Freedom for everyone may mean something different. I never felt the sting of massa whip, the pangs of hunger or embarassment and anger of having him bed my wife. Emancipation isnt a release from this of slavery.
Emancipation, my freedom was the ability to go to the river with my padnas and lime with the only fear being the cutass we going to get when we reach home.
Emancipation, my freedom, was not being afraid to go gape on the front page and be hailing out all the lil douagla's and red oman passing through " oh reds, gawd let that tiger free nah it suffocating".... the only fear was that she smile back and wink cause then we woulda have to back up we talk.
Not worrying when i see 6 pm and wondering where my brother was, hoping only, that he use a condom or dat he return raj blues cause raj woulda cuss, dat was my freedom.
Going in all kinda hole all hour in de night to check ah fren, palancing with meh gold chain and meh air jordon and "ben-nin", yuh know what, not fraid ah man rob meh, and even if ah get lock neck, meh life safe.
These freedoms, i see as no longer available, so this emancipation day i see trinidad as a society which has regressed, no has progressed into a new kind of slavery. Slavery which could be worse than those suffered by our ancestors. Its not a white- black slavery. ITS A TRINI- TRINI slavery. When surviving becomes your soul goal, part of our humanity is lost, we no longer can claim to be moral.
I want to see the return of my country's freedom. when the oft uttered "sweet sweet t&t" is relevant now, not nostalgia of when you and i were young or or a refrain from a song..!!
Happy Emancipation Day!!
Bamboo aka Hoe aka Organic, I think your conclusions about a new type slavery are also reflected in Bob Marley's comments on mental slavery in "Redemption Song"
Redemption SongOld pirates, yes, they rob i;
Sold I to the merchant ships,
Minutes after they took i
From the bottomless pit.
But my hand was made strong
By the and of the almighty.
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly.
Wont you help to sing
These songs of freedom? -
cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our minds.
Have no fear for atomic energy,
cause none of them can stop the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look? ooh!
Some say its just a part of it:
Weve got to fulfil de book.
Wont you help to sing
These songs of freedom? -
cause all I ever have:
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs;
Redemption songs.
---
/guitar break/
---
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;
None but ourselves can free our mind.
Wo! have no fear for atomic energy,
cause none of them-a can-a stop-a the time.
How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look?
Yes, some say its just a part of it:
Weve got to fulfil de book.
Wont you help to sing
Dese songs of freedom? -
cause all I ever had:
Redemption songs -
All I ever had:
Redemption songs:
These songs of freedom,
Songs of freedom.