Monday, January 29, 2007

Nah Defend Slackness

Yes massive, blessings to all. The more and more I look around the more I see so many young (and even older) men and women led astray by carnal mindedness and unshackled hedonism. Most people now seem to follow the philosophy of "do what feels good and take no worries"... or at least not until it is far too late. People are not being wise in this age of slackness... what I&I basically call vulgar and lewd behavior. This is nothing new really, but it is at its zenith, especially in youth culture. I see it everyday as an educator. Actually there was something in the news just last week about some high school girls grinding and booty-dancing with an old gentleman who was their substitute teacher. One girl filmed it with her phone and put it on the internet. With all of our freedoms and achievements, our intelligence as a people, is this what we have come to? Is this how the youths are to grow and lead the next generation? The fruit is rotting on the tree before it has even ripened.

Look at the young sistrens and all the negative names that they can be labeled with, "ho", "bitch", "chicken head", "sketel", "slut" and so many more. Take a look at pop culture, so many tunes play on radio station or music video shows and both men and even the women themselves are using these names or celebrating all the lewd things they do. I must wonder why a woman of any sense would try to assume such a role and be put in the category of a "money-ho", and so forth. Or if you ever been to a dancehall or club lately, stop and check if you don't see some girl grind and wine provocatively as if she was already having sex deh pon the dance floor. It is as if they have been schooled in slackness and despicable acts, these lessons are free to the public and the sistrens perpetuate it without proper guidance. Such actions and the way these girls carry themselves inspires men to come up with these nasty unflattering names. Unfortunately they put themselves in that position. It is common sense that if you act a certain way, a label will be attached. If a woman is behaving like a one of these names, using a man, sleeping around, acting too flirty, then she will probably be given that name. What happens when these women want to begin a family or even just better themselves? These labels do not quickly fade, nor do the memories of those who witnessed their foolery.

Bredens also cannot escape criticism, for they promote and defend slackness behavior. When they have achieved what they wanted with a woman of easy virtue, they are the ones that dub them with the label. Our society is a sexist one still, and if you look you will not see too many names a man could be called, perhaps "pig" or "dog" are the most venomous... but titles like "pimp" and "player" are celebrated. Again all you have to do is turn on a radio station or music video. Then when a man gets around or acts in a certain way, it is written off as what men do, that it is the biology or genes. This is not a man thing, all men do not behave in these ways... I know because I am a man. However, many men do choose to be pigs or dogs and a great deal of women accept these wicked ways as gender roles and put up with it. This is the reason why men do not have such scathing labels associated with them. Pure double-mindedness. Society's views must change and women must stop being so naive and irresponsible, and men should act with honor and respect.

Today's pop culture and these trends in the music and other media are not innocent, look how it portrays women, especially black women and other minorities, and the men too. Not only does it perpetuate filthy lifestyles, it also perpetuates racism and sexism. People honestly do believe that it is reality, even if it means fooling themselves and taking on these roles. So many are blind, they cannot see that these things are just as toxic as second-hand smoke or all these things they bad. The youths are being poised, our men and women are being poisoned… and complacent.

As a person conscious of these things and as someone who tries to live righteously, I could never defend slackness. It has been said if you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem. If I was to merely turn a blind eye to all this foolishness and just accept it, how would it benefit JAH people? I see so many people waste their lives, waste their dignity and reputation, never mind risk their health... all for vanity, and lust, and selfishness. We must bring more love into the community and search for a way to lift people out of confusion before they sink deeper down. People must change the hearts and thoughts of the youths. There must be guidance, and a way to teach both young men and women to respect themselves and each other. One of the simplest and best ways to do this is to check yourself and live right first, look and see if you could really be pleased with what you do or even just promote. If not, make a change. Then, if you see a brother or sister out there your livity can be an example, and your word, sound, power can be respected because it is rooted and grounded in Truthfulness. I&I nah defend slackness, only goodness, love and respect I-man deal with! Could never see me lead JAH people astray! Think on these things and be Queens and Kings as it was ordained by the Most High... bless up!

JAHsh

Friday, January 26, 2007

Wishing Well

Wishing Well

I throw a gold coin down the wishing well
Asking if this woman could stay for a spell
And if she doesn't love me, then I wish her well
Money in my pocket, but she still won't sell

Oh Well, I know a man can't buy love
That's why I just throw it all away
Tossing all this money in my pocket
Hoping that this woman would stay

I pray, as I hear the metal hit stone
Then plunge in the water down below
Mr. Well, I really don't want to be alone
But what will be will be, ah so it go

Looking down I see my reflection
Disturbed by another gentle ripple
I know I have lost all her affection
Wish she felt like I do, but triple

This is an acquittal of a broken heart
Yes, things seem to be over it appears
Now its time to make a brand new start
And leave this well water mixed with tears

I throw a gold coin down the wishing well
Asking if this woman could stay for a spell
And if she doesn't love me, then I wish her well
Money in my pocket, but she still won't sell

JMC
1/19/07
(c) 2007

Saturday, January 20, 2007

HartBeat Flatline

Yes people, this is livicated to the youths of Hartford, CT aka The HartBeat. Violence is still a problem there and so many do not have the guidance to find a way out. The same is going on in many other cities and towns all across Babylon. So I&I must teach the youths dem and show them a positive livity... Rastafari! - JAHsh

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HartBeat Flatline

This is the sad story of the HartBeat flatline
So many things go on beneath the city's skyline
They call it the Rising Star, but the star no shine
When I hear the news its only violence and crime

Too many youths dying, man it's so dangerous
Carjack, gun chat, another drug deal gone buss
People too nervous, they don't know who to trust
Strong leaders, strong teachers and families are a must

Look at the problems going on its so damn absurd
Trading crack and cocaine for guns from the suburbs
Same ones go to church and don't hear preacher man words
They think a tattoo of a cross has their life insured

The blood keep flowing and the war don't stop
Massive hart-attack on another North End block
Young man on the run, shoots his best friend, then a cop
Same thing go on tomorrow, a sad thing that nobody shocked

Another father locked up for acting like some kind of fool
Little son with his gun, please tell me what will he do
Little daughter want some fun, what will she go through
A mother working three jobs and the children cut school

Tell the radio station to stop playing all the wickedness
Perverted minds a waste of time, it's a real sickness
Fights break out in a club over a woman's thickness
Then they violate her body after ordering her a cocktail mix

Armed robbery, homicide and rape they all still remain
Most boys think they are men before their voices change
Confused girls think it's sexy to let them all run a train
So they might catch AIDS or get off with just a big belly pain

They need the proper people to lift them out from distortion
To stop the killing by the gun, and the killing by abortion
All the ghetto youths need to live, they need their fair portion
Untwist them out of all the lies that keep them in a contortion

Increase the education, it is the key just like Selassie I say
No more vacation, Marcus know self-reliance is the only way
Give them something useful that they all can do today
More love, more guidance, so the youths don't go astray

This is the sad story of the HartBeat flatline
So many things go on beneath the city's skyline
They call it the Rising Star, but the star no shine
When I hear the news its only violence and crime

JMC
1/5/07
(c) 2007

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Give Thanks For Martin Luther King, Jr.


Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, one of two national holidays in the United States named after a particular person and rightly so. Since the Civil Rights era the face of America has literally changed in order to represent its entire people, and the voice of African-Americans and other "minorities" have become stronger and stronger. Everyone should celebrate this day, black, white, brown… because all have been affected. We must never forget the messages of Dr. King and their manifestation in his activism. Foremost, Martin Luther King was speaking on behalf of black Americans, but ultimately his message was a universal Truth, serving all mankind and breaking down barriers from all angles. Yes, not only did he speak up and refuse to accept the system of things, but he took action… even more so, non-violet action. He and other Civil Rights leaders, and thousands of their followers broke the subhuman segregation laws, sometimes protesting by their mere unwelcome presence… scalding hot coffee poured on their heads just for sitting in a diner, sprayed with fire hoses in the streets. This is no mythology, this is reality. For many of us it is hard to imagine, we learn about it in school, maybe even heard about it from the elders themselves… but we did not experience it, it sounds so foreign to us. That feeling of detachment will become more common as time goes on, and taking our multicultural society for granted is more inevitable. However, we cannot forget the lessons learned, the sacrifices made or forget to give thanks for the changes that took place… not only in America, but as an example to the human race.


Historically, the way things changed so drastically in our country after the Civil Rights movement is almost an anomaly, considering that the streets did not become soaked in blood. A downpressed people, a people still being lynched and burned and terrorized because of the color of their skin in the 20th century, had every reason to take up arms and set out to destroy anyone and anything that they perceived as their enemy after years of hatred. It has happened all the time in history, violent revolutions based on ethnicity or class, people tired of being mistreated… and in it's a wake a vicious cycle of hatred and violence, back and forth, back and forth… returning evil for evil. Yet somehow, in America… this did not happen, not on a large scale, surely it was an act of God. Through protest, through activism, through rejecting unfair laws and seeking equality and justice and racial pride… a great change took place and challenged the conscience of every soul. It was done righteously, it was done with love, and it was done with reverence and the grace of the Most High… and because it was signed and sealed… nobody can refute it. Those who do, sound foolish to the ears.


Basic human rights, basic life. Yes it is a blessing, and despite all the problems with race in America that still continue to this very day, we can all be thankful that people like Martin Luther King, Jr. and those before him and after him had the courage and strength to fight for the struggle and do it with guidance and not violence, they set an example and they are our teachers. However, it is a big mistake to think that just because Dr. King has a holiday, and that you may have friends, family, work with or attend school with people of a different color that the struggle is over… no not at all. The work is not done, in fact it will never be done, not as long as there is prejudice, racism, injustice, intolerance, there will always be work to do… no matter how subtle, even if it is dealing with one's own heart. It is probably the ultimate test in life, to love one another, respect life, respect differences. Great men and women in history, almost always having been victims or martyrs, have achieved this level and brought it forth and shared it with humanity… but their spirit can only live on in the minds and hearts of their "students", the ones who have learned from them, and who follow them in action. Martin Luther King, Jr. is no longer in the flesh, but who shares his spirit? Who today is bold enough, strong enough, loving enough? Who today will correct wrong-thinking amongst their peers, stop hatred, and speak up when something is not right? Not just thinking about it… but doing. As long as we do not give thanks and recognize our duty to carry the same banner Dr. King did, then he will just be another dead hero, another name on a boulevard where another ghetto youth is shot down by his own brother. All of us, no matter where we come from, or who we are, must give life to Martin Luther King, Jr. and every messenger like him, for that breath of life is surely the spirit of God and the very substance of our being. Forgetting this, being complacent or even unappreciative will destroy the works of those who lived and died for Truth. Think about it, one and all… Bless Up! Give thanks to the martyrs, give thanks for the messengers, give thanks for the true leaders of the human race! JAH!... Rastafari!


JAHsh

Saturday, January 6, 2007

Be Still

Be Still

My child
Be still
Quiet your mind
And silence your tongue
You seek an answer
But it has already come
Behold
I command the storm
And calm troubled waters
My sons and daughters
Your tears are the anointment
That my hand has appointed
Unto you I bring rest
Bless
Be still
For I will still be
From ever since
Until eternity

JMC
1/5/07
(c) 2007

Friday, January 5, 2007

Emotion Liner

Emotion Liner

Tell me how did this happen, how it come to be
Had been on firm ground, now I'm adrift at sea
I was to be aboard on a nice Caribbean cruise
Man, dem people in the port must be confused
I was to go and find myself a sunshine dawta
But disya boat a float here upon ice-cold water
Looked at boarding pass, it say "one way ticket"
Now I'm in the arctic where the air's so frigid
Cyan find no life boat, there's no life preserver
No captain on the deck, no crew, no chart observer
On this emotion liner, oh Lord I cyan find her
Lost inna darkness, I need a lantern or lighter
On this emotion liner, oh Lord I cyan find her
Empty echo of my mind is a constant reminder
Selassie I know, disya here is a rudderless ship
Lost on the vast ocean, I say this cyan be legit
Looked over the side, she reads U.S.S. Illusion
On this emotion liner, it keeps seven seas cruisin'
This cyan be right, last night I packed up my bag
Somehow it thrown overboard, man I lost all I had
You see, something wrong but I've got to hold on
Gotta stop this ship and get off a this deep dark ocean
I need to find land, and steer toward some coastline
So I can get to mi gyal and squeeze up she waistline

JMC
1/4/07
(c) 2007

Wednesday, January 3, 2007

New Year’s Revolution (Agent 007)


New Year's Revolution (Agent 007)


This year the revolution comes, bad mind go run cause Babylon stands no chance
Lock the door turn the latch, this is the year when the two and seven clash
They call me Agent Double O Seven, divine number that puts the wicked asunder
I was commissioned by the Most High with a mighty roll of thunder
This time I am coming hotta fyah forged, strong like a hand-crafted sword
Marching to a different drum, the Nyahbinghi one, calling on the name of the Lord
It has come at last, gotta train for the task and make some serious preparation
Setup quick, no hesitation, cause the Rastaman can never take no vacation
Must change the negative to positive, only keep people who will treat I-man right
Chase weh all predators, can be no more blood-sucking vampires inna mi life
Some never give no love, they will never share no kind spirit of sympathy
Their wicked ear only want to hear me hold a weeping and wailing symphony
But I am standing on the same mountain from which Joseph Hill declared
Thirty years ago, that's when lightning flash and all the heathen get scared
Yes I'm a secret agent of JAH JAH, so I carry all the tools of the trade
Dressed in red, gold and green, the same uniform Selassie I had made
Rasta music is the rod and I equip the Scripture books in my hand
So I can rush to the crime scenes, while spreading Truth across the land
Growing my precepts like the prophets so I can interpret the holy laws
And keeping my conscious clean and clear so I can listen when JAH calls
Strengthening the structure, eating right and steering clear of the deadas
Exercising and minimizing so that my body and mind will function better
I'm saying no more drama, sometimes I may be o-Blige-d with the Mary J
Higher meditation, I make the Breakthrough and chase the evil all away
They think I tell a lie, call me a spy, but this agent work for the Almighty I
I come with Word, Power, Sound… no foolish hound barking at bird in the sky
The revolution will spread, the time is dread, Double O Seven cool and deadly
Look out I'm breaking free loosening all those chains arranged to humiliate me


JMC
1/2/07
(c) 2007

Monday, January 1, 2007

Simply Divine

To live life is the right of every man. To live life is divine, which is living life the way it should be, simple and natural. One does not need to look outside of oneself to find God… JAH the Creator. He created everyone… black, white, Indian, Chinese, rich, poor, beggar-man, thief. JAH dwells within man for He takes unto Himself flesh and dwells and makes a home in the human heart for his Word-Sound… the Spirit. When I&I look upon mankind, I&I should be seeing the living face of JAH. People try to deal so much with ism and schism… rules, rites, rituals and doctrines… pure divisiveness. They fail to love and instead of loving-kindness they practice hate and intolerance. They make all these stipulations to set one another up for failure and instead of providing equal rights and justice for every one, they withhold these things for the sake of being superior. How can such a selfish love be superior? The only superior love is JAH love, a love freely given, a free true word to reincarnate in humanity the mind of Christ. If you love you are safe and free to live, but if you hate, you will bow to the sword because hatred breeds hatred… even the smallest grain of intolerance or disrespect, it is a blemish on the soul. Love will become cruel, until one will abandon love altogether. Love is allowing each man their right, respecting them and not making their mind like your own, but to live free.

It is better and easier to be simple and live pure. Who can argue with being loving, caring and sharing with people? It is irrefutable, it is something that all human beings want and need... simplicity to save their souls alive, to give hope and renewal of spirit and mind. When you recognize the divinity in mankind, in every man, woman and child, then what you do unto them you do unto JAH also. When you feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give shelter to the homeless... when you say "respect", "good morning", "good evening"... you say these kind words unto God, you reflect your own heart. How can one deny these things of one another and of them self? To know yourself you learn to respect, and once you respect and love yourself... then you can share that with people, and with creation. If you have love, it is hard to share hatred. Plenty people say they know love, but they really do not. They love vanity, things for their self alone or for their family... what person does not want these things? Even the wicked man will love his own offspring but cannot love his poorer brother and sister, cannot love his neighbor or the stranger from another nation. A Rastaman can not watch over humanity with mighty eyes... but the humble eyes of a servant of the Almighty and teach people love and compassion by sewing good seeds and enjoying the good fruit and sharing it with all people. All were created equal in JAH sight... when man and man come and disrupt this and take away the God-given rights of another man that is what destroys the order of things and where you find hatred, envy, and strife. People must love one another and treat each other righteously… even when they find one to be their enemy, someone who sets out to fight them down. In that case you must love them still… only from a distance because they are dangerous and they do not know how to reciprocate love and treat love right, instead they will devour it and seek your flesh. But I&I have to love them still.

Two powers exist on this earth... good and evil. If you are doing good things, good things will manifest. If you are doing wicked things, wicked things will manifest. Simplicity, there is no area of grey in that reasoning... just two ways to live. If you are not serving one, you are serving the other. Goodness is love. Be good, and love humanity, teach humanity... teach yourself about the love of the Most High and do not deny people their right, and do not deny people their measure of love. Share what you have been given. Equal rights and justice for each and every soul! Love is the key of life and the key to Zion gates! One Father, One Mother, One ruler of us all, one blood running through is all... love and I-nity, equal rights and justice. Mankind, be simply divine.

JAHsh