We Forward in This Generation...Triumphantly

On Wednesday, Oprah dedicated the hour to Haiti and earthquake relief; I caught the insomniac edition at 1 a.m. [Smile.]

Wyclef joined her to illuminate the situation on the ground in Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas also affected by this (un)natural disaster.

He also defended accusations of shoddy accounting practices on the part of his five-year-old foundation Yele Haiti. And the beautiful Maxwell, (finally) repping his Haitian heritage, sang "Fistful of Tears."

By now, particularly if you're of Haitian descent like me, but even if you're not, you've likely been inundated with fundraising-related invites and messages.

Everything from fashion shows to weekly parties to restaurant dining at places like Fatty Crab and Babbo has been re-purposed for Haiti Relief. A telethon, "Hope For Haiti Now," airs tonight.

I couldn't be happier, but I imagine it can be overwhelming to know where to give.

Rihanna's rendition of Bob's "Redemption Song," which she performed on the Wednesday Oprah episode was stirring. I'd recommend downloading it on Itunes.

Another simple, small way to give.

Is This Love?

An ongoing fantasy of mine is to pack a small red Samsonite bag with my summer wares, a pair or two of YSL espadrilles, a few Hermes scarves, and relocate for 6 months each year from the Rotten Apple to Kingston, Jamaica. I'd marry a Rasta, do local reporting, and feast on seasonal fruits. The grind and a generally faltering economic outlook has a tendency to turn this ganja-pipe dream from blurry to sharp, but other things do, too. Like when I recently found myself hip to waist with a tall, caramel-skinned Dread, his locs grazing his back while Mavado's "So Special" plays.

But always, hearing Robert Nesta Marley's kinky reggae gets me reaching for the Jamaica Daily Gleaner. One of my favorite documentaries about Bob is 2001's Rebel Music, in which we're introduced to the man beyond the music, partly via a series of on-air media interviews he participated in. He talks Rastafarian culture, politics, Jah, music, and of course, women. Bob's insatiable appetite for the gals is well-documented, from beauty pageant queens to Jamaican socialites.

In the aforementioned docu, viewers meet Esther Anderson (above), a publicist hired by Island Records founder Chris Blackwell to trail Marley and the Wailers in the late 1960s-early 1970s. Anderson was 29 when she met the younger Bob, who was about two years her junior but had already swelled his family with wife Rita. Anderson confesses that she fell hard for her charge, and business often turned to pleasure. The footage filmed by Lee Jaffe and seen here was taken of the pair during one of many mountain getaways they took during their "courtship." It pretty much encapsulates my JA ideal.

Anderson would go on to an acting career, including an Oscar-nominated turn in Sidney Poitier's A Warm December (1972), and a relationship with Hollywood icon Marlon Brando. Bob would go on to other beauties, but you can't miss the chemistry in that shot.