Roses and Rainbows--I Have Been Looking For This Song Forever!

Carole Bayer Sager/ Marvin Hamlisch

So here I am, alone again.
Not at all like I thought that it would be,
Guess I lost my way,
Seems like yesterday,
Somebody promised me the sunshine,
Somebody promised me the moon,
Somebody told me there'd be roses and rainbows,
I only hope they'll get here soon.
Seems I've been waiting here forever,
Thinking that love would come for free,
Someone's still waiting for those roses and rainbows,
I hope that someone won't be me.
So let go now, you're on your own,
It's okay to be lonely now and then,
Open up your eyes,
You are much too wise,
If someone promises you sunshine....
YOU BETTER KNOW THERE'LL STILL BE RAIN!
If someone says he'll bring you roses and rainbows,
You'd better take a look again.
You'd better find out who you are girl,
Before you run to someone else,
instead of waiting for those roses and rainbows,
You'd better give them to yourself.
Somebody promised me the sunshine,
Somebody promised me the moon,
Somebody told me there'd be roses and rainbows,
And now I know they're coming soon!
And now I'm ready for the sunshine,
And I'm as happy as can be,
And all my days are filled with roses and rainbows,
My life belongs to me!My life belongs, To me!

Not While I'm Around

Barbra/Stephen Sondheim from Sweeney Todd

Nothing's gonna harm you
Not while I'm around
Nothing's gonna harm you
No sir, not while I'm around
Demons are prowling everywhere nowadays
I'll send them howling, I don't care, I've got ways
No one's gonna hurt you
No one's gonna dare,
Others can desert you
Not to worry, whistle I'll be there
Demons'll charm you with a smile for awhile
But in time
Nothing can harm you, not while I'm around.
Being close and being clever
Ain't like being true,
I don't need to, I would never Hide a thing from you
Like some
No one's gonna hurt you
No one's gonna dare
Others can desert you
Not a worry, whistle I'll be there
Demons'll charm you with a smile for awhile
But in time
Nothing can harm you
Not while I'm around
Not while I'm around

I am in constant search for something real.

Ordinary Miracles

Barbra Streisand--I don't know why I've never posted these lyrics

Change can come on tiptoe
Love is where it starts
It resides, often hides
Deep within our hearts
And just as
Pebbles make a mountain,
Raindrops make a sea,
One day at a time
Change begins with you and me,
Ordinary miracles
Happen all around,
Just by giving and receiving
Comes belonging and believing,
Every sun that rises
Never rose before,
Each new day leads the way
Through a different door,
And we can all be quiet heroes
Living quiet days,
Walking through the world
Changing it in quiet ways,
Ordinary miracles
Like candles in the dark,
Each and every one of us
Lights a spark,
And the walls can tumble
And the mountains can move,
The winds and the tide can turn,
Yes, ordinary miracles
One for every star,
No lightning bolt or clap or thunder
Only joy and quiet wonder,
Endless possibilities
Right before our eyes,Oh, see the way a miracle multiplies,Now hope can spring eternally
Plant it and it grows,
Love is all that’s necessary
Lovin’, it’s extraordinary
Why,
Makes ordinary miracles
every blessed day.

Happy Birthday to the Greatest!

The Best regards to Muhammad Ali on his 65th Birthday!

The New York Times Knows It is Full of Shit

They went to Stanley Crouch to ask for an "assessment" of Amiri Baraka. Ha! Whatever, these people are such bullshit--and they better learn to leave Baraka alone.

Support Kennedy in Stopping Bush

Senator Ted Kennedy is introducing legislation into Congress that would allow Bush's ability to manipulate and maneuver the armed services. Everyone must support this legislation!

I just saw a wonderful panel with Julianne Malveaux, Charles Barron, and Malia Lazu.

I love Ellen DeGeneres!

How Does the Wine Taste?

Barbra Streisand
How does the wine taste?
Does it stain your lips?
What is the fruit-like? Just beyond my finger tips?
Just out of reach I see so much I cannot taste and mustn't touch
Tied to my little world My safe little world
What would it be like If I broke the string?
Would it be lovely And a little frightening?
There is so much I've never understood
How does the wine taste? Is it good?
How does the wine taste? Does it make you glow?
How does the wine taste? How does the wine taste?
How does the wine taste?
I think I know! Ooom...

Corretta Scott King's Eulogy by Attallah Shabazz

I praise and worship Attallah Shabazz. She is a beautiful spirit. Her words over Corretta Scott King last year were powerful, beautiful, and commanding. I felt a connection with her spirit. Here is the eulogy she gave over Mrs. King.

Lately I have been thinking about the piano room in Aunt Earnestine's house where I used to take piano lessons from Aunt Betty. I liked playing around in there.

A Step Towards Breaking Down Patriarchy!

A California man, Mike Buday, has enlisted the ACLU in a suit against the state of California because the process for him to legally accept his wife's name is tedious, difficult, and an archaic process set up by patriarchal white men. We should fight to eradicate patriarchy in all its forms!

The Government Serves Injustice to the Enlisted

After increasing the number of people who's lives will be sacrificed as a means of furthering U.S. interests in Iraq, the Bush adminstration and the United States military have completely slapped enlisted people in the face by removing all restrictions to the number of missions soldiers can serve. This sounds eeriely like Vietnam, building up to a possible draft and to another 15 year war. This war must be stopped now! We must demand it!

Why Is the U.S detaining Iranian Officials in Iraq?

CNN is reporting that the United States disrupted an Iranian consulate in the Iraqi city of Irbil, seized documents, and have detained them indefinitely. There should be international attention and pressure to make the U.S. release these officials.

New U.N Secretary-General Calls for Guantanamo to Close!

Kofi Annan's successor, Ban Ki-moon, has called for the immediate closing of the denention center at Guantanamo Bay where the United States has been keeping people they captured in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2003. Thousands upon Thousands of human rights abuses have been reported from there since2003. Eleanor Roosevelt would roll over in her grave.

My Beloved Uncle, Lawrence Dupriest Deramus. Here, he is accepting an NAACP Award. He founded the Coffee County Chapter of the NAACP and was a pioneer in progressive politics in the area.

From left to right: Aunt Bertie, Aunt Johnnie(standing), Aunt Sadie, I believe that is Cousin Mattie, Im not sure. Standing are Aunt Earnestine(behind cousin Mattie), and my grandmother, Thelma.

Freda and Aunt Johnnie

Freda's Wedding Day.

Remembering

My aunt Betty used to keepI(and still does) tons of old Ebony and Jet magazines in the backroom of her house as well as catalogues for clothes, furniture, and other things. I used to go in there and spend hours.

Photos

This is my Aunt Johnnie when she finished at Alabama State. This was when she finished her Master's Degree. I have pictures of my grandmother and Aunt Betty as well at Alabama State. I will have to find them later.

This is my Aunt Johnnie as I remember her. She was a proud, beautiful woman. My first teacher.

Pictures!!!

This is my Aunt Earnestine, the principal and teacher. Here it seems she is holding some kind of awards or plaques. I believe this picture is from some time in the 70s.

Chavez to Competely Nationalize Venezuela!

God Bless Chavez!! He is nationalizing the electronics and telecommunications industry. God Bless Chavez!!

Democrats May Cut Funding for the War in Iraq!!

God I hope the Democracts have the backbone and the integrity to do it!! Kick that man in his groin and get those people out of that country!!!

Nancy Pelosi May Cut Purse Strings for the War in Iraq

She had better! Thats what she's Speaker of the House for. Make George Bush rot in hell and give him no more money!

Sophisticated Boom Boom

I was walking down
the street and it was
getting mighty late....

well the truth of the matter is this poor girl had been abandoned
by her date
when from out of nowhere came this music loud and clear
let me see from over there?
no, over there
over there?
yea

well, I open up the door and much to my surprise
the girls were wearing formals and the boys were wearing ties
and I feel that I should mention
that the band was at attention they just
stood there oh so neat while they played their swinging beat
so I grabbed this little boy who came struttin' cross the room and I say
what's that? and he say sophisticated boom boom

It's been long overdue sophisticated boom boom
we been needin' something new sophisticated boom boom

Now stand up straight and tall like your back's against the wall
take two steps forward and shake your hips boom boom

woooop woop woop wooop woop woop woop woop woop woop woop woop woop woop woop woop woop woop woop woop woop woop woop woop woop woop woop woop wooop woop woop

It's been long overdue yea yea yea yea yea yea yea yea
now thats not very sophisticated
sophisticated boom boom
we been needin' something new
yea yea yea
I do think she's blowing her cool
sophisticated boom boom

Now stand up straight and tall like your back's against the wall
take two steps forward and shake your hips boom boom

ohh ohh ohh
ohh ohh ohh

Read About Oprah's New School in Africa

Ninth Radical Progressive Carnival--Hosted by VeganKid

Vegankid has done an incredible job with the new edition of the Radical Progressive Carnival. Everyone should take a look.

Not Ready to Make Nice

The Dixie Chicks

Forgive, sounds good.
Forget, I'm not sure I could.
They say time heals everything,But I'm still waiting
I'm through, with doubt,There's nothing left for me to figure out,
I've paid a price, and i'll keep paying
I'm not ready to make nice,I'm not ready to back down,
I'm still mad as hell
And I don't have time
To go round and round and round
It's too late to make it right
I probably wouldn't if I could
Cause I'm mad as hell
Can't bring myself to do what it is
You think I shouldI know you said
Why can't you just get over it,It turned my whole world around
and i kind of like it
I made by bed, and I sleep like a baby,With no regrets and I don't mind saying,It's a sad sad story
That a mother will teach her daughter
that she ought to hate a perfect stranger.And how in the world
Can the words that I said
Send somebody so over the edge
That they'd write me a letter
Saying that I better shut up and sing
Or my life will be over
I'm not ready to make nice,I'm not ready to back down,
I'm still mad as hell
And I don't have time
To go round and round and round
It's too late to make it right
I probably wouldn't if I could
Cause I'm mad as hell
Can't bring myself to do what it is
You think I should
I'm not ready to make nice,I'm not ready to back down,
I'm still mad as hell
And I don't have time
To go round and round and round
It's too late to make it right
I probably wouldn't if I could
Cause I'm mad as hell
Can't bring myself to do what it is
You think I should
Forgive, sounds good.
Forget, I'm not sure I could.
They say time heals everything,
But I'm still waiting

Fess Goodson

Macaulay Ware Goodson in an intriguing character.He died in the early 70s before I was born. He was one of the middle children of Morgan Goodson and Mattie Roper, born right before my great grandmother Sadie Mae. An educated man, he was served as a principal in Autauga County for more than fifty years. He, Fess MacDavid, my Aunt Earnestine, and Cousin Madeira were the Black principals present in Autauga county. Fess never married and it is said that he was a homosexual. However, my mother disputes this. I would definitely like to learn more and find out more about him. He sounds quite intriguing. He gave himself the middle name Ware and lived in the home of his parents for most of his life as I am told. He ran the Goodson estate until his death at which point the responsibility was given to Uncle Lawrence.

I am SOO In Love with the French!!

The French are about to pass a measure that gives everyone a right to housing!! God Bless the French!!

I just watched a very touching film called The Winter Guest with Emma Thompson.

I want to write a post, and I am not sure if I will complete it now, about my uncle Fess Goodson. Something that was just recently told to me which came as a revelation was the nature of his relationship with Aunt Pauline. Pauline, my grandmother's first cousin, was the daughter of Ethel Goodson, Macaulay's sister(Fess Goodson= Macaulay Ware Goodson). I often wondered why it was that he sent her to school and left her most of his estate--in terms of singling her out as opposed to his other host of nieces and nephews. The reason, which came as a revelation lies in this explanation. Fess never married and stayed in the home of his parents for most of his life. Ethel, divorced her husband soon after Aunt Pauline was born and moved back into Morgan and Mattie Goodson's home. Aunt Pauline grew up in the household with Aunt Ethel and Fess. He made it his reponsibility to send her to school(he paid for both her undergraduate and for her master's degree) and then left provisions for her in his will. I also reckon that the fact that he was present is also the reason why he ran the Goodson estate as opposed to any of the other brothers and sisters. After his death, Uncle Lawrence took over the estate.

The other day, the day before New Years actually, I found myself thinking about Cousin Maderia for some reason. Cousin Maderia was always good to me, at Christmas time she would give each of us a very pretty bank envelope with five dollars in it. It was a sweet gesture. She and Aunt Earnestine were the two Black female principles in Autauga County. It is something to think about the dynamics of their presence in the Autauga County at the time.

I remember in the early 90s we would all pile up in the car, myself, my grandmother, Aunt Earnestine, Aunt Johnnie, and Aunt Bettye, and go to Montgomery for their doctors appointments. We would get there at 8 am and the sun would be down by the time we left the doctors office. I am quite familiar with hospitals as well. I remember with both Aunt Bertie and Uncle Archie we would be at the hospital and I would have to sit outside in the lounge area while the others went back. I always wanted to go back in the icu ward....

I'm Black and I'm Proud

I was so encouraged to hear that there were thousands in the streets marching behind James Brown's casket singing I'm Black and I'm proud!

Now we demand a chance to do things for ourserlfWe're tired of beatin' our head against the wallAnd workin' for someone elseWe're people, we're just like the birds and the beesWe'd rather die on our feetThan be livin' on our kneesSay it loud, I'm black and I'm proud

It has just been a holiday season for tears. Ms. Llewwellyn, my grandmother's neighbor and distant relation, just died.

What I Have Learned From bell hooks

There is no love without justice.

my grandmother the other day, she expressed some of the values that she holds that were passed on to me, and that stem from a time, an era, and a belief system that is all but forgotten. She said that she would never desire to be wealthy, that wealthy people more likely were not going to make it into heaven, that poor people lived closest to the lord. These values have been been tossed in this day and age where most people equate acquiring money and status as signs of goodness. Coinciding with this is a demonization of poverty , all of this indeed going on while this economy is being crunched and crushed more and more.

What a great passing with James Brown's death. The world is definitely changing.

Musings on History

I have often argued that in the larger context of history that Eleanor Roosevelt is much more important than her husband Franklin. I think that is ringing true.

A Streisand Christmas

This is a Twelve Days of Christmas Song .

One the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a Barbra Streisand CD.
One the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me two Streisand tickets and a Barbra Streisand CD.
On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me three Streisand specials, two Streisand Tickets, and a Barbra Streisand CD.
On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me four Streisand films, three Streisand specials, two Streisand tickets and a Barbra Streisand CD.
On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me Barbra Streisand in the flesh! Four Streisand films, three Streisand specials, two streisand tickets and a Barbra Streisand CD.
On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me 6 dates with Jason Gould, Barbra Streisand in the Flesh! Four Streisand Films, three Streisand specials, two Streisand tickets, and a Barbra Streisand CD.
On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me a seven day honeymoon with Jason , 6 dates with Jason Gould, Barbra Streisand in the Flesh! Four Streisand Films, three Streisand specials, two streisand tickets, and a Barbra Streisand CD!
On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me 8 Malibu mansions, a seven day honeymoon with Jason, six dates with Jason Gould, Barbra Streisand in the Flesh! Four Streisand films, three Streisand specials, two Streisand tickets and a Barbra Streisand CD!
On the Ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me nine Streisand impersonators, 8 Malibu Mansions, a seven day honeymoon with Jason, six dates with Jason Gould, Barbra Streisand in the flesh! Four Streisand Films, Three Streisand specials, two streisand tickets and a Barbra Streisand CD!
On the Tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me ten Democratic fundraisers, nine Streisand impersonators, eight Malibu Mansions, a seven day honeymoon with Jason, six dates with Jason Gould, Barbra Streisand in the Flesh! Four Streisand films, Three Streisand specials, two Streisand tickets, and a Barbra Streisand CD!
On the Eleventh Day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 11 Streisand Oscar wins, Ten Democratic Fundraisers, Nine Streisand impersonators, Eight Malibu Mansions, a Seven day honeymoon with Jason, Six dates with Jason Gould, Barbra Streisand in the flesh! Four Streisand Films, three Streisand specials, two Streisand tickets, and a Barbra Streisand CD!
On the 12th Day of Christmas my true love gave to me Twelve years of Streisand in the White House! Eleven Streisand Oscar wins, Ten Democratic Fundraisers, Nine Streisand Impersonators, Eight Malibu Mansions,a Seven Day honeymoon with Jason, Six dates with Jason Gould, Barbra Streisand in the flesh!Four Streisand Films, Three Streisand specials, two Streisand Tickets, and a Barbra Streisand CD!

Take Me As I Am

Mary J Blige


[Verse 1:]
She's been down and out
She's been wrote about
She's been talked about, constantly
She's been up and down
She's been pushed around
But they held her down, NYC
She has no regrets
She accepts the past
All these things they
helped make to make she
She's been lost and found
And she's still around
There's a reason for everything
You know I've been holdin on.
Try to make me weak,
But I still stay strong.
Put my life all up in these songs
Jus so you can feel me.
[Chorus:]
So take me as I am,
or have nothing at all.
Just take me as I am,
or have nothing at all.
[Verse 2:]
Now she's older now
Yes, she's wiser now
Can't disguise her now
She don't need
No one tellin her
What to do and say
No one tellin her
Who to be
She's on solid ground
She's been lost and found
Now, she answers to G-O-D
And she's confident
This is not the end
Ask me how I know
Cause she is me.
You know I've been holdin on.
Try to make me weak,
But I still stay strong.
Put my life all up in these songs
Jus so you can feel me.
[Chorus:]
So take me as I am,
or have nothing at all.
Just take me as I am,
or have nothing at all.
[Bridge: 2x]
So it's all or nothing at all,
All or nothing at all
Don't you know I can only be me.
(I can only be me, yeah)
[Chorus:]
So take me as I am,
or have nothing at all.
Just take me as I am,
or have nothing at all.
Take me as I am.
Take me as I am.
Said it's all or nothing at all
Said it's all or nothing at all
Just take me as I am,
or have nothing at all. (This is me)
Just take me as I am, (take me as i am)
or have nothing at all.
Just take me as I am, (take me as i am)
or have nothing, nothing at all.
Take me as I am.

Something I Just Wrote

You spoke visciously because you thought you were something special. You didn't realize that you were only interesting and for the moment.

I love the film Lucia, Lucia.

Bebe Moore Campbell

"Discipline is the servant of Inspiration."

The Widow of Salamanca

Once there was a woman in Spain who met a man that worshipped her and could do all things if only she would ask. THey went to sleep one night and the next morning when they rose, he cooked her a beautiful breakfast of blueberry pancakes with honey almond syrup. She kissed him, she it enjoyed it so well,then she patted his side and embraced him. She then asked him to build her a house. He chopped the wood when the sun was new and lightly glistened on his back. In that day, he hauled the wood and hammered and sawed until he had built her the tallest, loveliest house in Salamanca. That night, they made love in her new house on top of lime-scented sheets and the passion they brought forth drifted up towards the moon, causing it to shine so bright it could have been day. That night, after their lovemaking, she took his hand in between hers and whispered in his ear, " I love you." The next morning, as she stood in the kitchen, washing the breakfast dishes and watching him out of the window as he laid stones for their beautiful garden, she saw a chariot racing across the sky and swoop down to where he was , arranging their beautiful garden. He didn't resist at all as the omniscient creature scopped him up as if he were a stone and placed him in the chariot. For a moment, she let out a yelp as the chariot aimed back for the sky, but she stopped in mid utterance sensing how futile it would be to stage her protest against what was to be. The next day, she rose and dressed herself in black, vowing to mourn her beloved for the rest of her life. She went outside to where their garden lay, half finished and made a shrine for her beloved out of stone and rockes and the leaves she gathered from the palm trees. After she was done, she sat in the windowsill of her beautiful house and set her eyes upon the spot where her beloved had been taken away. And there she sat for the rest of her life. The End.

Throw it Away

Abbey Lincoln

I think about the life I live
a figure made of clay,
and think about the things I lost;
the things I gave away,
and when I'm in a certain mood
I search the halls and look.
One day I found these magic words
in a magic book.

Throw it away. Throw it away
Give your love, live your life
each and every day,
and keep your hand wide open,
Let the sun shine through,
'cause you can never lose a thing
if it belongs to you.

There's a hand to rock the cradle
and a hand to help us stand,
with a gentle kind of motion
as it moves across the land,
and the hand's unclenched and open.
Gifts of life and love it brings,
so keep your hand wide open
if you're needing anything.

Throw it away. Throw it away.
Give your love, live your life
each and every day,
and keep your hand wide open.
Let the sun shine through,
'cause you can never lose a thing
if it belongs to you.

Throw it away. Throw it away
Give your love, live your life
each and every day,
and keep your hand wide open.
Let the sun shine through,
'cause you can never lose a thing
if it belongs to you.

One of these days, Im going to get around to making my own little shrine to Barbra Joan. J'adore La Streisand!

I strongly reccomend the film Haxan. Powerful film about the history of Witches.

Richard Pryor: Live and Smokin'

Was Richard Pryor gay?

Pretty Women/Ladies Who Lunch

Barbra

Pretty women
Fascinating
Sippin coffee
Dancing, pretty women
Pretty women
Are a wonder, pretty women
Sitting in the window or
Standing on the stair
Something in them cheers the air
Pretty women
Silhouetted
Stay within you
Glancing stay forever
Breathing lightly, pretty women,
Pretty women
Blowing out their candles or
Combing out their hair
Even when they leave
They still are there
They're there
Sipping coffee
Here's to the ladies who lunch
Everybody Laugh
Lounging in their caftans and
Planning a brunch
On their own behalf
Off to the gym
Then to a fitting,
Claiming they're fat
And looking grim,
Cause they've been sitting
Choosing a hat
I'll drink to that!

Here's to the girls who just watch
Aren't they the best
When they get depressed,
It's a bottle of scotch
Plus a little jest!
Another chance to disapprove
Another brilliant zinger
Another reason not to move
Another vodka stinger
I'll drink to that!

Here's to the girls who play wife
Aren't they too much!
Keeping house but clutching a copy of "Life"
Just to keep in touch
The ones who follow the rules
And meet themselves at the schools
Too busy to know that they're fools
Aren't they a gem!
I'll drink to them!
Let's all drink to...

Pretty women, fascinating
How they make a man sing...

**Here's to the girls on the go,
Everybody tries
Look into their eyes
And you'll see what they know,
Everybody dies
A toast to that invincible bunch
The dinosaurs surviving the crunch
Let's hear it for the ladies who lunch
Everybody rise
Everybody rise,

Pretty women at their mirrors
In their gardens
On committees, telephoning
Window shopping table hopping
Pretty women giving parties
Never stopping
Gossip swapping, capsule popping

Everybody rise, everybody rise,
Everybody rise, everybody rise-
Rise-rise-rise...
Pretty women rise!

Nina Simone is the voice of God.

Oh the unspoken. We need some castration in this world.

Where is the new Greenwich Village?

End of Hunger Strike

Today, I was so horribly proud. I am utterly encouraged by the activism on this campus--and at the press conference today, a Black Woman spoke at the mic. I see signs of changing.....

I would so love to be Abbey Lincoln. I first heard her "Avec Le Temps" on Alabama State's jazz radio station, and in the words of one reviewer I read "I didn't understand a word she said, but damn it sounded good!" She is one of the best....

I think an interesting light is being cast on the American press that I found no American wire service carrying the full text of Kofi Annan's speech. I only found it on the BBC.

Key Words From Kofi Annan's Address at the Truman Library

No state can make its own actions legitimate in the eyes of others. When power, especially military force, is used, the world will consider it legitimate only when convinced that it is being used for the right purpose- for broadly shared aims- in accordance with broadly accepted norms.

Kofi Annan's Address at the Truman Library

It is sad to see Kofi Annan leave the U.N. He should stay on forever.... I am glad to see that he let the United States have it in his farewell speech. God Bless him and Nan! Here is the text to his speech.

I Love Bob Schieffer

Here is his report on Bush's handling of Iraq.

Starting Here, Starting Now

Starting here, Starting now
When we walk, we walk together
Year by year, starting here
Starting now
When we talk
We wiII say the most with silence
When we're near
Starting here
Now when you sleep
You will dream a dream
That's free from care
For now when you wake
I'll be there so be still
Take my hand
For the greatest journey
Heaven can allow
Starting love
Starting here
Starting now
Now take my hand
For the greatest journey
Heaven can allow
Starting love
Starting here
Starting now...

Where Am I Going?

Barbra-- From Color Me Barbra

Where am I going?
And what will I find?
What's in this grab bag
That I cal I my mind?
What am I doing
Alone on the shelf?
Ain't it a shame,
But no one's to blame but myself.

Which way is clear
When you've lost your way
Year after year?

Do I keep falling in love for just a kick of it?
Staggering through the thin and thick of it,
Hating each old, tired trick of it,
Know what I am,
I'm good and sick of it!

Where am I going?
Why do I care?
Run where it's foul,
Run where it's fair,
No matter where I run I meet myself there.

Looking inside me, what do I see?
Anger and hope and doubt,
What em I all about?
And where am I going?
Tell me why do I care?

No matter where I run I meet myself there
Looking inside me, what do I see?
Anger and hope and doubt
What am I al I about?
And where am I going?
Where am I going?

Memory

When I was a little boy, most of my summers(all of them actually) were spent in Alabama with my grandmother and most of my summer afternoons were spent at the aging center with my grandmother and Earl. Everyday we would pack into my grandmother's white car and head off to the Harvest house. They would stop and buy me a nasty old sausage biscuit from Hardees which would be my lunch for the day. I so remember always wanting to have whatever they had for lunch(they ate whatever the aging center served). After lunch, I would wander into the very elegant drawing room and play checkers or dominoes with Cousin Adolph after which I would go outside and play Cinderella or something by the porch bannisters until time to go back home.

A Bit on John Archie and His Faith

I have said that Sadie Mae and John Archie were pious people and that they walked with the lord. I very much mean that they walked and in open communication with the spirit that made them. My great-grandfather suffered severely from asthma, and as he worked his fields, sometimes he would have episodes that would leave everyone wondering. He would calm them all as he said, my time has not come yet. I have faith that when it is my time to go, the lord will let me know. Surely, when he got ready to die he summoned all of his children to him and he was prepared in death as he was in life, to walk with his lord.

On My Great Grandmother Sadie Mae

My great grandmother was a woman who, as they say, walked with the lord in many ways all of her life. Her motto, which was printed on her obituary was "Cast your bread upon the water and it will come back to you."My great grandmother's heart and home was always open and there was no one who was turned away from her table and no one who did not recieve what help she could give when they came to recieve it. And many did come. One anecdote I remember is my grandmother telling me, quite fitfully--for it slightly disturbed her and the rest of her siblings, of how her mother told them to make sure to give some food to the hobos who came by looking for it(the railroad was very accessible to my great grandparents' home for the hobos). My grandmother tells of this one time a man came by, who wanted food, and had a story to tell. He had been in another town and had had fifteen cents to his name. He offered the fifteen cents to a woman at a house who said that she would cook him fifteen cents worth of food. The woman crossed him and took his money and refused to cook anything. My grandmother says that man burned that woman's house to the ground..and there was an account of it in the paper of how no one knew how the fire had been started.... Back to my great, great grandmother, she never refused anyone and always gave what she had to whomever needed it. My grandmother and her siblings are quite resentful in that they felt they never had a home to themselves as there was always someone else in it, someone to share everything with. People would come and set a baby down in my great grandmother's arms and that child often wouldnt leave until they were ready to go to college or off into the world in whichever way they went. Sadie Mae and her husband, my great grandfather John Archie, were pious people, who believed firmly in the lord and who spoke directly to that power at all times. They never feared or wanted for anything because they walk with god. It is amazing to think that Sadie not only reared her eight children that survived to adulthood(she had two that died as infants) and educated them all, but that she did much of the same for dozens of others as well. If she had a bed, you could sleep in it. If she had food, you were more than welcome to eat. She embodied the true principles of Christianity and what it truly means to be a good person.She was selfless and she had a deep concern for humanity. She is truly an inspiration.

I'm Going Through

Lord, I have started to walk in the light
That shines on my pathway so clearly, so bright;
I’ve bade the world and its follies adieu,
And now with my Savior I mean to go through.
Refrain:
I’m going through, I’m going through,
I’ll pay the price, whatever others do;
I’ll take the way with the Lord’s despised few;
I’m going through, Jesus, I’m going through.
Many once started to run in this race,
But with our Redeemer they could not keep pace;
Others accepted because it was new,
But not very many seem bound to go through.
Let me but follow my Lord all alone,
And have for my pillow, like Jacob, a stone,
Rather than vain worldly pleasures pursue,
Than turn from this pathway and fail to go through.
Come then, my comrades, and walk in this way
That leads to the kingdom of unending day;
Turn from your idols and join with the few,
Start in with your Savior, and keep going through.

Memory

I remember my mother making me polish my shoes so that we could go to Harold Washington's funeral.

Great Quiz!

Your 'Do You Want the Terrorists to Win' Score: 100%

You are a terrorist-loving, Bush-bashing, "blame America first"-crowd traitor. You are in league with evil-doers who hate our freedoms. By all counts you are a liberal, and as such cleary desire the terrorists to succeed and impose their harsh theocratic restrictions on us all. You are fit to be hung for treason! Luckily George Bush is tapping your internet connection and is now aware of your thought-crime. Have a nice day.... in Guantanamo!

Do You Want the Terrorists to Win?
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

What Came to Me As A Revelation

I was standing in line at a campus restaurant, waiting to order. I definitely wasn't feeling the best today, so I wanted some hot soup. Standing there, I watched the girl behind the counter take the order and make the sandwich of the girl standing in front of me, who happened to be her friend. In nice slick tones, interspersed with chatter, she asked the girl how she wanted the sandwich done and took meticulous care to ask about every aspect of the order, in a far more formal, businesslike tone than the regular chatter. It clicked in my head. People are no longer people, thy are robots. I think this is true in every capacity. People have been programmed. What a revelation.

I LOVE the film Decalage Horaire.

The Scene Where I Jumped For Joy for Queer as Folk

Melanie and Brian are walking into a restaurant. Brian has just asked Melanie to represent him as he is being sued for sexual harrassment. Melanie is mulling it over, with no definite answer.


Brian: "So Homophobic Corporate America Wins Yet Again??"

Melanie: "Oh please! You know what?! You could hang a sign that says 'blow jobs: ten cents' from your office door and you would still have it better than any woman or any person of color in this country, because guess what?! You're a white man and that still counts for something in this country."

Everything

Barbra

I want to learn what life is for
I don't want much, I just want more
Ask what I want and I will sing
I want everything, everything.

I'd cure the cold and the traffic jam
If there were floods I'd give a damn
I'd never sleep, I'd only sing
Let me do everything, everything.

I'd like to plan a city
And play the cello
Play at Monte Carlo
Play Othello
Move into the White House
Paint it Yellow
Speak Portuguese and Dutch and if its not to much
I'd like to have the perfect twin, one who'd go out
as I came in. I've got to grab
the big brass ring
So I'll have everything, everything.

I'm like a child who's set free
at the funfair
every ride invites me
and it's unfair
saying that I only
get my one share
doesn't seem just
I could live as I must
if they'd give me the time
to turn the tide
Give me the truth
if once I lied
Give me the man
that's gonna bring
more of everything
more of everything
Then I'll have everything
then Ill have everything
everything whoaaaaaaaaaaa

Eighth Radical Progressive Carnival

We actually, surprisingly and much welcomed,have quite a slew of materials to post on the eighth Radical Progressive carnival. Firstly, from RDoctor Medical Portal, we have two insightful essays. The first, entitled The Psychology of Law and Order, gives us a very enlightening and insightful interview with a psychologist, discussing issues of treatment and the practice of blogging as a psychologist. The second essay from Rdoctor Medicap Portal provides an intense and eye-opening discussion with Healthcare specialist, Hank Stern, on the nature of healthcare in the US and the growing Healthcare crisis in the United States. Our second contributor, Phil For Humanity, provides us with an interesting post concerning Lobbyists in America. The Picket Line offers a detailed and very useful post on wartime tax resistance for any who would like to take part in tax resistance. Steven Silvers over at Scatterbox predicts the inevitable corporate scandals soon to arise with the fall of the Republican congress and the prospects of Congressional investigations. Lastly, but definitely not least, Black Looks offers us an essay on the use of art as activism among post colonial Africans who use art to make political statements and who defy the traditional definitions of art accepted by Western aesthetics. Very enlightening essay. All of these should be enjoyable reading.

The police shooting in New York is an outrage. Someone needs to do something about it. Some people need to lose their penises.

The First Mention of AIDS in a Presidential Press Conference

Frpm BitchPHD's website


The following press conference is the first public mention of AIDS in the Reagan White House. At that time 200 Americans had died of a new infectious disease. Reagan himself did not mention AIDS for three more years.
THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

PRESS BRIEFING BY LARRY SPEAKES

October 15, 1982

The Briefing Room

12:45pm EDT

Q: Larry, does the President have any reaction to the announcement ­ the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, that AIDS is now an epidemic and have over 600 cases?

MR. SPEAKES: What's AIDS?

Q: Over a third of them have died. It's known as "gay plague." (Laughter.) No, it is. I mean it's a pretty serious thing that one in every three people that get this have died. And I wondered if the President is aware of it?

MR. SPEAKES: I don't have it. Do you? (Laughter.)

Q: No, I don't.

MR. SPEAKES: You didn't answer my question.

Q: Well, I just wondered, does the President ­

MR. SPEAKES: How do you know? (Laughter.)

Q: In other words, the White House looks on this as a great joke?

MR. SPEAKES: No, I don't know anything about it, Lester.

Q: Does the President, does anyone in the White House know about this epidemic, Larry?

MR. SPEAKES: I don't think so. I don't think there's been any ­

Q: Nobody knows?

MR. SPEAKES: There has been no personal experience here, Lester.

Q: No, I mean, I thought you were keeping ­

MR. SPEAKES: I checked thoroughly with Dr. Ruge this morning and he's had no ­ (laughter) ­ no patients suffering from AIDS or whatever it is.

Q: The President doesn't have gay plague, is that what you're saying or what?

MR. SPEAKES: No, I didn't say that.

Q: Didn't say that?

MR. SPEAKES: I thought I heard you on the State Department over there. Why didn't you stay there? (Laughter.)

Q: Because I love you Larry, that's why (Laughter.)

MR. SPEAKES: Oh I see. Just don't put it in those terms, Lester. (Laughter.)

Q: Oh, I retract that.

MR. SPEAKES: I hope so.

Q: It's too late.

This transcript was quoted at the beginning of Jon Cohen's book, Shots in the Dark: The Wayward Search for an AIDS Vaccine, 2001.

I think it is quite important to point out that before the Civil Rights Movement was disbanded for the most part, particularly with the end of the 60s, there was a strong,vibrant Black press. Where is it now? We need it now.

I read a wonderful essay in The Nation about U.S. Imperialism. A Great new phrase to describe the United States, impotent omniscience. Wonderful essay by Jonathan Schell.

This is a wonderful essay on the realities of life for gay people in Cuba, the reality as opposed to the U.S.'s propaganda.

Woody Allen gave a wonderful definition of facism today in this biographical documentary I saw. He said that fascism is where you have a society where no one really talks exceptfor those select few at the top of the barrell. Their voices are like loudspeakers and are heard far above the masses, drowning out any progressive voices or voices of protest. Be aware of our lives and how we live.

Memories

I remember roaming my grandmother's bookshelves and then finding her old gradebooks, which I would play with. I never dreamed that I would have one of my own. That was too boring for me. I was Nancy Wilson and Nina Simone. I spoke French and jetsetted through the mediterreanean, wore chic dresses, sang loud, was coy, was sleek, and gave concerts to Parisian crowds.

I feel the blood of Morgan Goodson flowing through my veins this morning.

Something I was thinking about today, in regards to thoughts of a draft and some other things. World War II was the last war in which anyone really was willing to die for the United States. It was the last time in which "To Do or Die" worked on a mass scale. People, and especially young men I think, became disillusioned after that(and/or comfortable) and did not hold such strong convictions. Korea really disillusioned, especially black soldiers, and especially those who were left over there for an extra year. Vietnam was a full-hault stop as to patriotism driving anyone onto a battlefield. Any current efforts to draft will be sheer brute force on the part of the power structure.

I recently have been thinking a lot about the conversation that I had with Bernadine Dohrn. The power structure wants to make everyone think that it is omniscient. No one is omniscient except for God.

India Ranks Second in Fastest Growing Economies

Behind China, India has the second fastest growing economy. According to market analysts, India outshines them all in this quarter. We look to India and China as our future....

Something to Think About

When I was in Chicago over the holiday, one of my Uncles pointed out to me that the Black man that was the Washington D.C. sniper a few years ago was a military veteran, who had seen conflict, trained to be a sniper in the U.S. Marines....

Everyone should take a look at this essay by Charlene Mitchell on the Communist Party and the Black Panther Party. It is very insightful.

The wisest statement that ever came out of Western Culture is that everything that rises must fall. That is something to ponder, especially when you consider that the cyborg has no memory.

BUSH SIGNS THE MILITARY COMMISSIONS ACT: CCR CALLS IT A BLOW TO DEMOCRACY AND THE CONSTITUTION

From The Center for Constitutional Rights Website


New Law Suspends Right of Habeas Corpus for Non-Citizens, Empowers President to Authorize Torture and Gives Him Wide Power to Indefinitely Imprison Anyone, Including Americans, He Labels an

Center for Constitutional Rights Derides Unprecedented Expansion of Presidential Power and Vows to Challenge the Law in U.S. Supreme Court

October 17, 2006, New York, NY - Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) denounced President Bush's signing into law of the Military Commissions Act (MCA). The final version of the bill emerged only four days before the Senate's 11th hour vote. Although President Bush declared that "time was of the essence" when he called for the legislation, he has waited nearly two weeks to sign it into law. Congress has once again been cowed into doing the President's bidding and abdicated their Constitutional powers in the process, say attorneys.

The new law strips the right of non-citizens to seek review of their detention by a court through the filing of a writ of habeas corpus, the venerated legal instrument that for centuries has protected people from arbitrary detention, disappearance and indefinite detention without charge. The Act is also meant to erase the hundreds of habeas corpus petitions that CCR and others have brought on behalf of many of the 450 men being held at Guantánamo Bay, a move already once denied by the Supreme Court.

Further, the MCA dramatically expands the President's powers in an array of profoundly troubling ways, including permitting him to determine what constitutes torture and who may be labeled an "unlawful enemy combatant" and therefore detained indefinitely. Such scope means that non-citizens, such as those unjustifiably rounded up in sweeps after 9/11 in the U.S., could be held without charge or trial. U.S. citizens deemed to have "materially supported" hostilities against the United States could be held as enemy combatants as well. Once in U.S. custody, the law allows detainees to be subjected to stress positions, temperature extremes, sleep deprivation, and possibly waterboarding. It also defines sexual violence crimes so narrowly that some of the outrages of Abu Ghraib, such as forced nudity, would not be punishable, and defines rape and sexual abuse in a manner that is inconsistent with international law, turning back the clock on the hard-fought victories of survivors of sexual violence. At the same time, the bill provides retroactive immunity for U.S military and intelligence officials for the torture and abuse of detainees, including the widely condemned horrors which occurred at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo.

Characterizing the new law as "an assault on the Constitution," CCR Executive Director Vincent Warren said, "By trading our liberty for a false sense of security, Congress has effectively granted the President the power of tyrants to undermine the foundations of Democracy." He added, "CCR intends to challenge this outrage at every turn, using every tool at our disposal, until we reverse this affront to the rule of law."

Further, Warren pointed out that under this administration's lawless programs, innocent people like CCR client rendition victim Maher Arar-who was recently cleared of any links to terrorism-can be jailed and tortured with no recourse.

CCR has already filed the first new cases to challenge the stripping of habeas corpus: Mohammed v. Rumsfeld, a habeas petition on behalf of 25 men detained at Bagram Air Force Base; and Khan v. Bush, a habeas petition on behalf of Majid Khan, a Baltimore man held in secret by the CIA for nearly three years until President Bush transferred him to Guantánamo in early September. Both cases are in the D.C. District Court.

The law will likely also be tested in two consolidated cases brought on behalf of Guantánamo detainees currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals, Al Odah v. United States of America and Boumediene v. Bush. These cases represent the first 13 habeas petitions filed on behalf of Guantánamo detainees and challenge the legality of the detention of 53 men. The initial appeal was argued on September 8, 2005, and the three-panel court has yet to issue its decision.

According to CCR legal director Bill Goodman, the provision of the MCA that strips the right of habeas corpus is a direct violation of the suspension clause of the U.S. Constitution because it denies non-citizens a meaningful opportunity to challenge the legality of their detention. The clause states that the writ of habeas corpus can only be suspended "in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion." Goodman said recent reports of innocent men being released from Guantánamo underscore the importance of moving quickly to defeat this law:

"From Afghanistan to Spain and Germany to Pakistan, innocent men have been returned home to their families. We know, as does the Bush Administration, that many more of the roughly 450 men still held at Guantánamo are also innocent. To deny them the right to make their case and to win their freedom, is not only immoral and illegal, but undermines the concepts of liberty and democracy that this country was built on."

A more detailed review of the legal issues raised by the stripping provision of the Act and the legal process that may ensue is attached.

Call for a Special Prosecutor to Investigate U.S. Torture

From the Center for Constitutional Rights Website

The Center for Constitutional Rights is calling for the appointment of a Special Prosecutor to conduct a full, independent and public inquiry into the role of high-ranking U.S. officials in the abuse and torture of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo and elsewhere around the world.

With each week, more appalling government memos and documents come to light from a Freedom of Information Act request CCR filed with the American Civil Liberties Union, Physicians for Human Rights, Veterans for Common Sense, and Veterans for Peace: the Bush Administration has systematically encouraged torture techniques prohibited under the Geneva Conventions and the Covenant against Torture.

Our clients who have been released from Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib describe a deliberate program of abuse. Other CCR clients have been shipped off by our government to countries like Syria and Egypt to be interrogated under torture, a practice called “extraordinary rendition” chronicled in an early-February New Yorker article and a Bob Herbert’s column in The Times.

The Bush Administration has brought us down to a moral level unimaginable since the end of World War II, despite the fact that experts in interrogation know that torture produces bad intelligence and false confessions only fans the flames of hatred the world over and puts our own troops in danger.

People like Donald Rumsfeld and Alberto Gonzales must be held accountable for the dangerous policies they have put in place, but they will never investigate themselves.

Please tell Congress and the president this must end. Join CCR and other groups like Human Rights Watch to call for a Special Prosecutor today!

I am excited to see that David Cole of The Center for Constitutional Rights is the same David Cole from Georgetown!

Slowly Knocking Down the Power Structure

Today, a federal judge just stripped away key elements of George Bush's post 9/11 powers, declaring his newly bestowed authorty to declare groups as terrorist threats unconstitutional.

Martin Luther King spoke many truths when he told Harry Belafonte that Black people were integrating into a burning house. This world is falling apart and everything is being cast asunder.

Angela Davis and Assata Shakur are my spiiritual mothers.

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!