1.
"
...
I am so sad, my daughter –my father still does not understand my gender–
I have not reconciled learning,
I have not reconciled family,
I have not chosen –
I did not know the language
But I know of the gods, feeling of the faith –
Body, feeling of the faith…
I still push my memories back –
But you choose not to —
…
So let the words of our mouth
And the meditation of our heart
Be acceptable in Thy sight, oh Far I
So let the words of our mouth
And the meditation of our heart
Be acceptable in Thy sight, oh
Be acceptable in Thy sight, oh Far I [1]
...
"
[1] Rivers of Babylon, a Rastafarian song written and recorded by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of The Melodians in 1970. The lyrics are adapted from the texts of psalm 137 and psalm 19 in the Bible. In the Rastafarian faith, the term “Babylon” is used for any governmental system which is either oppressive or unjust. Brent Dowe, the lead singer of the Melodians, told Kenneth Bilby that he had adapted Psalm 137 to the new reggae style because he wanted to increase the public’s consciousness of the growing Rastafarian movement and its calls for black liberation and social justice in Jamaica.
- Words and lyrics remembered from the performance of Ni’Ja Whitson’s Oba Qween King Baba — Excerpt One, March 15th, 2018
2.
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The ghosts and spirits –
How and why –
Is it that I feel undeniably drawn to this praying ground?
I am familiar with this feeling –
A feeling of faith that I can know with my body and breath and memories –
My father and his father and his grandfather, they must have known
My mother and her mother and her grandmother, they must have felt
Of these ghosts and spirits
It is that same feeling of fables that I clinged when I lost my land –
It is that same feeling of faith that I found when I found new land –
…
내 입술의 말과 나의 마음에 묵상이
주께 열납되길 원하네
내 입술의 말과 나의 마음에 묵상이
주께 열납되길 원하네 [2]
…
[2]Psalm 19 by Terry Butler, adapted by Ong-gi-jang-ee, Korean Christian band
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- In response to Ni’Ja Whitson’s performance Oba Qween King Baba — Excerpt One
