Hungry Blues is doing some very important work in showcasing the law suits brought up by the survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

Last night was definitely interesting. Building from a previous post, the exploration continued further...and it definitely got a bit more exciting.

I am very pleased with how well I can read german.

Boy would I have loved to have moved in circles with the likes of Nina Simone, Miriam Makeba, Stokeley Carmichael, Harry Belafonte..... That would have been beautiful.

Kent State expelled an iraqi veteran for protesting a military recruitment effort on campus and the Iraq war.

I am a drag queen.

I was just thinking. MY childhood was very queer and very progressive indeed. I grew up wearing my sisters and my mothers clothes to school. We would wear each others sweaters and shirts, nothing more than that. It was all quite innocent and lovely.

I showed Stonewall in my class at Ivy Tech today. ha. The response was interesting. We will finish watching it and then discuss it. It has some very interesting play in it in terms of gender construction, power relations,etc.

RS and JS are truly good people.

The persecution of Sami Al-Arianis one of the most drastic examples of fascism at work in the United states. Someone should help get to Cuba. What is happening and what is going to happen to our civil rights and our right to free speech in this country? There should be a massive outcry against what is happening to this man in this trial.

I am in an interesting place tonight. I need to stop making war on my body. I need to get in sync with my health.

Not only is Lafayette heteronormative. Lafayette is Stagnant.

My first day of teaching RS's class was wonderful! Blissful moments.

Am I the Same Girl?

Swing Out Sisters-- AM I the Same Girl?

Why don't you stop
And look me over
Am I the same girl you used to know?

Why don't you stop
And think it over
Am I the same girl who knew your soul?

I'm the one you want
And I'm the one you need
I'm the one you love
I'm the one you used to meet

Around the corner
Everyday
We would meet
And slip away
But we were much too young
To love each other this way

Am I the same girl?
(Yes I am, yes I am)
Am I the same girl?
(Yes I am, yes I am)

Why don't you stop
And look me over
Am I the same girl you used to know?
Why don't you stop
And think it over
Am I the same girl who knew your soul?

I'm the one you hurt
And I'm the one you need
I'm the one who cried
I'm the one you used to meet
But you are pretending you don't care
But the fire is still there
Now we are no longer too young
To love each other this way

Am I the same girl?
(Yes I am, yes I am)
Am I the same girl?
(Yes I am, yes I am)

Am I the same girl?
(Yes I am, yes I am)
Am I the same girl?
(Yes I am, yes I am)

Have you ever felt the need for something more
With every week comes scratching at your door
Have you ever stopped and wonder what it is you're searching for
Push your luck too far with me
But if you push it any further
You won't have any

Am I the same girl?
Am I the same girl?
(Yes I am, yes I am)

K and O definitely could be together.

All night, All day, Angels watching over me my lord. All night, All day, Angels watching over me.

I always find it quite amusing and slightly befuddling when I see people reading the Exponent in ernest.

The CIA and the United States should be made to pay for its sins. How dare they believe that that can construct secret prisons in order to do to people what they feel like and think they can? God these people get on my nerves. They definitely need to loose their penises.

Four Black Students Suffer From Another Katrina Race-Related Injustice

Hattiesburg, MS (BlackNews.com) - William Carey College, a predominantly white Southern Baptist private school, has recently wrongfully expelled four black students for using an electric generator during the Presidentially-declared disaster.

Immediately following Katrina, several students of the college were stranded due to road blockage, gas shortage, or distance from their homes. A student went into a maintenance shed that had been ripped open by high speed winds and made use of a generator that remained on the campus.

This reportedly helped students recharge and use their cell phones while the land lines were down as well as give them lights at night. The men's dorm lobby, where the generator was being used, also became a safe haven of sorts for some of the remaining female students.

As the days passed and roads and gas became more available, the only students that remained were those whose homes were out of state, overseas, or destroyed. This small group consisted of three William Carey basketball players and one former player as well as others.

Senior Jeremy Irby, Junior Marvin Flemmons, Senior Dante Hardy, and Junior Jeremiah Blackwell were all expelled for using the generator that many students participated in using including school staff. They were told and given written notice that they were being expelled for conduct that was contrary to the schools handbook and there was not to be any appeal nor could they return to campus as visitors. This action itself was against school policy.

The students were escorted off campus by police with armed military personnel and had to immediately take with them all of their belongings with no place to go. No other students were expelled or repremanded. When asked what their plans were Marvin Flemmons replied, "We are looking for legal representation and we want our story to get out so this does not happen to anyone else."

IF YOU CAN PROVIDE LEGAL HELP AND/OR ANY OTHER ASSISTANCE OR WANT TO SHOW SUPPORT, PLEASE CONTACT:

Dante Hardy
118 College Drive #8177
Hattiesburg, MS 39406
mdantehardy AT yahoo DOT com
601-297-4365

Soul II Soul-- Keep On Movin'

Keep On Movin'
Don't stop like the hands of time
Click Clock
find your own way to stay
the time will come one day
Why do people choose to live their lives this way?
Keep on movin' don't stop no
keep on movin'
keep on movin'
keep on movin'
don't stop
no
Keep on movin'
Its our time
time today
the right time is here to stay
stay in my life
my life always
yellow is the colour of sunrays
I hide myself from no one
I know the time will surely come when
You'll be in my life
my life
my life always
Yellow is the colour of sunrays.
Keep on movin'
don't stop
no
keep on movin'

I know the time
time today
walking alone in my own way
Extremely cold and rainy day
friends and I have fun along the way
Yes
we do! I hide myself from no one
I know the time will really come when
You'll be in my life
my life always
yellow is the colour of sunrays.
Keep on movin'
don't stop
no
keep on movin'.

I Am Encouraged

There are thousands in the streets in Mar Del Plata, Argentina protesting Bush's presence there. God, they have more freedom than we do. I hope they do something to him. Viva Argentina! Viva Chavez!! I am also quite enthralled by the riots in Paris. For ages and ages, the French treated their immigrant/colored populations like rubbish and now they are experiencing the Backlash. It is interesting, and something I think everyone should note: Be aware of the way poverty and oppression travels and migrates....in the United States, poverty is in the urban areas---decrepit schools and housing in what Cornel West calls Chocolate Cities....in Europe, they keep their poor in the suburbs, on the outskirts of the city. Oh the time when there shall be an uprising among the impoverished classes.....

Last night was absolutely interesting. I dont know, but someone up there definitely sends me some interesting experiences down the line every now and then. Talk about homoerotic and god, absolutely sexual--while doing everything but the act--yet. Anyway. We shall see how this develops.

I realized this evening that I have the ability to make white men very uncomfortable. They run for cover and try to protect their penises.

I think the democrats may be getting a little bit of a backbone.

They are rioting in Paris. I think it is a beautiful thing too.

One thing that I wanted to note was my impressions of the rally and protest saturday. What I noted that was of such interest to me and that really struck a chord with me was the presence of children at this rally. There were children, in considerable numbers there- holding up signs, passing out things. It was definitely a beautiful moment.

Julian Bond, John Conyers, and Melvin Watts all made very bold and powerful comments at Rosa Parks' funeral today. I was quite warmly surprised when Julian Bond invoked the name of Robert Williams and Radio Free Dixie. He also made reference to Eldridge Cleaver. Go Julian. God Bless all who spoke.

I have not talked much about my fathers family at all. Alas, I am not that familiar with them. I know my aunts, my uncles, and my cousins, but the larger family, of them I have not much knowledge. I will record what I do know.My father has thirteen brothers and sisters. Twelve from his mother and one outside child. My grandfather's name was Edward Carl and my grandmother's maiden name was Allegra Jones. My grandfather primarily worked for the Irish mafia in Chicago. My grandmother went to Spelman and taught school. Both of their fathers were ministers. I dont know what my grandfather was mixed with, but he was most certainly the whitest Black man I have ever seen. His family was from Mississippi. He looked like James Carville thirty years older.I have not seen his brothers--I believe I saw a picture of one once. Some of them are still alive. I do know that several of them have/had blond hair and blue eyes, including this one that just died. My grandfather was a mess. He used to scare the bejesus out of me and I wouldnt want to go sit near him because he would always be talking about ghosts and seeing his dead wife and dead daughter coming to get him. He also believed in voodoo.

My grandmother's family I know more about because my aunts and other relatives did a history on them. Her immediate family was Jones. Her father was a minister. Her maternal family was the Woodsons. Her Woodson grandfather was also a minister. She had an uncle that was sort of a football legend at the University of Kentucky and a host of other relatives who did different things. The Woodson family is quite old and they founded a few towns in Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois. They seemed to be quite illustrious people of color. I am wondering if they are at all connected to Carter G. Woodson. It would be interesting to see.

I am just now reading a biography of Edie Sedgwick. It is interesting how genealogy is. Especially when there are such large families. As I read about her background and heritage I think about mine.

This from Barbra's Website...Written By BJS herself

This section contains statements and speeches by Ms. Streisand.

If Not Now... When? ...Barbra Streisand
Posted on October 26, 2005
If there was ever a time in history to impeach a President of the United States, it would be now. In my opinion, it is two years too late. We should have done this before the election to spare the country the misjudgment, the incompetence and the malfeasance of this administration. Let us remember that UN weapons inspectors asked for more time to search Iraq for WMDs. Two months into their search, the Director General of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, stated that he found no evidence that Iraq had revived its nuclear weapons program since its elimination in the 1990s. And Saddam Hussein had begun to comply with the administration's demands. Why would you invade a country if there was still a chance for peace? Shouldn't war be an absolute last resort? We went to war because we were misled. And we should be angry because of the 2,000 American soldiers and the 200 armed coalition forces that have died. We should be livid because of the 15,000 American soldiers that have been horribly maimed and wounded. We should be disgusted because of the 30,000 innocent Iraqi civilians that have been killed and the 20,000 that are wounded after administration officials claimed that the US was going to liberate the Iraqi people.

When does it stop? It stops with the indictment and impeachment of this corrupt, power-hungry, greedy group of incompetent leaders. How many more have to die before this happens?

Impeachment will be difficult. People must understand the power of Congress. When one party controls both the House and the Senate, they control the agenda. They control what hearings are held, what legislation gets voted on, whether subpoenas are issued and which investigations can take place. And they control whether impeachment proceedings can be brought.

We were clearly deceived by this administration and now we find ourselves fighting a war under false pretenses. There was no connection between Iraq and 9/11, despite Dick Cheney's many assertions. There were no WMD's and the CIA had intelligence which corroborated that evidence. There was no nuclear threat contrary to Condoleezza Rice's "smoking gun becoming a mushroom cloud" scare tactic. And there was no yellow cake purchased from Niger by Iraq as former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, along with our European allies, confirmed. All of these misconceptions and falsehoods were relentlessly stated. But this administration disregarded the facts because they wanted to wage this war, as we learned in the Downing Street memo.

This President will go down as the worst president in American history. His administration ignored and neglected the threats before 9/11. His team was not prepared to act and react before, during or after Hurricane Katrina. His policies have contributed to the hastening of global warming, an ever growing national debt, a rise in poverty and an increasing disparity between the rich and the poor. We are watching the middle-class disappear under Bush's leadership. He has taken our economy from the largest surplus in U.S. history to the largest deficit in U.S. history. And he has appointed several people to important positions that are unqualified and loyal to a dangerous fault.

With the recent controversy surrounding the potential indictments and charges of perjury against senior members of the Bush administration, some have made comparisons to the perjury charge that was brought against President Clinton. Perjury under any circumstance is wrong. However, in President Clinton’s situation, the matter was concerning an issue that only adversely affected himself and his family. But the potential charges filed against Bush’s closest advisors have put everybody’s families and the national security of the United States at risk.

Thank god the media and the American public are finally waking up and asking the tougher questions now. I keep hearing Harry Truman's famous statement ringing in my brain, "I wonder how many times you have to be hit on the head before you find out who's hitting you?"

This Was On The Cover of Time Magazine on the Day I Was Born

Dump the Bosses off Your Back?

Are you poor, forlorn and hungry?
Are there lots of things you lack?
Is your life made up of misery?
Then dump the bosses off your back.
Are your clothes all patched and tattered?
Are you living in a shack ?
Would you have your troubles scattered?
Then dump the bosses off your back.
Are you almost split asunder?
Loaded like a long-eared jack?
Boob - why don't you buck like thunder,
And dump the bosses off your back?
All the agonies you suffer
You can end with one good whack;
Stiffen up, you orn'ry duffer
And dump the bosses off your back.

Have You Been to Jail for Justice?

HAVE YOU BEEN TO JAIL FOR JUSTICE?

© 1998 Anne Feeney (BMI)

Was it Cesar Chavez? Maybe it was Dorothy Day
Some will say Dr. King or Gandhi set them on their way
No matter who your mentors are it's pretty plain to see
That, if you've been to jail for justice, you're in good company

Have you been to jail for justice? I want to shake your hand
Cause sitting in and lyin' down are ways to take a stand
Have you sung a song for freedom? or marched that picket line?
Have you been to jail for justice? Then you're a friend of mine

You law abiding citizens, come listen to this song
'Cause laws were made by people, and people can be wrong
Once unions were against the law, but slavery was fine
Women were denied the vote and children worked the mine
The more you study history the less you can deny it
A rotten law stays on the books til folks with guts defy it

The law's supposed to serve us, and so are the police
And when the system fails, it's up to us to speak our peace
We must be ever vigilant for justice to prevail
So get courage from your convictions
Let them haul you off to jail!

It was a beautiful day and an even more beautiful evening. Anne Feeney made me cry at the anti-war raly their in Terra Haute, especially with her stirring rendition of "Have You Been to Jail for Justice?" and the reading of the names was powerful. I have never felt more comfortable or have I ever been more completely at home than this evening in a room full of socialists, unionists, and progressives at the Eugene V. Debs dinner. It was beautiful. And people on the left know how to dress..... We heard beautiful and stirring words from Charles King, Secretary of the Eugene V.Debs Foundation, Cecil Roberts from the United Mine Workers of America, and the honoree of the night, Thomas Frank, who wrote Whats the Matter with Kansas? I got to meet all three and they were great and I got to socialize and meet with some others as well. It was a great evening.

Tonight I had coffee with a lovely friend. He is very sweet, timid, and interesting. We shall definitely hang out some more.

A Wonderful Tribute

Rosa Parks will lie in state at the Capitol Rotunda on Sunday and Monday. Plans are being arranged for her to be buried at the Lincoln Memorial. I hope her spirit takes over Washington D.C. and shakes it at its very foundation.

Yea!!!!

Scooter Libby got indicted today! I hope this is the beginning of the end for this regine, although I am not hopeful. The United States is quickly becoming a right-winged state and I believe that it will continue in this path until its very end.

Go Iran.

I so envisioned my life as being something out of a woody allen movie(primarily Hannah and her Sisters). What happened?

This week, in regards to my classes, I opened a great big can of worms and almost got lynched. Those were the highlights of my week. Firstly, I almost got lynched as after we finished Watching Bowling for Columbine I introduced the concept of American Exceptionalism into our conversation about the film--and dared to questionthe superiority of the United States. There was some hot blood running through that room. Alas, after the discussion of Bowling for Columbine-- I brought in another lesson I had prepared--on the racial codes that were prevalent in the United States--the 1/4th , one drop, and one eitgth rules. I talked about Plessy Vs. ferfuson, the other supreme court case Jane Doe Vs. Louisiana and talked about the rhetoric of race--the purpose for these laws, how they affected people's lives, and how they played out in terms of defining personal and community identity. We talked about Carol Channing, Walter White ( and looked at pictures), and Rita Hayworth, just for kicks. I think they were beautiful discussions. Others might want to burn me at stake for being a Communist.

I absolutely believe that the word progressive needs to be troubled.

I absolutely adore burlesque. I am intrigued and am interested to know who was the inspiration for the character of "Satin Doll" in Jo Jo Dancer Your Life is Calling.

Building on My Previous Post

Yet I know that I was put here to do good work. And do it I will. I bitch and complain, but in the end I get to work.

I suppose I am a bit bitter that God sent me to Alabama and Indiana instead of giving me what I want/need. IF I ever found god I would probably try to castrate him for fucking with me.

We have to be in the struggle.

A Tribute to Rosa Parks from the New York Times

A Quote from the New York Times

In "Stride Toward Freedom," Dr. King wrote, "Actually no one can understand the action of Mrs. Parks unless he realizes that eventually the cup of endurance runs over, and the human personality cries out, 'I can take it no longer.' "

Putting It Together

Barbra Streisand

Barbra: look, I?ve spent a lot of time working on this
Producer 1: look, no one?s gonna buy it -- no one.
Producer 2: no one in middle america, anyway. that?s for sure.
Producer 3: he?s right!
Producer 1: sweetheart, it?s just not commercial!
Barbra: what is commercial?
Producer 2: it?s not what?s selling nowadays.
Producer 1: I mean - personally, I love it, but
Barbra (sung):be nice, girl!
Producer 3: nobody?s into this kind of material.
Barbra (sung): you have to pay a price, girl!
Producer 2: this album needs a hit single we can push.
Barbra (sung):they like to give advice, girl!
Producer 1: the whole idea?s too risky.
Barbra (sung): don?t think about it twice, girl!
Producer 2: the audience won?t understand this kind of thing!
Barbra (sung):it?s time to get to work!
Barbra(spoken): I disagree! why don?t you wait until you hear
it?
Producer 3: this is like your old stuff!
Barbra (sung): art isn?t easy.
Producer 3: you?ve got to appeal to the kids.
Barbra (sung): even when you?re hot.
Producer 2: why would you want to make an album like this
anyway?
Barbra (sung): advancing art is easy.
Producer 1: I think we ought to talk seriously about this.
Barbra (sung): financing it is not!
Producer 2: why take chances?
Barbra (sung): a vision?s just a vision if it?s only in your
head!
Producer 1: nobody respects your artistic integrity more than I
do, but
Barbra (sung): if no one gets to hear it, it?s as good as dead!
Producer 2: you have to think about you career!
Barbra (sung): it has to come to life!
Barbra (sung): bit by bit, putting it together
Piece by piece, only way to make a work of art
Every moment makes a contribution
Every little detail plays a parts
Having just a vision?s no solution
Everything depends on execution
Putting it together, that?s what counts!
Ounce by ounce, putting in together
Small amounts, adding up to make a work of art
First of all you need a good foundation
Otherwise it?s risky from the start
Takes a little cocktail conversation
But without the proper preparation
Having just a vision?s no solution
Everything depends on execution
The art of making art
Is putting it together, bit by bit
Producer 2: do we really need all these musicians?
Barbra: link by link, making the connections, yes we do!
Drink by drink, taking every comment as it comes
Learning how to play the politician
Like you play piano, bass and drums
Otherwise you?ll find your composition
Isn?t gonna get much exhibition
Art isn?t easy
Every minor detail is a major decision
Have to keep things in scale
Have to hold to your vision
Producer 1: why don?t we talk about this over dinner, darling?
What?s a little cocktail conversation
If it gets the funds for your foundation
Every time I start to feel defensive
I remember vinyl is expensive!
Producer 3: would you agree to do an interview?
Barbra: maybe one!
Dot by dot, building up the image
Shot by shot, keeping at a distance doesn?t pay
Still if you remember your objective
Not give all your privacy away
A little bit of hype can be effective
As long as you can keep it in perspective
Even when you get some recognition
Everything you do you still audition
Art isn?t easy
Overnight you?re a trend
You?re the right combination
Then the trend?s at an end
You?re suddenly last year?s sensation!
All they ever want is repetition
All they really like is what they know
Gotta keep a link with your tradition
Gotta learn to trust your intuition
While you re-establish your position
So that you can be on exhibit...
So that your work can be on exhibition!
Be new, girl!
They tell you till they?re blue, girl!
You?re new, or else you?re through, girl!
And even if it?s true, girl,
You do what you can do!
Bit by bit, putting it together
Piece by piece, working on the vision night and day
All it takes is time and perseverance
With a little luck along the way
Putting in a personal appearance
Gathering supporters and adherents...
Producer 1: well, she?s an original!
Producer 3: was!
Barbra: mapping out the songs but in addition
Harmonizing each negotiation
Balancing the part that?s all musicians
With the part that?s strictly presentation
Balancing the money with the mission
Till you have the perfect orchestration
Even if you do have the suspicion
That it?s taking all your concentration
The art of making art
Is putting it together, bit by bit
Beat by beat, part by part
Sheet by sheet, chart by chart track by track, bit by bit,
Reel by reel, pout by pout
Stack by stack, snit by snit,
Meal by meal, shout by shout
Deal by deal, spat by spat
Shpiel by shpiel, doubt by doubt
And that... is the state of the art!

OH GOD

I am crying soo on the inside...for the whole world...and for me.....Rosa Parks just died today. Is there any hope left for the world?

To Oprah: I love you girl.


I think Oprah and Soledad O'Brien are most progressive souls.

I want to look more into the one drop rule an d the legal defintions of blackness and whiteness. I have read a lot about it, know a lot aboutit, but I want to seriously and in a focused way consider it.

If someone could bottle up all of the colors of the changing leaves and turn them into wine, that would be a wine I would definitely love to drink. I saw the most beautiful red tree, beautiful and rich in color on my way to campus.

As I was just going onver some notes I had written down previously, I began to think about the construction of the self, specifically in relation to the Afro-American community. I have always argued that the Afro-American community has failed to construct an identity for itself, always dependent upon the white patrarchial structure to provide it with the definition of itself, which is a byproduct of the state of bastardy.It has never been able to acheive that level of integrity--integralness where it as been completely whole. There must be some very significant changes made in order for this to take place.

Am I selfish?

Why aren't there more Cornel Wests? Where are the Kimberley Williams-Crenshaws, the Barbra Streisands, the bell hooks? The Alice Walkers? I need these people.

Ive written my fiftieth review on epinons(again). It was of Julia. I am pleased.

There is this lovely boy named Will that works at Taco Bell. He is quite cute and he is a socialist.;-) I enjoy talking to him.

A Sad Day

Shirley Horn died this past Thursday. She was 71.

Today I witnessed on television a most wonderful exchange between Cornel West, Guyatri Spivak and Luke Harris, with Farah Griffin acting as the host. It was beautiful and inspiring. Cornel is most wonderful. He should be god.

I read today in the Journal and Courier that the FBI is going to start working closely with College campus presidents. This should be paid close attention.

Oh the priorities of the Bush administration. Amidst all that is going on they have time to lend a hand to the gun lobby.

Recording My Dreams

A few nights ago I had an eerie and sort of disturbing dream. I dreamt that my mother, Charles, and I all lived together and my mother made Charles leave. After that happened, I went out looking for him and stayed on the street with some girl that I was friends with. I was really upset and was looking for Charles.

Yesterday I bought 4 films, all of which I have seen before- Julia, Jo Jo Dancer Your Life Is Calling, Lost in Yonkers, and Madame Souzatska.

I definitely have to let go of my middle class sensibilities and comforts--1. I must be at home, I must act according to certain rules, I must, I must..... no more....the end of Middle Class sensibilities....

From Hungry Blues

Hungry Blues has a great post on the prison policy initiative which can be found here.

Today is a beautiful day and I feel soo good. Alas, revolution and all progressive movement is supposed to be in order to help the people. If its not helping people, then it doesnt need to be done. We also want to eradicate all captialst thinking.

The Bush Administration in All of Its Bullshit

Can you believe this shit?. Also, Body and Soul points out how Rep. Barney Frank further calls these people to task concerning their policies on aid for the victims of Bush/Hurricane Katrina.

Over the past few days, I have noticed a large flock of birds just noisiliy perching on the power company's electrical units outside. Ove thought it quite eerie, as if the birds were about to take back over man's (and gods) creation.

Oh Wow*

Today I had one of the greatest discussions with my students at Ivy Tech, on power, legitimacy, authority, and legality--and one which I don't know if I will EVER have with my students at Purdue. It was so profound and beautiful. Are the students of Ivy Tech less tied into hegemony than the one's at Purdue?











*Wow, as was told to me before, being the highest form of flattery.

The FBI Should Be Held Responsible

The FBI should be held accountable and be made to pay for the assassination of Filiberto Ojeda Rios that they carried out . Ojeda was a revolutionary leader of the Ejercito Popular Boricua Los macheteros, Popular army of the People -- also known as Cane Cutters. On September 23rd, 2005, FBI agents broke into the home of Filiberto Ojeda Rios, shot him in cold blod and allowed him to bleed to death. They should be made to pay for their actions. You can read about the assasination here.

Honoring Fannie Lou Hamer with my 500th Post

Honoring Fannie Lou Hamer
(Via email from Beck Belcore of Community Labor United.)

STATEMENT OF THE COORDINATING COMMITTEE OF THE PEOPLE'S HURRICANE RELIEF FUND & OVERSIGHT COALITION ON THE BIRTHDAY OF FANNIE LOU HAMER, OCTOBER 6, 2005

October 6th was Fannie Lou Hamer's birthday. Fannie Lou was a black worker who emerged from the fields of Mississippi during the freedom struggles of the 1960s to head the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Fannie Lou Hamer represented the goals, hopes and demands of the grassroots (people of Mississippi and the black rural south). At the 1964 Democratic Party Convention her voice and ours were sacrificed by white (and some black) Democratic Party leaders to preserve an alliance with the Dixiecrats. The views, voices and interests of the working class and poor black majority were disrespected in this shameful event.

That painful and damaging history is vividly echoing in our ears. It is happening again. It must stop.

In the wake of one of the worst disasters, in the making long before Katrina's wind and water hit the Gulf Coast, poor and working class black people are once again being swept aside. We see and hear organizations, even in the black community, claiming to speak for us, claiming to represent us. They do not. Only we can represent ourselves.

This disrespect and disregard is also taking place in governmental bodies and organizations who are meeting, planning and implementing programs in our absence, without our input and oversight.

Out of this horror we have the chance to build a movement for social justice in this country. The genuine interest from concerned people from every walk of life and every corner of the nation shows us we are not alone.

If we are to meet this moment, build the movement we need, this situation cannot continue. The gains of the black freedom movement must be preserved. All that we have learned, (the ways we have grown since must be celebrated and built upon). We demand that the voices of those left behind after Katrina hit, the overwhelming majority of whom are the black working class and poor be at the center of every discussion about what lies ahead for Louisiana and other areas of the Gulf Coast.

I want to write a little bit about the history ofsocial work in this country. As my mother is a social worker I feel quite strognly about this profession and the work that they do. Social work has its origins in the late 1800s and early 20th Century with the onslaught of immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe into Northern and East Coast urban areas.

The health, public welfare, educational, and environmental issues that arose from this boom in population--and the massive presence of immigrant populations within the United States created the need for basic skills, basic necessities, and basic training. Thus arose social work, carved out of the tradition of women helping women and children, and helping families--out of which arose a profession, made up largely of women, especially with the appearance of such women as Jane Addams with Hull House in Chicago, Margaret Sanger in New York with her advocacy of family planning and the use of contraceptives, and the tons of women and men who entered education (including many of my ancestors) as teachers, who as such were oftentime called upon to carry out these duties as well. Out of this tradition of concern for social welfare eventually came the state sponsored version which, in all of its good and bad aspects, has come to serve the people on a universally functional level.

I think it is also quite interesting to think about the legacy of these social movements moving into the official structure--after the initial efforts of a few dedicated activists. This is not only true for the establishment of social work as a profession, but also true for the implementation of social policies and programs that we think of as commonplace now. I am thinking of prison reform in the early 20th Century, the establishment of Free Breakfast and Free Lunch programs under Johnson after the Black Panther Party initiated the programs, and in a related manner-- the fact that social security did not become virtually a right until after poor people and workers pressured Roosevelt in the Thirties to make it so. THere is a legacy of activism and struggle. There is a legacy of compassion and concern. There is a legacy of enduring humanity that definitely needs to be nutured and maintained.

God Bless Oprah. God, help me to always keep things in perspective.

How DARE they beat this man. These people should be castrated.

I just finished watching the L Word for the first time and I must say I LOVE it! GO Jennifer Beals!

I think it is interesting that I used to play rpgs until this current war in Iraq started.

I think the whole busiess of coming out is somewhat bullshit. I have to agree with Cher on this point.

I think the right is playing when it comes to Harriet Myers. I think they want her, and they want her bad...and they are trying to run circles around the left.

I LOVE Candye Kane!

Some of the Greats

Billie Holiday's voice is pain....
Nina Simone's voice prophesies....
Aretha Franklin's voice testifies....
Ella Fitzgerald's voice commiserates and soothes....
Patti Labelle's voice is help for pain.....
Dinah Washington's voice is a cry out in the night....
Mahalia Jackson's voice bears witness before the lord....

My grandmother used to tell of this white man theat lived in their community that was just a bit off of his rocker. He used to flag down the train, waving his arm back and forth in big waves---and the man would stop the train--and he would say " You wanna buy a possum?" And that conductor would get so mad, " you mean to tell me that you stopped this train to see if I wanted to buy a possum?"!" The old man would shake his head, " Now now, don't get upsot (mind you his word, not mine) I haven't even catched him yet." Ha.

My Uncle Lawrence found out, when he was an older boy and would follow his father around, that John Archie used to keep the books for Billy Carter's father as Billy's father couldnt read or write.

One interesting thing, in relation to the previous story. My uncle Archie was walking down the road one day and passed by the Carter place and stopped, his mind wandering off or something. Miss Amy Carter, Billy's stepmother, had apparently bought a new bonnet and was showing it off while she was working outside. She saw Uncle Archie standing out there, she was a rude crude woman, and she yelled at him, "whats the matter boy, you ain't never seen a white woman before?" My Uncle, in true Archie Deramus fashion, replied, " Yea, but I ain't ever seen one so damned ugly."

The community that my grandmother and her siblings grew up in was a very integrated community. As such, my grandmother and her siblings grew up around white people and knew them in their daily lives. Hell, not only did they know them, they were related to them. Anyway. But alas, there was one that was really close to us and very dear to our hearts, the Carter family, and in particular, Billy Carter. Billy Carter's father owned the general store there in the small community of Joffre and Billy and my Uncle Lawrence and my Uncle Archie all grew up fussing, fighting, playing and tussling with each other. They were like brothers. Billy would come around my great-grandparents house, when they were older I suppose, and he would say "John Archie, you are surely crazy trying to send all of your kids to school. I'm not going to college, Im going to take over my father's store." Well, things didnt turn out the way Billy wanted them to as his father's second wife took everything, unfairly, when his father died, leaving Billy broke and really destitute. HE went through his lean years, and he went through periods of great fortune--for a while he owned about a street full of houses, and told my mother when she moved back to Alabama she could have one of them. Unfortunately, when she did move back to Alabama, he had lost all of his assets, including his houses. He and Uncle Lawrence were always close-- uncle Lawrence got him several jobs when Billy was in need and they always had each other's back. Billy had a really bad end though, when he died about three years ago. His ungreatful children put him in a nursing home (where none of us had any contact with him) and he died shortly thereafter. He was quite a character though. He was a good man too.

I moved to alabama when I was in the third grade. Immediately there were problems as they wanted to put me back a year as I was a younger than I was supposed to be in the third grade and they felt I should be kept with children my own age. My mother told them that no, becase I was keeping up with my work that I should stay where I was. This resulted in me withdrawing from Prattville and spending half a year at Autaugaville. Autaugaville is the school where my uncle Fess ( Sterling James) McDavid, Aunt Bertie's husband had been principal. The difference between the school then and when I attended was that, when I was there, the school was only 98% black as opposed to fully segregated;-) and secondly, the school was seriously underfunded and deprived of the resources it needed to thrive in favor of the white schoolss, mainly Prattville. When I got to Autaugaville, it was another battle, and one which I suppose has seriously left scars on me. Well, the principal there had a serious vendetta against my Uncle and my family (even though he was married to my Grandmother's cousin). Apparently, Fess had his select students (of this I know, please, my grandmother was one) and of these, he also had "his boys" and apparently Charles Cooper, the principal, was not one of them and this caused him to not like Fess. Well,anyway, Cooper used to whip me almost everyday for something, and then proceeded several conferences in which my mother, and my Aunt Betty went up to Autaugaville and blessed him out. He also proceeded to tell my mother that I was going to grow up and be a sissy. I didn't know what that meant at the time, but apparently it was something he especially didn't like. Well, I didnt understand much of it at all-and generally just cried and got it over with and went on about my business ( although I did understand that he didn't like my Uncle and that was part of his problem)well, as I grew and put in in perspective thats when I decided that I was not going to take any shit. I will be respected or I will try my best to castrate you. So, I spent that half a year at Autaugaville and then I went back to Prattville, where I began to encounter white folk on a real level and I believe it was then that I began to stop being the always-smiling, pleasant Brandon and began to identify the real bitch in me. However, that really didn't come about until I reached High School-- then I became the major bitch that I can be today.

I must go back and clarify from a previous post. I gave the impression that my mother was not aware during the Civil Rights movement. This is totally false. My mother is, and has always been, one of the most perceptive people I have ever known. I gained my sense of history and my understanding of things from her. My mother is one who has always had her ears open....

What Do You Think of This Statement?

Power and Authority told me I was Wrong so I decided to castrate it.

I ran into anatoli yesterday. Everytime I see him I have this feeling of "oh my, hello" and then this slight urge to lure him back into my bed.

I was thinking about the history of this country the other day. My thoughts were that we are at the beinning of a new century, the 21st century and I was reflecting on where we were at the beginning of the 20th century. This period totally does not reflect that one. At the beginning of the 20th Century, we were coming off of the excesses of the Gilded age-- with classes that possessed extreme wealth while the proletariat slaved away in the mills and factories, while industrialization carved out new modes of living for the petit-bourgeois farming classes who moved into the cities and became the urban poor. The U.S. economy was relatively stable and living was at least simple, relatively. At the beginning of the 21st Century, the U.S. economy is headed into decline, the old empire has risen and is now about to fall. The age of America is in collapse. While at the turn of the 20th century, there were economic changes that altered people's lives. At present, we are witnessing a period of destablization which will not only change people's lives, but result in a complete overhaul of the way of life that the people of this country have grown to expect, especially since the 1950s.

I just noticed that they put the KE frathouse next to a church,as if putting it next to a church would stop them from doing whatever they would do.

Recently, I was thinking about some events that occurred when I was four years old, that have apparently stuck with me since that time. the first I remember sitting at my Aunt's house watching Uncle Tom's Cabin--the dramatized film version, and wanting to go to the Goodson-Smith family reunion, but my mother wouldn't let me go. Secondly, I remember going to Harold Washington's funeral. I remember them in this pattern because the two things happened very much in the same time period as the other. I also link the two because, as I remember it, I had polished my dress shoes and gotten all of my clothes ready and then my mother told me I couldn't go to the family reunion, which made me mad...and I remember it that way, and also I remember polishing my shoes in order to go to Harold Washington's funeral which I remember as being very grave and solemn. We were at my Aunt Johnnie's ( Aunt Bertie's really) house, which was right across the street from ours, and I remember my mother checking my shoes to make sure I had polished them properly (which, I believe was the main reason I didn't get to go to the family reunion) and then we made our way to the funeral. I remember there were thousands there and the atmosphere was grave. I remember very little else about it, but it was quite profound and it has always stayed with me.

I was watching a program with Condoleeza Rice yesterday, and her image has been at the forefront in the media these days, and as I watched her on the television I began to wonder how she lives with herself. How does she bring into agreement her Blackness and her loyalty to the Bush administration? When she has someone to pull a hot comb through her hair to straighten the kinks out, does she not ever think of the millions of Black people who suffer due to the policies that she upholds? Does she never feel any connection to the pain that Black people feel? Now, as I have said before, Condoleeza Rice is from Birmingham, and came out of the same period as my mother--and not too long after Angela Davis came out of the same area. She was around when the 16th Street Baptist Church got bombed and those little girls got killed. Did she feel nothing?

Now, in an interview she gave recently, she stated that she was not very much influenced by the Civil Rights movement, that during that time period she was running around in pigtails and going to the ice skating rink and having parties, so she was not aware and it had no affect on her. What an odd statement, and odd to consider-- as this is not uncommon of middle class Black children of the time--they could be oblivious--some were, however, including my mother and millions of others, they did not grow up to become neocons and they certainly didn't become mouthpieces for the Bush administration in its total lack of respect for humanity. What happened with her? Is she an extreme example of the effects of assimilation? Thse thoughts plague my mind from time to time as I watch her movements and her body language on television, as I listen to her speak--and I can tell that the words that she speaks are not firmly connected to her self-hood--and I just wonder, is it so easy to wake up in the morning knowing that you have sold your every last ounce of integrity simply to move up into the good graces of the white male power structure? I think it is too terribly past the time to castrate this goddamned phallus.

Last night I watched Sex, Lies, and Videotapes. I first saw this film when it came out back in the 80s. Any interesting linkages between my childhood and who I am today? I think this is an incredibly interesting film and I really think about it in the context of when I first saw the film. My only impressions were that it was really sensuous. I thought(and still think) that Andy MacDowell is one of the most beautiful women on the face of the earth. Along with that, I was utterly attracted to Andrew Shue, he turned me on even then and made this movie a great pleasure to watch. He truly is a beautiful man. God, I should have been at least 20 in the 1980s. Overall, I think this film has a lot of interesting things to say on the topics of sex, privacy versus public persona, and the intimate human being. Beautiful movie.

George Bush is Stupid.

A Sad Day

August Wilson, the wonderful playwright who brought us Fences, is dead

There shall be no more talk from me about castrating white men. This is definitely too much of a blanket statement and is a bit unfair. However, it should definitely be kept in mind what this power structure is and what the nature of power and force are. It also does not mean that I will not continue to critique and call out what I see. But I do believe it is unfair to call for the castration of all white men.

Today I stopped by Vons and happened upon a casebook by and about Joyce Carol Oates. I haven't really paid much attention to her stuff really, but I picked up the book and as I flipped through it I caught mention of the film Smooth Talk with Laura Dern, which, I learned was based on a short story written by Oates. This, of course, intrigued me, as I found that film most striking and full of interesting statements on women, sexuality, and adulthood. Most plainly put, I found this film very eerie, and I liked the film, and every time I have seen it it causes me to stop and think about what is going on in it. The play between innocence and mature sexuality which is played upon in this film sends prickles up one's arms and shivers up one's spine with the extent to which sexuality is portrayed as dirty in this film and the feeling that the filmmaker plants within the film that the protagonist, Connie, has just bitten into the forbidden apple and that her fate from now on will be one of dread. Alas, the score, which is a song by James Taylor,is absolutely haunting and I cannot hear that song today without the hairs on my arms standing up.

In the film, Connie is a fifteen year old girl living in a small country town, longing to be grown and rebelling against her mother's wishes by showing just how grown she is with her school friends (by taking trips to the mall and hanging out at adult bars and letting men buy drinks for them). This "adult" behaviour results in her gaining the attention of Arnold Friend, who when introduced in the film is already a shady character who, when he appears, strikes fear in the heart of the viewer. In the role of a teenager, Arnold Friend is clearly not a teenager, but at least ten or fifteen years older. When he pulls up in front of Connie's house in his shiny convertible with his sidekick, who may well be a teenager, one already knows that what will unfold will not be good, or even a sappy teenage story.

All the while Connie interacts with him, one wants to grab her and pull her back from the danger that we know that she is encountering. His offers to "take her for a ride," and the fact that he knows just too damned much about her and her family for someone who isn't even from her town, a complete total stranger, just refines the eerieness of the film and adds to the feeling of impending doom that one gets from viewing it. What feminists have to say about this film, which I got a glimpse at from the book at Vonn's should definitely interesting.

Laura Dern carries this film off well.She is definitely one of those actresses who defines themselves in terms of their politics and the choices of roles that they take on. Not one to try and rule the limelight or wear the crown of Hollywood, Laura Dern's film roles always have depth, meaning, and a richness of character, from Connie in Smooth Talk to Ruth in Citizen Ruth, you can always count on Laura Dern to bring a complex, thought-provoking character to the screen. This is a great film and I should definitely read the story. Joyce Carol Oates seems to be quite a profound, and insightful writer.

I think blogs are the new salons. Interesting to see how they will influence the world. I sort of fancy myself as becoming sort of a Madame de Stael. haha.

Natural High

By Bloodstone

Natural High

Why do I keep my mind on you all the time
And I don't even know you

Why do I feel this way
Thinking about you every day
And I don't even know you

Take me in your arms
Thrill me with all of your charms

And I'll take to the sky on a natural high
(I want to take to the sky)
Loving you more 'till the day I die
(On the natural high)
Take to the sky on a natural high
(I want you to be mine)
Loving you more.

If you have anything to do
Call me and I will do it for you
And I don't even know you

If I only had one wish to give
That wish would be for you to live forever and ever.
When I see you on the street
My heart skips a beat

And I'll take to the sky on a natural high
(I'll just take to the sky)
Loving you more till the day I die
(on a natural high)
Take to the sky on a natural high
(Loving you more and I don't know you)
Loving you more

I'm gonna try to do
All the things you want me to
If you'll just give me a chance
I'm trying to make something out of a nothing romance
And I don't even know you

Take me in your arms
Thrill me with all of your charms

And I'll take to the sky on a natural high
Loving you more 'till the day I die
(To the sky)

I'll take to the sky on a natural high
Loving you more

And I'll take to the sky on a natural high
Loving you more 'till the day I die

I'll take to the sky on a natural high
Loving loving you

I'll take to the sky on a natural high
Loving you more 'till the day I die

I'll take to the sky on a natural high
Loving loving you

La la la la la la ...

Tower of Power

Over the years, I have absolutely loved and gone crazy for Tower of Power. I soo should have been alive to really scream and go crazy for them. Just more of the mellow music that takes me down to my natural element....

YOU'RE STILL A YOUNG MAN
Tower Of Power
written by Emilio Castillo and Stephen Kupka

You're still a young man, baby
Whoo-ooh, don't waste your time
You're still a young man, baby
Whoo-ooh, don't waste your time
Down on my knees,
heart in hand
I was accused of being too young,
but I'm not so young
Can't you understand
that I think like a man?

You're still a young man, baby
Whoo-ooh, don't waste your time
You're still a young man, baby
Whoo-ooh, don't waste your time

Back once again,
begging you please
Darling, think twice about me,
'cause I'm not so bad
I could make you happy,
I'm not a mad lad

(You're too young to love)
If you and I could be together
(You're too young to love)
I'd get to you through any weather
(You're too young to love)
I love you and I love you only
(You're too young to love)
I'd never leave you lonely
You're too young, whoo-ooh,
don't waste your time

The damage is done,
you'll see that you're wrong
You'll wake up wondering
just how well I've done
Well, I've done all right
Yes, there are some girls
but I'd drop them on sight,
Just for you
because I love you

You're still a young man, baby
Whoo-ooh, don't waste your time...