Ibrahim Ferrer - A Great Man

I posted earlier on Ibrahim Ferrer. I now wish to expand upon who he was and what he meant to me.

For those of you interested, I have . I translated the song, 'Amor Verdadero' - 'True Love' which I posted when I learned that he had died. The translation is there for you to read if you are so inclined.

For me Ibrahim Ferrer's life is a wonderful example of a man who lived and died being true to himself. He represented hope and all that is good.

He was born in Cuba, became a musician and lived to see two radically different forms of government. In spite of it all, he was a musician.

It is my understanding that when Ry Cooder approached him, he was not even performing anymore but he was poor. So, he decided to take up Cooder's offer and so he began to play his music again. Thank heaven he did because he re-awakened a consciousness about Cuba that had long lay dormant in America due to mistrust, hatred and misunderstanding.

The wounds with Cuba are deep for America and the expatriates who were forced to leave Cuba after Fidel came to power. I have mixed feelings about it all because while Fidel's government is something I do not completely agree with, I understand his idealistic belief in distributing the wealth. It is evident he had tremendous hatred for American business interests which he felt were literally taking advantage of Cuba's beauty and treating her like a whore – buying her, using her and ignoring her suffering.

Fidel’s reaction to America was but an omen of how other third world people would react toward to the US in time. Viet Nam, Iran, El Salvador and many other nations began to stand up against the US business interests and the results have proven to be a steady decline in world opinion. America is fast becoming the only nation that believes itself to be a defender of freedom. Pursuant to the latest international fiasco – Iraq - other nations are now openly gearing themselves up for nuclear warfare and they identify America as the foe which one day will target them for invasion. Paranoia makes no logical sense but it is the reality we are now left to deal with in the wake of America’s recent neo-conservative fervor.

That being said, Fidel's approach toward injustice led to more injustice. Many souls have suffered and perished under his social experiment. All I can say is that regardless of which government or despot, there will always be poor people. They suffer equally regardless of who is in control. Poor people starve and die every day on this planet. If we are to believe UNICEF, 30,000 children alone die every day on the planet. Because of that, I am left to wonder about the insanity that we, as a society, engage in as we pursue our own selfish interests. Such realizations are enough to make anyone go mad. Sometimes I wish I could forget it all but, I am not lucky enough to have lost my mind and so I worry. I just cannot get it out of my head.

Like words, music reaches beyond borders straight into people's souls. The power of Ferrer's music lay dormant because of circumstance not choice. Very late in his life, he was presented with an opportunity and he took it. To his credit, he played what he felt and the commercial success followed.

I am not certain whether you followed my Ziggy Marley post featuring his song, "True to Myself." I picked that song because it accurately reflects how I feel about life. While I do not consider myself an artist, I think it reflects what should be the clarion call to every gifted artist on the planet because their words and music transcend arbitrarily constructed boundaries of ideology, religion and nationalism.

Now, regarding personal success; if we are true to our calling, then we cannot help but be successful. My caution at this point is that we not confuse financial gains with personal success. In my lifetime, I have met people who were rich beyond measure and yet did not own anything but the clothes on their backs.

The way I see it, our lives are limited to a few hundred thousand heart beats. They tick toward a certain end regardless of what we do - or choose not to do. It makes sense to me that if we live our lives with true meaning – seeking to be of service to humanity – then our existence on this big blue ball has not been a waste. Those things that detract from our true purpose in life are nothing more than distractions which will, in the final accounting show up as completely worthless despite whatever value they carry in this Earthly life.

The people whom I most admire throughout history are those who not even the universe could put parentheses around. They include; Jesus, Mohammed, The Buddha, St. Francis of Assisi, Gandhi, Lincoln, Sojourner Truth, John Sullivan, Susan B. Anthony, FDR, Martin Luther King, John and Robert Kennedy, Lech Walesa, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Cesar Chávez, Maya Angelou, Isabel Allende, my mother, my father and so many others. They most assuredly all have their flaws but they’ve remained devoted to their causes and that endures undisputedly as their sign of greatness.

Ultimately, our lives are our own and we get to live them as we choose – unless that is if we are starving to death or living in fear of death and under tyranny. I bear no ill will toward anyone and wish every being on this planet peace. I refuse to waste even one of my limited heartbeats with bitterness. I will continue to hope that everyone on this planet one day wakes up from this sleep which blinds us all to the unnecessary suffering and injustice.

May we all have the courage and strength to live as honestly and kindly as Ibrahim Ferrer and may he rest in peace.

day in day out I've asked many questions I say
only to find the truth it never changes I say
Ziggy Marley - True to Myself