FEMA is trying to make the hurricane victims pay back the money given to them. I would never give it back.

I just got through watching Oprah and Halle Berry's YTheir Eyes Were Watching God. What a beautiful, beautiful film. All praises to Halle and Oprah! Oh where will I be when my Teacake comes?

In Other News

Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton led thousands today in Florida in protest of the killing of a black teenage boy at a bootcamp. I think that what happened down there was criminal and whomever did it should be dealt with appropriately.

I have just recently become aware that the NAACP, Harry Belafonte, and Danny Glover have all come out vocally in support of Congresswoman McKinney! Kudos and may they be blessed!

Peter Goss, of the CIA has fired and wants to pursue criminal charges against the person who leaked information concerning government wrongdoing in having secret prisons in Eastern Europe. There should be penalties for the CIA and the government for having these places! God help us all...castrate these men and get rid of their power!

Great News for the Duke Rape Survivor

Jesse Jackson and Rainbow PUSH will pay for her education. Wonderful,wonderful news.

Hazel Carby's Race Men

Hazel Carby's book, Race Men is an interesting assessment of Black male sexism and the depictions and portrayals of the Black male body in American culture. I do, however, have some problems with it. I find it quite interesting that she would criticize W.E.B. Dubois and Cornel West for accepting the image of the Black intellectual as only "male and clad in a victorian three piece suit" yet she would vehemently criticize Paul Robeson's nude photographs for Nickolas Muray and juxtapose them as being "degrading and embodying the oppression of the Black male" as opposed to the suited picture of Robeson that was given as a present to Carl Van Vechten which she defines as "the picture of a quiet,thoughtful, and intellectual Robeson." I disagree with her assessment of Murray's photographs, as I think that they are expressions not only of Muray's talents and artistry, but they do exude the artistry, intellect, and integrity of Robeson as well.

The Fourth Radical Progressive Carnival is Pending

Depending on submissions, the fourth Radical progressive carnival will be out soon.

Third Radical Progressive Carnival-- Off Schedule

The long awaited third Radical Progressive Congress is now up! The only thing to post for it is an excellent essay entitled,The "High" of Perpetual Wars by Francois Tremblay of The Radical Libertarian in which he meticulously draws lines of comparison between drug addiction and the U.S's addiction to war and highlights the ironic history of America's racist "War on Drugs," and it's own failure to curb its addiction to war. It is an excellent assessment.

We had great discussions in my class today.

Those pictures of Paul Robeson in Hazel Carby's Race Men are a mess. Absolutely scandalous!;-)

My great-grandmother's oldest brother was named King Philip Goodson, named for the Native American chief of fame. I am told that when he got older, he used to go sit in the gentlemen's pew at the family church and his favorite statement was "I'm right because OLD enough to be right!" Haha. I found that terribly funny.

I so very much miss my uncle.

Purdue Student Arrested

The ACLU should definitely be getting involved with the case of Vikram Buddhi, a Purdue Graduate student who has been arrested for allegedly "making threatening remarks against President Bush and others." This is a first amendment issue and this young man's civil and human rights are drawn into concern now that he has been arrested. If the ACLU does not get involved,they ought to be ashamed. Other civil rights agencies should be involved as well.

Jane Fonda was wonderful on Larry King!

Making Connections

In These Times provides a very accurate diagram of how information is currently flowing out to the public and why it is so very conservative here.

Poem That I Will Share With the World

I typically have not placed my poetry online. I will share this one though.

For Me it's a question of where your soul will rest
I don't care about your sorry flesh
I am not swooned by a fine physique
or a gorgeous frame
Its the Cana wine that would flow from your mouth with the words
you speak
the ancient winds I feel when you approach
Give me the love of old songs and carry my heart in a gold encrusted chest
and I will give you the world, a hope of redemption
only for you.
I want not your fancy talk
or sharp dress
I want you to give me your soul and I want to find
a fire there

I am Yentl. Always have been.

The Way He Makes Me Feel

From Yentl/Barbra

There’s no chill and yet I shiver
There’s no flame and yet I burn
I’m not sure what I’m afraid of
And yet I’m trembling
There's no storm yet I hear thunder.
And I'm breathless, why I wonder?
Weak one moment,
Then the next I'm fine.
I feel as if 1'm falling every time
I close my eyes
And flowing through my body
Is a river of surprise.
Feelings are awakening
I hardly' recognize as mine!
What are all these new sensations?
What's the secret they reveal?
I'm not sure I understand
But I like the way I feel.
Oh, why is it that every time
I close my eyes he's there?
The water shining on his skin,
The sunlight in his hair?
And all the while I'm thinking things
That I can never share with him.
I'm a bundle of confusion
Yet it has a strange appeal.
Did it all begin with him,
And the way he makes me feel
I like the way he makes me feel...

Things are definitely interesting, beautiful.

I am glad that the Iranians are helping the Palestinians.

I love Diane Rehm, she is such a fabulous diplomat. Trent Lott was on her show today--I could not have stomached him. She did go after him though really well. She nailed him with a question about Abramoff and then also tackled him with a question about the economy. Great going! Lott had the audacity to talk about immigration reform....those same illegal immigrants are probably picking cotton in his fields down in Mississippi. I would certainly check that one out.

Be One

Phyllis Hyman

What a day.
what a way.
To behave.
Will i win, lose,draw or be saved.
For my heart says go, but my mind says no.
Ooooooooooooooooooo my love.

I've had plenty of time to get over it.
Plenty of time mole and reflect.
There are things to alert me.
So that he would not desert me.
Should I go on and try or forget it.
Life is short will I live to regret.
By a chance this romance does say let it sweetheart.

Should I go on and try or forget it.
Life is short will I live to regret.
By a chance this romance does say let it sweetheart.
So be one be a fool.
Go ahead and fall in love.

Commentary

I saw a debate last night between Ward Churchill and David Horowitz....Ward is a wonderful man. He should have cut Horowitz's penis off.

Excerpted from The Beloved Cynthia McKinney

"Let me give you an historical hint. As a rule wars, are generally started over big events, (e.g. the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, Pearl Harbor, North Korea’s Army Crossing the 38th parallel). Revolutions are generally started over less memorable things (e.g. “Let them eat cake,” a tea tax, some government troops opening fire on unarmed demonstrators). People of all colors and political persuasions understand that underlying both wars and revolutions are monstrous icebergs of unresolved inequity. So it is with Cynthia McKinney. And it is her hairdo (new or old, take your pick) that now sits atop an iceberg that both right-wing whites and bought-off blacks would like to go away."

Go Cynthia McKinney!

"Ever since I came to Congress in 1992," McKinney once said, "there are those who have been trying to silence my voice. I've been told to sit down and shut up over and over again. Well, I won't sit down and I won't shut up until the full and unvarnished truth is placed before the American people."

All praises for the most delightful Cynthia McKinney.

I think one thing that definitely needs to be done in the efforts to combat racism and the racist hierarchy that exist within this country is that we must stop viewing the White male power structure as either sane or normal.

I had interesting dreams last night. Firstly, I dreamed about a Nazi death camp...and I could smell death..and I witnessed the devastation of it....It was very real. Immediately after that I dreamt that I was at my Uncle's home, lying outside in his gazebo...with birds chirping all around and in the middle of his beautiful garden, probably with a book in my hand.