rootwork the rootsblog: a cyberhoodoo webspace

asa marmon and the 101 talismans of rickydoc: nate shaw: the dealer

MONDAY JAN 7TH

hello world, i been out of the loop
been in the delta, lost one of my boys

asa marmon, the oldest, the most vunlerable of the cousins
died kinda rough and it like a hole been tore out of my soul

1 down, 6 left - got me barking at the rest of them - heads up now,
heads up, tighten up that formation now, rough world out here, heads up

i tell myself that in the immensity of the human condition not much difference between 20 years and 60, what matters is what you did

w/the life you had

what lives you touched, what memories you left behind, asa marmon left a lot of love behind him, we gon make sure he lives on in us

condolences to my folk in kenya
prayers and blessings to you in this the trying time

congratulations to obama in iowa, dont sweat new hampshire
aint no easy roads - represent

i talk to blackfolk got all sorts of reasons

for not supporting him, i got reservations too, the biggest
that he will break my heart w/unconscionable choices but

what else can you expect, hes a politician aint he - ima
give him room to be a politician

cause in the final analysis i aint gon be one of those blackfolk
who refuse to believe - that we got game

i hope he wins, i hope he grows
into the role -

and yall know it take courage to do what he doing, blackman
reaching that high, death lurk around every corner

may the ancestors guide and guard your path my brother
i got your back

heads up

rdoc

THURSDAY

hello world, im delta bound for the holidays,

the holyground, it will be good for me, always is
gon do the family thing, thats what the holiday there for right

get a little woodshed done on rest for the weary
refresh my soul, i am generally strong there

this picture is of my father, dr a. r. flowers, sr
crusty old general practitioner

w/a driven sense of responsibility for the health of of south
memphis blacks, i once heard that half the kids on the south

side still belong to dr flowers, cause they hadnt been paid for

i love that line - i try to walk in his footsteps, he
did bodies, i do souls

this is not the father i knew, this is him as a young man, i knew an older, fuller, less formal one -

though it trips me out to see my own name on a gravestone,
i will go by his grave - and make my annual report

stumbled and fumbled thru another year, pop
no better man than i was last time

but i did try, and will try again -
to be the man you taught me to be
i fear i disappoint him, i know i must
but my father, the greatest and wisest of men

my father understands
doing best i can

may the gods be good to you in 2008
and if you need me you call me, i will come  - 

i am rickydoc - souleaser

WEDNESDAY

hello world, st claire bourne checked out
man, i guess folk always check out but now

its all the folk i have looked up to all my life
checking out one by one, i can feel the passing wind, yall

his friends called him saint bourne
filmmaker and chronicler of the tradition

man like bourne, you know he still struggling
a luta continua, on a new plane, representing

the photos i found on his website were all of a younger man
with the curly locks and all but this the one i decided to

use, old and fat and bald, like me - hanging in there - look at that smile

meanwhile back at the ranch, washpost article by harold meyerson talks about how
the gop has become a religious party by very irreligous policies,

supporting torture in the name of christ, trying to kick immigrants kids out of the manger,
he say that christmas is a good time to take stock of what the gop has come to mean by religion

that its presidentials are climbing over themselves to show who can be the most mean hearted
(i think its giuliani myself, the other contenders are pandering, giuliani is a true believer, pandering)

meyerson says the republican christian base demanding their presidentials get even meaner
all of them claim to be the truest supporter of torture et al, also we have news now that the whitehouse

was much more deeply involved in the decision to destroy the torture tapes, the same white house
which has told congress and the courts not to get involved because it would impede their 'investigation',

is this suprising news, no it isnt, bout what we expect, torture and lies
much longer will this soul killing farce play on

the christmas christians article talk about how these bouts of nativist christanity have
overtaken america before, how the kkk once swore they were doing gods work

lord deliver us from evil hearted men and women in what
meyerson calls a "merry mix of torture and piety"

if you cant get to washpost article (subscription) this
offended christian blog gives the gist of it

saint bourne, speak to the big man would you
tell him we got problems

rdoc

TUESDAY

hello world, sobering article for the bootstrap crowd
among which i include myself, say that black middleclass folk

more likely to fall down the economic ladder generation by generation
say its mostly because they lack accumulated wealth so they got no backup
(nor habits of capital formation)

article say enduring racism still at play, say whitefolk w/criminal records will
get hired before blackfolk with equivalent history and no records

say blacks w/the same credit ratings pay more for car loans, etc loans
say blacks and hispanics most likely to be steered to subprime mortgages

and that the housing collapse is going to fall heavily on them, say they dont have the
family resources to avoid college loans, help on house downpayments, etc etc

you got the general idea here - they just dont have the backup to take advantage of opportunities
or to weather adversity - and racism still a factor every step of the way

so what else is new, still got to hit a straight lick with a crooked stick, still got to make a way out of no way, etc etc - i dont claim it aint rough out here

im just saying got to deal with it, always have, dont help to sit
around crying about it - take your punches and deal with it

i need to come up with a hoodoo haint for that
somebody out of black history/folklore who dealt with adversity

and just refuse to go down, maybe john henry
have to put some thought into it

there is this book call all gods dangers: the life of nate shaw, incredible autobio
by this sharecropper nate shaw, he say all gods dangers aint whitefolk -

that sharecropping was really truly a rough row to hoe

in life it appear that the hammer is relentless, got to deal with it
take your punches and deal with it

as for myself ive done about all i can do for me, i live a decent life but aint got
cushion worth a damn, need to prepare for a comfortable, productive retirement

and try to help the next generation now, in my daddys name, a man
who dealt with it, man who did everything he could for me

nate shaw, thats who i need to annoint hoodoo haint for
dealing with it, THE DEALER - so thats two this month:

harriet tubman: THE CONDUCTOR
nate shaw: THE DEALER

maybe david walker as
THE WARHORN

in struggle
rdoc

singing my song, fakeout phrasing and obama for president: fired up, ready to go

SUNDAY

hello world, while hunting zuma links i found that one below, a southafrican news site where
south african reporters consulted sangomas for divinations about how the election would turn out

obviously didnt have a lot of respect for the diviners
while i was there i read all these sensationalist articles about muti killings

where south african magicians kill children for bodyparts, they call them muti killings
they are prosecuted under whats called the human tissue acts - (rough when you got to have a law for this)

now, these articles kinda sensationalist and you never know the real deal in a case
like this where you are out of culture and afrospiritual practice everywhere is often denigrated

but im thinking this is actually an issue in some traditional spaces and its one i rail against when it shows
up (diluted) here in the americas, recently some of mambo racines folk were arrested trying to bring a freshly dug

skull through haitian customs and there are many practitioners here who dont object to the skull bit at all
atr deal in blood and bones w/the regularity but i find it appalling and aint gon restrain myself from saying it no more

i am not susceptible at all to the tradition rationales i hear from the atr practitioners, its fucking barbaric, and when allowed it opens the door for all kinds of atrocities like the ones accounted in these muti killing articles

that shit got to go, rickydoc say so
gon lay de geas on the hoodoo line

folk be telling me how various gods/spirits insist on it and thats just bullshit
this just primeval human thinking and most cultures have left it behind, have evolved

all cultures have that constant tension between tradition and evolution
cultures, traditions, religions evolve all the time and leave antiquated practice behind

even if they just go virtual, like the catholics do, drinking the blood and eating
the flesh of christ is not that appealing to me either, virtual or not

thank god we aint talking muti killings here, im talking bout that whole headset, all that killing
and all, all those sacrifices and belief in the power of blood and body parts, we wallowing in blood

i got to get rid of that whole headset
all that blood and guts state of mind

animal sacrifice, so forth & etc
that shit got to go

oh i can hear them now, oh you just parroting the west
you do not understand these things - fuck that

that shit got to go

in the name of the conqueror
that shit got to go

folk think prophecy about telling the future or something
but prophecy is about regenerating tired cultural practice

determining what is viable, and what should be left behind
hooking up cultural practice with destinic consequence

and de ol hoodoo prophet gon tell you straight up, that shit got to go
with all my power im gon extract that shit

mark my word

rickydoc trickmaster
wouldbe prophet of the hoodoo way

SATURDAY

hello world, trying to convince myself to do an end of the year report
laying out the most significant issues of the year and speculations

on developments in 2008 but im having trouble convincing myself its worth it all
guess it depends on how much novelwork i get done over next couple of days

some real quick quickies
obama cutting into clintons lead in black vote

un african caucus backed arab/islamic caucus effort to disband un human rights panel on sudan as part of arab/islamic caucus campaign to alleviate pressure on the sudan

justice and admin tell congress/courts any investigation of the destruction of cia tapes will impede their own investigations - but whats being investigated is justice/cia/admin obstruction of justice - thats bold, thats so bold, it never cease to amaze me how bold they are

my toss say look like 100% zulu boy zuma will be the next president of the anc/southafrica -

course any diviner can have an off day,  like south african historian leonard thompson, who wrote in 2001, "the new president [thabo mbeki] appointed as deputy president jacob zuma, a loyal anc member who had no formal education and posed no challenge to mbeki's leadership"  - see what im saying

what else, nothing, im not feeling this
maybe later, im tired, im down, im done

i got the blues

sometime the punches be coming at you so hard you cant get your feet under you -
it be like BAM . .  okay shake it off rick, shak . . BAM  . . sh . .  shak . . BAM

and it be like damn, i need some slack, lord
just let me get my breath, lord

mercy. lord
then again, there is that great blues line:

anything you werent born with
you can learn to live without
                               ike turner r.i.p.

                                    

THURSDAY

hello world, following a link to rootsblog i came across a nytimes
listing of the best novels of last 25 years, apparently they asked some

100s of literary folk what novel they would choose and then put their
reasoning/essays about which novel they chose, it was fascinating reading

some of them protested being asked to choose 1 novel but they participated
everybody got a favorite novel, one that moved them, or they think moved society

or the literary world, this was done in 2006 sometime, wonder if the list would be now

beloved by toni morrison was the winner

runnerups

underworld by delillo
blood meridian by mccarthy
rabbit angstrom (4) by john updike
american pastoral by phillip roth

counting the honorable mentions the gender breakdown was 2 women
20 men, and the list was classically canonized, wasnt for toni at the top

it would have looked kinda generic, the usual suspects, still, some very
interesting discussions on what makes a novel important, for instance

jane smileys essay, talked about how toni built dramatic suspense into beloved

i might have to dig back into this article when i got some discretionary time, get some
pointers - what was kinda humbling was how many of them i havent gotten around to reading yet

also kinda humbling, i been hoping this novel would be my masterpiece but its so strange
i cant really judge whether its actually works or not, much less is a true masterpiece

at 57 i have to consider that i might not have a masterpiece in me, ohwell, too late in the
game to do anything but plug away at it and accept whatever i get, reminds me of something

buddy of mine, playwright aishah rahman once said, i once told her i wanted to be the greatest novelist
ever lived and she said no art, thats not what you want, what you want is to sing your song

best you can sing it, that way you can appreciate other folk singing theirs - one of the best pieces
of advice ive ever gotten as a young writer, its kept me from being jealous of my buddies work/acclaim

and trying to write like other folk, best i keep it in mind

read a very evocative black agenda report article by khail muhammad
that puts bill cosbys uplift agenda in context of a longline of uplift agendas

from booker t on and does a good job of skewering them but also sets up some false
dichotomies using this poll sometime ago that asked if middleclass blacks

were aspiring to 'white values', thats not really the issue - i for one am not
trying to getting to get black folk to 'be white' and just because

particular whitefolk try to skew the question and rationalize racism et all as
black pathology kinda aint got nothing to do with what we got to do to flip this

script, and we cant let them define the dynamic, which is what this article does, the
question is not black vs white values, thats a fakeout question easily knocked down

let me define what black values are, or ought to be
and struggle aint no either or, its working with both hands

on many levels its a fakeout article but it was a very evocative, with a lot of points to chew on
i aint got time to breakdown all the nuance on that perennial question right now

maybe tomorrow

im always gon try to speak truth to the people
even when they dont want to hear it

but im kinda tired of always being the contrarian, of being out on a limb and feeling
misunderstood, feel like i should just keep my mouth shut sometime

books out of print, 100 hits a day w/rootsblog
sometime i feel like im just wailing in the wilderness

youd think i had enuf sense to give up by now
but i dont think i can

once again, just do what you do rick
just do what you do, hang in there

all my love
rdoc

WEDNESDAY

hello world, i wanted to leave my rest for the weary post up for awhile
but i got to be moving on, readership been weak lately, who cares

rest for the weary coming right along, if anything im in the zone
i notice this article about obamas unofficial campaign slogan

fired up, ready to go

apparently he was in some little town in south carolina when local activist, edith childs, woke up the crowd with fired up, ready to go chant

obama say he was kinda tired when he got there, say he was whipped
but "after a minute or two, Im feeling kind of fired up." he say, "im feeling like im ready to go."

he been using it ever since
i also notice hillarys campaign playing dirty tricks on obama lately, or rather oppositional work
tried to stick him with a charge of illegal campaign contributions thru his PAC

(one of which being a campaign contribution to hillarys senate campaign, go figure)
when he accused her of dirty tricks, the clinton campaign claim it was republicans that did it,

but journalists say it was the hillary folk planting those stories, just yesterday i read one of
hillary folk saying obama drug use as young man was going to make him unelectable,

a little while back they tried to use a kindergarten essay say he wanted to be president
one day against him - hillary hillary

obviously their oppositional research is in full swing now that obama seem to be getting some traction
i been basically sitting this one out cause i got respect for hillary and im conflicted about

whether i think president of the united states is all that great a job for obama anyway
i want him to keep being a community activist i guess - seem like a higher calling

kinda like folk who think im a sellout cause im a 'professional' writer now
instead of the community poet i started out as

all us writers 'in the tradition' started out as community poets but you cant stay there
and its become a pejorative term for unsophisticated work among us

and you proud of your community poet roots and your community poet skilz
(i can still move the people) but when you grow beyond that your influence is magnified

you still warriorkind but you more sophisticated in your game
and your work - if anything you striving to be an international force

destinic in your scope

im still conflicted about obama running for president
but im starting to hear the warhorn lately

fired up.  ready to go

if its good enuf for oprah
its good enuf for me

rdoc

endgame: rest for the weary

hello dear regulators, dug in on rest for the weary
starting my redpen today, novel starting to feel good to me - finally

worked on my endgame this morning and im gon share it with you
dear regulators, hate to give novel away like that but i assume it

will be different by the time im thru with it anyway, revision is forever
and i just feel like sharing it cause im tickled with it, novel finally starting to feel real

as i move into closure i will be sharing more passages with you
i really shouldnt put the endgame out there but hey i dont have that

much readership that i got to worry about giving it away do i
i may take this down later but im feeling good today -

do this redpen and ima have a real draft, 15 years i been working on
this novel, folk been dissing me for the last 10, been treating me like i

aint serious - like i aint a contender,

just for you dear regulators: endgame: rest for the weary
all my love: rickydoc flowers

-----------------------------------------------

9TH MOVEMENT: WHEN YOU NEED ME, YOU CALL ME

The letter find him sitting on the landing of the steps that run up the side of house.  He put he roots down and walk he neighborhood one more time.  He get as far as Parkway and Third before opening it.  Friends it says.  She doesnt think hes ready for a real commitment.  Real life.  Real world.  She isnt a real woman to him it says.  Say she wont be no mans fancy.  You have control issues she say.  Too fond of headgames.  And finally, she say, I am committed to somebody else and am unable to give you what you need.  Can you she say, can you really quit.

He withdraw to the park and behind him the holyground he has so carefully nurtured is transformed, house by house and street by street, into a little beatup urban neighborhood.   Musty and tired and ragged around the edges.  By the time he cross the bridge, Ms Turbees house is gone, the library, Riverside Baptist and the Hole in the Wall.  All gone.  John Henrys workshop silenced, neighborhood bottletrees just jagged glass necks hanging on frayed strings, and he just a bedraggled Viet Vet sitting on a driftwood throne wedged into the fork of a lightning split tree.

Day and night he can be found sitting there, staring out over the river and handling roots in a calloused hand.  Neighborhood kids vie for his attention, challenge each other to disturb the hoodooman, go touch him why dont you, double dare you why dont you, but he ignore them as he does curious adults - those who have heard, those who know, those who see.  It become a neighborhood thing to picnic around him, to bathe in the curious peace to be found there on the bluff of the Mississippi.

But as it sometime do, a hurricane come to the Gulf and Memphis brace itself.  That eerie stillness that proceed a storm, the earth holding its breath.  Folk wait until the last minute but the storm do break and the delta wind come moaning.  Time to go.  The park empty out and through rear view mirrors he can be seen still sitting there as around him trees bow homage.  Windsong whistling in great gusts through the trees shift he roots ever so faintly and lift he dreads in a whipping halo.  Branches brush the wall of he aerie in arboreal symphony, the sky open wide and the rain it come.

Stormbringer raise I man head to the cooling spray.  I man see the stars.

Over time the chair root itself, roots spreading from its base deep into the delta mud, he beard grow twiggy and vines wrap themselves into he limbs, ravenous worms aerate he legs, he foot root deep, a statue carved of smooth and exotic wood that gradually become one with the earth.  A dreamer casting he greatest dream, he greatest spell.  One that remake the world as he would it be.  One in which he dreams come true and he soul be saved.

One that would be rest for the weary.
That say to all the generations

When you need me you call me 
I will come

I am the Conqueror

The Conductor: on the nature of struggle and rest for the weary

TUESDAY

hello world,

whats with innis of core and the bond folk, rightwing black organizations that never do
anything for the race, now coming to the defense of dog the bounty hunter, who was recently

taped in a nigger rant by his son

telling his son he cant work for dog if he dont break up with nigger girlfriend cause we say nigger a lot around here and he doesnt want a take a chance on "some fucking nigger hearing us say the word nigger" and losing my show - (whew it was some seirous niggering up in there)

dog say "if we use the word nigger, we dont mean you fucking scum nigger without a soul"
but thats what the world might think and his show would be in danger - (whew it was rough)

but lo and behold his son taped it and sold it to the national enquirer and now his show,
as he figured it would, has been suspended - a&e just suspended it trying to let it all blow over

for their biggest moneymaker but advertisers jumping ship on them, not only just this show but all a&e
shows and now dog is making his obligatory tearful apologies and claiming he didnt mean nothing by it

these two rightwing black organizations, innis of core and some outfit called bond, that dont
do nothing for blackfolk have suited up for dog, doing book signings and running interference

for him as he tries to get his show back, innis swear dog been misunderstood and he is
actually trying to bring the races together ????

listen to the tape yourself and decide if you think his apology is sincere, then you tell me
what you think about his colored support, aint never done nothing to help blackfolk but

gon cry tears over dog, one wonders what kind of paycheck that entail, i feel you dog
on your own son turning you in, dont know who you can trust these days do you

on a more pleasant note, bonnie gave me permission to give some props to my favorite actress,
gabrielle union, she got a new christmas movie coming out, i just wanted to use this promotional photo

yall support her new movie now, industry want to ghettoize her into urban movie roles
i want the industry to give her something challenging, let her show us what she can do

you flow girl
rdoc

MONDAY

hello world, had the strangest dream last night
i was the conqueror and i was evading legba

so i was flying, right (flying dreams are my favorite) and i believe i was leaving a newyork street fair trying to get back to my hotel/apartment?

for some reason legba attacked me, trying to knock me out of the sky
and so im evading legba, who moves in great leaps and was angry with me

for some reason trying to bring me down and cause me grief and mishap,
but the power of the conquer root kept foiling him

legba kept throwing items representing various mishaps my way and i was using the power of the highjohn root to deflect them

and i was perplexed as to why legba was after me but not panicky about it

and i kept getting aided by civilians who were somehow part of my
support network, including one time i was resting in an apartment

when my scouts/pickets informed me legba had come and when he knocked/entered
the front door i went out the window - then as i was traveling (lets say over harlem)

i note a couple, a man and a woman, diviners telling fortunes as street vendors
i see legba down the block but i take the time to land and ask them to tell me what is to be

while im there and keeping a wary eye on the approaching legba, ogun shows up
and i greet him joyously, old friend, and thats when i realize that war is upon us

when legba arrives i tell him i aint got time for his foolishness, war is upon us
and then we somehow merge. me/the conqueror, legba and ogun, and basically i wake up at that point

im not really a dream rememberer but this dream is still vivid in my head
poet colleague of mine, bj ashanti, used to write poems based on his dreams, ive always

thought that was cool tech, when my dreams have story quality ima write them down
even when i dont quite know what the point is

finished a phase of rest for the weary yesterday, is that pertinent, still dont have
that page turning quality yet but what i got will have to do, today i start my redpen

pray for me
rdoc

SUNDAY

hello world, been clocking pages, well at least clocking hours
been trying to figure out how to get a page turning quality in the text it dont have just yet

have to confess i went to see the golden compass yesterday, bonnie remembered it
from childhood and i "let her drag" me to it, but i confess i enjoyed it, what can i say

so anyway im sitting there and im actually taking notes about having highjohn attempting
to be the high hoodoo and have the kind of spiritual authority that suggest cultural changes

and folk really listen, like AIDS, when it became clear that AIDS had a particular affinity for
blackfolk it would have been nice to say: okay everybody, no drugs and needles, and monogamy for

the next 3 generations and have the culture actually do it because i said do it and they trust me
to give cultural guidance, thats what i been working at all these years and it aint been working

nobody listen, im just wailing in the wilderness and hoping if i establish the historical role that the hoodoos of the future will

have that kind of cultural authority, where folk trust them to have the vision and the concern
and the love of the people and give them the prophetic authority, im not really expressing this well

hopefully i do a better job in rest for the weary, and what i have happen is that this effort to be
a big boss man conflicts with his personal ethics and hostility against soul stealing

which i saw as the message of the golden compass, anti authoritarian, which is my message
while at the same time im trying to set myself up as some sort of tribal shaman that folk give

a certain authority to because they believe in my prophetic ethics, im not explaining this well
maybe because im so confused myself, and a certain part of me prefers to fail in this effort

basically im looking for a fatwa type ability but when you see how that power is abused
in islam it make you wonder, spiritual power is such a two edged instrument, which is why

spiritual and leadership ethics of all sorts is probably my most pressing concern

and a certain part feels that i have to try for this, have to try to gain the prophetic dispensation that
will give me a certain authority of cultural vision or something, while another part of me is conflicted

about spiritual power, a power ive always had, but the ethics of charismatic power is what make
me come up with all these injunctions against soul stealing, and thats going to play a major part

in rest for the weary, whereas this attempt to express it here i floundering and ima let it go

sometime i feel like harriet tubman: "If I could have convinced more slaves
that they were slaves, I could have freed thousands more."

but then harriet got her work done didnt she, didnt waste no time crying about how hard it was

back to work flowers, i have just got to get this novel done, dont think about nothing
but todays pages rick, dont think about all you got to do, just get

todays work done, let tomorrow fend for itself

let me give you a couple more harriet quotes while im at it harriet
definitely one of my 101 talismans, ima call her The Conductor 

first she reason it thru:

"i had reasoned this out in my mind, there was one of two things i had a right to, liberty or death; if i could not have one, i would have the other."

then she cut it down to the essence:

"be free or die"

upon successful escape, she take stock:

"i looked at my hands to see if i was the same person. there was such a glory over everything. the sun came up like gold through the trees, and i felt like i was in heaven."

her service during the war: guided a union raid on the combahee river: 700 slaves freed
babajohn killens use this quote to title his big novel: and then we heard the thunder:

"we saw the lightning and that was the guns and then we heard the thunder and that was the big guns; and then we heard the rain falling and that was the blood falling; and when we came to get in the crops, it was dead men that we reaped."

not satisfied with saving herself, she come back for the rest of us:

"i was the conductor of the underground railroad for eight years, and i can say what most
conductors can't say; i never ran my train off the track and i never lost a passenger."

strategics by the conductor: when you work it, work the root:

"never wound a snake, kill it"

the one that move my soul, i could have freed thousands more:

"if i could have convinced more slaves that they were slaves, i could have freed thousands more"

she claim a thousand, a thousand it is:

"i freed a thousand slaves i could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves"

and i would you be a race of dreamers:

every great dream begins with a dreamer. always remember, you have within you the
strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.

im outta here
my love to you all

rickydoc trickmaster, wouldbe
prophet of the hoodoo way

SATURDAY

hello world, not feeling rootsblog today, so many life problems im overwhelmed and dead in the water
cat died, car died, computer died, some new health issues look like ima have to carry, family issues in the delta & everything cost money i just dont have

school out finally but i got so many obligations i cant  woodshed - newren, palf, the hand, blurbs, recs, manuscripts i owe critiques on, house maintenance, etc

sometime you got so many issues going critical you get overwhelmed and all you do is sit there moaning the blues,

then i look at my work, how slow it go and how hard i work at it for so little readership/respect and im just

tired - im weary, im weary in my soul im weary - wondering when do i get to rest  -  i suspect even death aint no resting place, i suspect its a struggle too

ohwell, buckle up rick, singing the blues is one thing, whining is entirely another
problems overwhelming you, line them up and knock them off - 1  2  3  -  deal w/it

occasionally i go on i tunes and put in some favorite word and see what songs come up on it
did prophecy a little while back and a bunch of reggae songs came up, prophecy is a big

thing in reggae culture, im envious of that - other day i did struggle and a whole bunch of african american
songs came up, blues, r&b, hiphop, one southern rap group talking about living in the south say -

we know struggle - i felt that

blackfolk and struggle, if there is a word intimately identified with black culture its struggle
i recall once fellow traveler keith gilyard said to me  'the primary trope of african american lit is struggle'

guess i will see if i can more consciously work a struggle trope into rest for the weary
and on that note, best i myself get back to work, clocking pages best cure for the blues i know

in struggle
rdoc

mugabe, malawi, mutharika and post colonial nuance: waterboarding and lynchings: american as apple pie

THURSDAY

hello world, been trying to find the text of this open letter signed by
16 prominent african and europeon writers inclu soyinka, okri and chimanda

accusing eu conference on africa of cowardice for not including darfur
and zimbabwe at the top of the agenda

i want to see what it actually says before commenting on it, this tight little
article on it by ugandan writer brings up a host of provocative issues

dealing with the post colonial relationship of europe and africa and
its a tricky little minefield as evidenced in conflict over mugabe

and gordons refusal to attend if mugabe does and the defense of mugabe
by many dedicated africanists who feel that he is being trashed by vengeful

ex colonials - reason i want to see exactly what the text say is because i do trust
soyinka and chimananda (okri not so much) and i personally think mugabe has

become an africanist liability and i know sincere fellow travelers who dont agree - but bad
leadership is a particular beef of mine when it comes to the destiny of the african world

and mugabes classic obsession w/power has become problematic and bad leaders
always claim racism and/or colonialism made me do it and try to rally the troops but

im not buying it - i remember when zimbabwe won their colonial struggle and standing in front
of the state office building in harlem w/a multitude of happy blackfolk cheering mugabe

and chanting MU GA BE   MU GA BE - i have since felt betrayed by classic oligarchic african
strongman behavior of the sort that has so often crippled african post colonial development

but i dont much trust the wests agenda either so im walking very carefully on this one
inclined to follow the lead of folk on the ground so to speak and would be interested

in seeing what the text of that letter says, tried to google news it and didnt find it
but i suspect it will be up in the next couple of days, i will let you know

cause as you know dear regulators, i want rootsblog to be the place where
you can come for the real deal, specially when its full of nuance

nuance is my bread and butter, thats what i like to grapple with
cause the really important questions are nuanced by definition

when it come to geopolitic aint no easy answers
and its always deeper than you think

but darfur now, darfur is a no brainer, how can they not inclu darfur, whats up w/that
i havent been paying attention to this eu/africa conference but literary folk i respect

have, best i put my finger on that pulse, see whats what
da hoodooman do not like to not know whats going on

in struggle
rdoc

ps: clocking pages: its all good

TUESDAY

hello world, some quickies:

always trying to make rootsblog posts more relevant, think i will start including overt
commentary on my favorite subject: strategy: game, sidegame and countergame

sidegame in palestine: in competition, power like to divert folk into sidegame that dont
actually change the equation and just make your challenger a more complacent/invested part

of your system, your world, as is this program to quote unquote
provide economicopportunities for palestinians - you got that right

worldbank in malawi: most interesting article about malawi in the times other day, talk about how the worldbank was insisting malawi cut subsidies for fertilizer for farmers and have them grow

cash crops for export which meant buying/begging food from the west, article say malawians starving until bingu wa mutharika, new president of malawi say he tired of begging for food and defied worldbank

by subsidizing fertilizer (like the west does for its own farmers) and now malawi is a breadbasket
exporting food to other african countries, i must say this development tickle me on many levels

jena 6: deal mean the jena 6 guy got to stay in prison until june - thats not much of a deal
but who am i to say, aint me in jail, good luck to him, hope he use the attention to Work his life

speaking of criminalization: new report on disparities in drug enforcement say black and whitefolk
use drugs about same percentage, but enforcement mostly fall on blackfolk and the poor

report give a variety of reasons, openair markets instead of behind closed doors, etc etc, but
mostly a tendency to focus enforcement efforts on poor and minority communities, and a

judicial system harder on the disenfranchised every step of the way - so what else is new
everything fall harder on poor folk, thats not likely to change, not ever, you do what you can

but inequity pretty much a irreducible component of the human condition, file this
report away with the others - maintain focus on making the weakest of us

strong

bush and iran: time mag article say nie wouldnt have given new report on iran
without it being greenlit by the president, says the admin has decided iran is a

bridge too far and it was time to rachet down the rhetoric and chill out the neocon hawks

course this might be wishful thinking, hoping you know who chill out w/that WWIII rhetoric,
if anybody gon jumpstart WWIII its more likely bush et neocon all - bomb bomb bomb bomb iran

in the anti reality based community, iraq aint enuf

personals:  dug in on rest for the weary, got some ideas ima try to run

all my love
rdoc

SATURDAY

okay world, i got to move on, that last post has gotten too long
picked up this commentary about waterboarding on andrew sullivans blog

apparently waterboarding been in use in america for sometime, in the olddays they call it the 'water cure" - just one component of lynchings that were public torture sessions

the water cure was most often used against blackfolk to extract false confessions so ruthlessly the mississippi supreme court voided a 1926 murder conviction because the water cure was too "barbarous"

and "a specie of torture well known to the bench and bar of the country,"

new attorney general say he aint been briefed, he cant say for sure if waterboarding is torture - this been interesting, what bush et al done to america

and they say it couldnt happen here - america got a good side, america got a
bad side, and you dont get to be topdog without a little blood on your fangs

bush/cheney/rice been fanning the worst america got to offer

so whats the next phase gon be, more of the same, or are we
gon try to live up to the myth of what america could be

bush has forced us all to look into the mirror
dont blame me if you dont like what you see

rickydoc flowers
crying out in the wilderness