SEPTEMBER 2004 Q: Last time we spoke you broke down in tears, it got very emotional at the end of that conversation. It just came back all of it and I suppose it tends to be that sort of reaction when one summarise a career that streches back thirty years in time, what happened, what didn't and could've and shouldn't have happened - things we don't always are able to control. All the ups and downs, all the creativity, etc. What popped up in your memory afterwards, what would you like to add what we didn't reach there? A: I think just talking about - we spoke at length, and as I said it was a moment - and I'm sure it happens, it probably happen when anyone stops to really gather the memories of their life and really begin to evaluate how you spent your life (laughs)! You know, really the content. And I just realised how much I love what I do and that perhaps I wasn't doing as much actively in a particular manifestation of performance and that I finally transplanted a lot of that into the work that I've been doing over the last like fifteen to twenty years in terms of working in the community. So it really just got me thinking about how I wanted to - as I said to you - put more attention into recording, gathering my work now and documenting myself (chuckles). I think that's what happened, that it was just a wake up call. And also just a feeling of gratitude that you brought to me in terms of an awareness and appreciation of that work. Q: Well for me and a lot of others out there it's just a big shame that so many from 'the golden era' never truly got - unlike now - the wider exposure and recognition they deserved at the peak of their powers, even if this is just part of how the business is. So this contribution is just an attempt to create some more appreciation for these people, and they are many - dozens and dozens. A: Right. Well, this year I was honored in the community for the last fifteen years at a very huge gala, and I think that was really... it was really great because it always brings to you the idea that when you truly do what you do because you love it, you don't really look like to be acknowledged or, y'know, you don't have to have a pat on your back. But when the acknowledgement comes, it's so gratifying to know that you have made a difference, people are aware of that. And this week in the mail I received like a citation from one of the state senators acknowledging the work I've done in the community as well, and I just smiled because I thought 'wow, I guess this is what it's about'. And you continue in your life regardless what you do if you do it with sincerity and you really do it with an inspiration to... how to improve or how to change or how to alter something from one position to a higher state of being. You know, a more organic or holistic being in the lives of people, especially children because that's where my focus has been in the last twenty years, working with children. It's for me, as I said to my daughter, it kind of gives me permission to begin to think about doing things more for myself now also. And things change also when you do - especially for women - have a child, suddenly you realise that everything is about the survival, preservation and a qualitative support of this child. So it's pretty difficult to do certain things as an artist - a creative artist - when you're raising a child and you have to put yourself... you don't just suddenly wake up in the morning and, y'know, you can't say 'where am I gonna go today?' You feel like eating, that's alright, I eat later. Now everything changes and shifts. So bringing that child to maturation has been and through doing that also working for other children, now I'm feeling that I'm really allowed to sort of return to that space where I can be like freer to create on that level that I began my journey on so many years ago. Q: What is now your lasting impressions of being part of that dynamic reggae industry all those years ago? A: Well, I guess because I never saw myself in the industry maybe I'm into this, y'know. I'm thankful that I was part of it in real time and historically. Because the reason I was in it was an affirmation in itself that my life is a life that followed intuition and followed spirit, y'know, to move in a particular direction. Beacuse this was what I heard the calling to be. And in the beginning - if there was a beginning - I think that by the time you come from this plane, this planet, it's as though it's just like a ball of yarn that is unrolling and it just find its way. Q: You follow that route. A: Yeah, you follow your route, you follow the umbillical chord from heaven, from whence we came, and that spirit-world, onto this more mundane, crystalised world that Rastafari, and if I can interpret that just really simply as God calling. And to do this and to move here and to see certain things, I feel as I was gifted that my mind wasn't so colonised, that I couldn't move like that freely to discover what my path was really to reveal to me. Because a true path is not one that you walk where others have walked there before, you follow your own footsteps. So I'm grateful that having always wanted to write since I was... before I could write, before I could speak I knew that there was something about a pencil and a piece of paper that was magical. You know, the heiroglyphs on a written page. So I'm just grateful that I was able to be part of something that was historically cultural, political, spiritual and diaspora-building for African people, so I saw myself there. And I think sometimes maybe that's why I didn't penetrate so hard to do what is a commercial route, but just kind of looked to see where things were going, create and let it go. Write and speak the word.

Mutabaruka with Faybiene Miranda @ Reggae Sunsplash 1997

Q: If you didn't had that attitude about your place in the music, you think otherwise there would have been an album out there for Jack? A: Yes. Because it wasn't the pursuit of the product, it was the desire to evolve in myself as a woman spirit/artist. Don't forget, I think I mentioned to you earlier in the interview how growing up in America and having people in the educational system sort of invalidates you as unworthy to accomplish anything, that one would then strike out to really just do it for your own sake and not to prove to anyone else that you could do it. So having had my very first affirmation to anyone outside of myself, Jack Ruby gave me that opportunity. I will always be grateful to him. Mutabaruka gave me that opportunity or provided that opportunity and I will always be grateful to him. Many other people in their own way, but primarily these were the people that were catalyst for my being able to project from now my own personal journey into the public domain where other people could begin to hear me or read. I have to say, even though I wasn't in it, I was part of it. It's like being in the world but not of it, y'know what I'm saying? Yeah, I think that was my role. And until such time, although it's interesting - I mean, I did everything that most people are doing, but I did it more in a microcosmic way rather than the macrocosmic. I had bands, I recorded, I toured, I continued working, utilising my gift to hopefully heal this consciousness, challenge, question. But not in the context of how many albums have I sold or how many books have I published. It's only now, and I think part of that too is from the very beginning I felt that I would have... I would be given permission or I would be recruited when it was time to really pursue that level of my life experience, and I think I'm just now beginning to arrive at that point. Things are just... how do they say 'the race is not for the swift...'? Q: '... but for those that will endure'. A: Exactly. And I have endured and with no regrets. Because how can you regret that you were gifted with something that moves people, I mean every week someone calls me to thank me for the work, the words they hear every week on the radio or the words that I've written for the children in this community. That's just love and gratitude from me to those who gave me the opportunity to be put in that position and to those who have ears to listen. If the other stuff comes along with it, it's gravy. But the main thing, the sustenance is there and I'm never going hungry. Q: So there wasn't the slightest little regret that you never took the opportunity to do an album with Jack, or pushed some more for it to happen at least considering that band, the studios, and Jack's production ability that you could benefit from? A: I don't know if it's that, if it's regret. But if I look inside myself I hope that it wasn't a missed opportunity. Q: You never felt that? A: I know that I pursued doing an album, but it didn't come to pass. So in not coming to pass, I accept that. It wasn't something to be, y'know. They say that hindsight is to look at something and say 'what should have been' or 'what could have been'. I know in the moments it was something I was working at or working towards, but that didn't happen. But my life is not over and it will be done. Q: Looking back I guess Jack saw something in you that had not been presented in the music before you entered the arena, even though you had Joy White but she had a little different approach, you had an extra dimension to add what a female could express with a conscious lyric. A: Right. Actually I would say not before or after. Q: Yeah. A: And I'm going to take that stand, because I listen and I don't hear that. And I think that's what Jack heard and what he saw in me and my spirit. It was something that resonated with his revolutionary spirit, and when I say revolutionary I mean the fact that Jack was always willing to... Q: To try something different. A:... to try something new. He was not stuck in 'what was the hit before', he looked at each artist at their own quality. And I think that he looked at me as he said - and I think I said to you when he was reading through my notebook on that minibus on that day, it was his words 'bumbaclaat', this is like - I never read any woman who wrote like this. He said the only people who wrote like this was like Bob and Peter. He said these words are wonderful and I would like to do something with them. And I said he was free to do that and originally as I told you he wanted Spear to sing the song, and when that didn't happen it was like 'well, you have to sing it'. "OK" (chuckles). So we began. And I think just due to his life and all of the things he was responsible for as a producer, as a politically conscious socialist in that era of Jamaican history, taking on so many people to take care of, his family, just everything - his sound system, his soccer team. Me moving around at that time also, a lot that didn't happen at that time and I think a lot of it also had to do with the fact that I left Jamaica and moved to Toronto to work with a band and to record some music there as well.

Tropical Energy Experience with Faybiene Miranda

Q: We touched some of Tropical Energy's work the last time we spoke, but didn't mention 'You've Got The Power'. A: No, you know about that? Q: It's something I've only seen on the internet again, never heard. This was on the Samantha's label. A: Yeah. Q: How much sold of those, how much did you press at the time? They seem so rare, hardly ever seen any of those titles floating around. A: I don't even know. My partner at the time handled that. Let's see, 'You've Got The Power', I'm trying to think if something was on the other side of that, that was out...? Wow, that's interesting, Peter. You definitely have your finger on the pulse of things. Q: At least trying to (laughs). Like you said before, a female with your repertoire has rarely been pushed to the forefront in the reggae industry. I suppose we can only wish that producers would look at it in a more flexible way, that there's something beyond the stereotype of having women projecting a certain image, it's not stopping at what's selling it seems. It's obviously a 'men's problem' that. A: But that's across the industry whether it's reggae music, rock'n'roll or pop music. Q: Sure is. A: It's a misogynistic society. I mean, men want to hear women singing but they also see them as sexually provocative in terms of promoting themselves. It's not what a woman is saying that men want to hear, it's what you're projecting that will sell the product. And as you said and I agree, if anything that any woman does in this entertainment business, but the business itself run by men makes it very difficult for women to be listened to if they don't promote themselves as the sexual commodity. And it's a shame, because as a woman you can definitely be more than a sexually provocative being... Q: There's a lot more than that. A: But there's just so much. I mean, the amazing amount of humanity that women in every day life share, and their stories aren't told, y'know, about human relations whether it's their relations between themselves or their children or their mates or their community or their country, their own minds. Those are the stories that really need to be told that will contribute to the real opportunities for women to be equalised in the society. And I'm sure there's a lot of women doing that but we don't know or hear of them in the commercial vein, and perhaps as we gain our power a little bit more, men also will shift their paradigm as to what it is that's important about the relationship they have with their sisters, then we will move towards that more equitable industry. And unfortunately the fact that we have to even speak of it as an industry as opposed to a community or a service in interest of nation-building. We have to change that also, that the artist are put in another place of appreciation as opposed to just their utilitarian value. Because artists become part of the plan of a capitalistic society, though it doesn't just have to do with their art, it has to do with sensationalism, titulation rather than content. So if I had any regrets at all I would say that it was unfortunate that more women weren't given an opportunity within the industry to be projected outside or even be supported in Jamaica. But if you didn't have that support in Jamaica you weren't going to be catapulted outside of that Jamaican reality into a global stage. Q: And there you have someone like Jack making that difference, or trying to. A: I'm not trying to paint him an angel, he's far from an angel, but he was someone who for me personified a man really trying to live with the concept of his own life. Jack saw himself as a socialist and to him that meant... he was responsible, not only for himself and his family but for community and interpreted, that is what so many people and communities are striving for today, is to return to this what I think is just an indigenous concept of living and co-existing and knowing that you have a responsibility for the optimum level of survival of life wherever you are living. As I said, you couldn't come to Jack's house and be hungry. And you're supporting a football team and it's not like you're just saying you're the captain and you appear at the game. You actually house them, feed them, train them. He did that in sports, he did it in music. He was like many nations onto himself, providing health, education, and opportunity to the people that he came in touch with.

Jack Ruby

Q: He has to be given credit for taking better care of his artists than the majority of producers at that time. A: Right. And I do, and whenever I have an opportunity to say thank you to him and let people know a side of him that maybe isn't known, I'm grateful for that because I saw with my own eyes how he lived. I mean, that's his legacy. Q: Do you think he will be more regarded than he is presently in the future to come? A: I would hope so. I would like to see that if my work getting more - being more recognised will in fact allow him to be even more recognised also. I mean, it's a symbiotic relationship. Q: Right, you go 'hand in hand' there somehow. A: Yeah. One who does well and whatever and ever carries those who contributed to that wellness with them, and that's what community is about. And for me that's what reggae music always represented, and I think that's why I was so attracted to the music. Because my introduction as I told you earlier was music from 'The Israelites' - Desmond Dekker, Bob Marley, and there was just this vibe of what it was to be aware or conscious of something outside yourself and your personal relations. America was rife with music about boyfriend and girlfriend and love won, love lost, love compromised (chuckles). But then suddenly there is this burst of music that I heard that represented what it meant to be community, what it means to repatriate with something beyond yourself, what it meant to invoke God and spirit in music. That was it for me. Q: Are the values from that era coming back as you see it? A: I strongly believe that it has to. Because there's a shift of consciousness - collective consciousness - that is happening on the planet now, and it has to do with our connection with the earth. The earth is a living organism and she herself spawns these children called human beings, and I believe that in order for us to refrain from our own demise, those individuals that understand the responsibility to themselves - their families, their community, and to the planet, they're revealing themselves and it's a very exciting time. Very exciting, y'know. Youth are more enpowered, more articulate, global. Women and men see themselves in a different light, more connected rather than disconnected. At least that's my optimism. I see it every day in one form or another, so I'm definitely encouraged we're on the right path even though the media would want to project apocalyptic devastation and catastrophy every moment of the day, there's more going on than the news. That's why I devote so much of my time to working with my organization, Ifetayo. There is also an amazing Sister at the helm. Founder and CEO Kwayera Cunningham who has committed her life to the upliftment and development of strong core principles based in African tradition that support the children and families of our community. This involvement has allowed me to travel with an entourage of children and families from our community to Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Cuba, Brazil and Jamaica to establish global relationships with our brothers and sisters throughout the diapora. This is what music, poetry the spoken word enables us to do. As Brother Malcolm stated 'By any means necessary we unfold our possibilities for connection and repatriation'. For claiming our higher selves. It begins with Self and ripples outward in Jamaica and is said, one coco fill a basket. So we all do our work to mek life meaningful. Q: By the way, have you heard Aisha's version of 'Prophecy'? A: Yes.

Faybiene Miranda (Photo: David Corio) www.davidcorio.com

That a late eighties version of 'Prophecy' appeared and unsurprisingly in England perhaps emphasise the longevity and enduring quality of this track even more, the popularity of it in the UK stands intact; and I'm pretty sure we will get more versions of the classic in the years to come. The latest news surrounding Faybiene's music is that, at last, the overlooked 'Destiny' is now finally out on the market again, reissued on a seven-inch, supposedly out of Jamaica and the source seems to be the Ruby family. Otherwise, 'Prophecy' is still to be found on the Tribesman '12 The Hard Way' compilation. But most of all, I would urge you to check the 'A Poet's Heart' album for a taste of her poetry, as well as keeping your eyes out for what is to come from this extremely and verbally articulate, talented and expressive singer and poet. 7" single information courtesy Roots Knotty Roots. Faybiene Miranda's website : www.faybienemiranda.com

Postscript Faybiene Miranda: I want to publicly thank my REGGAE Sisters for paving the way and holding their own on many stormy seas for women in this industry. Specifically, Sista Judy Mowatt who blew me away with her "Slave Queen". Back in around '75 or '76 I wrote a letter to the Daily News applauding her work. Sista Marcia and Sista Rita; Sista Carol "The Black Cinderella", Joy White, Sista Tresha, Sista Carlene Davis, Sista Hortense Ellis, Sista Millie Small, Sister Daimah who was a good friend of mine, Sista Puma, Sista Bunny Brisette, Sista Jean Breeze; forgive me if I am remiss for any one forgotten. I love them all.

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Article: Peter I (Please do not reproduce without permission)