melissa's children by meowza

we recorded these songs in the moments when powerful hurricane melissa hit the island of xaymaca. her 200 mph winds and subsequent flooding destroyed homes, water sources, electrical grids, and lives

we are eternally grateful for the gift of life and for all our relations. give thanks for our rasta, taino, and maroon comrades holding communities together on the ground

funds from our record sales will go directly to grassroots mutual aid efforts organized by Black femmes and thems based out of TrueSelf community center in kingston. immediate relief efforts are focusing on food, water, medicine, and shelter construction

our comrades in the parish of st elizabeth intend to rebuild in ways that prioritize food sovereignty. they are exploring methods like agro-forestry, regenerative permaculture, and sustainable design/build with rainwater catchment systems, solar energy, recycled materials, bamboo, and earthen building. we believe that these are essential skills and practices that we all need to nurture for the disasters yet to come

we expect more of these catastrophic weather events as corporate greed and global capitalism continue to destroy our balance with the earth. one of the lessons we are learning from the juricàn is to EMBRACE TRANSFORMATION

may the funds for this record continue to fuel the people's resistance against corporate vampirism, government fraud, and hypermilitarism in jamaica, throughout the caribbean, across the african diaspora, and in all colonized corners of the world

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the music we express from our hearts is a language that is older than profit - a whisper of what could be built from solidarity, not scarcity. meow.