Hurricane Melissa is set to pummel Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm, the strongest to lash Jamaica since recordkeeping began 174 years ago. Forecasters said the storm is expected to make landfall early Tuesday and slice diagonally across the island, entering near St. Elizabeth parish in the south and exiting around St. Ann parish in the north. Hours before the storm, the government said it had done all it could to prepare as it warned of catastrophic damage. Prime Minister Andrew Holness said, “There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5. The question now is the speed of recovery. That’s the challenge.” In this episode, we speak with Tuff Like Iron, a reggae artist from Kingston, Jamaica and is currently visiting California. She also works with the Constitutional Reform Committee in Jamaica doing community support work. You can check out her work at tufflikeiron.org.
Hurricane Melissa is also impacting Haiti and surrounding island countries. We also speak with Pierre Labossiere. Pierre grew up in Haiti and co-founded the Haiti Action Committee in 1990. He lives in Oakland and is heavily involved in solidarity work with Haiti, including webinars and protests.
Our Resistance in Residence artist this week is Sri-Lankan-American hip hop artist Ras Ceylon. He is noted for being the first Sri Lankan hip-hop performer to release an album (debut in 1999) in the west. He has been bringing uplifting messages to the masses for over 20 years, releasing 7 albums to date and appearing on multiple projects with notable Rap and Reggae artists. He works closely with Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. Black Panther Party Cubs & is a member of Sizzla Kalonji’s Judgment Yard fam & Wu-Tang Killa Beez.
Follow Ras on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/rasceylon/?hl=en
Check out his music on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/5w1lCxPPraMukwqxfPtwcm
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