A very special thank-you to my brilliant band—especially my day ones, Jelly Bean Johnson and Monte Moir. We go back like rocking chairs. My main man Ricky Freeze Smith, Tori “Freak Juice” Ruffin, Thomas Austin, and Jeffery McNeely.

In addition, an initial analysis of Kongo cosmology, cosmogony, and mythology allows us to see and appreciate the conceptual parallels between Kongo culture in Central Africa and in Cuba.

After the flood, the resulting epidemics killed even more.

Looks like these grandees'll have to cash in their chips and quit, but it's a darned shame.