You're All I Need To Get By

Aretha Franklin

(You?re all I need to get by)
(You?re all I need to get by)
(You?re all I need to get by)
(You?re all I need to get by)
(You?re all... I need... to get by - hi - hi)

AslongasIgotyouthenbabyyouknowthatyougotme!
Oh (whoa - oh - ho)
CauseWeveGotOurLoveandsomeR-E-S-P-E-C-T!(oh) whoa oh ho

Like the sweet morning dew
I took one look at you
And it was plain to see you were my destiny
With my arms open wide I threw away my pride
I sacrificed for you, dedicate my life to you
I will go where you lead, I?ll be right there in a time of need
And when I lose my will, you?ll be right there to push me up that hill

(There?s no) no (no lookin? back for us) no way bab - bay
(We?ve got enough to show love that?s enough)
(You?re all) you?re all, all (you?re all I need)
(You?re all, you?re all I need, you?re all)
You?re all I need baby baby, to get by yeah, get by

Like an eagle protects his nest, for you I?ll do my best
Stand by you like a tree and damn anybody that try an move me
Darling in you I found, straight for I was torn down
I don?t know what?s in store, but together we can open any door
Just to do what?s good for you, I?ll inspire you alittle bit higher
I know you can make a real man
I?m a soul that didn?t have a goal

(Cause we?ve) yeah ( we?ve got the right foundation)
Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah (and we?ve got determination)
Yes we do (oh) Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
(You?re all, you?re all I need you?re all)
Yes, baby (you?re all I need you?re all)
(You?re all)
Oooo you?re all that I need to get by - i - i - i - i
Yeah, yeah

AslongasIgotyouthenbabyyouknowthatyougot me!
(Whoa) whoa (yeah) um umm hum
CausewevegotourloveandsomeR-E-S-P-E-C-T! oh whoa oh oh oh oh

(Baby) uum hum uum hum
Babyyouknowthatyougotme!
Oh you?re all I need (yeah)
Fades -
You?re all that I need
You?re all that I need

Oh My-Fraternities

Patriarchy and its twisted components. Oh me oh my. It seems like all of the patriarchal societies of this place very much organize amongst themselves, including with the gay ones....Fraternities...gay people....patriarchy...the world never ceases to be a wonder.

Border Song(Holy Moses)

Aretha Franklin

Holy Moses, I have been removed
I have seen the spectre, he was been here too
Distant cousin from down the line
Brand of people who ain't my kind
Holy Moses, I have been removed

Holy Moses, I have been deceived
Now the wind has changed direction
I think I'll have to leave
Won't you please excuse my frankness
But it's not my cup of tea
Holy Moses, I have been deceived, yes, I have

I'm going back to the border
Where my affairs, my affairs ain't been abused
I can't take any more bad water
I've been poisoned from my head down to my shoes
Yes, I have

Holy Moses, I have been removed

Holy Moses, can we live in peace
Let us try to find a way to make all hatred cease
There's a man standing over there
What's his color do you care
Holy Moses, can we live in peace

Holy Moses, can we live in peace
Holy Moses, can we live in
I wonder can we live in peace

More Love

by the Dixie Chicks

I'm so close to you baby
But I'm so far away
There's a silence between us
And there's so much to say
You're my strength, you're my weakness
You're my faith, you're my doubt
We gotta meet in the middle
To work this thing out

More love, I can hear our hearts cryin'
More love, I know that's all we need
More love, to flow in between us
To take us and hold us and lift us above
If there's ever an answer
It's more love

We're afraid to be idle
So we fill up the days
We run on the treadmill
Keep slavin' away 'til there's no time for talkin'
About trouble in mind
And the doors are all closed
Between your heart and mine

More love, I can hear our hearts cryin'
More love, I know that's all we need
More love, to flow in between us
To take us and hold us and lift us above
If there's ever an answer
It's more love

Just look out around us
People fightin' their wars
They think they'll be happy
When they've settled their scores
Let's lay down our weapons
That hold us apart
Be still for just a minute
Try to open our hearts

More love, I can hear our hearts cryin'
More love, I know that's all we need
More love, to flow in between us
To take us and hold us and lift us above
If there's ever an answer
It's more love

I can hear our hearts cryin'
More love, I know that's all we need
More love, to flow in between us
To take us and hold us and lift us above
If there's ever an answer
It's more love

U.S. Diplomat Violates Venezuelan Protocol

A U.S. diplomat appeared unannounced at the Venezuelan National Assembly. Something smells a bit COINTELPRO here. God Bless Hugo Chavez!

The Ten Books That Have Had the Most Influence on Me

In no particular order**.

Assata Shakur: The Autobiography
I read this book in college. I remember we were on a tournament and staying in a hotel. My friend Wanda had given me this and Elaine Brown's book. I cried after having read them both.

Angela Davis:The Autobiography
It must have been my freshman or sophomore year of college when I read this book. I have always been in awe of Angela Davis and I completely devoured the book. It was quite profound.


A Taste of Power- Elaine Brown’s Autobiography
Elaine Brown was very much unknown to me before I read this book my sophomore or junior year of college. This book, along with the others on this list, added something to my makeup and to my understanding and grasp of the world as I understand it today. Elaine Brown truly is an inspiration.

Possessing the Secret of Joy—Alice Walker
My favorite book. Enough said.

Giovanni’s Room- James Baldwin
I first read Giovanni's Room at the end of my junior year of college. I adore Jimmy Baldwin and this book definitely imprinted itself upon my consciousness. James Baldwin is a God.

Zami: A New Spelling of My Name- Audre Lorde
I read this book in the same period in which I read Giovanni's room. Audre Lorde is a Goddess/Mother of the earth. This book completely shook my foundation to the core and made me much more completely whole.

The Glory and the Dream- William Manchester
I read this book the summer after my sophomore year of High School for the A.P. American History course I took my junior year. It was quite profound and really made history a living entity for me, perhaps for the first time.

The Souls of Black Folk—W.E.B. DuBois
I got this book from my Uncle Lawrence's House when I was either thirteen or fourteen. DuBois was the first person I had ever read that profoundly shaped and influenced my intellect.

I Wonder as I Wander by Langston Hughes
I recieved this book from my Uncle Donald when I was about thirteen or fourteen. Langston's account of his travels and his descriptions of people and places all over the world from China to Cuba to Tashkent had a profound effect on me.

Before the Mayflower: A History of Black America by Lerone Bennett Jr.
I also recieved this book from my Uncle Lawrence's house. Whenever I would visit him, he would send me off with a big box of books from his library. This was one of them. It is a great history text.

Also worthy of mention:

Sex and Race series by J.A. Rogers

** Any of it may change at any time.

An Endorsement of Daniel Ortega

The evil, wicked United States is trying to sway the Nigcauraguan vote away from leftist, progressive Daniel Ortega. Someone should very much counter this effort and tell the United States to go to hell.

Imagination is the first element of revolution.

I have seen three great films on the independent film channel as of late: Girls Town,The Magdalene Sisters, and Habit.

Ludlow Massacre

by Woody Guthrie

It was early springtime when the strike was on,
They drove us miners out of doors,
Out from the houses that the Company owned,
We moved into tents up at old Ludlow.

I was worried bad about my children,
Soldiers guarding the railroad bridge,
Every once in a while a bullet would fly,
Kick up gravel under my feet.

We were so afraid you would kill our children,
We dug us a cave that was seven foot deep,
Carried our young ones and pregnant women
Down inside the cave to sleep.

That very night your soldiers waited,
Until all us miners were asleep,
You snuck around our little tent town,
Soaked our tents with your kerosene.

You struck a match and in the blaze that started,
You pulled the triggers of your gatling guns,
I made a run for the children but the fire wall stopped me.
Thirteen children died from your guns.

I carried my blanket to a wire fence corner,
Watched the fire till the blaze died down,
I helped some people drag their belongings,
While your bullets killed us all around.

I never will forget the look on the faces
Of the men and women that awful day,
When we stood around to preach their funerals,
And lay the corpses of the dead away.

We told the Colorado Governor to call the President,
Tell him to call off his National Guard,
But the National Guard belonged to the Governor,
So he didn't try so very hard.

Our women from Trinidad they hauled some potatoes,
Up to Walsenburg in a little cart,
They sold their potatoes and brought some guns back,
And they put a gun in every hand.

The state soldiers jumped us in a wire fence corners,
They did not know we had these guns,
And the Red-neck Miners mowed down these troopers,
You should have seen those poor boys run.

We took some cement and walled that cave up,
Where you killed these thirteen children inside,
I said, "God bless the Mine Workers' Union,"
And then I hung my head and cried.

Words and Music by Woody Guthrie

In Profile: Mattie Roper

My great-great grandmother was named Martha/Mattie Roper. Her mother,Caroline Roper, was the white daughter of a methodist minister and her father was a mulatto stud named Greenberry Smith. To look at her, she could have easily passed for a white woman. They say you couldnt tell she had any color until her children came around. I often wonder about her personality. It is also said that she was the best shot in Autauga County and that when her husband would get in his moods and not want to work, she would pick up the plow herself. She was a trained midwife and practiced in natural herbs and rememdies. My grandmother says that when she was a young girl, She would travel around to all of her children's homes loaded with preventive medicines to make sure none of them ever got sick. They say that she always wore pants and I suppose she was quite the tom boy.She and Morgan definitely had an interesting marriage, that I can tell just by the few things I know and have seen. She was born in 1857 and had her first child at 14, King Philip Goodson. She had her last child at 60. It is said that she died during an argument with her husband Morgan. We still have portraits of her. She and Morgan had 15 children that lived to adulthood and left ample property and legacy for their children.

When I was little, my mother and father used to tease me all of the time telling me that hwne I turned 18, I was going to have to join the military. My thoughts were hmm...yea...and then I would also be a bit frightened/not pleased and wonder why it wasnt my sister that would have to go. The prospects of such rigidity never sat well with me and the idea of anyone hollering at me..and I knew I couldnt run anywhere for any length of time and especially at 5 a.m. They loved to torture me like that. I do find it interesting to think about, however, the prospects that exists with other young boys, for as I definitely have never been under the threat of military service, I am sure that is not true for many, many youth.