A Letter from Eshu Bumpus who is in Senegal since Xmas, until mid-January 2013

THis is my latest Kickstarter update.

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Goree Island is a place of which I have very stark, vivid memories without ever having been there. Yesterday, we went to Goree Island. I saw the point of no return.

It's hard to know what to expect going to a place so full of history and yet full of it's own present that may reflect very little of what an outsider might imagine that history to mean to people today.

Imagine  going to visit your old neighborhood from when you were a child. Each building and street corner and store and playground may hold very significant meaning for you, but now there are new people living there. They understand that this place was special for you or someone like you, but every inch and every nuance of the place holds completely new meaning for the people who live there now.

We sat and had drinks with the Mayor of Goree. They have a delicious drink called Bissap which is made from Hibiscus and mint. The people, as all over Senegal, were friendly and welcoming. I didn't know what to expect so I tried to just keep an open mind and wait to see what we would experience.

We were there as guests of a wonderful music group made up of three brothers and their band. They are called Bideo BouBess (translates as New Sky).

They have been extremely generous in hosting us this trip. What was most meaningful for me was that I wrote a song many years ago called. "Land Called Freedom." Almost since I wrote that song I have dreamt of singing it on GoreeIsland and thanks to Bideo BouBess I was able to in their concert there. I'll post some pictures or video later, but it was an evening concert so the picture won't be great, but the experience was.

I'll post the lyrics here.

Love you all,

Eshu

Land Called Freedom

The ship was sailing on a western sea

I wondered what would become of me

They brought me to a land so strange

A land that they called Freedom

Separated from my wife and son

Worked as long as you could see the sun

Had to live among my enemies

In a Land that they called Freedom

I shed my blood just like I shed my name

I knew my life would never be the same

So I spend it struggling to be free

Don't want to pass on this misery

If you believe in things you cannot see

Make sure it's something that can set you free

Don't spend your time trying to pretend

You've found a land that they call Freedom

One day you'll realize you're not alone

Freedom's got to be for everyone

Each generations got to find a way

To build a land that they can call Freedom

Freedom doesn't come like a bird on a wing

You know it's got to be a hard won thing

To build a nation in a hostile land

Takes the work of every woman and man

Children will listen if you teach them to

Understand it's up to me and you

'Cause nothing ever comes easily

In this land that they call Freedom

To free yourself, you've got to think and plan

Then act it out with your own two hands

That's why we've got to work hand in hand

to build a land that we can call freedom

To build a land that we can call Freedom

To build a land that we can call Freedom