I'm In a 3 Count, and They Are Still Trying to Count Me Out On 8.

My soul follows rhythms of lands my feet will never find, yet they won't give up searching for home one 3 count at a time. I have never been to Jamaica, but I think a portion of my soul is rooted there. I can't see it with my eyes; I can't touch it with my hands. But when I hear the ska ska ska, my soul responds accordingly and the feet they follow, follow a vibration, that feels like home, yet dancing on my own.

Skanking is a rhymical form of dance the best I can describe my version of it is stationary, alternating movements shifting right to left, hands and feet to the beat. I grew up listening to a 50's catalog and doing the twist, and I don't think ska is far from this. As ska was derived from American swing and Jazz. So, to me all this music and movement is just another layer of the same lineage.

I found myself dancing alone in my room, I found myself dancing alone on the floors of the punk shows, I found myself dancing alone at my wedding, I find myself dancing alone daily. Although am I discounting that which I do not see, something else driving me?

Jamaica carries a rhythmic rebellion, it is patient, and that patience is depicted in the evolution of its craft. First embodiment found in the individual and collective movement in the dancehalls. Then in the self-defining creation of ska, and then another chapter of reggae.

I can view myself of that same progression. Being stifled, moving to someone's else beat that resonated, and then finding and developing my own.

I hope to see Jamaica restored in its independence, beaches restored to residents, safety, economic stability, self-driven by the community, needs of the community for the sustainability of the community. Selfishly I need their music to keep a soundtrack under my feet, else I will simultaneously fall into defeat. As the only way to escape the oppression is self-expression.