By Queennandi Xsheba PNN KEXU
I remember as a child, my Mama would always play the song “Earth Crisis” by Steel Pulse, a decades-old popular Reggae song that delivered a powerful “cause and effect” message that referred to the consequences “mankind” will face for the exploitation, theft (for settlement and profit) disrespect and destruction of Mama Earth. As my mother would sway to the song, she had me sit down, listen to the message behind the beat and “mentally marinate” off what the group was talking about. Being a kid, I wasn’t interested in “mentally marinating” lyrics to a song- I just wanted to dance to it like everyone else. I recall asking her- “Mama, are the things in the song really gonna happen?” She said “They are happening now and when you grow up, it will be much worse!” And she was right…
Here in California, many people have lost their homes due to the wildfires that have ravaged through at least seven counties including Alameda, Contra Costa and Stanislaus. Every year it seems as if the fires have become more treacherous and more difficult to contain, with the casualty rate rising steadily. It is heartbreaking enough to lose all of your possessions and years worth of memories but when life is lost it just adds to the pain and the struggle of trying to rebuild lives after surviving such devastation. If it’s not the wildlife that was nearly wiped out in the Australian fires it’s people and acres of land being wiped out everywhere a wildfire rear its ugly head, burning through Mother Earth like flammable paper. This indeed is an Earth Crisis.
Across the nation, millions of people are still at risk of displacement when massive flooding tore through parts of southern Louisiana, Missouri and Arkansas, breaking a levy there. Images of people fleeing their homes in boats while some had to be rescued by helicopter was all over mainstream media and the internet haunting all of the heartfelt sympathy from readers.
Across the world in India, over 2000 people lost their homes when they became submerged under water with one home being pushed off a cliffside after being leveled by a large wall. Several residents were swept away in the powerful tides and many fear a high death toll is iminent due to the magnitude of the flood and the lack of necessities. In the western region of Cambodia over 2000 people had to be evacuated with the help of authorities impacted by flooding that was waist-high in most parts. Food and water was distributed to residents in local and isolated communities and there were no reports of fatalities recorded. Central Vietnam was not as fortunate with hundreds of thousands of homes underwater, up to a million people have been affected and it is listed to have the most casualties- with another tropical storm on the way. Earth Crisis.
Research showed that climate change is a huge part of why we are living in the era of constant “mega storms” and “hellfire blazes” The thievery of Mama Earth by drilling holes in the ocean in search for natural gas for profit, along with the poisoning of the soil to create “frankenfood” while hoarding organic (natural) food behind expensive price tags and the gluttony of consuming living things not meant to be on any menu and calling it a “delicacy”- These are universal laws that are being violated by everyone on one level or another and that is why it is very important to “know thyself” so we can “heal thyself” to gain a better understanding of those who walked this earth before us and the universal laws that were followed in order to leave us with the magnificent “wonders” that we have yet to decipher.
“Man and his ignorant state, signed and sealed his own fate”- “Earth Crisis” by Steel Pulse