Mulatto. Definition: a person of mixed black & white ancestry. First use of the word: 1591. Etymology: Spanish mulato, from mulo (mule, workhorse), from Latin mulos.

The Harder They Come... is a delving into the reality of being both in a black-and-white world. Vicious cycles of violence, prejudice, and the refusal of some to accept our reality. We walk the line between two cultures that came together under conflict, and we must strive to unite all with love. I choose love. Love for my family, and love for those who have yet to grasp it. I am the sum of the past, for we cannot forget it in this great future. I hope to someday see a world where all men and women are treated equal and none are subject to age-old systems of hatred and division. The Harder They Come, until the war is won. One love.

- SC

Pictured: Ivan Sigismund Burke, my great grandfather. Born in 1896 on the Harmony Hall plantation in Tower Isle, St. Mary, Jamaica, Ivan was the first of our Burke line born a free man. He moved between Cuba and Jamaica multiple times before meeting his wife Edna in 1929. Ivan was attacked at the age of 67 and beaten by his neighbors half his age because he confronted them about their livestock crossing onto his property. Ivan died in 1963 in Morant Bay, Jamaica, along with many stories and family knowledge. 

John Francisco Burke, my grandfather. Born in 1930 in Havana, Cuba, John fled the regime at the age of 8 and returned to Jamaica with his family where his mother Edna died in childbirth shortly thereafter. At this point, Ivan disappeared for a time and John and his sisters were split up into foster homes. Surviving hurricanes, racial violence, bad men, dictators, and the split of his family at 14, John came to Canada in 1954 in search of a better life. At 91 years old now he is still the strongest man I know. His best advice to me; “whatever happens, just keep putting one foot in front the other, and you will get where you’re going”.

The Harder They Come... - Single

The Harder They Come... Single

The Harder They Come...

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The Harder They Come...

SETH JAXX