constituted at least two thirds of the labor force that built the White House and other significant landmarks including the Capitol building and the home of George Washington.
FROM AFRICA TO THE AMERICAS: HOW DID WE GET HERE?
How did a people from a glorious kingdom become human commodities?
The first Africans/Black people to have entered the Americas were not chattels of the Atlantic Slave Trade. They arrived here as knowledgeable men, purposefully seeking opportunities as explorers and interpreters with the Spanish. The Spanish government allowed conquistadors to take land, people, and treasure as part of the spoils of conquest. This was the Crown's attempt to convert the world to Catholicism. Juan Garrido, an African conquistador, spent six years in Hispaniola before going to Florida to work with Ponce de Leon for thirteen years. Black men like Garrido worked as conquistadors, benefiting from the spoils of conquests including land pensions. Esteban Moore, born around 1500 on the west coast of Morocco, journeyed with Spanish explorers to Florida in 1527 where he worked as a guide and translator. It is reported that he died in 1539.
UNIVERSITY OF SANKORE, TIMBUKTU 989 AD
The first university to be built was the University of Sankore in Timbuktu, 989 AD in the country today known as Mali. It was part of the Ancient African Songhai Empire, one of the most powerful kingdoms in the known world. Timbuktu was renowned for trade in salt, gold and other goods with the Arabs, Africans, and European powers at the time. The University of Sankore was so well known it was added to the maps produced in Europe outlining what was known of the world at that time.
THE RICHEST MAN ON EARTH
King Mansa Musa expanded the university and amassed great and extensive collection of books to its holdings. It hosted over 100 million manuscripts. Scholars flocked from across Africa, the Middle East and Europe to study there. King Mansa Musa was the richest man in the world, with an estimated wealth of $400 billion. He transformed Timbuktu into the epicenter of his empire in 1327 and engaged in diplomatic affairs across the continent and with other countries.
UNIVERSITY OF SANKORE, TIMBUKTU 989 AD
The first university to be built was the University of Sankore in Timbuktu, 989 AD in the country today known as Mali. It was part of the Ancient African Songhai Empire, one of the most powerful kingdoms in the known world. Timbuktu was renowned for trade in salt, gold and other goods with the Arabs, Africans, and European powers at the time. The University of Sankore was so well known it was added to the maps produced in Europe outlining what was known of the world at that time.
THE RICHEST MAN ON EARTH
King Mansa Musa expanded the university and amassed great and extensive collection of books to its holdings. It hosted over 100 million manuscripts. Scholars flocked from across Africa, the Middle East and Europe to study there. King Mansa Musa was the richest man in the world, with an estimated wealth of $400 billion. He transformed Timbuktu into the epicenter of his empire in 1327 and engaged in diplomatic affairs across the continent and with other countries.
AFRICA BEFORE THE TRANSATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE
Africa, known as the cradle of civilization, has approximately 200, 000 years of recorded history, according to renowned scholar Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. With vast resources of gold, ivory and spices, the continent grew in prosperity during the Golden Age. During this period, ideas and culture flowed in and out of Africa and the continent held a prestigious position in the world, thriving as a sophisticated society during the middle ages. The Swahili Coast was especially prosperous because of its location which allowed for energetic trading and cross- continental enterprise. As the continent grew into a cosmopolitan society, its countries were thriving kingdoms with vast riches, architecture and esteemed scholarship. It was during this era that trade with European countries developed with economic exchanges in spices, ivory and gold. Half the gold coins used in Medieval Europe came from Africa. In 800-860 AD approximately $ 25 billion worth of gold was exported from the continent. As word of the riches of the continent spread so did greed and avarice. European leaders began to create strategies to set hands on these resources.
The 1492-unprecedented exploration of Hispanic-Italian Christopher Columbus representing Spain, put in motion European exploration, colonization and exploitation of the American continents and First Nation peoples. At the same time, the Portuguese who spearheaded the drive to find oceanic routes that would provide cheaper and easier access to south and east Asian goods, expanded geographical knowledge that ultimately led to European colonialism and the establishment of the Transatlantic Slave trade where 15 million Africans were exported to the so-called New World. The Portuguese entered the African continent as traders along the Swahili Coast and later into the Kongo Region where there existed wealthy and outstanding nations with strong economic infrastructure. At the time the Kingdom of Kongo was renowned throughout Europe and their King Alvaro 11 recognized as a world leader. He later -converted to Catholicism and entered into what was determined to be a mutually beneficial relationship with Portugal.
As European navigators expanded their geographical knowledge and sailed to areas previously unknown to them, they set about a process of colonization and exploitation of the American continents and their inhabitants and deliberately crafted a racist ideology and systemic racism to justify their immoral and savage behaviors.
Africa, known as the cradle of civilization, has approximately 200, 000 years of recorded history, according to renowned scholar Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. With vast resources of gold, ivory and spices, the continent grew in prosperity during the Golden Age. During this period, ideas and culture flowed in and out of Africa and the continent held a prestigious position in the world, thriving as a sophisticated society during the middle ages. The Swahili Coast was especially prosperous because of its location which allowed for energetic trading and cross- continental enterprise. As the continent grew into a cosmopolitan society, its countries were thriving kingdoms with vast riches, architecture and esteemed scholarship. It was during this era that trade with European countries developed with economic exchanges in spices, ivory and gold. Half the gold coins used in Medieval Europe came from Africa. In 800-860 AD approximately $ 25 billion worth of gold was exported from the continent. As word of the riches of the continent spread so did greed and avarice. European leaders began to create strategies to set hands on these resources.
The 1492-unprecedented exploration of Hispanic-Italian Christopher Columbus representing Spain, put in motion European exploration, colonization and exploitation of the American continents and First Nation peoples. At the same time, the Portuguese who spearheaded the drive to find oceanic routes that would provide cheaper and easier access to south and east Asian goods, expanded geographical knowledge that ultimately led to European colonialism and the establishment of the Transatlantic Slave trade where 15 million Africans were exported to the so-called New World. The Portuguese entered the African continent as traders along the Swahili Coast and later into the Kongo Region where there existed wealthy and outstanding nations with strong economic infrastructure. At the time the Kingdom of Kongo was renowned throughout Europe and their King Alvaro 11 recognized as a world leader. He later -converted to Catholicism and entered into what was determined to be a mutually beneficial relationship with Portugal.
As European navigators expanded their geographical knowledge and sailed to areas previously unknown to them, they set about a process of colonization and exploitation of the American continents and their inhabitants and deliberately crafted a racist ideology and systemic racism to justify their immoral and savage behaviors.
THE PORTUGUESE IN AFRICA
In 1482-1483 the Portuguese were the first European empire to enter the Kongo (present day Angola). They established a relationship with King which allowed them to infiltrate the land. By mid 16th century, Portugal had become the largest producer of sugar. Europeans had cultivated sugar on the Levant, Cyprus, Sicily and Spain and in the mid 15th century, on the coast of Africa. As the demand for labor increased, Portugal first turned to European indentured laborers and then to enslaved Africans. A long line of African kingdoms including the King of Kongo became partners of this lucrative trade in humans. In 1574, the Portuguese made a deal with the King of Kongo to create their own city, Luanda, which they used as a bait to capture Africans and also to sell them across the New World. Thus, the Portuguese came to Luanda with the blessing of the King of Kongo. Over time, through their skillful manipulations, Kongo became a vassal state of the Kingdom of Portugal and later, its colony. History is replete with the savagery meted out to the Congolese people during the period of colonization.
More and more slaves were channeled through the port of Luanda. As the other European countries witnessed the possibilities proffered by the African continent, plans were devised to infiltrate, rape and pillage the continent which led to the colonization of all of Africa with the exception of Ethiopia whose leaders had thwarted the Portuguese’ attempts to infiltrate and colonize them in early 17th century.
In 1482-1483 the Portuguese were the first European empire to enter the Kongo (present day Angola). They established a relationship with King which allowed them to infiltrate the land. By mid 16th century, Portugal had become the largest producer of sugar. Europeans had cultivated sugar on the Levant, Cyprus, Sicily and Spain and in the mid 15th century, on the coast of Africa. As the demand for labor increased, Portugal first turned to European indentured laborers and then to enslaved Africans. A long line of African kingdoms including the King of Kongo became partners of this lucrative trade in humans. In 1574, the Portuguese made a deal with the King of Kongo to create their own city, Luanda, which they used as a bait to capture Africans and also to sell them across the New World. Thus, the Portuguese came to Luanda with the blessing of the King of Kongo. Over time, through their skillful manipulations, Kongo became a vassal state of the Kingdom of Portugal and later, its colony. History is replete with the savagery meted out to the Congolese people during the period of colonization.
More and more slaves were channeled through the port of Luanda. As the other European countries witnessed the possibilities proffered by the African continent, plans were devised to infiltrate, rape and pillage the continent which led to the colonization of all of Africa with the exception of Ethiopia whose leaders had thwarted the Portuguese’ attempts to infiltrate and colonize them in early 17th century.
AFRICA’S ROLE IN THE SLAVE TRADE
The ambition of African kings to participate in commercial and diplomatic relations with the European network of the Atlantic world led them to sell their own people into the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
The sale of captive Africans became the main currency of exchange between African kingdoms and European traders during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Kongo had a long history of selling captured people in order to extend its wealth and further its development into a large kingdom. During the sixteenth century, as the relationship between the King of Kongo and the Portuguese developed and diplomatic ties strengthened over time, King Afonso and the Portuguese rulers claimed a joint monopoly on the external slave trade. As the trading of Africans developed into the major economic activity along the coasts of the continent, African middle men, kings and queens and leaders of the coastal states became rich and powerful from their participation in the slave trade. For example, the King of Kongo made deals with the Europeans to capture and sell kidnapped Africans to them in exchange for resources to expand their kingdom, a relationship which led to their eventual downfall.
QUESTIONING FACT OVER FICTION
Should the descendants of the African kings, queens and tribal leaders who sold Black people into transatlantic slavery be held accountable for their heinous crime in the same way reparations are being sought from European countries?
BERLIN CONFERENCE [CONGO CONFERENCE]
THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA
In 1884-1885- major European powers met to discuss and negotiate how Africa should be divided among them. There were no African leaders in attendance. The agreement reached between this group of European nations, set the stage for European trade and colonization of Africa. This scramble for Africa eliminated or overrode most existing forms of African autonomy and independence. Urgent plans were crafted to extract the wealth from Africa. Leopold II, was appropriated as King of the Belgians with the sovereign rights to the Congo Free State.
Sources: This feature story was written with information heavily sourced from the following.
Africa’s Great Civilization-PBS Documentary with Henry Louis Gates, Jr
What is Slavery. Brenda E. Stevenson. Polity Press, 2019
QUESTIONING FACT OVER FICTION
Should the descendants of the African kings, queens and tribal leaders who sold Black people into transatlantic slavery be held accountable for their heinous crime in the same way reparations are being sought from European countries?
BERLIN CONFERENCE [CONGO CONFERENCE]
THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA
In 1884-1885- major European powers met to discuss and negotiate how Africa should be divided among them. There were no African leaders in attendance. The agreement reached between this group of European nations, set the stage for European trade and colonization of Africa. This scramble for Africa eliminated or overrode most existing forms of African autonomy and independence. Urgent plans were crafted to extract the wealth from Africa. Leopold II, was appropriated as King of the Belgians with the sovereign rights to the Congo Free State.
Sources: This feature story was written with information heavily sourced from the following.
Africa’s Great Civilization-PBS Documentary with Henry Louis Gates, Jr
What is Slavery. Brenda E. Stevenson. Polity Press, 2019
When the missionaries came to Africa, they had the bible and we had the land. They said, "Let us pray." We closed our eyes to pray and when we opened them, we had the bible and they had the land. Desmond Tutu
INTERGENERATIONAL MUSINGS
POEMS BY MONICA MINOTT
The Petrologist Learns -ABC Of Gendered Rocks
( And you say “the Caribbean is nothing but a bunch of Rocks.”)
Round the rugged road the ragged rascal ran,
till she ran out on Caribbean lands, adopting
another unto self, to make her identity matter.
She leaves and grieves island rhythms behind.
“Which stone am I to become,” Mary Jane asks?
“A.” I’ve abandoned my shores of discontent.
“B” “an uneasy breath permeating cells,”
“C” core smoldering deep within Genesis,
igneous in composition, eroticized in gender,”
“But rocks have no gender,” a rock's quick retort.
I turn to view the critical onlooker, maybe
if he knew, igneous rocks on the margins are
first to break free, the power of containment
no match for years of pressurized heat-conflict
no match for Pasa Pasa Wednesdays; resistance
is culture, we reclaim our power; “Monifa. Free!
Round the rugged road the ragged rascal ran,
till she ran out on a Caribbean land, adopting
another unto self to make her identity matter.
She leaves and grieves Mary Jane behind.
Which stones have I left unturned in a fluid
revolution? Watch as my hips swirl, and my
arching back summons rocks deep within.
Revelation. There is a hole in the center.
TONE DEAF TO THE SPIRIT OF SPRING HILL
(Sonnets for John Arthur great grandson Of the 1st Kumina Queen)
The woman I am is Maroon-deep
skin smooth as silk stops passersby
wishing to touch me, …I recoil like
my kinky coils, stretched by fingertips,
for some have never seen beauty like
this, that which father left behind. Portland-
strong waters gush from my eyes, to think
what he gave up. And for what? An escape
from what he called rural life: coffee farmers’
rich brown dirt, chocolate pod-laden trees,
and lively janga swimming upstream,
abandoned as he went the way of the river
down to a bright-electric-light future,
leaving star-studded nights of Spring Hill
for overcrowded city streets.
I wish I was there, born before my time, to tell
him “no! Stay here and grow.” City streets
are not for everyone, they have a code, white
rum and vices to numb rural sons, make you
forget Mama’s love and father’s care
forget root-tonic meant to keep you strong.
City life can break a Maroon boy. If only
he had heeded the voice of the river!
His hills have come back to me,
the spring that he left remains with me.
I walk the hills as he did eighty-five years
ago, I roll in untended grass as he must have.
Such grass was made for intimate carousing.
I hear morning in the rushing river, exaltation
following nighttime, not too far off I hear
what water intended. Music. I never heard in
father’s voice, never saw in his steps. Maybe
he calls me to pluck the edge of the banjo,
tune the fifth string in open G, cut ancestral
losses, recover the sweet in sweet-cups, and
healing of ginger roots. Yet, I am persuaded,
I possess music colouring red coffee beans. I
am convinced I’m the “muzik of his blood,”
the sounds alive in the mid-morning rain
staining banana leaves, left back after a city
having heard a moaning, sent me to tell river
that father had gone tone deaf.
My Wild Woman Sings Too
Caribbean
After The Revival Song Of The Wild Woman ( Lorna Goodison)
My wild woman has occupied headlands and straits
circled Blue Mountain Peak, and have come head to
head with Bullhead mountain; but my wild woman
is not your wild woman, mine has blessed bleeding gold
around the necks of warriors, she has heard the Abeng
sounding her out of deep sleep to gatherings of fighting
men, to stave off another attack of tarnished soldiers, one
more day under the fierce sun, one more battle to win.
My wild woman now encourages me to write poetry
but does not expect ballads or sad sankeys streaking
across the night sky, she tells me to “love only one man,”
forget past lovers who gorged my eyes out. “they must
fall by the wayside like seeds that fell on stony ground
that burst through seed coats, without roots, to wither
and die.” She has been summoned from the past to claim
the future, travelling through Dry river country, thirsty
stopped at Flint river to eat roast pig and steam-callaloo
she is making her way to the land Of Ethel and Ignota
my grandmother, and mother; but first she must stop
by here to gift me with seeing eyes of the ancestors.
She carries for me: the salt and pepper from the past,
the secret of green healing fingers, the strength of
ganja soaked in white rum, and safe passage. Port Maria
river flows rapidly down a lush green St Mary hillside,
there she met time and revelation, together agree to
dehistorize history, sing praise to mountains songs of
Cudjoe and Nanny, seep them into knowledge rivers of
consciousness; so boys and girls now sing to a new tune.
My wild woman agrees with your woman on one thing.
“ our enemies will never live long enough to defeat us.”
Having sucked the salty sea, having licked the sweet
Of Sweet river, having tasted tamarind mixed with
coconut milk, I’ll grow providential, provide shade for
many children and their children to come; they who
will claim the coffee beans on weathered land of
Nathaniel, son of a maroon turn Baptist preacher.
POEMS BY MONICA MINOTT
The Petrologist Learns -ABC Of Gendered Rocks
( And you say “the Caribbean is nothing but a bunch of Rocks.”)
Round the rugged road the ragged rascal ran,
till she ran out on Caribbean lands, adopting
another unto self, to make her identity matter.
She leaves and grieves island rhythms behind.
“Which stone am I to become,” Mary Jane asks?
“A.” I’ve abandoned my shores of discontent.
“B” “an uneasy breath permeating cells,”
“C” core smoldering deep within Genesis,
igneous in composition, eroticized in gender,”
“But rocks have no gender,” a rock's quick retort.
I turn to view the critical onlooker, maybe
if he knew, igneous rocks on the margins are
first to break free, the power of containment
no match for years of pressurized heat-conflict
no match for Pasa Pasa Wednesdays; resistance
is culture, we reclaim our power; “Monifa. Free!
Round the rugged road the ragged rascal ran,
till she ran out on a Caribbean land, adopting
another unto self to make her identity matter.
She leaves and grieves Mary Jane behind.
Which stones have I left unturned in a fluid
revolution? Watch as my hips swirl, and my
arching back summons rocks deep within.
Revelation. There is a hole in the center.
TONE DEAF TO THE SPIRIT OF SPRING HILL
(Sonnets for John Arthur great grandson Of the 1st Kumina Queen)
The woman I am is Maroon-deep
skin smooth as silk stops passersby
wishing to touch me, …I recoil like
my kinky coils, stretched by fingertips,
for some have never seen beauty like
this, that which father left behind. Portland-
strong waters gush from my eyes, to think
what he gave up. And for what? An escape
from what he called rural life: coffee farmers’
rich brown dirt, chocolate pod-laden trees,
and lively janga swimming upstream,
abandoned as he went the way of the river
down to a bright-electric-light future,
leaving star-studded nights of Spring Hill
for overcrowded city streets.
I wish I was there, born before my time, to tell
him “no! Stay here and grow.” City streets
are not for everyone, they have a code, white
rum and vices to numb rural sons, make you
forget Mama’s love and father’s care
forget root-tonic meant to keep you strong.
City life can break a Maroon boy. If only
he had heeded the voice of the river!
His hills have come back to me,
the spring that he left remains with me.
I walk the hills as he did eighty-five years
ago, I roll in untended grass as he must have.
Such grass was made for intimate carousing.
I hear morning in the rushing river, exaltation
following nighttime, not too far off I hear
what water intended. Music. I never heard in
father’s voice, never saw in his steps. Maybe
he calls me to pluck the edge of the banjo,
tune the fifth string in open G, cut ancestral
losses, recover the sweet in sweet-cups, and
healing of ginger roots. Yet, I am persuaded,
I possess music colouring red coffee beans. I
am convinced I’m the “muzik of his blood,”
the sounds alive in the mid-morning rain
staining banana leaves, left back after a city
having heard a moaning, sent me to tell river
that father had gone tone deaf.
My Wild Woman Sings Too
Caribbean
After The Revival Song Of The Wild Woman ( Lorna Goodison)
My wild woman has occupied headlands and straits
circled Blue Mountain Peak, and have come head to
head with Bullhead mountain; but my wild woman
is not your wild woman, mine has blessed bleeding gold
around the necks of warriors, she has heard the Abeng
sounding her out of deep sleep to gatherings of fighting
men, to stave off another attack of tarnished soldiers, one
more day under the fierce sun, one more battle to win.
My wild woman now encourages me to write poetry
but does not expect ballads or sad sankeys streaking
across the night sky, she tells me to “love only one man,”
forget past lovers who gorged my eyes out. “they must
fall by the wayside like seeds that fell on stony ground
that burst through seed coats, without roots, to wither
and die.” She has been summoned from the past to claim
the future, travelling through Dry river country, thirsty
stopped at Flint river to eat roast pig and steam-callaloo
she is making her way to the land Of Ethel and Ignota
my grandmother, and mother; but first she must stop
by here to gift me with seeing eyes of the ancestors.
She carries for me: the salt and pepper from the past,
the secret of green healing fingers, the strength of
ganja soaked in white rum, and safe passage. Port Maria
river flows rapidly down a lush green St Mary hillside,
there she met time and revelation, together agree to
dehistorize history, sing praise to mountains songs of
Cudjoe and Nanny, seep them into knowledge rivers of
consciousness; so boys and girls now sing to a new tune.
My wild woman agrees with your woman on one thing.
“ our enemies will never live long enough to defeat us.”
Having sucked the salty sea, having licked the sweet
Of Sweet river, having tasted tamarind mixed with
coconut milk, I’ll grow providential, provide shade for
many children and their children to come; they who
will claim the coffee beans on weathered land of
Nathaniel, son of a maroon turn Baptist preacher.
Monica Minott is the author of two collections of poetry, Kumina Queen and Zion Roses. Shewas awarded first prize in the inaugural Small Axe poetry competition and her poems havebeen published in The Caribbean Writer, Small Axe, Cultural Voice Magazine, SX Salon, Jubilation, Coming Up Hot: featuring Eight New Poets from the Caribbean, The Squaw Valley Review, and BIM magazine. Monica Minott is also a Chartered Accountant. She received two awards in Jamaica’s National Book Development Council’s annual literary competitions for book-length collections of her poetry. In February 2022, Minott’s Zion Roses was selected as one of three poetry collections, and one of nine books ( poetry, fiction, non-fiction) vying for 2022 OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature.
REFLECTIONS ON CULTURE
HAIR! OUR CROWNING GLORY
HAIR-IN NATIVE CULTURE: A SYMBOL OF PRIDE/AN EXPRESSION OF IDENTITY
For Rastafari, Native Americans and other Indigenous peoples across the globe, hair is an embodiment of their identity, a symbol of pride and an expression of their heritage. In traditional cultures, hair carries ancient stories and maintains spiritual connection to ancestral spirit and the energy that sustains the people. This is one important reason why, in many cultures, outsiders are not allowed to touch one’s hair. This is a way of protecting yourself from the energy of outsiders that may prove to be negative.
AFRICAN
Every Yoruba hairstyle has a significant name that celebrates an occasion, historical event, or aesthetic, design. Some signify social status, marriage, sophistication and youth or grieving, while others can represent social commentary. https://bellatory.com/hair/Yoruba-traditional-hairstyles
NATIVE AMERICAN
One of many things important to our cultural identity is, our hair. Our hair is considered sacred and significant to who we are as an individual, family, and community. There is a teaching about the symbolism of the braid, itself, that reaffirms this practice. It is said that single strands of hair are weak when tugged on, however, when you pull all of the hair together in a braid the hair is strong. This reinforces the value of the family and tribe along with our connection to all of creation. At pow-wows, it is common to see family members and friends brushing and braiding hair for each other. It’s a beautiful way to bond and a powerful way to reinforce the sacredness of relationships. SOURCE: SISTER SKY
DRED NATTY DRED: JAMAICAN RASTAFARI DREDLOCKS
Charmaine Perry
All the days of his vow of Naziriteship there shall no razor come upon his head; until the days be fulfilled, in which he consecrateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long.
For Rastafari, Native Americans and other Indigenous peoples across the globe, hair is an embodiment of their identity, a symbol of pride and an expression of their heritage. In traditional cultures, hair carries ancient stories and maintains spiritual connection to ancestral spirit and the energy that sustains the people. This is one important reason why, in many cultures, outsiders are not allowed to touch one’s hair. This is a way of protecting yourself from the energy of outsiders that may prove to be negative.
AFRICAN
Every Yoruba hairstyle has a significant name that celebrates an occasion, historical event, or aesthetic, design. Some signify social status, marriage, sophistication and youth or grieving, while others can represent social commentary. https://bellatory.com/hair/Yoruba-traditional-hairstyles
NATIVE AMERICAN
One of many things important to our cultural identity is, our hair. Our hair is considered sacred and significant to who we are as an individual, family, and community. There is a teaching about the symbolism of the braid, itself, that reaffirms this practice. It is said that single strands of hair are weak when tugged on, however, when you pull all of the hair together in a braid the hair is strong. This reinforces the value of the family and tribe along with our connection to all of creation. At pow-wows, it is common to see family members and friends brushing and braiding hair for each other. It’s a beautiful way to bond and a powerful way to reinforce the sacredness of relationships. SOURCE: SISTER SKY
DRED NATTY DRED: JAMAICAN RASTAFARI DREDLOCKS
Charmaine Perry
All the days of his vow of Naziriteship there shall no razor come upon his head; until the days be fulfilled, in which he consecrateth himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long.
If you were to talk to any Jamaican Rastafari they would tell you that Rastafari and the wearing of the dreadlocks hairstyle started in Jamaica by a man named Leonard Howell. He was born in Jamaica in 1898 and is known as the first Rastaman. In 1933 Howell held a meeting with over 200 people in attendance. This meeting started the Rastafari movement in Jamaica. This movement and its message prospered and today Rastafari faith exists worldwide. Howell however, never wore the dreadlocks hairstyle but believed that Haile Selassie crowned Emperor of Ethiopia in 1930 was the Black messiah and the returned Jesus. The wearing of the dreadlocks hairstyle in the later Rastafari movement has grown and has established a closer connection with people of similar views across all continents of the globe. Rastas hold firm to their belief in the gospel, They shall not make baldness upon their head (Numbers 6: 1-21). The wearing of hair in dreadlocks by Rastafari is therefore spiritual; this is justified in the Bible. People who wear dreadlocks and adhere to the Rastafari faith visually project a statement to the world that they are social justice minded, non-violent and yet non-conforming Afro-centric people who align with those who have been marginalized by a capitalist system.
The most famous Jamaican Rastafari and musician was Bob Marley who was born in 1945 and died in 1981. He contributed to the increased visibility of Jamaican music. He was a cultural icon who through his music spread the Rastafari culture and spirituality. After converting to Rastafari in the late 1960s, Marley began to wear the dreadlocks hairstyle. After his death, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and Rolling Stone ranked him number 11 on its lists of the 100 greatest artists of all time. Today the dreadlocks hairstyle has gained massive popularity and is worn worldwide by many prominent musicians, athletes, authors, rappers and actors. Dreadlocks are also worn by our Aboriginal brothers/sister in West and North Australia. The hair is typically worn in locked style wrapped around the head.
Charmaine Perry is a freelance writer and amateur photographer residing in Jamaica
The most famous Jamaican Rastafari and musician was Bob Marley who was born in 1945 and died in 1981. He contributed to the increased visibility of Jamaican music. He was a cultural icon who through his music spread the Rastafari culture and spirituality. After converting to Rastafari in the late 1960s, Marley began to wear the dreadlocks hairstyle. After his death, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and Rolling Stone ranked him number 11 on its lists of the 100 greatest artists of all time. Today the dreadlocks hairstyle has gained massive popularity and is worn worldwide by many prominent musicians, athletes, authors, rappers and actors. Dreadlocks are also worn by our Aboriginal brothers/sister in West and North Australia. The hair is typically worn in locked style wrapped around the head.
Charmaine Perry is a freelance writer and amateur photographer residing in Jamaica
BIOGRAPHY
Women who Replenish the Earth
Nobel Peace Prize winner, Wangari Maathai planted 40 million trees across Kenya in her determination to make a lasting impact on the drive to replenish the earth of her beloved country. This movement focused on replenishing forestry as it simultaneously worked to improve the lives of women. Dr. Maathai launched the Green Belt Movement to end the devastation of Kenya's forests and lands caused by development and to remedy the negative impact that this development had on the country's environment. She won the Nobel Peace Prize for her "holistic approach to sustainable development that embraces democracy, human rights, & dignity.”
Her collection of published books include Eco Justice and Pedagogy, The Challenge for Africa, State of the World's Minorities and Unbowed: A Memoir.
Her collection of published books include Eco Justice and Pedagogy, The Challenge for Africa, State of the World's Minorities and Unbowed: A Memoir.
Native spiritualist and the Carib Tribal Queen, Catherine Humming Bird Ramirez has guarded the rights and dignity of the First Nation people of Florida with the skills of a shrewd warrior. She was a leading influence within the resistance movement that disrupted the move by developers to excavate and build luxury condos on the site now named the Miami Circle. Developers had begun preparations to start the extraction when they discovered circular pits carved into soft otolithic limestones forming a perfect 38 ft, diameter circle, an ancient Native American Circle thousands of years old. Catherine along with other social justice minded protestors were successful in bringing this move to a halt and saving this sacred site from destruction. She is there every Tuesday, offering prayers, greeting visitors and sharing the wisdom of the ancestors, advocating reverence, respect and connection of the human spirit. Catherine travels globally, supporting and uplifting Native peoples with her wisdom and message of empowerment.
Source: https://themarjorie.org/2018/06/23/history-among-high-rises/
Source: https://themarjorie.org/2018/06/23/history-among-high-rises/
Unfortunately, the cries we hear today are some of the very same cries that our ancestors long ago faced…the very same issues in just different times. We, as a Kalinago people, are still exploited economically. We are oppressed culturally and politically and I must say, this has to stop,” Senator Sanford, Dominica
Senator Anette Sanford, is a Kalinago woman, political leader and social justice activist from Dominica. Born into an Indigenous farming family, she focuses on building sustainable communities in her country, striving for true independence and autonomy. In her commitment to break the shackles of dependency, Senator Sanford launched a six-month program to train professional caregivers for the elderly, children and the disabled. This first female Kalinago senator, donates half of her salary to the Dominica Nurses Association to help with the pandemic crisis. She founded a nongovernmental organization Kibe’kuati to support community based projects in the Kalinago territory. Her mission has been to improve the economic, cultural and social life of her people.
“We care for our farms like our babies, because the closer we are to nature, the greater is our appreciation for the tiny things we often take for granted everyday- like the plants that provide us with oxygen.
Senator Anette Sanford, is a Kalinago woman, political leader and social justice activist from Dominica. Born into an Indigenous farming family, she focuses on building sustainable communities in her country, striving for true independence and autonomy. In her commitment to break the shackles of dependency, Senator Sanford launched a six-month program to train professional caregivers for the elderly, children and the disabled. This first female Kalinago senator, donates half of her salary to the Dominica Nurses Association to help with the pandemic crisis. She founded a nongovernmental organization Kibe’kuati to support community based projects in the Kalinago territory. Her mission has been to improve the economic, cultural and social life of her people.
“We care for our farms like our babies, because the closer we are to nature, the greater is our appreciation for the tiny things we often take for granted everyday- like the plants that provide us with oxygen.
I see absolutely no reason why a woman with the educational background, experience and of course, the backbone to lead, cannot step forward and do so. Anette Sanford
WE RISE! WE RISE! WE RISE!
A VISUAL COMMENTARY ON THE TRIUMPH OF BLACK FOLKS
COMMENTARY
THE RIGHTS TO ANCIENT & SACRED LAND
THE JAMAICAN GOVERNMENT AT WAR WITH THE ANCIENT MAROONS
During the 18th century in colonial Jamaica, the Maroons fought against slavery in an onslaught of guerrilla war that pushed the British to negotiate a peace treaty in 1739 and again in 1796. These legal documents have remained binding throughout the centuries. At this time, there is an ongoing battle with the government of Jamaica and the Accompong Maroons of St. Elizabeth regarding sovereign ownership of this land. Considering the government’s move to continue and extract bauxite from the land in Jamaica, it seems clear that the issue is the thwarted attempt to wrestle land boundaries from the Maroons in order to allow foreign investors to mine the land and extract its bauxite. The Accompong Maroons find themselves in a position that has dominated the lives of Aboriginal/Indigenous peoples ever since Columbus landed in error on their land in 1492 and exposed Europeans to the vast riches of the lands. What is happening in Jamaica today is simply a remnant of colonialism and imperialism and fixed within the capitalist construct of gaining wealth at any cost necessary. As America’s father of capitalism, John Rockefeller stated in the 19th century, “The major fortune in America has been made in land.” These words stated by Rockefeller, America’s richest man to date, summarizes the Eurocentric ideology that the land is there for man to hold dominion over, to extract its resources for wealth and aggrandizement.
NATIVE PEOPLE’S WORLDVIEW ON LAND OWNERSHIP
Native peoples on the other hand, believe that man cannot own the land; the land owns him. He is merely its caretaker and will return to it one day. This difference in ideology lies at the heart of the tension between the two sets of people; the original owners of the land and the explorers who invaded it and proceeded to establish themselves and their generations to come as owner of the land.
Below-Maroon Chief Currie asserts the Maroons right to their land.
NATIVE PEOPLE’S WORLDVIEW ON LAND OWNERSHIP
Native peoples on the other hand, believe that man cannot own the land; the land owns him. He is merely its caretaker and will return to it one day. This difference in ideology lies at the heart of the tension between the two sets of people; the original owners of the land and the explorers who invaded it and proceeded to establish themselves and their generations to come as owner of the land.
Below-Maroon Chief Currie asserts the Maroons right to their land.
The Land Still Belongs To Us
Dr. Rovan Locke
Jomo Kenyatta, the Kenyan Freedom fighter and the first prime Minister and later president of KENYA emphasized, "When the Missionaries arrived, the Africans had the land and the Missionaries had the Bible. They taught us how to pray with our eyes closed. When we opened them, they had the land and we had the Bible.” Inarguably, Kenyatta's commentary on the Europeans' "Civilizing Missions" in Africa is applicable to Native peoples throughout the Hemispheric Americas and the plight of Aboriginal Australia and Indigenous Africans in Papua New Guinea.
Africans and First Nation peoples have been enslaved, brutalized and dehumanized since the "Age of Discovery " more than five centuries ago. It must be noted that the missionaries were on the African Continent at least a century prior to the Franciscan Monk Bartolome De Las Casas who, based in Brazil, requested to the Spanish Monarchy that the Encomienda System be introduced in the Americas which would lead to enslaved Africans replacing the Indigenous population whose physical structures were unable to survive in the heat whilst engaged in the mines and the sugar plantations. The introduction of Catholicism in the Hemispheric Americas was intermarried with the genocidal activities against Indigenous people (Tainos and Arawaks) and the three centuries of Africans enslavement , perpetual racial dehumanization, economic exploitation and ghettoized residential environs.
The Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus' arrival in the Caribbean Ocean at Seville, St Ann in 1492 triggered the African Slave Trade from the African continent and the almost genocidal eradication of the Tainos and Arawak Indians in Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean.
The British victory over the Spanish in Jamaica, 1685, and its political and economic dominance since then over Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean Islands (now known as CARICOM) did not usher a reversal of the exploitative racial polity. On the contrary, the entire region was one of Transatlantic chattel slavery for another two centuries. Since 1832 the region has been shaped by the aftermath of slavery, indentured servitude with hundreds of thousands of Indians coming from "Mother India." The next level of development saw movements towards a region shaped by race ,class, caste and colour and immeasurable landlessness amongst the majority Black population and the ethnic Indians.
On the African continent, there were decades of violent African White (British!) settlerdom in Kenya , Rhodesia now Zimbabwe; Malawi, Zambia, South West Africa (now Namibia), Apartheid South Africa and Portuguese White Minority settlerdom
In Angola, Mozambique and Guinea Bissau.
With the exception of Kenya where the Rastafarian oriented Mau Mau led by Kimathi Dedani and the imprisoned Jomo Kenyatta for eight years (1954-1962), the Land has not yet returned to the heirs of the African majority in the formerly military minority dominated societies.
In Jamaica, the Maroons are on the verge of losing their custodial land which was bequeathed to them in the 1739 and 1796 treaties with the British Monarchy. The presence of huge aluminum deposits in their region, from Portland to St Elizabeth and throughout the mountainous Cockpit Country, has led to prime minister Andrew Holness being caught between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. Will he allow the American mining interests to take these Maroons ' Lands to meet the exponential demands for bauxite on the global market?
In Brazil, the Amazon people are insecure and unable to prevent the deforestation of their ancestral land by the encroaching ranchers who have the support of the Brazilian president who is very hostile to the Amazon people who want to keep out any form of outside economic developments in farming, mining, fishing and lumbering. In Australia, the burning question is whether the younger Aboriginals will embrace the inevitability of economic developments such as massive infrastructure growth in roads, housing and universities in their environs. Will the ideological clash between the older members of their society and themselves end as they rush to become part of the Global Information Highway?
Dr. Rovan Locke is a political scientist residing in Jamaica and a former resident of Nigeria, Africa where he taught at the University of Ile--Ife.
Dr. Rovan Locke
Jomo Kenyatta, the Kenyan Freedom fighter and the first prime Minister and later president of KENYA emphasized, "When the Missionaries arrived, the Africans had the land and the Missionaries had the Bible. They taught us how to pray with our eyes closed. When we opened them, they had the land and we had the Bible.” Inarguably, Kenyatta's commentary on the Europeans' "Civilizing Missions" in Africa is applicable to Native peoples throughout the Hemispheric Americas and the plight of Aboriginal Australia and Indigenous Africans in Papua New Guinea.
Africans and First Nation peoples have been enslaved, brutalized and dehumanized since the "Age of Discovery " more than five centuries ago. It must be noted that the missionaries were on the African Continent at least a century prior to the Franciscan Monk Bartolome De Las Casas who, based in Brazil, requested to the Spanish Monarchy that the Encomienda System be introduced in the Americas which would lead to enslaved Africans replacing the Indigenous population whose physical structures were unable to survive in the heat whilst engaged in the mines and the sugar plantations. The introduction of Catholicism in the Hemispheric Americas was intermarried with the genocidal activities against Indigenous people (Tainos and Arawaks) and the three centuries of Africans enslavement , perpetual racial dehumanization, economic exploitation and ghettoized residential environs.
The Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus' arrival in the Caribbean Ocean at Seville, St Ann in 1492 triggered the African Slave Trade from the African continent and the almost genocidal eradication of the Tainos and Arawak Indians in Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean.
The British victory over the Spanish in Jamaica, 1685, and its political and economic dominance since then over Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean Islands (now known as CARICOM) did not usher a reversal of the exploitative racial polity. On the contrary, the entire region was one of Transatlantic chattel slavery for another two centuries. Since 1832 the region has been shaped by the aftermath of slavery, indentured servitude with hundreds of thousands of Indians coming from "Mother India." The next level of development saw movements towards a region shaped by race ,class, caste and colour and immeasurable landlessness amongst the majority Black population and the ethnic Indians.
On the African continent, there were decades of violent African White (British!) settlerdom in Kenya , Rhodesia now Zimbabwe; Malawi, Zambia, South West Africa (now Namibia), Apartheid South Africa and Portuguese White Minority settlerdom
In Angola, Mozambique and Guinea Bissau.
With the exception of Kenya where the Rastafarian oriented Mau Mau led by Kimathi Dedani and the imprisoned Jomo Kenyatta for eight years (1954-1962), the Land has not yet returned to the heirs of the African majority in the formerly military minority dominated societies.
In Jamaica, the Maroons are on the verge of losing their custodial land which was bequeathed to them in the 1739 and 1796 treaties with the British Monarchy. The presence of huge aluminum deposits in their region, from Portland to St Elizabeth and throughout the mountainous Cockpit Country, has led to prime minister Andrew Holness being caught between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. Will he allow the American mining interests to take these Maroons ' Lands to meet the exponential demands for bauxite on the global market?
In Brazil, the Amazon people are insecure and unable to prevent the deforestation of their ancestral land by the encroaching ranchers who have the support of the Brazilian president who is very hostile to the Amazon people who want to keep out any form of outside economic developments in farming, mining, fishing and lumbering. In Australia, the burning question is whether the younger Aboriginals will embrace the inevitability of economic developments such as massive infrastructure growth in roads, housing and universities in their environs. Will the ideological clash between the older members of their society and themselves end as they rush to become part of the Global Information Highway?
Dr. Rovan Locke is a political scientist residing in Jamaica and a former resident of Nigeria, Africa where he taught at the University of Ile--Ife.
HISTORY.CULTURE. HYBRIDITY.
POEMS BY ANDREW MOSS
Aro
I
Blow the Ekpe horn in Anglo-Aro Wars
Sound the Abeng in a chorus across Diaspora
Across the Atlantic and Mediterranean
Coast to coast, landlocked to landlocked, Maroons to Marooned
Ranks of Amama quaff palm wine
like champagne in a celebration
The Ekpe house a perfect church
Inside clay figures sculpted breathe in momentary relief
At the festival masks dance, perform
Rituals lined up in a row, rank and filed teeth and horns
Cross River across oceans to Afro-Cuban homes Abakua
secret societies speak in pidgin tongues of survival
across middle passages of space and time
Calabar to Cuba to Haiti
In one continuous movement
Anaforuana with symbolic verve
II
Fluid writing systems
Cut and painted on split palm stems
Trace our histories in Nsibidi script pilgrimages
Thousand told thousandfold kanji pictograms,
logographs and syllabaries like kana
hieroglyphic squiggles of geometric graffiti
Tear apart Tarzan’s flimsy colonial loincloth
with the claws of Wakandan Black Panther imagery
Symbols that perforate and decorate our skin in ritual,
abstract on calabash, on headrests, sculpture, brassware
and in masquerade both sacred for initiates and public
taboo in your veins, sacred signs of warfare and love affairs
etched on walls, leaves, sword and tattoo
Ink flows and crosses ethnic groups, uniting
Sizing up ikpe judgement in Ibini Ukpabi oracular shrines,
the drum of the Creator God beats
settling cases of murder, witchcraft, family disputes and poison
reverberation from Chukwu Abiama temple, across Igboland
Motifs woven into tapestries, mats mapping society’s fabric
Dyed white on grids against an indigo background: ukara ekpe
III
Thwarting British expeditions
Arochukwu seize control of the Cave Temple Complex
harnessing the Great Spirit, vexing military experts
Preserving a chamber of secrets in the Okonto sacred jungle
Fearsome impenetrable Igbo interiors
Long Juju home of Oracle Ibin Ukpabi
Shrouded Chukwu Abiama Temple, nestles
In the green mists of legend and myth.
Dandelion Diaspora
Proud nations given alien status
Stateless seed dispersal
The dandelion clock
Ticks, tocks and makes a wish
Blown from West Africa’s shores
To the auction block
To plantations of tobacco and cotton picking
Fingers snap and find New World rhythms
In shock, millions of magical florets,
Lost
Descend then globe trot
Golden Akan crowns bend down, disintegrate
Into silver tufted afro puffs
Grown grey-weary with time-fate
Clocks, blowballs, ticking timebombs
Awaiting
Glorious explosion, regenerate
Puffed parachutes land
Around a pappus vortex ring of smoke
Enriching drab projects, housing estates
Sewing new treasured seeds
Rapid colonisation of disturbed soils
Continuity of bright silky kente tapestry
Once stripped, re-stitched
Coast to coast, across
Connecting Atlantic rifts
Once sailed by slave ships
Ticks, tocks and makes a wish
The dandelion clock
Stated seed dispersal
Alien status creates proud nations.
Andrew Geoffrey Kwabena Moss is an Anglo-Ghanaian writer and teacher who has lived in the UK, Japan and currently, Australia. His work seeks to explore and challenge liminal landscapes, complex identities and social constructs of race. Most recently, Andrew’s poetry is featured in Poetry for the Planet and The Best New British and Irish Poets Anthology 2019-2021 by The Black Spring Press Group (BSPG). He has been published by Afropean, Fly on the Wall Press and Sound the Abeng, among others. His debut collection will be published this year by BSPG and his debut novel will be published by RoseyRavelston. Andrew’s poems have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Rhysling Award for 2022 respectively
POEMS BY ANDREW MOSS
Aro
I
Blow the Ekpe horn in Anglo-Aro Wars
Sound the Abeng in a chorus across Diaspora
Across the Atlantic and Mediterranean
Coast to coast, landlocked to landlocked, Maroons to Marooned
Ranks of Amama quaff palm wine
like champagne in a celebration
The Ekpe house a perfect church
Inside clay figures sculpted breathe in momentary relief
At the festival masks dance, perform
Rituals lined up in a row, rank and filed teeth and horns
Cross River across oceans to Afro-Cuban homes Abakua
secret societies speak in pidgin tongues of survival
across middle passages of space and time
Calabar to Cuba to Haiti
In one continuous movement
Anaforuana with symbolic verve
II
Fluid writing systems
Cut and painted on split palm stems
Trace our histories in Nsibidi script pilgrimages
Thousand told thousandfold kanji pictograms,
logographs and syllabaries like kana
hieroglyphic squiggles of geometric graffiti
Tear apart Tarzan’s flimsy colonial loincloth
with the claws of Wakandan Black Panther imagery
Symbols that perforate and decorate our skin in ritual,
abstract on calabash, on headrests, sculpture, brassware
and in masquerade both sacred for initiates and public
taboo in your veins, sacred signs of warfare and love affairs
etched on walls, leaves, sword and tattoo
Ink flows and crosses ethnic groups, uniting
Sizing up ikpe judgement in Ibini Ukpabi oracular shrines,
the drum of the Creator God beats
settling cases of murder, witchcraft, family disputes and poison
reverberation from Chukwu Abiama temple, across Igboland
Motifs woven into tapestries, mats mapping society’s fabric
Dyed white on grids against an indigo background: ukara ekpe
III
Thwarting British expeditions
Arochukwu seize control of the Cave Temple Complex
harnessing the Great Spirit, vexing military experts
Preserving a chamber of secrets in the Okonto sacred jungle
Fearsome impenetrable Igbo interiors
Long Juju home of Oracle Ibin Ukpabi
Shrouded Chukwu Abiama Temple, nestles
In the green mists of legend and myth.
Dandelion Diaspora
Proud nations given alien status
Stateless seed dispersal
The dandelion clock
Ticks, tocks and makes a wish
Blown from West Africa’s shores
To the auction block
To plantations of tobacco and cotton picking
Fingers snap and find New World rhythms
In shock, millions of magical florets,
Lost
Descend then globe trot
Golden Akan crowns bend down, disintegrate
Into silver tufted afro puffs
Grown grey-weary with time-fate
Clocks, blowballs, ticking timebombs
Awaiting
Glorious explosion, regenerate
Puffed parachutes land
Around a pappus vortex ring of smoke
Enriching drab projects, housing estates
Sewing new treasured seeds
Rapid colonisation of disturbed soils
Continuity of bright silky kente tapestry
Once stripped, re-stitched
Coast to coast, across
Connecting Atlantic rifts
Once sailed by slave ships
Ticks, tocks and makes a wish
The dandelion clock
Stated seed dispersal
Alien status creates proud nations.
Andrew Geoffrey Kwabena Moss is an Anglo-Ghanaian writer and teacher who has lived in the UK, Japan and currently, Australia. His work seeks to explore and challenge liminal landscapes, complex identities and social constructs of race. Most recently, Andrew’s poetry is featured in Poetry for the Planet and The Best New British and Irish Poets Anthology 2019-2021 by The Black Spring Press Group (BSPG). He has been published by Afropean, Fly on the Wall Press and Sound the Abeng, among others. His debut collection will be published this year by BSPG and his debut novel will be published by RoseyRavelston. Andrew’s poems have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Rhysling Award for 2022 respectively
Andrew Geoffrey Kwabena Moss is an Anglo-Ghanaian writer and teacher who has lived in the UK, Japan and currently, Australia. His work seeks to explore and challenge liminal landscapes, complex identities and social constructs of race. Most recently, Andrew’s poetry is featured in Poetry for the Planet and The Best New British and Irish Poets Anthology 2019-2021 by The Black Spring Press Group (BSPG). He has been published by Afropean, Fly on the Wall Press and Sound the Abeng, among others. His debut collection will be published this year by BSPG and his debut novel will be published by RoseyRavelston. Andrew’s poems have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and Rhysling Award for 2022 respectively.
The world is not a problem to be solved; it is a living being to which we belong. The world is part of our own self and we are a part of its suffering and wholeness. Until we go to the root of our image of separateness, there can be no healing. And the deepest part of our separateness from creation lies in our forgetfulness of its sacred nature, which is also our own sacred nature. - Thich Nhat Hanh
NATURE IS OUR SALVATION
POEMS & PHOTOGRAPHS BY GEOFFREY PHILP
In Millennium Park
The butterflies seek refuge
In the midsummer
The butterflies seek refuge
In the midsummer
In the dry season
Far from the weed cutter’s whirr
Dandelions dance
Far from the weed cutter’s whirr
Dandelions dance
Geoffrey Philp is the author of five books of poetry, two novels, two collections of short stories, and three children's books. A recipient of the Luminary Award from the Consulate of Jamaica (2015) and a former chair for the 2019 OCM Bocas Prize for Poetry, Philp's work is featured on The Poetry Rail at The Betsy--an homage to 12 writers that shaped Miami culture. His graphic novel, My Name is Marcus is currently in press.
And thrives in this place
- The gumbo limbo
And thrives in this place
In the dry season
- On a Longwood lawn
In the dry season
O, Spanish Needle
Can you cure what ails my heart
Before winter ends?
Can you cure what ails my heart
Before winter ends?
POEMS by Karen Pableta Wade
Rain on Me!
Karen Wade
Her tears fall unto the undulating curves of the golf course
Blue skies surrendering to
The limitless gray clouds
A wellspring of water washes over parched lips
And weeping endures for a night;
a balm for a cold heart hungry for the soft reassurance of a mother’s love;
This waterfall of tears offers a soft release
A pause in time to gather hope and succor strength
From the mountain top
And as darkness slips away in the morning light
It signals her to weep no more.
She retreats;
Needing time to replenish herself….
And the rainfall settles into a soft drizzle
Filling the water in the well before it runs dry
Let the Music Set You Free!
Liberation!
Resistance!
The message rises up across the centuries:
Sound the Abeng
Beat the Congo drums,
Strike the Talking drums!
Let the rhythms flow through your body
In a musical score called Freedom.
Resistance. Liberation.
Freedom’s lyrics speak through the
Swagger of your body in ancient rhymes
And rhythms of the Mother Land,
Writing/righting notes of consciousness
On fertile Caribbean soil.
Get up, stand up!
And sing these songs of freedom.
“I am excited about this era of change”, states Karen Wade, who lists among her achievements traveling across the globe, meeting new people and having lived in four different countries. A graduate of the University of the West Indies, Karen specializes in Linguistics and the way language shapes the individual’s identity and his/her location in the society.
Rain on Me!
Karen Wade
Her tears fall unto the undulating curves of the golf course
Blue skies surrendering to
The limitless gray clouds
A wellspring of water washes over parched lips
And weeping endures for a night;
a balm for a cold heart hungry for the soft reassurance of a mother’s love;
This waterfall of tears offers a soft release
A pause in time to gather hope and succor strength
From the mountain top
And as darkness slips away in the morning light
It signals her to weep no more.
She retreats;
Needing time to replenish herself….
And the rainfall settles into a soft drizzle
Filling the water in the well before it runs dry
Let the Music Set You Free!
Liberation!
Resistance!
The message rises up across the centuries:
Sound the Abeng
Beat the Congo drums,
Strike the Talking drums!
Let the rhythms flow through your body
In a musical score called Freedom.
Resistance. Liberation.
Freedom’s lyrics speak through the
Swagger of your body in ancient rhymes
And rhythms of the Mother Land,
Writing/righting notes of consciousness
On fertile Caribbean soil.
Get up, stand up!
And sing these songs of freedom.
“I am excited about this era of change”, states Karen Wade, who lists among her achievements traveling across the globe, meeting new people and having lived in four different countries. A graduate of the University of the West Indies, Karen specializes in Linguistics and the way language shapes the individual’s identity and his/her location in the society.
ON OUR BOOKSHELF |
MEET THE AUTHOR-ELIZABETH JOHNSON
SHIFTING THE PARADIGM FROM ABSENT FATHER TO EMPOWERING MENTOR
The term, “You’re just like your dad,” has been a common phrase used in reference to children to describe a behavior that adults may think is similar to or identical to that of their dad. When a child does something good, the phrase, “…just like my dad,” can be empowering. But what about when it's used in a negatively to cast shame? For the child and the parent, this can be a tough situation. But what if you don’t have a dad, or the dad is absent? Where then does a son get the discipline he needs to carry on throughout life; or a daughter get to see the examples of how a man treats a woman? Father figures are everywhere and, as the saying goes, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Our culture is filled with mentors, father figures, spiritual mothers and elders guiding young people on the path of positive living. Our experience tells us that the teachings of fathers can be found in unexpected places. In Just Like my Dad, Coach Carl, a widower who has lost his family in a car crash, struggles with his own pain. The loss of his child has left a huge void in his life and he has no idea it is about to be filled by four strangers. In this story which mirrors several real life situations, Just Like my Dad introduces a coach looking to teach, nurture, and guide the lives of four children that are lacking the support they so desperately need to thrive in this world. This story was written to emphasize the fact that negative situations and experiences do not permanently define us. Our children are indeed our future and we must step up to the plate to nurture and uplift them in any circumstance that allows us to do so. Though fiction, we crafted this story from the knowledge we have gained about parenting and guiding our youth in the villages we call home.
Elizabeth Johnson is co-author with Tyrell Plair of the children's book, Just Like My Dad. She was named the 2021 Author’s Porch and PULSE magazine’s Author of the Year. Elizabeth is currently the Director of Marketing with PlaTy Multimedia and Publishing.
SHIFTING THE PARADIGM FROM ABSENT FATHER TO EMPOWERING MENTOR
The term, “You’re just like your dad,” has been a common phrase used in reference to children to describe a behavior that adults may think is similar to or identical to that of their dad. When a child does something good, the phrase, “…just like my dad,” can be empowering. But what about when it's used in a negatively to cast shame? For the child and the parent, this can be a tough situation. But what if you don’t have a dad, or the dad is absent? Where then does a son get the discipline he needs to carry on throughout life; or a daughter get to see the examples of how a man treats a woman? Father figures are everywhere and, as the saying goes, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Our culture is filled with mentors, father figures, spiritual mothers and elders guiding young people on the path of positive living. Our experience tells us that the teachings of fathers can be found in unexpected places. In Just Like my Dad, Coach Carl, a widower who has lost his family in a car crash, struggles with his own pain. The loss of his child has left a huge void in his life and he has no idea it is about to be filled by four strangers. In this story which mirrors several real life situations, Just Like my Dad introduces a coach looking to teach, nurture, and guide the lives of four children that are lacking the support they so desperately need to thrive in this world. This story was written to emphasize the fact that negative situations and experiences do not permanently define us. Our children are indeed our future and we must step up to the plate to nurture and uplift them in any circumstance that allows us to do so. Though fiction, we crafted this story from the knowledge we have gained about parenting and guiding our youth in the villages we call home.
Elizabeth Johnson is co-author with Tyrell Plair of the children's book, Just Like My Dad. She was named the 2021 Author’s Porch and PULSE magazine’s Author of the Year. Elizabeth is currently the Director of Marketing with PlaTy Multimedia and Publishing.
STRONG IN THE BROKEN: POETICS OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoOs4rx07l-sFD_IS3c2aQw
Join us on Thursday, March 24, 2022@ 5:30 PM ET/USA for STRONG IN THE BROKEN PLACES: POETICS OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA.
SACRED LANDSCAPES: THE RIGHTS & EMPOWERMENT OF NATIVE PEOPLES
From across the globe, authors share poetry and prose that focus on cultural identity, global solidarity and social justice and equity. They reach out and touch our lives with content that elevates historical consciousness and promotes cultural understanding and respect. You are bearing witness to the outpourings of WORD WARRIORS who are speaking to the fact of our common humanity. Poets who acknowledge the pain and the suffering and the trauma that we have been experiencing. Poets who use their words as a tool to write truth into history in such a manner that allows us to sing and dance and clap hands in rhythm with the words of their mouths and the meditation of their hearts. Their words will uplift, inspire, counsel, provoke, soothe and I hope above everything else, call you to action.
CONTACT US
SUBMIT TO SOUND THE ABENG & WRITE FOR JUSTICE
Submit prose and/or poetry of 100-250-500 words maximum to the editor:
marvamclean@bellsouth.net
Deadline for Next Issue-June 1, 2022
Publication Date-June 20, 2022
Theme-Ethnic Dress: How We Wear Our Bodies
WRITING FOR JUSTICE
This newsletter aims to break down barriers and cross the line between scholarly work and general readership to emphasize the significant ways in which our lives are entangled across borders. It is hoped that these short articles will grab our readers' attention and inspire them to delve deeper into interrogating the complexities of the African Diaspora and honor our common humanity.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoOs4rx07l-sFD_IS3c2aQw
Join us on Thursday, March 24, 2022@ 5:30 PM ET/USA for STRONG IN THE BROKEN PLACES: POETICS OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA.
SACRED LANDSCAPES: THE RIGHTS & EMPOWERMENT OF NATIVE PEOPLES
From across the globe, authors share poetry and prose that focus on cultural identity, global solidarity and social justice and equity. They reach out and touch our lives with content that elevates historical consciousness and promotes cultural understanding and respect. You are bearing witness to the outpourings of WORD WARRIORS who are speaking to the fact of our common humanity. Poets who acknowledge the pain and the suffering and the trauma that we have been experiencing. Poets who use their words as a tool to write truth into history in such a manner that allows us to sing and dance and clap hands in rhythm with the words of their mouths and the meditation of their hearts. Their words will uplift, inspire, counsel, provoke, soothe and I hope above everything else, call you to action.
CONTACT US
SUBMIT TO SOUND THE ABENG & WRITE FOR JUSTICE
Submit prose and/or poetry of 100-250-500 words maximum to the editor:
marvamclean@bellsouth.net
Deadline for Next Issue-June 1, 2022
Publication Date-June 20, 2022
Theme-Ethnic Dress: How We Wear Our Bodies
WRITING FOR JUSTICE
This newsletter aims to break down barriers and cross the line between scholarly work and general readership to emphasize the significant ways in which our lives are entangled across borders. It is hoped that these short articles will grab our readers' attention and inspire them to delve deeper into interrogating the complexities of the African Diaspora and honor our common humanity.