Monthly Archives: August 2009

The Beji-Nite Churches of My Youth

Posted on August 30, 2009 by | 5 Comments
This is Lloyd Lovindeer, master of
Pocomania Day in Jamaica, who typifies
the elements of the Beji-Nite Church.
Image thanks to The Jamaica Gleaner.

As promised in previous posts in which I chronicled religious ceremonies I witnessed in Panama, I will delve a little deeper into the African derived religious practices in our American continent. Actually, it wasn’t until I began my university studies that I discovered a greater interest in studying the subject of our religions and I had to resort to my childhood experiences to find a point of reference to claim that our Silver People of Panama had anything similar in their religious practices. Continue reading →

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To Fall in Love With First Affections

Posted on August 26, 2009 by | 2 Comments
Pictured is what was always known in
Calidonia as la Casa de Mimbre, so named
for the artesans that worked cane and repaired
cane (wicker) furniture who had one room shops
there. The board building was right on Via España
in the heart of Calidonia. It was demolished around
2006. The room with the finger pointer next to
it is very like what Glady’s fonda looked like.


The scene was a delicious morsel of one of the most beautiful girls calling and inviting me in to join her in her knowledge of what love was. To say that this instance in my life would be the first time that someone would offer me, the love starved kid, some kind of affection would be an immediate response to why I would instantly fall in love with that girl. Continue reading →

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Windows to Manhood

Posted on August 22, 2009 by | Leave a comment


For me the real test of manhood would arrive at a time in my life when I would be looking to form relationships with girls that would provide a future wife. I had hopes that among the girls I was growing up with there could be that special girl and that we would both fall madly in love. But, as the days wore on I wasn’t even close to making that love connection. Continue reading →

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Seeking Models of Leadership

Posted on August 18, 2009 by | 2 Comments
The venerable Right Rev. A.F. Nightengale,
Archdeacon of St. Paul Episcopal Church in Santana


That I should have had some idea of the qualities that would dignify a person should have been something fixed in my mind by now. Since there were no physical areas in the city where I could discover “modeling tools” for human beings such as libraries, concert halls, or any other cultural emporiums, I’d reached an age where that characteristic of many adolescents- cynicism- had started rearing its ugly head. Continue reading →

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Seeking Models of Values

Posted on August 15, 2009 by | Leave a comment
The ever elusive “ton-a-money.”

By this stage in my life I was aware that these were special times for me, a turning point, if you will. I had seen life with my parents, aunts and uncles, and now I thought that my life was not turning out any better. My parents’ divorce seemed to have left me feeling captive in a type of upbringing full of hate and family conflicts which I’d been subjected to and forced to accept for many years. Continue reading →

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Seeking Models of Manhood Part II

Posted on August 11, 2009 by | 4 Comments
Bernie Madoff, one of the biggest and
most notorious of the “juega vivos” of
modern times was recently sentenced to
150 years in prison for his leadership in
defrauding and ruining thousands of investors.
Image

One day, without much thought, I simply sat at a small table Clyde kept in a corner that was equipped with a lamp or an alcohol burner of sorts which he used for heating up wax. I had suddenly become the “Wax Man,” since it appeared as though Clyde’s clientèle had multiplied to the extent where he was hard pressed to keep up with it. Continue reading →

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