December 12, 2018
I’ve been missing in action for a couple of weeks with school, work and some travel to the land of our comrade, Fidel Castro, for a bit; and for my delay in delivering my thoughts I must apologize. Who knows, maybe the hiatus was good for both of us, and well it might have kept me out of some ‘heat of the moment’ outbursts. My time in Cuba was eye-opening, to say the least, and I hope to share some musings on that visit, but I have not had time to sit with myself and sift through those revelations as yet. Nor am I in any mood to tackle any news, not now — that in itself will require mental preparation.
What I do want to talk about is music. It’s an art that the universal Creator blessed us with. We have a natural affinity for it, we honor it and we ourselves create it. We see it on the stages of Bliss when Errolyn Wallen and Frankie Reneau’s fingers caress the keys of the piano, or in accompaniment with the voice of Aurelio Martinez as his quick-moving feet tap on the wooden floors. We get goosebumps when we listen to the voice of our nightingales Jackie Castillo, Denise Castillo, Chanelle Parks, and Tanya Carter, and we feel our souls smile as we reminisce on the tones of those whose spirits returned from whence they came. I say the names of Leela Vernon, Andy Palacio, Paul Nabor, and Mr. Peters.
Music is my favorite pastime and my longest friend. I grew up on and still to this day love to listen to Al Green, Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Luther Vandross, Frank Sinatra, Nina Simone, Barry White, Otis Redding, Percy Sledge, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Lou Rawls, Ray Charles, Gladys Knight etcetera, so I have a DEEP appreciation for quality productions. This is not only because I need music that is appealing, but also music that gives me a peek at the artists’ soul, music with humanity. Musicians are after all my favorite crazy people, dream-chasers and change-makers in their own right.
I recently had a sit down with two of these people, Musa Shaheed, and Wilford Felix. These two young men are drummers in the “Di Maroons” band, working to preserve Kriol culture in Belize and stationed at the Liberty Hall on Barrack Road in Belize City. I don’t think anyone in Belize is doing the type of work, so I had a chat with them. I guided the conversation around power and social change. The first sentence that came out of Wilford’s mouth was, “music is not only a vehicle for change but it is the impetus itself.” We had a rich dialogue around this, concluding that musicians and artists on a whole have a responsibility to uphold the quality of the content that is produced and disseminated because of the effortlessness and viral nature of music. Think of how quickly a Concego, Sweet Pain or Positive Vibes song has your waistline moving! We concluded here that that is why the political system makes utility of the medium within campaign seasons and rallies because it is the easiest way to seep into our collective consciousness the propaganda material they are trying to spread.
Later in the conversation, I asked them if what they are doing is a protest of any sort and their response blew me away. “It’s not a protest, it’s a proclamation, a stance,” they said. They emphasized that their work is indivisible from how they choose to engage with life itself as descendants of marooned slaves and identifying as maroons themselves in the context of our Belizean reality. It is the preservation of indispensable Kriol historical content for youth who already own the drums they make and the songs they sing and the stories they tell. A young poet, Kyo D’Assasin, has a piece he calls ‘The Revolution nuh wah be Streamed Live’ and this is definitely the sentiment of these two and many other young musicians, poets, visual artists, writers, actors, producers in Belize. We’re here and we’re tired of singing for our supper, exhausted of the piper’s old tunes. Let’s compose and listen to something new!
“Music is … A higher revelation than all Wisdom & Philosophy” ¯ Ludwig van Beethoven
Stay Curious.