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Q–Can you tell me a little about that?
A–For example, when I was growing up in Jamaica, I was told: Always
stay in the house, you cannot go out. And my brothers were allowed to
go and do whatever they could, and I wasn’t. That really used to
hurt me a lot. So the change I make, I don’t raise my children in
the same manner. They have all that freedom to be and to do what they
want to do. The boys can help out in the house to clean up and keep it
in order just the same as the girls. That wasn’t true in JA when
I was growing up. Jamaica is a very Christian-oriented culture, and most
of their belief system is coming from the Bible. So it’s very hard
to separate themselves from that. When you become fully educated, you
learn that in the beginning of time, in Egypt, in Kemet, the women were
in charge of everything. They were administrators for just about everything.
They were considered goddesses because they brought forth life. Therefore
that respect, that admiration and reverence was always in place at the
top. When things got changed and we came to the West the woman was taken
almost totally out of the picture. And so we have to re-educate ourselves
about the true history of how things used to be.
Q--You spoke of the importance of being able to leave Jamaica, and go
a foreign to make that transition yourself.
A--I’m not saying that this cannot happen in Jamaica, because the
information age is here, and you can get information from anywhere right
now. You just need to take the time to educate yourself.
Q–Can you speak of some of the female artists in Jamaica whose work
you like, or that inspires you?
A–First and foremost Sister Judy Mowatt. Of course Sister Rita Marley.
Marcia Griffiths. Sister Artia Celis. Cynthia Richards.
Q–And of the younger artists who do you feel is doing a conscious
message?
A–I love Lady G, and Angie Angel. And Pam Hall, she’s been there
for awhile. She doesn’t get much recognition but she’s extremely
talented.
Q–Sister Carol, one thing we’ll discuss on the show is the relationship
between reggae music and its international audience. One of the things
that has inspired many of us in the rest of the world, whether that be
U.S., or Latin America, or Europe, or Africa, or Asia, is the concept
of equal rights and justice. What inspired me from the culture is the
notion of equal rights and justice for ALL. Now of course that’s
been expressed by Peter Tosh and many other people. So the ideal is there
in the culture, and the ideal is in the Bible, if you want to take that
perspective, you find it in One Blood. And the ideal is in the constitution
of the United States. The ideal has not really been the problem, it’s
been the implementation. What I’m asking you is: what is the role
of the international audience of reggae in helping expand this notion
of a culture of equal rights and justice until it really does include
all of us.
A–Well I find that the audience is responsible in making that DEMAND
from the artist. And you can do that in various different ways. The audience
can let the artist know exactly what they want to hear, you know. Some
of the artists have forms of communication such as websites or a fan club.
Let them know exactly what you want to hear. And when the artist puts
out music that they don’t want to hear, the audience should let them
know about it. It’s not just by not buying the record, but let the
artist KNOW what they want.
Q–One thing that I’ve found is that many people in the audience
have an attitude that they are consumers of a culture that is not theirs.
So they perceive themselves as being outside of the culture; therefore,
they don’t have a right to criticize the culture.
A–I don’t see it like that. I think that we are all a part of
the whole. That means, whatever it is, they’re just as involved as
I am. Actually what we’re doing is we’re sharing culture. I
come to perform in a place like America and I’m coming from Jamaica.
It is my duty to make sure that the people I’m performing for or
entertaining can identify with what I’m saying. They can learn from
what I’m saying, they can share, they can be a part. And by doing
so I am becoming a part of their culture as well. You know? So it’s
not like, this is my thing, and you’re not a part of it. The Most
High didn’t create things like that. It’s just one big thing
of which we are a small part. That means, in sharing and caring, we become
one.
Q–I know that many people today have their feet in more than one
culture, that they have allegiance to more than one nation, that they
have more than one way that they define their identity. So I want to ask
you about some of the ways in which you define yourself. What would you
define yourself as first? What are the various aspects of Sister Carol?
Woman, North American, Jamaican, African, etc. How do you prioritize those
different aspects of your identity?
A–First and foremost I’m a humanitarian. A citizen of the world
who is inhabiting and appreciating all the things that the Most High has
blessed us with in this universe. I’m an advocate for peace, and
love; justice and equality. Besides being the mother of my four personal
children, I am also the mother of every child out there in the world.
I’m everybody’s sister, and everybody’s mother. I’m
just a humble servant of the most high who comes to serve, and share what
I have with mankind.
Q–May I ask you, when you think of the Most High, how do you envision
that?
A-- [long pause] Sometimes it’s almost like a faith. "Faith
is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."
Q–Yes, well one of the things I do when I explain Rasta to my students
in the university is I quote Malcolm X, who used to say, that if someone
tries to give you a God that doesn’t look like you, well you hand
that God right back to them.
A–And make your own.
Q–Yeah! So Rastas re-imagined the Creator in their own image. Some
people are still imagining that Creator as a black god; some people understand
that it’s a Creator that we worship in "a house of prayer for
all people." I wondered, when you imagine the Creator, do you visualize
that in some way?
A–Like I said, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen.
Q–Yes.
A–Personally I have His Majesty as my defined essence here on earth.
His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Haile Selassie I. I see both him and his
wife and the Mother and the Father of this Earth.
Q–That’s very interesting because I have heard few people, I
don’t know if I’ve every heard anyone talk about His Majesty
and his wife as a pair.
A–I think that’s one of the mistakes that we’ve been making
over the years, still exalting the man, but completely forgetting about
her contributions. Because he never left her out. And when he was coronated
on Nov. 2 of 1913, she was coronated as well. I think that we totally
forget that. We erased it. It never happened. And therefore we fall back
in the same mode of trampling and belittling and degrading the women.
And she should really be exalted and praised and loved and respected and
credited for what she has created.
Q–Do you have a song specifically in which you do that?
A–You should listen to "Rasta Girl" (Isis: The Original
Womb-man, Tuff Gong). There’s a part of the song that says you can’t
hail King Alpha and dis Queen Omega.
Q–Well I want to ask you one more thing that is sort of difficult.
As I said, we’re talking about equal rights, and we’re talking
about that within a context of especially Rasta-influenced reggae musicians
who speak to an international audience. And you’ve said to me that
you think the audience has a responsibility to communicate with the artist,
both to give praise and to give constructive criticism. So this is something
that many of us in the international audience are trying to come to grips
with. And in addition to talking about the absence of women in the culture,
we’re also talking about some of the [homophobic] lyrics that have
been coming out this year. I have in front of me a tune by Ghetto Max
called "elimination."
Among the lyrics, he says:
"See a batty boy him haffa run and go hide
Gunshot take off him headside
Fuck gal you live and if you fuck man you dead
Gun shot a take off him head.
Gay killer til me die
Haffi shoot a batty boy between the eye
No ask me why"
For many of us, that is painful. And I know from talking to people in
Jamaica that people are actually losing their lives. I wonder if you’re
willing to comment on that in a culture of equal rights and justice in
which we are all children of the Most High.
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