How Beautiful!

Beautifully reminiscent of the actions of Latino student activists in the late 60s and early seventies, Latino high school students in L.A. have walked out of classes in protest of the recent immigration policies that have been promoted by various entities inside and outside of government. Kudos and much solidarity!

More Uprest in France

I wholeheartedly support the French youth in their efforts against capitalism in their country.

Sweet Thing

Chaka Khan

I will love you anyway
Even if you cannot stay
I think you are the one for me
Here is where you ought to be
I just want to satisfy ya
Though you're not mine
I can't deny it
Don't you hear me talking baby?
Love me now or I'll go crazy


Oh sweet thing
Don't you know you're my everything?
Oh sweet thing
Don't you know you're my everything?
Yes, you are

I wish you were my lover
But ya act so undercover
To love you child my whole life long
Be it right, or be it wrong
I'm only what you make me, baby
Don't walk away, don't be so shady
Don't want your mind, don't want your money
These words I say, they may sound funny, but...

You are my heat
You are my fire
You make me weak with strong desire
To love you chile my whole life long
Be it right, or be it wrong
I just want to satisfy ya
Though you're not mine
I can't deny it
Don't you hear me talking baby?
Love me now or I'll go crazy

You're my heat, you are my fire
You're not mine, I can't deny ya
Don't you hear me talking, baby?
Love me now, or I'll go crazy

bell hooks tells that MLK warned against the conservatism of the Christian Church, as it would be dangerous for freedom. In her book, Rock My Soul: Black People and Self-Esteem,, she records his statement that:

"Nowehere is the tragic tendency to conform more evident than in church, an institution which has often served to crystallize, conserve,and even bless the patterns of majority opinion. The erstwhile sanction by the church of slavery, racial sgregation, war, and economic exploitation is testimony to the fact that the church has hearkened more to the authority of the world than to the authority of God. Called to be the moral guardian of the community, the church at times has preserved that which is immoral and unethical."

This is Scary and Needs to Be Paid Some Attention

Joshua Bolton, former director of the Office of Management and Budget and a strong right-wing presence in Washington D.C. is taking over as Bush's new Chief of Staff, replacing Andy Card...I am not sure what this means, but I have a bad feeling about it.

Do You Know Where You're Going To?

Diana Ross

Do you know where you're going to?
Do you like the things that life is showing you?
Where are you going to? do you know?
Do you get what you're hoping for?
When you look behind you there's no open door
What are you hoping for?
Do you know?

Once we were standing still in time
Chasing the fantasies that filled our minds
You knew i loved you, but my spirit was free
Laughing at the question that you once ask me

Do you know where you're going to?
Do you like the things that life is showing you?
Where are you going to? do you know?

Now, looking back in all we pass
We've let so many dreams just slip through our hands
Why must I wait so long before Im free
No one found the answer to that question for me

Do you know where you're going to?
Do you like the things that life is showing you?
Where are you going to? do you know?
Do you get what you're hoping for?
When you look behind you there's no open door
What are you hoping for? do you know?

Second Blog Carnival

This second blog carnival is a little short, but oh well. The only offering for this round is a very well-written essay called, The Ultimate Solidarity, offered to us by barb of Lucky White Girl about the relativity of our suffering. I think it is an excellent piece. I will mention that I almost forgot to do this as I spent the whole day preparing a lesson on the rhetoric of race in the United States for my class--collecting information on Quadroons, Octoroons, and Mulattoes which I used to build an interesting study around the "Nappy Hair" scene from Spike Lee's School Daze. I think that, especially since there aren't that many submissions, this carnival will only post every so often.

Do You Know the Broadway Star Anne Wiggins Brown?

This is definitely an interesting story, one which I am just picking up on. From a family of light-skinned blacks--perhaps octoroons, Anne Wiggins Brown was a very talented singer and actress, lending her voice to George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. She married a Norweigan philosopher and, escaping American racism, she and her husband moved to Norway. There, she staged a Norweigan production of Porgy and Bess. She and her children stil reside in Norway.

Recently, my thoughts also turned towards my cousin Mary wright. mary is my grandmother's second cousin. Her grandmother, Aunt Jenny, was a daughter of Caroline Roper and a sister to Mattie Roper. Mary Wright's mother was our Cousin Maldocia. Mary used to live in Chicago, not far from us and we always spent a lot of time with Mary, her daughters and their families. She moved back to Alabama the same time we moved down there, and she basically moved usdown there. My father designed them a very nice house that sits out on their property. What got me to thinking about Mary Wright was Uncle Lawrence--and thinking about the people that I knew with his kind of tempermant. Mary is one of those people. Mary is nobody to play with. One of the absolutely most hilarious stories that ever I have heard was when, in the late eighties, Mary laid a whooping on her son-in-law, daughter number one's husband. Daughter number one had married herself a real male chauvinist thug and he thought he was the baddest shit on the block. He used to beat daughter number one and everybody was wondering as to why she was with him. Well, now he is a Reformed Man(after first getting beaten by Daughter number two, Mary herself, and finally Daughter number one herself).

Well, in this particular incident, Mary had broken her arm and was in a cast for several weeks on end. So, son-in-law decides, I suppose, that now that Mary is in a cast he can show her what he was made of, so one night he decided to hit her. That was the worst decision he ever made in his life. The story is that Mary used that broke arm and had him up against every wall in that house and laid a whoopin on him that lasted him a good few days. That news spread like wildfire, and the story still circulates. Mary was absoluetely nothing to play with. In another incident, Mary got good and hot and told one of our mutual cousins just who exactly her daddy was and had that poor girl going home in tears.

I was always scared of Mary. I saw how she handled her grandchildren and I wanted none of it. It was always fun to ride around and visit with Mary, but I always stayed on my Ps and Qs because I definitely did not want to feel the wrath. Mary Wright is a favorite though.

In Profile: Uncle Clarence

Uncle Clarence, my grandmother's foster brother, was the ninth child of John Archie and Sadie Mae Goodson DeRamus--and one of the many, many children that they helped to rear. Not actually my grandmother's brother, Uncle Clarence my great-grandmother's nephew, my grandmother's first cousin. His mother, Betty, died during her labor with him. She had been an undertaker and schoolteacher in Kentucky and the doctor's advised her that her work as an undertaker would not give her an easy pregnancy. When she died, they sent Uncle Clarence, sill a newborn, to my great-great grandmother, as she had the child closest to his age, my Aunt Sadie being only just a couple of months older than him. They reared him in their home til he was fifteen years old when he ran away and joined the military, giving a false age. He never felt too comfortable I believe, as certain of the Deramus children(and I can guess which ones) would always pester him about not really being one of them.

Uncle Clarence would always come around, showing up at my grandmother's house late in the night. He went for bad, dealing in all sorts of gangster business--and he and my mother used to have kncokout-arguments when he would show up at my grandmother's house and she would be there. One time he came there, and he brought with him a suitcase full of money--and made the mistake of showing it to my mother. My mother told him that he and his suitcase full of money had to get out of her mother's house immediately. he now lives in south Alabama, sick, but still trying to run for bad.

Aunt Carolyn

Aunt Carolyn was Uncle Archie's wife. After my post of him I thought about her quite a bit. Aunt Carolyn was a very stylish woman, very chic and tasteful. My recollections of Aunt Carolyn was of a very refined woman with very expensive tastes. When Carolyn DeRamus showed up, she showed up in style: it was a site to behold when Aunt Carolyn would come out strutting in her fur coat, and she knew how to work it. Aunt Carolyn came from the Rich Negro Neighborhood, otherwise known as Morgan Park. She went to Kentucky State University and lived a nice,full life from all that I know. Every year she and my mother and Aunt Johnnie would go to the Kentucky Derby. Aunt Carolyn had a sister, Aunt Bea. Aunt Bea was a fabulous woman and she once gave a fabulous luncheon, which was a beautiful affair, one that I haven't seen the likes of since. It was a great time.

Funerals

Both Uncle Archie and Aunt Bertie's funerals were grand affairs. There were several hundred people at Uncle archie's funeral. It was held at his home church and it was preached by Farrell Duncombe,one of the Bishops of the A.M.E. Church , and that eulogy was one to remember. he started off talking about his rememberances of Uncle Archie, and how when they were little boys they woudl go climbing up in my great-granddaddy's orchard trees, picking apples. It was a sombre occassion.

Quote

"There are too many people in government making history that have never read history."--Former U.S. Congressman, Andy Jacobs, Jr.

From bell hooks:Rock My Soul: Black People and Self Esteem

Publication of slave narratives, the development of the Black press, indicated to anyone witnessing the transition from slavery to freedom that Black folks needed to be independent thinkers, that they could not rely on the world that had subjugated, exploited,and oppressed them to interpret their reality.

What I Am Thinking: A Revelation

Black People need to learn to value and make use of critical thinking. I am now figuring out why I have long been so drawn to Jewish culture and the Jewish tradition of torah and Kabbala--They have long practiced resistance--and maintained--for a very long time, I am not sure what is happening now--their integrity in the face of adversity through the use of critical thinking. Lesson to Black people. To All people of color. And to everyone: QUESTION EVERYTHING!

What I'm Thinking

I had such a great environment growing up. Even on television there were great things that promoted great values, like Sesame Street and Mr. Roger's neighborhood. These shows are still shown,and are still greatly progressive, but the noise that capitalism is making is overpowering their effect.

Partial Lyrics From a Song I Would Like to Find

"is it well with your soul, are you free and made whole?"

In Profile: Archie B. DeRamus

Archie Bracy Deramus was the eigth and youngest child of John Archie and Sadie Mae Goodson Deramus. He was my mother's favorite uncle,they were more like Big brother and little sister. Born in 1931, Archie was the baby of the DeRamus clan. He was always a sickly child and suffered from polio, which left him severely weakened as he grew up into adulthood. I remember my uncle as a very slim, sort of tall(but he wasn't really, he just seemed tall to me), dark-skinned black man with s;eek gray hair. My mother told me that he went completely grey in his twenties. Archie Deramus was apparently a whiz-kid, he knew how to ace any multiple choice test you could give him, especially with a.b.c choices, and he also--like Aunt Bertie and Uncle Lawrence, skipped a few grades. Uncle Archie spent twenty years in school and recieved seven different degrees in fields varying from Biology to Social Work. He started off as a teacher and by the time I came along, was a social worker. He pulled my mother into the profession.

My mother loved Archie harder than I think she loved anything else in the whole world. When he got sick, she took care of him and worked hard to help him live. He died in 1987. I remember Uncle Archie as firstly smelling like cigarettes and then later, in his sickness, of smelling of sickness. Now that I think of my uncle during that time period, I can remember and think of the things that went on then. My Uncle had apparently had a falling out with some of his sisters and when he got very ill, they didn't do anything at all to help him. My mother would go over to his house every day and cook for him, bathe him, help him get dressed--and if he were going--to go to work. My Uncle's wife, Aunt Carolyn, apparently wasn't much of a help either. I know that there were two people in this world that loved Archie Deramus very very hard, and that was my mother and Uncle Lawrence. When he died, my mother spent years grieving over him. His name could not be mentioned without her breaking down into tears. I think his death caused a great rift between my mother and her aunts. He and Uncle Lawrence grew up very close, were running partners, intellectual sparring partners, and respected and loved each other immensely. Uncle Lawrence also grieved for Uncle Archie a long time. I wasn't there to witness that however.

I remember my uncle as a man with a beautiful spirit. He always doted on my sister, my mother says that when she was born he wanted to adopt her(he had step-children, but none of his own). I always enjoyed going over to his house, but really and truly hated going their for holidays. It never failed that my sister and my cousins would turn on Thriller and I would have to leave the room, even though I was too frightened to do so. He and Aunt Carolyn lived very well, but I dont know how much they got along. They stayed married though. I remember very well the night Aunt Carolyn called my mother frantically telling her to come over to their house--quick--that Uncle Archie had gone crazy, that he had shot the dog. My mother says she got over there to see was was wrong and she found Archie sitting in the basement by himself. My mother went down in the basement to talk to him, followed by Aunt Carolyn. My mother says she asked him "Archie, whats the matter, why did you shoot the dog?" My mother said he told her, "The bitch wouldn't keep her damned mouth shut." My mother said she looked at Uncle Archie and she looked at Aunt Carolyn, put her coat back on and went home. Archie DeRamus was nothing to play with.
Although I knew my uncle, I didn't him as well as my mother or my sister did. I did feel his presence though, and I knew him well enough to remember many things about him--I was seven when he died. I hope his spirit is resting well.

Calling for Rumsfeld's Resignation

Please join forces with other progressive voices in calling for Donald Rumsfeld's resignation as Secretary of Defense. Call your congressional representatives at their local and D.C. offices and urge them to force this issue in the Capital.You can find the contact information for your representatives here.

Praise for One Tenacious Baby Mama

DarkDaughta definitely has one of the best, spiciest blogs that I have seen out there. Kudos to her and I encourage everyone to visit her site.

Stop the Canadian Military and Police Forces from Encroaching on Mohawk Land.

I am forwarding the below call to support the Mohawk Nation. The authors ask that people forward it by email or post it to their websites.

URGENT CALL TO ACTION TO PREVENT MILITARY AND POLICE INCURSION ON MOHAWK TERRITORIES

March 2006

The Coalition in Support of Indigenous Sovereignty - Native Caucus is asking that you take some time to phone, email or fax the authorities below to register your objection to a potential incursion onto Mohawk Territories this spring and at any other time.

This request comes as a result of warnings by community leaders in Akwesasne, Kahnawake, Kanehsatake and Tyendinega who are preparing for a joint Canadian Forces/RCMP raid on April 1, the latest in a series of actions designed to destroy the Mohawk tobacco trade.

Our position on this issue is as follows:

In 1876 the Indian Act imposed the band council system of government on the indigenous people of Turtle Island (North America). Among other things, this law:

1) Deposed already existing leadership to establish band councils and the areas over which they had jurisdiction. The Indian Act was passed without consultation with any indigenous leader, usurped the treaty process (nation to nation agreements) and made First Nations governments null and void, despite the fact that these governments had served our ancestors for millennia before Europeans arrived on Turtle Island. This is akin to the US government passing a law that disbanded the current Canadian government, determined what type of government Canada must have and designated the limitations of its power.

2) Made First Nations Communities economically dependent on Ottawa. The federal government controls the only sources of revenue for social programs, economic development projects or job creation in FN communities. Ottawa determines through a variety of legal and financing mechanisms what band councils can and cannot do for their communities. Even the process of pursuing a land claim is legislated by Ottawa, funded (or not) by Ottawa and decided ultimately in Canadian courts. Land usage on FN territories is determined by Ottawa. There are many examples in history when the federal government leased or sold First Nations lands or resources and consequently reaped huge profits that did not accrue to the community. Clearly, the poverty that exists in First Nations communities is, and always has been, by Ottawa's design.

3) Blatantly discriminated against women by recognizing Native descent through the male line so that First Nations citizenship rights for women were recognized only through their father's lineage and husband's status, and by prohibiting them from voting or running for office in band elections. This was a complete contradiction to traditional First Nations practices, in which descent for many communities was reckoned along the female line, and where women had significant authorities in political, economic and social life. While there were many nations and many practices, it is safe to generalize and say that women held positions of leadership directly and/or appointed male leaders and held them accountable. This was completely overturned by the Indian Act.

Although women now have the right to vote and run for band office, almost a century of being excluded from political, economic and social decision-making has left First Nations women on and off reserve in very vulnerable situations. Women are among the poorest in First Nations communities. They have been targeted through various amendments to the Indian Act and thousands were stripped of their status along with their homes, benefits and any treaty rights they may have had. The hundreds of women who are missing from our communities, dead and murdered, is a direct result of a deliberate and calculated attack on the rights and authorities of First Nations women by the Canadian government.

4) Determined who could call themselves an "Indian" and live in First Nations communities. The Indian Act established an Indian registry and with subsequent amendments there has emerged a complex set of legal categories (status & non-status Indians, Treaty Indians, Bill C-31 Indians, etc.) designed to divide and disempower First Nations families and communities. Non-status Indians are those who are not recognized by Ottawa as First Nations. They cannot live in their communities, do not enjoy benefits or treaty rights and are not permitted to participate in band council elections. Again, this is akin to the US determining who could be a Canadian and who could not, as well as who could live here and vote in Canadian elections.

Initially through the use of Indian agents with sweeping powers and more recently through purse strings, Ottawa has controlled band councils, band chiefs and the Assembly of First Nations. Whether this current control is perceived of as friendly or hostile is irrelevant and sidesteps the basic assumption that First Nations people are children who cannot manage their own affairs. To recognize that some band councils, their chiefs and police are sincerely interested in serving their communities while others are corrupt may be true but fails to recognize that the band council system is itself inherently corrupt, paternalistic and racist.

The Indian Act was and is an instrument of genocide. Likewise, the system of reserves, band councils and taxes are all tools of genocide. At best, the levying of taxes by Canada or the provinces on commercial activities within and among First Nations communities is an infringement of sovereignty as well as a violation of the treaties that exist, not to mention the inherent rights of First Nations people.

This is particularly objectionable when the levying of taxes applies to transactions involving tobacco. It was First Nations people who developed, cultivated and cared for tobacco plants. Our ancestors were the first to understand and benefit from the use of tobacco in ceremony (even in times when our ceremonies were illegal). Canada now assumes it has a right to control the tobacco trade, which is consistent with its assumption that it has a right to control the lives of First Nations people. Now that tobacco is being used to generate income and sustain First Nations-owned businesses (an anti-genocidal activity), Ottawa wants to step in and crush the initiative.

We reject the portrayal of Mohawk communities as divided between the minions of organized crime and law-abiding citizens. Mainstream media and Canadian authorities would have us believe that thugs are defying legally elected First Nations governments and Canadian laws. Such an analysis does not acknowledge the impact of a band council system, imposed, funded and controlled by Ottawa. It does nothing to educate us on the long history of genocide that remains official policy in this country. It does not examine Ottawa's historic role in sabotaging activities that contribute to the economic independence of First Nations people.

On these grounds we are asking that you and your organization fax or email the officials below and voice your concerns regarding a potential violation of Mohawk sovereignty, which would follow a systemic pattern of violations over the years. Below is a sample letter that you can edit, cut and paste into your own email if you choose.

Nia:wen / meegwich / thank you for your support. For more information contact: daryljamesbucar@yahoo.ca or amadahy@rogers.com.

Scroll down for the sample letter. To voice your concerns send an email, phone or fax:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper:
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa K1A 0A2
Fax: 613-941-6900
Email: pm@pm.gc.ca

Jim Prentice,
Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal
Interlocutor for Metis and Non-Status Indians
Parliament Hill: House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
Telephone: (613) 992-4275
Fax: (613) 947-9475
E-Mail: Prentice.J@parl.gc.ca


SAMPLE LETTER

To: Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Jim Prentice, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and
Federal Interlocutor for Metis and Non-Status Indians

I am writing to register my concern regarding ongoing violations of Mohawk sovereignty and continued actions that threaten the health and safety of the residents of Akwesasne, Kahnawake, Kanehsatake and Tyendinega.

I strongly urge you to put a stop to government-sponsored activities that portray these communities as being bastions of "organized crime" engaged in an illegal tobacco trade. Furthermore, I suggest your government cease operating under the assumption that Band Councils and the Assembly of First Nations, which are funded and controlled by the federal government, are the only legitimate representatives of First Nations communities.

Many studies, some commissioned by the federal government (such as the Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People), have determined that the issues confronting First Nations communities include sub-standard health care, inadequate and sub-standard housing, inadequate employment opportunities, poverty, violence, racism, etc. These studies clearly attribute this set of deplorable conditions to the actions and inactions of consecutive Canadian governments.

Raiding Mohawk communities and seizing tobacco products does nothing to address the day-to-day issues confronting First Nations people. In fact, such activities actually contribute to worsening the oppressive conditions under which First Nations people live by depriving families of their livelihood as well as assaulting their dignity and violating their inherent rights.

Military and police incursions onto First Nations territories are not a solution to the long standing issues confronting these communities. Moreover such actions shame non-First Nations people, many of whom reject complicity in a centuries-old genocide project.

Your government has the option of creating a disaster that would rival the Oka Crisis, Gustafson Lake and the murder of Dudley George put together. Or you can decide to deal with First Nations communities in a way that is proactive, peaceful and respectful, for the first time in Canadian history. I strongly urge you opt for the latter of the two choices.

Signed,

They Will Have Abortion in South Dakota!

Hooray for Cecilia Firethunder, President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe for establishing a Planned Parenthood on her people's land! Thank God that Native Americans are sovereign people...we may have to depend on them more and more for our sanctuary.

In Profile: Uncle Lawrence

Lawrence Depriest Deramus, my great-grandparents' seventh child and the oldest boy, was born in 1929 in Autauga County, Alabama. I have written a lot about my uncle. He was a beautiful man and I enjoyed his spirit and his grace immensely. Uncle Lawrence was always a very insightful, intuitive, and inquisitive man. He often paid attention to and figured things out that the rest of his siblings didn't. He was a very intellectual man and he enjoyed decades long intellectual engagement with his brother, Archie, and his second cousin, Wade. Uncle Lawrence, like Aunt Bertie, skipped a few grades in grade school, and so was eventually on equal footing with Aunt Betty. After high school, he was enlisted into the army and fought in the Korean War, which was a profound experience for him, one which he reflected on for the rest of his life. After serving in the military, he returned home and recieved his Bachelor's degree from Alabama State University, using the GI Bill.

Finishing college, Uncle Lawrence began teaching in Covington, Alabama at a job that our Cousin Madeira got for him(she and Aunt Earnestine were bosom allies--first cousins and also going to school together, as well as marrying each other's respective boyfriends. They also both served as principals in Autauga County). Uncle Lawrence went from there to teaching in Coffee County, where he would reside, in Enterprise, for the rest of his life.

While teaching in Coffee County, Uncle Lawrence was responsible for starting a credit union for teachers there--which has grown into a major enterprise, and establishing the Head Start Program there in the region.He also founded the NAACP chapter there in the area. My Uncle wrote his autobiigraphy, in which he tells about when he was getting the Head Start program up off of the ground--which the superintendent didn't like. One day, he said the superintendent came into his classroom, hands on hips, and asked him--trying to intimidate him--"Who do you work for?" My Uncle responded, "Who do you think I work for?" He said the man had interrupted his class and was trying to big talk him. He said he was sitting there at his desk--and he usually kept a bow knife in it--and he went for the drawer as if he were opening it. He said he got up and met the man. He said he told him "Don't you ever come in my classroom again and talk to me like that in front of my children." He said he scared the man so bad he took off from that room. He never had any trouble with him again.

My uncle stopped teaching a few years later and began working for the federal government, overseeing a program called OCAP--which was responsible for overseeing integration and economic development in the Blackbelt region in Alabama. For this work, he recieved training at Atlanta University. He said that he worked with an integrated staff, having a white secretary as well as whites working along side him. He told me that the head of the Ku Klux Klan there in the area called him up one night and asked him "Don't you have a white secretary?" He responded "Yes I do." "Dont you travel along I-65 at night a lot of times?" "Yes I do." He said the man was trying to intimidate him. The man asked him "aren't you scared driving out there at night, something might happen to you?" My Uncle said he told him, "No, Im not scared, because if you and your boys want to do something then you just come on and you better bring Jesus with you because if I have to go I intend to take some of you with me." He told me that he always traveled with a gun at hand. My Uncle was a Goodson to the core. A compassionate, intellectually astute, passionate man, my Uncle was beautiful in many ways.

Uncle Lawrence, as I said, was a Goodson to the core. He could argue and fuss til the sun went down the next day. He was rough around the edges, sometimes mean(never to me, but he could be mean), and was difficult to get along with. As my cousin said at his funeral "Many of you knew him, most of you have been told off by him a time or to." He believed in right, he cared about his community, and he was a neighbor, a friend, and a brother to all. I loved him dearly.

When he died, the Governor sent a letter of condolence to the family and there were a multitude of honors that came his way. May his soul rest in peace.

DayDreaming

Aretha Franklin

(Day dreamin' and I'm thinkin' of you)
(Day dreamin' and I'm thinkin' of you)
(Day dreamin' and I'm thinkin' of you)
(Day dreamin' and I'm thinkin' of you)
(Look at my heart floating away)

He's the kind of guy that would say
'Hey baby let's get away let's go some place, huh''
Well I don't care
He's the kind of guy that you give your everything
And trust your heart, share all of your love, till death do you part

I want to be what he wants when he wants it, and whenever he needs it
And when he's lonesome and feelin' love starved
I'll be there to feed it
I'm givin' him a little bit for each day
He turns me right on when I hear him say

(Hey baby let's get away, let's go somewhere far
(Baby can we')
Well I don't care
(Hey baby let's get away, let's go somewhere far
(Baby can we')
Well I don't care

I wanna be what he wants when he wants it
And whenever he needs it
When it comes to bein' feelin' loved starved I'll be there to feed it
Lovin him a little bit more each day
It turns me right on when I hear him say

(Hey baby let's get away, let's go somewhere far)
(Baby can we') Well, I don't care
(Hey baby let's get away, let's go somewhere far)
(Baby can we') Well, I don't care

(Day dreamin' and I'm thinkin' of you)
(Day dreamin' and I'm thinkin' of you) hoooo
(Day dreamin' and I'm thinkin' of you)
(Day dreamin' and I'm thinkin' of you)
(Look at my heart, floating away)]

(Day dreaming) day dreaming of you
(Day dreaming)
Thinking of you
fades-
Day....dreaming
Day....dreaming

In Profile: Aunt Betty

Aunt Betty, born Gladys Betty, is the youngest girl of John Archie and Sadie Mae. A teacher like the rest of her sisters and brothers, Aunt Betty attended Alabama State(she and Uncle Lawrence finally caught up with each other in school and attended the rest of grade school together. Aunt Betty is an interesting character--the biggest gossip the world has ever known, and currently lives by herself in her house that she keeps immaculately clean at all times--in the middle of the woods. She definitely could use a change. She attended Alabama State University. She and Aunt Johnnie attended college together and recieved both of their Master's Degrees at the same time, in the same programs. Aunt Betty taught school for thirty years, retiring due to cancer. She taught first in Alabama and then in Chicago, retiring from there. I remember going to school with her a few times. She taught music and there was a big doberman pinscher outside of the school where she workedand I always would never want to get out fo the car. After retiring, Aunt Betty moved back to Alabama and has been there ever since.

For all of the fluff that she is, Aunt Betty is definitely a sharp cookie-- and learrned some things quite well. One of the funniest things I remember is her talking about pledging at college. She said the only sorority she ever considered was Self-I-Self. I totally agree. Aunt Betty told me something else which is quite hilarious and very much a great statement for her. She said one time her husband(whom she divorced when their son was very young) got drunk and decided he wanted to hit her. She said that did not fly at all. She said when he hit her, she grabbed him in between his legs and made him say his prayers. She is definitely a Goodson.

My Aunt not only taught school for many years, but she also played the piano(fairly well) and spoke and taught sign language. That was one of the things she taught me.

When she was teaching in Chicago, she stayed with Aunt Bertie, Freda, and Aunt Johnnie. She was there when I was a little boy. She retired in the early 80s and has been in Alabama ever since.

Read About this Horrendous Rape Case

In Profile: Aunt Sadie

Sadie Bell Deramus Motley was my great-grandmother's fifth child(not counting the two that died in infancy).I never knew her as she died in 1982, before I was old enough to remember her. She is Brook and Barrington's grandmother. A woman of many talents, she designed clothing and accessories and ran two nurseries there in Birmingham. She attended Alabama State University and quickly married and had three children. She also had an affair with A.G. Gaston, who was an old friend of my great-grandfather. My mother talks about Aunt Sadie putting on fashion shows and arranging cotillions, something she apparently was very good at. She and her husband, Charlie Motley, settled in Birmingham where they had Voncile, Pat, and Kim. When my mother was a little girl, she used to stay with them quite often, a few times for extended periods. When Condoleeza Rice was a little girl, she used to attend my aunt's nursery. My mother said that she was a very heavy little girl. Angela Davis also grew up in that community.

More About Aunt Johnnie

Aunt Johnnie was married once, to Uncle Arthur Lee. Uncle Arthur Lee was an interesting man. He was a photographer and used to take photographs for JET and Ebony. He also used to take photographs of lynchings for the NAACP.

In Profile: Aunt Johnnie

My Aunt, Johnnie Lou Deramus Freeman, was my first school teacher and the fourth oldest child of John Archie and Sadie Mae Goodson Deramus, two years younger than my grandmother. My great-grandmother somehow worked it out that all of her children were two years apart. Aunt Johnnie was one of the lightest of the siblings. She and Aunt Sadie were the lightest children. All of the DeRamus sisters had long hair that went down their backs. When my aunt died, she had hair down past her hips and looked like a white woman. She resembled Lena Horne quite a bit.Aunt Johnnie had a trademark mouth and could teach you curse words you didn't even know. She had a temper and there was no doubt that Goodson blood ran through her veins. As a matter of fact, she looked very much like Mattie Roper.

Aunt Johnnie got her bachelor's degree at Alabama State and recieved two masters degrees--one in Library Science, the other in Elementary Education. She and Aunt Betty went to school together and finished both of their master's degrees together. They were each other's help. Aunt Johnnie started out teaching in Alabama, but when I came to know her, she was teaching at Price Elementary School on the Southside of Chicago. She drove a peppermint green cadillac and she and Freda and Aunt Bertie lived in the house right across the street from ours. I started my formal education under her tutelage and she was also my godmother. I remember mornings when I would get over to her house and we would get ready to go--sometimes we would drop off Aunt Bertie, Nikki,and Mama at the places where they had to go--school and work--and we would make our way on to Price. I remember a few times the car broke down and we would catch the bus and make our way on. I felt very special, although I was still jealous of Nikki because Aunt Bertie was her godmother and I wanted her to be mine. She could have Aunt Johnnie.

I remember Aunt Johnnie used to let me do everything. On days when she would be showing a film, she would let me help her set up the film projector and pop the popcorn, sometimes I would get to do other things. Aunt Johnnie was a creative and beautiful soul and was very good with children. She always had some kind of special activities or something fun for us--on Halloween she would make her witches' brew and bring it to class, she would be dressed like a witch, and we would have so much fun. One thing I will always have in my mind where Aunt Johnnie is concerned is her collection of Ella Jenkins records, which I would listen to at home and in class and they were so much fun--everybody in the family enjoyed them. "Jambo, Jambo, Jambo sana jambo." It was a beautiful time.

One thing I remember about Aunt Johnnie and Aunt Bertie's house is the basement. The basement was where Aunt Johnnie kept all of her school things--the film projector, the popcorn popper, her record player. I was afraid of that basement somewhat, but I loved looking to see what was among all of that stuff and I was elated when we got to drag it out and carry it to school. The basement was also where Nikki, Freda, and Kim, used to play and dance and stuff.

Aunt Johnnie was an industrious and creative woman. She was a very good clothing designer, she should have been a professional. She made hats and dresses and suits for her sisters and nieces and Freda and she had a gift for making dolls as well. I remember three of them very well. Patches was Brook's doll, and she had another one too. Nikki also had a doll that I remember. I remember very well when Nikki and Brook decided to give their dolls blood transplants. I thought that was interesting.

Aunt Johnnie was a very stylish woman and she loved to get dressed up. Every year she dressed up in her fur and fine drag to go to the Classics. It was something to see. Reunions and other occasions were also ocassions to get dressed. I think all of the Deramus women can dress.

Aunt Johnnie retired from teaching in the late eighties and moved back to Alabama. She suffered from Alzheimers for a very long time. She had her faults and her problems as well, but she was a great lady.

My political awareness began with Aunt Johnnie. She was very active in the Chicago Teacher's Union and one of my earliest memories is of standing with her on the pickett line during a strike. That experience instilled something in me as well. She was definitely an influence on me. I am greatful for all of my aunts and uncles and other hosts of relatives.

This revelation concerning some of the King children totally pisses me off. There is a serious problem in the Black community and it desperately needs to be addressed.

Why the King Children Will Be Going to Hell, at Least Some of Them

The Following is from Pacifica Radio with Amy Goodman.

AMY GOODMAN: Harry, I have a quick question, talking about the children and talking about Dr. King in Birmingham. Coretta Scott King recently died, and it was quite a remarkable funeral. Over 10,000, 15,000 people came out, four presidents, many senators. Reverend Joseph Lowery, while President Bush was sitting right on the dais, talked about weapons of misdirection right here, and President Carter talked about Dr. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King being spied on, and Maya Angelou stood up and said, "I speak here for Harry Belafonte and others." Did you try to go to Coretta Scott King's funeral?

HARRY BELAFONTE: What had happened was that when Dr. King came on one of his very first trips to New York, he was in Harlem, and a deranged black woman stabbed him, and he was -- the blade was just millimeters away from his heart, and to remove the instrument, his life was in jeopardy, and it was a very delicate operation. And it was then that I understood that -- after seeing Dr. King and talking to him, his first concern was what would happen to his family. And I said to myself, our leader cannot be concerned about that. That burden should not be on his shoulders. There are other aspects of the burden that would be his in relation to it, but not that. So that it was demanded and responded to that forever the welfare of his family would never be in jeopardy with him being at the helm of the movement, and we brought resources, and it was my task to direct all that, watching the kids grow, put money aside for their studies, to take care of Coretta, to make sure she had every convenience at her disposal to go, come while her husband was incarcerated.

So the intimacy of that experience was something that I had become accustomed to, and when Dr. King was murdered, I was in Atlanta in their home, and we separated ourselves from others who were there in the living room, and she said, "Would you come with me." We went into the bedroom, and she said, "Help me select the clothes that I must -- we must dress him in." And it was a very private and a very remarkable thing to - the intimacy of it with her. And as we were selecting the suits and the shirt and the tie and laying it out, she sat on the bed, and she kind of - a place where she had slept so often with her husband, and all those memories. And I said, "What is it?" She says, "You know, I'm worried about where this is all going. I'm worried about the nation, the rage, the anger, and I need to know what to do." And we talked for a second. Then I said to her, "You know, at this very moment in Memphis, thousands of sanitation workers are on hold, because Dr. King was supposed to have been there tomorrow to lead that movement and to speak to the people, and before your husband, our leader, is put in his grave, if you have the will and the capacity to go down there tomorrow and stand up before those workers and let the world know that the movement has not been interrupted, that the process continues, and that all of us, as strong or as weak as we may be, will step into the breach and do what must be done." And she did, and she went down, and she spoke, and we came right back.

Now, all through the years since then, the building of the King Center, many choices of things that she made to do, because she was in her own right very involved for Dr. King. She was one of the - she was very, very committed to the peace movement, and as a matter of fact, in Europe, during the assassin-- the missile crisis and whatnot, we gave -- we put on a peace concert for 250,000 Germans in Cologne, mostly students, and the moment when Coretta King -- I called and asked her to come to speak. It would mean a lot to the young people there. She came, and I have never, ever heard a declaration of approval like those young German youth did when she came, and she had a sense of her own power. She had a sense of her own capacity to bring influence and to be revered for the work she did.

When she died, none of us knew that she was in Mexico, that she had -- I knew that she was ill. I knew about the heart attack, the defibrillation and the stroke. But - and I knew she had cancer, but I thought the cancer was contained, and when she went to Mexico, she was there with her children, and I got the news completely without knowing any of the details, so for a few days we didn't know what was happening. Where is she? Who's bringing her home? When is the funeral? When is the this, when is the that?

And finally, I left a call -- I left a message on the phones of the children, saying, "Please give me a call. I know this is a difficult moment, but there are things that must be done, and I would like to help if I can." I was then called a day later and told that, yes, that it was on that Tues-- this was on a Friday, Friday evening, that the funeral was going to take place that Tuesday, and that it would start at noon, and that with all the people that were being invited, that it was -- I was to be one of these people delivering the eulogy, and that my time would be at somewhere around 12:30 or 1:00, and I said, "Fine." And knowing this, I began to put my thoughts together.

That Saturday, Bush declared he was coming. He would be there. That Sunday, I began to change my speech, not to be rude or to be attacking, but to integrate this moment into what needed to be said. And then, that Monday morning, I got a call, and I was told that the invitation that had been extended to me had been pulled. I was uninvited. A woman by the name of Skinner and a Reverend by the name of Lawrence was the one who called me to tell me that I was uninvited, and when that call came, I called and spoke to one of the children. They said, these are the events, and I need to be counseled as to how this has come about, and I was told that I would get a call shortly, and it would all be clarified. And then, when the final call came, it was -- they were sorry, but the invitation - the withdrawing of the invitation would stand and that if I came down, they would find a place for me in the church, but I would not speak. And I did not go at all. I did not know how to deal with that.

What struck me was on the day of the ceremony, I saw how the altar was adorned. I saw who sat there, and as the camera moved about, I saw who was sitting in the audience, and I saw all of the power of the oppressor represented on the stage, and all those who fought for the victories that this nation was experiencing and enjoying sat in the outhouse, sat out in the field, sat removed, and if it not been for Lowery, for President Carter and for Maya Angelou, we would have had no voice and no representation at all.

Some ministers who were quite angry at all of this said, "Come on down here. Let's -- let's -- We have to talk to the press," and I said, "Talk to the press about what?" "About this. We cannot let it stand." I said, "I don't think that's appropriate. These are the children of my friend. These are the children of the movement. Where did we let them get caught? Why was Bernice giving this kind of sermon? How did you let Reverend Long become the minister of choice? Why wasn't it at Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Dr. King preached? And before we go public and begin to vent our anger, let us understand what role we played in this capitulation that has led to this moment, and let us try first to repair it rather than to go into public discourse.

When do we sit in a circle of healing? When we begin to talk about getting back to where we lost stride. How do we fix this? Not how do we play the vanity game, and get off on going public and talking about how I was crucified. You know, it's what it is, and there is a way in which we have to do this that not only prevents - I don't know that there'll be another moment quite like that, because Dr. King and Malcolm X and Fannie Lou Hamer, folks like that were so rare that to be a part of the final ceremony of their departure is a rare moment in history, but I think that it goes along with what I have been saying here. What role have we played in letting all this happen? Where were we? What were we doing that had us so distracted? How can it be this way? How did you priests and ministers let the evangelical rightwing Christian forces co-opt the greater truth about Christianity and the philosophy of liberation? And how did you all let that happen, and where are your voices in opposition publicly?

Everybody has a part in this. Everybody has something to look at, and I think it is a collective experience, and that's why I think rather than sitting here drifting, we've got to talk about this, not just where we failed and where you failed, and we've got to come out of this discourse and this discussion, not just talking about it but saying, "Here's where we go," and take courage in the fact that we can turn this around, because the truth of the matter is we are the only ones that can turn this around. Nothing and no one else can do it. Nothing.
AMY GOODMAN: Harry Belafonte, describing his dis-invitation from giving a eulogy at the funeral of Coretta Scott King.

The King Children are going to hell and thats the end of that.

Radical Progressive Carnival

Welcome to the first Radical Progressive Carnival, a place for people who self-define as feminist,anti-racist,queer,or who dedicate themselves to progressive politics in any manner and who hold a sincere and firm respect for humanity in all its forms.

This first carnival is a bit skimpy, but with some great stuff to read. Scatterbox at Steven Silver's provides an excellent post entitled,Changing business: More Media Coverning Fewer Stories,commenting on the shortcomings in the mainstream news media in covering important news stories and covering them accurately.It also discusses the diminishing number of owners of major news outlets and how this plays apart in the trend of more news outlets,less real coverage. Excellent assessment of the coverage of the Sago Mine Disaster.

My own submission here,On Listening to Cornel West and Toni Morrison is my analysis of a conversation had between Toni Morrison and Cornel West at an event sponsored by the Nation Institute and held at the New York Society for Ethical Culture. In this piece, I comment upon Morrison's assessment of violence as a tool for liberation in which I place her assessment up against the legacies of the South African freedom struggle, that of the Sandinistas in Latin America, and the rhetoric of June Jordan's revolutionary poem "Poem About My Rights."

I hope this first Radical Progressive Carnival is a success. I hope the reading material provided is enjoyable and I hope we all step away from the table having gained something that will help us be better human beings.

7,000 On the Magnificent Mile On Saturday

From the Chicago Sun-Times
March 19, 2006

7,000 march against war on Mag Mile


BY CHERYL L. REED, MONIFA THOMAS AND DAVE NEWBART
Staff Reporters



Three years after clashing with police and stopping traffic on Lake Shore Drive, war protesters legally took over downtown streets in what appeared to be the largest U.S. anti-war demonstration Saturday to mark the third anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion in Iraq.

Despite a legal battle with City Hall that lasted nearly as long as the war, a crowd Chicago Police estimated at 7,000 was allowed to march down some of the city's most prominent streets, including the Magnificent Mile of Michigan Avenue.

More than 200 officers, including Chicago Police, Cook County sheriff's officers and State Police, lined the march route -- most in riot gear.

"They look like Darth Vader with clubs," Diane Handelsman, 63, of Lake View. "That is very scary, and intimidating."

Some pro-war protesters also stood along the path, holding signs that read: "Not in Vain."

But the demonstration remained calm, and police said no arrests were made.

As the march began at Oak and State, 7-year-old Syanne Garcia carried a sign that read: "Don't Send My Uncle Back to Iraq."

Beside her walked her aunt Yolisma Hernandez, 31, of Elgin.

"They say it won't make a difference," Hernandez said, "but I have to do something for the safety of my brother."

Others held signs that read: "Return troops. Send Congress."

The march was just one of many anti-war demonstrations around the world. In New York's Times Square, about 1,000 anti-war protesters rallied outside a recruiting station, demanding troops be withdrawn from Iraq. In London, 15,000 people poured into Trafalgar Square.

Protesters gathered throughout the day at rallies spread across Chicago's neighborhoods and suburbs.

'We're on the wrong track'

At Union Park on the West Side Saturday afternoon, protesters held signs that ranged from the comical -- "Stop Mad Cowboy Disease" and "Paranoia is not a foreign policy" -- to the blunt -- "Stop the slaughter."

There were the familiar calls to end the Bush administration's "world domination" and "evil colonialism," and a more immediate sense of concern that Iran might be the president's next target.

At noon, a couple hundred protesters gathered at Federal Plaza.

Ginger Williams, of Edgewater, quit her job as a nurse to protest the war full-time even though her 23-year-old son is an Army lieutenant serving in Iraq. "He still believes in his mission. I wish he is right. I hope he is right."

Amid the crowd was another mother of a soldier, Marge Haracz, of Barrington, who is a Quaker. Her 21-year-old son was sent to Afghanistan earlier this month. "Any time we must start shooting guns around to make a point, we're on the wrong track,'' she said.

"He joined the military to bring about positive change in the world. He didn't join the military to go to war," Haracz said, noting he knew there was a chance he'd have to fight.

Also at the plaza were members of the Chicago chapter of "Billionaires for Bush," who carried a myriad of signs: "It's a class war and we're winning," "Cheney is innocent," "Bush lied: We made billions."

The "Billionaires" chanted, "Four more wars," "This is what plutocracy looks like," "Money for war and privatization, put the poor on reservations."

"We decided to use humor instead of anger," said Sandy Bykowski, who wore a faux leopard fur hat, fake jewels, a fancy dress and a feather boa.

A tuxedo-clad Brent Mesick, from Lake View, said the group mocks President Bush's appeal to average people. "He is really for the upper East Coast," Mesick said. "The people he represents are the billionaires."

Contributing: Stefano Esposito, Maudlyne Ihejirika, AP

Quote

"I'm not a scientist or a biochemist....but I do know that when a little boy or girl gets killed by a bomb, that's wrong." Congresswoman Julia Carson at the Anti-War rally today.

Georgia is a Stupid State

The state legislature of Georgia has recently refused to recognize Jane Fonda for her tireless humanitarian work that she has done in the state of Georgia over the past twenty-five years, the largest part of which is the GCAPP(Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention--which I have linked on this page). The reason for their refusal was because she was involved in the anti-Vietnam war movement. My thoughts are....I hope some Vietnamese people kick the Georgia legislature in their asses. I will most glady honor Jane as she is highly commendable for her wonderful work throughout the world! God Bless Jane Fonda!

Pro-Immigrant March in Chicago

While I was in Chicago, I learned that there was a pro-immigrant rally in Chicago on March 10th. I wonder how well it was covered in the mainstream media?

The rally today in Indy was great! I think it was the best one they've had. Great stuff. My new favorite store is Trader Joes!

In Profile: My Aunt Bertie

My Aunt Bertie was very special to me. She was my favorite aunt and she was the most beautiful spirit that the world ever provided me with. She was my shelter and the tree from which I grew at an early age. Aunt Johnnie was my first school teacher, but Aunt Bertie was my first teacher. My earliest memories are of being at Aunt Bertie's house(which I called Aunt Johnnie's house---they lived together and it SEEMED that it was Aunt Johnnie's house, but Bertie Lee DeRamus McDavid owned it) and being engaged with her in ten million different activities, whether it was singing, or baking cakes and gingerbread houses and gingerbread men, or reading books, or just sitting and watching her, Aunt Bertie was my spirit and my soul....and she loved me dearly. I was always at her side in everything--or more likely crawled up into her arms. When she got sick, I would often stay at home with her--I often found it odd, later in years, that we would get to Aunt Johnnie's in the morning and my mother would ask me if I wanted to stay at home that day or go to school. That was truly something else, but I think I see something of why now. Our house was right across the street from Aunt Bertie's house, so I literally grew up in her presence.

Aunt Bertie retired from teaching in 1984, suffering from Ovarian cancer. I remember her retirement tea as a beautiful event. She died in 1985 when I was four yars old. The very special thing concerning my bond with my aunt is that she told me that she was going to die. When my mother and Freda came to tell me that Aunt Bertie was dead, I didn't cry because I already knew it. That instilled something in me, I am not sure what it is, but that is my gift from my aunt.

Bertie Lee DeRamus McDavid grew up the second oldest(not counting the two who died in infancy, who came before her) of eight children. She was a straight-A student all through high school and college, the first student of Sadie Mae and John Archie to be educated under the tutelage of Fess McDavid. She recieved her bachelor's degree from Alabama State University and proceeded to do graduate work at Columbia University, eventually recieving her master's degree from Governor's State in Chicago.

This sounds quite unusual, but I guess it happened quite a lot back then and oh well, c'est la vie. My aunt was hand-picked by Mrs. Mary Foster McDavid to be her successor as Mrs. McDavid--I don't know how that worked and how much or how little Fess himself played into it, but oh well. She and Fess married and they were blissfully wedded until he died in the early sixties. What I do know is that Mrs. M.F. McDavid was quite a bit older than Fess--several...I believe she was as old to him as he was to Aunt Bertie. Fess, from what I'm told, was the same age as John Archie. Mrs. M.F. McDavid and Fess were both quite accomplished people. Mrs. M.F. McDavid had a school named after her in Montgomery. She was also, I so love to hear my grandmother imitating her introduction of herself, the first Black woman president of the National PTA.

Aunt Bertie was an exceptional woman. She also loved poetry and books and shared the passion with my grandmother of memorizing and reciting poetry. Her favorite poem was read at her funeral and I have never forgotten it, "House by the Side of the Road." My Aunt Bertie was a key influence on my life.

In Profile: My Aunt Earnestine

I think what is going to happen is that I am going to profile all of the children of John Archie Bradson (J.A.B.)and Sadie Mae Goodson DeRamus, my grandmother and her siblings. Alas, I just profiled my grandmother because I had just gotten a recorded interview with her and hope to do another, better one. There is a lot of history there to be had. Alas, I think now I will profile my Aunt Earnestine. The oldest child of this couple, my aunt was also the darkest, something that she never was able to deal with and which she never learned to take pride in. Born in 1915, she is the only child of Sadie Mae and John Archie who did not recieve her education under the tutelage of Fess McDavid. She went to grade school and high school in Clanton, where she stayed and was mostly reared by her paternal grandmother, Grandma Fanny. It is because of this, that there was sort of a juncture between her and the rest of the siblings.

Married three times, Aunt Earnestine never had any children. Aunt Earnestine was a bit gawkish, somewhat innocent(I do think of myself in this description), and somewhat naive. One of the most hilarious and once in a lifetime moments was when my grandmother explained to Aunt Earnestine how two men are supposed to have sex. My mother had this case which involved an anal sex case and my aunt was totally befuddled by the idea. I could have died. As simple as she was, she was also educated. A principal for twenty years, a school teacher for forty, Aunt Earnestine had two master's degrees. This is why degrees don't really impress me all that much..Aunt Earnestine, for all of the education she had, didn't have the sense god gave a bird. It was something else when everyone found out that she was renting off the family property to cousins of ours for an unexcusably low amount because she felt it was her "Christian duty," even though they were living extremely well off of the deal. Another reason why I have no claim to Christianity. Aunt Earnestine was not very good with money, yet....and this I find absolutely befuddling...and yet ALL of her brothers and sisters allowed her to handle the DeRamus estate up until she wasn't able to simply in deference to age and seniority. Its by the grace of god that nothing bad actually happened. Anyway, such is the spice of life.

Alas,Aunt Earnestine, as I said, was married three times, divorced twice and widowed once in a d-w-d order. She lived most of her life in the home of her parents, with the brief exception of her moving to Cleveland during one of her marriages. She was a very well-loved teacher and person. In 1997, the people in the community threw an "Earnie Day" celebration in which her students--from over the span of her forty year career paid tribute to her. It was a wonderful ocassion.

Aunt Earnestine was always good to me. I remember very few words of reproach coming to me from her. Everyone's favorite thing to do was to sleep in Aunt Earnestine's tall, high-backed old fashioned bed under her mountain of quilts. She always had candy or cookies or something for us children, and for me, she gave me her collection of bible books when I was a little boy. Aunt Earnestine taught sunday school as well and was very good at it. I used to ride with her to church on sundays in her old blue volkswagen and help her set up for church and sunday school. She was a teacher, a sunday school teacher, a church Stewardess, and many other things. Up until she wasn't able to she also kept a garden in which the best things would grow. I remember one year she made the paper for growing the largest pumpkin in the county. When I was a little boy, she kept chickens and tons of cats constantly around her house.

Aunt Earnestine was an incredible human being. Filled with much love, but also a complicated person with her share of faults and problems. Her death definitely left a void in many lives.

I had an absolutely great time in Chicago. I am glad I made myself go. I am determined to do more things on the moment,to move about and be really free. So, I went to Columbia College and sat in on one of the panels in their StoryWeek festival. It was abolutely great ad I got to meet Dorothy Allison after the panel discussion and talk with her a few moments. God how blissful! All in all, I enjoyed the city, I enjoyed walking around, I enjoyed the different atmosphere. I am greatful to myself that I did it. Alas, one irony is that I ran into this girl Irini from Lafayette whom I had just a few days ago been discussing coming to chicago ---and she was coming too for a different purpose--and we ran into each other on Michigan Avenue. How odd. God, I miss the city. I miss civilization. I miss life and living.

Introducing the Radical Progressive Carnival

I would like to propose the formation of a radical,progressive carnival. A place for those who are dedicated to upholding a sincere and fundamental respect for humanity in all its forms. A place for writers,intellectuals,feminists,philosophers, people of color, the queer, the strange,artists, and others.

We have got to eradicate this constant surveillance of white supremacy. Get rid of it, make it die once and for all.

Key Words

From bell hooks' Rock My Soul:Black People and Self-Esteem.

"Having lived in the midst of white supremacy all her life, Mama recognized that it would be dangerous for us to live our lives trying to please racist white people, letting them set the standards for our identity and well-being.

Her words of caution proved to be necessary wisdom. While she wanted her children to have equal access to libraries and typewriters, small classrooms, and the newest textbooks, she did not want us to be taught by unenlightened white people to hate ourselves. She did not want her academically gifted children to let white people teach them they were the grand exceptions, better than other black folks, maybe even not really black. The self-esteem that had been fostered in a social and political atmosphere of racial uplift was assaulted in the world of racial integration. Black folks living in segrgated worlds who had spent only a measure of their lives thinking about white folks were more and more becoming obssessed with race. Naturally, the more contact we had with white folks the more intensely we experienced racist assaults. Even the well-meaning and kind white teachers often believed racist stereotypes. We were never away from the surveillance of white supremacy in the world of racial integration. And it was this constant reality that began to undermine the foundation of self-esteem in the lives of Black folks."

bell hooks is my salvation.

Kieth Boykin has messed me up.

Philosopher's Carnival

Interesting things going on at the 27th Philosopher's carnival.

I had a conversation today in the coffeeshop with this girl who was telling me, "you know, I can't stand those people who bash American-- I mean we are the greatest country in the world-- I mean, I don't think I could live without 24 hour stores and walmart! Nobody else has that!"

Everybody Is A Star

Everybody is a star
Who can rain, chase the dust away
Everybody wants to shine
Ooh, come out on a cloudy day
'Til the sun that loves you proud
When the system tries to bring you down
Every hand to shine tonight
You don't need darkness to do what you think is right

Ba pa-pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba,
ba-pa ba-pa ba ba, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

Everybody is a star
I can feel it when you shine on me
I love you for who you are
Not the one you feel you need to be
Ever catch a falling star
Ain't no stopping 'til it's in the ground
Everybody is a star
One big circle going round and round

Ba pa-pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba,
ba-pa ba-pa ba ba, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

Ba pa-pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba,
ba-pa ba-pa ba ba, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh

Ba pa-pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba pa-pa ba ba ba,
ba-pa ba-pa ba ba, shine, shine, shine, shine

Don't Make Me Close One More Door

Whitney Houston

Share my life, take me for what I am
Cause I'll never change all my colours for you
Take my love, I'll never ask for too much
Just all that you are and everything that you do

I don't really need to look very much further
I don't want to have to go where you don't follow
I won't hold it back again, this passion inside
Can't run from myself
There's nowhere to hide


Don't make me close one more door I don't wanna hurt anymore

Stay in my arms if you dare
Or must I imagine you there
Don't walk away from me...
I have nothing, nothing, nothing
If I don't have you, you, you, you, you, you...

You see through, right to the heart of me
You break down my walls with the strength of your love
I never knew love like I've known it with you
Will a memory survive, one I can hold on to

I don't really need to look very much further
I don't want to have to go where you don't follow
I won't hold it back again, this passion inside
I Can't run from myself
There's nowhere to hide
Your love I'll remember, forever

Don't make me close one more door
I don't wanna hurt anymore
Stay in my arms if you dare
Or must I imagine you there
Don't walk away from me...
I have nothing, nothing, nothing...

...Don't make me close one more door
I don't wanna hurt anymore
Stay in my arms if you dare
Or must I imagine you there
Don't walk away from me no...
Don't walk away from me
Don't you dare walk away from me
I have nothing, nothing, nothing
If I don't have you
If I don't have you
oh you

I just got through watching House of the Flying Daggersagain. It is a very enjoyable movie, but I do have to wonder how many of these films they are going to make. This is the new asian-sterotype movie--as "The Flower Drum Song" used to be. In some ways its a bit ludicrous. Im staring at the screen and thinking this and thinking of what the average movie goer takes in from this and other films like it: "Ohh, can all Asian people throw knives like that? Ohh look at what they are doing in those trees! Is that how they won the Vietnam war?"

I heard this fascinating and great definition of power: the ability to do....

I would so love to get with Mos Def.

In Profile: My Grandmother

My grandmother is an intriguing spirit. She is an evolving soul who never ceases to amaze, who moves forward in the most subtle and wonderful ways. Her personality and her makeup all encompass who she is and her strength of will and her uncompromising dignity all come to bear upon the person that she is and the woman that she is known to be. My grandmother has an amazing strength. At 85-years of age my grandmother can lift and move a hundred pounds easier than a man a third of her age and has a force behind her that can knock a grown man to the ground. As my grandmother says, she "doesn't know how to hit light." She is possessive of great physical strength and mental capability, and has the most poetic and congenial soul that will ever come to bear. That said, my grandmother is rough around the edges, plays it very practical in all things, and carries a strong Calvinistic disdain that serves as a clamp on her creativity and her imaginative soul.

My grandmother once hit a woman, a fellow school teacher who one day decided that she would taunt my grandmother with a plum tree branch filled with worms, which she knew my grandmother was quite afraid of. As the woman repeatedly pushed the branch near my grandmother's person, in a reflex my grandmother picked up a log and swiped the woman sidewise across her face, leaving a scar and pulling the earring out of the woman's ear. With that the woman decided to continue, telling my grandmother "Oh Thelma, you know I wasn't gonna put that on you! Just for that, I'm really gonna do it!" My grandmother's reply was, "Woman, I'll kill you today if you put those worms on me." The woman decided then it was time to leave that alone.

My grandmother bears a poetic soul. English, as she says, was her pet subject. Her passion and hobby was and is memorizing and reciting poetry. Today, she recites several poems from memory that she learned in her youth, among them "She's Somebody's Mother," "House by the Side of the Road," and "Sir Patrick Spens." My grandmother writes plays--starting when she was in grade school and continuing on to her involvement with the aging center where they staged several plays every year, and even today as she will write Christmas and Easter programs for the church. She also loves to sing. She has always considered writing and poetry her "hobbies," not to take the place of "real work." When she was a teacher, she taught and now, she must busy herself with taking care of her house--mopping floors, making beds, gardening,etc.

My grandmother, the third oldest (fifth counting the children who died in their infancy)of eight, recieved her education in central Alabama, a pupil of Fess MacDavid(I have just thought recently --Fess was her teacher and principal when she was in school, her principal when she taught under him, and her brother-in-law), from whom she recieved the best education around, and then attended what is now Alabama State University, where she recieved her bachelor's degree in the early forties. She started teaching in 1941, taught in Alabama and helped to integrate the north side of Chicago. She retired in 1981. She is definitely an interesting woman.

I have been contemplating writing this for a long time, and especially since reading Anne Braden's book, The Wall Between, which left me with a lump in my throat and palpitations. It is absolutely something else to live in a hostile world and environment.To go about each day knowing that there are people who would wish to persecute you for your identity, for who and what you are. It is absolutely something to live knowing that there are people who would try and negate your existence. I believe Audre Lorde taught us well how to deal with these things....and especially when it comes into the question of power and authority and the efforts of those hostile forces to make use of these things.

Something that Anne Braden spoke out to me and sat with me a long time, and it still causes a ruffle in my soul. She was speaking of her parents, her upbringing, and her and her husband's trial and persecution during the communist withhunts of the 1950s. She said that it was startling to her to think of her parents unconditional love for her in posting her bail to be released from jail, even when the cause that she advocated went against everything that they believed and everything that their society stood for. She said that she thought about the sad irony in not only that the very foundation out of which her parents came was the very thing that was not only placing her on trial and condemning her as a witch, but also that if she had not been their child that they perhaps would be apart of this mob. That statement started me to thinking about how societies are formed, what they are built on, and the extent to which we are tied into it, why that is, and how it might happen that some of us are not inextricably tied into the system. She spoke of the people their in the South who sort of existed in the middle(however, as Howard Zinn told us, you can't be neutral on a moving train) and who whispered and nodded their disdain of segregation and the ill-treatment of Blacks in the South but who declined to speak up in public and who found it best to "let things be" and exist in harmony and in silence with segregationist rule. I can't wrap my mind around that. I would hope that people would HAVE SOME INTEGRITY and not follow along with crowds. I don't know, I don't know how to wrap my mind around it at all. I will always, as long as I have a tongue and can make use of my body, speak.

Oh No!

Maureen Stapleton, the famed actress, has died. She played Barbra Streisand's mother in Nuts and also won the Academy Award for playing Emma Goldman in REDS with Warren Beatty(Shirley MacLaine's little brother).

Zacarias Moussaoui may be exonerated or saved from the death penalty because of misdoings by the goverment. Oh what tangled webs.

I didn't know my grandmother had been a principal. There are new revelations all of the time.

Why is Trent Lott back?

The news out of Iraq is just too depressing. Read it for yourself.

Kudos to Rus Feingold!

Call your senators and urge them--indeed demand that they support Senator Rus Feingold in his effort to pass a censure of President Bush through the Senate in response to the illegal wiretapping carried out by his adminstration! God Bless Reingold!

Interesting and new revelations all around. How I love new revelations!

Beautiful Words from Barbra

Art in the Pursuit of Truth ...Barbra Streisand


President Kennedy once said that "In serving his vision of the truth, the artist best serves his nation."
I am proud to be a part of a community of artists and filmmakers who have shown their activism and social consciousness through their work; a group that is committed to examining our world and revealing the truth. Sure, the entertainment industry is not perfect. With every groundbreaking, courageous film that is produced, there are also films made that contribute little to the betterment of society.

But, more often than not, we are a group that is ahead of the national conversation. Throughout history the Hollywood community has been very much involved and in touch with what is happening in the country. During World War II, in addition to leading blood drives, members of the entertainment industry raised billions of dollars through war bond sales and its embrace of the Treasury Department's 10% payroll deduction plan. During the pinnacle of the Civil Rights Movement, members of the Hollywood community marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in support of non-violent action to end segregation and oppression and to fight for equal rights for all. During the McCarthy Era, when actors and filmmakers were being blacklisted, the brave "Hollywood Ten," calling on their 1st Amendment rights, refused to testify in front of the House on Un-American Activities Committee. The courts disagreed and they all were found guilty of contempt of Congress and each was sentenced to between six and twelve months in prison. During the Vietnam War, artists and entertainers marched and loudly voiced their opposition, and most recently, the community protested and spoke out against the war in Iraq.

I have said in the past that I believe art does not exist only to entertain but also to challenge one to think, to provoke, even to disturb, to engage in a constant search for the truth. In spite of the many films that get released every year that aim to just entertain or break box office records, the industry has also produced films that tackle controversial social and political issues. This year alone, Best Picture nominees such as "Munich" and "Good Night and Good Luck" had strong political messages. And in the past, Hollywood films have inspired a discourse and a healthy exchange of ideas that is normally not a part of the American conversation. "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," "In the Heat of the Night," "The Color Purple," and "Crash" all dealt candidly with issues of race. "The Pianist" and "Schindler's List" tackled anti-Semitism and the atrocities committed during the Holocaust. "Coming Home" and "Born on the Fourth of July" showed America the harsh realities of war. We reflected on issues of poverty with "The Grapes of Wrath" and provided the world with an honest depiction of a gay man's reality when diagnosed with the AIDS virus in "Philadelphia." Considering the incredible breadth of Hollywood's movie making history, the list can go on and on.

Members of the Hollywood community should not be apologetic, but proud, proud to have provoked conversations, proud to have challenged ignorance and proud to have helped shape our history for the better.

I love hitting on straight men.

Hooray for Chile!

I am estatic to see Bachelet become president in Chile--I see it as a great progressive step in the world! I am so encouraged by the developing humanitarian regimes in Latin America!May she have a wonderful and long presidency!

I'm Pissed and the rest of the World Should Be Too

Saturday, Alexander Haig, former henchman for Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, delivered statements to the press to the effect that in relation to the quagmire in Iraq that "every asset of the Nation must be applied to bring about a quick and successful outcome." Does that mean apply the Bomb? This man is wicked and should be castrated for his involvement in Vietnam and all of the atrocities committed during the Reagan administration. This most militaristic and inhumane mindset espoused by Haig that refuses to acknowledge the right of self-determination, self-respect, and dignity for the people of Iraq is absolutely abhorrent and must be uprooted from this country's interior.
Haig, his compadres, and all of the right-wing hawks who have their hands dipped into the mud which is Iraq and which is also U.S. militarism and foreign policy have completely lost their humanity, refuse to acknowledge and respect the humanity of others and are driven by the blind, capitalist, American imperialism that has been the soul-death of this country since its founding. People with integrity must speak out and refuse.
To speak further of this event that was reported in the news, one of the other henchmen, Henry Kissinger, was present, seated at Haig's side. I was encouraged that there were protestors their to greet him with chants of "Kissinger should go to jail, no bail."

Why I Will Never Read Faulkner

I have always had my inclinations against Faulkner, and indeed I have only read one thing by him, a short story, and really have not felt bad at all about it. I have always declined joining in the Faulkner worship that so many have, highest among them Toni Morrison. Alas, I really never wanted to read any southern literature at all--but I have definitely come around from that, but still I don't feel compelled to become a Faulknerian. Now, I can see why Faulkner has never attracted my attention. Anne Braden reports in her book that Faulkner called out to the NAACP in a letter to Life magazine to "Go Slow" where segretation was concerned, to "Stop now for a time, a moment..lest by their haste they force all Southern moderates, including him, into the segregationist camp." Alas, I think Faulkner should have lost his penis for that one. Not only should he not be touted or read, he should have been castrated. Alas, further on the subject of Faulkner and his place in literature--it has always seemed to me that people fall into one of two camps--Hemingway or Faulkner. I have always been inclined to Hemingway. I can now definitely leave Faulkner for the crows.

When I was fifteen, I remember it very clearly, riding back in one of the family cars from my Aunt Carolyn's funeral, one of her nephews offered me a summer job writing for the local NAACP newspaper in his hometown of Minneanapolis, as he was the local head of the NAACP. As I lived in Alabama and knew nothing of Minneanapolis, I didn't take it. I should have.

"The Progress Myth in Iraq"

Molly Ivins has a great assessment of Donald Rumsfeld's glorious assessments of the state of things in Iraq on Common Dreams!

First Iraq, Now Iran

I don't think I need to elaborate any further. Condoleeza Rice is a cow. Sadie Bell Deramus--you should have drowned her!

YES!!!!

Hooray for Chloe!!! Winner of Project Runway!!!!Yea!!!

Keith Boykin has a good post concerning the offensive drag performer, Shirley Q. Liquor. Shirley Q. Liquor is a white gay male who dresses up in Black face, pretending to be a black woman and making various racist jokes concerning Black people. When I first learned of Shirley Q. Liquor, I was a bit indifferent to this performance, but I think it is time that this caricature ended.

Could Louis Farrakhan be a closet homosexual? That thought has occurred to me just recently. Alas, I do not think that the Nation of Islam should be using Malcolm X's picture or words on their website or anywhere in any context. Especially not Louis Farrakhan. I am still not convinced that he or any of the rest of them had nothing to do with Malcolm's death.

I think that the Anti-Defamation League needs to leave Claudette Marie Muhammad alone. She is not Louis Farrakhan and she has no need to apologize for him.

It shall be definitely interesting to watch the tiff between the United States and Iran. I thought North Korea was the one not to play with.

Serious Matters

In two horrendous moves, the Senate todayrefused to investigate or question Bush's covert wiretapping practices--leaving the Bush administration free reign to trample over the constitution and our very basic civil and human rights.The House, in its contribution to the ending of democracy, has just passed therenewal of the Patriot Act, making some of the provisions permanent. These are very dangerous times and the direction of this government is towards the dark days of McCarthyism, fascism, and the efforts to solidify the reign and control of white male and capitalist tyranny over this country and indeed over the globe.

I Am In Love With Anne Braden

"I have been told that the intensity of my feeling about segregation is neurotic. I have never denied that this may be so. I grew up in a sick society, and a sick society makes neurotics--of one kind or another. It makes people like those who could take pleasure in killing Emmett Till, and it makes people like me. The United States Supreme Court in its historic decision against segreation in the school outlined what segregation does to the Negro child. THe justices might have added some discussion of what it does to the white child. THere are many white "neurotics" like myself in my generation in the South--if that is what we are. The people who describe themselves as "saner" and more "practical" and more "moderate" tell us to wait, not to go too fast. But that is no answer. They may persuade some of us to take a slower course, but they can never convince us all. As long as segregation remains a face in communities all over the South, there will be people like us who are compelled to act."--From The Wall Between.

I have been reading Anne Braden's memoir the past couple of days and I have learned so much, been heartened and enlightened by it. She is an absolutely wonderful spirit. I am glad that I am able to connect with it at some level. Alas, I feel that her comments concerning segregation can most definitely be applied to many things.

Two Sad Occassions

There are so many deaths these days. Good people are dropping like flies. Gordon Parks, famed director,photographer, and social critic died at the ripe old age of 93. Parks was an amazing person, best known for his major motion picture,Shaft, one of the first in Hollywood directed by an Afro-American. Also, the actress, pioneer, and social activist Dana Reeves has died. This is a terrible loss as she fought for so many years for the life of her late husband, Christopher Reeves, and championed the cause of paralysis and spinal cord injury through the Christopher Reeves Foundation after his death. What is worse is that her children are young. What will happen to them now?

No Comment

I will not even say what I saw in the Union today.

Good News-UpDate

I have learned from Professor Kim's News Notes that Corey Maye, the man wrongfully convicted and railroaded onto death row in Mississippi for shooting a police officer, will recieve a hearing on his petition for a new trial on June 20th! This is great news! Please sign the petition on this blog to exonerate Corey Maye!

Time to Impeach Bush

Tonight I watched most of the forum sponsored by Harper's Magazine and featuring Rep. Johhn Conyers that called for the impeachment of George Bush. I must say I was quite astounded. Firstly, the audience for this forum was packed--I believe at least 1500 people must have been there. Secondly, great comments were made all around by former Congresswoman, Elizabeth Holtzmann, Democrat of New York, who participated in the successful impeachment of Richard Nixon and by John Conyers himself. I was very inspired by the dialogue tonight. I think this movement is starting out small, but it is starting out strong and with the leadership of Rep. Conyers and those allied with him, I believe that Bush can be impeached, or at least censured and held accountable for his violations of the United States contitution and of the Geneva Conventions. God Bless John Conyers. He is truly a man who stands with integrity!

Ballad of Joe Hill

Paul Robeson

I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night
Alive as you and me
Says I, "But Joe, you're ten years dead,"
"I never died," says he, "I never died," says he.
"In Salt Lake, Joe, by God," says I
Him standing by my bed,
"They framed you on a murder charge."
Says Joe, "But I ain't dead," says Joe, "But I ain't dead."

"The copper bosses shot you, Joe,
They killed you, Joe," says I.
"Takes more than guns to kill a man,"
Says Joe, "I didn't die," says Joe, "I didn't die."

And standing there as big as life
And smiling with his eyes
Joe says, "What they forgot to kill
Went on to organize, went on to organize."

"Joe Hill ain't dead," he says to me,
"Joe Hill ain't never died.
Where workingmen are out on strike
Joe Hill is at their side, Joe Hill is at their side."

"From San Diego up to Maine
In every mine and mill
Where workers strike and organize,"
Says he, "You'll find Joe Hill," says he, "You'll find Joe Hill."

Jacob's Ladder

Paul Robeson

We are climbing Jacob's ladder
We are climbing Jacob's ladder
We are climbing Jacob's ladder
Brothers, sisters, all

Every rung goes higher and higher
Every rung goes higher and higher
Every rung goes higher and higher
Brothers, sisters, all

We are dancing Sarah's circle
We are dancing Sarah's circle
We are dancing Sarah's circle
Sisters, brothers, all

Every round a generation
Every round a generation
Every round a generation
Sisters, brothers, all

We are climbing Jacob's ladder
We are climbing Jacob's ladder
We are climbing Jacob's ladder
Brothers, sisters, all

In Other Surpeme Court News

The Supreme Court, following its trend of moving further and further to the right, ruled against NOW late last month in Scheidler vs. National Organization for Women, Inc., denying NOW damages awarded by a lower court and stating that threats or acts of physical violence against abortion clinics fell outside of the interpretation of the Hobb's Act, the act that brought about RICO(Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act)-which states that extortion or physical violence for the purpose of extortion are illegal.So in other words, abortion protestors who are affiliated with organizations and who commit acts of violence or who threaten acts of violence against abortion clinics,their staff,or their patients, cannot be held accountable for denying abortion clinics to conduct business. Oh what a message.

What Else Can We Expect?

The Supreme Court issued the ruling today that in order for colleges and universities to continue recieving federal funding, they must allow military recruiters on their campuses. This court has moved fundamentally to the right--and I believe it is a definite and clear reflection of this country's mood as a whole.This means that people's rights and freedoms will be trampled on because "the people" will it,not necessarily because of dictatorship or otherwise. I do believe that people are goaded and people are misfed information and lied to, but I do believe that these conservative, right-wing values are at the core of this country's makeup--which is why this country is going straight to hell. You cannot build a country on white supremacy, imperialism, and religious dogma and then expect freedom and respect for all humanity to grow out of it. Nor can you expect it to be anything other than militaristic. That said, there is a legacy of progressive struggle here--and I believe that it will win out. I believe that the progressive elements that exist within this country will rise up and make something new out of what will have fallen apart. I believe it will be something new, something better, and I have hope for it and for the future.

A Terrible Loss

Anne Braden, a civil rights activist, humanitarian, and journalist, passed away today. Braden came to the forefront of the movement for equality when she and her husband sold a home that they purchased, in a pre-arranged plan, to a Black couple in Louisville, Kentucky. The Bradens suffered horrendously at the hands of the power structure--as the home which they purchased in the test case was bombed and later her husband, Carl, was tried and convicted of sedition for their efforts surrounding their civil rights and humanitarian activism. This is a great loss.

Utterly Disturbing

The AP has just today broken the story of the government's, with a sort of gentlemen's agreement between the judicial and executive branches of government, have completely prosecuted, tried, and sentenced people in the courts in absolute secrecy--an act which totally disregards and dismisses the provisions of the 6th amendment to the U.S. Constitution which guarantees all people the right to a fair,speedy, and public trial. According to the AP story,each year since 2003, the number of cases held in secret have grown--with 11,508 cases being tried in secret in 2005, 12.6 percent of all cases tried last year. These cases range the gamut from "war on drugs, anti-terrorism efforts, and other criminal matters," according to AP. This phenomenon is absolutely disturbing, indeed chilling as this means that anyone, including U.s. citizens may be picked up--on drug related charges or a variety of others--and be charged, tried,convicted, and sentenced with no public knowledge whatsoever.

This is undemocratic, this is immoral,illegal, and an absolute abuse of power and authority on the part of the powers that be.It is fascism with its truest face showing. Kafka wrote about this in "The Trial." Alas, these are the very kinds of activities for which world condemned Saddam Hussein and other tyrannical leaders. There must be an outcry. There must be protest. This cannot be allowed to continue.

You Belong to Me

Carly Simon


Why'd you tell me this
Were you looking for my reaction
What do you need to know
Don't you know I'll always be your girl
You don't have to prove to me you're beautiful to strangers
I've got loving eyes of my own

(Chorus)
You belong to me
Tell her you were fooling
You don't even know her
Tell her that I love you

You belong to me
Can it be, honey, that you're not sure
You belong to me
Thought we'd closed the book - locked the door
You don't have to prove to me that you're beautiful to strangers
I've got loving eyes of my own
And I can tell - I can tell darling
Tell her - tell her that I love you

You belong - you belong - you belong to me
Tell her you were fooling
Tell her she don't even know you
Tell her you were fooling
I know you from a long time ago, baby
Don't leave me to go to her now
You belong to me.

I Am Learning New Things

The conceptualization and actualization of the panopticon is something that derives out of the twistedness of phallocentrism and Patriarchy. Alas, what I have become aware of, through reading Foucault's Discipline and Punish is that this panopticon is a very intricate and finely put together system of the all seeing eye: Public institutions in todays society all serve as instruments in the panopticon--they all serve to gather information on the public at large and individuals in general. These institutions include churches, hospitals, police precints, libraries, schools, charities, courts, parishes, state bureaucracies, police records, and places of work, etc. They all gather information and they all gather information which is used by the state. This is nothing new, but as I read Foucault's analysis, the picture became clearer.

When You Get Caught Between the Moon and New York City

Christopher Cross

Once in your life you find her
Someone that turns your heart around
And next thing you know you're closing down the town
Wake up and it's still with you
Even though you left her way across town
Wondering to yourself, "Hey, what've I found?"

When you get caught between the Moon and New York City
I know it's crazy, but it's true
If you get caught between the Moon and New York City
The best that you can do ......
The best that you can do is fall in love

Arthur he does as he pleases
All of his life, he's mastered choice
Deep in his heart, he's just, he's just a boy
Living his life one day at a time
And showing himself a really good time
Laughing about the way they want him to be

When you get caught between the Moon and New York City
I know it's crazy, but it's true
If you get caught between the Moon and New York City
The best that you can do .....
The best that you can do is fall in love

When you get caught between the Moon and New York City
I know it's crazy, but it's true
If you get caught between the Moon and New York City
The best that you can do .....
The best that you can do is fall in love

A Good Morning

This morning I ran across a copy of June Jordan's "Poem About My Rights." I love that poem. June Jordan is God and God is with us! Also, I saw Arthur on television. Arthur and Arthur II are among my favorite movies. Great stuff.

Adrian's Party tonight was great.

Its interesting to see how, what I shall call categorizations rule some peoples lives.