7/7/2018 1 Comment Empress EmbattledDem a tell her she an Empress
Dem a tell her she a Queen Come and dance here We all love you It's not safe, but you can do it You're a Rasta Empress You're a Reggae Queen Standing and smiling Stepping in trust Learning the hard way Words of love belie acts of lust Stripped of money Bared of pride "NO!" she yelled but no one cried Dem a tell her she an Empress Dem a tell her she a Queen Words come easy Only actions tell The heart of the characters Who guide through this hell [Ark of the Covenant Riddim]
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7/5/2018 0 Comments The Ballad of Princess Minna
Deep in the belly of the beast, she met a handsome prince who fell madly in love with her. He decided to keep her safe by never allowing her to see her people. In time, the people grew to realize they had made a mistake and became very sad. They missed their lovely princess very much, but they never saw her again,
At this point, I began to cry and shake my head. My griot smiled gently and quietly changed the closing verse of the song so that the princess could see her people once or twice a year... 7/4/2018 0 Comments Do you know Anthony?The Park City venue was empty, but it was early. A slick, icy and steep downhill sidewalk was the only way to get there from the parking lot. I was worried about the dog... the show... the roll I was supposed to fulfill...
Flashback to my getting lost backstage in Arcata after an extremely exciting, and very long, strenuous day at the beginning of the tour. My teenagers insisted on coming with us. Years later, my son told me that he would have never let me go meet a Jamaican at the airport by myself. How could he be so much more aware than me? The young lady asked my artist, "Who is she?" while pointing at me. "A manager." Now, confusion began to meld into delusion. What was happening? How could I go from a disrespected professional and discarded “woman” to manager all in one word? Was this normal behavior on his part? Was it me? Was it simply the way of the industry? Years of shuddering under ghetto oppression had conditioned me to do one thing to survive the situation: be quiet and smile. At that point, I became pliable 7/1/2018 0 Comments Keep Talking"May I call you?" Yes, Rasta Lion. "Hello, Empress?" Hello! "You are my woman. We must talk every day." Ohhh... but I cannot speak very well. I have been sick. "No worries. I will teach you." He was absolutely lovely, sharing little things about his day, his family, his work. He brought the Jamaican music industry and Jamaican culture to life for me. I learned to express myself as an artist: strong, sympathetic, and even silly at times... brutally honest. He was incredibly spiritual. Chills would quake through my body when he spoke of JAH... Rastafari... with the resonance of our ancient Redwoods echoing in his voice. His departing "Bless" would reverberate through my ears and penetrate deep into my soul. ...and sexy. Good God he was sexy. "You are turned on. Tell me how I make you feel, babe. I want to hear it." "Your voice, Empress... it sounds good."
Really? "Yes, babe... keep talking." 7/1/2018 0 Comments Tiger in Tivoli
I have been leaning on Levine since forever! I've given away more copies of his book; I even dropped one at the office of the VA ABQ Psych who formed the first PTSD treatment program in the country with me. This is the philosophy I teach my children when coping with the initial impact of traumatic situations... go out and shake it off... then deal with the emotions. It's something we did intuitively in the military.
Ready for another horrific/triumphant chapter in the story of my life? I introduced the philosophy to Jamaica immediately after the Tivoli Gardens Massacre. It was such a hugely traumatic event that we all needed to do something to rock our worlds back into something with some sense of safe reality. While i was there, they taught me how to cope with an onslaught of almost daily violence in life (sad Jamaican reality). It's about keeping the faith, staying close to family/friends and searching for fun moments in every day. My host and his family preserved the moment with photos http://www.nannymaroon.xyz/news/follow-mi-famili 6/29/2018 0 Comments My Story
6/22/2018 0 Comments Two Steps from Traffic
6/19/2018 0 Comments 1... 2... 3... 4...Step one: we must stop trying to fit in.
Step two: do not allow any negative energy near are souls. Step three: do not try to convince others. Step 4: the body knows the score . |
Blakk Rose"Who, me? Dare to dance?" she stammered in a startled whisper.. Archives
November 2018
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