Geoffrey Philp

February 13, 2011

Bob Marley: The Making of a Legend

http://vimeo.com/19876000

Actress, photographer and filmmaker Esther Anderson created the blueprint of this film in 1973 as a kaleidoscope portrait of Bob Marley and the Wailers in Jamaica. Shooting intimate scenes with a prototype Sony video camera, Esther carefully constructs the union between Reggae and Rasta that launches the international career of the Wailers. Writing songs with Bob Marley and creating the image for the band, Esther's original vision created a radical change of perception and consciousness both musically and socially around the world. Now, in collaboration with architect and filmmaker Gian Godoy, Esther revisits the making of the legend in modern Jamaica.

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February 11, 2011

NDTC returns to South Florida for Black History Month Tribute to Rex Nettleford

The internationally acclaimed National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica (NDTC) will return to South Florida to perform for a special one-night performance on Sunday, February 13, at the Coral Springs Center for the Performing Arts in Coral Springs.

The performance will be staged by the Jamaica Awareness Incorporated, a Florida based cultural marketing group, in collaboration with the Jamaican Diaspora Southern USA, and the University Alumni Association, South Florida chapter, under the patronage of Jamaica’s Consul General, Sandra Grant Griffiths.

The NDTC group returns to South Florida following a sold-out performance during Black History Month in February 2007 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale.

This time, the special performance takes the form of a tribute to the late Professor Rex Nettleford, O.M., co-founder and Artistic Director of the NDTC who died last February at age 76, following a brief illness in Washington, D.C.

In keeping his legacy alive, Sydney Roberts, Director of Jamaica Awareness, said that the programme will include excerpts from Nettleford’s highly acclaimed works, and is symbolic of the celebrations observing Black History Month (February) in the South Florida community, especially for nationals of the Jamaican Diaspora.

The late Professor Nettleford was a co-founder and Artistic Director of the nearly 50-member company comprising dancers, singers, and musicians who continue to explore the intricacies of Jamaican culture through their outstanding performances. The NDTC was founded in 1962 at the time of Jamaica’s Independence from Great Britain.

Proceeds from the performance will benefit the Rex Nettleford Foundation, University of the West Indies (UWI).

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BBC Music Showcase - Reggae Britannia

"The seeds of the genre that is Reggae, have taken root and borne musically hybrid fruit in Britain, for more than four decades. Here are some of the players in that journey sharing their part in what they are calling Reggae Britannia."

For more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv/seasons/reggaebritannia/

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"Diary" by Dennis Scott

Diary

The two appointments I must keep

are like each other in this way.

One is with love, one is with sleep:

they break a man open

so clean

not a hair on the skin of the child inside is wounded,

not a bruise to say

yes, here the old, wise animal was set aside

was cut away

here the knife gutted flesh to let blood

wash the eye clean

here it forced the light through suddenly to reveal

the world unwaned,

here I woke innocent

again. Against that immaculate surgery there is no appeal.

Dennis Scott was born in Jamaica in 1939. He had a distinguished career as a poet, playwright, actor (he was Lester Tibideaux in The Cosby Show), dancer in the Jamaican National Dance Theatre, an editor of Caribbean Quarterly and teacher. His first collection, Uncle Time (1973) was one of the first to establish the absolutely serious use of nation language in lyric poetry. His other poetry collections include Dreadwalk (1982) and Strategies (1989). His plays include Terminus, Dog, Echo in the Bone, and Scott’s work is acknowledged as one of the major influences on the direction of Caribbean theatre. He died at the early age of fifty-one in 1991.

Dennis Scott: Dennis Scott Biography - (1939 –91), Caribbean Quarterly.

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February 10, 2011

Black History Month: Miami Syle

Local black authors weave the tale of South Florida through the pages of their books. As communities celebrate Black History Month, the poetry and prose of black Miami are plentiful in bookstores and online.

“These are not just Miami stories,’’ said Jamaican author Geoffrey Philp. “They are the stories about our communities.’

VOICES OF BLACK MIAMI

South Florida offers a rich variety of black authors writing from a local perspective. Most of the books can be found on Amazon.com, or on the author’s websites. Here’s a small sampling of local offerings:

Michele Jessica Fievre, Her work appears in Haiti Noir, www.lominy.com

Edwidge Danticat, Award-Winning Author, Breath, Eyes, Memory, Krik Krak, Behind the Mountains” and Create Dangerously : The Immigrant Artist at Work

Geoffrey Philp, Uncle Obadiah and The Alien, Dub Wise, Grandpa Sydney’s Anancy Stories and Benjamin My Son , www.geoffreyphilp.blogspot.com

Preston Allen, Churchboys and Other Sinners, All or Nothing , Jesus Boy

Joanne Hyppolite, Seth and Samona and Ola Shakes It Up

Mamie Pinder, Let My American “Soul” Speak A Poem Tells A Story

Marvin Dunn, Black Miami in the Twentieth Century

Michelle Duplan, It’s A Deer Story, http://segur50.com

Donna Weir-Soley, Eroticism, Spirituality and Resistance in Black Women’s Writings

Andrea Shaw, The Embodiment of Disobedience: Fat Black Women’s Unruly Political Bodies

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/07/2059914/local-authors-share-stories-of.html#ixzz1DZlKW5sv

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February 9, 2011

@ Deaf Nation Conference

Like thousands of birds

fluttering in the damp air:

crying with my hands.

Based on a text from my daughter.

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Image: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/obsonline/hands-and-mouth-not-always-on-the-same-page.html

February 7, 2011

What Can Bob Marley Teach Bloggers?

An artist’s life is a gift to his community. Appreciation of the gift is another matter. For many years while he toiled in obscurity, Bob was denied the recognition that he deserved in Jamaica. Bob’s rise to international fame in a country governed by what Colin Grant, author of InI: the Natural Mystics, has called the “brown and white elite,” did not happen overnight. Marley’s ascension was a combination of hard work, perseverance, and livication to his craft—admirable traits that would serve any writer/blogger well. But there are other characteristics, which if they were applied to blogging, would increase authority and online presence—the Holy Grail of blogging.

“Take my soul and suss me out/ Check my life if I’m in doubt.” (“Rebel Music”)

One of the most striking aspects of Marley’s songwriting is his authenticity. When Bob wrote “One good thing about music/ When it hits you, you feel no pain,” (“Trench Town Rock,”) or “Yes, me friend, me good friend/ Them set we free again,” (“Duppy Conqueror), you know immediately that he had experienced the downpression of Babylon in its most brutal forms. Yet he turned these events into stories that entertained and made his listeners think about the plight of the sufferahs. Bob wrote out of a conviction borne from his experiences. As Rita Marley explains, “He was on a mission.”

A blog should have a mission. Bloggers need to write with the same level of intensity about subjects that will sustain not only their interest, but also the attention of readers over the long haul. Bob was passionate about freedom and justice. You can see it in Bob’s face in one of the earliest exposures of the Wailers when they played “Concrete Jungle” on BBC`s Old Grey Whistle Test 1973. Colin Grant borrows a term from Garcia Lorca to describe Marley’s passion: duende. Passion is contagious. Write with passion and readers will follow.

“We come from Trench Town/ Most of them come from Trench Town” (“Trench Town”).

Bob was committed to the people of TrenchTown and celebrated them not only in song, but also with material assistance. According to Herbie Miller: “He helped many not only through financial assistance, but also in setting up small businesses and paying school fees and health costs.” His life and work were in service to his community.

Seth Godin calls this the creation of a tribe. And the size of the tribe doesn’t matter. What matters is consistent shipping (another Godinism) of unique and valuable content that will change a reader’s perspective.

“Though I try to find the answer/ to all the questions they ask/ I know it is impossible/ to go living through past” (“Natural Mystic”).

As an adolescent what first attracted me to Bob’s music was the experience of life that Bob delivered by his mindfulness and transformation of the details of his life into a coherent message. I began to see events from a different perspective than the one presented through the media. He explained meaning from a Rastacentric point of view, which has influenced my fiction and poetry. With the release of successive LPs, I also recognized the steady development of three themes:

Downstruction of Babylon and the freedom of InI

JahLove in its many forms

Oneness and inviolability of InI

So, in a song like “Rebel Music,” which can be summarized in a Tweet: “Road block? Rain falling. Gotta throw away ganja,” Bob alters the tone of the incident into an interrogation of Babylon and a yearning for freedom:

Why can't we roam this open country?

Oh, why can't we be what we wanna be

We want to be free.

Depending on the overarching theme of the blog, posts should achieve cumatively what George H.W. Bush called “the vision thing.” Bob’s daily mission was to “chant down Babylon, and he made his listeners feel as if they were a part of the struggle. His listeners could relate to his stories and broadened their moral imagination.We became inhabitants, at least in our imagination, of Trench Town and were willing if necessary, to “fight this little struggle,” in Kingston or anywhere there was a struggle for equal rights and justice (“Zimbabwe”). This, perhaps, is the reason why his music Marley continues to be relevant. As Christopher Winks observes:

The whole of Marley’s work bespeaks an ethic of reciprocity: the “we” he invokes reminds everyone listening that they are immediately and inextricably involved in what he is singing about at that moment. So when we hear him sing “woman hold her head and cry” at the violent death of her son from a stray bullet “just because of the system,” (“Johnny Was,” Rastaman Vibration), how can we not think of the youths not only of Tivoli Gardens, but also of the Gaza Strip, Ciudad Juárez, Cité Soleil? When Marley defiantly tells “Mister Cop” that he “ain’t got no birth certificate on me now” (“Rebel Music,” Natty Dread), the plight of undocumented immigrants in the United States is not far away. And when he snaps at an officious TV interviewer that “Babylon nah bear no fruit,” the massive oil pollution in the Gulf of Mexico, the Nigeria Delta, and Ecuadorean Amazonia, the coal mining disasters worldwide, and the persistent state of “war in the East / war in the West” (“War,” Rastaman Vibration) tragically and enragingly bear him out.

At first, devising a comprehensive theme for a blog may seem a grandiose project, but as Justine Musk suggests, writing a manifesta, “organizes all your content into a unifying whole greater than the sum of its parts.” Little by little, the parts will come together. But it begins with the intention of convincing readers that their concerns are also yours.

“Dem a go tired fe see me face/ Cyaan get me out of the race” (“Bad Card”).

Bob Marley’s life as artist was marked by his tireless work ethic. As Chris Blackwell notes, ‘I never saw him leading his band by toughness, I saw him leading them by example. If the bus was going on somewhere, he'd be the first person on the bus. Normally the star turns up at the end, cracks a few jokes and climbs on, but he'd be the first one there.” Or as Bob confessed, “You haffi ask man like Garrick how hard me work. People see me and say, ‘how come yu shoes so wet up?’” (“Talking Blues”). For anyone willing to take the time, there are many lessons that Bob’s life will continue to yield. His life and work will continue to inspire other writers/artists. But most importantly, he will be an example to anyone who wants to share her gifts with her community.

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Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobmarleymusic/5152278444/in/photostream/

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February 6, 2011

Happy Birthday, Brother Bob

Rain like Jah blessings

in a guava-green valley:

love songs to free I

Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bobmarleymusic/5152278444/in/photostream/

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"I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me:
behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopia; this man was born there."
Psalm 87: 4

February 4, 2011

Lorna Goodison: One of the Best Writers You’ve Never Read

I wonder who the "you" is?

Although she began her career as a painter, Goodison is one of the best writers — Canadian, Jamaican or otherwise — you’ve probably never heard of. This should change with the publication of By Love Possessed, a virtuosic collection of short stories that, although it is only February, will likely stand among the best books released in 2011. Goodison doesn’t mind the lack of recognition. As she says while standing in the kitchen of her cozy Cabbagetown home, making hot tea on a cold January afternoon, “I know how blessed I am.”

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February 3, 2011

Edouard Glissant (1928-2011) R.I.P.

"Eloquent defender of diversity and métissage, the great Caribbean writer Edouard Glissant died on February 3 in Paris, at the age of 82. Poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, thinker, [and exponent of the concept of] creolization, he was born in Sainte-Marie (Martinique) on September 21, 1928 and conducted studies in Philosophy and Ethnology in Paris."

Via Repeating Islands: http://repeatingislands.com/2011/02/03/edouard-glissant-passed-away-today/
Photo: Edouard Glissant in 1958 (Le Monde)

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Accepting Submissions: O, The Oprah Magazine

According to Keirsey, Oprah Winfrey may be a T...

Image via Wikipedia

Although my blog is livicated to writing from the Caribbean and South Florida, I knew sooner or later that Oprah would make it here. For the April issue of O, which will celebrate National Poetry Month, Maria Shriver, “the first ever guest editor,” has issued a call for “readers to submit their own cherished poems”:

While the issue will include work from well-known poets and favorite poems from celebrities, readers are also invited to join the conversation by submitting their favorite poetry (or original work) to www.oprah.com/poetry. Submissions will be accepted through February 11 with the possibility of appearing in the magazine, which hits newsstands on March 15.

I’m betting “Love After Love” by Derek Walcott is bound to be on the list.

Here’s the direct link for submission:

https://www.oprah.com/ownshow/plug_form.html?plug_id=6998299

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Via Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/01/maria-shriver-o-magazine_n_816826.html

February 2, 2011

Accepting Submissions:sx salon: a small axe literary platform

sx salon: a small axe literary platform

www.smallaxe.net/sxsalon

The Small Axe Project has recently launched sx salon: a small axe literary platform, a new electronic publication dedicated to literary discussions, interviews with Caribbean literary figures, reviews of new publications (creative and scholarly) related to the Caribbean, and short fiction and poetry by emerging and established Caribbean writers. sx salon also houses the Small Axe Literary Competition, launched in 2009.

sx salon represents both a new project and a continuation of the Small Axe Project’s ongoing affirmation of the literary as a critical component of Caribbean cultural production. We envision this space as an open source, easily accessible, online resource for students, teachers and scholars, as well as a forum for academics in the field to consult for announcements related to Caribbean literary studies.

sx salon publishes a new issue every two months and invites year-round submissions of:

Literary Discussions that engage issues relevant to Caribbean literary studies: 2,000 – 2,500 words
Book Reviews of recent (published no more than two years preceding the date of submission) creative literary works by Caribbean authors or scholarly works related to Caribbean literary studies: 1,000 – 1,200 words
Interviews with Caribbean literary figures: 2,000 – 2,500 words
Poetry and Short Fiction that engage regional and diasporic Caribbean themes and concerns: up to 2 poems or fiction of up to 4,000 words

Submissions must be accompanied by a short bio approximately 50 words, which should include information about the author’s location (institutional, geographical, etc.), and publications. Manuscripts should not contain any information about the author. Please include name, email address, phone number and, if applicable, institutional affiliation with the accompanying bio

Please visit http://smallaxe.net/sxsalon/submissions.php for more detailed guidelines for submissions.

INQUIRIES AND SUBMISSIONS

ALL inquiries and submissions must to be sent electronically to the following addresses:

Literary discussions, book reviews, interviews: Kelly Baker Josephs kbj@smallaxe.net
Short fiction and poetry: Andrea Shaw andreashaw@smallaxe.net

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Image: http://www.smallaxe.net/

Guyana Prize for Literature Caribbean Award

THE GUYANA PRIZE FOR LITERATURE

CARIBBEAN AWARD

The Guyana Prize for Literature was established in 1987

• To provide encouragement for the development of good creative writing among Guyanese in particular and Caribbean writers in general.

During the Awards Presentation on the Twentieth Anniversary of the Prize it was declared that after contributing to the advancement of the literature through the recognition of Guyanese writers, the pledge to Caribbean writing should now be honoured in a specific and direct way. This need was further felt since there was still no literary prize offered within the region for Caribbean literature.

The pledge became a reality when it was announced in Georgetown on November 2, 2010, that the Government of Guyana had provided funds to the Management Committee of the Guyana Prize for the first Guyana Prize for Literature Caribbean Award, starting with the Prize for 2010.

There will be three Awards in the categories of Fiction, Poetry and Drama, with a prize of US$ 5,000 for the winner in each category.

ELIGIBILITY

The Prize is for published books and is open to works by citizens of Caribbean countries : Caricom States, the Commonwealth Caribbean, the Netherland Antilles.

To be eligible for entry, a book must have been

• originally written and published in English

• published in the calendar years 2009/2010; i.e. between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010;

for Drama, entries must

• be full-length plays, first published/performed between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010.

Each publisher may enter a maximum of 5 works in each category.

No more than one work by any author may be entered in each category.

It is the responsibility of the publisher to verify the nationality of the authors where necessary

SUBMISSIONS

Entries should be submitted to

The Management Committee

Guyana Prize for Literature Caribbean Award

School of Education and Humanities

University of Guyana

P.O. Box 101110 Georgetown, Guyana

Closing date for entries is February 28, 2011.

Entries must be accompanied by a separate sheet with the following information for each author

• name, date and place of birth, citizenship

• address, telephone number, Fax number, e-mail address

• title of work

• date and place of publication

• date(s) and place of performance or publication for plays

• brief bio-sketch/career resume of author

• photograph of author

Four copies of each entry must be submitted

Winners in the three categories will be decided by a Jury of eminent persons in the field. A shortlist of finalists will be announced approximately one month before the Awards Ceremony, and may be used as a part of promotion for the Prize.

The winners, as a condition of entry, are expected to attend the Prize Awards Ceremony to be held in Georgetown, Guyana in May, 2011, on a date to be announced, and should also be prepared to give public reading(s) from their works as organised by the Guyana Prize Management Committee. Airline tickets and expenses for the visit to Georgetown will be provided where necessary.

Al Creighton

Secretary, Management Committee

The Guyana Prize for Literature

University of Guyana

P.O. Box 101110

Phone 592-222-3470 / 222-4923

Fax 592-222-7015

e-mail : guyanapri@yahoo.com

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