I picture the Spirit of Queen Nanny resting atop the Blue Mountains many mornings.
Happiest day beloved Joy Train Rider! Bless you! I wish you a respite from travails and the opportunity to immerse yourself in pure joy.
This week I derived extraordinary pleasure from reconnecting with my girlfriend Dorrit of almost 60 years to celebrate a milestone birthday with her husband Fred, and enjoy the company of family and friends including from the Principality of LeichTenstein; feeling recharged by President Biden’s affirmative State of the Union address and, joy of joys, being invited to speak on an upcoming panel at my beloved Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park.
Having had the opportunity to speak at Grand Canyon National Park in my adopted USA, I can’t overstate how privileged I feel to “complete the circle” in my native land. Both parks are World Heritage Sites, meaning they are equally important and relevant to the entirety of the human race. They represent our collective history and legacy from antiquity.
Our Joy Train journey last Monday highlighting Harriet Tubman’s West African roots from which her ability to read the night sky may have stemmed, attracted almost twice as many passengers as any other. So today I’m taking you on a visit to another West African woman who has lived in my imagination since I was a child.
Come with me back to the 1950s and 60s when I was growing up in the Jamaican countryside. Listen to the stories about the Maroon warrior Queen Nanny and how she used her buttocks to catch bullets fired by the British army, rendering them useless.
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