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.

Remembering David Halbertsam

1934-2007

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.

My reasoning for mentioning Nikki Giovanni is because I ran across this blog that blamed her for what he did. The "Angry Black Woman." The question: do these people have something to be angry about?

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.

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.

Happy Birthday to Albie on yesterday! Happy Birthday to Barbra today!

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.

Boris Yeltsin Dead

Perhaps not the most progressive person in the world, but what a passing.

For one whole summer while I was at my Uncle's house, I stayed up in the room with the inlaid wood and watched K.D. Lang's "Constant Craving," and Madonna's "This Used tto Be My PlayGround," on MTV. Interesting what things come to me.

I am not sure if I have blogged about this before, but I so remember my mother making me polish my shoes so we could attend Harold Washington's funeral. I remember standing in line at the funeral for the viewing of the body. I have so many memories.

French Elections

We want no right wing government in France!

Come On Segolene Royal! The French should definitely choose her!

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.

Poem No. LXXXVI

My cousin Brooke was always "Ms. Go"
While I was always too busy being content.

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.

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.

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.

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.