Can we please stop sanitizing Dr. King?

 

 

(Taken in 2015)

 

Hi everyone!  Happy Martin Luther King Day!!  I hope that you're having a productive day, considering Mr. C is still wrecking havoc worldwide.  While we were celebrating Dr. King's achievements and the continued quest for equality; I've noticed something from some people, mainly yt people in respect to Dr. King.  They always love to quote his phrase, "don't judge me for the color of my skin,"  when called out for their racist behavior or trying to turn Dr. King into some sanitized hero to fit their agenda.  For example, as I have experienced on social media, this 6F dude claimed that Dr. King would not like Black Lives Matter because it's Marxist.  It really irritates me when these people will speak for Dr. King as if he has raised from the dead and spoke to them about his "dislike" for BLM and other organizations of that nature.  These people, being willfully obtuse would complain about BLM, The Black Panther Party and their favorite phrase "black on black crime," where violence in concerned but they will willfully turn a blind eye to systemic and organized violence perpetrated by 6F people against black people and POC.  A perfect example of this is the attack on the Capitol on Wednesday the 6th of January where some claimed that it was the Antifa crew that stormed the Capitol, not Trumpanzees.  However, evidence has shown otherwise but they'll deny it till the day they die.  

 

(Taken in the Summer, 2020) 

It's also ironic that these people chose to celebrate Dr. King, when in the past he was ostracized and even accused of being a communist by the FBI under Edgar Hoover, the very same FBI who celebrated Dr. King's achievements.  Gotta love the irony here, they throw you under the bus, and when you're dead and gone, that's when they want to celebrate you.  But sadly, history is repeating itself because these 6F people are doing the exact same thing to BLM calling the group, Marxist or communist in order to not to remind themselves of the evils they have done in this country.  However, no amount of gaslighting can prevent the real terror in this country and that is white supremacy.  We have seen it happen in the Trump presidency and the crazy events at the Capitol.  Democracy be damned, they want to keep white supremacy at all costs, at the expense of black people, POC, women (well, women of color, because lets face it, some white women participate and uphold white supremacy), LGBTQ+ and progressives who want to see this country prosper and celebrate all people.  If Dr. King was alive, he would still join the fight for equality and continue to call out leadership for their transgressions.  That's the Martin Luther King we need, not the watered down, sanitized version.  So for the next year please celebrate all of Dr. Kings, all the complexities, the doubts, the vulnerability and resolve, not to fit your agenda.  Thank you Dr. King for your fight for equality and justice. We still have a long way to go but I'm hopeful that we'll get there.  

Iwer George!! Ayyyy!!!!

 

(Pinterest.com)

Hello my lovelies!!! Happy New Year.  2020 is finally over and Trump is on his way out!! Praise the Lord!!! It's been awhile but you know, life happens.  Work nonstop and then trying to evade the 19 at the same time!!  I'm back but honestly, it'll be sporadic but I'll try to post more articles in the coming days.  The year barely started and bacchanal started.  An attempted coup that almost happened in D.C and Orange Marmalade still complaining about the elections fraud.  But trying not to stress myself over the news, I decided to listen to some soca music. Soca is so infectious and uplifting and always put me in a happy mood. And since Carnival is cancelled this year because of the Big C, I am having Carnival tabanca (meaning, I miss Carnival).   Speaking of Soca, I want to talk about one of the Soca artistes who has longevity in the business and that is Iwer George.  Iwer George is one of these artistes who is still relevant since the 80s and can hold his own amongst his younger peers.  

Neil Iwer George was born in 1964 in Point Fortin, south Trinidad and began his soca career at the age of 21.  In 1987,  he made a huge hit with a single, "Boom Boom Time," which came in second in the Road March competition at the time.  Since the success of his first single and his LP Keep the Boom Boom Rolling in 1988, Iwer continued to create more hits especially in the 90s where he really took off (Paul Simpson-Tidal).   In the 90s, Iwer was creating hit after hit, including my favorites, "Yes Iwer" and "Ah Wine is ah Wine."  I remembered jamming to his during high school especially during Carnival.  

Iwer was also successful in various competitions in Trinidad and Tobago.  Iwer won two International Soca Monarch titles in 2003, 2007 and 2020 respectively.  He also won Road March titles in 2000 and 2020.  He had a minor beef with Machel Montano in 2018 concerning Road March, in which was rather controversial.  I was sure that Iwer's "Savannah" was going to win Road March.  However, Machel's "Soca Kingdom," which came out of nowhere, won the title.    Finally, they made up and even made the song "Conch Shell," together for 2020 Carnival (pre-Covid).  Iwer got his revenge though when he collaborated with his fellow artiste Kes to win last year's Road March title with the song, "Stage gone Bad."  

Some people may complain that Iwer only singing crap but nonetheless, he makes infectious tunes for his audience and I'm sure they enjoyed it, even the complainers.  But Iwer has a serious side as well when it comes to music.  He sings about pressing issues such as race and economic hardships plaguing the country.  He also had an entrepreneurial spirit by creating  his own radio station, The Street 91.9 fm and even promote soca artistes and calypsonians on his life stream on Facebook last year.  Iwer is a hard working man in the soca business and he shows no sign of slowing down.  I'm looking forward to new music from in 2021 and beyond.