Struggle alone. Struggle together.

"A rhizome may be broken, shattered at a given spot, but it will start up again on one of its old lines, or on new lines." 

-A Thousand Plateaus, Deleuze and Guattari

No matter what the circumstances are, no matter what you are facing, no matter how difficult of a situation you are in, we all can struggle together. Because when we are together, evry'ting seem easier, don'it? We may be broken, we may be shattered, but we may also learn from it and start over; start from a tattered and old path or make our own new path. The choice is yours. Whether Bob Marley's words give us the courage to "dry our tears", or we muster up the courage on our own, but it is courage; and ain't it all the same after all? Don't think you are atit' alone, you are never alone. But if we are all alone, doesn't that mean we are all together too?

"Me only have one ambition, y'know. I only have one thing I really like to see happen. I like to see mankind live together - black, white, Chinese, everyone - that's all." -Bob Marley

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"Life is one big road with lots of signs. So when you riding through the ruts, don't complicate your mind. Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy. Don't bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality. Wake Up and Live!" -Bob Marley

We, ah yes that's the word of unity, we all come together. We all come together and say:

I will struggle, fight, and win.

Childhood Serenity

When I was 12, My family and I went on a cruise to the Virgin Islands, as we often did because my grandfather worked aboard a ship and that was our only way of seeing him. We all got off that day to explore the magnificent island of St. Thomas and spend the day on the beach side. I asked my mother for money to buy myself a soda (back in the days when the US dollar actually had value) and she gave me 50 cents and said be careful and come straight back. I ran over to the nearest hole-in-the-wall shop, but stopped abruptly at the side of a young native woman with the old style Coke bottle. I asked if I could have one of those. And she looked at me with smiling eyes and said, "Here child, for you it's free." I looked at her with a puzzling look and she ended by saying,

"Sweetie, ev'rybody happier with a Coke. Have a happy day babygirl." 

I grew up in a small town, with a middle class family. I loved my family, my friends, my childhood. They gave me what I needed but rarely what I wanted. Knowing the meaning of money is hard to grasp as a child but I am thankful now that they showed me that.

My parents and I were very close. Weekends were the best moments of my childhood, because I spent it with them. We would insert our favorite Bob Marley CD, turn it up, and crack open a nice cold Coca-Cola. We would move the table over to the side in the living room and dance and dance. Until we were so tired and crashed from our music and Coca-Cola high.

"Ev'rybody happier with a Coke."

I am comforted by the memories I've had while opening another Coke, at another place, at another time.

Rhythm of the heart and soul

I was in a dream-like state. Walking through towns, not hearing. Driving on roads, not watching. My mind was elsewhere. I am not sure what caused this emotional and physical state but I do know it all started with the civil war of our political parties. Are we not meant to unite together and not fight? We are a country of hope, "The Free Land," and yet, nobody is really free from anything. North vs. South Italy. Northern Ireland vs. itself. And now America is, too, fighting with each other.

"It was like a film" (Resurrection Man), it was not like real life. 

Fighting. Always fighting. And now with each other. What is the cause of this? What is the purpose?

I was suddenly awaken by the sound of music coming from the street. The blood was rushing back to my appendages. I was walking. Then jogging. Then sprinting to the music on the street. What I heard was a young boy playing and singing a beautiful tune.

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Men sailing on their ego trips,

Blast off on their spaceships. Million miles from reality. 

No care for you no care for me.

-Bob Marley

Even he, such a young boy, knew the fight of our society. We would all like the change, but can we not all change together? Then I was back in my daze, my dream-like state. But, I know this will never happen in this "Free Land." 

I haven't heard the music again. 

The Island Gift

 “Hey you, don't tell me there's no hope at all. Together we stand, divided we fall.”

― Pink Floyd

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When I was on vacation with my family on some island in the Virgin Islands, I cannot currently recall which, we went to a local food and music festival. My parents had a certain "gift" where they could spot out places no tourists went, only locals. There were only islanders, black skinned with dreads, clothes with holes and stains and barefoot. I think we were overdressed with jeans, nice shirts, and flip-flops and obviously stood out with our reddened pale skin. A homeless man is staring at me. Like a mutant of sort. But as the night progressed and the more booze was ingested, they all started to open up, especially once the "dance floor" opened. Everyone migrated from the food tables to the big stretch of empty sand on the beach, locals played their handmade instruments and guitars, and everyone started to loosen up. Music has the power to bring together all types of people, and towards the end of the night,the locals started accepting us, and the homeless man that once stared at me as a mutant was now dancing right next to my side.  

As one.

"What you have here is an experimental art form that all of us believe bears watching. So don't ask me how to catch Jes Grew. Ask Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, your poets, your painters, your musicians, ask them how to catch it."

-Ishmael Reed, Mumbo Jumbo

1. Power of the word will always defeat the power of violence.

"People want to listen to a message, word from Jah. This could be passed through me or anybody. I  am not a leader. Messenger. The words of the songs, not the person, is what attracts people." 

 -Bob Marley

Bob Marley with Manley and Seaga at Peace Concert
(One Love Peace Concert, Jamaica, 1978)

I was not present during the king of Reggae's time, but I grew up listening to his words and his meaningful messages of unity. We deserve to live in a world where are government is not corrupted and our words stand for something. His messages now empower  many, no matter the hardship, struggle, or fight that you are up against. I was a privileged child, but listening to Bob Marley, the King of Reggae, I knew that rich and poor, black and white, young and old all came together, united, because of the power of the music. 

“My task, which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel--it is, before all, to make you see.” 

― Joseph Conrad

With war comes violence,
with music comes no pain.
Without a war, there be no music,
But with music there be nobody in vain.

No matter the place you live,
no matter the color of your skin,
there be a music that help ev'rybody,
even if it be the anti-plague Jes Grew or just simply a grin.

I grew up in a good part of town,
others may not have been so lucky,
But once we hear the message of the words

we unite as one.

"Once the band starts, everybody starts swaying from one side of the street to the other, especially those who drop in and follow the ones who have been to the funeral. These people are known as "the second line" and they may be anyone passing along the street who wants to hear the music. The spirit hits them and they follow"

-Louis Armstrong (quote from Mumbo Jumbo)

 

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