Prescription Records

Student : One who educates themselves through the gifts of the universe.
Artist : The physical conduit of spirit and energy.
Master : Knows he or she knows nothing at all. Keeps his or herself emersed in constant knowledge to obtain the true essence of commanding. Just a part of the creators gifts in his or her lifetime.
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Ron Trent Narrative/Retrospective

I was born on May 23rd year of the OX. Coming out of the sixties, a turbulent and controversial time in America, the early seventies was a time of affirmations of the lessons learned in the previous decade.
"The Revolution will not be televised"- The Last Poets It will happen in your mind.
At the time of my birth my parents were students at the University of Massachusetts, or in those days "UMass" at Amherst. Like most college students, even today the college experience is a time of discovery, discovery of who and what you are in the world, opening yourself up to the world. During this period of self-exploration many of the black students were banning together to sustain their pride in themselves and in that of the people. True self-awareness through honoring the embracing spirit of heritage and concepts of higher learning through music and art were apart of the cosmetology for blacks and people of color on campuses.
The simmering fires that were lit in the sixties were now taking on a new form in the people it affected. A lot of political views were being expressed on the campus of UMass in particular. Talks of change and the revolutionary mindsets needed to apply to the conditions of daily life. The New Africa House, an education center for Black and Third World studies, was the forum for the new consciousness that was being developed. The first step to this development was acknowledgement of each other to build the bridge of togetherness in the opposition of ignorance. According to my parents and their friends, "no black student would pass by one another without speaking." It was the sign of the times.
" Know where you come from to know where you are going" - Sankofa
In the pursuit of creating common ground, new enlightment animated itself into many forms: Knowledge of self, acknowledgement of yourself and one another, historical social studies, expression through creative storytelling concepts (Visual Arts, Speech, and Music), and new elevations in alternative study. The goal is to turn common ground into sacred ground. This emissive environment of culture was lead way by the musical soundtrack that set the pace for the time. Just like the instinctively revolutionary mindset of the people the music was progressing forward with change. " Say it loud I'm black and I 'm pound" from the mind of James Brown echoed as a voice from the people, "What's going on" by the genius of Marvin Gaye, Machine Gun from the mind of Jimi Hendrix under the group name Band of Gypsies which include Buddy Miles and Bill Cox. With the birth of blackexplotation films, the soundtracks were normally soul masterpieces produced by the likes of Issca Hayes, Cutis Mayfeild, and James Brown for example, which were made for the theater and the dance floor. The Motown sound still had a great influence but there was a new emergence for the appreciation for conscience Jazz-fusion.
Gary Bartz, Black Jazz Records with Doug and Jean Carn, Nina Simone, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Ahmad Jamal, Earth Wind and Fire, John Coltrane, and many other great artist; too many to name blazed the sky with colorful tones radical and vibrations that motivated and inspired hope and "the time is now,"
" By any means necessary"- Malcom X
Though the black community suffered the lost of two great heroes of the world Malcom X and Martin Luther King in the sixties, there lay the emergence of young black poets, intellects, and revolutionary radical to carry on their part of the movement. The Last Poets known for their wordy complex storytelling applications as a cry to the conscience mind, rapped about talking jive and slappin' five while the man had his foot on the neck of the oppressed. The Last Poets used the ancient art of storytelling along with conga rhythmus to dial up the right vibrations to connect the mind and soul. A lot of the Brothers and Sisters were looking towards Mother Africa for inspiration and wisdom to help rebuild their well being in a country that was tearing away at the fabric of their souls. Change was in effect and was needed.
Reflecting back, my parents recalled sit-ins as a protest of the wrongful killing of students at Kent State University and of me being kissed by the great Angela Davis at the DuSable Museum when I was an infant as some great and rememerable moments. Great master drummer Max Roach was a professor on campus along with the great Archie Schepp who was always on campus, Bill Cosby was pursuing his doctorate on campus during this time as well. Some of my parents' contemporaries on the entertainment front were Natile Cole, Julius Ervin aka Dr. J and accomplished African Art painter Professor. Nelson Stevens. On a political note, the likes of Dr Acklyn Lynch, Playthell Benjamin, Michael Thelwell and activist Bill Hassan, all of whom are now accomplished writers of Black studies/history. They were in constant interaction with my parents on campus which further strengthen their political perspectives.
As young adults coming into the world the strong roots bread in a soil rich in information, self awareness lead by heritage, further understanding and appreciation of music as a color and art as notes of sound, and echoes of the voices connected from the past into that of your fellow Brother and sister, made ready the alternative concepts needed for a new existence. This spearheaded the thirst in me for the next plateau.
to be continued...