I am reading Anais Nin's Diary(31-34) and I am loving Anais Nin's diary. I am June. Completely and thoroughly. Alas, her relationship with June so reflects something of what I had with Charles.

I decided that I would clarify something...as I have gotten a few stares and questions because of it. I am not a drag queen. I do, however, identify with them wholly, I think they are beautiful and fabulous, and I think that the drag queen is definitely something all should aspire to.

I want to detail tonight chronologically as a means of telling the story. Firstly, I went to the LAPC coordinating committee, where we discussed some things that are now on our agenda. There is definitely something left to be desired as to how progressive and progressivlely bold the so-called progressive community is around here. Not that I dont love it, and I dont value them, but it could be better. Then , after that, I went to the Cultural Arts Festival, basically to be described as the semester event --culminating in the spring finale, where the Negroes of Purdue Shuck and jive for the white folks. I love being creative and I love having the venue for expressing myself and my art, in some form, but I REFUSE and I think that it is totally a negative to allow oneself to become caricature and the objectified for white gaze, espcially in a denigrating ay before any audience, and especially a white one that is of the nature of that of Purdue.

The theme for this semester's show was "Fade to Black, Black Images in Hollywood: We Do it To Ourselves." What kind of message is that?? And I am not even making a disavowal of the idea of acknwoledging one's own role in one's own subjugation, but the entire sentiment of this show was to present to its white audience the picture of a non-threatening negro who not only doesn't threaten the established structure, but who also will take responsibility and bear culpability for its own subjugation. This is a horrific statement on the self-esteem, self-pride, and self-valuation of the Negro. We need progress and we need it bad. Alas, to end on a higher note, BVOI director knows she can direct her ass off with a choir, kudos to McKenya, and Kevin Iega Jeff is a gorgeous man. God forbid, I just want a taste.

Malcolm is such a gorgeous boy. But I don't see him crossing that line at any point in time.He is a charmer, the boy that every woman or queen wants to either mother or get into their bed. I am certainly in the latter category.

Ayotte Vs. Planned ParentHood

BitchPhd is alerting everyone to the beginning of oral arguments in the case of Ayotte vs. Planned Parenthood which is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court. This is a crucial case as it will be the precedent for whatever trend in which our rights to abortion will go in this country. It all depends on whether John Roberts is an asshole or someone who will stand up for the protection of the people. God help us all!

Katrina Survivors Assembly and March Organized in Mississippi--From HungryBlues

Hurricane Survivors Assembly & March for Human Rights

Who: Representative Gulf Coast hurricane survivors and evacuees will converge will their allies in over 50 grassroots organizations which make up The People’s Hurricane Relief Fund and Oversight Coalition and The Mississippi Distress Relief Coalition. Together, they will share, heal and develop plans for organizing to move forward in their struggle for justice after Katrina.

What: The Gulf South Youth Assembly, The Gulf South National Assembly and The March for Human Rights.

Why: This will be the first assembly that provides those most negatively impacted by Katrina and its aftermath a chance to participate in developing national solutions for their own futures. A declaration of the people will be drafted and presented to Congress in an upcoming hearing sponsored by Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, 11th District GA. These events will unite the movement of survivors, who continue to have their basic civil and human rights eroded away, as they build a sustainable and comprehensive plan for rebuilding their communities and lives.

Schedule:

December 8, 2005, Thursday
Business School of Jackson State University, 1300 Lynch St. Jackson, MS room 134
7-11 pm ~ Gulf Coast Youth Assembly: Youth speak out on Katrina

December 9, 2005, Friday
Anderson United Methodist Church, 6405 Hanging Moss Road
9am – 6pm ~ Survivor’s Assembly and Conference
8pm – 11pm ~ Rally and Cultural Program featuring Amira Baraka, Sonya Sanchez, Dead Prez and more

December 10, 2005, Saturday
Congo Square, North Rampart And St. Phillip Streets, New Orleans, LA
12:30 pm ~ Survivor’s March for Human Rights, Self Determination and The Right to Ret

Another Case of Probable Racism at Purdue

Yesterday, police picked up Kyle Darnell Williams Williams, 19, on charges of having committed a battery that occurred on Purdue's campus on Tuesday evening. The police are also trying to pen two other assault cases on him as well. The claim of the police is that they saw him chasing a white woman down the street after they recieved a call concerning the latest battery case. The police are presuming that they will find blood stains on Williams' coat. At this point, the only thing I have to say is--- SOMEONE NEEDS TO GET THIS CHILD A GOOD LAWYER. ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. Also, have the ACLU, the NAACP, and other civil rights organizations on hand to make sure that the police do absolutely EVERYTHING by the books. Castration is the key to our liberation.

December first was the National Strike Against the War. This was done in honor of the anniversary of Rosa Parks defiance in refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery city bus.

You know, RS told me to be prepared for, but I absolutely was not prepared for the dynamics that would come into play when I took over her class in terms of my being a Black male in an authority position in a classroom setting full of white students. Quite interesting. Oh the little children.....

This is quite an interesting and informative article on the formation of street gangs in L.A., specifically the Crips and the Bloods of note. I will write more about these gangs later, especially as I learn and read more about them. I have been aware of these two particular gangs(which is what I was told they were) ever since I was a very small child. I was reared to be deathly afraid of anything to do with these two particular organizations--and their reputation of violence, guns, and death in particular were pounded into me with the fear of the lord. What I am discovering now, is that these two organizations had some very interesting starts-- as quasi-political groups concerned with community uplift-- alas I believe the fact that these two their ideologies or belief systems or practices that spread and encouraged youths to join into these organizations. There was something there. If only it could have been harnessed and turned into something substantial and with a community uplifting effect....

This article, GoodBye Pat Morita, Best Supporting Asian" is an interesting read. Mr. Lawrence Downes offeres a very clear and brutally succinct analysis of the career of Mr. Morita and the effects of racism and orientalism in Hollywood and in American culture as a whole.

Odd and Interesting

To start with, in the discussion that I had with the students in RS's class, I also brought up the fact that Black women weren't the only group to gain franchise in 1965. Asian Americans, specifically the Chinese, gained suffrage under the Voting Rights Act as well. Alas, I thought of this just now as I was reading Margaret Cho's blog where she points out an editorial in the New York Times commemorating Pat Morita's death, which is entitled "GoodBye Pat Morita, Best Supporting Asian." What irony, what feelings and thoughts are conjured up. I find it also interesting that his first film role was as Asian no. 2 in Thoroughly Modern Millie, starring Carroll Channing. Carol, dear heart, passed for white throughout her entire career up until about two years ago when she announced to the world that her father was a Black man. Oh what tangled webs....

Yesterday in class, my students in RS's class and I had a good discussion in which we discussed the various levels of discrimination afforded to black women and black men. I saw many eyes grow wider(especially among the black students) when I laid out the time line that Black men gained the right to vote in 1870; White Women gained the right to vote in 1921; and Black women for all intents and purposes did not gain suffrage until 1965.

I saw rent over the weekend while I was in Chicago. It was great! More about that later.

Bush's current focus on Immigration and his proposal of a guest-worker policy are so blatantly racist. The Latino community has given Bush quite an ample amount of support in his two terms in office. I think the Latino community should be more cognizant and better consider where they put their political support. I also think that they should stop working against their own interests and the interests of their community. In the light of people such as Vincente Fox, segments of the Latino community have moved far to the right and tried to amalgamate themselves into the White community. I think this will be detrimental to anything called progress as far as they are concerned and I think it will prove to be quite unhealthy for those who are partaking in it.

I had a great time in Chicago though.

So they buried my Uncle yesterday. It was a sad moment. It is a heart-wrenching and rare thing to see my father cry. I have only seen him do that a few times in my life, it always pains me. My father and his brothers are beautiful men. I never needed The Distinguished Gentleman or any of the old films of Humprhey Bogart, Cary Grant, or the classy men on screen. I had them at home. My father and his brothers are suave, beautiful men, debonair and charming. I had my uncles and my father. That is all I needed.