Monday, May 21, 2007
Sunday, May 20, 2007
A Call to Black Bloggers
I would like to see what types of blogs are maintained by Blacks on the web. I read a few, but I there are definitely a lot more I don't know about. I would be obliged to be led to some sites.
Where Are the Stars In This Dark Night?
This is a powerful essay by Margaret Wheatley at the Berkana Institute. She gives a powerful critique of the place where American society and culture is right now and the direction in which we are headed. She sees our obsession with militarism, war, and our belief that competition creates healthy relationships as the beginning of death for America. This is a powerful essay and Wheatley powerfully beckons the American people to take a look at themselves and how they live.
Black Panther Party Anthem
Written by Elaine Brown
He turned and he walked Past the eyes of my life.
And, he nodded and sang without sound.
And his face had the look Of a man who knew strife
And a feeling familiarly came around....
I said, Man, where have you been for all these years
Man, where were you when I sought you
Man, do you know me as I know you
Man, am I coming through....
And, he spoke in a voice That was centuries old.
And, be smiled in a way that was strange.
And, his full lips of night Spoke about our people's plight
And a feeling familiarly came around....
I said, Man, where have you been for all these years
Man, where were you when I sought you
Man, do you know me as I know you
Man, am I coming through....
And, we sat and we talked About freedom and things.
And, he told me about what he dreamed.
But I knew of that dream Long before he had spoke
And a feeling familiarly came around....
I said, Man, where have you been for all these years
Man, where were you when I sought you
Man, do you know me as I know you
Man, am I coming through....
He turned and he walked Past the eyes of my life.
And, he nodded and sang without sound.
And his face had the look Of a man who knew strife
And a feeling familiarly came around....
I said, Man, where have you been for all these years
Man, where were you when I sought you
Man, do you know me as I know you
Man, am I coming through....
And, he spoke in a voice That was centuries old.
And, be smiled in a way that was strange.
And, his full lips of night Spoke about our people's plight
And a feeling familiarly came around....
I said, Man, where have you been for all these years
Man, where were you when I sought you
Man, do you know me as I know you
Man, am I coming through....
And, we sat and we talked About freedom and things.
And, he told me about what he dreamed.
But I knew of that dream Long before he had spoke
And a feeling familiarly came around....
I said, Man, where have you been for all these years
Man, where were you when I sought you
Man, do you know me as I know you
Man, am I coming through....
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Texas to Release 226 Juvenile Inmates
The Texas Criminal Justice system is without a doubt broken and in need of a total revamp. 226 juveniles are to be released because of fault on the part of the justice system. This is horrendous, unacceptable, and needs to be addressed.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Give Me The Night
George Benson
Whenever dark has fallen
you know the spirit of the party
starts to come alive.
Until the day is dawning
you can throw out all your blues
and hit the city lights.
'Cause there's music in the air
and lots of loving everywhere
so gimme the night. Gimme the night.
You need the evening action,
a place to dine, a glass of wine,
a little late romance.
It's a chain reaction.
You'll see the people of the world
coming out to dance.
'Cause there's music in the air
and lots of loving everywhere
so gimme the night. Gimme the night.
So come on out tonight
and we'll lead the others
on a ride through paradise.
And if you feel all right
then we can be lovers 'cause I see that
starlight look in your eyes.
Don't you know we can fly?
Just gimme the night. Gimme the night.
And if we stay together,
we'll feel the rhythm of the evening
taking us up high.
Never mind the weather.
We'll be dancing in the street
until the morning light.
'Cause there's music in the air
and lots of loving everywhere.
So gimme the night. Gimme the night...
Whenever dark has fallen
you know the spirit of the party
starts to come alive.
Until the day is dawning
you can throw out all your blues
and hit the city lights.
'Cause there's music in the air
and lots of loving everywhere
so gimme the night. Gimme the night.
You need the evening action,
a place to dine, a glass of wine,
a little late romance.
It's a chain reaction.
You'll see the people of the world
coming out to dance.
'Cause there's music in the air
and lots of loving everywhere
so gimme the night. Gimme the night.
So come on out tonight
and we'll lead the others
on a ride through paradise.
And if you feel all right
then we can be lovers 'cause I see that
starlight look in your eyes.
Don't you know we can fly?
Just gimme the night. Gimme the night.
And if we stay together,
we'll feel the rhythm of the evening
taking us up high.
Never mind the weather.
We'll be dancing in the street
until the morning light.
'Cause there's music in the air
and lots of loving everywhere.
So gimme the night. Gimme the night...
Killing Me Softly
Roberta Flack
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
I heard he sang a good song, I heard he had a style.
And so I came to see him to listen for a while.
And there he was this young boy, a stranger to my eyes.
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
I felt all flushed with fever, embarrassed by the crowd,
I felt he found my letters and read each one out loud.
I prayed that he would finish but he just kept right on ...
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
He sang as if he knew me in all my dark despair.
And then he looked right through me as if I wasn't there.
But he just came to singing, singing clear and strong.
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
He was strumming, oh, he was singing my song.
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
With his song ...
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
I heard he sang a good song, I heard he had a style.
And so I came to see him to listen for a while.
And there he was this young boy, a stranger to my eyes.
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
I felt all flushed with fever, embarrassed by the crowd,
I felt he found my letters and read each one out loud.
I prayed that he would finish but he just kept right on ...
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
He sang as if he knew me in all my dark despair.
And then he looked right through me as if I wasn't there.
But he just came to singing, singing clear and strong.
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
He was strumming, oh, he was singing my song.
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
With his song ...
NYPD Spied on Alicia Keyes, RNC Protesters
They have a video story on CNN's webpage concerning the NYPD surveillance and COINTELPRO-type activities against Alicia Keyes, Jay Z, and others who were present at the protests at the Republican National Convention in 2004. The ACLU filed suit to have those records released and they are now open to the public.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Clergy Arrested in Indianapolis For Civil Disobedience
Six clergy were arrested today for protesting poverty wages paid to janitors in an office downtown. Above is the link to the story.
Todays Thoughts
I was recently talking with someone about the Documentary Grey Gardens which I first saw when I was about ten;I watched some absolutely crazy stuff when I was a child. I found myself thinking about Peach Park as well...what a fabulous place that is.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Sad Tidings-Yolanda King, dead at 51
What a devastating thing that Yolanda King has died so soon after her mother. I was quite taken aback when I heard it on the radio this morning.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
This biography of Angela Davis contains a great interview done with her on Spartacus.net on the merging of class and race struggle in the Civil Rights/Black Power movements.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Interview with Betty DeRamus
I am quite thrilled and delighted that my cousin, the Pulitzer Prize nominated journalist Betty DeRamus, agreed to let me interview her. Here is what transpired:
1. Where did you grow up?
I was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, but grew up in Detroit.
2. What inspired you to become a journalist?
Since I've devoured books all my life, I suppose it was inevitable that I would want to be like the authors whom I read. I began writing short stories when I was seven or eight years old, primarily because it gave me a way to work out (on paper) some of the tensions in my family. In the best of all possible worlds, I would have gone abroad after college and tried to write novels. However, my father died when I was 22 and my mother needed help. So I became a working author---a journalist.
3. What values and beliefs do you carry from your upbringing into your work?
As a reporter, I simply did whatever stories I was assigned. Once I became an editorial writer and, later, a columnist, I could express my own beliefs and values. I have always had a deep and abiding concern for the welfare of children and for underdogs in general. After I was an adult, I discovered that the person I'd always called my mother was actually my stepmother. I was my father's child "love child" by a woman who was not his wife. This had a profound effect on the way I view family. I never tried to find my biological mother because I thought it was more important to embrace my "real" mother, the one who raised me. Since I have no siblings (that I know of), I've created a family of friends over the years.
4. What has been the most rewarding thing about being a writer?
As a journalist, I've been an eyewitness to history many times. I toured refugee camps in Central Africa 10 years before genocide in Rwanda made the news. I was outside Victor Verster prison when Nelson Mandela walked out and I followed him around the U.S. later that year. A few years ago, someone told me about a black youngster who was collecting pencils for a school in the Gambia. He was 12 years old. He had visited a school in Gambia and noticed that the students had only one pencil and were passed it from hand to hand. I wrote three columns about his quest and asked my readers to send him a pencil. He and his teacher wound up more with more than 150,000 pencils and other school supplies and free airfare back to the Gambia. At the airport, officials became suspicious, thinking he and his teacher were running some kind of scam and would be selling the pencils. She showed them my articles and they decided to let him in. In my entire career, I've never written a more rewarding series of stories than this one. His name, by the way, is also Brandon and he's now in college.
5. You just recently published a book. How often do you branch out into genres other than journalism?
I plan to spend the rest of my life writing books, especially books that shine a spotlight on the neglected or forgotten history of Africans in America. I'm now writing my second one. I'm no longer a full-time journalist, just an occasional free-lancer.
6. Is there anything left you'd like to accomplish in your life's work?
You always have to keep a fresh dream in your back pocket. I've accomplished a lot but I'm just beginning to pursue my original dream of writing books. It's tough, but nothing worth doing is easy.
Betty DeRamus is the author of Forbidden Fruit: Love Stories from the Underground Railroad, true stories about slave couples who took extraordinary steps to stay together
1. Where did you grow up?
I was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, but grew up in Detroit.
2. What inspired you to become a journalist?
Since I've devoured books all my life, I suppose it was inevitable that I would want to be like the authors whom I read. I began writing short stories when I was seven or eight years old, primarily because it gave me a way to work out (on paper) some of the tensions in my family. In the best of all possible worlds, I would have gone abroad after college and tried to write novels. However, my father died when I was 22 and my mother needed help. So I became a working author---a journalist.
3. What values and beliefs do you carry from your upbringing into your work?
As a reporter, I simply did whatever stories I was assigned. Once I became an editorial writer and, later, a columnist, I could express my own beliefs and values. I have always had a deep and abiding concern for the welfare of children and for underdogs in general. After I was an adult, I discovered that the person I'd always called my mother was actually my stepmother. I was my father's child "love child" by a woman who was not his wife. This had a profound effect on the way I view family. I never tried to find my biological mother because I thought it was more important to embrace my "real" mother, the one who raised me. Since I have no siblings (that I know of), I've created a family of friends over the years.
4. What has been the most rewarding thing about being a writer?
As a journalist, I've been an eyewitness to history many times. I toured refugee camps in Central Africa 10 years before genocide in Rwanda made the news. I was outside Victor Verster prison when Nelson Mandela walked out and I followed him around the U.S. later that year. A few years ago, someone told me about a black youngster who was collecting pencils for a school in the Gambia. He was 12 years old. He had visited a school in Gambia and noticed that the students had only one pencil and were passed it from hand to hand. I wrote three columns about his quest and asked my readers to send him a pencil. He and his teacher wound up more with more than 150,000 pencils and other school supplies and free airfare back to the Gambia. At the airport, officials became suspicious, thinking he and his teacher were running some kind of scam and would be selling the pencils. She showed them my articles and they decided to let him in. In my entire career, I've never written a more rewarding series of stories than this one. His name, by the way, is also Brandon and he's now in college.
5. You just recently published a book. How often do you branch out into genres other than journalism?
I plan to spend the rest of my life writing books, especially books that shine a spotlight on the neglected or forgotten history of Africans in America. I'm now writing my second one. I'm no longer a full-time journalist, just an occasional free-lancer.
6. Is there anything left you'd like to accomplish in your life's work?
You always have to keep a fresh dream in your back pocket. I've accomplished a lot but I'm just beginning to pursue my original dream of writing books. It's tough, but nothing worth doing is easy.
Betty DeRamus is the author of Forbidden Fruit: Love Stories from the Underground Railroad, true stories about slave couples who took extraordinary steps to stay together
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
Today as I was walking through borders, in one little corner of the store they had a display on which one side of the aisle there was a board game called "You've been Arresseted." On the other side, there were two books, one called "Hiring People" and the other "Managing People." This is a sick and twisted culture we live in. I believe it's in the throes of death.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Flack Jackets from Wikipedia
The Wikipedia article on Flack Jackets doesn't seem very encouraging. Even more reason why this is a mess and a half and a great big sham.
Commentary on New Baghdad Security
These people who are running this war( as well as the country) are full of shit and so stupid. What in the hell are a flack jacket and a helmet going to do for you when someone throws a bomb at you? I so would leave those people to be protected by their flack jackets and helmets and run my ass on away from there.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
The Case of Jimmy Lee Jackson ReOpened
Decades after his murder, thy are finally bringing the case of the late Jimmy Lee Jackson, the Civil Rights worker who was shot and killed in 1965 Selma, Alabama, which spurned the Selma to Montgomery March, is being brought to trial. The police officer who murdered him is now 73-years-old. I hope this does something for his family, if nothing else.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
High on Hog by Julia Fields-- I Have Been Searching For This Poem Forever!
I had this memorized and could recite it so well...that was so long ago. I am glad I found it.
Take my share of Soul Food-I do not wish
To taste of pig Of either gut or Grunt from bowel Or jowel
I want caviar Shrimp scouffle' Sherry Champagne and not because
These are the Whites domain but just because I'm entitles-
For I've been V.d.'d enough T.b.'d enough and Hoe-cake fed
Knock-knee'd enough Spindly leg-bloodhound tree'd enough
To eat High on the Hog
I've been Hired last Fired first enough I've sugar-watered my Thirst enough-
Been lynched enough Slaved enough Cried enough Died enough
Been deprived-Have survived enough
To eat High on the Hog
Keep the black-eyed peas and the grits
The high blood-pressured chops and gravy sops
I want aperitifs supreme Baked Alaska-something suave, cool
For I've been considered faithful fool from 40 acres and a mule…
I've been Slighted enough Sever-righted enough And up tighted enough
And I want High on the Hog
For dragging the cotton sack On bended knees In burning sun
In homage to the Great- King cotton
For priming the money-green tobacco and earning pocket-change
For washing in iron pots For warming by coal and soot For eating the leavings from Others' tables
I've lived my wretched life Between domestic rats And foreign wars
Carted to my final rest In second-hand cars
But I've been leeched enough Dixie-peached enough Color bleached enough
And I want High on the Hog!
Oh I've heard the Mau Mau Screaming Romanticizing Pain
I hear them think They go against the Grain
But I've lived in shacks Long enough Had strong black beaten Backs long enough And I've been Urban-planned Been monyilanned Enough
And I want High on the Hog...
Take my share of Soul Food-I do not wish
To taste of pig Of either gut or Grunt from bowel Or jowel
I want caviar Shrimp scouffle' Sherry Champagne and not because
These are the Whites domain but just because I'm entitles-
For I've been V.d.'d enough T.b.'d enough and Hoe-cake fed
Knock-knee'd enough Spindly leg-bloodhound tree'd enough
To eat High on the Hog
I've been Hired last Fired first enough I've sugar-watered my Thirst enough-
Been lynched enough Slaved enough Cried enough Died enough
Been deprived-Have survived enough
To eat High on the Hog
Keep the black-eyed peas and the grits
The high blood-pressured chops and gravy sops
I want aperitifs supreme Baked Alaska-something suave, cool
For I've been considered faithful fool from 40 acres and a mule…
I've been Slighted enough Sever-righted enough And up tighted enough
And I want High on the Hog
For dragging the cotton sack On bended knees In burning sun
In homage to the Great- King cotton
For priming the money-green tobacco and earning pocket-change
For washing in iron pots For warming by coal and soot For eating the leavings from Others' tables
I've lived my wretched life Between domestic rats And foreign wars
Carted to my final rest In second-hand cars
But I've been leeched enough Dixie-peached enough Color bleached enough
And I want High on the Hog!
Oh I've heard the Mau Mau Screaming Romanticizing Pain
I hear them think They go against the Grain
But I've lived in shacks Long enough Had strong black beaten Backs long enough And I've been Urban-planned Been monyilanned Enough
And I want High on the Hog...
Monday, May 07, 2007
Purdue Picks a Woman of Color as its 11th President
In an interesting move,Purdue picked France Cordova, former UC Riverside Chancellor, as its 11th president. She is not only Purdue's first female president, but she is also the first Hispanic president as well. It is a progressive step. We shall see what comes of it.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
The French Adopt a Right Wing Government
It saddens me to see the French elect Nicolas Sarkozy. There is a dangerous and terrifying trend of Western nations adopting right wing governments. We are entering some sort of horrific period and god knows what we will find. So far, Western nations that have adopted Right-Wing governments include:
The United States
Israel
Canada
France
Great Britain
Mexico
Germany
Something is going to happen.
The United States
Israel
Canada
France
Great Britain
Mexico
Germany
Something is going to happen.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
The Progressive Politics of Mahalia Jackson
Today I thought that I might blog a little bit about Mahalia Jackson. Mahalia Jackson was one of the most popular figures of the 20th Century and it is amazing how quickly the public memory of her is being erased. At one point, during the Depression Era, in a poll taken amongst school children across the United States, Mahalia Jackson recieved more name recognition as someone they admired than Franklin Roosevelt. Her impact was tremendous. While there are many today who still play her gospel recoords, and even more gospel, R&B, and Soul singers who have been influenced by Mahalia,I seldom here anything in the mainstream concerning her progressive politics. Mahalia was a beautiful soul and like most Black people of a certain time and era, believed in right, and didn't believe in playing in white people's evil, with the belief that one should be upright and godfearing.
She was quite good friends with Studs Terkel, the historian and social critic. At one point, Mahalia asked Studs to be the host for her CBS radio show. As a matter of fact, she made it a stipulation that Studs be asked to host the show if she was to do it. So, CBS brought in Studs Terkel and the show begins. At one point, well into the run of the show, CBS headquarters sent down a loyalty oath(one of those relics of the McCarthy era that most employers demanded employees sign, pledging their loyalty to the United States) and demanded that Studs sign it. He refused and CBS threatened to fire him. Mahalia intervened saying, "If you fire Studs Terkel then you find yourself another Mahalia Jackson." And that was that and CBS had nothing else to say and the show went on, with Studs Terkel. Mahalia also sang at the March on Washington in 1963 as well as at Dr. King's Funeral in 1968. She is widely considered one of the best singers of the 20th Century and the best gospel singer of all time. She was a great soul.
Friday, May 04, 2007
Be Real Black For Me
Roberta Flack and Donnie Hathaway
(Donnie)
Our Time, short and precious
your lips warm and luscious
you don't have to wear false charms
cause when I wrap you in my hungry arms
Be real black for me
be real black for me
(Roberta)
Your hair soft and crinkly
your body strong and stately
you don't have to search anymore
cause I got your love at home
Be real black for me
be real black for me
(Together)
In my head I'm only half together
If I loose you I'd be ruined forever
darling take my hand and hold me
hold me
hold me
hold me
hold me
(together, alternately)
You know how much I need you
to have you,really feel you
(together)
you don't have to change a thing
No one knows the love you bring
Be real black for me
be real black for me
Be real black for me
be real black for me
Be real black for me
be real black for me
Be real black for me
be real black for me
Be real black for me
be real black for me
(Donnie)
Our Time, short and precious
your lips warm and luscious
you don't have to wear false charms
cause when I wrap you in my hungry arms
Be real black for me
be real black for me
(Roberta)
Your hair soft and crinkly
your body strong and stately
you don't have to search anymore
cause I got your love at home
Be real black for me
be real black for me
(Together)
In my head I'm only half together
If I loose you I'd be ruined forever
darling take my hand and hold me
hold me
hold me
hold me
hold me
(together, alternately)
You know how much I need you
to have you,really feel you
(together)
you don't have to change a thing
No one knows the love you bring
Be real black for me
be real black for me
Be real black for me
be real black for me
Be real black for me
be real black for me
Be real black for me
be real black for me
Be real black for me
be real black for me
Youth Activist Arrested in Newark--From The New Black Panther Party
THE NEW BLACK PANTHER PARTY
THE NATIONAL MINISTRY OF CULTURE
P.O. BOX 25332
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY 07101
201-602-0780
April 30, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW PANTHERS CONDEMN ARREST OF NEWARK YOUTH LEADER
On Thursday, April 26th, Marques Lewis, outspoken anti-violence youth advocate, was arrested by Rutgers University Campus police, the Party has learned.
Apparently, Lewis, a student at Arts High School and founder of Da Youth, a local organization working to stem the horrific tide of street violence in the city of Newark, was home from a downtown meeting, across Rutgers University’s Newark campus when he was accosted.
It appears that Campus police were in the throes of a “sweep” for a Black male who had just robbed somebody on campus when Lewis was walking through. According to Bashir Akinyele, the Party’s local chief of staff, Campus police threw Lewis on the ground, put him handcuffs and put a gun to head.
“This young brother was really shaken up,” Akinyele said.
Lewis was then turned over to Essex County authorities and charged with “conspiracy to commit robbery.” He is facing up to $100,000 bail and jail time. He is expected to be arraigned today. The New Black Panther Party and the People's Organization for Progress secured an attorney for Lewis and are preparing for any other actions necessary.
“This is as outrageous as it gets,” exclaimed an angry Zayid Muhammad, the Party’s National Minister of Culture, who is also a Rutgers Newark alumni. “We went through this years ago when I was on campus.”
“Here is a kid who just survived being shot himself in an armed robbery just three weeks ago and who has himself been robbed at gunpoint twice just within the last year, who has been breaking his neck trying to bring community and official elements together to check the madness of this violence and he gets victimized all over again in the worst way,” Muhammad continued.
The first thing is Marques should be released on his own recognizance. Rutgers and the county should move immediately to have all charges dropped against Marques, and the character of that ‘sweep’ needs to immediately be investigated. Newark is full of ‘young black males’ and they are not all criminals. Institutions like Rutgers should be going out of their way trying to recruit a kid like Marques not having their police threatening to shoot him,” he finished.
For more information, please call 201-602-0780 or 973-204-5124.
THE NATIONAL MINISTRY OF CULTURE
P.O. BOX 25332
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY 07101
201-602-0780
April 30, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW PANTHERS CONDEMN ARREST OF NEWARK YOUTH LEADER
On Thursday, April 26th, Marques Lewis, outspoken anti-violence youth advocate, was arrested by Rutgers University Campus police, the Party has learned.
Apparently, Lewis, a student at Arts High School and founder of Da Youth, a local organization working to stem the horrific tide of street violence in the city of Newark, was home from a downtown meeting, across Rutgers University’s Newark campus when he was accosted.
It appears that Campus police were in the throes of a “sweep” for a Black male who had just robbed somebody on campus when Lewis was walking through. According to Bashir Akinyele, the Party’s local chief of staff, Campus police threw Lewis on the ground, put him handcuffs and put a gun to head.
“This young brother was really shaken up,” Akinyele said.
Lewis was then turned over to Essex County authorities and charged with “conspiracy to commit robbery.” He is facing up to $100,000 bail and jail time. He is expected to be arraigned today. The New Black Panther Party and the People's Organization for Progress secured an attorney for Lewis and are preparing for any other actions necessary.
“This is as outrageous as it gets,” exclaimed an angry Zayid Muhammad, the Party’s National Minister of Culture, who is also a Rutgers Newark alumni. “We went through this years ago when I was on campus.”
“Here is a kid who just survived being shot himself in an armed robbery just three weeks ago and who has himself been robbed at gunpoint twice just within the last year, who has been breaking his neck trying to bring community and official elements together to check the madness of this violence and he gets victimized all over again in the worst way,” Muhammad continued.
The first thing is Marques should be released on his own recognizance. Rutgers and the county should move immediately to have all charges dropped against Marques, and the character of that ‘sweep’ needs to immediately be investigated. Newark is full of ‘young black males’ and they are not all criminals. Institutions like Rutgers should be going out of their way trying to recruit a kid like Marques not having their police threatening to shoot him,” he finished.
For more information, please call 201-602-0780 or 973-204-5124.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
L.A. Immigration Rally
The police are comfortable being seen in front of television cameras beating people. This is an interesting reshifting and one that should be noted. What should we expect in the future? Needless to say, what they did in L.A. is an abomination.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
11th Radical Progressive Carnival
Welcome to the 11th Radical Progressive Carnival! There are a variety of intellectual offerings to be sampled today. Our first worthy consideration is a very succinct academic essay on modern anarchism written by Richard Adams-Blackburn over at Anarchist Philosophy Blog. Adam smoothly lays out the principles of anarchism and discusses the anarchist take on U.S. Foreign policy, education, and the criminal justice system.
David Gross over at The Picket Line offers us three posts. The first is an updated guide to tax resistance from the National War Tax Resister's Coordinating Committee. Gross urges everyone to use tax resistance as a way of protest against the war and provides this simple guide as to how it can be accomplished. Gross outlines the pamphlet in this post and provides links to the National War Tax Resister's Coordinating Committee website. In the second post, Gross reviews Bill Kaufman's book, Look Homeward, America: In Search of Reactionary Radicals and Front Porch Anarchists. This seems to be an intriguing book that discusses the politics of figures such as Dorothy Day and Eldridge Cleaver. In this book, Kaufman seems to make a connection between anarchism, Jeffersonian democracy,and the traditions of such figures as Mother Jones, Robert La Follette,and John Brown. Kaufman expresses his desire to always vote for the "loser" whether it be Al Sharpton or Ralph Nader. This seems to be an interesting look at American politics and should be an interesting read. Gross' thirdoffering is an interesting analysis of Thoreau's development as a pacifist and the journey he took from a fascination with militarism and violence to his total identification as a pacifist.
Daddy Dialectic's post The Us vs. THe Rest of the Post-Industrial World provides the conclusions of a study done by the Council on Contemporary families, discussing the U.S. rankings in relation to other developed nations in regards to creating family-friendly work policies. Interesting material there; it would be interesting to put this up against other measures of U.S. society such as child poverty,the economic stability of U.S. households, and gender equality in the workplace. Save the Ribble provides us with analysis of the ongoing struggle of Riverworks to preserve their urban environment against propoerty developers looking to make profits. This is an interesting read and definitely an issue worth watching as it develops over at Save the Ribble.
Mad Kane offers us two limericks, "Truth on the Lam," and "Bellicose Bush." The first relates to Orrin Hatch's shady involvement in the firing of the U.S Attorneys General and the smear campaign that he conducted against U.S. Attorney, Carol Lam. The second sums up Bush's modus operandi as being "If you can't solve a problem, make it bigger." She has a wicked sense of humor. Great stuff.
The Largest Minority gives us Youtube footage of the March 17th anti-war march in L.A. Interesting account of the march and a new concept to me, phone blogging. Lastly, Humantide tells us of the German Trade Unionist call for massive mobilization against the G^ summit. This seems to be a manifesto, signed by various signatories. Also provided is an itinerary of planned events which I shall include here:
Action timetable against g8
Thuesday, 1st of May:
Revolutionary 1st of May Manifestations in different cities.
from 26th of May:
Convergence Center in Hamburg, eventually in Berlin too
Beginning of June:
"Block Germany", Decentralized Blockades all over Germany
Friday, 1st of June:
Opening of the Mediacenter in Rostock
Occupation of the "Bombodrom"
Camp und start of the caravan to Heiligendamm
Saturday, 2nd June:
Mass demonstration in the city of Rostock, near Central Railway Station
Start of the Camp against G8
Internationalist Conference in Rostock
Sunday, 3th of June:
Actionday in Rostock,
Internationalist Conference in Rostock
Mondy, 4th of June:
Actionday against War and Rascism
Camp against G8
Thuesday, 5th of June:
Actionday agsainst war / eventually blockade of the airport in Rostock-Laage
Start of the Counter-Summit in Rostock
Camp against G8
Wednesday, 6th of June:
1st Day of the G8-Summit, Blockade-Day in different Areas
Counter-Summit in Rostock
Camp against G8
Thursday, 7th of June:
G8-Summit, 2nd day in Heiligendamm
Counter-Summit in Rostock
Camp against G8
Blockade-Actions / March from different small local cities to Heiligendamm
End Manifestation
Friday, 8th of June:
G8-Summit, 3rd Day
End of the Camp against G8
This edition's contributions, with its wide range of topics, should be rich fodder for blog readers. I hope you enjoy!
David Gross over at The Picket Line offers us three posts. The first is an updated guide to tax resistance from the National War Tax Resister's Coordinating Committee. Gross urges everyone to use tax resistance as a way of protest against the war and provides this simple guide as to how it can be accomplished. Gross outlines the pamphlet in this post and provides links to the National War Tax Resister's Coordinating Committee website. In the second post, Gross reviews Bill Kaufman's book, Look Homeward, America: In Search of Reactionary Radicals and Front Porch Anarchists. This seems to be an intriguing book that discusses the politics of figures such as Dorothy Day and Eldridge Cleaver. In this book, Kaufman seems to make a connection between anarchism, Jeffersonian democracy,and the traditions of such figures as Mother Jones, Robert La Follette,and John Brown. Kaufman expresses his desire to always vote for the "loser" whether it be Al Sharpton or Ralph Nader. This seems to be an interesting look at American politics and should be an interesting read. Gross' thirdoffering is an interesting analysis of Thoreau's development as a pacifist and the journey he took from a fascination with militarism and violence to his total identification as a pacifist.
Daddy Dialectic's post The Us vs. THe Rest of the Post-Industrial World provides the conclusions of a study done by the Council on Contemporary families, discussing the U.S. rankings in relation to other developed nations in regards to creating family-friendly work policies. Interesting material there; it would be interesting to put this up against other measures of U.S. society such as child poverty,the economic stability of U.S. households, and gender equality in the workplace. Save the Ribble provides us with analysis of the ongoing struggle of Riverworks to preserve their urban environment against propoerty developers looking to make profits. This is an interesting read and definitely an issue worth watching as it develops over at Save the Ribble.
Mad Kane offers us two limericks, "Truth on the Lam," and "Bellicose Bush." The first relates to Orrin Hatch's shady involvement in the firing of the U.S Attorneys General and the smear campaign that he conducted against U.S. Attorney, Carol Lam. The second sums up Bush's modus operandi as being "If you can't solve a problem, make it bigger." She has a wicked sense of humor. Great stuff.
The Largest Minority gives us Youtube footage of the March 17th anti-war march in L.A. Interesting account of the march and a new concept to me, phone blogging. Lastly, Humantide tells us of the German Trade Unionist call for massive mobilization against the G^ summit. This seems to be a manifesto, signed by various signatories. Also provided is an itinerary of planned events which I shall include here:
Action timetable against g8
Thuesday, 1st of May:
Revolutionary 1st of May Manifestations in different cities.
from 26th of May:
Convergence Center in Hamburg, eventually in Berlin too
Beginning of June:
"Block Germany", Decentralized Blockades all over Germany
Friday, 1st of June:
Opening of the Mediacenter in Rostock
Occupation of the "Bombodrom"
Camp und start of the caravan to Heiligendamm
Saturday, 2nd June:
Mass demonstration in the city of Rostock, near Central Railway Station
Start of the Camp against G8
Internationalist Conference in Rostock
Sunday, 3th of June:
Actionday in Rostock,
Internationalist Conference in Rostock
Mondy, 4th of June:
Actionday against War and Rascism
Camp against G8
Thuesday, 5th of June:
Actionday agsainst war / eventually blockade of the airport in Rostock-Laage
Start of the Counter-Summit in Rostock
Camp against G8
Wednesday, 6th of June:
1st Day of the G8-Summit, Blockade-Day in different Areas
Counter-Summit in Rostock
Camp against G8
Thursday, 7th of June:
G8-Summit, 2nd day in Heiligendamm
Counter-Summit in Rostock
Camp against G8
Blockade-Actions / March from different small local cities to Heiligendamm
End Manifestation
Friday, 8th of June:
G8-Summit, 3rd Day
End of the Camp against G8
This edition's contributions, with its wide range of topics, should be rich fodder for blog readers. I hope you enjoy!
So Here's the Deal
I just tried out several of the other different templates/colors for Juliusspeaks. None of them seemed to work so I came back to Black;-) If you think it needs a change, let me know what you think and how to do it.
Anti-Veto Rally at Purdue
There was a great turnout for the last minute anti-veto rally here in West Lafayette. There were about thirty people out with signs and children. You can tell that there is life in the peace movement when there are children present. This is a strong movement, considering where we are. Activism has increased considerable since I came here to Purdue and it is interesting and joyous to see. The Catholic, Pax Christi group is really adamant and gung ho now. They are really on the move. Great things visible here now. We shall see what else happens.
There Are Places I Remember
Bette Midler
There are places I remember all my life,
Though some have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone and some remain.
All these places have their moments
Of lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I loved them all.
And with all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these mem'ries lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
And I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them.
In my life I loved you more.
And I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them.
In my life I loved you more
In my life I loved you more
There are places I remember all my life,
Though some have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone and some remain.
All these places have their moments
Of lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I loved them all.
And with all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these mem'ries lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
And I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them.
In my life I loved you more.
And I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them.
In my life I loved you more
In my life I loved you more
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Movie Idea!
I came up with this idea for a movie a couple of days ago. Everyone is doing remakes now and I think there should be a remake of Myra Breckenridge. This time, no Raquel Welch. Johnny Depp should play Myra.
Poetry
I love scented flowers walks through gardens wit hthe sun on my face. I love bright, beautiful azaleas popping up at me in my aunts yard and clinging roses on the bush, thorns protectively at their side. Love is a rose, love is beauty and love is a walk through a garden on a summer day.
A Sleepin' Bee
Barbra/ Diahann Carroll
When a bee lies sleepin'
In the palm o' your hand
You're bewitch'd and deep in love's
Long look'd after land
Where you'll see a sun-up sky
With the mornin' new
And where the days go laughin' by
As love comes a-calling on you
Sleep on, bee, don't waken,
Can't believe what just passed
He's mine for the takin'
I am happy at last.
Maybe I dreams, but he seems
Sweet golden as a crown,
A sleepin' bee done told me
I will walk with my feet off the ground
When my one true love I has found
Sleep on, bee, don't waken,
Can not believe what just passed
He's mine for the takin'
I am happy at last...
Maybe I dreams, but he seems
Golden as a crown,
A sleepin' bee told me
I will walk with my feet off the ground
When my one true love
I has found...
When a bee lies sleepin'
In the palm o' your hand
You're bewitch'd and deep in love's
Long look'd after land
Where you'll see a sun-up sky
With the mornin' new
And where the days go laughin' by
As love comes a-calling on you
Sleep on, bee, don't waken,
Can't believe what just passed
He's mine for the takin'
I am happy at last.
Maybe I dreams, but he seems
Sweet golden as a crown,
A sleepin' bee done told me
I will walk with my feet off the ground
When my one true love I has found
Sleep on, bee, don't waken,
Can not believe what just passed
He's mine for the takin'
I am happy at last...
Maybe I dreams, but he seems
Golden as a crown,
A sleepin' bee told me
I will walk with my feet off the ground
When my one true love
I has found...
This From HungryBlues: Gonzales Flees Harvard
Gonzales Embarrassed at Harvard Reunions
While I was at Harvard Law School on Friday, the reunion was underway, but who knew what was in store…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APRIL 28, 2007
CONTACT: DEBORAH POPOWSKI, NATE ELA
HLS ADVOCATES FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Cell Phones: (646) 831-8255, (646) 245-8792
Emails: dpopowski [at] law [dot] harvard [dot] edu, nela [at] law [dot] harvard [dot] edu
GONZALES EMBARRASSED AT HARVARD REUNION
Attorney General Surprise Visit at 25th Reunion Met by Student Protests
Cambridge, Mass. - Alberto Gonzales was confronted by student protesters and forced to leave through a back door on Saturday during a visit to Harvard Law School for his 25th reunion. After two weeks clinging to save his job and defending allegations that he fired eight U.S. Attorneys for political reasons, what might have been a relaxed day of reminiscing with old classmates became instead yet another reminder that both his job and his reputation are in serious jeopardy.
The Attorney General was on campus, unannounced to students, to deliver a lunchtime speech. But word quickly spread that a suspicious motorcade had been spotted by the campus center, and by the time Gonzales and his fellow classmates assembled on the law library steps for their class photo, a group of current students were there to greet him, having donned black hoods and orange jumpsuits. As the photographer told the class of 1982 to smile and say “cheese,” the students yelled out that saying “torture,” “resign” or “I don’t recall” might be more appropriate.
The Attorney General’s visit to his alma mater coincided with the third anniversary of the release of photos depicting the torture of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and came the day after a German federal prosecutor dismissed a case alleging that Gonzales was responsible for approving the policies that resulted in those abuses. These facts were not lost on Deborah Popowski, a second-year law student who had just finished organizing a nationwide student sit-in urging Congress to pass pending legislation that would restore detainees’ rights to habeas corpus. “When I heard he was on campus, I was stuffing envelopes with letters to Congress in an office two floors above. I dropped everything. Gonzales needs to know that after approving poorly-reasoned memos that distort the rule of law and justify torture, he is simply not welcome here.”
At a time when many in the nation are calling for Gonzales to resign, one third-year student managed to communicate the mood of his own alma mater directly to Gonzales. While the Attorney General’s security detail kept protestors at bay and the photographer prepared the class photo, she slipped though the law library’s front doors and approached Gonzales from behind. “On behalf of many other Harvard Law students,” she said, “I’d like to tell you that we are ashamed to have you as an alumnus of this school. And we’re glad you’re here to be able to tell you that.” Gonzales thanked the student and offered to shake her hand, but was refused. After the class photo was taken, several of the Attorney General’s classmates clapped and approached the protesting students to thank them for their efforts.
Following the group photo, Gonzales ducked into the library to take a stroll around the main reading room, which, on the weekend before final exams, was full of students going over their notes. When the protestors caught up with Gonzales, the cavernous reading room, ordinarily a place of hushed whispers, echoed with chants of “shame” and “resign.” Gonzales was quickly whisked down a back staircase, out a basement emergency exit and into a waiting SUV. As the motorcade pulled off from in front of historic Austin Hall, Thomas Becker, a second-year law student, stood in an orange jumpsuit and black hood, waving goodbye. When the cars were out of sight, Becker pulled off his hood, smiled, and said “good riddance.”
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, second row from top, center, poses with members of the Harvard Law School class of 1982 as law student protester Thomas Becker looks on.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, holding number 588, poses with classmates from the Harvard Law School class of 1982 as law student protester Thomas Becker looks on.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Harvard Law class of 1982 and holding number 588, poses for a reunion photo as Thomas Becker, a second-year law student, looks on.
God Bless Hugo Chavez and God Bless Venezuela!
Chavez, marking the occassion on International Worker's Day, has just nationalized the last of the oil industries in Venezuela! God Bless the Venezuelan people!
New Day
Patti Labelle
Seems my life is finally coming together
Feel so good, don't think I've ever been better
It's clear to me my future will bring
The peace I've been longing for is mine forever more
It's a new day
Open my eyes and my path is clearer
( New Day )
Pushing ahead till my goal gets nearer
( New Day )
Spread my wings
I'm doin' things my way
It's a new day
Wasn't sure where I should begin
Couldn't tell my beginning from the end
For every door that closed a window opened
Been 'round the world and back again, it starts from within, yes
It's a new day (A new day)
Open my eyes and my path is clearer
( New Day )
Pushing ahead till my goal gets nearer
( New Day )
Spread my wings
I'm doin' things my way
It's a new day
I'm excited for the things ahead of me
I decided I can make it on my own
Embrace the good and bad and let go of the past
I'm loving what's inside of me, yes, yes
It's a new day
Open my eyes and my path is clearer (Open my eyes, yeah, yes)
( New Day )
Pushing ahead till my goal gets nearer (Pushing ahead)
( New Day )
Spread my wings
(I'm spreading my wings, yes)
It's a new day (Oh...oh...oh...oh...oh...oh...)
It's a new day
Open my eyes and my path is clearer (Oh, a new day)
( New Day )
Pushing ahead till my goal gets nearer (I'm doin' things my way)
( New Day )
Spread my wings
I'm doin' things my way, yeah
{It's a new day}
I decided long ago
I can make it on my own
Gonna be alright, yeah
Gonna be alright, uh-huh, yeah, yeah
It's a new day
It's a new day
Open my eyes and my path is clearer
It's a new day
Pushing ahead till my goal gets nearer
It's a new day
Spread my wings
I'm spreading my wings, I'm gonna do things
{It's a new day}
Seems my life is finally coming together
Feel so good, don't think I've ever been better
It's clear to me my future will bring
The peace I've been longing for is mine forever more
It's a new day
Open my eyes and my path is clearer
( New Day )
Pushing ahead till my goal gets nearer
( New Day )
Spread my wings
I'm doin' things my way
It's a new day
Wasn't sure where I should begin
Couldn't tell my beginning from the end
For every door that closed a window opened
Been 'round the world and back again, it starts from within, yes
It's a new day (A new day)
Open my eyes and my path is clearer
( New Day )
Pushing ahead till my goal gets nearer
( New Day )
Spread my wings
I'm doin' things my way
It's a new day
I'm excited for the things ahead of me
I decided I can make it on my own
Embrace the good and bad and let go of the past
I'm loving what's inside of me, yes, yes
It's a new day
Open my eyes and my path is clearer (Open my eyes, yeah, yes)
( New Day )
Pushing ahead till my goal gets nearer (Pushing ahead)
( New Day )
Spread my wings
(I'm spreading my wings, yes)
It's a new day (Oh...oh...oh...oh...oh...oh...)
It's a new day
Open my eyes and my path is clearer (Oh, a new day)
( New Day )
Pushing ahead till my goal gets nearer (I'm doin' things my way)
( New Day )
Spread my wings
I'm doin' things my way, yeah
{It's a new day}
I decided long ago
I can make it on my own
Gonna be alright, yeah
Gonna be alright, uh-huh, yeah, yeah
It's a new day
It's a new day
Open my eyes and my path is clearer
It's a new day
Pushing ahead till my goal gets nearer
It's a new day
Spread my wings
I'm spreading my wings, I'm gonna do things
{It's a new day}
Monday, April 30, 2007
What I Found Out in a Magazine
Timothy McVeigh was gay and had been harrassed by the military concerning it.
Killing Me Softly
Roberta Flack
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
I heard he sang a good song, I heard he had a style.
And so I came to see him to listen for a while.
And there he was this young boy, a stranger to my eyes.
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
I felt all flushed with fever, embarrassed by the crowd,
I felt he found my letters and read each one out loud.
I prayed that he would finish but he just kept right on ...
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
He sang as if he knew me in all my dark despair.
And then he looked right through me as if I wasn't there.
But he just came to singing, singing clear and strong.
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
He was strumming, oh, he was singing my song.
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
With his song ...
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
I heard he sang a good song, I heard he had a style.
And so I came to see him to listen for a while.
And there he was this young boy, a stranger to my eyes.
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
I felt all flushed with fever, embarrassed by the crowd,
I felt he found my letters and read each one out loud.
I prayed that he would finish but he just kept right on ...
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
He sang as if he knew me in all my dark despair.
And then he looked right through me as if I wasn't there.
But he just came to singing, singing clear and strong.
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
Singing my life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
He was strumming, oh, he was singing my song.
Killing me softly with his song,
Killing me softly with his song,
Telling my whole life with his words,
Killing me softly with his song ...
With his song ...
Keeping Academics Out of Cuba
Keeping academics out of Cuba
by Wayne Smith
Baltimore Sun
April 30, 2007
The Bush administration's restrictions on academic travel to Cuba
are so harsh that they have brought such travel virtually to a halt.
Now, about 450 professors and academics from colleges and
universities across the nation have banded together to take the
federal government to court and challenge their legality.
The stated purpose of these restrictions was to deny hard
currency to Cuban government coffers. But visiting professors
and students are not exactly known as big spenders. The pittance
they might have left behind would have had little impact on a
Cuban economy registering strong growth rates.
Most of the restrictions are simply inexplicable. One says that
courses in Cuba can be taught only by full-time, permanent
members of the faculty. I have taught every semester at the
Johns Hopkins University for 24 years and am the director of the
Cuba Exchange Program. But because I am an adjunct professor,
the new regulations ban me from teaching courses in Cuba - even
were it possible to organize such courses.
How does that deny hard currency to Cuba? Did I, and other
adjunct professors who may have been involved, have such
reputations as high rollers that U.S. officials believed keeping us
off the island was a good way to bring down the Cuban economy?
Absurd. So what was the purpose?
Of course, there are no more courses for me to teach in Cuba,
even if I wanted to be a full-time member of the faculty. From
1997 until we were prevented from doing so in June 2004, Johns
Hopkins had taken to Cuba 15 to 20 students for three weeks
every January to focus on some aspect of Cuban society, history
or culture. These courses were very popular with our students,
especially because they neatly fit between semesters and did not
interfere with graduation schedules.
But the new regulations require that the courses be no less than
10 weeks. That would mean spending an extra semester
registered at Hopkins and would bar on-time graduation. Our
students prefer to graduate, and so, for all practical purposes,
Hopkins courses in Cuba have been brought to a halt - as have
courses in Cuba organized by most other colleges and
universities.
Another provision of the new restrictions is that in order to register
for a course given in Cuba, students must be full-time degree
candidates at the college or university offering the course. This
goes against the traditional practice of allowing students from
other institutions to participate in such courses and ended
academic consortia that allowed colleges and universities to send
students to one another's Cuba programs, thereby greatly
reducing the costs and making them accessible to more students.
Why were these restrictions put in place? The first reason put
forward by the Treasury Department was "to eliminate a practice
[of abusing academic licenses] that was undermining the
embargo's purpose of isolating the dictatorship economically."
But the Treasury Department could point to no abuses. No
academic travel licenses had been revoked. No academic group
had been accused of violating the rules.
One suspects that such "abuses" were nothing more than
inventions of the Treasury Department to give fictitious
justification to its new restrictions on academic travel.
The second reason for the policy put forward by Treasury officials
is even more surreal. It was intended "to promote civil society by
continuing to foster free exchange of ideas between American
students and professors and members of Cuban society."
Can they be serious? They must have known that the new
restrictions would have the opposite effect.
The Supreme Court in various cases has held that an academic
institution may, without interference from the government, decide
which courses could be taught, how they would be taught, who
could take them and who could teach them. The restrictions
handed down in 2004 violate all of these.
That is why the Emergency Coalition to Defend Educational
Travel, of which I am the chairman, has challenged the legality of
these measures. It has just presented its brief to the U.S. District
Court for the District of Columbia, pointing out that the restrictions
on academic travel initiated in 2004 can only be seen as an
assault by the executive branch on the constitutionally protected
rights of U.S. citizens. It is an assault that must be turned back.
by Wayne Smith
Baltimore Sun
April 30, 2007
The Bush administration's restrictions on academic travel to Cuba
are so harsh that they have brought such travel virtually to a halt.
Now, about 450 professors and academics from colleges and
universities across the nation have banded together to take the
federal government to court and challenge their legality.
The stated purpose of these restrictions was to deny hard
currency to Cuban government coffers. But visiting professors
and students are not exactly known as big spenders. The pittance
they might have left behind would have had little impact on a
Cuban economy registering strong growth rates.
Most of the restrictions are simply inexplicable. One says that
courses in Cuba can be taught only by full-time, permanent
members of the faculty. I have taught every semester at the
Johns Hopkins University for 24 years and am the director of the
Cuba Exchange Program. But because I am an adjunct professor,
the new regulations ban me from teaching courses in Cuba - even
were it possible to organize such courses.
How does that deny hard currency to Cuba? Did I, and other
adjunct professors who may have been involved, have such
reputations as high rollers that U.S. officials believed keeping us
off the island was a good way to bring down the Cuban economy?
Absurd. So what was the purpose?
Of course, there are no more courses for me to teach in Cuba,
even if I wanted to be a full-time member of the faculty. From
1997 until we were prevented from doing so in June 2004, Johns
Hopkins had taken to Cuba 15 to 20 students for three weeks
every January to focus on some aspect of Cuban society, history
or culture. These courses were very popular with our students,
especially because they neatly fit between semesters and did not
interfere with graduation schedules.
But the new regulations require that the courses be no less than
10 weeks. That would mean spending an extra semester
registered at Hopkins and would bar on-time graduation. Our
students prefer to graduate, and so, for all practical purposes,
Hopkins courses in Cuba have been brought to a halt - as have
courses in Cuba organized by most other colleges and
universities.
Another provision of the new restrictions is that in order to register
for a course given in Cuba, students must be full-time degree
candidates at the college or university offering the course. This
goes against the traditional practice of allowing students from
other institutions to participate in such courses and ended
academic consortia that allowed colleges and universities to send
students to one another's Cuba programs, thereby greatly
reducing the costs and making them accessible to more students.
Why were these restrictions put in place? The first reason put
forward by the Treasury Department was "to eliminate a practice
[of abusing academic licenses] that was undermining the
embargo's purpose of isolating the dictatorship economically."
But the Treasury Department could point to no abuses. No
academic travel licenses had been revoked. No academic group
had been accused of violating the rules.
One suspects that such "abuses" were nothing more than
inventions of the Treasury Department to give fictitious
justification to its new restrictions on academic travel.
The second reason for the policy put forward by Treasury officials
is even more surreal. It was intended "to promote civil society by
continuing to foster free exchange of ideas between American
students and professors and members of Cuban society."
Can they be serious? They must have known that the new
restrictions would have the opposite effect.
The Supreme Court in various cases has held that an academic
institution may, without interference from the government, decide
which courses could be taught, how they would be taught, who
could take them and who could teach them. The restrictions
handed down in 2004 violate all of these.
That is why the Emergency Coalition to Defend Educational
Travel, of which I am the chairman, has challenged the legality of
these measures. It has just presented its brief to the U.S. District
Court for the District of Columbia, pointing out that the restrictions
on academic travel initiated in 2004 can only be seen as an
assault by the executive branch on the constitutionally protected
rights of U.S. citizens. It is an assault that must be turned back.
War to the World
by Code Pink
War to the world! Don Rumsfeld declares;Let's go to war for oil!
Arms dealers and oil companies
Will make our foreign policies
And we'll be safe and free!
And we'll be safe and free!
And women and children will all be safe and free!
We rule the world! With bombs and tanks;
So let the war hawks sing!
We'll target all the hospitals
And mosques and pesky journalists
And lie on CNN
And lie on CNN
And NBC and ABC and C-N-N!
War to the world! The empire reigns;
You're with us or against!!
We're good and you are ee-vil
We're good and you are ee-vil
So we'll blow you away
So we'll blow you away
So Merry Christmas, and have a nice day!
War to the world! Don Rumsfeld declares;Let's go to war for oil!
Arms dealers and oil companies
Will make our foreign policies
And we'll be safe and free!
And we'll be safe and free!
And women and children will all be safe and free!
We rule the world! With bombs and tanks;
So let the war hawks sing!
We'll target all the hospitals
And mosques and pesky journalists
And lie on CNN
And lie on CNN
And NBC and ABC and C-N-N!
War to the world! The empire reigns;
You're with us or against!!
We're good and you are ee-vil
We're good and you are ee-vil
So we'll blow you away
So we'll blow you away
So Merry Christmas, and have a nice day!
Where Have All the Leaders Gone? By Lee Iacoca
This is a powerful condemnation of Bush and critique of this administration by Lee Iacoca.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Feelin' Good
Nina Simone
Birds flying high you know how I feel
Sun in the sky you know how I feel
Reeds driftin on by you know how I feel
(refrain:)
Its a new dawn
Its a new day
Its a new life
For me
And Im feeling good
Fish in the sea you know how I feel
River running free you know how I feel
Blossom in the tree you know how I feel
(refrain)
Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, dont you know
Butterflies all havin fun you know what I mean
Sleep in peace when day is done
Thats what I mean
And this old world is a new world
And a bold world
For me
Stars when you shine you know how I feel
Scent of the pine you know how I feel
Oh freedom is mine
And I know how I feel
Birds flying high you know how I feel
Sun in the sky you know how I feel
Reeds driftin on by you know how I feel
(refrain:)
Its a new dawn
Its a new day
Its a new life
For me
And Im feeling good
Fish in the sea you know how I feel
River running free you know how I feel
Blossom in the tree you know how I feel
(refrain)
Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, dont you know
Butterflies all havin fun you know what I mean
Sleep in peace when day is done
Thats what I mean
And this old world is a new world
And a bold world
For me
Stars when you shine you know how I feel
Scent of the pine you know how I feel
Oh freedom is mine
And I know how I feel
A Piece of Sky
Yentl/ Barbra
Tell me where
Where is it written
What it is Im meant to be?
That I cant dare...
It all began the day I found
That from my window
I could only see
A piece of sky.
I stepped outside and looked around,
I never dreamed it was so wide
Or even half as high.
The time had come
(papa, can you hear me? )
To try my wings
(papa, are you near me? )
And even thought it seemed at any moment I could fall,
I felt the most
(papa, can you see me? )
Amazing things,
(can you understand me? )
The things you cant imagine
If youve never flown at all.
Though its safer to stay on the ground,
Sometimes where danger lies
There the sweetest of pleasures are found.
No matter where I go-
Therell be memries that tug at my sleeve
But there will also be
More to question yet more to believe.
(oh tell me where-
Where is the someone who will turn to look at me
And want to sahre
My evry sweet-imagined possibility? )
The more I live - the more I learn.
The more I learn - the more I realize
The less I know.
Each step I take-
(papa, Ive a voice now!)
Each page I turn-
(papa, Ive a choice now!)
Each mile I travel only means
The more I have to go.
Whats wrong with wanting more?
If you can fly - then soar!
With all there is - why settle for
Just a piece of sky?
Papa, I can hear you...
Papa, I can see you...
Papa, I can feel you...
Papa, watch me fly!
Tell me where
Where is it written
What it is Im meant to be?
That I cant dare...
It all began the day I found
That from my window
I could only see
A piece of sky.
I stepped outside and looked around,
I never dreamed it was so wide
Or even half as high.
The time had come
(papa, can you hear me? )
To try my wings
(papa, are you near me? )
And even thought it seemed at any moment I could fall,
I felt the most
(papa, can you see me? )
Amazing things,
(can you understand me? )
The things you cant imagine
If youve never flown at all.
Though its safer to stay on the ground,
Sometimes where danger lies
There the sweetest of pleasures are found.
No matter where I go-
Therell be memries that tug at my sleeve
But there will also be
More to question yet more to believe.
(oh tell me where-
Where is the someone who will turn to look at me
And want to sahre
My evry sweet-imagined possibility? )
The more I live - the more I learn.
The more I learn - the more I realize
The less I know.
Each step I take-
(papa, Ive a voice now!)
Each page I turn-
(papa, Ive a choice now!)
Each mile I travel only means
The more I have to go.
Whats wrong with wanting more?
If you can fly - then soar!
With all there is - why settle for
Just a piece of sky?
Papa, I can hear you...
Papa, I can see you...
Papa, I can feel you...
Papa, watch me fly!
No Matter What Happens
Barbra/ Yentl
Look at how she looks at me,
I can never look at her that way...
Full of all the feelings and the soft
Unspoken words that lovers say...
In all the words, in all the books
I wish there were a way to say that
What she’s taught me
Isn’t written anywhere
And I'm supposed to be the one
Who’s wise...
One thing is certain,
I can never be what she
Expects of me...
I’ve wanted the shadows,
I don’t anymore.
No matter what happens,
I won't anymore
I've run from the sunlight-
Afraid it saw too much.
The moon had the one light
I bathed in-
I walked in.
I held in my feelings
And closed every door.
No matter what happen.
I can't anymore.
There's someone who must hear
The words I've never spoken.
Tonight if he were here
My silence would be broken.
I need him to touch me-
To know the love that's in my heart-
The same heart that tells me
To see myself-
To free myself-
To be myself at last!
For too many mornings
The curtains were drawn.
It's time they were opened
To welcome the dawn.
A voice deep inside
Is getting stronger,
I can't keep it quiet any longer.
No matter what happens,
It can't be the same anymore...
I promise it won't be the same
Anymore!
Look at how she looks at me,
I can never look at her that way...
Full of all the feelings and the soft
Unspoken words that lovers say...
In all the words, in all the books
I wish there were a way to say that
What she’s taught me
Isn’t written anywhere
And I'm supposed to be the one
Who’s wise...
One thing is certain,
I can never be what she
Expects of me...
I’ve wanted the shadows,
I don’t anymore.
No matter what happens,
I won't anymore
I've run from the sunlight-
Afraid it saw too much.
The moon had the one light
I bathed in-
I walked in.
I held in my feelings
And closed every door.
No matter what happen.
I can't anymore.
There's someone who must hear
The words I've never spoken.
Tonight if he were here
My silence would be broken.
I need him to touch me-
To know the love that's in my heart-
The same heart that tells me
To see myself-
To free myself-
To be myself at last!
For too many mornings
The curtains were drawn.
It's time they were opened
To welcome the dawn.
A voice deep inside
Is getting stronger,
I can't keep it quiet any longer.
No matter what happens,
It can't be the same anymore...
I promise it won't be the same
Anymore!
Tommorow Night
Barbra/ Yentl
Look at me-I must be absolutely crazy!
How did 1 ever let it get this far?
Look at me! I'm getting deeper into trouble.
Am I woman or a man?
Am I a devil or a demon?
Papa was right!
I ask too many questions.
He said a soul can get perplexed-
I can't believe what happens next!
Papa was right!
It seems this little game I play
Becomes more risky every day!
Tomorrow night, tomorrow night...
Under the canopy
I'll stand with her tomorrow night!
And place a ring upon her hand
With her all dressed in white
Tomorrow night
I don’t know how this came about
But I'll be wed without a doubt.
Oh, my God, I've got to get out!
Look at this-The way one lie begets another
Somebody wake me up and say
It’s all a dream!
(Look at this!)
Look how easily I fool them
They may have eyes but they don’t see
They never really look at me
People are blind!
How else would everyone believe me?
It might be interesting to know
Just how much further I can go
Tomorrow night, tomorrow night...
I can’t believe what I’ll presume to be
Tomorrow night,
I'm not the bride but I'm the groom to be
Tomorrow night,
And that's a monumental trick
I'd better think of something quick
(Oh, my God, I'm feeling sick!
I could run away
I could leave without a trace,
Go anywhere or any place
Where no one knows my face.
As a woman or a man?
I don't know just so I can
Run away-run away!
I'd be free-I'd be rid of all of this
But there’s someone I would miss
And being near him is what this is all about!
So running away is out!
Papa dear, you dreamed of dancing
At my wedding;
But something tells me that I'm right
You wouldn't want to dance tonight!
Isn't this a strangely logical solution?
Things may not be as they appear
But the advantages are clear:
He loves her-she loves him
He likes me-I like her
And I've reasons to think she likes me.
She keeps him-he keeps her
I keep things as they were
It's a perfect arrangement for three!
Who'd have ever predicted
The moment would come
When I’d find myself grateful
They’ve kept women dumb!
She's an innocent maiden
But then so am I!
That’s why it's possible I could get by.
Look, I’ve seen the impossible happen before,
So maybe, God willing, it'll happen once more.
For I feel like a train on a perilous track.
With no way to stop and no way to go back.
Like a snowball that’s gathering speed down a hill,
Going faster and faster and faster until...
Tomorrow night, tomorrow night...
Even if someone would pray for me
Tomorrow night,
There's not a prayer
That they could say for me
Tomorrow night,
Tomorrow night, tomorrow night...
Tomorrow night...is now tonight!
Look at me-I must be absolutely crazy!
How did 1 ever let it get this far?
Look at me! I'm getting deeper into trouble.
Am I woman or a man?
Am I a devil or a demon?
Papa was right!
I ask too many questions.
He said a soul can get perplexed-
I can't believe what happens next!
Papa was right!
It seems this little game I play
Becomes more risky every day!
Tomorrow night, tomorrow night...
Under the canopy
I'll stand with her tomorrow night!
And place a ring upon her hand
With her all dressed in white
Tomorrow night
I don’t know how this came about
But I'll be wed without a doubt.
Oh, my God, I've got to get out!
Look at this-The way one lie begets another
Somebody wake me up and say
It’s all a dream!
(Look at this!)
Look how easily I fool them
They may have eyes but they don’t see
They never really look at me
People are blind!
How else would everyone believe me?
It might be interesting to know
Just how much further I can go
Tomorrow night, tomorrow night...
I can’t believe what I’ll presume to be
Tomorrow night,
I'm not the bride but I'm the groom to be
Tomorrow night,
And that's a monumental trick
I'd better think of something quick
(Oh, my God, I'm feeling sick!
I could run away
I could leave without a trace,
Go anywhere or any place
Where no one knows my face.
As a woman or a man?
I don't know just so I can
Run away-run away!
I'd be free-I'd be rid of all of this
But there’s someone I would miss
And being near him is what this is all about!
So running away is out!
Papa dear, you dreamed of dancing
At my wedding;
But something tells me that I'm right
You wouldn't want to dance tonight!
Isn't this a strangely logical solution?
Things may not be as they appear
But the advantages are clear:
He loves her-she loves him
He likes me-I like her
And I've reasons to think she likes me.
She keeps him-he keeps her
I keep things as they were
It's a perfect arrangement for three!
Who'd have ever predicted
The moment would come
When I’d find myself grateful
They’ve kept women dumb!
She's an innocent maiden
But then so am I!
That’s why it's possible I could get by.
Look, I’ve seen the impossible happen before,
So maybe, God willing, it'll happen once more.
For I feel like a train on a perilous track.
With no way to stop and no way to go back.
Like a snowball that’s gathering speed down a hill,
Going faster and faster and faster until...
Tomorrow night, tomorrow night...
Even if someone would pray for me
Tomorrow night,
There's not a prayer
That they could say for me
Tomorrow night,
Tomorrow night, tomorrow night...
Tomorrow night...is now tonight!
Papa Can You Hear Me?
Barbra
Oh God-our heavenly Father.
Oh, God-and my father
Who is also in heaven.
May the light of this
Flickering candle
Illuminate the night the way
Your spirit illuminates my soul.
Papa, can you hear me?
Papa, can you see me?
Papa can you find me in the night?
Papa are you near me?
Papa, can you hear me?
Papa, can you help me not be frightened?
Looking at the skies I seem to see
A million eyes which ones are yours?
Where are you now that yesterday
Has waved goodbye
And closed its doors?
The night is so much darker;
The wind is so much colder;
The world I see is so much bigger
Now that I'm alone.
Papa, please forgive me.
Try to understand me;
Papa, don’t you know I had no choice?
Can you hear me praying,
Anything I'm saying
Even though the night is filled with voices?
I remember everything you taught me
Every book 1've ever read...
Can all the words in all the books
Help me to face what lies ahead?
The trees are so much taller
And I feel so much smaller;
The moon is twice as lonely
And the stars are half as bright...
Papa, how I love you...
Papa, how I need you.
Papa, how I miss you
Kissing me good night...
Oh God-our heavenly Father.
Oh, God-and my father
Who is also in heaven.
May the light of this
Flickering candle
Illuminate the night the way
Your spirit illuminates my soul.
Papa, can you hear me?
Papa, can you see me?
Papa can you find me in the night?
Papa are you near me?
Papa, can you hear me?
Papa, can you help me not be frightened?
Looking at the skies I seem to see
A million eyes which ones are yours?
Where are you now that yesterday
Has waved goodbye
And closed its doors?
The night is so much darker;
The wind is so much colder;
The world I see is so much bigger
Now that I'm alone.
Papa, please forgive me.
Try to understand me;
Papa, don’t you know I had no choice?
Can you hear me praying,
Anything I'm saying
Even though the night is filled with voices?
I remember everything you taught me
Every book 1've ever read...
Can all the words in all the books
Help me to face what lies ahead?
The trees are so much taller
And I feel so much smaller;
The moon is twice as lonely
And the stars are half as bright...
Papa, how I love you...
Papa, how I need you.
Papa, how I miss you
Kissing me good night...
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Blogging About My Grandmother
My grandmother was born in 1921, the fourth oldest of ten, and the third oldest of eight children that lived. She went to grade school amongst the Lutherans and spent her upper grades under the tutelage of Fess McDavid, the man who would be her brother in law. My grandmother had a knack for poetry and reciting, for writing, conducting, and giving plays, a trait which she has kept to this day. My grandmother is a natural poet, a pure talent. As a high school girl, the teachers at the school she attended all commissioned her to put on their annual plays. She drew up the cast, rehearsed the parts, and put on the plays. She also gave orations. She still has them written in her notebooks along with poems and plays that she’s written. Fess McDavid’s first wife, Mrs. Mary Foster McDavid, once told my grandmother, “ Why Thelma, if Mary MacLoed Bethune had been here to hear you give that speech, she would have taken you back with her this instant.”
After high school, my grandmother received a scholarship to Alabama A&M. She and her cousin Genice, who were the closest together, both received scholarships and went to A&M together, sharing room and board. While Cousin Genice was discovering a husband, my grandmother got sick, loosing her voice and developing an ailment in her throat that sent her back home. Papa told her, when she arrived back home, that if she could wait a couple of months, he would take her to Tuskegee for an operation from the doctors who had a clinic there. As it turns, she had a growth in her throat and my grandmother says, without anesthesia and with her wide awake, they cut the growth out, which fell directly into her lap. She recovered and the next semester enrolled at Alabama State where she took her degree in English Education. She began teaching in Autauga County, her home county, under the tutelage and principalship of her uncle, Fess(Macaulay) Goodson, my great-grandmother’s brother. She says that he told her that if she would teach his geography courses, he would teach math, because he hated geography.
At that time, teaching in Autauga County, were Fess Goodson, Fess McDavid, and Aunt Earnestine, all three of whom were principals, my Cousin Maderia( who was also a principal for a time), and Aunt Bertie. The white superintendents in the county never liked and always resented Fess McDavid, who was over the high school, because he always did things his way and did them better than they did. He had typewriters for his students when they couldn’t even think about them. He also brought professors and such from Tuskegee and Alabama State to teach and give lessons not only to his students, but to the community as well. There was also the incident where a white girl from a well-to-do family got pregnant with a black baby and was therefore taken out of school. Her family wanting her to continue her education, it was decided that they would send her to Fess, to finish high school at the Black school. Fess told them if she wasn’t good enough for their school she wasn’t good enough for his and she never did go anywhere. That was a major point of contention. All of this to pointed to the fact that they hated Fess McDavid, but never could touch him. So, when he died in 1963, they set about getting their revenge.
My grandmother says that a week after Fess’ funeral, the superintendent showed up at Aunt Bertie’s house( she and Fess had lived in the Principal’s home that was provided by Autaugaville High school, and told her that she could stay in the house, because the new principal would live elsewhere, but to “get her sister to stay with her.” Now, it was known throughout Autauga County that Hodges, the superintendent at that time, liked Black women, and slept with plenty of the Black teachers, many of them as a condition of hire. My grandmother said that Aunt Bertie started packing that night. A few weeks later, Hodges informed Aunt Bertie that her services were no longer needed in Autauga County. My grandmother was fired at the end of the year, and Aunt Earnestine was eventually taken down from her principalship and placed back in the classroom. Not long after that, Aunt Bertie made her way to Chicago. My grandmother went to Mobile, then New York (which she said she hated), and then followed to Chicago. She began teaching there in ’65 and taught there until she retired in 1981. She was one of the first teachers to integrate the Northside of Chicago.
After high school, my grandmother received a scholarship to Alabama A&M. She and her cousin Genice, who were the closest together, both received scholarships and went to A&M together, sharing room and board. While Cousin Genice was discovering a husband, my grandmother got sick, loosing her voice and developing an ailment in her throat that sent her back home. Papa told her, when she arrived back home, that if she could wait a couple of months, he would take her to Tuskegee for an operation from the doctors who had a clinic there. As it turns, she had a growth in her throat and my grandmother says, without anesthesia and with her wide awake, they cut the growth out, which fell directly into her lap. She recovered and the next semester enrolled at Alabama State where she took her degree in English Education. She began teaching in Autauga County, her home county, under the tutelage and principalship of her uncle, Fess(Macaulay) Goodson, my great-grandmother’s brother. She says that he told her that if she would teach his geography courses, he would teach math, because he hated geography.
At that time, teaching in Autauga County, were Fess Goodson, Fess McDavid, and Aunt Earnestine, all three of whom were principals, my Cousin Maderia( who was also a principal for a time), and Aunt Bertie. The white superintendents in the county never liked and always resented Fess McDavid, who was over the high school, because he always did things his way and did them better than they did. He had typewriters for his students when they couldn’t even think about them. He also brought professors and such from Tuskegee and Alabama State to teach and give lessons not only to his students, but to the community as well. There was also the incident where a white girl from a well-to-do family got pregnant with a black baby and was therefore taken out of school. Her family wanting her to continue her education, it was decided that they would send her to Fess, to finish high school at the Black school. Fess told them if she wasn’t good enough for their school she wasn’t good enough for his and she never did go anywhere. That was a major point of contention. All of this to pointed to the fact that they hated Fess McDavid, but never could touch him. So, when he died in 1963, they set about getting their revenge.
My grandmother says that a week after Fess’ funeral, the superintendent showed up at Aunt Bertie’s house( she and Fess had lived in the Principal’s home that was provided by Autaugaville High school, and told her that she could stay in the house, because the new principal would live elsewhere, but to “get her sister to stay with her.” Now, it was known throughout Autauga County that Hodges, the superintendent at that time, liked Black women, and slept with plenty of the Black teachers, many of them as a condition of hire. My grandmother said that Aunt Bertie started packing that night. A few weeks later, Hodges informed Aunt Bertie that her services were no longer needed in Autauga County. My grandmother was fired at the end of the year, and Aunt Earnestine was eventually taken down from her principalship and placed back in the classroom. Not long after that, Aunt Bertie made her way to Chicago. My grandmother went to Mobile, then New York (which she said she hated), and then followed to Chicago. She began teaching there in ’65 and taught there until she retired in 1981. She was one of the first teachers to integrate the Northside of Chicago.
Poem after Virginia Tech
Rodents running the country rodents running the country
rodents running the country
fucking up everything
rodents running the country rodents running the country
ants running the country sting
breeding intolerance sting
breeding intolerance
intolerance running the country intolerance running the country
intolerance running the country
foul smells overtaking everything I can't even breath no more
drowning to the sound of sirens security culture on my back
people can't live in steel people can't live in steel
my humanity can't be controlled either my humanity can't be controlled either
people need to be free run wild in the streets people need to be free
run wild in the streets
knock down these walls and disrupt this order knock down these walls and create
dis-order fuck up the problem thats been fucking you
create a new paradigm
because poetry never ends
rodents running the country
fucking up everything
rodents running the country rodents running the country
ants running the country sting
breeding intolerance sting
breeding intolerance
intolerance running the country intolerance running the country
intolerance running the country
foul smells overtaking everything I can't even breath no more
drowning to the sound of sirens security culture on my back
people can't live in steel people can't live in steel
my humanity can't be controlled either my humanity can't be controlled either
people need to be free run wild in the streets people need to be free
run wild in the streets
knock down these walls and disrupt this order knock down these walls and create
dis-order fuck up the problem thats been fucking you
create a new paradigm
because poetry never ends
Friday, April 27, 2007
This Years Kisses
Nina Simone
This years crop of kisses
Dont seem as sweet to me
This years crop just misses
What kisses used to be
This years new romance
Doesnt seem to have a chance
Even helped by mr. moon above
This years crop of kisses is not for me
For Im still wearin last years love.
This years crop of kisses
Dont seem as sweet to me
This years crop just misses
What kisses used to be
This years new romance
Doesnt seem to have a chance
Even helped by mr. moon above
This years crop of kisses is not for me
For Im still wearin last years love.
Beautiful Things
Everything is beautiful. I have been having good vibes lately and there are all of these messages the universe keeps sending me. Like the cover of the new edition of O really spoke to me, then today in the coffeeshop I saw Corretta Scott King's face in a magazine someone else was reading and when I was watching the Oprah Show there was someone in the audience wearing a shirt that said Faith. Her show today also really spoke to me. I am in the universe.
I Finally Figured it Out
Indiana took all of the backwardness, bigotry, and bullshit of the south, but none of the gentility. That is the difference.
The Public Should Not Forget
The public should not forget the case of the first-elected Black mayor that was murdered in Louisiana. I think there are still things to be found about that case.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Prison Uprising in Newcastle, Indiana
I am very curious about the prison uprising at the prison in Newcastle. What were the conditions that broguth these prisoners to riot? There is a lot to be investigated here.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Nikki Giovanni's Speech at Virginia Tech Vigil
We are Virginia Tech.
We are sad today, and we will be sad for quite a while. We are not moving on, we are embracing our mourning.
We are Virginia Tech.
We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly, we are brave enough to bend to cry, and we are sad enough to know that we must laugh again.
We are Virginia Tech.
We do not understand this tragedy. We know we did nothing to deserve it, but neither does a child in Africa dying of AIDS, neither do the invisible children walking the night away to avoid being captured by the rogue army, neither does the baby elephant watching his community being devastated for ivory, neither does the Mexican child looking for fresh water, neither does the Appalachian infant killed in the middle of the night in his crib in the home his father built with his own hands being run over by a boulder because the land was destabilized. No one deserves a tragedy.
We are Virginia Tech.
The Hokie Nation embraces our own and reaches out with open heart and hands to those who offer their hearts and minds. We are strong, and brave, and innocent, and unafraid. We are better than we think and not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imaginations and the possibilities. We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears and through all our sadness.
We are the Hokies.
We will prevail.
We will prevail.
We will prevail.
We are Virginia Tech.
We are sad today, and we will be sad for quite a while. We are not moving on, we are embracing our mourning.
We are Virginia Tech.
We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly, we are brave enough to bend to cry, and we are sad enough to know that we must laugh again.
We are Virginia Tech.
We do not understand this tragedy. We know we did nothing to deserve it, but neither does a child in Africa dying of AIDS, neither do the invisible children walking the night away to avoid being captured by the rogue army, neither does the baby elephant watching his community being devastated for ivory, neither does the Mexican child looking for fresh water, neither does the Appalachian infant killed in the middle of the night in his crib in the home his father built with his own hands being run over by a boulder because the land was destabilized. No one deserves a tragedy.
We are Virginia Tech.
The Hokie Nation embraces our own and reaches out with open heart and hands to those who offer their hearts and minds. We are strong, and brave, and innocent, and unafraid. We are better than we think and not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imaginations and the possibilities. We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears and through all our sadness.
We are the Hokies.
We will prevail.
We will prevail.
We will prevail.
We are Virginia Tech.
Always Connections and Something to Think About
Nikki Giovanni just had to be teaching at Virginia Tech, and just had to be one of thos young man's teachers? Oh how the universe works. I definitely feel sorry for that young man.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Iraq is such a Quagmire
And the U.S. military is learning that it must respect the sovereignty of the Iraqi government, i.e halting building that horrid wall.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
The Way We Were
I used to be so pissed at Hubbel. I still don't like him so much, but I am not as virulently against Hubbel as I used to be. He was just a wasp boy who partied all the time and never cared about anything and Katie was a Jewish girl with a conscience. Id have kicked his ass and I certainly wouldnt have begged him to come back to me.
Poem No. XXXVI: A Beautiful Boy
with braids that hung like the hanging vines of Babylon
skin a soft almond with
noble eyes
that tell what he knows and lips that betray his heritage.
Beauty in its purest form.
He wears blue beads in his hair like the ancient Egyptians with scented henna.
A beauty, a charm
Something to be experienced.
To be allowed to praise his flesh is to be allowed to have witness of the divine.
Something to love,
Something to cherish,
Something to be kept as sacred.
skin a soft almond with
noble eyes
that tell what he knows and lips that betray his heritage.
Beauty in its purest form.
He wears blue beads in his hair like the ancient Egyptians with scented henna.
A beauty, a charm
Something to be experienced.
To be allowed to praise his flesh is to be allowed to have witness of the divine.
Something to love,
Something to cherish,
Something to be kept as sacred.
Fred Hampton
They Shot him while he was in his bed
And yea I'm mad
and you say it was thirty years ago
My wounds are still fresh and every time I think about it I want to pick your brain
with the finest toothed axe available.
You shoot through him and you shoot through me
Yet I remain and must maintain in the effort of kicking your ass.
There is no room for weeping
Because tears cannot express the agony I feel and it
does not need your validation
Therefore I say
This needless tete-a-tete
must cease and desist.
And yea I'm mad
and you say it was thirty years ago
My wounds are still fresh and every time I think about it I want to pick your brain
with the finest toothed axe available.
You shoot through him and you shoot through me
Yet I remain and must maintain in the effort of kicking your ass.
There is no room for weeping
Because tears cannot express the agony I feel and it
does not need your validation
Therefore I say
This needless tete-a-tete
must cease and desist.
Mos Def
Mos I run my hands up and down to feel you
Bearing the need to find the moss to lead myself to freedom.
I need to round myself around your chocolate earthy face
stick my tongue in your mouth and claim your lips for an elusive moment
Take a drink of your sustaining water
def definitely slide myself up and down
using you as my whimsical maypole.
Let me use you as my licking stick,
use you as my rocking horse
While I feel your heartbeat within you
You, electric rod, god of matter, run your current through my body giving me life
And a wish for shallow breathing.
Bearing the need to find the moss to lead myself to freedom.
I need to round myself around your chocolate earthy face
stick my tongue in your mouth and claim your lips for an elusive moment
Take a drink of your sustaining water
def definitely slide myself up and down
using you as my whimsical maypole.
Let me use you as my licking stick,
use you as my rocking horse
While I feel your heartbeat within you
You, electric rod, god of matter, run your current through my body giving me life
And a wish for shallow breathing.
Sharing My Poetry
Poem For Nina II
Nina sits at the piano in her bright colors
Bejeweled fingers against the keys, the elegant amber of her soprano
lets out into the air soaking up the beauty of the world.
When she hums bees are making honey
When she sighs, the world is set freely floating
Her groans possess the bitter irony of the world and the magic of the notes she plays
distinctively conjure up the secrets of the earth, the answer to the very existence of life.
This poem is for Nina, the sorceress, the goddess
who can change the seasons from winter to spring,
who brings the darkness into the night.
Nina is Mother Earth who makes the world's blood curdle in the soil. The priestess who testifies, the prophet who decries the army of sins racked up against humanity.
She is the medicine woman connected to every spirit and who in turn touches every soul. The Rasta with long braids and lips that personify truth.
Nina Simone is that cosmic rock that sets the world to spinning,
always in constant motion.
She brings to the world the ire that is the only force with the
power to make the volcano erupt.
Nina sits at the piano in her bright colors
Bejeweled fingers against the keys, the elegant amber of her soprano
lets out into the air soaking up the beauty of the world.
When she hums bees are making honey
When she sighs, the world is set freely floating
Her groans possess the bitter irony of the world and the magic of the notes she plays
distinctively conjure up the secrets of the earth, the answer to the very existence of life.
This poem is for Nina, the sorceress, the goddess
who can change the seasons from winter to spring,
who brings the darkness into the night.
Nina is Mother Earth who makes the world's blood curdle in the soil. The priestess who testifies, the prophet who decries the army of sins racked up against humanity.
She is the medicine woman connected to every spirit and who in turn touches every soul. The Rasta with long braids and lips that personify truth.
Nina Simone is that cosmic rock that sets the world to spinning,
always in constant motion.
She brings to the world the ire that is the only force with the
power to make the volcano erupt.
When I Was Little I Used to Think this Song Was About Dr. King
He's got the whole world in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands.
He's got my brothers and my sisters in His hands,
He's got my brothers and my sisters in His hands,
He's got my brothers and my sisters in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands.
He's got the sun and the rain in His hands,
He's got the moon and the stars in His hands,
He's got the wind and the clouds in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands.
He's got the rivers and the mountains in His hands,
He's got the oceans and the seas in His hands,
He's got you and he's got me in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands.
He's got everybody here in His hands,
He's got everybody there in His hands,
He's got everybody everywhere in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands.
He's got the whole world in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands.
He's got my brothers and my sisters in His hands,
He's got my brothers and my sisters in His hands,
He's got my brothers and my sisters in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands.
He's got the sun and the rain in His hands,
He's got the moon and the stars in His hands,
He's got the wind and the clouds in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands.
He's got the rivers and the mountains in His hands,
He's got the oceans and the seas in His hands,
He's got you and he's got me in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands.
He's got everybody here in His hands,
He's got everybody there in His hands,
He's got everybody everywhere in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands.
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