An Asian woman sits , a pissed look on her face, irate and highly sensitive to the irony of her white husband sitting next to her, whom she can't stand to touch. With knowledge that she is married to her oppressor.

Ella Fitzgerald Nina Simone Nancy Wilson Barbra Streisand Abbey Lincoln Billie Holiday

I wrote a good omelet this morning;-) With tomatoes and onions. It is a very pleasant day outside. Bob Schieffer is a good man.

This is a review I wrote a long time ago...I am laughing while I read it-- You know its true!

Well Well Well
Aug 13 '00 (Updated Jan 20 '02)

Author's Product Rating



Pros
It did not last very long

Cons
I have had my fill of such films

The Bottom Line
Stephen King truly created a horror story, but not an enjoyable one.
Full Review
Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.
I did not want to see The Green Mile at first, but I did finally relent and I watched it one weekend while on vacation. I guess the film was "satisfying" to some. In my opinion, The Green Mile is the White majority's Feel Good About Ourselves film of the year. Here we have this Afro-American fellow who is on death row for a crime he did not commit, and a guard, who finds this out and grows into a "friendship" with the convicted man. "Boss" is really upset because he knows that John didn't do it and he is scared of going to hell because he is going to have to execute this man. "John, What will I say on my judgement day when god asks me why I killed one of his select?" It all works out fine in the end, because John assures him that he won't be punished for killing him, as a matter of fact he is doing him a favor, and then gives him the nod to go ahead and flip the switch. Now if that's not reassuring I don't know what is.

To put a little cherry on top of it all, white people got to feel even better when John apologized for "being what I am," mainly a negro who of course is big, ugly, and dumb, as the script would have it- oh but he can also save people, which is why we consider him our friend, "good ol' John." Maybe if he had've lived he could've been a handyman for "Boss." My my, and they didn't give Michael Clarke Duncan an Oscar. He played his part perfectly.

Recommended
No

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age

The United States Government will NEVER get its hands on Assata Shakur! May God tear this goddamned country apart and set it in flames before anything like that occurs!

Last night I helped Charles with his resume and it was a beautiful time. We will probably do something tonight.

In that I only mean that I should learn to relax more.

Men are interesting....and more than that, people are interesting..... I should get out of my Bette Davis mode.... Perhaps I have seen too many Bette Davis pictures?

That panoptic eye that watches me will dissapear. I have lived under its guise for too long.

Go Amnesty International!

I see someone sitting across from me who looks just like Charles- brown tshirt, baseball cap, tall and lanky. Beautiful.

It was just a few months ago that I met this beautiful, tall, lanky Chicano boy named Charles. he is beautiful, sweet, very tall, good for me, laid back, and great to hang with. I enjoy his company. I enjoy his passion, I enjoy his life, his vivacity. I dont ever want it to change. Things are feeling good. I see someone sitting across from me who looks like him. I am glad our spirits have connected, have met. I want him to be my first..and I want him to deflower me I hope that is what happens. I will share my poetry with him and I want him to share his poetry with me.

I am soo ready to go to the city.....

Songs

Nothing Compares to You

All the Sad Young Men

I love that I can listen to a song on the radio and look up the lyrics online. Maybe I am slow or silly or something, but it makes me absolutely giddy.

Chaka Is God- Papillion Lyrics I Play this song Ten Times in One Sitting

A faded photograph i mailed to you
With feelings i don't want to face
And a long song of surrender in blue
I remember when you took my breath away

Chorus:

Chanson papillon, we were very young
Like butterflies, like hot butterfly
Chanson papillon, we had just begun
We let it slide on by
We didn't realize

All our memories are burning in time
Like a bittersweet perfume


Can you tell me how a love that's so fine
Could have climaxed in a single afternoon

Gone are the days of instant romance
And the nights of slow goodbyes
That was a time of life when foxy was the dance
But then you got wise to all my lies

Chorus

Chanson papillon, chanson
Chanson papillon, chanson
Chanson papillon, chanson
Chanson papillon, chanson

Jimmy Baldwin from The Fire Next Time

The American Negro has the great advantage of having never believed that collection of myths to which white Americans cling: that their ancestors were all freedom-loving heroes, that they were born in the greatest country the world has ever seen, or that Americans are invincible in battle and wise in peace, that Americans have always dealt honorably with Mexicans and Indians and all other neighbors or inferiors, that American men are the world's most direct and virile, that American women are pure

A few days ago Vincente Fox said some disparaging things about Afro-Americans. He does not need to be president of Mexico-- he is too much into Bush and plus, Mexico needs a president with some COLOR-- not one who looks like a white man. We definitely need a Bandung Conference.....

I love Paul Robeson....he was the greatest personification of integrity that ever existed. He is a beautiful man. Also, I want to blog these ten principles that were drawn up at the Bandung Conference( that Robeson was not able to attend, due to the US denying him a passport-bastards). These points are most crucial and relevant today--they should be rules for the world.

1, Respect for fundamental human rights and for the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.
2. Respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations.
3. Recognition of the equality of all races and of the equality of all nations large and small.
4. Abstention from intervention or interference in the internal affairs of another country. (CRUCIAL)
5. Respect for the right of each nation to defend itself singly or collectively, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations.
6. (a)Abstention from the use of arrangements of collective defense to serve the particular interests of any of the big powers.
(b) Abstention by any country from exerting pressures on other countries.
7. Refraining from acts or threats of aggression or the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any country. (CRUCIAL)
8. Settlement of all international disputes by peaceful means, such as negotiations, conciliation, arbitration, or judicial settlement as well as othere peaceful means of the parties' own choice, in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations.
9. Promotion of mutual interests and cooperation.
10. Respect for justice and international obligations.

These principles I wholeheartedly support. On this platform I take my stand.

Alas, I think these principles are sooo very crucial now and need to be brought to the forefront. I would love to see another Bandung Conference- as well as a Pan-African conference (where is DuBois?). Paul Robeson's most wonderful assessment of the Bandung Conference is only the second account of this conference that I have read. The other is that of Malcolm X. It is interesting that both of these men hail the success of this conference, and indeed it was successful-- as immediately after it-- in 1957 (the conference was in '55)Ghana gained its independence, and then African and Asian countries by the DOZENS started to fight and demand and WIN their independence from Colonialism--- and sociaism became the sentiment of the day. We need it to happen again. We need the dialogue between the colored peoples of the world to rise to the forefront again so that we may strategize ways to ward off the evils of Globalism and Imperialism. This is a most immediate need.

One of the things that has truly shaped me and the crux of what I believe and how I operate has been my response to what my grandmother told me, on several occasions. My grandmother, with some sort of pride or something much less than remorse, would tell me of how when my mother was in Catholic School, at one point a nun made a point of telling the class that my mother was in that Black people were Black because God put a curse on them. When my mother refuted this statement and then declared that just the opposite was true- that whites were white because of a curse, the scene escalated until they sent my mother home and told her to not return until she found the passage in the Bible that refuted this statement. My mother went home and frantically called her grandfather, the Bible expert, and they located the passage--in Exodus I believe, where they spoke of how Miriam was turned white after she had sinned.

My mother took that passage back to school and the powers that be were mumed, and sore to have been displaced by a Black girl (teenager). Well, that just put my mother in the dog house as far as those nuns and the Catholic School went. When it came time to go to college, my mother wanted to go to Kentucky State (my Aunt Carolyn's alma mater). Well, when time came, the school "forgot" to send my mothers school records to Kentucky State--- and it was clearly a matter of their gripes about the previous incident. My mother went home and told my grandmother of it and my Grandmother's response to her was "You shouold have kept your mouth shut."

Everytime my grandmother would tell me this, I would get infuriated to hell. Goddamn that. Lord please thank you that it wasnt me. Because I would have probably kicked my grandmother's ass and then proceeded to tear that school (St. Michael's on the North of Chicago).Now granted, my mother didnt suffer much from it-- she enrolled at Miles in Birmingham and did her studies there--and didnt seem to adverse to it. But still. If I wanted it, I would have had it and no white bitch and my grandmother would have stopped me from having it. From that day forward I do believe that is when I took the position that nobody would ever stand in my way or do anything to me with out me opening my mouth. I believe it was then that I decided to speak and Speak and SPEAK and goddamn it I will be heard! I cannot believe my grandmother. But alas, I never said she was the most progressive person in the world. God forbid.... I still shake and tremble when I think about it.

Happy Birthday Barbra!!!

Oh My God, April Just passed and I forgot completely about Barbra Streisand's birthday! Happy Birthday Barbra!!! 4/24/42!!!!

Alas, to add to the previous post...the role of Edmund in Shakespeare's King Lear is definitely something to look at in relation to the Afro-American population in this country.It ought to spark some thought....

I have just begun reading Paul Robeson's Here I stand-just getting through the three introductions, and I am very much immersed in it. I would like to stop and do some analysis though. I very much love Paul Robeson, he is wonderful,magnificent, a God. Alas, I must detract from some of his tactics. At one point in his introduction, he states very plainly that he is an American. He goes about stating that he is an American and that he is one and will remain tied to this country/land despite all of the bad things that have been done to him, and despite the fact that this country is lead by forces of pure evil.I must detract from that with a statement that has certainly gotten me into trouble more than a few times, and that is, that I am not an American.

I am an Afro-American. I am not an American, because I very much believe that the word "American" (unless it is all encompassing--meaning Canadians and Mexicans,as well as the people that live in this country-- a context in which it is rarely used) is most definitely synonymous with "white." I further this conclusion by stating that one cannot be an American without being a full citizen of this country. To be a citizen requires that one has full protection under the law. As an Afro-American, and especially as an Afro-American male, this is not the case. Therefore, I am not a citizen ( ask Amadou Diallo's mother).

Alas, I will also state that I am an Afro-American. I am not an African American, for I have never been to Africa, was not born there, and I am not African. I am an Afro-American, because the essence of ME is from Africa- the legacy of my ancestry, is from Africa. The imprint of my skin is from Africa. I am also Afro-American because not only is my legacy from Africa, but my heritage is from here in this country-- we as a people are the bastard children of the White Power structure. There are virtually no people of color descended from American slaves that don't have white ancestry (and so called white people need to look down their family tree as well). And even more so than bloodlines, culturally, socially, economically, and politically-- we are the bastard children of the White Male Power structure in the United States.

Everything we have learned,and I do not intend to essentialize, everything we know, the entire context in which we live has been defined by the Great White Father. And before we are EVER to make any kind of progress, and before we are EVER to attain any kind of REAL footing, we will have to deal with that reality. We cannot return Africa, we cannot become kings and queens. Before we can fully come into our connection with the whole of the African Diaspora and really appreciate the richness of our African past, we must contend with what we have to deal with here in this country. We have to get our act together and try to figure out why we are still begging the power structure for that which we should already have. We have to deal with the fact of our powerlessness here in this country (yet we do have potential).

We need to look at examples of people's who have come into their full integrity, who accomplished self-attainment and were self-sufficient as a people. Dr. John Henrik Clarke told us we should study the example of the Japanese after World War II and look at the way in which they rose from their most terrible defeat. I also say we should look at the Irish, and how they rose from being "white niggers" to having John F. Kennedy elected president and being the powerbrokers of Chicago, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and other areas. We as a people have to deal with this. We are enslaved not only physically and politically, but also psychologically and at the very depths of our beings. We were taught from our earliest experiences here in this country to devalue our hair, our nose, our skin color, our bodies. We were made to love and to value European ideals and standards, to accept them and to operate under the living conditions offered up by them. This deserves and is in need of TOTAL ERADICATION. In order to preserve our lives and our legacies, we have to begin to understand, know, and appreciate ourselves.

I want to write about the connections between music and progressive politics....which was soo prevalent less than thirty years ago and is still here today--only on a smaller scale. Real connections that promoted dialoque and effected change--connections between the Isley Brothers and Nikki Giovanni, Aretha Franklin offering to bail Angela Davis out of jail, Harry Belafonte buying life insurance policies for Martin Luther King....

In the music of Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke, the Temptations, the Isley Brothers, Aretha Franklin,Mavis Staples and the Staples Singers, and all of the Black Artists that were soo very prominent in the 1960s and 1970s, their music carried a message and spoke to the progressive voices of the poets, activists, and political figures that were outspoken and so very much heard and felt at that time. The summer fests in Chicago, which featured the Isleys, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and others-- these festivals brought hordes of Black people together under one sun, under one stage and yes, it was the height of artistry and beautiful artistic expression, at the same time, it was also highly political--and sent messages of unity, self-love, self-appreciation, and spiritual,political, and soul force.

Music is always a part of any movement and helps to inspire the people. From Paul Robeson singing the Internationale over Moscow and spirituals over the US, to Mahalia Jackson and her friendship with Studs Terkel as well as lending her voice to the Civil Rights Movement, to James Brown and "Say it Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud," Aretha Franklin singing at Martin Luther King's Funeral, Nina Simone marching with Stokely Carmichael and Martin Luther King and castrating many a white man with her voice... "Alabama's got me so upset, Tennesee made me loose my rest, but everybody knows about Mississippi Goddamn!" This connection is crucial, is lifeblood and must continually be nurtured.

The Right has its own vehicles-- from Britanny Spears (trash) to Brooks and Dunn and stupid little Tobey Kieth person... but we who are concerned with humanity must make sure that ours doesnt continue to be eroded and silenced.... We have had connections with voices such as Public Enemy in the 90s, Rass Kass, and more recently, collaborations between Jill Scott and Sonia Sanchez, but these efforts are few and far between. We need to make sure that the music is there to inspire. The wealth of artistry and message has been deflated by attacks from the right and from the overbearing powers that be. We must eliminate that factor. Even today, I was listening to NPR as some right wing pundit reported that with the removal of the right to filibuster, the voices of dissent and of progress will naturally become compliant and silence their efforts towards letting their voices be heard. NEVER!!! As god as my witness as long as Aretha Franklin's voice is to be heard and as long as Black skin is to be seen on this continent the voice of progress will NEVER be silent!!!

God I miss Jazz and the music of the city.....

John Coltrane was a magic man....I could live, die, everything off of that man and hus music....

I love June Jordan's laugh. I hate I will never hear her voice. She is the most beautiful person, full of integrity and strength.

Today, I carried Nikki into the ceremony with me (THat is Giovanni). She provided blessings and sacraments...... Nikki is my sister's name and Nikki is my sister.

I am surrounded by such wonderful people! Susan is incredible, wonderful, and most reassuring. I don't care if Im living on the street... I am totally blessed to be surrounded and given a guiding hand by such great people.

Confession

I have not been nice to Erik, at times I have been downright mean- and I believe I had my reasons. Still, in this climate we all need to stick together. I know that. Alas, I do have much Goodson blood in my system and I am related to my Uncle Lawrence.LOL. Oh Lord, as Larry said when he spoke over my Uncle at his funeral-- " All of you knew my father pretty well, I believe many of you have been cursed out by my father at one time or another." Lord have mercy, its Goodson blood. But that said, and more seriously, perhaps I am just stubborn, pigheaded, wrongheaded, or what have you-- but I believe in progress and I don't condone or want to take part in anything that I see that goes against it. Not that I judge-- I so wholly don't.. I believe in live and let live... but I won't align myself with certain things when I see how it is set up, what kind of situation it is, and I don't think it is right. That I share with my uncle-and everybody else who believes in integrity. I won't condone it--and nine times out of ten I will tell you what I think. Anyway, there is too much politics involved and I don't wish to go into it here, but I believe in integrity. That is said and done.

I Was Laughing and then I Almost Cried

I was doing a search for one of my former professors--googled his name and came up with a site- which was not him and which I was beginning to laugh about until I read it. This is what I found.
Kenneth Deal

I found some stuff about A.G. Gaston online. (its Gaston, not Gadsden... I got it wrong in earlier post).

Quiz

You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational. Cultural Creative 100% Postmodernist 88% Romanticist 50% Materialist 38% Idealist 38% Fundamentalist 31% Existentialist 25% Modernist 19% What is Your World View? created with QuizFarm.com

I wrote this as a response, I liked it so I am blogging it.

I can very much relate to this...and so can probably most all other people of color/minorities. We do walk on eggshells (some of us do, some of us have learned better) when in the presence of white people-- watch what we say, how we act, adhere to the "codes of conduct" that are graciously offered by civilization. I think though, we really do need to overcome this--and all of our fears and insecurities and speak with open mouths and flailing tongues. Jimmy Baldwin in the lecture that he gave at UC Berkeley said at one point " I have drunk my fair share of dry martinis...and now I have decided that I might as well act like a Nigger." Power and Politics are a very very intense game, some of us learn this game from the get go-- some of us catch on later. Alas, we all have to negotiate where and at what point we are willing to "let things exist as they are."

Tonight Sheila and Frank met my parents. When the conversation got to why my grandmother and my aunts and uncles moved to Chicago-- my mother got scared. She is afraid and does not want anything to do with the political, for sure. My grandmother, I dont know, who possesses something--though certainly still a disdain for the political-- will tell the story-- to anyone. Alas, My uncle, Sterling(Fess) McDavid, was a very powerful man there in Autauga County-- principal of the Black School, and under his administration, Autaugaville was THE best school in Autauga county-- much better than the white ones. The white people resented him for it, and it especially did not help the case that he took his own initiative, did things the way he wanted to and in many instances simply pissed white people off. That said, they couldn't touch the man and he was very much revered and to this day you can go to Autauga County and people speak his name with much reverance.

Autaugaville, under his administration, had typewriters and other conveniences that were current during that time-- when the white schools couldnt even think of them. Also, he had people coming in from Tuskegee to teach not only those who were his pupils, but also the people of the community-- new and better ways of farming, domestic issues, medicine,etc etc. His was a community enriching program and what he did for Autaugaville High School benefited the entire community. I think it is most impressive and it is highly likely that it is not replicated in too many other places that out of his rural,Southern school came not only numerous college graduates-- but people with Master's Degrees and Doctorates and who went on to become doctors and teachers and lawyers. This was during my grandmother's time and the time of my Uncle Lawrence and Aunt Betty.

Fess' first wife was Mary Foster McDavid, whom I talked about earlier and who was the president of the National PTA for a while. They also had a school in Montgomery named after her. Alas, he married my Aunt Bertie at some point (as my aunt told it, Mrs. McDavid the first handpicked her as Mrs. McDavid the second. My Aunt Bertie went to school under Fess McDavid as well. And alas, there were, as I said two "Fess's-" Fess McDavid and Fess Goodson (Macaulay Ware)-- who was my great-grandmother's brother.

Alas, when Fess died in 1963 (I am not certain if that is right, but it was before 65 I know), the white superintendent of schools decided to have his revenge. Fess had been principal of Autaugaville High School for god- fifty years when he died. Fess Goodson had been Principal of another Black School in the area-- Holy Ark ( and he hired my Aunt Earnestine) and eventually, before Fess McDavid's death, it stood that Fess Goodson was principal at Holy Ark, he was principal at Autaugaville, my Aunt Earnestine (the oldest of my great grandmother's children) was principal of Friendship--and had been for twenty years, and my grandmother and my Aunt Bertie were teachers under Fess McDavid. When Fess died he handpicked his successor(as principal), however, the white superindentent didn't take long-- not even a year in not giving the prinipalship to the one he picked as his successor(putting in someone who would do his business for him)and then firing my Aunt Bertie and my grandmother. Also, he removed my Aunt Earnestine from her principalship. My Aunt Bertie went to Chicago and my grandmother soon followed.

My grandmother tells the story--has told it many times. There was a house for the principal out on the property of Autaugaville School, and Fess(McDavid) and my Aunt Bertie lived there. My grandmother tells it, that when he died, the white superintendent came out to the house and told my Aunt Bertie "you can stay here in the house if you like, the new principal's gonna stay in prattville. And make sure you bring your sister here to live with you." Now, as my grandmother tells it, this particular superintendent was known to like Black women, and not only that but certain people who I know myself it has been told got their jobs because of that--and also got jobs for their husbands. Anyway, my grandmother said when he told my Aunt Bertie that, she said my aunt starting moving from the house that night.

My Aunt Bertie, my Grandmother, my Aunt Betty, my Aunt Johnnie (who taught me), and my Uncle Archie, all lived in Chicago when I came along. All but Archie taught there ( he taught at one point, but in Ohio. He took up social work in Chicago-- and pulled my mother into that field).My Aunt Earnestine stayed in Alabama. My Uncle Lawrence taught school in Enterprise Alabama for a while (he never taught in Autauga County), but then he started working for the government.And My Aunt Sadie ran two day care centers in Birmingham (where she kept that little bitch, Condoleeza Rice), started Head Start Programs(got my Uncle Lawrence involved in it- which lead to his work with the government), designed clothes, and was a very industrious woman ( as well as having an affair with A.G. Gadsden (who had known my great grandfather when they were teenagers. My mother speaks quite frankly and bitterly about she and her cousin having to go out on the porch when Mr. Gadsden would come over).

All but my Aunt Earnestine were schooled under the tutelage of Fess McDavid (my Aunt Earnestine went to school in Clanton). My Aunt Earnestine had two Master's Degrees and worked on her doctorate, my grandmother has her bachelor's and worked on her Master's,My Aunt Johnnie and my Aunt Betty both have two Master's Degrees-- one a piece in Education and Library Science (they went to school together and helped each other),My Aunt Sadie had her Bachelor's,My Uncle Lawrence had his Bachelor's, and my Uncle Archie had multiple Bachlor's degrees in various fields including Biology and Social Work ( he stayed in school for twenty years and had seven majors and four minors--all degreed). This is my legacy and this is part of where I come from-- teachers and farmers, educators, and social workers.

Charles is sweet and beautiful. Very real. I had a good time last night...and the exploring continues.... he is magnificent....in every way.....

I just finished typing up my Play!!

Tonight I can't even sleep. I am restless...and I feel that the universe is coming together for me in some kind of way.The urgency of it is in my bones and I can't close my eyes-- I feel the need to get up and MOVE.The breeze outside is beautiful and Joao Gilberto is playing in my ears--- syncopation is the word of the night.

Don't ever tell me that Place doesn't matter. That is simply not TRUE. Place DOES matter!!! I am soo glad I got to the city today. I felt soo good and felt alive and in the land of the living. I hate lafayette, it lives in death, is stagnant-- I need progress. I soo empathized with Nicole Kidman's adaptation of Virginia Woolf.....what she said about needing a certain environment Rings true with me.... I want the city, I need the city....and I am going....

People enter into academia for one of two reasons-- to explore and create intellectual dialogue or to assimilate into the power structure. The great thoughts that are found coming from the words of people like bell hooks and Cornel West, who represent the intellectual academe and the celebrity of academia,help to shape at least part of the dialogue that can be found on the national and international scene. These individuals have sharpened their voices in order to render messages to the masses that are meant to help bring about profound and fundamental change in humanity and the way in which the world operates.

These figures use the stepping stool of the academy to buffer their entrance into the realm of public influence.When Cornel West is called a public intellectual, this means that his scholarship is geared towards enriching humanity and making better the conditions under which people are forced to exist.In that light, people such as bell hooks and Cornel West serve as the conscience of the nation,constantly reminding them of their humanity and their responsibilities to it. You can tell this, because their language is simplified, it is meant to be absorbed by masses, consumed and put to use in their everyday lives. Oftentimes, the academy becomes quite secondary to this urge to spread the manna of knowledge and thought among the people. It encompasses what Cornel West calls parrhesia—the act of speaking simply—fearless and unintimidated speech.

This is the language of not only intellect, but especially that of the public intellectual. This is the most useful aspect of the academy. To look at all of the voices that have come up through the academy and who now have taken their place as public intellectuals--- besides hooks and West, Michelle Wallace, Henry Louis Gates, Howard Zinn, Germaine Greer, Angela Davis, Ward Churchill, Noam Chomsky,Kimberley Williams Crenshaw, John Henrik Clarke. It is in this spirit that Cornel West delivered his talk “Revitalizing Democracy At Home and Abroad” at the the Commonwealth Club.

Cornel says....it used to be hip to be willing to die for a cause....where has that gone? God forbid. There is no such thing as something to live for anymore.

Cornel West is Brilliant

Bush and History

Do you agree with or even acknowledge George Bush's interpretation of the Yalta Conference http://www.sptimes.com/2005/05/08/Worldandnation/Bush__Yalta_led_to_re.shtml ? I am sure this man didn't even know what Yalta was until Lynne Cheney told him about it--and I don't doubt for a second that this entire thing is backed by the American Enterprise Institute.I do not wish to be a Bush commentator...as I would much prefer not to be a reactionist to his rhetoric, but a force for revolutionary change that will topple everything that he stands for, of which he is only a small petty figure in the middle of the scene.

Papillion....that song does something to me.....and I love it. There is just a vibe, a feeling from Chaka and from a lot of music I listen to that just provides a wave on which I ride and it just sends my soul into shivering, estatic pleasure.

Ok... I dont know how I just put the links at the end there...but wonderful....

God I Love Chaka .......

I look in your eyes and I can see
We’ve loved so dangerously
You’re not trusting your heart to anyone
You tell me you’re gonna play it smart
We’re through before we start
But I believe that we’ve only just begun

When it’s this good, there’s no saying no
I want you so, I’m ready to go

Chorus:
Through the fire
To the limit, to the wall
For a chance to be with you
I’d gladly risk it all
Through the fire
Through whatever, come what may
For a chance at loving you
I’d take it all the way
Right down to the wire
Even through the fire

I know you’re afraid of what you feel
You still need time to heal
And I can help if you’ll only let me try
You touch me and something in me knew
What I could have with you
Well I’m not ready to kiss that dream goodbye

When it’s this sweet, there’s no saying no
I need you so, I’m ready to go

Chorus

Through the test of time

Chorus

Through the fire, to the limit
Through the fire, through whatever
Through the fire, to the limit
Through the fire, through whatever

I have started, wanted to, and not done anything more with the idea of writing about Black artists and intellectuals, and other figures that left the united states and went to france- some not to come back. I want to do some serious work with that one-- looking at Nina Simone, James Baldwin, RIchard Wright, Eartha Kitt, Chaka Khan, Josephine Baker, Katherine Dunham, Mary Wells..... and others that I might run across. I am definitely interested in exploring that pattern....

I am SO glad I bought this Chaka Khan CD. IT just takes me oh so back and over and out. I simply adore Chaka Khan!! I could float up to heaven with Chaka Khan.....

Wisdom comes in so many forms and God places things to grow from in some very interesting ways. Riding the bus, I came across this older man-- who looked a little gruffy--like one of the many many something or other people that ride the Lafayette City Buses--dirty, shabby-the look of severe poverty (and I so hope I don't speak with class snobbishness). Anyway, I noticed that he worse three or four turquoise rings and I asked him about them. He embarked upon and shared with me a beeautiful story agbout his mother and the rings-- and the one gold pinky ring that he wore on his index finger that belonged to his grandfather. I hope that am always open to learn from every avenue possible. I want to learn and I want to grow. The more I learn the less I know. Alas, I also want to be of use to humanity. From the poem that was said at my Aunt Bertie's funeral "Let me live in a house by the side of the road and be a friend to men."

GREG SALYER IS GOING TO BE A PROFESSOR AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.taemag.com/issues/articleID.17297/article_detail.asp

Sally Satel and Christina Hoff Summers are two bitches that need to go to hell..... To put it bluntly. Jewish women (who most probably think of themselves as white, but thats another story) trying to uphold "American Values" and save the United States.... Whatever, go to hell. No explanation needed. WHERE IS NINA SIMONE WHEN YOU NEED HER???!!! And the frightening thing is that this is the new American Normalcy---not that American normalcy was ever anything good....god DIDNT THE SIXTIES GET RID OF THAT---I thought the fifties were shot, but they resurfaced in the nineties...now everyone has their "acceptable codes" which are the rules which are required by society. Fuck that shit... plain and simple using every bit of teutonic language and words to express that you can take your white establishment ass and go to hell. Come in this corner and you might get your ass kicked. I will not be absorbed by your stultifying and stagnating bullshit normalcy. Normalcy will loose its penis......and Benjamin Franklin and George Washington ALL will float down into the nothingness of forgotten history..... I don't give a fuck about your apple tree.

The American Enterprise Institute has the money! Castrate!

I think it is time for the left to start focusing its money around that which they believe. Put your money where your mouth is.

Why does the left not have any money? That is a topic that needs to be explored.

Anti-Intellectualism is Evil.

My Intellectual Bearings

There are always those forces that try to invalidate my voice. To belittle or negate my thoughts, to make light of my intellect. I am here to state that that will not ever happen. Power politics are a draining and non-life-generating game, but nonetheless we have all, who are progressive, played it at one point or another. Being here at Purdue reminds me of what Germaine Greer had to say about her first teaching job somewhere in the North of England.The experiences and the sentiments are oh so similar. I absolutely adore Germaine Greer. Alas, I have been able to keep grounded throughout both Alabama AND Indiana because I have all of these magnificent voices that speak to me and that just resonate with me in my soul....and which are my reassurance and which keep me connected to my soul. Alice Walker, June Jordan, Germaine Greer,Barbra Streisand (perhaps my earliest singular experience--meaning The Color Purple was probably earlier, but I wasn't really all that aware of THE PERSON Alice Walker....I was aware of Barbra Streisand), Angela Davis, Assata Shakur,bell hooks, Elaine Brown....everybody that I have read about, come into contact with, responded to....

That said, I am probably more well-read than most people. I have written about my experience of reading a few times, but I have never really expanded on it fully. I was soo very fortunate to have grown up in a household where books were at my fingertips, where people read... I feel for those who don't have that... That said, from the time I was perhaps out of the womb I was surrounded by words-- I read by the time I was two and a half, spoke first in full sentences,and I ran my mother crazy trying to write in cursive when I was perhaps about four as I tried to copy what everyone else was writing. Alas, I started telling stories as well....and was a writer by the time I was five. My favorite stories were Cinderella(;-),Goldilocks, and the Three Little Pigs.

I moved from that to reading Anne of Green Gables in the third grade ( I was Anne of Green Gables for two years)and Jackie Collins, Danielle Steele, and Father Greeley by the time I was in the fourth. I read literally everything I got my hands on- hand me downs from my mother and sister, the encyclopedias, the phone book ( at one point), and literally everything else. With that, in the seventh grade I had my first encounter with Milton, at which point I thought he was perhaps the most brilliant man (on the wrong presumption that he was blind when he wrote Paradise Lost and that I was fascinated with his characterization of the hero--it was totally up my alley. I am not so fond of Milton anymore...for many reasons). I then went through,in this order, a french period and a Russian period, in which I read everything french--- I remember some play-- I dont remember, I think it was Camus maybe--but one of the things I read was some play about the planets and the stars---thats all I remember at this point, and I also read Mme Bovary,etc etc. Then I moved on and read Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, War and Peace,and a few others.

From then on, I was basically reading everything I touched-- The Prince of Tides ( and not only because of the Barbra factor) and Stephen King's IT really stick out to me from that period-- I was then in the eighth grade. In High School, what I read doesnt come to me as well(hmm, what a cloud over that period), ahh but I do remember I really got into Corrie Ten Boom at one point ( this was my brief religious moment, but I still adore Corrie Ten Boom-- and what she stood for and the dignity and integrity which she and her family possessed I so much still admire. Their religion I respect and very much can feel something for.) Alas, I do remember the required reading which I read in between sophomore and Junior year for my AP American History course (with the wonderful Mrs. Lawrence) was The Glory and the Dream. All I can say is, that book knocked me out of my world. It was an engaging book and was as chatty and gossipy as Jackie Collins and as historical and informative as most anything I have encountered.

In 98, my senior year of high school,on my trip to England and Ireland, at one point during my visit, I was sooo bored and walked to a used book store to find something to read. My choice was between something by John Irving ( I had pcied up, read, and absolutely LOVED The World According to Garp previously--GO Jenny Fields!)and Possessing the Secret of Joy by Alice Walker. Now, I had just read The Color Purple not even a year before(even though I had seen the film--had been seeing the film, over and over again, since it came out) and I was itching to read something else by Alice. I bought Possessing, took it back to my hotel room and started to read. I read it all through dinner and went back to my room reading the book and did not put it down until I finished it at 4 a.m. that next morning, and afterwards I sat there and cried. It was beautiful. I will never forget that experience.

That said, there have been other books that have left their marks, really major ones in some instances, on me and that have informed my intellect, my thought processes, and my spirit. I have written somewhere else of how when I was thirteen, my Uncle Donald (my father's brother) gave me a copy of Langston Hughes' I Wander as I Wander, and that book made my imagination soar and whet my appetite for many things, including travel. Alas, somewhere between my freshman and sophomore years of High School, I pulled W.E.B. DuBois's Souls of Black Folk off of my Uncle Lawrence's bookshelf and THAT book set my world a turning. I thus became a DuBoisian scholar, which has been the basis for all of my intellectual knowledge and pursuits from that point on. I became thorougly compelled and drawn into the Realms of Double Consciousness. I read along the way, still in High School-- and in the development of my Black Consciousness and my awareness as an Africana person, Lerone Bennett Jr.'s work on African Civilizations, Richard Wrights, Native Son and Black Boy,Relph Ellison's Invisible Man, Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun and a couple of other works, and quite a few other texts by Black authors.

One book that keeps popping up in my brain as I write this is Lillian Hellman's autobiographical work, Pentimento. I had loved Jane Fonda's portrayal of her in Julia ( and I LOVE that film and Vanessa Redrave) and had proceeded to read Pentimento sometime during High School. It did leave quite an impression on me. I had also, by this point, read tons of histories on every subject just about--and knew more than I perhaps was aware of about the French Revolution, European History in general, and other things. I was also an expert in European Royalty (as is, was my mother--one of the interests we shared). I also have read many, many autobiographies and biographies.

In college,my freshman year, thanks and all praise to Chella Courington (lord lord lord what can we say about Chella) I was introduced to feminist theory as I skipped my German class almost every damned day and went and sat in on her Feminist Theory course where I read Helene Cixous, Julie Kristeva,Derrida, and others--my introduction to Deconstruction and Post-Structuralism. I was the exceptional odd child always. After that, I remember The Handmaid's Tale really was a permanent shock to my system-- and I adore Margaret Atwood always. A little bit before Atwood, I had read something called Waterland,which really left an impression on me. Later in college, Salman Rushdie's most wonderful and infamous book The Satanic Verses made my mouth water.I then tried something of his about Morroco, I dont remember what it was as I did not finish the book. During my junior year, I got into Baldwin (oh Jimmy), and I read Giovanni's room by myself and Rebecca and I read most of Another Country together. I think I had read "Going to Meet the Man" already by that point(what a hot, little story that is).

I also read my first major text by Audre Lorde-- Zami, as well as several works by Mab Segrest and Adrienne Rich (who's Slit at the Root I encountered only AFTER I had decided on a title for my Capstone project--which leads to the eerieness of the connection there. OH GOD, I cannot leave this essay without talking about the point in my junior at which my most wonderful and dear friend Wanda (that most profound and beautiful soul)gave ME her personal copies of Elaine Brown's A Taste of Power and Assata Shakur's Autobiography. I read them both over a weekend period at a College Bowl tournament. I believe I cried. I love both of them. I have continued to encounter beautiful, inspiring, enriching, and enlightening texts. Texts which have informed the way I live my life, have shaped my attitudes, my ideology, my outlook, my vision, my desires..... Books have played an incredible role in shaping and forming that which is me. I have enjoyed everything from the wit and socialism of G.B. Shaw to the motherly warmth of Alice Walker, the wry jewishness of Neil Simon to the raw lessons of humanity in Margaret Atwood. Books are worlds within themselves. They can inspire, inform, intrigue, and possess you.

I hate wasting my days....

Last night I was at Vienna and I saw a Middle Eastern woman that looked just like my Aunt Johnnie. I have seen the faces of my relatives in many different peoples--Mexicans, Native Americans, Koreans, Chinese, other Asian ethnicities, Pacific Islanders, and white...It is interesting how people mirror each other....

It would be sooo totally interesting to get B.K. into my bed.... Today, it was almost a possibility if someone hadn't come in and sat down.... Hmmm....perhaps we shall make another attempt....

I love Datempo jazz...... I could certainly use jazz as life support if ever I needed to...it is life blood..... Oftentimes, I am faced with forces that try to restrict or contain me, which I resist to the utmost. I resist these with all of my being and they wear on my soul and constantly keep me in need of rejuvenation, replenishment. My creativity persists throughout, even though there are hands grabbing to pull it back, to stifle it, to muffle my voice. DIScombobulaTed. I will live, my voice will be heard, and I will speak truth in all of my words, thoughts, and actions. My truth. Deliberately, with passion, with candor, and with the urgency of my wit and will.

Something I wrote that I will work with later

I am just back from my conference in Cleveland. I had a wonderful time. Everything was good at the conference, and I was defintiely glad to meet up with Susan and actually see her face to face. Definitely not who I envisioned her to be. I made some great friends and contacts there and I think my first time in cleveland definitely sits well with me. Other than that crackhead woman, bj, that Shane sent me to the hotel with. I tell you, she seemed to me to be the representative of some earth force that was telling me that there was still the possiblity and the real presence of it on earth. I mean her language was terribly poetic and she spoke with the possession that speaks of the devil, especially according to some. The ride back from Cleveland was good, comforting.. I had some people to talk to, three throughout the trip, and I was able to rest and recompose. All is well in my world, at least for now.
Brandon

Bell got her PH.D at Santa Cruz! I am SOOO SOO GOING there now.

Steve Cain is such a wonderfully progressive man. I should go over to the Wesley Foundation more often. To think- - discussions on Marxism and Liberation THeology IN THE CHURCH(Not that that is something that is unheard of --but in INDIANA and in THIS ENVIRONMENT YES!!!!)

Observations While Listening to Toni and Cornel

Toni made mention of have a REAL INTEGRITY! I love her.... Cornel said "...but when your children are crying and mine are doing alright," my heart leapt and I said "Go ahead brother!" Earlier, Toni mentioned the anarchy in jazz-- I wanted to jump for Joy! There are definitely reasons why I love Toni and Cornel quite deeply (although, for some reason, I hold Toni at a close distance, but still she touches my soul). Thats what I have observed thus far.

On Listening to Cornel West and Toni Morrison

I am sitting here listening and watching Toni Morrison and Cornel West in conversation on the internet....and as I look into Toni's face as she speaks,her voice and her body re-minds me of my great-grandmother....However, I must critique some of what she says....I think her assessment of violence is a bit too simplistic. She mentions Mandela in her list of those exemplary of "nonviolent methods," but Mandela in his "I am Prepared to Die," address even gave his reasonings for why the South African liberation movement turned from their more non-violent methods to modes of organized and reasoned violent actions against oppression. I do not think that violence is the tool of immediate use--and I don't believe in any kind of brute force. However, as Alice Walker stated in regards to her assessment of what occurred on September 11th, violence is always with us, it is a fact of life.

This is not to justify violence the repression of the state, this is simply a statement of the circumstances in which we exist. That said, I believe it is incumbent for all to strive for peace and a peaceful environment for all human beings. However, along with that peace, there must be justice--hence the rally yell "No Justice NO PEACE!!" I believe what the proponents of nonviolence must and NEED do firstly, as a means of achieving a sure and all encompassing peace--is address the violence of oppression and the violence of oppressive hierarchies and institutions. What tends to happen as the message of Nonviolence is spread (which is mostly co-opted by the Power structure to quell dissent and revolutionary movement= the message of Dr. King, the most beloved now that he is dead, has ceased to be a nonracist, egalitarian society with the basic necessities of life ensured for people of all classes and their dignity,integrity, and humanity intact, has been reduced to " Dr. King preached NONVIOLENCE." (It is funny to think of the great big white man screaming down to his rebellious young (colored) children) "Remember! Dr. King preached NONVIOLENCE!"- Right, you want to keep your position and don't want anyone to kick your ass;-) At anyrate, a critique of the Violence within the POWER Structure and OF the Power structure and of hierarchies in general is what is needed within the nonviolent movement--and I think the Patriarchy Project spearheaded by Betty Reardon may play a part in that.

The issues of how the power structure is violent not only in terms of militarism and the sometimes even murderous machinations of the state as far as dissent and opposition go, but also the violence that is inherent in poverty, in racism, in sexism, in classism, in the ghetto conditions in which more and more people (and especially children) are forced, and in the violence that is imbued into the culture of this country that is more and more being played out in incidents such as Columbine, Abu Gharib (and there are a lot of issues concerning the violence imbedded in the tradition and history of this country and what occurred at Abu Gharib). This violence and the way that it trickles down into the meat of society and affects each and every person that comes into contact with it-- whether it be a mother trapped in the ghetto who's child is hungry and can't be guaranteed a full stomach, or the lengths and extent to which hierarchies will go in order to maintain the status quo--this is the violence that must be addressed in the nonviolent movement.

It is not a search for power that drives violent retaliation against oppressive hegemonies, it is a visceral struggle to survive that inspires revolutionary, violent activity(And the difference between revolution and violence must be made, because the two are not synonymous).Violence is a tool of last resort, but one cannot and should not condemn such beautiful struggles for dignity and liberation such as the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa and the Sandinista movement in Nicauragua. These struggles efforts of resistance are beautiful and inspiring.

Indeed, the beauty and integrity of the Black Power Movement and the Black Arts Expressionist Movement in the 1960s is rich and overflowing in the examples set by these movements for the struggle for humanity, integrity, and dignity. As Toni says in this dialogue, "There was a time in this country when art, education, and writing were a revolutionary act." Indeed this revolutionary zeal is what is witnessed when June Jordan states in her "Owed to Eminem,"

but nobody's dumb
enough to believe that you grieve
because folks
can't conceive that you more than a
moron
or why would you whore on
the hole in your sole?

At this stage of my rage
I'm a sage so I know how you blow
to the left then the right and you maim
every Columbine game about "No!
Cuz he's white!"

But I am that I am
and I don't give a damn
and you mess with my jam
and I'll kill you
I will!

and also in her poem "Poem About My Rights"

I am not wrong, wrong is not my name.
My name is my own my own my own,
and I can't tell you who in the hell set things up like this,
but I can tell you that from now on,
in my simple and daily and nightly existence,
in my very self-determination, it may very well
cost you your life.

This is the language of revolution. It is not violent, it is not oppressive- it is the language of self-attainment and the commitment to respect for the right to human dignity and human self-determination the world around.

You have GOT to LISTEN to June!!!!!!

June Jordan

Link to Amiri Baraka

God You must listen to this! Amiri Baraka " Somebody Blew Up America!"

Amiri Baraka

We need radical revolutionary change in this world. What happened to the spirits like Sonia Sanchez (who's face is burning in my mind right now)? Amiri Baraka?

I turned on my television tonight for the first time in ages...there wsa some show on CBS about a pedophile... I have seen quite a few shows like that on tv--cop dramas...this country is sick.....

I am just now looking at a picture book with illustrations of Josephine Baker and other scenes from the Cafe Au Lait period of Paris.... Beautiful....

I am reading bell hook's Where We Stand: Class Matters...and am in the section where she is talking about poor whites and white trash (a distinction I have failed to make up til this point).Some of her pronouncements are interesting....but her discussion of certain things put me in the mindset of my own family and its dealings with "white trash." IT is sort of odd, or perhaps not odd, but just untalked about- the nature of small, southern towns...but the racial dynamics in them are something worth and that NEED to be talked about. To give an example,when I was going to Prattville High School, there were two boys that went there, both named Michael Rawlinson-- one was black and the other was white. Both were related to me and were related to each other. That said, the Deramuses(me) are related to more than their fair share of poor white trash--- we didn't get to be related to too many high brow white people as is the experience of many other Blacks;-) But alas, one of the stories that has intriqued me the most is how my mother used to tell me when she was a little girl, this white woman would come to her grandmother's back door (she didnt want to be seen coming to the front) and knock and knock. And then she would say "Aw sissy (my great grandmother's nickname), you know we cousins....." and my mother would be standing behind her grandmother thinking "Who is this white woman at my grandmother's door begging for food?" Oh my, white power really does rule......

Ok, about Charles....he is a beautiful man/boy. He is 24, the same age as me...and very much a male....and much like straight men I know, although I think i have corrupted that in him ;-) Last thursday was interesting and what happened that night was something that I have seen in movies. I don't really think he can call himself straight again(at least not with a straight face). And all I have to say is WOW.

I was just thinking last night at dinner how absolutely progressive it was that I group up in a household where I had Studs Turkel's books at my fingertips.....My family might not have been radicals, but they definitely new where to put their politics.......

I am readding bell hook's Class Matters-- and it is soo profound. She is talking about Black elites...and I am thinking about Bill Cosby and his "pronouncements" on Black people. I think that someone should have told Bill that he should have had his ass down there in Cuba with Jesse Jackson.......

I love LAPC...and I love the progressive community in Lafayette...more and more I wonder if I should leave...or stay....god.... Good Luck to Mike and Beth!

I Love Earth, Wind, and Fire.....Please transport me back to the 80s.....Chicagofest in the summer time....beautiful music...dancing....a beautiful time.... I always wanted to be my cousin Freda...she was sooo chic, beautiful, fashion statement nonpar...I'll continue about her later...

Tonight's passover was great... I am soo totally jewish.....I have a penchant for things jewish--men,bagels, lox, barbra, klezmer, and kabbala.....

My politics---not a republican

I am: -14% Republican.

"The Marxists are too reactionary for you. With people like you around, America collectively thanks God for John Ashcroft."

Are You A Republican?

My Cousin Betty Wrote an Article about me

My Cousin Betty, the pulitzer prize nominated journalist wrote an article about me\-)

Detroit News

The Links

The Links really work now.

Last night was really charged and full of excitment and energy. Charles added sooo much to the flavor. Alas, I will not speak here about last night with Charles, at least not now, for fear of implicating myself. It was definitely a moment of exploration and discovery. Beautiful.

About Lafayette

These roads are much too narrow and the buses are always threatening to crash into something.

Letter Written to the Journal and Courier Concerning an article in the Purdue Exponent

This letter is written in response to an article that appeared in the Purdue Exponent. Since they are no longer taking submissions, I sent it here. Although, I rarely read that newspaper as I realize how uncouth it is, I did happen to pick up the Wednesday edition of the paper and proceeded to read Adam Hines' report of how "angry" "black" students held a forum at Purdue to protest certain issues. Although, I am quite sure this individual is quite in the dark concerning the racism that is reflected in the way in which he chose to report this event, I will state that YES we are angry and you will learn to RESPECT our anger.

Oh MY God!!!

Oh My God! I did it myself! The Goddamned Links work!!!

I really enjoyed class with Venetria--she is wonderful and I am glad her presence is available to us here at Purdue. God. This last class was wonderful too--and I very much decided with our discussion over Troy Maxson's infidelity that it was much better to concede the point than have a bunch of black women mad at me LOL. It has been a great experience. Thank You, Venetria.;-)

Now as to the forum yesterday.... I almost didnt like that white woman that moderated---whatever her name was--the former mayor. Firstly, they had Mildred sitting in the middle-- and then she skipped the hell over her to let the other white man on the panel speak before mildred did--OK. I was ready to go crazy. Anyway, I also observed that the dialogue was held mostly between the two white men on the panel--sitting on either side of Mildred--and they never directly addressed her. However, she did manage to make herself heard--and took over the conversation when she wanted to/needed to. I don't think that was a very progressive panel yesterday. I did make nice with the mayor lady (or rather she made nice with me) afterwards....but alas--- to have that kind of situation---and to skip over the BLack woman to let two white men speak oh no lord. That is something else. I know Mildred was probably thinking somewhere in the back of her mind that she should have stayed in Chicago.......

Germaine Greer! That name makes me almost as excited as that of Angela Davis! ;-) I would follow her everywhere she went.....

I just met this gorgeous-ass Black man in the library. Good lord. My mouth will not stop watering. I need a piece of chocolate......

I want to write more about Mildred and the forum yesterday. I observed some interesting things....that will come later...

I just ran into Rita in the hallway.... what a beautiful spirit. It is amazing--such a tall, beautiful flower growing in the middle of the desert. I hope she finds a job--in Chicago. I will definitely have to chat with her before the semester lets out....

Oh my god, no wonder people have been writing about Pope Benedict XVI so much lately-- this is a c onservative agenda that is threatening to take over the world.... I love waking up in the morning listening to NPR.....it clears my mind for what I hear. I wonder what Alice Walker and Angela Davis are thinking, doing in the midst of where the world is right now..... The progressive movement...... and the religious telecast yesterday--that thankfully I only heard about second-hand and did not see---and the call to worship bullshit yesterday(that Robert attended; I will corrupt him yet) It is definitely something to keep mindful of....

I just got back from the social security forum. It was quite good. I am so very glad I reconnected with Mildred and Beryl-- I need people like them in my life for sure. I am defintiely going to contact Mildred about working there in Chicago over the summer. Lord-progressive Black women who are from my part of town-- I couldn't ask for much more.And to think that Gary is in Indiana.......oh Beryl....

While I am on music... I will just ramble for a moment... I am in love with elipses I see. On "Wild is the Wind," I prefer Nina's version to Barbra's--Nina's is rich and deep and erotic-- with Barbra's- you can tell that she's sort of tired and annoyed with saying "wild is the wind"--and really doesn't give a shit about the song--sentiment: "please, this song is such bullshit, where is my $50,000?"

Love me love me love me
Say you do
Let me fly away
With you
For my love is like
The wind
And wild is the wind

Give me more
Than one caress
Satisfy this
Hungriness
Let the wind
Blow through your heart
For wild is the wind

You...
Touch me...
I hear the sound
Of mandolins
You...
Kiss me...
With your kiss
My life begins
You’re spring to me
All things
To me

Don’t you know you’re
Life itself
Like a leaf clings
To a tree
Oh my darling,
Cling to me
For we’re creatures
Of the wind
And wild is the wind
So wild is the wind

Wild is the wind
Wild is the wind


I also love Nina's Pirate Jenny


You people can watch while I'm scrubbing these floors
And I'm scrubbin' the floors while you're gawking
Maybe once ya tip me and it makes ya feel swell
In this crummy Southern town
In this crummy old hotel
But you'll never guess to who you're talkin'.
No. You couldn't ever guess to who you're talkin'.

Then one night there's a scream in the night
And you'll wonder who could that have been
And you see me kinda grinnin' while I'm scrubbin'
And you say, "What's she got to grin?"
I'll tell you.

There's a ship
The Black Freighter
with a skull on its masthead
will be coming in

You gentlemen can say, "Hey gal, finish them floors!
Get upstairs! What's wrong with you! Earn your keep here!
You toss me your tips
and look out to the ships
But I'm counting your heads
as I'm making the beds
Cuz there's nobody gonna sleep here, honey
Nobody
Nobody!

Then one night there's a scream in the night
And you say, "Who's that kicking up a row?"
And ya see me kinda starin' out the winda
And you say, "What's she got to stare at now?"
I'll tell ya.

There's a ship
The Black Freighter
turns around in the harbor
shootin' guns from her bow

Now
You gentlemen can wipe off that smile off your face
Cause every building in town is a flat one
This whole frickin' place will be down to the ground
Only this cheap hotel standing up safe and sound
And you yell, "Why do they spare that one?"
Yes.
That's what you say.
"Why do they spare that one?"

All the night through, through the noise and to-do
You wonder who is that person that lives up there?
And you see me stepping out in the morning
Looking nice with a ribbon in my hair

And the ship
The Black Freighter
runs a flag up its masthead
and a cheer rings the air

By noontime the dock
is a-swarmin' with men
comin' out from the ghostly freighter
They move in the shadows
where no one can see
And they're chainin' up people
and they're bringin' em to me
askin' me,
"Kill them NOW, or LATER?"
Askin' ME!
"Kill them now, or later?"

Noon by the clock
and so still by the dock
You can hear a foghorn miles away
And in that quiet of death
I'll say, "Right now.
Right now!"

Then they'll pile up the bodies
And I'll say,
"That'll learn ya!"

And the ship
The Black Freighter
disappears out to sea
And
on
it
is
me

While I am on music...I love Nina Simone...as I have stated. " The look of love is in your eyes, a look no smile can disguise...."

Barbra Streisand has made me absolutely crazy about "When Sunny Gets Blue." The first few bars of that piano at the opening of the song, right before she begins her song just send chills down my spine and send me over into another atmosphere......mmmmmmmm.....

Ok...perhaps tapes are becoming obselete and I need to switch wholly to CDs.....

Beginning of a Story

On the North end of Chelsea, out on the softer, more genteel side of the district-where the buildings had stone faces with sharp edges to them, there was a complex-- one Rivard Skyrise- which housed young, fairly affluent college students that can best be described as liberated and possessed with the fever of such freedom that oftentimes priests who lived nearby would comment that there abandon reflected the possession of the devil. The most notorious testament to this was the nightly shuttle bus that transported the young kids from the safety behind the gates of Rivard to the bustling night metropolis with its glaring red lights and blue haze mixed with the totalilty of black. On this bus, on the journey up the black asphalt streets to the nightclubs and loud music,it was renowned to be a journey of extasy and loose ends flowing freely, of wild and deep explorations into the carnal. It was a place where a girl wearing a blue and black polka-dot blouse could fornicate using a long string of black pearls that extended down to the floor. The bus was a place of sexual freedom and exploration, by kids who were not dumb, but who held certain political beliefs--who were young radicals and activists..that smoked pot and lifted things from expensive stores...and constantly smashed the statues of hero soldiers on campus in protest.....

The Best Feminist Statement I Have Heard

So. What is your feminism about?

Updated: Ok, here is my answer, pulled up from comments by popular demand:


In many ways, I suspect my feminism is fairly bourgeois. I don't want a revolution that doesn't allow me to dance, flirt, and buy shoes. On the other hand, my feminism is fairly absolute in that I will not allow myself (or others) to demonize "radical feminists" or to ignore poor women or women of color, and I object very strongly when I see women fighting with each other over crumbs. I'm sure I do it too, sometimes, but I try very hard not to. My feminism is material in the sense that I believe that the body is irreducible (more and more so, as I age, and more since becoming a mother). I do not believe that there are no differences between men and women; but I believe that what differences there are have been vastly exaggerated by social conditioning, and I reject essentialism. My feminism likes men, and is sympathetic to the ways that they, too, suffer from narrow definitions of gender. My feminism insists on being heard, and will not give up a fight, and will not back down. On the other hand, my feminism deplores unfairness, meanness, and insensitivity. I believe in principles, including the principle that people matter. I believe in forgiveness and second chances, and in teaching, and in learning; and I also believe in having high expectations and firm boundaries. My feminism is polemical but embraces ambiguities. My feminism is aggressive and protective.



# posted by bitchphd : 5:42 PM

Danny Weiss has a good band-- I love jazz and I love hearing it live(in my limited experience). One of these days I am going to chicago and going back to the Green Dolphin. God, tonight when they played "When Sunny Gets Blue," I was transported into a galaxy of pure extasy. I love that song---and the cymbals and the trill that man made....ahh me, how beautiful.