He was a man who spent most of his time praising GOD. Even on the day they decided to give him the crown, he went down on his knees and asked to be presented with the Holy Scripture so he could kiss the word of GOD because it is HE who had made that day: A day for the Emperor to shine.
Before the crown, I used to see him walk up and down the street looking for his day under the sun. It hurt my feelings when I saw him knocking on doors and being down trodden like a beast. The police even put him in handcuffs at one point. And I had to say to myself, “LORD have mercy on us! This is truly a bad omen…”
Human beings are restless. If you look at things carefully, you will realize that every good person that ever lived has not been spared the wrath. Look at what they did to our LORD; look at what they did to the PROPHET; look at Nelson Mandela; look at what they did to Doctor King… What about X; what about brother Nesta; the Mahatma, Mother Theresa, Father Romero, brother Garvey, Commander Che, Kalushi Mahlangu and the list goes on. I mean they even blew off the head of John Kennedy in broad day light just to showcase their skill. And whenever we speak out they say, “Oh, you are a Communist aren’t you!”
I was very young to understand some of the things that the Emperor talked about but in my own way I did. It has all come back full circle now that I am wiser. The Emperor confided in me and revealed some of his inner turmoil. I asked him, for instance, if he had made any achievements that he was proud of and he told me something that rings in my head in a perpetual fashion. He told me that his accomplishments were limited but he was very proud in that he saw every human soul as equal. The Emperor gave the same quality time to members of the royal family as he did the janitor who maintained his surroundings. For a man who was revered by millions the world over, I thought this was the most startling thing I had ever heard.
Let me tell you about the Emperor a little bit: The Emperor wore a pony tail and had a very commanding presence. He walked very upright and always wore flat hilled shoes like a nurse. He practiced yoga and took gymnastics all the way through his seventies. He was the sort of person no one could look in the eyes without feeling a tremble… He intimidated many people with his silence alone. He was a remarkably handsome man whose eyes receded abnormally into their sockets as though they were making a statement. His recessed eyes were a signature unto themselves. He was just an upright man who could not stand nonsense! No one dared bring bullshit around him. I guess you can sense that in me because his methods rubbed off.
So the day had arrived when they decided they were finally going to finish him off. I was with the Emperor on that day. I was very scared and I asked him if he was as scared as I. The Emperor smiled and I will simply never forget the expression on his face. I cannot quite make out if the smile was for joy or a smile of resignation… I mean the sort of smile that you put on when you surrender, take a deep breath and say to yourself, “GOD, I am not perfect and I certainly have my share of sins but here I am… Please accept me!”
You see, many people want the sun to shine on them alone. Everyone of us wants to be a superstar. That is precisely why you notice so much fighting in the world. Since history has been recorded, there has not been a shortage of ethnic, sectarian and racial strife. But that was precisely what was different about the Emperor and I think that is why the KING entrusted him with so much glory. And he hated it all! He hated being the Emperor and he despised the responsibilities that came with it. But, at every opportunity he got, he took advantage of his prestige to speak about the welfare of others. He admonished nations that obsess about oppressing other nations and warned them that none of them were greater under GOD. He told them that they would be punished severely if they insisted. He warned them about spreading rumors for their own wicked desires and that gossip was the very genesis of their downfall. But most of all he shared the glory given to him with all his people.
Brother Beres Hammond has said many memorable things in his songs. On one of his works he tells us that when your day to shine arrives, there simply cannot be a contest. And I think that is a majestic manner of looking at things. I want to extend that trajectory of thinking to mean that when your day to shine comes directly from up HIGH, it is simply beyond the reach of human qualifications. May the peace of the KING of kings be upon the gentle Emperor.
Fahari Sound International 