Happy Birthday Bob!

                                                         image from http://rockhall.com/inductees/bob-marley
Today is Bob Marley's birthday. Even though there's no Google Doodle that incorporates this momentous holiday, the Cuban is going to mark it this occasion 5ivebruhs style. With a YouTube video, and his favorite song complete with lyrics playing on the 5ivebruhs playlist. Enjoy and remember one love, one heart.

This is one of the illist interviews done for a musical artist. Bob breaks down the powerful spiritual elements of Reggae, and showcases what a revolutionary figure he was. He was more then just a herb smoker. He was a rebel, who was fighting against the status quo. This is why he still connects to so many people, the world over. 


Iron Lion Zion- Bob Marley

I am on the rock and then I check a stock
I have to run like a fugitive to save the life I live
I'm gonna be Iron like a Lion in Zion (repeat)
Iron Lion Zion
I'm on the run but I ain't got no gun
See they want to be the star
So they fighting tribal war
And they saying Iron like a Lion in Zion
Iron like a Lion in Zion,
Iron Lion Zion

I'm on the rock, (running and you running)
I take a stock, (running like a fugitive)
I had to run like a fugitive just to save the life I live
I'm gonna be Iron like a Lion in Zion (repeat)
Iron Lion Zion, Iron Lion Zion, Iron Lion Zion
Iron like a Lion in Zion, Iron like a Lion in Zion
Iron like a Lion in Zion

Happy Black History Month: A stream of thoughts

I happen to enjoy Black History Month. Granted, as a kid I groaned when the "black history month” morning announcements that detailed the lives of the big three (Martin Luther King, Jackie Robinson, and Rosa Parks) came on in grade school, and I snickered when we started reading Othello at the first of February. Yet, as I got older I grew to appreciate this month. It's seems to be the one month of the year were black people collectively reflect on where we come from, and where we’re going. This year, I think Black Culture is at a crossroad. Who ever coined the term "post-racial" America had a point. Even though racism is still very much alive; the idea that we live in a post-racial society place the first nail in the coffin of racism. We are no longer blatantly oppressed, nor are we collectively thought of as inferior. Statistically we are at our richest, highest educated, and politically powerful.

For centuries Black Culture has breed a rage that desperately wanted to strike back at the oppression that was inbred in American society. However, as our leaders and their allies tore down these institutions we were left with the cultural scars that years of oppression have left. Black culture was designed as a weapon. Now we need to use it as a salve. We can heal the wounds of racism, slavery, segregation, and oppression, and also grow stronger from it.

This Black history month I’m left with one nagging question. Where does Black Culture go from here? Well Blue Ivy Carter, we’re waiting.