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

By VK Ogilvie

“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 wi

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press UK
• Release date: Sep 18, 2022
• ISBN: 9781982284053

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Copyright © 2022 VK Ogilvie.

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ISBN: 978-1-9822-8404-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-8405-3 (e)

Balboa Press rev. date: 09/14/2022

Contents

Foreword

Redemption songs

Introduction

Justification for the study

Objectives of the study

Background of the study

Bibliography

If ah soh it goh

By VK Ogilvie

If ah soh it goh

Dat wi Jamaican people chat too muc’

den wi fi shut wi mout’ an’ be quiet

Betta yet

Wi fi listen to di not’ingness of silence

Inna wi ‘ead

If ah soh it goh

dat wi Jamaican people see too much’

den wi fi close wi eye dem

an’ stop faas’ inna odda people business

An’ look pon di picha dem inna wi own mind

If ah soh it goh

dat wi Jamaican people ‘ear too muc’

den wi fi cork up wi ears dem

an’ listen to di ridim inna wi ‘eart

Den dance to wi own Reggae beat an’ t’oughts

If ah soh it goh

dat wi Jamaican people love to travel

ah farin too muc’

den wi fi stay ah wi own yard

an’ meck fungus grow pon wi

Soh dat way nohboddie can tell lie pon wi

Jamaican people, unnu know dat

dum’ people can’t talk

soh dem can’t lie

an’ blin’ people dem worst

Dem can’t say dem did see

Di poor deaf people dem

dem can’t ear ah t’ing, dem deaf

dem ‘ave ears but can’t ‘ear not’ing

an’ di cripple people dem

God ‘elp dem

Dem can’t goh noh weh

Instead dem jus’ sid down

an’ ah fret ‘bout dem conditions

is betta dem put down di burden

an’ travel pon di inna Being

Can blin’ people see for blin’ people?

an’ deaf people ear for deaf people?

Can dum’ people speak for dum’ people?

an’ cripple people walk for cripple people?

People noh mek unnu ‘earts be troubled

An’ unnu minds be puzzled

Truth is never rewarded to di learned

It is given to di innocent an’ di simple

Unnu need fi know that

Every little t’ing soon be arite

If yuh t’ink ah soh it goh

Den yuh need fi t’ink again

Because if ah noh soh it goh

den it nearly goh soh

An’ if it nearly goh soh

Den ah soh it really goh

Den anyt’ing can really goh soh?

The voices and rhythms of redemption songs

Foreword

The fools have said in their hearts there is no God and they have done all sorts of abominable and unimaginable things to the earth, to nature and to humankind. So much so, that in negating the existence of God they have made themselves God; earthly demi-gods, gods that partly belong. Wanting to become gods had been a longstanding desire and because they were driven by lust for wealth, greed and power, wanting to be exalted, to be like The Almighty God, powerful, these earthly demi-gods robbed God, literally. They robbed God, when they concocted schemes like colonization, imperialism, genocide, and the degradation of the Earth, by destroying the life sustaining balances of nature, just so, humankind would praise and worship them.

Yet of all the various acts of larceny, none was more severe than when the earthly demi-gods had forced the indigenous peoples of the earth into submission, robbing them 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 people 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.

In many instances, subjugation was a slow process and in other instances, it was very swift, however, it always led to dystopia. It took many decades, centuries even; and it would begin with a process of alienation and finalized with self-policing, where all humanity, some more than others, would succumb to the power of the earthly demi-gods. The process of alienation was disguised under the banner of uplifting fallen humanity, civilizing the barbarians, the heathens, but it had entailed many egregious acts of brutality and intimidation, notwithstanding the most heinous of all, murder.

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’.

The tried and tested employment of tactics such as divide and conquer, as coupled with intimidation, was executed methodically, until it had reached perfection; thus, resulting in the science of colonization. A science, which when enacted, left most of the indigenous peoples, the downtrodden, of the world under the feet of the earthly demi-gods, even now in these modern times, fallen humanity are feeling still, the stings, lost identities and self-hatred, from the venoms of these earthly demi-gods. The disenfranchised had succumbed, in most cases, unwillingly, to the might of these earthly demi-gods and had become strangers unto themselves, estranged from their cultural identities and afraid of their traditional ways of life. In the meanwhile participating in the cursed social sciences of colonized cultures and traditions, of which many were clueless and were restrained in marginalized quarters, to be held, socially as second and even as, third class citizens.

For the earthly demi-gods, dystopia was an international campaign of war. Europe had declared war upon the downtrodden peoples of the earth. The deployment and the directives of European armies were geared for total conquest, the ultimate control of land and the subjugation of all nations, beginning with the uncivilized, those that were not White and were not Europeans, by any means necessary. However, to enact this robbery, both the blessing of the Holy Roman Catholic church and its associated decrees, as well as, the might and the will of the European States had to be enacted, partners in crime, conspiring to rob both God and humankind.

Note carefully the animistic religious practitioners, the uncivilized, who had worshipped their ancestors and nature. These savages, the indigenous people, had a religion that dealt with the protection of the ecology, because they revered nature and their religions ran counter to the monotheistic religion of the civilized noble savages, the earthly demi-gods. The earthly demi-gods existed to seek out wealth and power, sanctioned by their monotheistic religion that gravitated around a promise of an after- life existence.

Despite the boast of civilizing the uncivilized barbarians, the earthly demi-gods had no care at all for life and that has been proven time and time again throughout history. Without apology, it can be ascertained that they did not care, even, about their own lives and contrary to the aspirations and beliefs of the earthly demi-gods, the indigenous barbarians were preoccupied with life here on earth and their culture and religion were fundamental to the preservation of nature, as was denoted by the reverence shown to their many animistic gods. Inversely, it was selfishness that motivated the noble savages or the earthly demi-gods, the selfish lust for power and it amounted to nothing more than a delusion that was disguised in selflessness, which they declared as the civilization of fallen humanity, mere trickery.

Moreover, since the believers in the monotheistic Christian religions were, in fact, wealth and power seekers, they were driven to destroy the natural ecological balances set by Creation, God and Nature, as is now evident. At this point the question comes to fore, who are the real savages and heathens, those that care not about the earth and nature, or those who did care and were plucked away from their ancestral cultures and traditions?

What should be obvious is, with the combined efforts of both the European church and states, only God and nature could rescue the downtrodden peoples of the earth from the oppression that was slated for them by these earthly demi-gods from Europe.

However, when these earthly demi-gods had managed to turn the people away from their God given survival skills, when the indigenous peoples had come to the point of having no knowledge and desires to follow their own traditions that was when the final blow was delivered. The blow of self-hatred and the enforcement of a system of self-policing had brought Black peoples to the point, when their own minds kept them in the bondage of mental slavery. The result, Blacks being kidnapped from their glorious Africa to be transported into bondage, outright slavery, un-imaginary oppression, racial marginalization and psycho-social entrenched ‘niggerization,, dealt the ultimate death blow to fall humanity.

Worrisomely, the earthly demi-gods had sanctioned slavery, under the banner of a one-world order capitalistic state, with them at the top of the food chain and Blacks at the bottom of the chain. This reality was most clear in the denigration of the African people, where most were stripped of their humanity and were transformed into slaves and then into niggers. This process of niggerization, elicits special attention. ‘Niggerization’ is the process by which the White supremacist racist used to deconstruct, demoralize, denigrate, degrade and dehumanize the Black African people. The process of ‘niggerization’ is what redemption songs are addressing and it is the hope that redemption songs might be able to deconstruct ‘niggerization’ and, then, to reconstruct the Black identity. In addition, that redemption might bring back the love of self, the love of Africa and the love for all things Black.

Consequently, that redemption songs might be able to reconstruct the glory that was once the center and cornerstone of Black African awareness. To reconstruct the glory of the Black self is of utter importance. Because when White earthly demi-gods were building their civilizations, they unconscionably discarded the glory of the Black self and by refusing to use it, they successfully stripped away Black humanity from the Black indigenous peoples’ collective consciousness. Overall, the ‘niggerization’ process was done for the benefits of the barbaric and ignobly self-acclaimed earthly demi-gods, whose plan was to seize power and dominate the earth at the expense of fallen humanity. Black people please bring back the ‘Black’ love of self and all things Black, that is your redemption and then, real life will be given to you.

………………………………………………………………………

Redemption songs

The unimaginable has become imaginable and the inconceivable conceivable. Reggae has become a universal accepted musical art form. This musical art form was conceived in the minds of slaves. From their inception on the island of Jamaica in the early 14th century, they had brought with them their zealous desires for freedom. It was locked away in their Afro-centric mindset, in the rhythms of the beating of their hearts and in the movements of their strides, dances; therein, establishing the genesis of an Afro-Jamaican art from. Many years later, in the 1950’s and early 1960’s, the descendants of these early slaves, the players of musical instruments and lyricists, perfected these ancient rhythms and dances to construct a variant contemporary musical invention. From that time, this invention has been the heartland vibrations of this tiny island nation of Jamaica. This musical art form depicts the heartbeat and the mindset of the Afro-Jamaican people, and these are expressed, particularly, in redemptive songs of redemption lyrics accompanied by a peculiar throbbing heartbeat rhythm. However, in quick strides, astoundingly, this Afro-Jamaican musical art form was diffused to every part of the earth to become the heartbeat of the world that is known by all as roots rock Reggae music.

Because of Reggae’s defying essence, redemptive themes, it advanced until it had found and had connected to its people, all the freedom-loving individuals of the world. The musical development of Reggae followed a similar path as most of the other ethnic cultural constructs. It did not develop in a vacuum and falling, suddenly, from the sky. Reggae was an invention that was formulated by a specific set of people, with a particular history, a people that had survived many centuries of horrific human depravation, the heart wrenching consequences of being enslaved. These Afro-Jamaican people, notably, the Rastafarians, were born with an indomitable will to survive the hardship of enslavement, simply because they held steadfast to their Afro-centricity. Without which, they would have succumbed and would not have been able to retain many of their Afro-cultural identities, up until today, still intact firmly.

The redemptive characteristics of these people are expressed in songs, dances and worship and these took center stage in the formulation of a redemptive culture. As such, the Rastafarians had freed themselves to sing, dance and praise Jah from the days of slavery to the days of freedom and because they were endowed with those special tools, the heavy burden of slavery became much lighter. They were able to assert their sense of self, to rebuild and to reinvent themselves, as was needed. "And now we see the light…we ah goh get up stand up and fight," sung Bob Marley and the Wailers.

This redemptive musical development did not reach its peak until long after the emancipation from slavery. Emancipation was the nascent, when the African peoples psychological deportments and culture were partially freed from the daily drudgery of whippings and meaningless toiling, towards the building of White Europe. Emancipation was the historical moment when Black people were given the chance, legally, to grow. However, western hemispherical slavery was the most severe as it demonstrated a form of slavery that was associated, distinctively, to the barbaric ravishing and inhumane treatment of the African people, the colonized Africans. This abusive degrading conduct was furthered to the ultimate estrangement of the colonized people, causing many of them to hate themselves. As a result, the worst historical manifestations of White slavery that was afflicted upon Black people still continue. Its effects presently, are sustained by many mental blemishes and are engraved into the minds of the so-called freed Afro-Jamaican populous.

The impact of these abusive and degrading conducts has had some severe protracted negative effects on the Afro-Jamaican people, notably, in the area of identity. These conducts have divided them into many warring camps, politically, socially and otherwise, where an identity crisis has arisen. As such, the protracted nature of this identity crisis has become ingrained into the psychic and cultural landscapes of many Jamaicans, seemingly, to present an impossible extended social crisis, of self-hatred and violence. Nonetheless, there is a relentless effort by the Rastafarians to aspire for freedom, therein, to propagate an awareness of self-love, a love for Africa and all things African, pan- Africanism. A very important ideology that needs to be shown is that Rastafari has adopted and become the harbinger of Pan-Africanism in the aftermath of a post-colonial world.

Inversely, in a country where the majority population is Afro-Jamaicans, still, Eurocentric ideals dominate the Jamaican social spheres, which come as no surprise; since, the long- standing standards practiced were the inculcation of Eurocentric values, both covertly and forcefully. The Jamaican society stands divided, greatly, along a cultural line of Euro centricity and Afro-centricity. It is a blatant fact that the majority of Black Jamaica gravitates and aspires towards being White; a country where Black is the majority. Clearly, it is with great pride that the majority, Eurocentric Blacks, oppresses the minority, Afro-centric Blacks. Even the parlances of the Jamaican dialect are scourged in favor of Standard English, not to mention Afro-centric fashions, arts and cultures. Therefore, left with only the music, what better way is there to propagate the messages of freedom, self-love and pan-Africanism, than via art and culture, where the utilization of music and songs have become the two main significant mediums for the delivery of redemption messages, which, of course, is Reggae?

From the bowels of that brutal experience, middle passage slavery, Reggae sprang forth, created from the impacts of the suffering and hardship that the slaves had endured and despite the hardships and suffering, the love of self and the need to survive still lingered on. Thus, in creating the rudiments of the music, the architects of Reggae employed some historical slavery songs, folk lore, church songs, traditional religious songs and some redemption songs with the messages encased in call and response standards. Coupled with these songs were traditional religious beats, rhythms, and European melodies, all were brought forward from slavery days, as retained elements from their previous slavery experiences. Nonetheless, the fundamental rhythms that Reggae was constructed upon were ‘Niya Bengi’ drumbeats, establishing the one drop and the heart beat rhythms. The Niya Bengi beat was manifested with the use of three drums.

This rhythm, Niya Bingi, is very basic and is particular to the Rastafarian and their drumming patterns. The drumming technique illustrated by each of the three drums, expresses various tempos and emotions of a beating heart. The Rastafarian fundae drum banters a rhythmic pattern of a steady moderate pitched pulsating heartbeat. While the bass drum extols a very relaxed low frequency vibrating heartbeat and the Kettie drum emphasizes a clamorous conspicuous high pitch galloping heartbeat, having no defined rhythmic pattern. The Kettie drum, due to its pitch, is often played by a master drummer. From all this, a logical deduction would be that Reggae had migrated to the Caribbean, via the middle passage on slave ships. It came along with the slaves and since they were stripped of their ancestral instruments, the music was hidden deep within their heats, as the rhythmic patterns of some varied heartbeats. Concealed in their hearts, the rhythms migrated to the Caribbean, Jamaica, as unknown intrusive travelers. The rhythms were lodged within the minds, souls, and thoughts of these early Afro Jamaican slaves, as distinctive and fundamental features of their culture; of which, later music and dances evolved as a few elements that were well- preserved and hidden in their inner beings, were added from their cultural archives.

After nearly four hundred years of enslavement in the Caribbean, and followed by the ‘so-called ‘emancipation’ of slavery, a vast majority of the descendants of Africans are still in dire sufferings, both economically and mentally. They exist as if they are in an extended state of neo-slavery, freed slaves, lacking both the mental acuity and the economical means to be truly freed. No doubt, culture would play an important part in this economy, and since culture was the only tool that the down trodden had at their disposal, provided they were aware of their culture and also including many other forms of socio-economical segregation, culture was the only prevailing route left to be comfortably exploited. It can be argued at this point, since no other viable tools were left to ensure a modest livelihood, then, the only money- making instruments left, capably of pulling a few selected poverty-stricken Afro-Jamaicans from economical oppression would be the exploitation of their culture; i.e. music and the arts. As such, some farsighted and forward-thinking individuals engineered some specific aspects of their culture in a manner where they founded a, seemingly, daunting economical system that eventually evolved into the Jamaican music industry.

In the formative years of the Jamaican slavery experiences, the slavers had prohibited African slaves from playing their African music and instruments, especially the drums. They believed, that the slaves were using these to incite, send and spread messages leading to rebellions and revolts; such that, if one was caught playing the drums, the player would be subjected to death or to flogging. In contemporary Jamaican society, music has risen to a prominent post to become the mythical bird, the phoenix, to emerge from the remnant of the ashes of a once culturally glorious past, stepping into the limelight to the forefront as the rebel’s redeemer. "I’m a rebel…I’m a capturer…a soul adventurer…see the morning sun over the hill top…if I’m unhappy then I must be blue," so proudly sung by Bob Marley and the Wailers.

Although, the slaves had kept the Afro-centric rhythms alive, in their thoughts and hearts, it was with the advent of emancipation when the players of instruments formulated Mento. It was the first of the exclusive Jamaican music art form to step forward, followed by Ska, and then, by Reggae. However, Ska and Reggae were the first two outstanding musical inventions to gain international notoriety, Reggae more so. Reggae on Broadway, Bob Marley and the Wailers.

By the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, the two very unique musical cultural inventions, Ska and then Reggae, were devised, and these two musical forms were based upon the historical progression of Afro-Jamaican culture, notably, the cultural progression of Afro-Jamaican folklore, slave songs, and traditional African beats, ‘Kumina’, Revival etc. These folk lore and traditional beats were the building blocks upon which the creation of the Ska and Reggae were underpinned. The use of folk lore required the integration of traditional African beats. Once these had become a part of the contemporary music and were utilized instrumentally to fashion the music, the change became apparent. One, the new influx had freed the musician from the strictures of Europeans standards and two it helped to bind the European melodies, instrumentations and instruments with Afro-centric beats and songs; thus, completing the integration process. With Ska, being a historical and cultural derivative of Mento, the more modern musical art form, Reggae, was later derived, thus, Ska has some elements of Mento and Reggae has some elements of both.

It should be noted that the Skatalites, the name of the Ska band that was associated and was credited with the inventions of both Ska and Reggae were all trained musicians. They were educated in the European, British, academical format of music. As such, these musicians had to execute a form of musical revolution. In so doing, they were able to acquire a sense of freedom when they broke away from the academical restrains of western European music theories and orchestration to find an authentic musical space for themselves as renowned accomplished musicians.

The resultants were the inventions of their own music, musical style, interpretations and expressions. As a point of clarity, from inception, both Ska and Reggae were the collaborations of several related pieces. A Kingston based band, comprised of a dozen or so musicians made up of all Rastafarians, a few local musical producers, some Kingston based sound system operators, and singers from all over Jamaica were the complemented initial players. That original partnership has led to the present day established formats, models, upon which the Jamaican music industry is formed.

The musical genius of a few musical composers, notably, the Skatalites, was responsible for the invention of Reggae, as was stated prior. These musical geniuses, however, applied a few internal structural changes to both instrumentation and orchestration to establish the music known as Ska, and shortly thereafter, the art form Reggae was born. The factual implication of what is now known as present day Reggae belongs to a specific set of people, significantly, some of the most oppressed and downtrodden individuals of planet Earth, Afro-Jamaicans. Without any apology, these men and women are Reggae’s rightful owners, because it was with their contributions that the music was founded.

What was most striking, was the behavior of those Afro-Jamaicans who had removed themselves, recently, perhaps no more than a single generation, from the greater populous. Having now relocated to the suburbs or to the periphery of the ghettos and were associating, in some cases, living in households with Whites and