David Cameron raps

Golden comedy! “It’s not that hard to bring back slavery”

Chilly and rainy Friday in the Tropics

What it looks like:

What it looks like to The Weather Channel:

 

 

J’Ouvert

J’ouvert (Jouvay) Morning in Grenada; Spicemas is here for the next two days. Despite lightning and thunderstorms, the mas bands and DJ trucks are on the road and I can feel the vibe and energy even from in my warm and cosy bed.

J’ouvert is my favourite part of Carnival. There is something so wild, raw and uninhibited about the ritual of “oiling-up”, of greeting the daylight intoxicated on a high of adrenaline, alcohol, exhaustion, anticipation and music. Always the music. Not the commercial “fete” soca tunes, but the jab riddim chants; slower, heavy thumping basslines, conch shells, chains and whistles infusing you with the very soul of Jab Molassie, our anti-heroic, defiant, subversive ancestors.

Cowbone, not cowbell

Emancipation

August 1st is celebrated in many of the islands as Emancipation Day; the anniversary of the occasion when our forefathers were freed from the yoke of slavery*.

* Only to then assume the shackles of oppression, colonialism, imperialism, assimilation and appropriation. And a whole lot of other isms and ions.

So to rejoice that we no longer work hard in the hot sun for “the man” (we’re modern people – we work hard in aircon offices for “the man”, or in my case work hard in a mosquito-ridden home office/desk for “the biatch… um.. myself”), here’s one of my all-time favourite songs from the boss Bob Marley. It’s a timely reminder to me that even in the midst of this impoverished despair that I now inhabit, no one but me can free my mind.