rED aMANDALA

Tariq Jaden Charles aka Red Amandala, has deep roots in revolution. He comes from a family that values education and independence and each generation of his family has broken barriers put in place by imperialism. He is the great nephew of Eugenia Charles, the first female prime minister of the island of Dominica who was knighted by the queen of England and survived a coup backed by the KKK. His parents immigrated from the Caribbean to Boston, MA where they met in college and started to work in education. Early on he was exposed to the violence of racism and would read the essential texts of black revolutionaries like Huey P Newton and Malcom X. He became radicalized and set out to burn the world. Facing an internal pressure of his own he found poetry as a relief. He created Red Amandala, an alter ego that epitomizes blackness as something deeper than skin and uses music as a vehicle for change instead of violence. 

Tariq was raised to be great . One of four siblings, he is the youngest of his mother's two children and the second oldest of his father’s four children.  His mother was a school teacher who wrote poetry in the past, and her love for it had been passed down to her children. During the week he lived with his mom and sister in Dorchester, where she would foster a love for reading and writing. She quizzed her kids when they brought books home from school. She wanted them to be successful in life and knew she had to educate them early. 

Both Tariq and his older sister were poets. Although it seems like he would have been writing poetry since birth, his sister remembers a time where he had more of an interest in math and science, something he would get from his dad who was a civil engineer and project manager at MIT. Tariq’s true passion was reading, no matter where he was he had a book with him. 

When he started school he would read the entire summer reading list instead of just a few books. His parents kept a close eye on his homework to make sure he didn't fall behind but they didn’t need to do much. They had made him great, his work reflected it and the teachers saw it as well. One teacher, Mr. Schlepat would introduce him to Revolutionary Suicide by Huey P Newton, a book that set Tariq on a path to learn as much as he could about the freedom fighters of the past. That was when he began to connect the dots to his own history.
Eugenia Charle’s immense career spanned over 40 years. She was nicknamed The Iron Lady of the Caribbean for her strong will and resistance to oppression. In 1946 she graduated from the University of Toronto, 3 years later she would graduate law school and return back to Dominica as the first female lawyer the country had ever seen. After 15 years practicing law she joined politics, she felt she had to stand up for unjust policies that were being put in place. In 1980 she was elected prime minister making her the first female prime minister in the Caribbean.

 It wasn't long before someone tried to take her down. David Duke, grandwizard of the Ku Klux Klux Klan, conspired with former prime minister Patrick John to overthrow Eugenia. Officially titled Operation Red Dog, their plan was to take over the country by giving weapons to locals and supporters of Patrick John then split the profits from selling drugs and women off the island. Members of the KKK were arrested by the FBI in New Orleans trying to charter a boat down to Dominica with weapons and dynamite. They had gotten 90 thousand from investors to support the mission, one was the brother in law of a U.S. senator. In court one of the men claimed that congressman Ron Paul knew of the plot, but the district attorney refused to subpoena him. After surviving this attempt Eugenia was solidified in Caribbean history and would serve 14 more years as prime minister. She wrote two books and was made a Dame of the British Empire. 

Tariq found poetry as a way to relieve the pressure that he felt from the world. It alleviated the pain that came from being. He wanted to share the medicine that he felt worked so well. Immediately after sharing it with the world he received acceptance from his community. The Boston Globe published him in three different poetry anthologies and the city of Boston recognized him on multiple occasions as a poet of his day. 

After experimenting for a while he eventually began to mix poetry with music and became Red Amandala, the rapper that we know today. The name has many meanings, red is the blood of our rebel ancestors. Amandala comes from ”amandla, ngawethu” a South African war cry from the apartheid meaning power to the people. He wanted to create a character that could move through the world and spread a positive message being a symbol for change. 

Through music he found many likeminded friends. Soul Recipe Records was in its inception phase and was finding its footing. Tariq’s collaborations with artist Abbotjackson and Swizzy defined the sound of the label. Since his first releases he has been continuously refining his sound to be as impactful as possible, he wants to change as many lives as he can.