Niggers Sing Redemption Songs: Reggae, the Heart-Beat of a People

Niggers Sing Redemption Songs: Reggae, the Heart-Beat of a People
Author: VK Ogilvie
Publisher: Balboa Press
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2022-09-18
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1982284056

“Of all the various acts of inequity throughout time, none was more severe than the submission forced upon the indigenous peoples of the earth by their earthly demi-god counterparts. Robbing these peoples of their God given cultural and traditional knowledge of survival, void of cultural references and alienated from their traditional survival techniques and skills, the indigenous peoples had no other choice than to accept the ways of the earthly demi-gods, which was modernity and that came with many social disadvantages, worst of all, they would become second and third class citizens in a racially divided and dystopic world. The standard procedure was the implementation of acts that were intended to impart the greatest degree of fear, the fear of death and the fear of dying; whatever methods the noble savages thought would break the barbarian savages into submission. All manner of unthinkable acts of atrocity were employed against the indigenous peoples, because the objectives of the earthly demi-gods had to be met, which was to expropriate the lands and natural resources from these savages, these ‘uncivilized’ people.” The work of Niggers Sing Redemption Songs: Reggae, The heart-beat of a people takes aim at reaffirming the psyche and glory of the Black self as of utter importance in our efforts to make our world a better place. The unconscionable disregard for the glory of the Black self and by refusing to use it, has successfully stripped away Black humanity from the Black indigenous peoples’ collective consciousness; overall leading to a ‘niggerization’ process done for the benefits of the barbaric and ignobly self-acclaimed earthly demi-gods. The Black peoples of the world must bring back the ‘Black’ love of self and all things Black, that is your redemption and then, real life will be given to you. Additionally, what was most evidently conspicuous and surprising was a revelation that had emerged from the research of this study. The study has discovered evidences, which would indicate that because of social biases, for example, racial prejudices, and out-right arrogance, coupled with miss-education and deprecated mindsets, the attitudes of many Jamaican historians, the down trodden sectors of the Jamaican society were undermined and were not given meaningful historical documentations. The academics did not document, accurately, the accounts of Afro-Jamaican culture, for instance, the Rastafarians input into the cultural history of Jamaica. Although many academics of the time were themselves Afro- Jamaican, non-sympathizers to the Rasta movement, and, in most cases, just a generation or two removed from slavery, they were non-commiserated towards their people’s history and struggles. So much so, that they did not consider the documentation of their Afro-Jamaican culture as a priority, and as such, a deficit in proper documentation of historical material exists today. This becomes quite evident in the footnotes, where due to the lack of material, there is a redundancy in reference materials Therefore, in order to add further depth to the stock of the genre of Black Liberation Literature, this work advances a redemptive process which is aimed, primarily, at every individual that has been niggerized by White supremacy and their racist systems. Therein, that each nigger would cultivate an awareness that would be congruent with his/her Black redemption, as is outlined in this literary work. Thus, that he/her would be empowered sufficiently, to rise above the White supremacist world that had ungratefully grafted him/ her and had restrained him/her to oppressive states of meaningless existences. Black people must rise above their common bound, the social degradation of niggerization, a social construct of the White racist demi-gods and to accept the fundamental merits and opportunities that a Black redemption would have provided, which is, the reconstructed Black self, with all its social advantages, because White America will not change and they will not change for the sake of niggers or will they accept niggers as Whites. Sorry, but no skin bleaching formula will change Blacks into White. The Black experience is not the undoing of the White racist demi-gods; instead, it is the doings of the reconstructed niggers towards the redemption, freedom, of Black individuals.

How to Love a Jamaican

How to Love a Jamaican
Author: Alexia Arthurs
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2018-07-24
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1524799211

“In these kaleidoscopic stories of Jamaica and its diaspora we hear many voices at once. All of them convince and sing. All of them shine.”—Zadie Smith An O: The Oprah Magazine “Top 15 Best of the Year” • A Well-Read Black Girl Pick Tenderness and cruelty, loyalty and betrayal, ambition and regret—Alexia Arthurs navigates these tensions to extraordinary effect in her debut collection about Jamaican immigrants and their families back home. Sweeping from close-knit island communities to the streets of New York City and midwestern university towns, these eleven stories form a portrait of a nation, a people, and a way of life. In “Light-Skinned Girls and Kelly Rowlands,” an NYU student befriends a fellow Jamaican whose privileged West Coast upbringing has blinded her to the hard realities of race. In “Mash Up Love,” a twin’s chance sighting of his estranged brother—the prodigal son of the family—stirs up unresolved feelings of resentment. In “Bad Behavior,” a couple leave their wild teenage daughter with her grandmother in Jamaica, hoping the old ways will straighten her out. In “Mermaid River,” a Jamaican teenage boy is reunited with his mother in New York after eight years apart. In “The Ghost of Jia Yi,” a recently murdered student haunts a despairing Jamaican athlete recruited to an Iowa college. And in “Shirley from a Small Place,” a world-famous pop star retreats to her mother’s big new house in Jamaica, which still holds the power to restore something vital. Alexia Arthurs emerges in this vibrant, lyrical, intimate collection as one of fiction’s most dynamic and essential authors. Praise for How to Love a Jamaican “A sublime short-story collection from newcomer Alexia Arthurs that explores, through various characters, a specific strand of the immigrant experience.”—Entertainment Weekly “With its singular mix of psychological precision and sun-kissed lyricism, this dazzling debut marks the emergence of a knockout new voice.”—O: The Oprah Magazine “Gorgeous, tender, heartbreaking stories . . . Arthurs is a witty, perceptive, and generous writer, and this is a book that will last.”—Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties “Vivid and exciting . . . every story rings beautifully true.”—Marie Claire

Listen to Bob Marley

Listen to Bob Marley
Author: Bob Marley
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2012-01-31
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1453224947

DIVDIVAn inspiring collection of poems, meditations, and lyrics by one of the world’s most revered musical legends /divDIVBob Marley’s music defined a movement and forever changed a nation. Known worldwide for their message of peace and unity, Marley’s songs—from “One Love” to “Redemption Song” to “Three Little Birds”—have touched millions of lives. This collection is the best of Bob Marley presented in three parts: “The Man,” giving an in-depth look into the life of Bob Marley; “The Music,” comprising his most memorable lyrics as well as links to many of his songs in iTunes; and “The Revolution,” containing his meditations on social equality and the Rastafari movement. Enriched with iconic photographs, Listen to Bob Marley provides insight into a reggae legend, the inspirational man behind the music. /divDIV /divDIVThis ebook features an introduction by daughter Cedella Marley and an illustrated biography of Cedella including rare photographs from her personal collection./div/div

That's the Joint!

That's the Joint!
Author: Murray Forman
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 652
Release: 2004
Genre: Hip-hop
ISBN: 9780415969192

Spanning 25 years of serious writing on hip-hop by noted scholars and mainstream journalists, this comprehensive anthology includes observations and critiques on groundbreaking hip-hop recordings.

On Racial Frontiers

On Racial Frontiers
Author: Gregory Stephens
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 348
Release: 1999-06-28
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780521643931

Frederick Douglass, Ralph Ellison and Bob Marley each inhabited the shared but contested space at the frontiers of race. Gregory Stephens shows how their interactions with mixed audiences made them key figures in a previously hidden interracial consciousness and culture, and integrative ancestors who can be claimed by more than one 'racial' or national group. Douglass ('something of an Irishman as well as a Negro') was an abolitionist but also a critic of black racialism. Ellison's Invisible Man is a landmark of modernity and black literature which illustrates 'the true interrelatedness of blackness and whiteness'. Marley's allegiance was to 'God's side, who cause me to come from black and white'. His Bible-based Songs of Freedom envisage a world in which black liberation and multiracial redemption co-exist. The lives of these three men illustrate how our notions of 'race' have been constructed out of a repression of the interracial.

A Brief History of Seven Killings

A Brief History of Seven Killings
Author: Marlon James
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Total Pages: 706
Release: 2015-09-08
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1594633940

A tale inspired by the 1976 attempted assassination of Bob Marley spans decades and continents to explore the experiences of journalists, drug dealers, killers, and ghosts against a backdrop of social and political turmoil.

Dread Talk

Dread Talk
Author: Velma Pollard
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
Total Pages: 134
Release: 2000-05-15
Genre: Foreign Language Study
ISBN: 077356828X

Dread Talk examines the effects of Rastafarian language on Creole in other parts of the Carribean, its influence in Jamaican poetry, and its effects on standard Jamaican English. This revised edition includes a new introduction that outlines the changes that have occurred since the book first appeared and a new chapter, "Dread Talk in the Diaspora," that discusses Rastafarian as used in the urban centers of North America and Europe. Pollard provides a wealth of examples of Rastafarian language-use and definitions, explaining how the evolution of these forms derives from the philosophical position of the Rasta speakers: "The socio-political image which the Rastaman has had of himself in a society where lightness of skin, economic status, and social privileges have traditionally gone together must be included in any consideration of Rastafarian words " for the man making the words is a man looking up from under, a man pressed down economically and socially by the establishment."

Know What I Mean?

Know What I Mean?
Author: Michael Eric Dyson
Publisher: ReadHowYouWant.com
Total Pages: 202
Release: 2010-07
Genre: Music
ISBN: 1458776131

Whether along race, class or generational lines, hip-hop music has been a source of controversy since the beats got too big and the voices too loud for the block parties that spawned them. America has condemned and commended this music and the culture that inspires it. Dubbed ''the Hip-Hop Intellectual' by critics and fans for his pioneering explorations of rap music in the academy and beyond, Michael Eric Dyson is uniquely situated to probe the most compelling and controversial dimensions of hip-hop culture. Know What I Mean? addresses salient issues within hip hop: the creative expression of degraded youth that has garnered them global exposure; the vexed gender relations that have made rap music a lightning rod for pundits; the commercial explosion that has made an art form a victim of its success; the political elements that have been submerged in the most popular form of hip hop; and the intellectual engagement with some of hip hops most influential figures. In spite of changing trends, both in the music industry and among the intelligentsia, Dyson has always supported and interpreted this art that bloomed un watered, and in many cases, unwanted from our inner cities. For those who wondered what all the fuss is about in hip hop, Dysons bracing and brilliant book breaks it all down.

Decoded

Decoded
Author: Jay-Z
Publisher: One World
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2010-12-07
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1588369595

Decoded is a book like no other: a collection of lyrics and their meanings that together tell the story of a culture, an art form, a moment in history, and one of the most provocative and successful artists of our time. Praise for Decoded “Compelling . . . provocative, evocative . . . Part autobiography, part lavishly illustrated commentary on the author’s own work, Decoded gives the reader a harrowing portrait of the rough worlds Jay-Z navigated in his youth, while at the same time deconstructing his lyrics.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times “One of a handful of books that just about any hip hop fan should own.”—The New Yorker “Elegantly designed, incisively written . . . an impressive leap by a man who has never been known for small steps.”—Los Angeles Times “A riveting exploration of Jay-Z’s journey . . . So thoroughly engrossing, it reads like a good piece of cultural journalism.”—The Boston Globe “Shawn Carter’s most honest airing of the experiences he drew on to create the mythic figure of Jay-Z . . . The scenes he recounts along the way are fascinating.”—Entertainment Weekly “Hip-hop’s renaissance man drops a classic. . . . Heartfelt, passionate and slick.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)