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
