Amiri Baraka Speaks Out About Obama

Amiri Baraka - also known as a founding father of the Black Arts Movement - had the following to say about Obama's campaign. As a young person who has benefited from his time, energy and gentle support. I pass along his words as he requested.

The Parade of Anti-Obama Rascals
- Amiri Baraka

We certainly know the animals of the right, the US Reich, the Foxes and Klan in Civilian clothes, e.g., O'Reilly, Hannity, Limbaugh &c and certainly a coon or two Tavis & Andy, some people even came up with the slogan Strangle Rangel. Happily w/the departure of Bonnie & Clyde more of these Negro retainers will replace their " HillJig" buttons with the shit eating grin of exposed Toms as they try to ease painlessly into at least the margin of the masses who support Obama .

But I'm talking about another substantial pimple of soi disant, dare I say, intellectuals & self advertised radicals who are quite audible & wordy in opposition to Obama. You might say, 'but how is that, since now there is only the prisoner of war, McCain , whose proves every time he opens his mouth that he is still a prisoner of the Viet Nam war' that Obama faces. McCain's major campaign plank is that Americans need to keep dying in Iraq and our tax monies need to keep being fed to Halliburton and the other oilies and cronies. McCain also holds that we continue the Bush type savaging of the US constitution by denying habeas corpus and the legal rights of prisoners in Guantanamo. Keep it open as a Bush-Cheney concentration camp. McCain also wants to maintain the widespread hatred of the US by the world, as well as making Bush' giveaway Tax cuts for the super rich permanent.

Here's a charming character who on returning from Viet nam soon dumped his lst wife who had been severely crippled in an automobile accident, to run off with, among others, a beer brewery heiress who cd support his political barn storming. Here's a man, who for all the media clap about him being "an independent" is the spiritual follower of the man whose seat he sits in as Senator from Arizona, Barry Goldwater.

I mention all this because it is criminal for these people claiming to be radical or intellectual to oppose or refuse to support Obama. I hope we don't have to hear about "the lesser of two evils" from people whose foolish mirror worship wd have us elect the worst of two evils.

For those who claim radical by supporting McKinney or, brain forbid, the Nadir of fake liberalism, we shd have little sympathy. As much as I have admired Cynthia McKinney, to pose her candidacy as an alternative to Obama is at best empty idealism, at worst nearly as dangerous as when the Nader used the same windy egotism to help elect Bush.

The people who are supporting McKinney must know that that is an empty gesture. But too often such people are so pocked with self congratulatory idealism, that they care little or understand little about politics (i.e. the gaining maintaining and use of power) but want only to pronounce , to themselves mostly, how progressive or radical or even revolutionary they are.

Faced with the obvious that McKinney cannot actually do anything by running but put out lines a solid left bloc shd put out anyway, their pre-joinder is that Obama will be running as a candidate of an imperialist party, or Imperialism will not let Obama do anything different or progressive…that he will do the same things any democrat would do and that the Democrats are using Obama to draw young people to the Democratic party. Also that there is a sector of the bourgeoisie supports Obama to put a new face on the US as alternative to the Devil face Bush has projected as the American image.

Some of these things I agree with, but before qualifying that let me say that no amount of solipsistic fist pounding about "radical principles" will change this society as much as the election of Barack Obama will as president of the US. Not to understand this is to have few clues about the history of this country, its people, or the history of the Black struggle in the US. It is also to be completely at odds with the masses of the Afro-American people, let us say with the masses of black and colored people internationally. How people who claim to lead the people but who time after time tail them so badly must be understood. It is because they confuse elitism with class consciousness.

And at this point, the US body politic has been taken too far in this present election campaign to easily dissolve this heavy challenge to its historic race & class exclusivity. The positive aspect of Hillary Clinton's candidacy and commitment to work in the Obama campaign has certainly shredded some of the gender exclusivity as well, so that there is in reality a prospect that some substantive change can be made. Obama is the democratic nominee. Only repeats of the outright election theft of Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004 can put McCain in the white house. In 2 weeks, since the Democratic Party primaries ended, McCain's poll numbers have dropped from a dead heat w/ Obama to trailing by 18 points.

It is up to revolutionaries and progressives and radicals of all stripes to make it difficult for another larceny in November. We should agitate for serious disruption across this country and internationally if such a criminal attempt to steal the US presidency is mounted.

For the so called left and would be radicals (and some grinning idiots who say they don't even care about politics) the McKinney gambit is to label oneself "Quixote of the loyal opposition" to pipsqueak a hiss of disproval at the rulers while being an enabler of the same. Neither McCain nor McKinney will help us. Only Obama offers some actual help.

Even the dumbest things Obama has said re: Cuba and the soft shoe for Israel must be seen as the cost of realpolitik, that is he is not running for president of the NAACP and not to understand that those are the stances that must be taken in the present political context, even though we hold out to support what he said about initiating talks with the Cubans, the Palestinians . After years of Washington stupidity and slavish support for the Miami Gusanos and Israeli imperialism, there is in Obama's raising of talks with the US Bourgeois enemies something that must be understood as the potential path for new initiative. It is the duty of a left progressive radical bloc to be loud and regular in our demands for the changes Obama has alluded to in his campaign. We must take up these issues and push collectively, as a Bloc, or he will be pushed inexorably to the right.

Some people were grousing about the father's day address and the stance he took lecturing Black men to actually become fathers not just disappearing sexual partners. But can anyone who actually lives in the hood, and has raised children there really claim that what Obama said is somehow an "insult to half a race". We need to take up that idea of making Black men stand up and embrace fatherhood (a lifetime gig) as men and quit winking at the vanished baby makers that litter our community with fatherless children. This is where a great deal of the raw material comes from for the gangs that imperil our communities.

As I answered one irate e-mailer who was pissed off at Obama for leveling that challenge, a Negro man killed my only sister, a Negro man killed my youngest daughter. I can't give no mealy mouth slack about that, we need to Stand Up!

Obama has addressed the Israeli lobby and the Gusano (anti Cuba) lobby. But where is the Black left and general progressive, radical and revolutionary lobby? That is the real job we need to address. We must bring something to the table. It is time for the left to really make some kind of Left Bloc to support Obama. I was at the Black Left meeting in North Carolina and had to argue with a group of folks who want to be revolutionary as heck with a Reconstruction Party supporting Cynthia McKinney. Though there was some good discussion, nothing concrete has been offered especially around the Obama campaign.

There were even a few badly disguised nationalists, posing as part of the left who think such posturing somehow more revolutionary than getting Obama into the oval office and dealing with getting him there and the rocking and rolling that will go on in this country whether he makes it or not. We ought to be putting together a left bloc document that can be circulated as soon and as widely as possible and in Denver and depending on the circumstances, beyond. Using this as a means of drawing the excited masses to the left.

We always knew that the Obama campaign had the potential to do this. And the closer we get to the convention and then the election even more excitement will be generated. We shd not let our role be to stand on the sidelines and mumble how hip we are, we can't be so hip we let this cross roads of US history pass us by and possibly even let the lobotomized Robocop of right wing Republicanism serve us up more Bush' it.

I am sending this document right after I finish writing it to the Black Radical Congress who is meeting in St. Louis this weekend. I would hope it could be circulated.

Amiri Baraka 6/21/08

Compelling Reasons To Vote Republican

The video "I'm Voting Republican" has been floating around for awhile. But, it must be seen. So, if this hasn't already crossed your inbox, enjoy!

Great Ideas - Free To Make, Hard To Manifest

Some ideas - if realised - may make a stunning contribution towards social justice. Others may simply be a way to create some financial independence. Regardless of the long term outcome, there are innovative ways to make things happen for yourself.

I’m one of those people who often sits around pondering the next multimillion dollar business. Sometimes I see variations on my ideas brought to life by some other industrious person. And I’m glad for them.

I don’t necessarily crave the stress and time consuming obsessive commitment that it takes to sustain your own business. Done that a few times, enjoyed it. Now, I’m all about chilling with my family.

But, I’m always fascinated by philanthropy and/or anything that has to do with using OPM* to get things moving and shaking. To that end, I thought ‘d take a moment to share some interesting sites for my more industrious and clever readers. And some interesting sites which are using OPM to make a difference in the world.

Ideablob
Want to start a business? Want to pilot a program? Save the world and make money? Try Ideablob. This site allows anyone to submit an idea. The person with the most votes towards their idea wins $10,000. Yes, you heard that right, $10,000.

Fundable
Want to make a film? Want to get your pet an expensive surgery? Need money to get married? Losing your home? Try Fundable. The idea is that you set a goal for how much money you need. A deadline is given. People make donations. If you don’t reach your goal, nobody looses any money. You can always try again another time.

Kiva
Want to be the O in OPM? Feeling altruistic? Want to economically empower someone in a developing nation? Kiva lets you lend someone $25 and actually make a difference. Just log on, read about different entrepreneurs and lend them money. Most likely, they’ll pay you back. I’m amazed by the numbers of men and women in Africa who are participating in this program.

I’m sharing these sites because I’ve been clicking around some of these sites. It is fascinating what people are willing to ask for. I see a lot of socially conscious ideas on Ideablob. I see a lot of pet surgeries and whining on Fundable. But, I’m finding it difficult to actually cough up some cash - or in the case of Ideablob - even offer a free vote.

What strikes me the hardest is a lack of participation by Persons Of Colour, specifically blacks and Black women. The only site which continues to uplift me is Kiva. Even in this case, the lender profiles I always see tend to be People Of European Descent. C’mon guys! Let’s begin using these resources.

*Other People’s Money

shock and awe

"The US has been in Iraq for a while now and every time I see a clip on tv about an American soldier or Iraqi people dying I do not react and it does not disturb me in the least. And I fear that this is the usual reaction of most people to reports about Zimbabwe and the people dying there."

- Lister Chapeta
in an email about her homeland, Zimbabwe
to former teacher and Cave Canem poet, Monique Adelle Callahan

independence

day ~ a movie;
a place used
by candidates
to underline
their message;
the beer;
& bbq. the children

dying.

ours
explode
rockets; laughing
dance sparklers;
throw snaps;
(gunshot sounds flung from the tips of their fingers)
scorch pavement black
thrilled to be outside
after street lamps

turn on.

MORE:

* about Zimbabwe in the Herald Tribune, US Pushes For UN Sanctions On Zimbabwe.

* the flickr page which inspired the poem which was sent in the email. Warning: not for the faint of heart or the easily ill. But - it's what the news doesn't want us to see. Zimbabwe Photostream and the Children Photostream

*

Prince Is 50, I am 44

it took me a long time to come to Prince.
Controversy was exactly what he brought

to my life. the first time I spent the night
with an african-american school chum,

I was given Prince:
after Suzuki, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith; and

a secret, bad, uninvited wet grinding;
by a boy Blacker than I'd ever seen -

Prince dampened a cultural orientation
awakened by the Mothership's abandonment...

no longer satisfied by flailing overbites
and embracing Kansas with the resulting grounding ~

lateral slick solitude for sneaktheifery
inspired by kinky White girls

with big hair boyfriends. he inflicted
greater ~ or lesser

damage. curvilinear
violations easier with silky metal hair.

bright white. big hair. aliens
here we are together again.

secure and anxious about time
and her tricky minions.

my cross-dressing son needs
an appropriate role model...

that traumatic love learns.
manifests.

The Mouths Of Babes

This entertaining young man presents some of the very reasons I home educate. He evaluates public libraries versus public schools.

Lakshmi Made Mortal

Now is the time to rejoice!
say the medical workers.

(The twin corpse experiences
her only moment of individuality

as a slaughtered pig. No
brain - only limbs and muscles

fattening Indian doctor egos
erasing Euro medical school years

with swift agonising
scalpel sweeps.)

Rejoice! Divinity
unnecessary. Normalcy,

please! normalcy! Paparazzi
click, shrug, flex,

nostrils turn West already
another Goddess is readied.

Emptying The Water Table

five buckets of dirty

water for sunflower

seedlings. we wait

for long bodies

fat brown

faces full of seed

to remind us.

Subway Apologizes To Homeschoolers!

Various email lists and World Net Daily report that Subway has apologized for excluding homeschoolers. One mother I know who wrote an especially wonderful letter got a lovely reply. It just goes to show that taking a little bit of time to challenge assumptions can go a long way.

One email list to which I belong posted this personal reply to a letter.

Regarding your concerns about the Subway contest that excludes
home schools from contest eligibility, Scholastic and Subway apologize
to all individuals who have taken offense at this. Our intention was
never to make independent schooled children feel discriminated against
or excluded from this specific promotion.

Throughout the course of the year Scholastic runs a number of
contests and sweepstakes that are open to all teachers and students.
The eligibility of this contest in particular was solely put in place
to award a large group of children with the grand prize of $5,000
worth of athletic equipment. We do however understand how home-
schooled children could benefit from this type of prizing and will
make sure eligibility is open to everyone in future promotions.

We appreciate your feedback and will make sure a similar situation
does not happen in the future.

I want to thank you for taking time to contact Subway. AFA has thanked
them on your behalf."

Thanks to any of my readers who took time to write an email or call. Your voices were heard.

Only Government Sanctioned Rhetoric Welcome

Subway has a writing contest for kids! Yes, the "health conscious" fast food corporation wants children to express themselves. They may be pushing health - but not emotional health. And they make it a point to let potential applicants know that if they are being educated outside of the traditional indoctrinisation industry---they are not welcome.

Phooey on them! Is excellence so scary? Afraid of a few vocal midgets? Was the 2007 homeschooled recent Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion too terrifying? Wikipedia seems to think so.

Advantage....huh, what, excuse me? Scrabbling for resources? Pinching food money to pay for gas to get to lessons? Transforming 15 minutes of adult time into the foundation for a healthy marital relationship? Going to bed flattened and unsatisfied because everyone is so exhausted by facilitating learning?

Everyone makes the best choices for their families. Every single parent on this planet is making sacrifices for their children's benefit. So, why should home educators be excluded because our best choice often works to the advantage of our children?

Wasn't the Civil Right Movement about creating a level playing field? Subway's exclusion of homeschoolers - and Black homeschoolers in particular - negates years of advances which were paid for by death, beating, firehoses, busing and disintegration of the family.

We are exercising our right to have our children educated. It is a scary nation where corporations seek to subdue knowledge displayed on a field which welcomes all comers.

Correspondence / calls may be directed to:

Contact:	Franchise Sales
Phone:	203 877 4281
Email:	Franchise@Subway.com
Website:	Franchise.Subway.com
Address:	325 Bic Dr Milford, CT 06460 United States

If you can't write, call or email....just don't dine with them. We've crossed them off our list. If I get time, I'll post some tips on packing neat picnics for the on-the-go family. It's easier than you think.

Strut On Home | Reginald Lockett Makes His Transition

Strut On Home, Then
for Reginald Lockett

don’t mind me here in the garden
of glitter supervision, dish doing and
legal numbers sung in four languages.

strut on home,

only my capillaries ache. the veins
may sprout mushrooms soon, but
the floor mops itself. a great
relief now as one garden pushes
spreading roots and leaves.
the other fades.

strut on home,

it is Spring
filled as usual with big boned boys cutting
their Mamas bellies open for a first breath;
old women pressing Rosebud leaves to their wrinkled lips;
and single malt voiced men with nothing left to say.

________

It's been a few days. I'm glad my daughter, Imani, dragged me out of retirement and into my first American reading in five years. It was lovely!

Then, dear, sweet, kind, talented Reginald Lockett passed away quite suddenly. It made me realize the importance of staying out there. You never know. These days - these things make me a little more crazy about keeping a clean house. My grandmother used to always say, You never now how you'll be returning. I am profoundly aware of this wisdom right now.

And I am very sad. And I have been very sad for a few days.

I'm grateful for Cave Canem bringing him into my awareness. Poet, Al Young, has the most moving tribute on his site here. Please drop by Al Young's site and share these memories with me. Thanks.

More of Reginald Lockett's work can be found here.

Or you could always just check out his books

Random History Lessons

Where The Birds Sing Bass

The Party Crashers Of Paradise








I'll leave you with this lovely poem.

Yes

Reginald Lockett
from The Party Crashers of Paradise

I say yes!
Yes to love yes to you
Yes to me yes to us
Yes to the sun yes to the moon
Yes to the stars yes to trees
Yes to grass yes to rocks
Yes on top of mountains
And hills yes down in valleys
Yes to our minds yes to our hearts
Yes to our souls yes to the heavenly bodies
Yes yes yes the simple yes
Yes yes yes the profound yes the honest yes
The illuminated yes the diaphanous yes
The sanctified yes
Yes yes yes
Yes to the sparkle in your eyes yes when I gaze at you
Yes when I think about you
Yes in our embrace
Yes to the traces of your lipstick on a wineglass
Yes to the fullness and softness of your lips
Yes to the warmth and smoothness of your skin
Yes in the ways you touch me yes
Yes to the father who sired you yes
Yes to the mother who gave birth to you yes
Yes to your ancestors yes yes yes
Yes to the ground you walk on yes
Yes to the air you breathe yes
Yes to the water you drink yes
Yes to the fruit you eat yes
Si si si qui qui qui to the places you have traveled yes
Yes to the sky you fly through yes
Yes to the roads streets and highways you drive on yes
Yes to the oceans you sail across yes
Yes to the Orishas who bless and protect you yes
Say yo-ho on the stages where you dance yes
Hunh! To the thought of you
That yes
Mmmm-mmmmm! To the scent of you
That yes .
Ooooweeee! To your kiss
That yes
Yes to the secrets we whisper at nigh
Yes to the song we sing at dawn
Yes to the walks we take on the bead
I give thanks to the yesness of your e
And the essence of your yesness
Oh yeah
Oh yeah
Oh yeah
Say yo-ho on the stages where you dance yes
Hunh! To the thought of you
That yes
Mmmm-mmmmm! To the scent of you
That yes
Ooooweeee! To your kiss
That yes
Yes to the secrets we whisper at night
Yes to the song we sing at dawn
Yes to the walks we take on the beach
I give thanks to the yesness of your essence
And the essence of your yesness
Oh yeah
Oh yeah
Oh yeah
______________


Yes, thank you, Reginald.

They Still Care!

City Paper put my reading on their short list! (Scroll all the way down to the bottom!)

I'll read old and new work. The show will follow three loose themes:
young womanhood/identity,
motherhood/ witnessing children's lives and
elder wisdom/ blessings.

If you're around, see you there!

Heads Up Austin

Back when Imani was growing up, I explained to her why casual sex was a bad idea. Every time we had one of the many big talks, I let her know that every time she had sex with somebody - their souls and auras merged. This meant that if her romantic attachment didn’t work out in this lifetime, she ended up carrying a piece of that persons soul for the rest of her lifetimes.

But, you don't have to get that deep to forge those permanent connections. Sometimes souls inexplicably link up and remained tied together. I have someone whom I’ll be carrying for a long time. His name was Ricardo Ramos. He helped me bring Imani into this world. He was my co-parent for six solid years...before he died tragically of lymphoma. I do not write of him often. (I’m not willing to dive that deep into pain.) I light candles and stew upon him with a somewhat obsessive regularity. He was my family of choice. And his family became mine.

Who says Blacks and Latinos don't get along? Hah! (Well, actually, I know who but we won't be name-calling on this blog tonight.)

Regardless, Ricardo's family and I have connected willy-nilly, catch-as-can these past years. And so - with a flood of memories into my inbox -they invite me to wake up Texas and go do something by my man Obama.

Ricardo’s family has come together to rally behind Obama. His brother and sister, Danny and Eva - pictured to the left - will be working up the crowds in Austin. Go get your groove on for me and add your wispy essence to this greater “US” the country is trying to make. Besides - it’s on my Dad’s birthday. Can you say karma?


What: House Party hosted by Austin’s Team Deliver Puerto Rico
When: Saturday, May 17, 2008, 4:00 to 6:00PM
Where: 7801 Moonflower Drive , Austin , TX 78750

4:00-5:00PM -- Salsa DJ Fabian – Austin 's favorite salsa DJ
5:00-6:00PM -- Live Music by Cienfuegos Duo

Come help support Team Deliver Puerto Rico – Puertorican style, with salsa music and dancing! Puerto Rico 's primary will be June 1 (the last primaries are on June 3). Delegates up for grabs in Puerto Rico : 63 – more than 4 remaining states! (Proportionate distribution, not winner-take-all.)

Eva Ramos is going to Puerto Rico to help the local Obama campaign in the days before this important island primary. Let's send her off with our support!

Come to our Puertorican House Party to show your support! Texas state delegates and alternates have been invited, as well as other Obamans!

Yes we can – Si, se puede!
¡Obámanos!

Small Shiny Secret Bits Of Joy

I despise direct marketing and postage paid envelopes. I vastly dislike having to clutter up my house recycling them. In one of my "order, now! frenzies," my Self boxes and bruises my Self about contributing to consumer waste and adding needless waste to our over-burdened landfills.

I adore my son's artwork. I worry about using so much paper. Thanks to one of the PghMamas, I have found a happy, joyful solution. I am now mailing the day's least favoured artwork - postage paid - to some lovely minimum wage worker who has to slog through and log hundreds of pieces of mail everyday. On each one, I write specially handcrafted to brighten your day.

I only hope they enjoy it. As for the corporations.....well.....let them figure out how to recycle all of it. Regardless, it gives me some small shiny secret bit of joy.

Since I 'm Stuck on Old Fashioned Hair Texts, Let Me Recommend A Lovely Hair Book

Say "hair" to a Black woman and you will provoke strong emotion. I've been scanning through poems as I prepare for my reading on Thursday. (8:00 at Your Inner Vagabond Cafe) I have more hair poems than any one writer should amass in a lifetime. I'm beginning to think I should just skip all of the descriptive language in a poem which deals with being a little girl and getting my hair done. I could eliminate the 3 to 4 stanzas and simply begin,

Hair.
My Mom.
The Comb.
You know the rest.
This poem is really about
__insert rest of poem here.____


Instead - I debate reading The Motherboard versus this one:

Real Dolls

Mother yanked me out of the crumpled
cozy basket of my bed. Every morning,

slammed me onto the ironing board.
Ran the solid heat back and forth until no

deviant angles ruined the complex
folds and pleats. Hung me out

for the world to admire. When
I pried the wind-up key from my back,

my lungs took their first deep breath.
Frigid air blinked my eyes.

A jittery strobe light world.
Plucked out each spirit pinching pin,

scoured my soul on an old washboard.
until one wrinkle of laughter

unraveled me.

Double starch straight and pressed,
my cousin's mouth forces a crease. Real smile

hidden behind her teeth.
Behind her tongue. Her epiglottis.

Guilt. Snarls of rigid voices.
When emotions arrive at her throat,

she swallows. I see the forbidden
pushing, bulging against her neck.

Under powder and rouge,
flushed young skin

flawless deadpan face,
Shirt collar so stiff,

if she turns her head too fast,
I worry the soft arch of her

throat will slice open.

What could I see
if I startled her?

I want to caress the small of her back.
Touch her key. If I yanked it out,

she might flop over
eyes glazed and lifeless.

Instead, I hug her gingerly.
Lots of space between us.

Careful. Afraid to break her.
My hand grazes the girdle

squeezing her size from six to four.
Black slash near the base of her skull.

A curling iron beauty mark.
Wonder if she will ever refuse

dry cleaning. Curl lascivious
spent next to a pink satin hanger

on the floor. Or fondly stroke
a stain from one humid night

when she gorged ice cream.
Let it dribble down her chin.

Cool her nipple.
Wink

an abandoned chuckle.

So, when I encounter an writer who has put the agony to the side and approaches hair with warmth and humour, I am impressed! Let me recommend, Catching The Wild Waiyuuzee by Rita Williams-Garcia. The text is lively and spirited. The illustrations are lovely wonderful. They kept Winston guessing until the end that The Wild Waiyuuzee is a little girl running away from her mother on hair day.

(Of course, it has never occurred to him to scream, fuss and carry-on when I actually sit down to remove the mini-dreads which form on the back of his head. Don't let all of those lovely curls foll you. He has real, honest-to-goodness Black hair side by side with those "soft" curls.)

This is a book for the permanent library. This is one you will save and give to your daughter (or son) on their first Mother/ Father's Day. This is one I'm sure we'll act out the next time I come towards him with a comb in my hand. This is one that I wished had been written when my daughter was little. This is one which shows me how much more growing I have to do. Enjoy!

Spring Constructions

Mother's Day was a bust. But, the day before was awesome. So, I'm not complaining. Instead, I want to celebrate. Tonight, I want to celebrate children who can create magic out of a few sticks, rocks, bricks and natural bric-a-brac. I want to celebrate the act of witnessing "construction and self."

Installation One - Bench

Bench was a creation built by the newly forming "No Global Warming Club" at PALS. Between classes, a few children took it upon themselves to create a bench. They spent an inordinate amount of time using the material at hand; negotiating and implementing design. The result was a major victory in the areas of collaboration; design; architecture; and physics.

Here is Bench. Constructed of rocks, vines, sticks, and dirt - all materials found in their immediate surroundings - it held the weight!


Because our host site for classes seems less than child friendly, we had to dismantle Bench. The kids were sad, yet, cooperative. Somewhere deep inside of them is a steady pulse which beats a mantra of "leave no mark." For this, we are blessed.

Witness the end of Bench.



Installation Two - Virtues

One afternoon, Winston and his friend Pearl were having trouble connecting. So, I dug deep into my bag of theatre tricks and pulled out a story. I sent them on quest after quest to save my kingdom. Together, they had to find many wands. Time after time the "enemy" came against us." Each time they would have to seek an object which would transform the enemy into a friend.

I sent them searching for the wands of unity, compassion, understanding, justice, unity, unconditional love, courage, cooperation and a few more I can't remember. Each time I sent them out, we reviewed how these goals were achieved. (Okay - it was a basic vocabulary lesson.) Then, once the "queendom" was secure, we built a monument.

Here is our monument to Peace through the deep passageways of compassion, understanding, justice, unity, unconditional love, courage, cooperation, etc., etc.

What I found interesting is that as we constructed the monument, they remembered which stick was which. (I had long fogrotten.) And each idea leaned - somehow - appropriately upon the other.

It has since been mowed by the city.

I Would Rather Be An Elephant In A Healthy Herd Than A Human

The cops in Philly went nuts on a suspects after an officer was recently gunned down in an unrelated incident. Of course, the blogosphere has a lot to say about this. The Field Negro understands that two wrongs don't make a right. And refers to the cop-killer as an animal. Raving Black Lunatic makes a plea against stripping away the humanity of anyone regardless of how heinous their crimes are.

I just want to leave a thought. Animals do not rape, murder or abuse their children. Animals do not willfully destroy their habitats or the habitats of others. Animals do not set up elaborate systems designed to suppress other animals.

They do none of these things unless humans have messed with them. This New York Times article is very illuminating. There are moments when you can simply change the word elephant for Black. It is scary how quickly and easily we - as humans - can undo thousands of years of evolution towards maintaining a healthy, balanced, peaceful social infrstructure. Excerpts from An Elephant Crack Up?

Since the early 1990’s, for example, young male elephants in Pilanesberg National Park and the Hluhluwe-Umfolozi Game Reserve in South Africa have been raping and killing rhinoceroses; this abnormal behavior, according to a 2001 study in the journal Pachyderm, has been reported in ‘‘a number of reserves’’ in the region. In July of last year, officials in Pilanesberg shot three young male elephants who were responsible for the killings of 63 rhinos, as well as attacks on people in safari vehicles. In Addo Elephant National Park, also in South Africa, up to 90 percent of male elephant deaths are now attributable to other male elephants, compared with a rate of 6 percent in more stable elephant communities.

But in ‘‘Elephant Breakdown,’’ a 2005 essay in the journal Nature, Bradshaw and several colleagues argued that today’s elephant populations are suffering from a form of chronic stress, a kind of species-wide trauma. Decades of poaching and culling and habitat loss, they claim, have so disrupted the intricate web of familial and societal relations by which young elephants have traditionally been raised in the wild, and by which established elephant herds are governed, that what we are now witnessing is nothing less than a precipitous collapse of elephant culture.

The number of older matriarchs and female caregivers (or ‘‘allomothers’’) had drastically fallen, as had the number of elder bulls, who play a significant role in keeping younger males in line. In parts of Zambia and Tanzania, a number of the elephant groups studied contained no adult females whatsoever. In Uganda, herds were often found to be ‘‘semipermanent aggregations,’’ as a paper written by Bradshaw describes them, with many females between the ages of 15 and 25 having no familial associations.

As a result of such social upheaval, calves are now being born to and raised by ever younger and inexperienced mothers. Young orphaned elephants, meanwhile, that have witnessed the death of a parent at the hands of poachers are coming of age in the absence of the support system that defines traditional elephant life. ‘‘The loss of elephant elders,’’ Bradshaw told me, ‘‘and the traumatic experience of witnessing the massacres of their family, impairs normal brain and behavior development in young elephants.’’

Sound familiar? And it took under 30 years for them to get really angry and fight back.

I'd rather be an elephant in a healthy herd than a human. I wouldn't have to worry about the other elephants. I'd just worry about the real predators - the humans. Those creatures who not only have messed up their own herds, but are hell bent on destroying everyone else's.

Yes, We Can |The Empire Strikes Barack

Have fun!

I Love My Bubble, I Wish It Would Burst

and spray harmony all over the world

As I contemplate my almost conquered garden - pictures later - I’d like to draw you towards two interesting discussions happening on Anti-Racist Parent. Recently Maegan "la Mala" Ortiz and our own dear Tami Winfrey had some insightful posts.

Deep, sweet, profound Maegan wrote three intense vignettes about those things we don’t want to expose our children to... but have to because we are all alive in America. Blessed be! Thank you world for providing “learning-all-the-time-opportunities!” Pitooey!

I don’t frequent Anti-Racist Parent frequently. In fact, I only visit when wonderful Deesha at Mamalicious posts something. After reading Maegan’s post and reviewing the comments, all I could think was:

Why is it that a majority of majority parents think that anti-racist parenting involves dancing in a field of sunflowers with gingham-clad pick-a-ninnies and blonde cherubs with linked hands singing some weird hybrid of We Shall Overcome and the Star-Spangled Banner?

Hear my imagination a moment:

National (Black) Anthem Remix

O! say can you see by the dawn's early light

We shall overcome, we shall overcome,
We shall overcome someday

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?

We're on to victory, We're on to victory,
We're on to victory someday;

Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,

We'll walk hand in hand, we'll walk hand in hand,
We'll walk hand in hand someday;

O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

We are not afraid, we are not afraid,
We are not afraid today;

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

The truth shall make us free, the truth shall make us free,
The truth shall make us free someday;

Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

We shall live in peace, we shall live in peace,
We shall live in peace someday..

Okay - I have a strange imagination...
which it made me think - that’s a nice goal...

but I need to keep my son alive long enough for me to be a grandmother. And these White women seem to think I’m always hunting racism rather than racism always hunting me. I don’t know what I do to provoke it. I’m always just standing there as innocent as innocent can be. Then, !RACISM! leaps up and tries to bite my ass.

It killed Sean Bell. It killed Darryl Turner. I can’t remember a time when Black boys and men weren’t born with a target on their backs. No. I’m not paranoid. Go sign up for a newsfeed titled “Black male man boy killed by police.” Check back with me in 2 months - maybe sooner. Then prove to me how much I’m looking for racism.

But enough! Everyone always needs a little chocolate syrup on their disappointment pie. So, Tami had the courage to discuss the alienation so many middle-class Blacks face when making the right choices for their family. (This, of course after Hilarious tries to divide our community by portraying Obama as elitist. Suddenly - all of us who scrabbled through are checking our elitist pedigree and pruning or purging our family trees n favour of unity.) Tami's brave post How To Teach Diversity In A Diversity Free Zone was right on point.

For me, there was a moment of EEEk! The dirty laundry! And then the calm of standing back to notice the entire neighbourhood has dirty laundry. I made a comment there that I haven’t had the courage to make here. This comment was generated from the exact same awareness of the strange serendipity which brought my husband and me together. We met. We connected. We danced; had dinners; saw great shows. We had some profoundly great sex. And in the afterglow we both looked at each other and without saying anything, we both thought, I always wanted a close Black friend.

So, why can’t we figure out a way to deliver this to our son? (IE - a deep, trusting familiarity and comfort with Brown people.) Why should I worry tha the majority of his closest friends are blonde and blue-eyed? Will there even be an impact on his identity psyche? And finally, will it even matter when he is 21 - especially if we work our asses off now to raise consciousness; make connections based on shared values; and do what we can for those who do not share our current advantages?

Like Tami - I have no answers.

Except one which I was trying to avoid. Why is it that it always seems to come back to some upstart man with a Mother much like my husband’s who insists, Yes, We Can And somehow - eyes wide open - I have to try to make that reality for myself.

Our Future Is Bright

Thanks to my African-American Unschooling list, I became aware of this wonderful article in The Village Voice, For Some Black Parents, The New Home Room Is Home.

For so long, and especially in the wake of all the sacrifices made for Brown VS Board Of Edu, we have allowed our children to be buried alive by the school systems. I will state that many parents find school situations which work for them. And then there are those parents who would like to home educate, but, find themselves unable to because personal circumstances. These parents make do. And many of them turn "making do" into might fine active parenting indeed.

After home educating the early years, I sent my daughter, Imani, to a series of schools. None of them served her. Her final school was Schenley High School, which actually was the best place to end her formal education.

Schenley is a magnet school serving a depressed community whilst offering a Baccalaureate degree to which other children in Pittsburgh are bussed. However, there are three tiers, mainstream, honours and baccalaureate. Whilst there, she began to notice that the children from the registered district were all shunted into the mainstream program. This program didn't even have books for the students. Because she was in their cachement area, we fought hard to get her out of mainstream and into Baccalaureate. They conceded by placing her in Honours. (Her elitist private school transcripts weren't good enough - mostly because of her skin colour. )

Interestingly enough, it was Imani who brought this to my attention. Her ability to befriend children from all backgrounds and walks of life let her flow seamlessly from group to group. Eventually, she went on to produce a short documentary for her senior project. Her thesis? Magnet school programs exist to provide the illusion of desegregation while maintaining the status quo. (Yes, I'm right proud of my daughter, she a bit of all right.)

The recent issue with those two boys in Scranton, PA who got suspended for hightailing it over to meet Barack Obama. It got me thinking about links and circles. So many Whites today feel as if "urban ethics and realities" have invaded their lovely suburban lives through the CD players of their teens.

Now - enter the most threatening of all Black men...an articulate, charismatic, positive Black man with a call to action. This terrifying man wants them to do the unthinkable...create change. And now, he's convinced two White boys - who should have known better - to go truant. But, that's an urban Black thing, isn't it? Skipping out of school? So, these boys must be punished - and punished severely lest they forget where their true allegiances lie.

And yet - White Suburban kids are the often worst behaved. And have the financial resources to engage in some pretty nasty stuff. (One of the many reasons Imani left Winchester-Thurston and ended up at Schenley High School. )

White Suburbanites believe their children to be always and forever perfect. No matter how repeatedly these children step out, there is always a way to "explain" away the behaviour. They forgot their meds; their father had a long business trip; the teacher handed out paper which easily gives paper cuts. There seems to be a "protect our children at all costs" mentality. Often by blaming anything other than themselves.

One of the reasons I home educate is that I believe children should be rewarded for positive ideas and assisted in trying them; testing them and sometimes failing. Yes, those boys could have asked permission. But, they noticed his motorcade making an impromptu stop at a diner. By the time they had wrangled permission, he would have been gone. And they were thoughtful enough to ask him to sign a note saying they had met. I think the disciplinary action could have been more creative. Maybe a three page essay about the importance of Obama in American history. Or why Obama's collaborative message seems to be the politics of the future. Or what would motivate a class president to make an atypical choice which violated the school rules. That would have been appropriate.

My daughter played hooky from exams once. According to her student handbook, the school was "closed" when the public schools were closed. Children who lived closer to home got a snow day and extra to study. When she argued her "case," she was promptly suspended. he White students got detention. She was "clearly" the ring leader. She violated the "spirit of the law," not the law itself. I argued with the principal that she should have to spend the next few free periods re-writing the snow policy so there would no future loopholes. My father - an attorney who agreed with me - and I were told that we were being an uncooperative. They threatened not to invite us back - in spite of the fact my mother was a former Board Chair, a major donor and I was an alum paying full tuition. (The rule book was revised without my daughter's aid.)

This is systemic throughout all education warehouses. We scream, "the system is in crisis!" Then, we punish the very children who might turn it around. All children play hooky. Some hang out on street corners and get into all manner of antisocial behaviour. Others try to meet political candidates. Or like my own hooky-playing child, go to the library to get a real education.

In relation to Scranton Public High School, I think it would be good if Obama went back and did a rally at the school as we get closer to November. Perhaps they should invite him to be their commencement speaker. But, until that fantasy comes true, I'm happy to be amoung the growing ranks of Black home educators.

Terrance Hayes | Blacks in voting booths are Blacks in boxes too

Last night’s Newshour with Jim Lehrer was a real treat. They featured Pittsburgh poet, Terrance Hayes, who has become one of the most significant new voices in both poetry and more specifically Black poetry. As our elders transition, it is heartening to witness how the song continues. Old melodies blend with new rhythms. Watch the segment here. Hayes reads from Hip Logic which won the National Poetry Series in 2002 and his new collection, Wind In A Box, published in 2006.

I wanted to share two of my favourite poems of Hayes below. (Well, I have many favourite poems - but these two strike me as typical of the person I’m glad to have shared dinner with from time to time.) I put them below because they would never be read on national television.

Considering how long it to me to warm to Sonnet and embrace it as a brilliant poem, I know for certain that it’s power and irony would be lost on the general American public. However, this poem definitively portrays: Hayes' sense of humour, quietly defiant self-definition; and command of poetic standards. Because he knows the “rules” so well, he can break and remake them with grace and ease. I like that about him. (Sounds like one of my cherished political candidates.)

Sonnet
by Terrance Hayes
We sliced the watermelon into smiles.
We sliced the watermelon into smiles.
We sliced the watermelon into smiles.
We sliced the watermelon into smiles.

We sliced the watermelon into smiles.
We sliced the watermelon into smiles.
We sliced the watermelon into smiles.
We sliced the watermelon into smiles.

We sliced the watermelon into smiles.
We sliced the watermelon into smiles.
We sliced the watermelon into smiles.
We sliced the watermelon into smiles.

We sliced the watermelon into smiles.
We sliced the watermelon into smiles.
-from Hip Logic

The Blue Seuss from Wind In A Box says more about the current election than most people have. Listen to it here. No, really - go take a listen!

The Blue Seuss
by Terrance Hayes

Blacks in one box
Blacks in two box
Blacks on
Blacks stacked in boxes stacked on boxes
Blacks in boxes stacked on shores
Blacks in boxes stacked on boats in darkness
Blacks in boxes do not float
Blacks in boxes count their losses
Blacks on boat docks
Blacks on auction
Blacks on wagons
Blacks with masters in the houses
Blacks with bosses in the fields
Blacks in helmets toting rifles
Blacks in Harlem toting banjoes boots and quilts
Blacks on foot
Blacks on buses
Blacks on backwood hardwood stages singing blues
Blacks on Broadway singing too
Blacks can Charleston
Blacks can foxtrot
Blacks can bebop
Blacks can moonwalk
Blacks can beatbox
Blacks can run fast too
Blacks on
Blacks and
Blacks on knees and
Blacks on couches
Blacks on Good Times
Blacks on Roots
Blacks on Cosby
Blacks in voting booths are
Blacks in boxes
Blacks beside
Blacks in rows of houses are
Blacks in boxes too
- from Wind In A Box

If you are an educator, his poetry is exceptionally well crafted and yet remain accessible. When you begin a poetry unit with children, these poems can gently ease you into some powerful discussions.

Terrance has a lovely wife Yona and two incredible children, Ua and Arron to support. Consider adding these collections to your library.

MORE RESOURCES:
Terrance Hayes on NPR with the poem, The Blue Terrance.


Poem,