Bridges

By Diane Reeves

I have crossed a thousand bridges
In my search for something real
There were great suspension bridges
Made like spider webs of steel
There were tiny wooden trestles
And there were bridges made of stone
I have always been a stranger and
I’ve always been alone
There’s a bridge to tomorrow
There’s a bridge to the past
There’s a bridge made of sorrow
That I pray will not last
There’s a bridge made of color

Link to materials on the Gizzendanner Family

Interesting Geneological Stuff for Keeps

My Wife's Lines:

1. RAWLINSON LINE: From England to Kent Co. Md (was there in early 1700s, to S.C., then to Alabama in ealry 1800s.

2. GAITHER LINE: To Maryland, then to S.C., then to Alabama in early 1800s.
3. DERAMUS LINE: From Switzerland (Joseph DeRamus who came to South Carolina from Switzerland was French, from French Hugenout parents who had fled France to Switzerland), to S.C., then to Alabama in early 1800s

I am definitely convinced that eharmony is some republican bullshit.

Chicago was great and beautiful. Kelly and Kathy have a beautiful new house. God Bless Uncle Donald, Aunt Joyce, and all of my relatives. While I was in chicago, I patronized quite a few establishments with which I was quite pleased.
Quinn took me to The Grille, a mom and pop on Halsted where I had a wonderful strawberry malt and she had a great looking hamburger.We then went to The Chicago Diner, also on the Northside, full of cute gay waiters, where I had the best organic german chocolate cake. Also while in Chicago, I revisited Ada's downtown, this time with Candace(who was in Chicago) where I absolutely raved over the sweet and sour cabbage soup. The atmosphere was also great. Aunt Joyce took me there once before a long time ago. Later, Candace and I also frequented The Red Head Piano Bar where we had much fun. Other restaurants I have enjoyed in Chicago are Gladys' and Mello Yello in Hyde Park(I love the idea of having drinks with breakfast and I love the orange juice, coconut milk, and rum blend!

This is the Selection List of the Nancy Wilson CD I Have Been Looking For

I had this on tape a long time ago. I want this CD--and the lyrics to these songs. I know them mostly, but I want them on paper.

01. IM YOUR SPECIAL FOOL
02. PRISONER OF MY EYES
03. PLAYER PLAY ON
04. ONLY LOVE
05. LOOKING BACK
06. IF WE ONLY HAVE LOVE
07. IN A LONG WHITE ROOM
08. YOUD BETTER GO
09. QUIET SOUL
10. WHAT DO YOU SEE IN HER?
11. WE COULD LEARN TOGETHER

The First Five Chapters

By Diane Reeves

Yesterdays... Yesterdays... Yesterdays
If you want to clap your hands it's okay
If you want to snap your fingers it's all right
Such a nice groove
For some nice folks
I want to tell you a story
About how I started out
I believe the year was 1976
When I decided to leave my home you see
It was time for me to go out into the world and to seek my fortune
I had a choice
I could either be starved and be cold
And move to the east
Or starve and be hot
So hot you see and move to the west
I picked LA
I wanna share with you the first five chapters of my life

Chapter One
I was walking down the street
With my head held high and my pockets filled with dreams
And I feel into a hole
I said to myself who put that hole there
Whoever put it there sure is mean
So I picked myself up out of the hole
Dusted myself off and went on my merry way

Chapter Two
I was walking down the same street
Feeling good
And I fell into a hole
I said to myself who put this hole there
Whoever put it there sure is mean
So I climbed up out of the hole and I dusted myself off went on my way
And remember thinking not everybody loves you like your mother

Chapter Three
I was walking down the same street
When I fell, oh yes I fell I tumbled hard this time
Down the same hole
I said to myself
I know this hole
I've been here before and I don't want to come back no more
So I picked myself up out of the hole
Dusted myself off
Said hole you ain't gonna get me no more

Well... Chapter 4
I was walking down the same street
I like to flurt with danger
That's my nature
But this time I saw the hole and I jumped over the hole
I said hole you won't get me no more
I kicked some dirt into the hole
Well now
That I learned how to live
I'm living what I learned

So I'm in chapter five right here right now
And I'm walking down a new street
Feelin' healthy
feelin' fine
feelin' prosperous oh the whole the world is mine
I take my time
do as I Please
Please when I want to
It sure feels good
They say life begins after that number and it sure does

Yesterday Yesterday Yesterdays
I love Yesterdays
Yesterdays
Now I'm thinking about today

Long Live Cuba!!

Much Love to Cuba, the Cuban people, and Castro as they celebrate fifty years of indepdendence!

I didn't know it was possibly to be Wicca, racist, and a capitalist pig. However, today I picked up a book by Hans Holz.

God Bless the Indonesian People

Indoensia wholly rejected George Bush as he entered their country today. May his visit be brief and icy. They should definitely meet him everywhere with loud yells of righteous anger and indignation.

Rangel's Draft

I very much love and support Charlie Rangel. He better know exactly what he's doing though--and have plenty of exemptions for Black folks....cause my Middle Class black behind ain't going nowhere...and none of mine either. As a matter of fact, thats what the Black Panthers called for, exemption for people of color, particularly Blacks, from military service. Lets have it.

Speech and effective communication are directly linked to power(s).

Dogville is one of the BEST films I have seen in ages!!! Kudos to Nicole Kidman!

Purdue POLE Sit-In In President's Office

Watchi the video in the above link of the student sit-in in the President's office here at Purdue. Students in this video are staging a protest in President Jischke's office to demand that Purdue cooperate with efforts to end sweatshops and create a living wage in the factories that make Purdue apparrel.

The House That Ruth Built

Ruth Brown, the legendary R&B singer that put Atlantic Records on the map, has died at 78. What a passing.

I think that it is absolutely important to stress what Dr. John Henrik Clarke pointed out, that nonviolence is a strategy...it is not meant to be a way of life.

I was quite impressed with the POLE action today.

Why? The King of Love is Dead

Nina Simone

What's gonna happen now? In all of our cities?
My people are rising; they're living in lies.
Even if they have to die
Even if they have to die at the moment they know what life is
Even at that one moment that ya know what life is
If you have to die, it's all right
Cause you know what life is
You know what freedom is for one moment of your life

But he had seen the mountaintop
And he knew he could not stop
Always living with the threat of death ahead
Folks you'd better stop and think
Everybody knows we're on the brink
What will happen, now that the King is dead?

We can all shed tears; it won't change a thing
Teach your people: Will they ever learn?
Must you always kill with burn and burn with guns
And kill with guns and burn - don't you know how we gotta react?

But he had seen the mountaintop
And he knew he could not stop
Always living with the threat of death ahead
Folks you'd better stop and think
Everybody knows we're on the brink
What will happen, now that the King of love is dead?

We should all strive to walk through the world with humility, dignity, and respect for all humanity. It is when we don't that the bullshit comes into play.

You Belong To Me-The Perfect Seduction Song

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

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.

Black Organized Religion

This weekend I witnessed somewhat of a Black religious event/revival. There are some things that I definitely want to comment upon about Black organized religion. Black people's god, for a large part, and not for all for there are strains of progressivism within the Black church, but mainstream Black religion deifies white men and the great white father. Lets take some of the songs and just substitute. Or rather some phrases and I'll make up some as I go along, because I dont actually know any(of the gospel really, I know lots of spirituals).

(The White Father)He's a great god
(The White Father)God is good to me

I definitely do not intend and will never downplay anyone's religion. The sincerest expressions of religion are wonderful. I appreciate and connect with people's connections with god. Until the Black community shuns its apoltical stance and its passivity as a response to white supremacy, and especially the evils of imperialism that affect the entire world, Black religion will ring a false note.

People need to rediscover the meaning and the phrase the personal is political.

Representative Keith Ellison

Everyone should be keeping their eyes on this new face in the U.S. Congress. The Honorable Congressman Keith Ellison is the first Black person to be elected to public office from the state of Minnesota and is the first muslim to serve in the United States Congress. I definitely am looking forward to seeing good things from him. He is a staunchly progressive voice in the Democratic fold.

The End of A Love Affair

Chaka Khan/Billie Holiday

So I walk a little too fast and I drive a little too fast
And I'm reckless it's true, but what else can you do at the
end of a love affair?

So I talk a little too much, and I laugh a little too much
And my voice is too loud, when I'm out in a crowd
So that people are apt to stare

Do they know, do they care, that it's only that I'm lonely
and low as can be?
And the smile on my face isn't really a smile at atll!

So I smoke a little too much, and I drink a little too much
And the tunes I request are not always the best
But the ones where the trumpets blare!

So I go at a maddening pace, and I pretend that it's taking
your place
But what else can you do, at the end of a love affair

Mildred's Question

We had a great CCDS meeting today. I always enjoy CCDS--a great group of people and a wonderful gathering of progressive voices. Mildred posed a question in her discussion that I think is absolutely vital and is one that should be key and at the forefront in any consideration of politics. Her question was "Is the Entire Human Race being treated equally?" The answer to that question is the key to solving a lot of the world's problems.

Beheading George Washington and the Single Dollar Bill

I found this story eeriely funny.

Further Musings Related

At one point, stemming from the 18th to the 19th centuries in Europe, and especially among the Sepharadi, there was quite a movement to assimilate into mass and mainstream European culture--quite literally--with the one of the main themes floating around being that the efforts of the Jewish people should be to secure as many mixed marriages between gentiles and Jews as possible--and to secure a place for them amongst the englightnened, savoir faire classes of Europe. There was much the same trend in Japan as well in the 19th Century, where it was highly prised for Japanese people to secure marriages with white men from the west and produce mulatto children and bring a greater civilization to the race...oh what trends...that still need to end.

I just saw the Prime Minister of Israel on the Today Show demonizing the Palestinian people and spewing the same old filth of Zionism. It saddens me so to see Israel as it is. Since Theodor Herzl, and perhaps and most probably before, there has been that main trend that have lost all vertebrae along its spine and whose sole modus operandi have been to kiss as much white ass as possible. Horrd and horrid, and what is worse is that they themselves have become what their European/American lords and benefactors were-conquistadors, rapists, pillagers, patriarchal, teutonic assholes. You better try and maintain your integrity instead of trying to jump in the bed with the people you think have power. You can and will go straight to hell right along with them suffering the same fate.... I for one will absolutely not sit by and support Israel while they are trying to act like white men and Teutonic Heroes....they can and should be castrated too!

For Donald Rumsfeld and Co, George Bush and all the Others

Straight From Nina Simone

Now if your mind lies in the devils' workshop
And evil doing's your thrill
And trouble and mischief is all you live for
You know darn well that
That you'll go to the hell
That you'll go to the hell

So you're living high and migthy
Rich off the fat of the land
Just don't dispose of your natural soul
Cos you know darn well
That you'll go to the hell
That you'll go to the hell

Say hell where your natural soul burns
Hell where you pay for your sins
Hell keep your children from wrong doing
Cos you know darn well
That they'll go to the hell
That they'll go to the hell

I say hell man and woman were created
Hell to live for ethernity
Hell but an apple they ate from the tree of hate
So you know darn well
That they went to the hell
They went to the hell

Now Satan was an angel in Heaven
But he stirred up trouble and woe
So the Lord commanded the devil be branded
So you know darn well he went to the hell
Yeah he went to hell
Yeah he went to hell
He went to hell

I have been absent from the scene since this past weekend. We buried Voncile. It was a sombre occassion. I will write about it more later. There are a million things floating through my mind. Oh God, what is life?

Donald Rumsfeld Resigns!!!

I feel like Lee Remick after Amy Irving won in The Competition! YES!!!!

The Seventh Radical Progressive Blogcarnival

Very late, but here it is, the seventh edition of the Radical Progressive Blogcarnival.The first submission to make it to post this time is The Largest Minority's post "Sunnis' Establish Islamic Republic Inside Iraq." This post examines the media's assessments of Sunni efforts to establish a religious state in Iraq and questions the future of Iraq. Great post. I will also include my top ten book list. Should be great reading!

Female Genital Mutilation

One thing I wanted to comment on that has been in the news recently is the Female Genital Mutilation case stemming out of Georgia. This horrible practice has occurred in the United States for hundreds of years and for thousands of years in Africa and Asia and other parts of the world. In her novel,Possessing the Secret of Joy, Alice Walker discusses how white men would prod and examine the bodies of the African women they had captured and brought to the United States as slaves and took note of FGM in this way and began, in some instances, to use it on their wives and daughters. There is one point in the book in which Tashi, the African immigrant woman who has undergone FGM, is introduced to a white woman from Louisiana by her psychiatrist, Raye, who has also undergone Female Genital Mutilation. The difference in their cases was that Tashi underwent the procedure voluntarily as an adult, in foolish support of a national cause, while the white woman had undergone FGM at the hands of her parents as a deterrent from masturbation. This horrible practice should stop and the horrendous practices of it here in the New World, as well as in the old, should be brought to light.

We Are Living In 1984

This is a report that I saw on the BBC today. Britain and the United States have more surveillance of the people within their country than any others. Canada and Germany have the least.

This Song Has Been Playing in My Mind All Day--When You've Been Blessed

Patti Labelle

In a world of superheros, in a world of weak and
strong;
In a sea of have and have nots, I've survived the
raging storm.

And I pray for a world where we all can be free,
It's a heavenly vision, It's a garden that I see.
It's a joy that graced the heart of lovin me.
When you've been blessed...feels like heaven
When you've been blessed...feels like heaven.

I have faith, I have hope. And I trust in the day
When the music from heaven will show us the way.
It's a garden of music, it's a garden of love,
And we are all HIS children sharing gifts from
above.
When you've been blessed....feels like heaven, feels
like heaven
When you've been blessed...pass it on, pass it on

Lou Dobbs is a Great Man

Here is his excellent anaylsis of the upcoming election.

These people better learn to leave Barbra Streisand alone. Im sure she doesnt play and will knock them up against every tree that grows in Brooklyn!

Karl Rove=Rasputin

Midterm Elections

Democrats and Progressives need to be vigilant in this election cycle and need to go the extra mile to get out the vote. Republicans are going to try and play off of the disadvantages that the poor and minorities have in getting to the polls so there need to be massive, organized driving campaigns offering to take people to the polls, encourage people to take off work to go to the polls--in droves--and the NAACP and other Civil Rights organizations should be on the ready to fight tooth and nail to fight Republicans/evil white people over voter ID issues in minority and impoverished communities. Be prepared to take Karl Rove's scrotum if he tries to fuck with voter turn out in communities of color and impoverished communities.

Dear lord, Voncile is dead.

No Comment

100 dead in the month of October. Countless Iraqis.

Overheard

I heard that Lynne Cheney wrote a pornographic sex novel. Haha! I am sure it wasn't very good...

You're All I Need To Get By

Aretha Franklin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Oh My-Fraternities

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

Border Song(Holy Moses)

Aretha Franklin

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

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

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

Holy Moses, I have been removed

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

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

More Love

by the Dixie Chicks

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

U.S. Diplomat Violates Venezuelan Protocol

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

The Ten Books That Have Had the Most Influence on Me

In no particular order**.

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Also worthy of mention:

Sex and Race series by J.A. Rogers

** Any of it may change at any time.

An Endorsement of Daniel Ortega

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

Imagination is the first element of revolution.

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

Ludlow Massacre

by Woody Guthrie

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Words and Music by Woody Guthrie

In Profile: Mattie Roper

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

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

Rock of Ages

I had an interesting conversation last night. This girl asked me about my identity and where I was from and such and so forth. So, I told her that my family was from the south, was large and cohesive. It started me to thinking about identity--and how it is very much sometimes tied to place as well as to kinship. After that discussion, this song started playing in my head

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Save from wrath and make me pure.
Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.
Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress;
Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly;
Wash me, Savior, or I die.
While I draw this fleeting breath,
When my eyes shall close in death,
When I rise to worlds unknown,
And behold Thee on Thy throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.

My great-great grandmother's photograph is so very hard to decipher. The expression on her face always seems serious, but sometimes dismal.

And Also

My people were farmers too.

Day before yesterday, I was riding in the car with Clint on my way home and we passed by the statue of the worker that is situated right before the football stadium and I began to think about the original purpose for this university, and perhaps my connection to it. Tied to this as well, I asl o noticed a bust of Abraham Lincoln sitting in one of the foyers on campus, dedicated to his contribution to the university with the signing of the Morrill Act. This university was founded to educate the children of farmers and laborers. It was a socialized program, begun with the Morrill Act to offer education to those who were not the wealthy elite. Its original purpose was to inspire these communities, help them develop and enhance their farms, their lives, and their communities by learning skills and inventive methods. There was a true social element at the core of this vision. I often wonder what it is today. I think about the founding of this university and its comparable stance with my families alma mater, Alabama State University and also Tuskegee University. Alabama State is a land grant institution just the same and although Tuskegee is private the intentions were the same. It makes me think of my Uncle Fess McDavid and how he would bring the professors and other people from Tuskeegee into Autauga County to teach the farmers new methods of farming, to interact with the students in his school. It was quite a philosophy of doing things. I think it is blessed. God Bless Fess McDavid and all other progressive minded people.

Today I made some teacakes for the first time in my own place.It was great. They came out very nicely too.

Barak Obama should have endorsed David Sanders while he was here in Indiana.

Monday and Tuesday night's performances at the Wells went exceptionally well. I very much enjoyed my duet with Clint.

I will never watch Project Runway again.

Letter Written to Howard Zinn

Dear Dr. Zinn,

I have long been an admirer of yours. You have profoundly influenced me in so
many ways, even before I read A People's History in High School, as I am a
profound follower of Alice Walker. One thing that I would like to question you
about is the philosophy of nonviolence. I myself, at this time, am not
committed to nonviolence. I believe in nonagression and I don't believe in war,
but if someone has their foot on my throat I am going to try and cut that foot
off and yes, kill them if I have to. The question, I suppose, is how can one
reconcile the idea of nonviolence with June Jordan's wonderful pronouncement
in "Poem About My Rights" that " I don't know who in the hell set things up
like this, but I can tell you that from now on in my simple and daily and
nightly resistance, in my very self-deteermination, it may very well cost you
your life." How do you reconcile these two things? Is there a contradiction? or
does nonviolence allow for this? I would hope, and like to think so. I am not
sure. I am waiting to be convinced otherwise.

It Sounds Like Richard Nixon is Back at Work Again

Someone in California has been sending outnotes to Hispanic residents telling them that if they aren't born in this country, it is illegal for them to vote.

Last night's performance of Howard Zinn's Voices of the People was spectacular! Kudos to everyone for bringing it off so well!

Diane Rehm

Listening to Diane Rehm today was absolutely horrifying! These people are actually building a wall. Like it's going to do any good anyhow. However, I think that is horrifying and these people are absolutely crazy and need to go to hell.

Today I had homemade hamburgers with homemade avacado and tomato sauce. Delicious!

U.N.I.T.Y

Queen Latifah

Uh, U.N.I.T.Y., U.N.I.T.Y. that's a unity
U.N.I.T.Y., love a black man from infinity to infinity
(Who you calling a bitch?)
U.N.I.T.Y., U.N.I.T.Y. that's a unity (You gotta let him know)
(You go, come on here we go)
U.N.I.T.Y., Love a black woman from (You got to let him know)
infinity to infinity (You ain't a bitch or a ho)
U.N.I.T.Y., U.N.I.T.Y. that's a unity (You gotta let him know)
(You go, come on here we go)
U.N.I.T.Y., Love a black man from (You got to let him know)
infinity to infinity (You ain't a bitch or a ho)

Instinct leads me to another flow
Everytime I hear a brother call a girl a bitch or a ho
Trying to make a sister feel low
You know all of that gots to go
Now everybody knows there's exceptions to this rule
Now don't be getting mad, when we playing, it's cool
But don't you be calling out my name
I bring wrath to those who disrespect me like a dame
That's why I'm talking, one day I was walking down the block
I had my cutoff shorts on right cause it was crazy hot
I walked past these dudes when they passed me
One of 'em felt my booty, he was nasty
I turned around red, somebody was catching the wrath
Then the little one said (Yeah me bitch) and laughed
Since he was with his boys he tried to break fly
Huh, I punched him dead in his eye and said "Who you calling a bitch?"

(Here we go)
U.N.I.T.Y., U.N.I.T.Y. that's a unity (You gotta let him know)
(You go, come on here we go)
U.N.I.T.Y., Love a black woman from (You got to let him know)
infinity to infinity (You ain't a bitch or a ho)
(Here we go)
U.N.I.T.Y., U.N.I.T.Y. that's a unity (You gotta let him know)
(You go, come on here we go)
U.N.I.T.Y., Love a black man from (You got to let him know)
infinity to infinity (You ain't a bitch or a ho)
I hit the bottom, ain't nowhere else to go but up
Bad days at work, if you an attitude then you were rough
And take it out on me but that's about enough
You put your hands on me again I'll put your ass in handcuffs
I guess I fell so deep in love I grew dependency
I was too blind to see just how it was affecting me
All I knew was you, you was all the man I had
And I was scared to let you go, even though you treated me bad
But I don't want my kids to see me getting beat down
By daddy smacking mommy all around
You say I'm nothing without ya, but I'm nothing with ya
A man don't really love you if he hits ya
This is my notice to the door, I'm not taking it no more
I'm not your personal whore, that's not what I'm here for
And nothing good gonna come to ya til you do right by me
Brother you ain't ?sick? (Who you calling a bitch?)

(Here we go)
U.N.I.T.Y., U.N.I.T.Y. that's a unity (You gotta let him know)
(You go, come on here we go)
U.N.I.T.Y., Love a black woman from (You got to let him know)
infinity to infinity (You ain't a bitch or a ho)
(Here we go)
U.N.I.T.Y., U.N.I.T.Y. that's a unity (You gotta let him know)
(You go, come on here we go)
U.N.I.T.Y., Love a black man from (You got to let him know)
infinity to infinity (You ain't a bitch or a ho)

What's going on in your mind is what I ask ya
But like Yo-Yo, you don't hear me though
You wear a rag around your head and you
Call yourself a "Gangsta Bitch" now that you saw Apache's video
I saw you wilding, acting like a fool
I peeped you out the window jumping girls after school
But where did all of this come from?
A minute ago, you was a nerd and nobody ever heard of ya
Now you a wannabe...hard
You barely know your ABC's, please
There's plenty of people out there with triggers ready to pull it
Why you trying to jump in front of the bullet (Young lady)
Uh, and real bad girls are the silent type
Ain't none of this work getting your face sliced
Cause that's what happened to your homegirl, right? Bucking with nobody
She got to wear that for life (Who you calling a bitch?)

(Here we go)
U.N.I.T.Y., U.N.I.T.Y. that's a unity (You gotta let him know)
(You go, come on here we go)
U.N.I.T.Y., Love a black woman from (You got to let him know)
infinity to infinity (You ain't a bitch or a ho)
(Here we go)
U.N.I.T.Y., U.N.I.T.Y. that's a unity (You gotta let him know)
(You go, come on here we go)
U.N.I.T.Y., Love a black man from (You must let him know)
infinity to infinity (You ain't a bitch or a ho)

Project Runway

If Nina Garcia were God, on judgement day I would have to bypass heaven and go straight to hell.

I saw Hedwig and the Angry Inch for the first time tonight.It says something about me. However, wonderful film! A blond,transsexual Tina Turner, wow!

I am so going to marry Kanye West!

This morning I watched a bit of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I love that film! I read the book a very long time ago and saw the film about the same time as well. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and I Remember Mama are two of the best films/books I ever saw and read!

God Bless Oprah. Her show on the state of this country and the war in Iraq yesterday was wonderful. She is a most progressive spirit!

On Sexuality

When you live in a repressive environment, you can't be anything but repressed.

I have always had the secret desire to be a dancer.

Project Runway

I am soo rooting for Michael. I wonder what happened wth Jeffrey. I must say that the experience has been a bit dampened for me because I have been reading some of the blogs and they have updates before the show even airs. I knew there was going to be a final four. Alas, I can't wait to see what happens!

I absolutely have a love for beauty and truth.

Yesterday, Diane Rehm had some wonderful truthtellers on her show. They spoke about Iraq, the Bush administration, and U.S. Imperialism. I think the truth is definitely coming out. Oprah had a great show too. I was very much inspired by the Iranian woman who went to the moon.

Yesterday/last night/this morning was an interesting series of events. As the school is on break, I decided to make a day trip to Indianapolis, which I did. It was quite enjoyable. C and I joined up with my friend Rolanda and saw the step show at the Convention Center. Before hand, we had dinner at a nice restaurant. Indy was quite lovely yssterday and I would have been quite content to sit in the park or on Monument Circle and read and take in the day...but it was definitely nice just the same. So that night after the step show, C and I left the convention center and headed back towards her car which was over in the park on the other side of the monument. It was 11 at night and there were throngs of BLack people out and about as the Circle City Classics had just ended and the step show had just let out. As we reached the corner a couple of streets up from the Convention Center, we saw a police officer holding this little black boy, who was no more than ten years old, very agressively in handcuffs. What an image. As a mixed blessing, the local television news had their cameras on and were recording the whole thing....at least its documented. It would have been better if the Black Panthers had been there....God where are the people we need now. Huey? Rap? Someone needs to heed the call and pick back up the banner....We definitely need radical progressive change and movement in this society. So, witnessing this incident sparked a conversation between Candace and I about what that image symbolized--that young Black boy in handcuffs in front of the camera....the message it was supposed to send out to the Black community, the ramifications of it, and the horridness of it. Candace became very angry and stopped and confronted some police officers about the way they handled Black youth their in the city.I was quite in awe of her and the courage and dignity that she possessed in that moment. I definitely did not do it.THat sat on our minds for the rest of the night...and still sits on our minds I am quite sure(at least it does on mine). Well, that was not the end of the night. So we jetset back to Lafayette and make it there by one at which point she wants to go to Hookah. Im already cold and a little tired but I agree....to sum it all up...it was a very enjoyable night indeed....but I am still sleepy and I didnt make it home til 6 a.m. I still havent slept. Alas, lots to mull over. Lots to reflect on. I will make another post about that young boy and the power structure that we live in.

The Way We Were

Memories like the corners of my mind
Misty water-colored memories
of the way we were.
Scattered pictures of the smiles we left behind
Smiles we gave to one another
for the way we were.
Can it be that it was all so simple then?
Or has time rewritten every line?
If we had the chance to do it all again,
tell me could we?
Would we?
Memories may be beautiful and yet
What's too painful to remember
we simply choose to forget.
But it's the laughter
we will remember
whenever we rememeber
the way we were
the way we were

My Grandmother Loves to Sing this Song

May I Sleep in Your Barn Tonight, Mister?
Folk Song

One night it was dark and 'twas stormy
When along came a tramp in the rain
He was making his way to the station
To catch a long distance train

I have no tobacco or matches
And I'm sure I will do you no harm
I will tell you my story kind mister
For it runs through my heart like a thorn

May I sleep in your barn tonight, mister
It is cold lying out on the ground
And the cold north wind is a-howling
And I have no place to lie down

It was three years ago last summer
I shall never forget that sad day
When a stranger came out from the city
And said that he wanted to stay

One night as I came from my workshop
I was whistling and singing with joy
I expected a kind-hearted welcome
From my sweet loving wife and my boy

But what should I find I find but a letter
It was placed in the room on the stand
And the moment my eyes fell upon it
I picked it right up in my hand

This note said my wife and the stranger
They had left and had taken my son
I wonder if God up in Heaven
Only knows what this stranger has done

Oh Mary Don't You Weep

Well if I could I surely would
Stand on the rock where Moses stood
Pharaoh's army got drownded
O Mary don't you weep

O Mary don't you weep, don't you mourn
O Mary don't you weep, don't you mourn
Pharaoh's army got drownded
O Mary don't you weep

Well Mary wore three links and chains
On every link was Jesus' name
Pharaoh's army got drownded
O Mary don't you weep

O Mary don't you weep, don't you mourn
O Mary don't you weep, don't you mourn
Pharaoh's army got drownded
O Mary don't you weep
Go!

Go!

Well one of these nights bout 12 o'clock
This old world is gonna rock
Pharaoh's army got drownded
O Mary don't you weep

Well Moses stood on the Red Sea shore
Smote' the water with a two by four
Pharaoh's army got drownded
O Mary don't you weep

Alright!

(O Mary don't you weep, don't you mourn)
(O Mary don't you weep, don't you mourn)
(Pharaoh's army got drownded)
(O Mary don't you weep)

Well old Mr. Satan he got mad
Missed that soul that he thought he had
Pharaoh's army got drownded
O Mary don't you weep

Brothers and sisters don't you cry
There'll be good times by and by
Pharaoh's army got drownded
O Mary don't you weep

Well O Mary don't you weep, don't you mourn
O Mary don't you weep, don't you mourn
Pharaoh's army got drownded
O Mary don't you weep

Solo, try it out!
(O Mary don't you weep, don't you mourn)
(O Mary don't you weep, don't you mourn)
(Pharaoh's army got drownded)
(O Mary don't you weep)
Hey!

Drums!

God gave Noah the rainbow sign
"No more water but fire next time"
Pharaoh's army got drownded
O Mary don't you weep

O Mary don't you weep, don't you mourn
O Mary don't you weep, don't you mourn
Pharaoh's army got drownded
O Mary don't you weep

O Mary don't you weep, don't you mourn
O Mary don't you weep, don't you mourn
Pharaoh's army got drownded
O Mary don't you weep

Everybody!
(O Mary don't you weep, don't you mourn)
(O Mary don't you weep, don't you mourn)
(Pharaoh's army got drownded)
(O Mary don't you weep)

O Mary don't you weep, don't you mourn
O Mary don't you weep, don't you mourn
Pharaoh's army got drownded
Oooooooh, Mary don't yoooooou

(O Mary don't you weep, don't you mourn)
(O Mary don't you weep, don't you mourn)
(Pharaoh’s army got drownded)
(O Mary don't you weep)

Defining and Understanding the Military Industrial Complex

Think Cheney and his connection to Haliburton and Haliburton's contract worker profits coming out of Iraq. That is totally it. That went over in my mind last night as I watched Greenwald's film on war profiteering in Iraq. It is also very much tied to the internal Prison Industrial Complex. Profit(absolutely not Prophet) drives....

Honesty and Sincerity are the same thing.

Everything is Everything

Everything is everything
What is meant to be, will be
After winter, must come spring
Change, it comes eventually
[2x]

I wrote these words for everyone
Who struggles in their youth
Who won't accept deception
Instead of what is truth
It seems we lose the game,
Before we even start to play
Who made these rules? We're so confused
Easily led astray
Let me tell ya that
Everything is everything
Everything is everything
After winter, must come spring
Everything is everything

I philosophy
Possibly speak tongues
Beat drum, Abyssinian, street Baptist
Rap this in fine linen
From the beginning
My practice extending across the atlas
I begat this
Flippin' in the ghetto on a dirty mattress
You can't match this rapper / actress
More powerful than two Cleopatras
Bomb graffiti on the tomb of Nefertiti
MCs ain't ready to take it to the Serengeti
My rhymes is heavy like the mind of Sister Betty
L. Boogie spars with stars and constellations
Then came down for a little conversation
Adjacent to the king, fear no human being
Roll with cherubims to Nassau Coliseum
Now hear this mixture
Where hip hop meets scripture
Develop a negative into a positive picture

Now, everything is everything
What is meant to be, will be
After winter, must come spring
Change, it comes eventually

Sometimes it seems
We'll touch that dream
But things come slow or not at all
And the ones on top, won't make it stop
So convinced that they might fall
Let's love ourselves then we can't fail
To make a better situation
Tomorrow, our seeds will grow
All we need is dedication

Let me tell ya that,
Everything is everything
Everything is everything
After winter, must come spring
Everything is everything

Everything is everything
What is meant to be, will be
After winter, must come spring
Change, it comes eventually

Morgan Goodson

I want to profile my great great grandfather so as to give an accurate picture of him. They say he was the meanest man in Autauga County. He was relatively short, dark, and had red eyes. People called him a soothsayer and said he could tell the future. He also knew more about the law than most and people always went to him for advice. He let it be known, as he said, he didn't raise his children to work in any white man's kitchen. They say, when he took his cotton to the cotton gin to sell it, the white man who owned it was to have said, "You hurry up and you get Morgan Goodson out of here and you make sure his accounts are right because he is one crazy nigger and you just don't know what he might do." They say that he could fuss from sun up til sun down and that when his children got old enough to work he sat down. He and his wife, my great great grandmother Mattie, were quite interesting and industrious people, however. They owned about 400 acres of land, which they passed on to us, and had twenty children, fifteen that lived to see adulthood. They also had one son to go and recieve his phd(Macaulay Ware).They said that my great geat grandfather told the exact hour and day of his death. I believe he was a man of his time. His name is still spoken out of the mouths of many around the place where he lived with reverence.

Project Runway

Congratulations to Uli as well as to Michael and to Laura!!! I am glad they won! As for Michael's dress...it did look a little ghetto fabulous. Jeffrey's shit was just shit. Nothing more.

The First Definitive Steps Towards Facism

These are some of the provisions of the Senate Detainee bill just passed.

Update: Okay, I've got this from the NYT.
The measure would broaden the definition of enemy combatants beyond the traditional definition used in wartime, to include noncitizens living legally in the United States as well as those in foreign countries and anyone determined to be an enemy combatant under criteria defined by the president or secretary of defense.

It would strip at Guantánamo detainees of the habeas right to challenge their detention in court, relying instead on procedures known as combatant status review trials. Those trials have looser rules of evidence than the courts.

It would allow of evidence seized in this country or abroad without a search warrant to be admitted in trials.

I have never seen a more blatantly unconstitutional, violation of human rights passed for legitimate legislation. I hope the ACLU and others are geared to fight.

Senate Detainee Bill

There are 100 people, mostly white,mostly male, all sons of a bitches, that are going to hell...and this country is going with them. There is nothing left to say. I can't say anything really, so I will point everyone in the direction of what BitchPhd has to say(all can rest assured that these are not her children).

There is definitely a rivalry between Jill Scott and Erykah Badu.I think I fall more on Erykah's side. I do, however, love Jill.

All we can ever do is try and be progressive.

To Zion

Lauryn Hill

One day you'll understand... Zion
Unsure of what the balance held
I touched my belly overwhelmed
by what I had been chosen to perform
But then an angel came one day
Told me to kneel down and pray
for unto me a man child would be born
Woe this crazy circumstance
I knew his life deserved a chance
but everybody told me to be smart
"Look at your career " they said,
"Lauryn baby use your head."
But instead I chose to use my heart
Now the joy... of my world...
is in Zion! (Zion, Zion!)
Now the joy... of my world...
is in Zion! (Zion, uhh, Zion!)
How beautiful if nothing more
than to wait at Zion's door
I've never been in love like this before
Now let me pray to keep you from
the perils that will surely come
See life for you my Prince has just begun
And I thank you for choosing me
to come through unto life to be
A beautiful reflection of His grace
See I know that a gift so great
is only one God could create
And I'm reminded every time I see your face
that the joy... (JOY) of my world... (WORLD)
is in Zion! (IS IN ZION) I said Zion! (IS IN ZION)
Now the joy... (JOY) of my world... (WORLD)
is in Zion! (IS IN ZION, IS IN ZION)
Now the joy... Zion! (JOY) of my world... (WORLD)
is in Zion! (IS IN ZION, IS IN ZION)
Now the joy... Zion! (JOY) of my world... (WORLD)
is in Zion! (IS IN ZION, IS IN ZION)
Marching (marching) marching (marching)
to Zion (marching) marching (marching) -- we gon' march
Marching (marching) marching (marching)
to Zion (marching), beautiful beautiful Zion!
Marching (marching) marching (marching)
to Zion (marching) marching (marching)
Marching (marching) marching (marching)
to Zion (marching), beautiful beautiful Zion!
Marching (marching) marching (marching) -- MY JOY, MY JOY
to Zion (marching) marching (marching) -- MY JOY, MY JOY
Marching (marching) marching (marching) -- MY JOY, MY JOY
to Zion (marching), beautiful beautiful Zion! -- MY JOY, MY JOY
Marching (marching) marching (marching) -- MY JOY, MY JOY
to Zion (marching) marching (marching) -- MY JOY, MY JOY
Marching (marching) marching (marching) -- NOW THE JOY
to Zion (marching), beautiful beautiful Zion! -- OF MY LIFE
Marching (marching) marching (marching) -- IS ZION
to Zion (marching) marching (marching)
Marching (marching) marching (marching) -- NOW THE JOY
to Zion (marching), beautiful beautiful Zion! -- OF MY LIFE
Beautiful beautiful Zion! -- IS ZION
Beautiful beautiful Zion! -- IS ZION
Beautiful beautiful Zion!
Beautiful beautiful Zion!
Beautiful beautiful Zion!
Beautiful beautiful Zion!

Superstar

Lauryn Hill

Come on baby, light my fire
Everything you drop is so tired
Music is supposed to inspire
How come we ain't getting no higher?
Now tell me your philosophy
On exactly what an artist should be
Should they be someone with prosperity
And no concept of reality?
Now, who you know without any flaws
That lives above the spiritual laws
And does anything they feel just because
There's always someone there who'll applaud

Come on baby, light my fire
Everything you drop is so tired
Music is supposed to inspire
How come we ain't getting no higher?
I know you think that you've got it all
And by making other people feel small
Makes you think you're unable to fall
And when you do, who you gonna call?
See, what you give is just what you get
I know it hasn't hit you yet
Now I don't mean to get you upset
But every cause has an effect

Come on baby, light my fire
Everything you drop is so tired
Music is supposed to inspire
So, how come we're not getting no higher?
I cross sands in distant lands, made plans with the sheiks
Why you beef with freaks as my album sales peak?
All I wanted was to sell like 500
And be a ghetto superstar since my first album, Blunted
I used to work at Foot Locker, they fired me and fronted
Or I quitted, now I spit it - however do you want it?
Now you get it!
Writing rhymes my range with the frames slightly tinted
Then send it to your block and have my full name cemented
And if your rhymes sound like mine, I'm taking a percentage
Unprecedented and still respected when it vintage
I'm serious, I'm taking over areas in Aquarius
Running red lights with my 10,000 chariots
Just as Christ was a superstar, you stupid star
They'll hail you then they'll nail you, no matter who you
are
They'll make you now then take you down
And make you face it, if you slit the bag open
and put your pinky in it, then taste it

Come on baby, light my fire
Everything you drop is so tired
Music is supposed to inspire
So, how come we ain't getting no higher

Revelations

At 25, I am finally realizing my own power and my own agency.

Morgan Goodson and John Archie deramus

In my previous post I did not refer to Morgan Goodson as Mr. Morgan Goodson. This is because I don't think of him as such and I dont think he would have been addressed as such. He was simply, Morgan Goodson. A name that inspired reverence.Whereas Morgan Goodson was a fiery,stubborn, argumentative man who could raise hell till the sun came up and went down the next day, John Archie Deramus was a very soft-spoken man, renowned for being good and next to god, compassionate, and with a deep rooted integrity and sense of right. Morgan also had a sense of right, and in his way was next to god(they say he told wthe exact hour when he was going to die and that he could predict the future). Both were stern and set upon keeping to the path of righteousness. They differed, however, in temperament. Both were beautiful men. Sadie Mae Goodson Deramus, Morgan's daughter, however, inherited her fathers traits(as did most of the goodsons to my knowledge). I was told that sometimes she would just start to fuss and argue and would carry on for a very long time until John Archie, who was usually sitting by her or something to that effect, would say in his soft, guttural voice" alright Sadie, thats enough." She would then quiet down. John Archie himself had to be honed in however. They say when he first married my great grandmother, that he had some very backwards and faulty ideas that he had to be corrected of. He was somewhat superstitious for one, which my great grandmother corrrected him from(she reportedly said that they might have thought her father was a soothsayer, but she knew he was nothing but a man). he also apparently thoguht she should do what he told her to. On one occassion, when they had first married, he told he r to do something and she didnt get up and do it right when he asked her to. After a while, he came by and saw that she hadn't done it, so he hit her. They say my great grandmother picked up astick the size of a log and laid him out cold. She got so scared she ran down the road to call for his sister. His sister , Mattie(who was also married to a John) said to her, "Sadie, you hit your John?! I'd never hit my John." My great grandmother reportedly replied, " I will not only hit my John, I will kill my john." That was the end of that.

Thoughts from Last Night

I learn so much from being among progressive people. Also, the view fro H and D's front room reminds me a lot of Aunt Earnestine's house.

I also am not a Mr. S.J. McDavid....or a Mr. Macaulay Ware Goodson.

I find it interesting that I am 25 and have already become "Mr. Wallace." It is sort of odd...and I don't rightly accept it. I certainly am not a Mr. J.A.B. DeRamus....I dont think I am any of it in any sense.

Alice Walker Stands with Fidel and the People of Cuba

God Bless Alice....she is the personification of integrity and beauty.

Last night I saw this magnificent film by John Malkovich starring Javier Bardem. It was quite intriguing and I was even more overjoyed that they played a song of Nina Simone's as the main part of the soundtrack! I also caught part of Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown. I saw that film when it first came out in the theatres. I must say that it is an excellent jazz film.