Legacies

Legacies

Together we sit in different
Corners of the classroom
From different corners of
The earth and its nations
Yet united we have come to
Uproot the grisly tree that
Once bore a strange fruit
And in its place transplant
The lost legacies pulled up
From the Atlantic seafloor
Stolen from the African shore
Of Ghana, of Togo, of Benin
By pirates of the Caribbean
Behind closed doors we have
Discovered the harsh reality
The untold, the unheard of
Forgotten cold case mysteries
Replaced with a history coated
In refined plantation sugarcane
Because it’s easier to swallow
To accept and follow their ways
Forgetting the days of slavery
The shackles and chains of events
Of struggle, of sharecropping
Of segregation and emancipation
Of education and innovation
Rebellion, protest, and progress
While searching for our own voice
As Douglas did, and then DuBois
Truth and hope were muffled by
Noise of nonsense and white lies
But our eyes are now open wide
With a newborn awareness we
Tune into a different frequency
Listening to the musical notes of
Reggae, jazz, rhythm and blues
Reading Angelou and Langston
Hues of color evoked through
The souls of these black folk
In order to give us a memory
Us, the students of lost legacies
Now, known as kings and queens
Knowing we can achieve all things
And carry it back to our corners
Teaching each of our nations about
The African story, the American story
The Human story... Our story

JMC
6/10/10
(c) 2010

Livicated to the students of my African-American History class, 2010.

Flee From The City

Flee From The City

Babylon gettin’ busy
Must flee from the city
Too much wickedness
Too much iniquity
Not even safe for
Doggie or kitty
Betta run fast
It nah look pretty

Take a look around on the streets
People wear the mark of the beast
Trouble run from west to the east
Vampires dem all come out to feast

Women getting raped and violated
Whole life ruined and desecrated
Reminded by their belly inflated
Baby having baby, its understated

Alcohol and coke get out of control
Hard drugs circulate like blood flow
Gun fire cuts short all potential
Sending another youth to a burial

Population overrun by sheer poverty
Not enough food for the little pickney
Mommy and Daddy have no job security
Families get destroyed by infidelity

Politricksters wait to steal the elections
Winning with their criminal interventions
Using the church to take up collections
Hiring police to fight insurrections

Not enough money to fund good education
All the youths just learn from imitation
Ignorance and folly make bad combination
Nobody to raise-up the next generation

Must flee from the city
And run to the hills
Where the green grass grow
And the blood nah spill
JAH children behave
And act civil
Cause the fyah ah go bun
And wipe out all evil

JMC
12/31/09
(c) 2009

Education Is A Must

After a long and laborious journey through school and plenty training, I have finally completed my final step as a student-teacher and am now well-qualified in the eyes of fellow colleagues and professionals in the field to at last… teach… and be paid for it with more than compliments. I was very fortunate to have a great position this year as a teacher in a diverse high school. Although my work there is done, I really do hope that there is a possibility to work at that school in the near future. Give thanks to JAH!

Education is very important to me, and experience and understanding has only confirmed my beliefs. As a Rastaman, I really must sight up what his H.I.M. Haile Selassie I had said about education. Selassie I was very committed to progression and the act of inspiring minds. There are plenty of worthy quotes of His Majesty on education, but one in particular stands out in the forefront:

"The key for the betterment and completeness of modern living is education."

Truly, education is the key, the key to improvement and also to finding confidence, responsibility and purpose in life. What is the great barrier between having success and being unsuccessful? One only needs to look around in their community and see the effects of the "achievement gap". This gap can only be bridged by a strong commitment to education and strong leadership. A person must first have the seed of curiosity planted in them before they desire to learn and improve their self. Unfortunately, the pursuit of self-reliance, awareness, and being informed are not a priority in Babylon society. Those who have the knowledge and power are not quick to empower others. Ignorance is easily exploited and the people who need it continue to live in darkness and complacency. In the end, Babylon points it's fingers back at the ignorant, letting the blame fall on them alone because of their "learned helplessness" and victimization. Why promote learned helplessness when one can promote learned confidence? In what people invest is what they manifest. Without education there can be no real resources for the future, for betterment… for everyone. For one set of people to keep another in ignorance is selfishness… for the oppressed group of people to perpetuate it is foolishness. Yes I, education is a must!

Teaching is not only the task of those who are professional teachers… it is the duty of all humanity. Whether people know it or not, ones are always being educated, just not always in the right things. Unfortunately there is a shortage of strong and positive role-models out there who can teach youths and adults alike on how to live righteously. Some people believe that education is synonymous with having a lot of knowledge. I do not agree with that… I think education is finding usefulness for any amount of knowledge, learning a way to think and act in order to exercise self-discipline, to think critically and to distinguish between harmful and useful things in life. Knowledge alone cannot do this, it needs to be properly applied and used in positive ways. Also it is important to know that education is much more

Education is much, much more than scholastic and intellectual achievements. Often it is the educated fools that fail to realize these things themselves despite all the knowledge and intelligence that they possess. Education in its most simple and basic form is all about having some common sense and good judgment… and continuing on that path by always learning new things. Haile Selassie I said to "study and examine all, but choose to follow the good".

Let us all be teachers of virtue, of love, of respect for one another, and of dignity. It requires no years in school, no diploma, degree or professional certification… only dedication and genuine interest in helping meet the needs of every man, woman, and child. Each person can do their part to offer a little guidance to their brothers and sisters. I will always espouse this as my purpose in life, the driving force behind my desire to teach in the classroom and more significantly the driving force of my life. Live up, Selassie I!

JAHsh

"A school is to shape one's character; just as looking into a mirror could rid himself of the dirt that is on his person, likewise can one shape his character by education." – H.I.M. Haile Selassie I

Youths of Today

Youths of Today

The youths of today have all gone astray
Too much Tell-Lie-Vision and video games to play
Too much violence, too much sex and drugs
Now they all want to go behave like thugs

They pay no attention, they can barely read
They all want to reap but never plant seed
Enslaved by material things, motivated by greed
They never grow up, no way to succeed

There's no appreciation for hard work and sacrifice
They don't respect their elders or listen to advice
Never care to learn they just want to be the boss
Yet they pretend to love JAH, flossing that iced cross

They jam to the radio, and they swear by 50 Cent
But him worth less than the bootleg, and the dollar they spent
They don't have no role model, not even a parent
So they roam about the streets and stay ignorant

Can never be serious, everything is taken for a joke
Then they turn around and blame the system cause they broke
Children having children, they don't practice safe sex
So much disease and worries, how can they be so careless

The media and the music get them sexually confused
They want the boy or the girl, or both, they can't choose
Vanity they chase, with painted faces and tattoos
Prostituting themselves and walking around half-nude

No future, no hope, none of them have the ambition
Want to be a ghetto superstar selling guns and ammunition
Trading their earnings for supplies of crack cocaine
Drinking fifths of liquor and indulging in champagne

It's an epidemic from the inner cities even to the suburbs
So much pollution in their heads, they're mentally disturbed
Causing teachers frustration, don't know their nouns from the verbs
Cutting school and mocking education, it's all so absurd

The youths have no concern, they don't know what life's about
Pregnant girls go have abortions and take the easy way out
Run up in the club looking for a one-night stand thrill
Wake up in the morning, clean up, and pop the pill

So who is responsible, who is the one to blame?
It's Babylon the bandit who washout all their brains
Promoting mental slavery, and tightening the chains
Rastafari free the children, only love can make a change

JMC
2/25/06
(c) 2006