Books you’ll want to read again and again
Lee Scratch Perry performs at The Roxy in West Hollywood,
CA. on Saturday, Sep 24, 2011. Perry died on Sunday, Aug
29, 2021. Associated Press/Robert Kenney/File
Caribbean Life, SEPTEMBER 3-9, 2021 43
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
History, they say, repeats
itself.
Look back a few hundred
years, and you can see corresponding
events, world-wide
and through time. Parallels are
interesting to spot; some people
might even take them as
a warning, so that atrocities,
inhumanities, and just plain
wrong things don’t happen
again. And sometimes, as in
these two books, just learning
about historical events can be
an eye-opening thing…
The history of America cannot
be told without slavery in
every cranny of the tale. In
“How the Word is Passed” by
Clint Smith (Little, Brown,
$29.00), readers travel with the
author to several places around
the country where slavery still
lays open and waiting for its
part to be included.
When the subject of slavery
comes up, it’s often rarely
mentioned that transatlantic
slavery was outlawed nearly six
decades before the end of the
Civil War. Of course, that never
stopped the import of human
beings, but it did change the
way that slaves were acquired.
The city of New Orleans had
a big hand in slave-owners’
acquisition, and when Smith
traveled there, he found that
the city was working on a reckoning
with its past.
That’s just one place that
Smith visited, in an effort to
offer readers a wide-reaching
look at how slavery sits within
our collective story, in places
that history books don’t always
mention. There’s irony in the
story of slavery at Monticello,
where Thomas Jefferson wrote
at length about liberty while
he kept slaves. Smith writes of
the Whitney Plantation, where
visitors can today see what
slavery was like two centuries
ago. He writes about slavery
in our cities, our prisons, and
even in death. This trip around
the country and through time
gives this book a quiet appeal
that’s especially relevant for
today.
Understanding may come
faster when the story is told
first-person, as it is in “Chasing
Me to My Grave: An Artist’s
Memoir of the Jim Crow South”
by Winfred Rembert, as told
to Erin I. Kelly (Bloomsbury,
$30.00).
He didn’t remember exactly
why he’d been arrested that
first time.
Winfred Rembert was “only
eight or nine years old” but it
might have been about a fight.
That once, the Sheriff made it
all into a game but by the time
Rembert was a teenager, being
arrested for no reason but Black
was a common thing.
After that, it seemed the
police were always after him
for something. He grew up
in Georgia and picked cotton
almost as soon as he was old
enough to walk. As soon as
he was old enough to run, he
ran away from home and the
police were looking for him. He
joined the Civil Rights Movement
and the police caught up
with him…
Filled with a personal story
told casually and colorfullyreproduced
artwork, you may
find this book to be a keepsake.
And if you want more books
like it, or the Smith book, be
sure to ask your favorite bookseller
or librarian. They’ve got
ideas for Black history books
you’ll want to page through,
repeatedly.
“How the Word is
Passed” by Clint Smith
c.2021, Little, Brown
$29.00 352 pages
“Chasing Me to My
Grave: An Artist’s Memoir
of the Jim Crow South” by
Winfred Rembert, as told
to Erin I. Kelly, foreword
by Bryan Stevenson
c.2021, Bloomsbury
$30.00
285 pages
Adult books about Black American History. Photo by Terri Schlichenmeyer
Reggae ‘Upsetter’ Perry dies in Jamaica
By Vinette K. Pryce
Viral messages of condolence
flooded social media platforms
Sunday, Aug. 29 immediately
after the Jamaica Gleaner posted
five words on their web portal
– “Lee Scratch Perry has
died.”
Details followed later as the
Jamaica Observer, another
daily newspaper of the island
informed readers that the
85-year-old engineer, producer,
singer, producer, dub and reggae
legend died in his homeland.
The nation’s Prime Minister
Andrew Holness confirmed the
news saying, “My deep condolences
to the family, friends,
and fans of legendary record
producer and singer, Rainford
Hugh Perry OD, affectionately
known as ‘Lee Scratch’ Perry.”
“Perry was a pioneer in the
1970s’ development of dub
music with his early adoption
of studio effects to create new
instrumentals of existing reggae
tracks. He has worked with
and produced for various artists,
including Bob Marley and
the Wailers, the Congos, Adrian
Sherwood, the Beastie Boys,
and many others.
Undoubtedly, Lee Scratch
Perry will always be remembered
for his sterling contribution
to the music fraternity.
May his soul Rest In Peace.”
From then on, a deluge of
salutations and sympathy notes
dominated Twitter, Instagram,
Facebook and news portals.
“If Bob Marley was the
face and voice of reggae, Lee
“Scratch” Perry was its soul,
writer Amol Rajan penned in
an obituary that retraced the
outstanding accomplishment
the founder of Upsetter Records
managed.
Guyanese musician Neil Fraser
AKA Mad Professor, who
collaborated with Perry wrote
“What a character! Totally ageless!
Extremely creative, with
a memory as sharp as a tape
machine! A brain as accurate
as a computer! We travelled the
world together…Japan, Russia,
Australia, New Zealand, Brazil,
Argentina, Columbia, All
over the USA and Canada…and
many more places. Never a dull
moment! All the Bob Marley
stories…all the (Coxsone) Dodd
stories!! And many more…”
“A clear understanding of the
music and reggae industry…He
guided me through the complicated
reggae landscape, taught
me how to balance a track to
create hits… he knew it…I am
happy to have learnt from him,”
Mad Professor added.
“Sometimes he is the father,
other times the son, sometimes,
he is the advisor, other times he
is seeking advise! I am missing
him already, but happy to have
known him.”
Regarded as one of the founding
fathers of the reggae genre,
Perry was born in rural Kendal,
Hanover, Jamaica on March 20,
1936.
Early reports claim he disliked
manual labor and was not
a fan of school.
He abandoned formal education
when he was a teenager in
order to pursue his passion in
Kingston, the music capital of
the island.
According to Rahan “Perry
made his name in the late 1960s
and ’70s for producing some of
the most cutting-edge reggae
artists, with his Upsetter label
helping establish many of the
genre’s greats, like the Wailers.”
He firmly believed in eccentricity.
In music and fashion, his
style was evident – bold, eclectic
and distinctive.
In 1967 he summed it all
in a single he titled “I am the
Upsetter!”
Perry’s most productive creative
alliance came in 1970, when
he reunited with the Wailers,
the trio he collaborated with
during his apprenticeship at
Studio One Records in 1968.
He is credited with refining
their sound during studio sessions.