Melissa Etheridge for Peter Tosh's 'Legalize It' Remake

Long before it was relatively comfortable for entertainers to come out as gay or lesbian there were only a few who were able to ride the waves at the time, especially in the 1980s. Celebrities such as 

Boy George, George Michael, Elton John, Sylvester (long before Rupaul) and Melissa Etheridge helped to open the door, alonside Carl 'Born This Way' Bean with the Pet SHop Boys and do not leave out Sinead Oconnor the imagery alone of Boy George left the impression of many ignorant Jamaicans that were gay men were just persons wanting to be women without understanding androgyny and sexual orientation matters then came folks such as 

Angelique Kidjo, Tracy Chapman, KD 'Constant Craving' Lang and much later our very own Diana King or Frankie Ocean. A media report recently stated that Melissa Ethridge was confirmed for the upcoming Peter Tosh event and unfortunately I won’t be able to make it, darned I have to club to be at.

Melissa Lou Etheridge (born May 29, 1961) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and activist. Her self-titled debut album Melissa Etheridge was released in 1988 and became an underground success. The album peaked at No. 22 on the Billboard 200, and its lead single, "Bring Me Some Water", garnered Etheridge her first Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female. In 1993, Etheridge won her first Grammy award for her single "Ain't It Heavy" from her third album, Never Enough. Later that year, she released what would become her mainstream breakthrough album, Yes I Am. Its tracks "I'm the Only One" and "Come to My Window" both reached the top 30 in the United States, and the latter earned Etheridge her second Grammy award. Yes I Am peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard 200, and spent 138 weeks on the chart, earning a RIAA certification of 6x Platinum, her largest to date.


In October 2004, Etheridge was diagnosed with breast cancer, and underwent surgery and chemotherapy. At the 2005 Grammy Awards, she made a return to the stage and, although bald from chemotherapy, performed a tribute to Janis Joplin with the song "Piece of My Heart". Etheridge's performance was widely lauded, with India.Arie writing "I Am Not My Hair" about Etheridge. Later that year, Etheridge released her first compilation album, Greatest Hits: The Road Less Traveled. The album was a success, peaking at No. 14 on the Billboard 200, and going Gold almost immediately. Her latest studio album is This Is M.E..

It was just over 40 years ago, in 1976, that Peter Tosh released his classic hit song Legalize It from the album of the same name. The song was written by Tosh as a response to his ongoing victimisation by the Jamaican police, but it was also a political statement pushing for the legalisation of marijuana. In ganja's pre-emancipation era, Legalize It became a unifying anthem that brought like-minded exponents of the herb together from diverse countries and cultures.

In recent years, the perception of marijuana has changed radically, with many jurisdictions now making allowances for research as well as for recreational and medicinal use of the herb. This year, to celebrate International Peter Tosh Day on April 20, the Peter Tosh Estate is releasing a 2017 remix of this powerful and prophetic canticle, which was from the first album Tosh released after leaving the Wailers.

The remix project will take the form of a collaboration among several artistes from various genres. Those confirmed so far are Melissa Etheridge, Angelo Moore of Fishbone, Tommy Chong, Denroy Morgan, Wanz, Septimius, Brett from Roots of Creation, Marlon the Ganja Farmer, Dre Tosh, and Tosh 1. Additional artistes are being invited to participate, especially those from Jamaica who share Tosh's vision of the utilisation of marijuana free from all forms of hostilities.

MULTIPLE VERSIONS

Chris 'C Rod' Rodriguez is producing the initial version, and there will be alternative versions remixed by other guest producers at a later date.

The Peter Tosh Estate told The Sunday Gleaner that with the legalisation movement finally gaining traction both in Jamaica and abroad, now seemed like the perfect time to bring together some of today's biggest talent and supporters to put their own spin on this timeless classic.

"Tosh fans and music lovers have come to realise that Peter's bold stance was one of the first real calls to action for the legalisation of ganja," Brian Latture, manager of the Peter Tosh Estate and Peter Tosh 420, said. "And with Peter's dream now becoming a reality in many parts of the world, he has continued to be seen as one of the first real champions of this movement."

Her biggest hit “Come to My Window” with that haunting husky vocals is what I suspect everyone wants to hear among other hits from the ‘Road Less Travelled’ album, a recent show involving a popular lesbian rapper went off with very little hitch as comments suggest her sexuality was of least concern as she was seen a good at her rap but one wonders if we will ever see such acceptance as it were of an openly gay singer anytime soon. I can remember the uproar that occurred when the then Jazz Festival folks booked The Village People and antigay fearmongering fanatics namely one Shirley Richards of the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship opposed it to the hilt, the group was eventually removed from the bill, years later the same nonsense came up again when Elthon John was booked and he too was removed from the marquee. It was as if just the mere presence on stage was enough to supposedly homosexualise those in sight of the gay stars.

I hope they make some videos of the performance of Miss Ethridge for us to enjoy in the meantime here is the big song. Meanwhile Melissa Ethridge has been a supporter of the weed for years for medical use as she stated on a CNN interview:

Peace & tolerance

H

Trans activist wants to legally change status .........

Neish McLean, a Jamaican, who was born a woman but now identifies as a man, wants the Government to allow transgender persons to change the gender on their legal documents to match the one they have identified with.

McLean, executive director of the transgender organisation, Transwave, wanted to be deemed a man despite being born with female genitalia.

McLean told THE WEEKEND STAR that it is imperative that transgender individuals be given this opportunity to reduce the likelihood of them being exposed to violence.

Violence and discrimination

"I wish to navigate the world as I see myself, so if my ID does not match as I see myself, then that exposes me to violence and discrimination," McLean said. "For example, going through the airport, that can expose people of tran-experience with undue scrutiny and discrimination and when receiving services at different spaces because my ID is reflecting who I say I am."

McLean competed at the Sagicor Sigma Corporate Run in February as a male.

"I didn't identify with the gender I was assigned to. I just didn't feel as if I fit in. I didn't know how to term it," McLean said. "It is not a matter of changing, it's just a matter of internal feeling. I just felt fully accepted into my adulthood and felt comfortable expressing my gender as I do."

Identifying myself

Now 32, McLean told THE WEEKEND STAR that feelings about gender have never been an issue.

"I was never afraid to share how I felt with my family. It was really more a matter of me accepting who I was and who I was comfortable being. For my family, it is more so of my safety that they were more concerned about than my gender identity," McLean said.

McLean said that apart from wearing a tunic to school, pants and shorts were the preference.

"I didn't grow up in an environment that was very strict in terms of me identifying myself as a girl. My gender wasn't policed. It was a few years back when I actually told them that I wanted to be identified as a man. They are not very expressive, so I don't know how they are truly feeling," he said.

McLean said Transwave is currently arming itself with the necessary information to place a solid argument before the Government.

McLean also said the group has had discussions about engaging medical professionals to provide a framework for transgenders to undergo medical transitions in Jamaica.

meanwhile 

Outside of the Star News report older folks such as Laura Garcia of Aphrodite's PRIDE Jamaica already got her identity papers after much fight and trips to the Registrar General's Department RGD in order to change her birth papers and by extension her driver's license. The RGD has always had a reputation of Pentecostal nepotism in hiring staff so gender non-conforming persons with sometimes harsh transphobic language in the customer service experience was a problem. I hope the younger folks engage well experienced folks and resources to good use.

Peace & tolerance

H

Sexual Assault Awareness Month 2017.............

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month on this and sister blog Gay Jamaica Watch, after hearing a touching in depth interview on RJR's Beyond the Headlines with host Dionne Jackson Miller with a local survivor of abuse by her grandfather she named her blog and for the first post this year I decided to share her work. She, Larissa Rhone spoke candidly of her ordeal from early as three years old and then the court system here in seeking redress to include stigmatizing comments from the attorney representing the now 80 plus year old accused right in  the very court hallway. 

Thankfully our jurisdiction has no statute of limitations so the matter could be brought forward. All this happening as other men on the cloth are being found out and exposed and even when accused are found guilty those who have done the right thing they are vilified for doing just that.

Miss Rhone wrote also:

 I’m from a tiny little island in the Caribbean name Jamaica. I’m a mother of two and the eldest of six. For years I tried to make sense of the cards in which I was dealt in my life. I found ways in which to cope. I focused on everyone around me, became a Ms. Fix it for all, as a way to deflect from what I needed to address. In my personal life, I did whatever was necessary to run away from my thoughts, I worked, school, participated in church and other social events, attended my siblings events, anything to avoid being alone with ME. I would face one set back after the other. My health was declining, but I never cared to stop, I had to keep moving. Then my siblings started leaving, having their own life’s. I tried countless hobbies, was never dedicated or disciplined enough to finish or half way complete anything I started. Just a few years ago I decided to retreat, I felt myself slipping into a state of depression. I needed to figure out the meaning of it all, what my purpose was?! I soon realized in order for me to do so I had to dig deep, I had to travel to some unpleasant places, journey to the corners of my mind and awaken things I had suppressed for years.  I was slowly dying and I wasn’t doing much to help myself.

I started my autobiography, in fact, I decided to work on my memoirs simultaneously which are still sitting on my night table. I got to about two chapters in each, and, yup,  you guessed it,  I deflected! Writing my story proved too challenging, I would have to revisit some ugly places, which mentally I wasn’t prepared. I knew however I loved writing, I dabbled in speech writing, poetry, writing for friends, don’t know if I was any good but hey, I wrote, until yup!  I stopped that too…funny!

Why now?! It’s rather freaking scary going this route, because a lot of my blogs will be on a personal note, I know I’m going to be judged, ostracized, get the backlash, the rude and insensitive comments with others taking offense and personalizing my choice and actions, the assumptions and judgement will come, the unwanted or never asked for opinions,  the critics will come out … BUT

As you know, its taboo to speak about Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA). Family and society tells us, it would be better for us to take our issues to your grave. Silently die inside, that’s much better!  Well, I can’t keep dying anymore! This much I have proven, God sustained me through it all! There is a reason, there is something bigger than me, a destiny I must fulfill.  This blog serves as my therapy, my recovery! A blog about my journey to acknowledgment, acceptance, personal growth, self discovery and my personal freedom.

This is my choice, recording the accounts of MY LIFE which entails years of sexual abuse, living with a chronic disease, betrayal, mistrust, resentment, emotional torment and mental anguish. For years I struggled with acceptance and love! I’m beginning to realize the love and acceptance I sought was there, by the way of my very siblings I so deeply loved, a few relatives, friends, last but surely not least God! I’m walking blindly by faith, blinders on walking into that which he has prepared for me, that which I was destined to become.

Here is to the past, the present, the future me. I’m shedding the veil of anger, resentment and mistrust, slowly but surely discarding the blanket of unforgiveness I safely wrapped myself in for years, coyly de-robing, emerging from a cocoon of fear that debilitated me and eagerly and anxiously stepping into the Me that God intended for Me to be.

I’m on way, I’m journeying to free!!!  Join me as I/we Journey2Free!

ENDS

More to come

also see:

Justified underage sexual abuse in lieu of homosexual sex!

On pastoral abuse, celibacy, cover-ups & passing the buck

Anthony Gambrill | Back Story ...............

Well deserved comic relief in the madness around.

Some controversial subjects like Trafigura, the missing Cuba light bulbs, and the prime minister's Beverly Hills fortress just keep floating to the surface for a while and disappearing again - for a while.

This phenomenon occurred again recently when Mark Connolly from the UN country team read out a recommendation to a parliamentary committee that Jamaica's Parliament should approve a redefinition of sexual intercourse to add penetration of the anus in order to fairly protect men and women against sexual violence. To remind readers, only a woman can be raped under Jamaican law. This offence carries a penalty of up to life imprisonment. Buggery, however, attracts a maximum of seven years' incarceration only.

Here's the significance of this to our back story. On December 10, 2011, the president of the People's National Party, Mama P, in a pre-election political debate, promised to review the country's buggery law. This, I would suspect, raised the ire of the Jamaica Coalition for a Healthy Society and the Associated Gospel Assemblies. After the JLP was re-elected yet once again, Justice Minister Delroy Chuck said that there would be a review that would run for up to six months, "after which a report on the recommendations will be done". The issue apparently sank like a stone in the Blue Hole.

I decided to revive it, fictitiously, with the Jamaica Labour Party, now that they were in power, in order to find out what progress, if any, had been made.

AG: So, how far has Jamaica got to changing its 1864 buggery law?

JLP: I can assure you it's under active investigation. As you can imagine, it raises a lot of questions.

AG: You mean, you need a definition of anal penetration?

JLP: No, no, I think most Jamaicans know where an anus is.

AG: Then, a definition of a penis?

JLP: Perhaps, but not usually described by that physiological term.

AG: Yes, I understand. But how is your Government going to proceed?

JLP: Please understand, all options are on the table.

AG: Such as?

JLP: Naturally, an independent government-led committee will have to be set up to do a review over, say, the next 12 months.

AG: At the taxpayers' expense, no doubt.

JLP: No doubt. And then its recommendations will need to be discussed and analysed by government ministers.

AG: Which ministers? Justice, I presume ... .

JLP: ... Gender, sports, national security, economic growth, etc., covering all cohorts, including the transgender.

JLP: Trans what?

AG: Never mind. You realise that you will be challenging the status quo.

JLP: You've put your finger on it. That's why we will have to hire a consultant, maybe several.

AG: More taxpayer expense.

JLP: You know, a go-to man or woman. A multi-tasker with facilitating skills and sustainable solutions. It will require a paradigm shift in our society's traditional point of view.

AG: You mean from front to back?

JLP: Eh?

AG: I'm joking. What then?

JLP: Well, of course, its standard procedure to have a memorandum of understanding. We don't do anything in Jamaica without a memorandum of understanding.

AG: Between whom?

JLP: That will have to be decided later.

AG: But you realise that most Jamaicans know same-sex couples have been cohabiting in Jamaican hotels for years. I would think some anal penetration has been taking place by mutual consent, but nobody has been arrested yet.

JLP: (laughs nervously) As the English say, it's the exception that proves the rule.

AG:Whatever that means. I only hope that gays take part in the conversation. They are the ones objecting to their loss of rights under present conditions.

JLP: Inevitably.

AG: You aren't just kicking the can down the road?

JLP: Certainly not.

AG: It's not going to be the same-old, same-old?

JLP: We're expecting a win-win outcome.

AG: Not just a string of platitudes? You're not going to just promote celibacy for gays? Maybe they should take orders in the Catholic Church ... although that might not work, come to think of it.

JLP: Certainly not. By the next election we will have a road map. It will be our signature achievement.

AG: Then we will be able to replace this back story with a front story, no doubt.

- Anthony Gambrill is a playwright