When Mama Was God: Funny and Conscious, Riddims and Rhymes

By Michelle L. Bailey

When Mama Was God: These are serious lyrics -Funny and Conscious, Riddim and Rhyme that have come from the pen of Michelle Bailey. She is one of those persons who sees cultural traditions as being evolutionary and should be passed from generation to generation not only orally but by the pen. She strongly believes that her cultural traditions and mores should not become extinct but should be valued and preserved as a result she has invested heavily in writing so that generation yet unborn along with the present generation can have a deeper appreciation of culture from an afro-centric perspective.
In Michelle's seminal work, this book is not fluff. It is simply profound. The poems, properly read and understood show her academic depth and her grasp of the vernacular which she effectively weaves in her creations to tell her stories. Her use of rhetorical questions, similes and anthropomorphism do add color, create suspense and make the reader want to say yes, yes ‘you right’. It points to issues relating to race, gender, religion, the Jamaican dialect and folk culture and Jamaicans' attitudes towards life and
work, roots and culture.
I also find this to be a potpourri of literary delight well-seasoned and well balanced and well served. I am opined it will have a cross sectional appeal to the target audience. Very appealing to me also were the poems : Somebody’s Child, Ugly Truth, and If You Only Knew. Michelle is a true Jamaican cultural icon when you read her poems you develop nostalgia, and you are drawn right back to your roots. Read these serious lyrics, funny and conscious, riddim and rhyme, laugh till your belly ‘bust’, or cry till your gland runs out of tears, or bow your head in agreement till you develop your own literary riddim.

Dr. Burnett L. Robinson
Author, Pastor, Professor

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 6, 2024
• ISBN: 9798823021401

Book preview

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© 2024 Michelle L. Bailey. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 01/31/2024

ISBN: 979-8-8230-2139-5 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-8230-2140-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2024901966

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Acknowledgment

It’s been a long, long time coming… I am singing, (off keys of course), to the timeless tune of Sam Cook: A Change is Gonna Come. Presently, I am experiencing a myriad of emotions, finally seeing this dream come to fruition. I am mostly humbled and filled with much greater gratitude especially to those who believed in me more than I doubted myself.

Mom, I dedicate this book, When Mama Was God to you. You are my goddess and the Mirror of Myself. Somebody’s Child is only a snippet of your survival story from domestic violence. You have been beaten but not broken. Thank you for loving me… Bon Jovi sings this song way better than I do. I love you Norms eternally.

To my dear husband Llewellyn, (Jr.), I cannot thank you enough for your patience, your undeniable support and your unchanging love for me. Thank you for being my constant and my best friend. I love you and I appreciate you. My life would have been incomplete without my three sons, Christopher, Malik and Tariq. Chris, thanks for always checking in to see if I’m finished with my book yet. Mal, my published poet and my springboard, thank you for listening to my first and final cuts. Tai, thank you for your encouragement and letting me know, I am the best.

Orvillo, Garry, Kerrine, Nina and Sonya, I could not be more blessed to have you guys in my life. Not only are you my siblings, but my unbreakable support system and my test out audience when I need feedback. Especially Sonya, throughout the years, you have been my therapist, you have listened, read tirelessly, edited, encouraged, screamed, cussed and sometimes annoyed me beyond grinding my teeth to get this book done. I simply love you my sweet siblings.

Thank you, Dr. Burnett Robinson. You did without hesitation, and I am forever grateful for your information and kindness.

I would be remiss if I did not mention my friend Richard. How many times have we started this project? Countless times. Rich, I thank you for your honest opinions and numerous disagreements. Mostly, I thank you for not giving up on me, when it seemed like I threw my hands up. It’s been a long time coming, and I feel like singing, crying, dancing and many more mixed emotions.

A million thanks to all who-unnamed family, friends, photographer, make-up artist, editors, designers and publisher-contributed one way or the other, to the production of this book. It simply could not be done without your help.

Michelle L. Bailey.

Foreword

When Mama Was God: This is serious lyrics -Funny and Conscious, Riddim and Rhyme that has come from the pen of Michelle Bailey. She is one of those people who sees cultural traditions as being evolutionary and should be passed from generation to generation, not only orally but by the pen. She strongly believes that her cultural traditions and mores should not become extinct but should be valued and preserved, as a result, she has invested heavily in writing so that generation yet unborn along with the present generation can have a deeper appreciation of culture from an afro-centric perspective.

In this her seminal work, this book is not fluff. It is simply profound. The poems, properly read and understood, show her academic depth and her grasp of the vernacular which she effectively weaves in her creations to tell her stories. Her use of rhetorical questions, similes