I’ll never forget the individual who dosed me with the proverbial red pill, or, in other words, helped wake me up to the status of world affairs.

He’s a modern-day Bob Marley, possessing a parallel talent for weaving spiritual and political elements into his reggae tracks. Alvin Charlery, also known as the Poetic Juggler sings melodies infused with syncopated rhythm and calypso with lyrics that hold profound meaning, particularly corresponding to modern day issues such as the New World Order, social decline, and economic collapse.

For about 30 years now, Charlery has been a soccer coach for universities and soccer clubs across Connecticut. “I used to juggle the ball while reciting poetry, oh, the kids loved it! So one kid shouted ‘oh sh*t coach, you are the poetic juggler!’“ says Charlery about how he coined his musical alter ego.

While Marley arose from Jamaica and Trench Town, Charlery hails from the other side of the Caribbean, his native island of St. Lucia. Like Marley, Charlery gives thanks to Jah Jah, who those outside of the reggae realm may know as the Lord Above. In a 2011 GQ article about legendary reggae icon Bunny Wailer (of Bob Marley and the Wailers), writer John Jeremiah Sullivan gives a poignant description of the spiritual power of reggae music: “It's spiritual pop—not in a calculated way, like Christian rock, but in a way that comes from within.”

Charlery credits Marley and Wailer for being his biggest inspirations. And while many of his political messages align with the oppressive elements Marley crooned about, Charlery builds upon the roots of this oppression with his heavy references to elements like the New World Order, United Nations, and nuclear weapons.

When one thinks of Marley, Bunny Wailer, reggae and Rastafarianism, the topic of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement may not immediately come to mind.

But back in 2016, the Poetic Juggler whispered in my ear that “Donald Trump will go down in history as the best president America ever had.” Coming from a green card holder whose music is a portal for the unity of his beloved ancestors’ country, Africa, this seemed counterintuitive to the rampant media coverage of Trump’s campaign which, according to publications like The Week, NBC and the Huffington Post, was “run on racism.”

In his song “Stand Up,” Charlery gives recognition to many of the “people that were killed during their time as leaders who were trying to bring about the unification of Africa…and America and Europe wouldn’t go for that at all.”  The names mentioned in the song include Nelson Mandela, Patrice Lumumba, Marcus Garvey and Sekou Toure. Charlery believes that if Africa could be united, just like the United States, that it would have a more powerful voice in world affairs, which would in turn benefit the entire world.

As it turns out, Trump appears to appreciate reggae music.

In his book “Think Like a Billionaire,” Trump recalled a 2004 guest hosting spot on Saturday Night Live, where he had the privilege of hearing Toots Hibbert (known as one of reggae’s founders) and his band Toots & the Maytals rehearse. "My daughter Ivanka had told me how great they were, and she was right. The music relaxed me, and surprisingly, I was not nervous,” Trump wrote in the book.

The Poetic Juggler was also the first person to inform me of the New World Order in detail, and at the time back in 2016, I still wasn’t sure if this concept was a real thing or just a conspiracy theory. I believe that reggae is an excellent forum through which to funnel these concepts.

“They’re all in cahoots,” declares the Poetic Juggler with a shrug when he refers to Bilderberg, the World Bank, George Soros…the whole gamut of forces that are having a significant impact on world affairs.  

The Poetic Juggler says that his outspoken support of Trump hasn’t gone over well with friends of his, as well as several girlfriends. “When I would open my mouth in support of trump, ohhhh maaaannn I’m like their worst enemy,” Charlery sighs in his Caribbean drawl.

“What the New World Order wants to issue is the destruction of countries sovereignty. And so the world can be governed by people who were never elected. That’s why Trump went on that America First thing, so if America comes first, then I don’t think he means that he would only do things to support America [meaning Trump would not be sacrificing the rest of the world] but nobody should have a problem if he wants to put America first. You’ve got to put your country first!” says Charlery.

Trump is not specifically addressed in Charlery’s music, however, if you take a close look at the issues he sings about, one may see the parallels to Trump’s America First and For the People message. In addition to what I have already mentioned, below are some of the main world issues addressed in Charlery’s music:

• Draining of Africa’s natural resources.
• The “crystal ball effect” of countries with nuclear weapons.
• The vaccine and annuit coeptis (the phrase on the back of the American dollar).
• The International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
• Decline of social order.
• The ability of the black population to “flex” since they now have equal rights to white citizens in America.

Charlery’s music also exudes a message of love and cementing of moral principles that are so simple yet so lacking in many parts of the world today. An example is the extraordinarily infectious “Scholar,” which is intended to redirect the minds of today’s youth, in whom critical thinking appears to be a lost art. “A critically thinking mind is worth more than a dollar, I would rather be a scholar,” is the chorus that has saturated my mind, and I am sure it does the same for many other minds as well. Charlery dreams of the day he walks by and hears a group of children out playing and singing the song.

Perhaps Charlery’s song that holds the most profound message, at least in my opinion, is “Economic Hitman.” He says the idea for the song came to mind when he woke up in the middle of the night on one fateful day in February 2000. His son, a baby at the time, was crying, and he flipped on the TV. “And [on TV] there was a guy who went to MIT, he said they recruited him to work for the U.S. government, CIA, whatever and his job was to be an economic hitman.” But, according to Charlery, what the job entailed did a number on the man’s conscience after a number of years. “He was able to amass riches and wealth, but at the end of the day what it caused, the havoc it created around the world, he was like nahhhh…it really wasn’t worth it.”

In “Economic Hitman,” the chorus goes “economic hitman Babylon travel the earth to sell their plan, their quest is to control the third world lands.” The song goes on to paint the picture of the economic hitman, who is “traversing the earth with cash and a bullet, never did sure who paid for the ticket, like a fast ball going straight to the wicket, giving ultimatum Africa running out of uranium.” Charlery explains that from his understanding, the economic hitman would offer cash to world leaders to agree to carry out their plan which would ultimately lead to countries “incurring debt they cannot handle.” If the world leaders did not accept the cash and agree to that plan, then the bullet was what would come afterwards, by the hand of someone else who is on the same team as the economic hitman.

Charlery is a bona fide example of the American dream. He grew up in St. Lucia, and after completing high school, decided to come to America on a visa to experience “greener pastures.” Charlery said he knew he was a skilled soccer player (or as they call it in St. Lucia and Europe, “football” player) and that his athletic prowess was very likely to land him a scholarship. While England was known for having excellent soccer teams, Charlery chose to pursue his ambitions in America as opposed to England “because I’m aware I’m a black man, and what I saw, the hurdles the black players that were born in England had to overcome in their own country, I said to myself, ‘who am I to think that I can go there and have things easier than them?’”

After spending a few years in Brooklyn doing construction, Charlery grew bored and ventured over to Connecticut to visit his friend who attended the University of Bridgeport and played soccer there.

Charlery joined his friend at soccer practice, and the rest is history. “So we’re on the field, we keep kicking the ball, I mean that’s part of my plan, I didn’t know I would end up going to practice with them, but I always knew I had what it takes to get a scholarship.” And sure enough, it did not take long for a coach at the soccer practice to notice Charlery’s skills that day. “My friend called me and introduced me to the coach, the coach was like, ‘continue playing,’ and at the end of practice the coach said to my friend ‘don’t let him go back home tonight.’ The following morning, I was in the admissions office. Scholarship baby!”

The Poetic Juggler: A Caribbean scholar who sets himself apart, who knows where his strengths lie, who sees the truth and stands for it with no apologies. A precious gem arising from the tropics, he has a history of knowing what he wants and how to pursue it. He takes the opportunities handed to him and crystallizes them into magnificence. And his crystal ball says phenomenal and wondrous things lie ahead.

Learn more by visiting the Poetic Juggler’s website. Follow the Poetic Juggler on Facebook and YouTube For bookings email: thepoeticjuggler45@yahoo.com

Jessica Geraghty is a freelance writer and blogger who has over 15 years of experience writing for businesses, political candidates and news publications. Most recently, topics she has written about include the 2020 election, informed consent, firearms and real estate.

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