Landslide

I have heard this song everywhere and thought it was so very beautiful. I didn't know who the artists were, but I googled it and, no doubt, it is the fabulous Dixie Chicks.


I took my love and I took it down
I climbed a mountain and I turned around
And I saw my reflection in the snow-covered hills
Well the landslide brought me down

Oh mirror in the sky
What is love
Can the child within my heart rise above
Can I sail thru the changing ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life
Uh huh
Uh huh, uh huh

Well I've been afraid of changing cause I built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older
And I'm getting older too
Well..

Well I've been afraid of changing cause I built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older
I'm getting older too
Well I'm getting older too

So take this love and take it down
Yeah and if you climb a mountain and ya turn around
And if you see my reflection in the snow-covered hills
Well the landslide brought me down
And if you see my reflection in the snow-covered hills
Well maybe
Well maybe
Well maybe
The landslide will bring you down

I just saw the dramatization of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow was Enuf. It was beautiful. I first read that a very long time ago. Ive read it several times actually, before high school, then in high school and a few times since then. I think I might like to stage it or something.

I've got Patti Labelle's "Love and Need and Want You Baby" stuck in my head.

Tapestry

Carole King

My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue
An everlasting vision of the everchanging view
A wondrous woven magic in bits of blue and gold
A tapestry to feel and see, impossible to hold

Once amid the soft silver sadness in the sky
There came a man of fortune, a drifter passing by
He wore a torn and tattered cloth around his leathered hide
And a coat of many colors, yellow-green on either side

He moved with some uncertainty, as if he didn't know
Just what he was there for, or where he ought to go
Once he reached for something golden hanging from a tree
And his hand came down empty

Soon within my tapestry along the rutted road
He sat down on a river rock and turned into a toad
It seemed that he had fallen into someone's wicked spell
And I wept to see him suffer, though I didn't know him well

As I watched in sorrow, there suddenly appeared
A figure gray and ghostly beneath a flowing beard
In times of deepest darkness, I've seen him dressed in black
Now my tapestry's unravelling; he's come to take me back
He's come to take me back

Thisis the result of U.S. wrongdoing. You cannot keep people like animals and expect them not to retaliate. The prison uprising at Gitmo comes in a long line of historical uprisings...Attica,oh Attica.

Audre Lorde

"When I dare to be powerful - to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid".

Going to France

Oh Nina and Josehphine Baker, Im following right behind you.... This country is going to hell.

Morgan and Mattie Roper: My Great-Great Grandparents

When I was at home a couple of summers ago, I went to the probate office and did some research on my great-great grandparents. I found some interesting stuff. I saw a document where after they had married, Mattie Roper made Morgan pay her--in buggys, horses and other goods, for a loan or something she had given him before their marriage. You go girl. THey say that Mattie Roper died one evening while she and morgan were having a dispute. They were in the bed and Morgan was fussing. She supposedly got up to go to the slopjar and she said, "Morgan, if you don't stop yelling, you are going to make my heart over flow." She got up and went and fell over dead.

Today listening to Mary Cheney on Diane Rehm, I began to think after Mary Cheney made comments to the effect that she and her lover made a "list" of the reporters who called them, neocons, conservatives, Western fascists, are all about lists. The list that your name MIGHT appear on....and their keeping watch. Hmm. White people. I find it interesting. God help us to castrate those who would wish to control with their bullshit.

Nature Boy

Abbey Lincoln

There was a boy,
A very strange, enchanted boy,
They said he wandered very far, very far,
Over lands and sea,
A little shy
And sad of eyes,
But very wise was he.
And then one day
A magic day he passed my way
And we spoke of many things
Fools and kings
And this said to me:
“The greatest thing
You ever learn
It’s just to love
And be loved in return”.

Tonight, I found myself dancing with a man that I very much love. Only, he was not there. I do know he knows how very much I feel for him, and with that love is acceptance. It is a beautiful thing.

Oprah had a wonderful show today. She had the President of Liberia and the Queen of Jordan on. The Queen of Jordan said something quite wonderful: Our values are what maintain us against whatever the world slings at us. I thought about that and I think that is a wonderful statement. What kind of values do you hold?

Misty

Look at me I’m as helpless as a kitten up a tree
And I feel like I’m clinging to a cloud
I can’ t understand
I get misty just holding your hand
Walk my way
And a thousand violins begin to play
Or it could be the sound of your hello
That music I hear
I get misty the moment you’re near
You can see that you’re leading me on
But it’s just what I want you to do
Don’t you notice how hopelessly I’m lost
That’s why I’m following you
On my own
Should I wander through this wonderland alone
Never knowing my right foot from my left
My hat from my glove
I’m too misty and too much in love You can say that you’re leading me on
And it’s just what I want you I want you I want you to do
Don’t you notice don’t you notice how hopelessly I’m lost
That’s why I’m following you
Oh on my own
Could I wander through this wonderland alone
Never knowing my right foot from my left
My hat from my glove
I’m too misty and too much in love
I’m too misty and too much in love
Look at me

Autobiography of an Activist

by me

Many would question why I would write about being an activist. I have little experience and there are far more seasoned activists than me. Also, at 25 years old, I haven’t lived long enough to offer wisdom of any sort. However, I have participated in activist circles for many years now and have been attuned to the spirit and the consciousness of the struggles of humanity for a large part of my life. As such, I feel compelled to write about my experiences, explore my thoughts and feelings, and reflect upon my participation in the struggles of human dignity. I have been aware for a long time. Ever since I was three years old, I have been consciousness of a broader humanity and have felt a connection to the plight and suffering and daily struggles that most people go through. I feel a natural empathy for people and as such, the burdens of the world have been my burdens too.
My first taste of activism was when I was three years old. My aunt was a member of the Chicago Teacher’s Union, which during the 1980s’ was a hotbed of political activity. One of my earliest memories is of standing on the picket line with my aunt during a strike by the Chicago Teacher’s Union. I can still feel the rush of energy that I felt as I stood beside her, my small inconsequential hand placed inside of her older, egg-shell, colored, one. That rush that I felt with her that day on that picket line was but a part of the larger cosmic circle that encompassed me as a child, that nourished me and whetted my soul, my spirit, and my imagination. That cosmic circle kindled a flame in me that continues to burn with a passion, vigor, and art that makes everything in life worthwhile.
I was born in Chicago, in 1980, in the midst of that spirit which had taken over the city. This spirit set me up for a journey in life that would be fully in touch with the soul of humanity and completely in tune with human suffering. I don’t write this to say I know all of the pain that everyone feels, or that I begin to understand the daily toils of the whole of humanity. But what I mean to say is that I seek to embody that line from the poem “House by the Side of the Road,” “Let me live in a house by the side of the road to be a friend to men.”
Chicago at the time that I came along was a thriving Black city, full of life and with a momentum that was exciting and inspiring. The Chicago movement was just taking root as the Harold Washington and Jesse Jackson campaigns invigorated a depressed people and helped them feel that once more they could attain a sense of agency and bring about fundamental changes that would make their lives better. “ Come Alive October 5” was a catching jingle heard everywhere and imbued the spirit and vivacity that had overtaken the city. The city had imbibed Harold Washington’s image and the energy and excitement that he brought into the city was felt all the way in my little compound on 73rd place, in between the four walls of Aunt Johnnie’s light green house and ours, directly across the street and with a brown exterior.
Aunt Betty and Aunt Johnnie were both acquaintances of Harold Washington’s girlfriend, who was also a teacher, and through her they brought the importance and energy of the Washington campaign into their house. As I remember, both my mother and father participated on a small scale in the Jackson presidential campaign. In all of this frenzy, Harold Washington’s image was burned into my mind. I felt personally invested in his victory, as I’m sure most of Chicago’s Blacks felt. That life spirit that Washington’s campaign brought into the city was not only to be felt in the political arena, it was present everywhere. It was in the museums and the libraries, it was in the architecture, in the parks, in the zoos, it was now the lifebeat of the city.
I loved more than most other events in the city, the annual Chicago Fest and Taste of Chicago that happened during the summer. Those occasions were alive and festive with the sounds of Earth, Wind and Fire, Chaka Khan, and Gladys Knight and the Pips. The lifebeat was in those times too. I also felt it in the hot summer nights when the heat would be so unbearable that we would pack our coolers and load the car with pillows and blankets and go sleep in the park by the lake. There would be hundreds of people there trying to catch the breeze as it came off of the lake. That communal bonding also held the life of the city. The 1980s in Chicago was a decade overcome with a progressive spirit as well as overwhelmed by the depravity of Reagan.
Of Chicago, I saw a plethora of things that laid the foundation for my political awakening. I saw the Robert Taylor Home projects, where my mother used to work, and the desolation that existed there. I witnessed the people out on the streets and the depravity of their situations. I saw the cruel effects of poverty and the bleak outlook that was held by most of the city’s suffering and poor. I also witnessed the imagination and creativity of the city. I felt the ideals of metropolitan and cosmopolitan life intimately. I was fortunate as a young boy to know culture. I realize wholeheartedly how fortunate I was to have been alive in a city, surrounded by innovation and creativity. I remember seeing one of my first live theatre performances when my mother’s cousin got us tickets to the production of Show Boat that he was starring in. My mother also encouraged the arts for us. My sister spent fourteen years in ballet and was a very graceful and talented dancer. I was simply engaged in the activities of my childhood—with singing, dancing, and storytelling. That was my life in Chicago, an experience in innovation and creativity. Creativity and culture were a part of our lives, even though I see now how much we were urged to conform in some respects, or at least to appear that way.
We moved to Alabama in the summer of 1989, and I started school there that fall. The difference between the two cultures was very noticeable to me instantly. As soon as I encountered the Alabama public school system, I faced the repression of that environment. School officials in Prattville wanted to put me back a grade, even though I was an excellent student, citing that I was a year ahead of my peers. I only remember of that early period at Prattville that I had a teacher named Mrs. Adams who liked to scream and wore extremely long dresses. I didn’t feel as captivated by my surroundings in that new place as I had been in Chicago. The air was more restrictive. I felt my imagination damper in this new place and I felt myself become less expressive. I began a horrendous journey into a hell covered b the walls of a lock and step conservatism and I felt myself retreat into myself. This new environment was not an open one and I sensed it at the core of my being. The thought of that time still chills me.
In spite, or perhaps because of this repression, I retreated into my imagination and miraculously. Miraculously, my imagination remained intact. I was twelve or thirteen when I typed out my first novel on my non-electric typewriter. It was a very productive time. I remember at times I would just retreat to the yard or the park and sit and write for hours , the sunlight pouring down around me. I cherish my creativity. I was often alone, by myself during my childhood. I discovered Barbra Streisand, her music, her movies, and her temperament. I read incessantly, something I had done since I was very small. I picked up and read everything—from encyclopedias and telephone books to Jackie Collins and self-help books. In regards to my experiences of reading, my tastes were odd and exquisite and something that I would like to reflect on.
During my teens, I went through what I call periods of literature. I went through a French period, in which I read Camus, and Madame Bovary, and several short stories by Guy de Maupassant. That was followed by a Russian period in which I read everything—The Brothers Karamazov, Crime and Punishment, War and Peace. I roamed around in classical and existential literature and was completely taken into the worlds I found. I remember how completely awed I was by Milton when I first encountered him in the eighth grade. I was in love with his heroic Satan and revolutionary telling of Satan’s war with God. I was especially impressed in that I thought (wrongly) that he wrote Paradise Lost while blind. I have since changed my opinion of Milton. I no longer praise him as a maverick and genius figure.
I remember when I first felt myself embodying history. I believe I was in the fifth grade when a teacher handed the class the assignment to choose a historical figure and report on them dressed in character. I, the different one, chose Oliver Cromwell. Being dressed in 17th Century garb replete with stockings, and telling what I knew of the Protectorate, was a profound experience. This role truly gave me a sense of being in history. I had always had an acute awareness of history, one that coincided with my appreciation of literature. These twin sensibilities combined as storytelling, serving as the root of my soul as a writer.
I come from a family of storytellers. The most revolutionary acts of my childhood were the recording and passing down of my family history and the legacy of my ancestors by my relatives. From my mother, my grandmother, my aunts, my sister, and even my father to an extent, I heard the stories of those who had come before me. I head their stories, I learned what they offered, and I was transported back into their eras and walked down their paths, trudged through there lives. I absolutely feel that history is a continuum, that it is nonlinear, that we can and do experience different periods of history intimately and know them intimately. I also believe that our connection to history is interrelated to our connection to humanity. To have a grasp of history is to embody human empathy. Human empathy transgresses the historical record.
Another key to my share in human empathy is my mother and her profession. I saw, from an early age, my mother at work fulfilling her role as a social worker. My mother operates on a very human level, tapping at the root of the true spirit of social work. My mother interacts with her clients, imbuing the philosophy she learned from her grandmother, a woman who also had a strong presence in her community- cast your bread upon the water and it will come back to you. Many days my mother would bring her clients home, feed them, give them clothes, a bed to sleep. My mother taught us the importance of giving and of selflessness. We were taught to be concerned about the needs of people and the suffering that they go through. These lessons from my mother were also part of the revolutionary acts that compelled me to lift my voice and be heard and to speak out against inequalities and bear witness to the human struggle. These sentiments seem quite simple, but these are values that are direly needed and that are missing from today’s society. Humanity is paying for it dearly.
Not only does today’s society lack imagination, but it lacks the basic humanity and respect for human dignity that is required for the world to continue to exist. Capitalism has broken down the connecting bonds that have traditionally been relied upon to hold people together. It has made it ever more difficult to sustain these bonds, although not impossible. These connections are what make humanity grow and which spring forth new life. These connections are ultimate and revolutionary. Revolution is as old as time and as natural as breathing. We should all open ourselves to it. Human empathy is revolutionary. It is the simplest revolutionary act there is. This revolutionary spirit shaped me and fashioned the way that I move through life.
Growing into myself, I became an iconoclast. In high school, I remember having the bitterest debates with fellow classmates that generally reaffirmed our positions as conservative and radical, with me always an outsider. I was never one to stand during the pledge of allegiance and would protest if they tried to make me. On the occasions that I did stand, I would pledge allegiance to a different country each time. I had an imagination, used it, and fought against conformity. I don’t know how I lived through the first Gulf War. I remember I had a music teacher who used to have us sing several songs that I can now identify as patriotic, especially during pageants. I remember I only liked some of them.
Returning again to my experiences with literature, in my budding teenage years, I encountered two books that would weigh profoundly upon my life, my mindset, and early on shaped my political sensibilities. When I was thirteen or fourteen, my Uncle Donald, my father’s brother, gave me a copy of Langston Hughes’ I Wonder as I Wander. That book was quite an experience for me as I read about Langston Hughes’ travels through China, Japan, Cuba, and Russia. I was moved by his descriptions of watermelons floating down the Mekong River and of his interactions with the people of Tashkent, especially as he spoke of sitting amongst them, sipping from a communal bowl of tea. I am not certain whether I encountered this book before or after, I Wonder as I Wander, but around the same time I retrieved from my Uncle Lawrence’s bookshelves W.E.B. DuBois’ Souls of Black Folk. I took in DuBois like he was much needed manna. That first paragraph of the book is truly a revolutionary statement, attacking the issue of race at its core. At fourteen years of age, I became a disciple of DuBois. I relished his pronouncements and essays on issues from race to women’s rights. I was mesmerized by his studies on peoples around the world, from the Jews to the Japanese. He fueled my imagination and my started a fire in my soul. I was curious about different ethnicities and cultures and his writings drew me back to my experiences as a child in Chicago and my encounters with people of many different backgrounds.
While I was engaged within my mind by the world of theory and race and culture, the world around me was very dark. For all of the succulent intellectual mélange that was going on inside of my brain, the outlook of my physical landscape was bleak and very black and white. My thirst for intellectual stimulation was only watered by my explorations into literature and history and my discoveries of Kafka and James Baldwin and Alice Walker and Audre Lorde and Margaret Atwood. Another blessing and revolutionary act that was bestowed upon me was my introduction to feminist theory during my freshman year of college by one of my favorite professors. I recognize what a blessing it was to have been introduced to such writers as Helen Cixous, Julie Kristeva, Derrida, Adrienne Rich, and Angela Davis. My political outlook in college developed along the lines of inquiries into gender, race, and sexuality. This coincided with investigations of my own sexuality and political identity.
My real political activity began in college. My sophomore year, the Montgomery Police ran over a teenage black boy with an SUV, crushing his legs. In an attempt to sweep it under the rug, nothing was done to rectify the situation. A protest was planned and announced by some people within the community, to take place down the street from my campus. At my first adult attempt at public demonstration, no one showed up. Not even the organizers. The only people present were me, a friend of mine named Kerron, and a lady that we didn’t know dressed in blue jeans and a blue jean jacket. That day may have been uneventful, but it must have been a play of fates as it provided the door through which I gained access to and awareness of political activism and all that it involves.
The lady present at the canceled event was named Trish O’Kane. Trish was a seasoned activist, the daughter of Irish immigrant, strawberry pickers, she gained her bearings as a student at USC in the 80s engaged in the successful efforts to get ROTC thrown off of their campus. She had freshly arrived in Montgomery the year before having spent a decade in Nicaragua and Guatemala working with the U.N and unofficially with the Sandinistas. She had come to Montgomery with the Southern Poverty Law Center, then switched positions to work with the Center for Democratic Renewal out of Atlanta where she was undertaking a project tracking down hate crimes in the state of Alabama. This was a tenuous job as the state of Alabama had reported zero hate crimes to the federal government for the previous 40 years. Also, there was no documentation of these crimes to be found, so this effort had to be pieced together using word of mouth, following newspaper leads that seemed suspicious, and making contact with churches, community groups, and other agencies to try and encourage them to report anything they knew.
That day, I became Trish’s sidekick, aiding Trish with the implementation of this project. One of the first cases we undertook was to follow up on the young man who had been disabled by the police SUV. Going to interview him was a profound lesson in many ways. We firstly went to the scene of the incident, in Montgomery’s Smiley Court. Going to Smiley Court with Trish opened my eyes. It really cut to the close for me what a sheltered existence I have. I saw the protections of class and social status stripped away and I felt vulnerable. We got out of Trish’s truck and walked from house to house, inquiring and talking to people. I saw the desperation in their faces. I saw the lack of hope and the gloom that hung like a veil over the entire place. I witnessed a seasoned activist at work that day. Trish fell right in with the environment. I found it ironic that a strawberry blonde, second-generation Irish American from southern California felt more at home in the black ghetto than me, who shared skin and heritage with the people of this neighborhood. I realized how sheltered I had been. I can also appreciate now that when you have spent ten years in the middle of a revolution, especially with the Sandinistas, Montgomery was absolutely nothing The poverty that I saw there reminded me of the conditions I had seen in Chicago, at Robert Taylor where my mother worked and at Cabrini Green which I had seen from afar.
At that time, I also became a serious adherent to the idea of Double Consciousness. I started to inquire how that played out in different communities, especially for oppressed peoples around the world, and especially those communities with which I identified. I also began investigating how double consciousness operated on the individual level. I wrote an essay my sophomore year on Double Consciousness in the works of Zitkala Sa. Continuing on that theme, my senior thesis revolved around the ideas of gender, Blackness, and sexuality. I began to assess where those particular realities stood in the world and how I fell into them. I began to formulate my own theories and opinions concerning race, gender, and sexuality, and I began to see how background and personal history shaped one’s outlook and how these color and influence one’s ideology. I also learned during this time about the codes of society, especially those within the Afro-American community.
I experienced policing within the Afro-American community first hand during a race, gender, and sexuality class that I took. One day, the instructor invited a professor and class to join us from Alabama State, which was right down the street. As I knew the professor from ASU quite well, I felt comfortable in expressing my opinion that Afro-Americans occupied the position of the bastard child within American society. After I voiced that opinion, a deafening silence fell over the entire class and I felt the eyes of scorn fall upon me. I had sinned worse than Judas. I had personally insulted their mother. I don’t think that professor has liked me at all since that day. It was then that I knew there was a serious problem in the Afro-American community.
Black people are suffering serious denial and have lost themselves in the cold, restrictive dehumanization of the white supremacy. They no longer know themselves—have lost touch with their humanity and their soulfulness. I saw that a breach had developed between the Afro-American community and its soul. Something had happened in that period at the end of the 60s, perhaps with the deaths of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., that had made Black people tired of struggle, at which point they capitulated to the values of the white male power structure. After three hundred years of enduring and surviving in the face of brutal white supremacy, the flame of Afro-American resistance started to flicker and burn out. I can see many things that serve as catalysts for this, many symptoms of the soul death that has overtaken the Afro-American community: misogyny, conservative fundamentalism, homophobia, and materialism. The Afro-American community adopted capitalist values in the face of a hostile capitalist society. Because of this, the Afro-American community has become a shell of what it once was. The Afro-American has succumbed to the effects of bastardization, which has cost it the moral authority that it once possessed.
It was in the face of this realization that I came into awareness. I grappled with three halves of myself, taking on the crisis of each. My Afro-American soul, faltering under the strain of white supremacy and illegitimacy. I have also witnessed the gay soul, which lies silent and dormant, capitulating in the face of heteronormativity and failing to overcome the racism and falsity that exist within it. All of these result in a serious depravity, one which is crippling and that will lead to the destruction of not only these two communities, but will be the ruin of the nation as a whole. I came to this awareness nearing the end of my undergraduate years. September 11th served to verify my assessments. This country’s machinations and disregard for the humanity of others in the world, especially people of color and the poor, will end only in its destruction.
September 11th was a turning point in many ways. After that event, Montgomery’s growing Southeast Asian and Muslim population was afraid to leave their homes. Montgomery was threatening to explore with anti-Muslim and anti-Arab sentiments. Trish and I, along with several other concerned people within the community, came together to form a coalition we called ACT in Alabama (Acting for Civility and Tolerance). The Unitarian Universalists, members of the ACLU, the Black Muslims, and several other individuals and agencies were instrumental in getting the group up off the ground. We had a multitude of meetings brainstorming over ways to build p unity and respect for difference in the city. Those meetings were beautiful and people were excited about the efforts to make Montgomery and Alabama a more hospitable place to live. The atmosphere at those meetings was alive with a sense of hope. After I finished college and moved back home, I stopped participating regularly in the meetings and my activism became more focused on writing and petitioning. I wrote a lot of poetry during that time as well as essays and editorials. I wrote to try express myself and to try and publish. I also wrote to try and not go crazy. I spent the year after college applying for graduate school. Staying at home for that year was a learning experience, one I don’t want to repeat.
I came to graduate school with expectations of intellectual fulfillment. Even though I recovered from that grand illusion, it was a learning process, a crash course in the political. I also became entrenched in activism and progressive struggle. I can say, quite easily, that I learned more in becoming an activist than I have in any graduate seminar thus far. A few months into my first year of graduate school, a friend of mine took me to a meeting of the Lafayette Area Peace Coalition. That first meeting was a blur, but I continued to go and soon became an active member of the group. I was to soon learn and come into contact with people, movements, and organizations that would open my eyes and bring me into tune with the lifebeat of movement. I learned the processes of progressive struggle and I became intimately familiar with how progressive struggle works. My initial and limited taste of activism in Montgomery had been followed by three years of dedication to learning the skill and craft.
I was easily drawn in by the small group discussions, where ideas were passed around and there was a sense of camaraderie and togetherness. It was amazing to witness how the spark of dialogue transformed into action, how that action was implemented, and what impact that action had. There were several events that I witnessed begin that way. We were successful in bringing the Iraqi artist Wafaa Bilal to campus to exhibit his artwork and to speak. We also hosted Colonel Ann Wright, Bernadine Dohrn, and several others. Other activities which were quite successful included the public panel discussion held on the war in Iraq which was broadcast on public radio and televised. It brought out several hundred people. Biannually, we also host the CCDS meeting which brings out a cadre of dedicated socialists from throughout the region to discuss various issues and make plans. The Midwest Peace and Justice Summit is another venue that we helped organize that has turned out extremely well. In the two years that it has taken place on the campus of IUPUI in Indianapolis, it has drawn together hundreds of people and hosted several great keynote speakers, with people coming from around the tri-state area. As an organization, we have also been successful in spearheading many campaigns to raise awareness and address issues within the community. The most recent of these has been our anti-military recruiting campaign.
Being active in a conservative environment has been a learning experience for me as well. It really places an emphasis on the reason for struggle and the need for a progressive presence in the midst of an oppression and conformity. At present, we live in dangerous times. We live in an era where the threat of fascism threatens to close in on us at any moment. We must be steadfast and ever present in our resistance to the approaching death that threatens the soul of this nation. We must be vigilant in our stand to preserve the integrity of our souls and our right to choice. We must not let those who would rule the day determine the value and the purpose of our lives. There is a terrible burden upon my soul as well as upon the soul of this nation. And that is the burden to live fully and with depth and possibility. That burden is the effort to keep our humanity intact.

Pillow Talk

Sylvia

Hey, baby, let me stay
I don't care what your friends are ‘bout to say, ah-ah
What you friends all say is fine
But it can't compete with this pillow talk of mine

You can't find love on a one way street
It takes two to tangle, takes two to even compete, oh, yeah
So boy, just put that stop sign down
And let's get together before the day runs us down
I'm pleading to you now

Hey, baby, let me try
To be the one's who's gonna light your fire, ha-ha
What you friends all say is fine
But it can't compete with this pillow talk of mine

Ooh, I don't wanna see you be no fool
What I'm teachin' you tonight
Boy, you'll never learn it in school, oh, no
So friends who tell me wrong from right
I'll ask to borrow their pants some cold and lonely night

Ooh, hey, baby, let me be
The one who turns you on from A to Z, ha-ha
What you friends all say is fine
But it can't compete with this pillow talk of mine

Ooh .. baby
Ooh, baby, la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Ah ...would you, baby
Would you, baby, la-la-la-la-la-la-la
I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I
Uno momento por quito
Uno momento por quito
I, I, I, I
Nice daddy, nice daddy, nice daddy
I, I, I, I
Oh, my God

Class, race, sexuality,and gender don't define all of existence...but they certainly do provide cornerstones for it.

My Aunt Louise called me yesterday. She has lost most everyone that was there in New York. I definitely should go visit sometime soon.

This world is definitely due to be turned over.

Love, Need, and Want You Baby

By Patti Labelle

I love you
I love you honey I
Love you I do
More than you ever know
it's for sure you can always count on my love for ever more
I
Need you
I need you baby I
need you right now
say can you understand your my man
and my one desire is keeping you satisfied

Bridge
Baby when we
when we're together say
I'm alright and your alright it's like paradise
I just want you to know how I feel
How I feel

Oh I want you
I want you sugar I
want you so bad
I got a burning desire my soul's on fire
can't you see you are my everything

Baby when we
when we're together say
I'm alright and your alright it's like paradise
I just want you to know how I feel
How I feel

Oh I love you
I love you honey I
Love you I do
More than you ever know
it's for sure
you can always count on my love for ever more

I love and need and want you baby
I love and need and want you baby
I love and need and want you baby
love and need and want you baby
I love and need and want you baby
love and need and want you baby

You can count on me for ever more
I love
and I need
and I want
you
I got this burning desire
my soul's on fire
you can't count on me for ever more
I love
baby I need
Baby I want
your love
oh I Love you
I need you
You can always count on my love for ever more
Repeat to fade

In regards to Venezuela, tell George Bush to go to hell.

When Insurgents are shooting down American helicopters, you know the outlook is definitely not rosy.

Today Diane Rehm's show was on the NSA domestic spying program. She was absolutely great at catching one of her guest who blatantly said that the United States is in the middle of a war. Beyond that, the prospects of what Bush and his compadres are doing is absolutely frightening. However, there is something that should be recognized. White men have been doing this kind of shit for four hundred years. Its not new. George Bush did not invent the wheel.What we should be doing is resisting and undermining it at every level. When the slavemaster sets after you with his dogs, throw a grenade....

There is a boy that lives at my complex who I think is definitely on the downlow...or at least gay and hiding. He is one of those religious conservative types...perfect for being an undercover homosexual.

I won second place in a poetry contest;-)

I Say a Little Prayer

Aretha

The moment I wake up
Before I put on my makeup
I say a little prayer for you
While combing my hair, now,
And wondering what dress to wear, now,
I say a little prayer for you

Forever, forever, you'll stay in my heart
and I will love you
Forever, forever, we never will part
Oh, how I'll love you
Together, together, that's how it must be
To live without you
Would only be heartbreak for me.

I run for the bus, dear,
While riding I think of us, dear,
I say a little prayer for you.
At work I just take time
And all through my coffee break-time,
I say a little prayer for you.

Forever, forever, you'll stay in my heart
and I will love you
Forever, forever we never will part
Oh, how I'll love you
Together, together, that's how it must be
To live without you
Would only be heartbreak for me.

My darling believe me,
For me there is no one
But you.

Right before Charles left, the last time I saw him, he gave me a very strong embrace. It is a sweet memory.

Natural Sounds

Barbra

My heart would make
Natural sounds
With you my love
The happy sound
Of water on stone
The quiet sound
Of waves on sand
When you hold my hand
My heart makes
Natural sounds
With you...
My head makes
Natural noises too
My love
the worrying sound of bees in the comb
the rushing sound of wind in the trees
When we kiss
And more than this I know
My heart would make
Natural sounds
If ever you should go
the hollow sound of stones dropped in a well
The lonely sound
Of rain in the night
Natural sounds
My heart makes
Natural sounds
With you...

Gore Vidal is My Spiritual Ancestor

I love Gore Vidal. I just watched an interview that he gave on CSPAN. He prophesied the destruction of the United States. I very much agree with his assessment. He is a prophet.

Gonna Take a Miracle

by Laura Nyro

Loving you so
I was to blind to see
You letting me go
But now that you've set me free
It's gonna take a miracle
Yes, it's gonna take a miracle
To make me love someone new
'Cause I'm crazy for you

Oh, didn't you know
It wouldn't be so easy
You letting me go
You can be sure that now
It's gonna take a miracle
Yes, it's gonna take a miracle
To make me love someone new
'Cause I'm crazy for you

Oh, though I know I can't forget about you
I'm gonna try to show how much
You're turning me around, destroying me
I'll never be the same anymore

You must realize
You took your love and left me
Quite by surprise
You can be sure that now
It's gonna take a miracle
Yes, it's gonna take a miracle
To make me love someone new
'Cause I'm crazy for you

Yes, it's gonna take a miracle
Yes, it's gonna take a miracle
To make me love someone new
'Cause I'm crazy about you..

Desiree

by Laura Nyro

Oh, Desiree,
Desiree,
Desiree,
Oh my darlin’ Desiree.
You make my heart feel so free.
And I’d like to know, why do I love you so?
Oh my darling Desiree.
Oh my Desiree, Oh my Desiree,
Desiree, Desiree, Desiree, Desiree, Desiree,
Desiree.

I have got to get to a liberal environment. Soon.

There is one line from the film Kinsey that I absolutely love. "I definitely wonder what would have happened to this country if the puritans had decided to stay at home."

Judge Orders World Can't Wait Activist to Jail Psych Unit

CAROL FISHER REMAINS STRONG AND UNAPOLOGETIC

May 9: Judge Timothy McGinty forcibly incarcerated Carol Fisher in the psych unit of the Cuyahoga County Jail in downtown Cleveland, where she now sits for an indefinite period of time.

In a hastily called hearing yesterday, Judge McGinty made a highly unusual and outrageous decision to force Carol to undergo a state psychological exam as part of her pre-sentencing investigation. From the very start of Carol's case, the judge has openly said that she must have mental problems for resisting an unlawful and brutal encounter with Cleveland Heights police. He went even further in yesterday's hearing, saying that her opposition to the Bush regime makes her "delusional."

The small courtroom on the 21st floor of the Justice Center was ringed with 5 armed court bailiffs. McGinty started off the hearing by making Carol stand up and had one of her attorneys read her t-shirt, which said:

"Wanted for Illegally Crossing Borders: The Bush Regime

"If you are going to insist that crossing borders illegally is a crime which cannot be tolerated, how about George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice (and yes, Colin Powell) and the rest of that gang, with their highly illegal, and violent, 'crossing of the border'-into Iraq, among other places?!"

McGinty then said this was proof of her delusion! He also kept saying Carol "wants" to go to jail, and that she has a "martyr complex." When Carol tried to explain why she wouldn't take this test, the judge's only response was, "I do not negotiate with felons."

Does Carol really want to go to jail? No! But she is not willing to comply with a vindictive court ordered test to "prove" her sanity. And more than that, she is taking a stand for everyone who is angry and fearful of a government that, under the rubric of "national security and the war on terror," willfully and unapologetically tramples on the most basic rights of privacy. Think about this in light of the NSA spying scandal, and now Bush wants to install the head of the notorious NSA to be CIA chief! As Carol said before she went to jail, "I'd be crazy to go along with this shit! That which you will not resist and mobilize to stop, you will learn--or be forced--to accept."

Just look at this whole case: a woman posts a "Bush Step Down" poster on a telephone pole, being brutalized by the police in the process, and now not only faces 3 years in prison but also a mandatory psych exam. As Terry Gilbert, one of Carol's attorneys said, "This is Gulag stuff--saying that people who are dissidents are crazy." He further added that in his 33 years of practicing law, he has never seen anything like this.

Is this the kind of country you want to live in?

On the phone this morning, Carol Fisher stated that, in addition to sending her to the psych unit, McGinty has also put her on "suicide watch"! They have taken away her eyeglasses. And if she refuses the psych exam, she will be forcibly sent to North Coast Mental Institute for a 20 day evaluation.

Legal challenges are continuing, including seeking a writ of habeas corpus.

When the transcripts are available to the public, they will show how outrageous this hearing was.

(Click here for previous news and more information about Carol Fishers arrest and trial)

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Donate to Carol's legal defense. It costs a lot of money to get transcripts, file appeals, etc. Make checks payable to “Carol Fisher Defense Fund” and mail to “NION/WCW PO Box 609034 Cleveland, OH 44109.
Call Judge Timothy McGinty and express your outrage: 216-443-8758
Join us at a "Speak Out!" for Carol Fisher - Saturday, May 13 at 7pm at the corner of Coventry and Euclid Heights Blvd in Cleveland Heights.
Get your legal organization to be part of Carol's defense: make statements, file friend of the court briefs, etc.
Have your church group, school group, organization or club join this battle by sending statements of support, donating funds, etc.
Request radio stations play any of the following songs, dedicate it to Carol Fisher and explain what is going on with her case:
Tom Petty’s “Won’t Back Down”
Pearl Jam’s “World Wide Suicide”
Pink’s “Dear Mr President”
Neil Young’s “Let’s Impeach the President”
Write letters to the editor of:
The Cleveland Plain Dealer. Go to website: www.cleveland.com/plaindealer/lettertoeditor
The Cleveland Free Times. Email: editor@freetimes.com
The Sun Press. Email: sun@sunnews.com
Send this article to your list serves and post to blogs.
Join the World Can't Wait- Drive Out the Bush Regime!
Contact: World Cant Wait, Cleveland 216-633-6200
PO Box 609034 Cleveland OH 44109
cleveland@worldcantwait.org
www.worldcantwait.org

Hahaha!

It was so funny I didn't think to laugh. Some boy just told me that Purdue has more culture than Chicago. Ha. A very big Ha.

There is a great interview with Joan Didion in this issue of The Paris Review. I wonder, is it bad that I refer to Joan Didion as the lady who wrote A Star is Born for Barbra Streisand?

I am my own person. I think that bothers some people.

I will be a published writer.

ENTER YOU

from "Trick"

I've heard that all the world's a stage
And we are only players acting out some predetermined page
But it is lonely as can be
With nobody opposite me... Then...

Enter you - Voila it's showtime
You brought the house down with a dance and a dumb ditty

Enter you - In less than no time
This ugly drama has become pretty

Up went the curtain, My lines felt wrong
Intermission seemed so far away
The plot uncertain, The scenes too long
Life was like an uninspiring play

But now you're here - We meet stage center
I thought my storyline was through
Then enter you

Now you're here - We meet stage center
I thought my storyline was through
Then from the blue
Enter you

I advocate open borders.

Watching The Pianist made me think about a lot of things....what living consists of and what builds a society....food...shelter...connections.

I just saw The Pianist. Roman Polanski is brilliant! Three Cheers for Roman Polanski and Adrien Brody!

An Admission

I used to have New Kids on the Block trading cards. They were hot.

I just experienced a hate crime.

I love movies that make me cry. I remember one film that I saw a very long time ago, Hanna's War. I remember I bawled over that film. It was great.

I Have Only One National Anthem-The Black National Anthem

Lift Every Voice And Sing

Lift ev'ry voice and sing,
Till earth and heaven ring.
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise,
High as the list'ning skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.

Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chast'ning rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet,
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from the gloomy past,
Till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou who has brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who has by Thy might,
Led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee,
Shadowed beneath thy hand,
May we forever stand,
True to our God,
True to our native land.

No Matter What Happens--From Yentl

By Barbra
Look at how she looks at me,
I can never look at her that way...
Full of all the feelings and the soft
Unspoken words that lovers say...
In all the words, in all the books
I wish there were a way to say that
What she's taught me
Isn't written anywhere
And I'm supposed to be the one
Who's wise...
One thing is certain,
I can never be what she
Expects of me...
I've wanted the shadows,
I don't anymore.
No matter what happens,
I won't anymore
I've run from the sunlight-
Afraid it saw too much.
The moon had the one light
I bathed in-
I walked in.
I held in my feelings
And closed every door.
No matter what happens.
I can't anymore.
There's someone who must hear
The words I've never spoken.
Tonight if he were here
My silence would be broken.
I need him to touch me-
To know the love that's in my heart-
The same heart that tells me
To see myself-
To free myself-
To be myself at last!
For too many mornings
The curtains were drawn.
It's time they were opened
To welcome the dawn.
A voice deep inside
Is getting stronger,
I can't keep it quiet any longer.
No matter what happens,
It can't be the same anymore...
I promise it won't be the same
Anymore!

Didn't We?

by Barbra

This time we almost
Made the pieces fit
Didn’t we, love?
This time we almost
Made some sense of it
Hum... didn’t we, love?
This time I had the answer
Right here in my hand
Then I touched it
And it had turned to sand
This time we almost
Sang our song in tune
Didn’t we, love?
This time we almost
Made it, made it
To the moon
Oh, didn’t we, love?
This time we almost
Made a poem rhyme
This time we almost
Made that long hard climb
Didn’t we almost
Make it?
Didn’t we almost
Make it?
Didn’t we almost
Make it?
This time...

COMO TE GUSTA MI PINGA from "Trick"

I told my friend the writer how happy I would be
If he'd write an opening number especially for me
But when he had it finished, it came as quite a shock
He handed me a song titled "How do you like my...."
I said "You can't do that in public",
I said even I wouldn't dare
So he made a few small changes,
Now I can sing it anywhere:

Como te gusta mi pinga en tus pantelones
Como te gusta mi pinga y mis cojones
It's the same old thing and the same old hole
But when you say it espanol it sounds divine

Como te gusta mi pinga, es muy caliente
Como te gusta mi pinga, es grande plente
You don't go around shouting, "You're well hung"
But when you do it in another tongue, it's just divine

When the hour is late and I don't have a date
And I feel that I can't go on
I lift up my head and I stick out my chin
And I talk like Montalban -

Como te gusta mi pinga, it sounds so neat-o
Like a warm quesadilla or a pork burrito
It's the same old cheese, and the same old meat
But when it has a latin beat, it's okay
Como te gusta mi pinga - Ole...! Ay! Ay!

I saw two great films this weekend....I saw (I have seen it before a long time ago) the documentary film about the commemoration of the Watts Rebellion, Wattstax. I also saw, for the first time(Ive read the book, which is great) A Home at the End of the World. Great films!

Great News!

The U.N. is vigorously interrogating the United States over its secret prisons and torture policies. I think this is a vital step in putting a check on human rights abuses that are occuring under this administration and its fascist policies.

An Occurrence That Really Set One Over On Me

When I was still living in Alabama, I was talking to this lovely Black boy that lived in Mobile--he was about 26 then and was teaching. He liked me a lot and I liked him. He wanted to meet me--and so---although I hesitantly agreed--he drove four hours to meet me--after only having talked for about a week or so---and before he got to my house I told him to go back--because my parents were home and it would have been awkward. I absolutely regret that to this day....and it has set the bar a bit.

Today I had a real tamale and I liked it.

I am not sure what to think of Ray Nagin. However, I do feel that he is definitely suffering from PTSD.

What You See is What You Get

The Dramatics

Some people are made of plastic.
You know some people are made of wood.
Some people have hearts of stone.
You know some people are up to no good.

But baby I'm for real, I'm as real as real can get.
If what you're lookin' for is real love then
What you see is what you get.

What you see (what you see)
Is what you get now (is what you get)
x2
Honey what you see is what you get,
and if you've found the real thing it's the best thing yet.

Some people are made of lies.
Breed them to shame your name.
But baby I have good intentions.

But baby I'm for real, I'm as real as real can get.
If what you're lookin' for is real love then
What you see is what you get.

What you see (what you see)
Is what you get now (is what you get)
x2
Honey what you see is what you get,
and if you've found the real thing it's the best thing yet.

But baby I'm for real, I'm as real as real can get.
If what you're lookin' for is real love then
What you see is what you get.

What you see (what you see)
Is what you get now (is what you get)
x2
Honey what you see is what you get,
and if you've found the real thing it's the best thing yet.

I think the people of Latin America, Asia, and Africa ought to elect their own pope. Time for a new schism.

It is a bright and beautiful morning.

I am very pleased with the verdict in the Moussaoui trial. Americans proved they were not monsters today by imposing the death penalty.

When Steve Cain leaves Lafayette, his absence will be sorely felt. God bless him and may he be well.

My Favorite New Song is

"Sticktwitchu"

Correction

Uncle Wade didn't go to Morgan State University, he went to Wayne State University. He tried to get me to go there.

Great Turn Out In Chicago

300,000 were in the streets of Chicago today for the Day Without Immigrants boycott and protest!!

I am IN LOVE with Evo Morales!!!!

Evo Morales, president of Bolivia, has threatened to expel foreign oil companies if they refuse to hand over the oil fields to the state. I hope he kicks out Exxon Mobil!!! I absolutely adore the man. In conjunction to this, I want to proclaim my excitement over Venezuala, Bolivia, and Cuba'srejection of the U.S.'s trade plan. God bless Castro! God Bless Chavez! God Bless Morales!

One Must Read this Beatufiul Interview with Helene Cixous

This is an interview entitled Guardian of Language done by Kathleen O'Grady with Helene Cixous in 1996. Quite a powerful essay.

Incident

Someone tore the bumper sticker off of my door that had an american flag on it and read "These colors don't rule the world."

A Day Without Immigrants

On May 1, we are calling No Work, No School, No Sales, and No Buying, and also to have rallies around symbols of economic trade in your areas (stock exchanges, anti-immigrant corporations, etc.) to protest the anti-immigrant movements across the country.

On May 1, we will wear "white" a T-Shirt and/or white arm bands, we can paint and write our political demands (and creative arts) at the T-shirt go to rally, protest, strike, vigil, work or school--we will have a ocean of white T-shirts with our political demands from east coast to west coast, at the street, work place, school, bus station & store... and our voice will be LOUD AND CLEAR AND CANNOT BE SILENT FOR EVER!

We will settle for nothing less than full amnesty and dignity for the millions of undocumented workers presently in the U.S. We believe that increased enforcement is a step in the wrong direction and will only serve to facilitate more tragedies along the Mexican-U.S. border in terms of deaths and family separation.

Go Away Little Boy--I Love This Song

by Marlena Shaw

How can I express to you the joy I felt, when I thought I’d found the perfect man for me. A man who could make feel the way I felt a woman should feel, umph, umph, umph. I said, darlin’, I’m gonna be the perfect woman for you. I went out and bought myself a three years subscription to Essence Magazine, read it from cover to cover, now you know I wanted to be perfect for him.

Well suh, he quit his job. He came home one day with 14 mirrors, some afro-sheen, some afro- glean, some afro-clean, some afro-fluid, some afro do-it to-it, he gon sit up in the room and look at the black is beautiful all day!

I said, ummmmm, "my darling, I hate to get all into your business, ya know what I mean, but uh, what about a job? What about the gas? What about the electricity bills"? You know what he said, "you working ain’t cha"? "Woman git off my back"!

I don’t know y’all, ya see, I wasn’t raised like that. The way I was raised, every able body in the household’s supposed to git up, and go out, at least looking for a job, ya know what I mean? So I laid it on the line to him. I said something like ahhh, "if you’ve come to realise, that you can no longer be the man that I thought you were at the beginning of our relationship". "Then I got this one thing to lay on you my sweet".

Go away little boy
Why just don’t you just go away little boy.
Ya see, I am not supposed to sit up there all alone in the dark with all them mirrors and no
money and no you oooooooooooooooo.
Now I know, I understand, I can testify to the fact that your lips are
awwwwwwww, ooooooooo, so sweet.
But it don’t look like our lips are ever gonna ever have another chance to meet
I think I can find myself another man.
And I’ll know what to do when I find me somebody who can be true.

Go away little boy, then I said...................
Let the doorknob hit cha where the dog should of bit cha little boy.
Cause you’re hurting me more every minute that you delay
Cause when you’re near me like this
Whoa baby , umph, you’re getting kinda hard to understand, so my man,
Why don’t you run on away, just run on away, just run on away little boy
Before I do something rash

Ohhhhhhh why don’t you run, run run run run on away little boy
Find yourself another set of solo strings little boy
Cause you’re hurting me more, every minute, every minute that you delay, ehh, ehhhhhhhh.
I said, I said, I said, when you’re near me, when you’re near me,
When you are close up tight like this, ohhhh baby
You’re getting kinda hard to resist, so my man
Why doncha, why doncha just run on away little boy
We got ta call it a day little boy, I said, run away little boy, before I beg you to stay.

Tonight is the NIght

Betty Wright

First of all I’d like to say good evening
And we’re so pleased that
So many of you could come out and share
In all the love and all the happiness we have in store for you
We want you to have a real good time
‘Cause that’s just what we have in mind
Is that alright with you
Now, this is a tune that I composed
And it’s called
Tonight is the night
That you make me a woman
Now I never intended recording this song
It was a personal poem
This is until the day that my producer
Happened to thumb through the pages of my notebook
He came across the words and he said
“We got to somethin’ with these words
It’s happening every day
And people wanna hear about it, Betty”
You see, it’s the story of a young girl
Making love for the very first time
Now when I finally got a melody
I took it home and I-I played it for my mother
Now I got to tell you a little bit about my mother
You see I come from one of those pretty large families
And I’m the baby of the family
And you know you never grow up to your mother
I’ll never forget the way she looked at me when I played it for her
She said, “Uh, I like the music
You know, baby, the melody it’s really nice
But I know you’re not gonna sing that song”
But we eased it right on by, yes, we did
And it became one of my biggest records too
So I want you to do this for me if you will
Everybody think back to your very first time
Now I’ll give you a little while longer
‘Cause I know some of you
Have to think back a little further than others
Come on now, I want you to play catch-up
‘Cause I don’t want you waitin’ till I get to the end of my song
Sayin’, “Oh, yeah, now I remember”
Now whether it was good
Or you just smilin’ it was good
Or on the other hand if it was not so good
Here’s my story

Hmm...hmm...mmm...mmm...

Tonight is the night
That you make me a woman, mmm...
You said you’ll be gentle with me
And I-I hope you will, mmm...mmm...

I’m nervous and I’m tremblin’
Waitin’ for you to walk in
I’m tryin’ hard to relax
But I just can’t keep still, no

I can hear your car door slammin’
I wanna play big girl and put on a sexy smile
But I know so little about what love is
I just can’t help actin’ like a child

You’re knockin’ on my door and you’re ringin’ my bell
Hope you’re not impatient after waiting so very long
A whole year I put you off with my silly hang-ups
And we’re both old enough to know right from wrong

Tonight is the night
That you make me a woman, mmm...
You said you’ll be gentle with me
And I-I hope you will, hmm...mmm...
I’m nervous and I’m tremblin’
Waitin’ for you to walk in
Tryin’ hard to relax
But I just can’t keep still

Mmm...hey, baby
Ho, ho, baby
Ho...yeah...yeah...

Oh, but what if my mama should come home early
And catch us doin’ what we’re doin’
Not only will I never live it down
But my whole family relationship it’ll all be ruined
But we’ve gone a little bit too far now
Oh, to turn around
So let’s just pray
That true love is what we’ve found

Tonight, tonight
Tonight, tonight

Ho, I’ll never forget tonight
No, no, I’ll never forget tonight
That’s when you make me feel real, mmm...hmm...
You make me feel real, real good
Oh...oh...whoa...oh...oh...whoa...whoa...
Yeah, and I wanna thank your love
Said I’ve got to thank your love
‘Cause you make me feel good
And I love you, baby
I love you and I know it
And I ain’t too proud to show it
‘Cause I love you, baby
And I need you, baby
I want you, my love, my love
My, my, my baby
I’ll never forget tonight
No, I’ll never forget tonight
‘Cause you make me feel good
And I love you, baby
You make me feel real good
And I love you, baby
‘Cause you gave me
Uh, uh, pure love, yeah
Uh, uh, uh, pure love
Said I like that, baby
Uh, uh, pure love
Said I need that, sugar
Uh-uh-uh, pure love
There’s nothin’ phony about it
Uh-uh, pure love


Your love I can’t do without it
Uh-uh-uh, pure love, ooh

I love him, I know it
I ain’t too proud to show it
I love him, I know it
I ain’t too proud to show it
I love him, I know it
I ain’t too proud to show it
I love him, I know it
And I ain’t too proud to show it

Tonight, tonight
Tonight, tonight
Mmm...mmm...mmm...

Thank you
Thank you

300,000 March Against the War in New York

April 29th, 2006
Organizers estimate 300,000 at anti-war march in Manhattan

NEW YORK (AP) - New York police aren't giving a size estimate on the crowd,
but organizers claim 300-thousand people turned out for an anti-war protest
in Manhattan today.

Protesters are calling for an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

One of the many signs in the crowd read "End this war, bring the troops
home." Another read "Veterans for Peace."

One woman who marched says she "had a lot of anger" and has to do something.
Marjori Ramos of Staten Island said, "we've been lied to."

The demonstrators stretched for about ten city blocks. There were no
arrests.

The protest comes as April draws to a close as the deadliest month for
American forces in Iraq this year.

Hooray!!

Hooray for Evo Morales for standing up to the United States and joining forces with Venezuela and Cuba for progress!!!

Interesting Revelations:Where I Have Grown

I used to praise Chaim Weizzman and Theodore Herzl as great people. I absolutely do not anymore.

Question

Am I a sentimentalist?

The 80s were such a great decade...I ran across this song that brought back sooo many memories....

The truth about Roni, she’s a sweet little girl
You could treat her nice real and hold her tight
Only tenderonis can give special love
A special kind of love that makes you feel good inside

If you believe in love and all that it can do for you
Give it a chance, girl, you’ll find romance
And if you find a tenderoni that is right for you
Make it official, give her your love

My heart (Woo) belongs to tenderoni (She’s my only love)
She’s my only love (My only heart, baby)
My heart (Yeah) belongs to tenderoni (She’s my only love)
She’s my only love

The truth about Roni, she’s always on the phone
Talkin’ to her homeboy, wishin’ they were home alone, ooh
She send you lovely letters with the smell of sweet perfume
This is what a real tenderoni likes to do to you

And if you believe in love and all that it can do for you
Give it a chance, girl, you’ll find romance
And if you find a tenderoni that is right for you
Make it official, give her your love, ooh, yeah

My heart belongs to tenderoni (She’s my only love)
She’s my only love (My only heart)
My heart belongs to tenderoni (She’s my only love)
She’s my only love

The truth about Roni, she’s a sweet ol’ girl
About the sweetest little girl in the whole wide world
She’ll make the toughest homeboy fall deep in love
Said once you had a Roni you will never give her up
She’s a special kind of girl that makes her daddy feel proud
You know the kinda girl that stands out in crowds
Found a tenderoni and the Roni is so right
I think I’m gonna love her for the rest of my life

If you believe in love and all that it can do for you
And if you find a tenderoni that is right for you
Make it official, give her your love, ooh, yeah

My heart belongs to tenderoni (She’s my only lover)
She’s my only love (My only heart)
My heart belongs to tenderoni (She’s my only love)
She’s my only love

The truth about Roni, she’s a sweet ol’ girl
About the sweetest little girl in the whole wide world
She’ll make the toughest homeboy fall deep in love
Said once you had a Roni you will never give her up
She’s a special kind of girl that makes her daddy feel proud
You know the kinda girl that stands out in crowds
Found a tenderoni and the Roni is so right
I think I’m gonna love her for the rest of my life

My heart belongs to tenderoni
She’s my only love (My only heart)
My heart belongs to tenderoni (She’s my only love)
She’s my only love

The truth about Roni, she’s a sweet ol’ girl
About the sweetest little girl in the whole wide world
She’ll make the toughest homeboy fall deep in love
Said once you had a Roni you will never give her up
She’s a special kind of girl that makes her daddy feel proud
You know the kinda girl that stands out in crowds
Found a tenderoni and the Roni is so right
I think I’m gonna love her for the rest of my life

My heart belongs to tenderoni
She’s my only love

I'm The Greatest Star

I have 36 expressions
Sweet as pie and tough as leather
And that's six expressions more
Than all them Barrymores put together
Instead of just kicking me why don't they give me a lift
Well, it must me a plot
'Cause they're scared that I got such a gift
Well I'm miffed
'Cause I'm the greatest star
I am by far
But no one knows it
Wait, they're gonna hear a voice
A silver flute
There'll cheer each toot
( Yeah, she's terrific!)
When I expose it!
Now can't you see to look at me
That I'm a natural Camille
As Camille I just feel, I have so much to offer
(Hey listen kid I know I'd be divine because ...)
I'm a natural cougher
[couching sounds]
Some ain't got it, not a lump
I'm a great big clump of talent!
Laugh, they'll bend in half
(Did you ever hear that story about the traveling salesman?)
A thousand jokes
(Stick around for the chokes)
A thousand faces, I reiterate
When you're gifted
Than you're gifted
These are facts I got no ax to grind
He, what are you blind?
In all the world so far, I'm the greatest star
No autographs please
[spoken]
Do you thing beautiful girls are gonna stay in style forever
What if I say not, any minute now there' gonna be out
Finished than it'll be my turn
[sung]
Who is the pip with pizezz?
Who is all ginger and jazz?
Who is as glamorous as?
Who's an American beauty rose,
With an American beauty nose,
And ten American beauty toes,
Eyes on the target and wham
One shot one gunshot and bam?
He mister Keeney here I am

I'm the greatest star
I am by far but no one knows it!
That's why I was born
I blow my horn
Till someone blows it
I'll light up like a light
Right up like a light
I'll flicker, then flare up, ah, ah!
All the world's gonna stare up
Looking down you'll never see me
Try the sky 'cause that'll be me!
I can make them cry
I can make them sigh
Some day they'll clamor for my drama
Have you guessed yet, who's the best yet?
If you ain't I'll tell you one more time
You bet yer last dime
In all of the world so far
I am the greatest, greatest star!

Is NPR Absolutely Crazy?

NPR is running this story about the advantages of Global Warming in that now the Northwest Passage has become warm enough that sailors can make it through in six weeks time, in essence making an easier route to Asia. Capitalism can prosper while the world dies...what a wonderful thing!

Just moments ago I started thinking about my Cousin Slim, my grandmother's cousin, and how I used to ride in the back of his truck when I was a little boy, when we first moved to Alabama. He prepared the best deer meat. I remember many times going to his house with my mother and grandmother. Wonderiful time, blessed experience.

I hope that I am open to gain new insight and vision every day.

I absolutely realize how very blessed I am.

blackademic has a greatpost concerning the demonizing of the young woman who was raped at Duke and the racial lenses through which it is being percieved by those on the Right.

Bette Midler is a lesbian?

Happy Belated Birthday Barbra! 4/24/42!

My blog had a bug which made it loose everything. I wonder what kind of bug it was.

Today I so felt like climbing a tree.

I just saw two great films this week, Their Eyes Were Watching God and Goodnight and Good Luck. Great films!

There's A New Day Comin'

From Their Eyes Were Watchin' God(Oprah & Halle Berry)

There's a new day comin'
Everything's gon' be turning over
Everything's gon' be turning over
Where You gon' be when it comes?

There's a new day comin?
Everything's gon' be turning over
Everything's gon be turning over
Where You gon be when it comes?

For far too many years
I been marching singing and talking
doing things I thought would make me free
While people half way around the world
they been fighting and dying and bleeding
now it comes come that they are gonna be

There's a New World Comin'
Everything's gon be turning over
Everything's gon be turning over
Where you gon be when it comes?

A Piece of Sky

Barbra

Tell me where
Where is it written
What it is I’m meant to be?
That I can’t dare...

It all began the day I found
That from my window
I could only see
A piece of sky.
I stepped outside and looked around,
I never dreamed it was so wide
Or even half as high.

The time had come
(papa, can you hear me? )
To try my wings
(papa, are you near me? )
And even thought it seemed at any moment I could fall,
I felt the most
(papa, can you see me? )
Amazing things,
(can you understand me? )
The things you can’t imagine
If you’ve never flown at all.

Though it’s safer to stay on the ground,
Sometimes where danger lies
There the sweetest of pleasures are found.
No matter where I go-
There’ll be mem’ries that tug at my sleeve
But there will also be
More to question yet more to believe.

(oh tell me where-
Where is the someone who will turn to look at me
And want to sahre
My ev’ry sweet-imagined possibility? )

The more I live - the more I learn.
The more I learn - the more I realize
The less I know.
Each step I take-
(papa, I’ve a voice now!)
Each page I turn-
(papa, I’ve a choice now!)
Each mile I travel only means
The more I have to go.
What’s wrong with wanting more?
If you can fly - then soar!
With all there is - why settle for
Just a piece of sky?

Papa, I can hear you...
Papa, I can see you...
Papa, I can feel you...
Papa, watch me fly!

I think there needs to be more public discourse on the effect of Hurricane Katrina on the Black psyche collectively.

The women of South Africa should collectively learn how to castrate.

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.