AS TOLD TO BC PIRES
My name is Dane Gibbs and I was shocked to be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a few weeks ago.
Dane Jah Ras is the name I appreciate more than Dane Gibbs.
At Hillview College, I used to do poetry with the pen name of Dane Jah Ras. I was into Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. Those guys influenced my thinking as it relates to the higher power. Their message was about setting the captives free, liberating people from mental slavery, the shackles we bear, psychologically and otherwise.
Early friends still refer to me as Dane Jah.
My police pardners, when they heard that name, got it wrong and called me “Dangerous!”
Boy days in Leonville, St Joseph, between the Eastern Main Road and the mountains were great. Being the only son to a mother with five girls, I had to run away a lot. To shoot bird, catch crab, go in the quarry and play gun-shooting.
When I had to stay home, I was always asking questions to the extent that they used to say, “All right, go out and play!”
My mother put Anglican on my birth certificate, but I grew up going to her church. Which was Baptist. All my sisters and I went to Curepe AC.
I was fortunate enough to pass the 11-plus for my first choice.
I saw the Hillview first-day uniform, maroon pinstriped tie and maroon blazer with the gold monogram on the pocket.White shirt and pants under that and I say, “That is the school I’m going to!”
My best friend from Hillview, Panther, lives near me and we keep in touch.
I met a few Hillview boys in the police service.
Rastafarianism is the future. If three-quarters of us adopted half of what they preach and teach, we wouldn’t be in the situation we’re in today.
We wouldn’t be having cancers. Grass-fed and organic is something we learn about now that they were living ever since! Not no processed food in a plastic bag with a lot of additives and preservatives.
Rasta had the right vision.
The first step is to educate yourself. Is a sin when ain’t adding nothing to what God or your parents gave you.
My mom’s death, I was anguished beyond words. I ended up going up into the hills of Caura Valley and going dread because I thought that would be the answer.
No meat. A healthy, rich, powerful food we call yabba, provision with coconut milk cooked down with dasheen bush. I transitioned to raw, uncooked food.
I was just living, praying, sleeping on the ground outside in the open air in the bush.
[caption id="attachment_989416" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Dane Gibbs says the worst part of the cancer diagnosis is the uncertainty. - Mark Lyndersay[/caption]
One day, I left the bush and happened to pass where I used to live and my father saw me.
And he broke down. It was the first time I ever saw my father cry.
He said, “If your mother was alive, I
know you wouldn’t be looking like this!”
So I promised to step off that path.
I’ve spent 35 years in the police service. It has given me almost every material possession I have.
I was sent to Northern Division after about 11 and a half years in Narcotics.
