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MISSION: Petersfield & Bath District Relief. Support vibes. All hands on Deck! Packing care packages tonight.

Making the trek across the island to respond, assess and empower our brothers and sisters in distress, how we can with what we can.

One one cocoa… Full basket.

Together.

'I have learnt to carry pain gracefully. I understand it's value. We are not born in silence' said the girl who discovered she was now a Woman. #stillgrowing #stillknowing #iamdonisha #eachoneteachone #iexisteverywhere

Grandma... You are the warmth of a Gentle Flame, the Cool of a Subtle Breeze, an Unquestionable Force of Light, Love, Leadership, Livity, and Laughter. A Visionary, a Teacher, a Survivor, a Souljah, a Goddess, a Queen. Your journey has been nothing short of Divinely crafted by the hands of the Most High. For you, there are not enough words to show how much you mean to me and millions of souls in the physical and spiritual manifest. 78years on this Earth filled with lifetimes of experiences and HeArtwork. Keep on Keeping on.🔥💜🥳🦋🌏 Happy Earthday my Sweet Nana. We celebrate your everyday @officialritamarley. #TheRoot #TheFruit #IamBecauseYouAre #RastaWoman #FireStarter #LegacyKeeper #RitaMarley #78Strong
📸 @ahutchphoto

Reminder to self: Our not so distant relatives did not enjoy the luxury of visiting Jamaica as a Tourist destination. They were captured and trafficked to this island Colony of Jamaica, tortured and deprived of dignity and humanity before we were mistaken as ‘squatters.’

Former plantation owners and their descendants were given reparations by England up until the year 2015 to compensate for the loss of profits after Slavery was abolished in the late 1800’s.

Formerly enslaved Africans were given nothing.

Landless-ness in Jamaica is not a result of poverty. It is a mandate built into the construct of an ‘independent’ former colony in the West Indies. Our work cannot stop at care packages. There are laws and policies that deny our people the ability to recover.

This Hurricane has exposed Jamaicans to Jamaica in a different way. I hope we are paying attention.

Full Docu-series on DSE Jamaica YouTube. Link in bio.

If you don’t document it, it doesn’t live. History will remember this time. 🇯🇲

#Westilldehya #Landforliberation #Tellthechildrenthetruth

Reminder to self: Dis me positive and sure of. Everyday the rich a get rich and the poor a get poorer.

We are bearing witness, in real time, to the remnants and implications of colonialism. The concept of first class and second class citizens so deeply rooted in our identity as Jamaica that we simply stand aside and look.

7 months later, @humanityovavanity.to_ We Still Deh Ya, supporting hurricane victims with recovery and advocacy.

If you don’t document it, it doesn’t live. History will remember this time. 🇯🇲

Full Docu-Series on DSE Jamaica YouTube. Link in Bio

#Westilldehya #oneloveisaction #Rightourstory

The Rebirth Of Sharon Marley

Reggae royalty Sharon Marley is stepping into a new chapter with the release of her album Firebird, now streaming. Joined in studio by her daughter Donisha Prendergast, the three-time Grammy winner says the project goes beyond music—it’s a message of healing, love and legacy for the people.

As she puts it, “Firebird is a reflection of that healing, love, and legacy carried through sound.”

#FAME95FM

@ishowspeed I see you. Youth, curiosity, a platform, an Open heart. 🙏🏾

Im happy we were able to spend a few moments @bobmarleymuseum yesterday. There’s so much more to share about Jamaica than time had space to tell.

You see, you may confuse your experience of Kingston as a full representation of Jamaica. Cute restaurants, fun cultural tours, exciting new friends to meet. But life on this small island is much more dynamic and layered.

You’re visiting our beautiful island at a time when we’re experiencing the greatest visibility on Jamaica’s homelessness crisis in our modern history. The catastrophic Hurricane Melissa that destroyed 1/3 of the Western side of Jamaica has revealed how inadequate our administration is at prioritizing Jamaicans over Jamaica. Despite the fast growth of hotels and private businesses associated with Tourism and Culture products, the humans that work at these hotels and create the culture that defines Jamaica continue to be treated as second class citizens in their own homes.

Our people have basically no free access to beaches because they have been sold out to facilitate tourism expansion.

Our political leaders are more like social media influencers, creating content for the likes in parliament rather than programs that show love for the people. (Cue: Damian Jr. Gong Marley ‘ Educated Fools’)

We have naturally very talented performers and wordsmiths that organically maintain Jamaica’s image and vibe for the world to enjoy our culture, both abroad and yard. This means, Tourism will always have ambassadors while our cultural industries stay under-funded.

Strange thing about Jamaica, we often repress the very core of our history and identity in pursuit of some external validation, that is actually seeking validation for itself.

My grandparents Bob & Rita Marley were not just musicians, they were activists confronting ingrained systems of thoughts with new thoughts, a new feeling.

As you travel and learn this world, seek to find not just truth but the root of it… the why. Share it. You will grow to overstand this calling to be bigger than they want you to believe. Humanity Ova Vanity.

The world needs more storytellers, IRL.

He got an entire history lesson 🖤

@ishowspeed linked up with Bob Marley’s granddaughter (@iamdonisha) in Jamaica to learn about the history of dreadlocks 🇯🇲

Eric helped to build the very school and other infrastructure that the community has benefitted from. Still the reality is, at almost 84 years old, he hasn’t been able to build a stable infrastructure for himself.

Our elders are finding it the hardest to navigate this impacts of the Hurricane. Their needs are different. More nuisance medical care, more detailed social services, more attention and time.

Our people need platforms for their voices to be heard.

@humanityovavanity.to_ is putting together a plan to help Eric rebuild his house and secure medical support during his recovery.

Give Thanks to the few who have reached out over DM and in the comments. Please email contact@hovnow.com for info on how you can support.

This is Eric Rhoden. When he arrived at the Petersfield High School shelter he was healthy and active for his 83 years. 6 months later, he is a shadow of himself, serious weight loss and now he needs a urine drainage bag.

Mr. Rhoden needs help to build a one room house with bathroom and kitchen so he can get back to his life.

He is suffering.

Where are the agencies that are responsible for the care of the elderly and vulnerable populations? Or is this a part of the design for this Nation?

The poor have no representation. Why is nobody in parliament fighting for him?

The government has decided to relocated the 16 families still sheltering at Petersfield High School. This is not recovery.

They are spending millions to fix the Teachers College next door to relocate people while they build platforms for container units.

We demand the immediate attention of @andrewholnessjm @desmondmckenziemp @pcharlesjr. 6 months later.

Unbelievable

Meet Keith Turner. He is one of the former sheltered who left the Petersfield shelter when the initial deadline of Dec 31 was declared.

He is hearing impaired and didn’t understand that he had a choice to stay. He saw people leaving and so he followed suit. When he tried to return to the shelter, he was refused.

This is where he is living… in an abandoned vehicle has been. His mattress laid in the back of the pick up truck, protected from the rain by a sheet of Zinc.

When it rains he sleeps inside the can of the truck, cramped in with his suitcases filled with clothes and memories he could save.