rootwork the rootsblog: a cyberhoodoo webspace

highschool reunions and speaking the unspeakable

hello world, down in the delta

and just as weary as i can be
family been running me pillar to post

yesterday clevelands little car crashed and burned and i
remember all the times my daddy had to come get me

off the road somewhere - what is it about family
crises that they like to wait until you come home to go nuclear

for what its worth i dont think hillary meant that comment
as explicitly how its been interpreted, but even the implicating

that you considering the possibility of assassination strategically
is a political nono - particular in this case, huckabee made a joke

about shooting obama a little while back and he had to apologize
i dont believe hillary was consciously thinking that

but it is indicative of the tone of this primary
and i for one will be glad when its over

ironic hillary say she hanging in there hoping obama will
commit gamechanging gaffes and instead she the one

for clinton this primary been a slow mo legacy killer

went to the reunion last night, had a good time
suppose to do a presentation to this evening

youve heard most of it dear regulators and a
40th reunion presentation corny by definition

but what the heck, might as well clock
the wordage

all my love

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

well well well the 40th reunion, a masquerade ball, as you see i came as arthur flowers, thats disguise enough, already a disguise just coming to the reunion, been exercising, got on my coolest threads, trying to look successful, this me at my best, this as good as it gets

always nice to see how folks have changed, how they havent, deep how folk with all the extra baggage, wrinkles and pounds and stresslines, still look just like they used to -  now here we are almost 60, i remember when being 50 was inconceivable, now here we are in our maturity, got my meds with me, okay  -   and when i get on that dance floor, ima be moving slow, mostly i just stand in place and get my sway on and every once in awhile i will get down on the floor but i feel the it next day, too much groove and i got to pay

but sho is good seeing yall, good breaking bread w/you, you know how it is, the class renunion, or hell no, then you come and have a wonderful time  -  want to thank gloria and the committee, whitman and his computer,  thank clarence and pruitt for hunting me down, deep isnt it the hold your graduating highschool class has on you, i guess its because it was your first herd, your first pack, your first posse, and its good looking back, the good old days, thought we had problems, we didnt know what problems were  =  something special about being green as grass, not having a clue,  just how tough life can be

mr cash wasnt lying when he said it behooves you to be prepared in life -  you come to these reunions and you see folk you havent seen since god knows when and you remember how it was back in the day, and you get warm and toasty w/memories the years have sweetened -  i remember trying to duck out of my aunts english class, and got into ms cleo jacksons class
but martha p. flowers didnt play that and came and took me out of that class by my ear - wasnt like i was getting a deal with ms cleojackson but at least she wasnt  my aunt   -   

i remember the day martin luther king died, and the next day invaders in the hall talking about turn the school out, i remember charging at the police and they charge back but they couldnt come on campus, cause hamilton ruled   -  we a destinied generation, a generation with a dream, a mission, we who have felt the heavy touch of destiny hand will never rest -  by the way of obama get the nomination his acceptance speech is aug 28th, the 45th anniversary of mlks i have a dream

speaking of dreams i hear that hamilton is not what it used to be, thats a shame, i remember when hamilton was the flagship of the system, and its decline feel sometime like life, you notice life dont glow like it used to, what happen to the dreams, the ambitions, the confidence we once had

o these are trying times, the older we get seem the more responsibilities we get, the more burdens we carry,   most everybody taking care of fragile parents these days – you are not alone, - got children turning into adults and desperately in need of guidance, guidance you don’t know you got to give, well look here kid I can show you how to fail, thats what I seem to do best

recently i did an assignment for one of my classes where i asked my students to write a bio of themselves as if 50 looking back, one student became a successful businessman, retired and ran for congress, retired and became a news host, one cured cancer and another banished poverty, all had happy families, 2.5 successful children and a white picket fence – all of them    

i said look here, i dont want to bust your bubble but what about the hard times, what about the losses, the dead children and crippling sicknesses, friends gone before their time, bankruptcies, setbacks and the day to day grind, i dont want to be the one tell you but life is hard, it aint for the weakminded, its full of trial, tribulation & regret, the blessing is to endure, to take punches you never imagined

but then you come to the reunion and for a minute its like we back in highschool
when we were young and vigorous and immortal and the world was ours for the taking

well we are no longer young, no longer vigorous, no longer immortal,  and we know now that dreams are often just dreams, and life is just so much more nuanced than you will ever grasp  -  somebody once said if you been disillusioned mean you had illusions in the 1st place      it behoove you to wake up

nice being young and vigorous, but young is also dumb, and its just as nice being mature and     smart   and wise    and wily   -  w/an understanding of life thats been paid for in the hard coin of experience,     i look back over my life and im satisfied         i got regrets, ive made some bad moves, ive often zigged when i should have zagged but thats life, funny as it seems, aint gon waste my time stepping on dreams   -    ive taken some blows, but im still here       i like who i am
 
and when the hardtime came made other men crawl, stood my ground like a natural man and it hasnt been easy      because into each life…    but god dont…    so the next time…    always

i can not imagine the trials and tribulations life gon throw on me, only certainty is that life will get imaginative on you,  come up with new ways to break you       but it take a lot to rock me these days, been through enough phases in life you know you win some you lose some, you keep on struggling,  you treasure the good moments, you endure the hard ones  - you do what you can when you can and the only thing fatal is giving up

and i would that you leave here this evening refreshed and regenerated and ready for this, the 3rd act of our lives – been tempered in the fire and ready for whatever life throw on you, serious about doing the best we can with the years we have left – we hear that clock ticking right, ticktock ticktock, no time left for the piddling and it is never too late to live out your best and greatest dreams -  if not now when

i would you this evening rededicate yourselves to the joy of life, to living lives full of meaning and significance, i would you be worthy hamiltonians -   this evening we have gathered in fellowship and a celebration of the oldschool     -     this evening i want you to check your troubles at the door – for in life weve found that the good times, when for the moment everything is right in your world, are fleeting and when they do come along, you treasure them     
this evening we gon let the oldschool wash all our troubles away, gon wash our troubles away

these reunions mean more than just reliving the good old days - they are also a celebration of who we are, how far weve come, how rocky the road,  how sweet the journey    and the value of lifelong friends, colleagues, companions, fellow travelers  -  mi companeros this evening we celebrate these lives that we have lived, the struggles, the heartbreaks and the triumphs  - this evening we celebrate those who have walked with us and are no longer here    but in spirit

this evening we celebrate the hamilton we knew, when being a hamiltonian meant something
this evening we celebrate ourselves as survivors – mighty mighty wildcats      

weve come a long way, you and i  weve climbed some difficult mountains      
but we still got so very far to go

i look forward to seeing you all again, twenty eighteen, do or die
that is all, this spell is done    gods blessings on us all

praise songs for bessie smith, chelsea fetzer and ashwin parulkar

hello world, did 3 presentations recently
did a bessie smith collaboration with artist terry adkin

this is detail from altar he did libation in

also did intros for my two thesis students, chelsea and ashwin - ima start keeping track of syracuse students

recently did an essay class w/fiction and poets and it was a revelation what real poets go thru, folk often accuse me of

poetry cause i use these couplets but i know better
i use couplets to help readers and regulators digest my words,

not in some poetic delusion

am in a pretty good space, last week of schoolhouse
and already in the woodshed, struggling with the page

im good, its all good

all my love
rdoc

================

a praise song for saint bessie

lord legba, open this gate, we have gathered here this evening
in the name of the song, - we have gathered here this evening

to sing a praisesong for saint bessie

august wilson recounts what he considers his moment of artistic revelation, when in the fall of 1965 he put on an old 78 rpm, nobody in town can bake a sweet jellyroll like mine by bessie smith and says it was a "resurrection and a redemption",

say the "universe stuttered and everything fell into a new place,"

says it was "the beginning of my consciousness that i was representative of a culture and the carrier of some very valuable antecedents . . . i saw the blues as a cultural response …to  a world that did not recognize their gods, their manners, their mores. it despised their ethos and refused to even recognize (their) humanity. in such an environment the blues was a flag bearer of definition…a spiritual conduit that gave spontaneous expression to the spirit that was locked in combat and devising new strategies for engaging life and enlarging itself. it was a true and articulate literature that was in the forefront of the development of both character and consciousness. i turned my ear, my heart and whatever analytical tools i possessed to embrace this world. i elevated it, rightly or wrongly, to biblical status."

and so have we come here this evening to anoint bessie smith as an honored ancestor
queenmother bessie, orisha bessie, loa bessie, saint bessie

oshun frieda corinna bessie, bring down your blessings bessie    sing bessie sing
billie diana carmen cassandra and randy bessie  -  sing bessie       sing bessie sing

have you heard bessie sing, like august wilson heard her sing
have you heard her       do her thing

where you there, did you see her, harlem, misssissippi, the orpheum

great burly bessie, big crimson wearing bessie, big pretty shiny bessie, swaying all that woman to the piano bessie, where your snake bessie, where your tom tom bessie, how you gon bring the spirit down, yes bessie, shake the devil out your soul bessie, yes besie, shake him bessie, yes bessie yes, shake the devil bessie, we believe, we believe

tell us about the hurting bessie, sing the blues that tear our the soul bessie, blues bessie brown bessie  shiny bessie, bless me bessie, take me deep bessie, rip my soul bessie, take me to

the other side bessie  – sing bessie sing bessie

wrap us in those big arms of yours bessie, smoother me in all that downhome
funky flesh bessie, smother my soul bessie

bath me in the river bessie blessme, take me to the holyground

slow drag me bessie, slow drag me, put me in a slow groove, take me somewhere deep,
make me forget my troubles bessie, spell me baby, thrown it on me bessie

water getting deep bessie,

sing with the courage of new mothers and the newly dead bessie
sing bessie sing, blues bessie blue

they cant keep you down bessie, cant stop the magic woman bessie,
sing bessie sing bessie dream bessie dream bessie, wash me in the blood bessie,

bath me in the blues bath me in the blues ….

voodoo hoodoo you do bessie, obeah bessie, condomble santeria bessie
harriet sojourner zora and ida b bessie

big black woman w/riverwide shoulders bessie, big rivermud bessie
bessie i bow before you bessie, delta bessie, harlem bessie, bless me bessie

feeder of my soul bessie,  raise the sun with your song bessie    
sing bessie sing bessie - sweet bessie, soulmother bessie

soul snatch bessie hoodoo queen queen mother bessie,
heavy load, crooked stick nappyhead bessie -  sing

please bessie, sing blues sing

promiseland blessie, spelllady blessie, fellow traveling blessie
dont take no shit bessie, off no man black white or indifferent bessie

when she say she aint gon play no second fiddle, you believe her
she use to playing lead bessie i understand bessie your world bessie

and when our need is greatest you there for us mama bessie
singing them destinysongs bessie, healing souls only real blues women can

thats why this evening we honor your legacy
thats why this evening we praise your name -  that why we sing your song

may have took your arm and your life at the crossroads bessie
but they cant take away your name, may your legacy feed many generations

we have gathered here this evening in your name sweet bessie
this evening we thank you for the gift you gave

the dues you paid, for the paths you laid
we thank you for the love my love

gods blessings on us all
this spell is done

========================

chelsea fetzer: thats my girl

chelsea my girl. everybody know chelsea my girl.  let me tell you how i met chelsea, friend of mine in the industry call me one day.  arthur she tell me i think you need to look at this writers work.  it aint working right now but once she get the hang of it she gon be special, she gon be deadly arthur, 1st thing i thought of i thought of you.  but ima busy man right, i tell ms fetzer send me a couple of pages, let me see what you got.  chelsea send me about 10 pages that i was not impressed with, i told her to check back with me when she get her chops together.

chelsea sent me a blistering email accuse me of not recognizing talent.  call me an idiot, told me i was blind, said she would show me what time it was.   idiot.  i was very impressed.  i wrote back, said perhaps i missed something, send me the manuscript please.  i read the whole manuscript, and i saw i understood why chelsea fetzer was sent my way.  the gods of literature were looking out for me. 

cause me and chelsea we family, we come from the same root and chelsea like the cutting edge of my tradition, what wideman gaylejones morrison struggling with thats gon find fruition in the work of chelsea fetzer, mark my word chelsea fetzer the future, working we call the speakerly text,  a master storyteller, got voice on voice in voice, chelsea be signifying, be interweaving intertexting historical with coming of age into a narrative fierceness thats gon bust the border, thats gon bust the page, thats gon move the tradition we both love, this a storytelling woman here

heart so big im surprised the earth dont crumble under her feet.  chelsea fetzer is the point of it all.  the cutting edge.  like some kind of literary destiny and i love her fiercely.  thats my girl.  my ace boon.  thats my peeps.

may the gods of literature be good to her
may the gods of literature be good to us all

=================

ashwin parulkar: international man of mystery

i once heard ashwins workshop folk call him an international man of mystery and i thought that was so cool, thats what i want to be when i grow up, i want to be ashwin, cause you know aswhin deep, ashwin on his own little planet somewhere deep, rushdie morrison at they best deep but whatever deep ashwin got its all ashwin deep and its big and its primetime and its full of heart, some kind of cosmic man of mystery deep thats what he is, and the easiest thesis ive ever done, my role been yeah man thats good thats good, whatever you doing you just keep on doing it

ive learned so much working with ashwin, probably more than hes learned from me, which is one of the advantages of working with so many young guns who potentially better than you are, it keep you on your toes, and i thank our students for that blessing, for bringing it strong like you do

i admire ashwin cause hes figured it out, work that tackle the big issues of the human condition and be seriously craftful about it, craft heart vision the whole bit wrapped into a densely layered narration that never forgets what makes literature important, ashwin got heart, sarah told us to keep it tight you know so im trying to avoid unearned hyperbole here but i have to say in all seriousness that i consider ashwin to be a writer of historical stature and i consider him true voice and now that hes graduated i can officially acknowledge him the teacher and colleague hes been to me.  im proud to call him my fellow traveler, this literary man of mystery, im proud to call him my friend

rickydocs state of black america 2008

hello world, gave my baobab society presentation last night
it was well received, i give good presentations and i appreciate

them asking me,

not quite the presentation, you always riff it during the speech itself, but ive already put enuf noveltime into it, im outta here

================   

rickydocs state of black america 2008   

(conch: lord legba open this gate, it is i rickydoc rootdoctor ask that this gate be open this work be done - in the name of the conqueror let it be so)

well, the spirit & essence dinner, finally made it, missed it last time, told erin i owed her, told her id always be available to the baobab society, told her you want me you call me, didnt actually think she would –

i am however honored that you’ve again asked me to speak at your dinner, im moved that you’ve asked me back - i appreciate being appreciated - you call me i will come

I like doing black history month presentations because its my opp to speak as a black voice, since i too am subject to the tensions i speak of in this presentation and generally try to speak for all -

so this has basically become my annual state of black america address, and i dont think you can speak about the state of black america in 2008 without looking at the campaign of barack obama

how bout that obama, my boy racking it up aint he, you know you proud of him
now a large part of his success is that he got the skilz, he a serious politician

but a large part of what he doing is because the time is right for him, lets look
at america today, and the nature of african american struggle in the 21st century

the premise of this presentation is that the old paradigms of african american struggle, the old definitions and strategies, have played themselves out  - the premise is that we need new paradigms of struggle to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

the movement looking kinda shaky these days - folk giving up, going for self - look at the condition of blackfolk today and its hard not to despair - aids, bush, gangsters, the black family stressed

a shift in focus from external to internal dynamics that has made for infinitely more nuanced struggle – not only are blackfolk drifting but black solidarity considered quaint these days

o these are singularly hardtimes but we have known hardtimes before – our problems have always been insurmountable - slavery. southern peonage. urban sojourners. - our struggle has always been epic and we have always overcome.

it is only when you remind yourself of just how far we've come that you regain perspective - we have come to understand as did the angolans when they won their colonial war, a luta continua - the struggle continues

the ongoing struggle for survival and empowerment that has been waged by the black people of the americas and the world - it has spanned continents, cultures and centuries,. it evolves according to our concrete conditions and the successes and failures of preceding phases. - it is the struggle that shapes us as a people, it is the struggle we must shape

whats really critical is that we have to define our challenges well, they have to really address the stresses of 21st century engagement or our energies will be diverted into sidegame that doesnt move us on the board

each generation has to define itself, has to determine for itself what the nature of struggle is for it

what i would like to do this evening is ask what is the nature of struggle for you, what strategic issues does your generation have to address - and how are they manifested in the campaign of barack obama

this campaign, this movement has illuminated so many of the issues that will define african american struggle in the 21st century - the most salient of which is racial identity in a multiculti reality  - what does to be black, to be african american, in the multi culti reality of the 21st century:

the goal: survival as a people - we are only 10% of the population and no longer most favorite minority, our culture on one hand is strong, on the other hand its totally dysfunctional, we could actually disappear as a people

the biggest strategic challenge we face in the 21s century is surviving as a distinct people and culture - in the evolving uniworld culture of the future some cultures will make the cut, some will not  - 

european culture will continue to have agency, other cultures of the world, asian, arabic, latin, etc etc, staking their ground - what ground will afroam (and african) culture stake

will we evolve and prosper or will we disappear as a people and culture as substantial black populations in south america or arabia have done (and still doing in the sudan where blackfolk claim they notblack war on blacks who do)

used to be a slave population in arabia as large as the americas, what happen to all those blackfolk - they claim they wasn’t black until eventually they werent – they disappeared, like the blacks of mexico - gone – will we too disappear as a people & culture

or will we evolve and build a culture so powerful that other folk in the world identify with it and it becomes one of the definitive cultures of the future oneworld mix -

we must all over the world manifest a vibrant black culture of illumination and empowerment so appealing that black identity is valued and folk are proud to consider themselves black

i remember in my lifetime when african american culture was respected around the world, i remember when we were the model for liberation struggles worldwide – now what does the world think of african american culture, they think we all thugs, criminals, bitches and hoes - and whiney too.  doesnt take long for immigrants to this country to start dissing blackfolk like natives

but thats on us, that aint on them, its a function of how we carry ourselves, we have to each and every one of us take individual responsibility for our condition

cant be blaming other folk for our condition.  wherever in the world you got blackfolk they are on the bottom of their respective societies, that aint nobodys fault but ours, somehow someway we must transform into strengths the weaknesses that have crippled us in global competition - we got to re Work our souls

or just give up and accept our status as the worlds bottomfeeders forever and that
aint gon fly – i aint having it – the old conjureman just will not have it

1st thing we got to do is accept responsibility for our
condition, we have been our own worst enemies

sitting around crying about racism is like a sailor cursing the sea because its wet, surely by now
we have factored racism into our strategic posture - crying about it is a waste of time

i can relate to a lot of what bill cosby be saying, its just that bill dont understand that complicity
in our condition is cross class

we middleclass strivers we aint been correct either - when we value flash over substance, when we just save ourselves and dont worry about the rest of the race - when we dont understand that we are only as strong as our weakest links

we achievers and cultural custodians got particular responsibilities - we got leadership responsibilities

the definition of blackness is constantly evolving, in my lifetime i been colored, negro, black and african american, i think we still trying to figure it out - whatever the definition of black folk is in the 21st century, its got to be inclusive

we want to grow our numbers, no lessen them, this is critical for positioning in the multiculti future

now obama, he could have claimed to be cablinasion or something, whatever passing is called these days, but no, obama defined himself as black - oldchool - we always been a bastard race, who aint got whitefolk, latinos, nativeamericans, asians in the family tree

african american is a cultural construct, always had blackfolk look white and would tear the heart out of anybody try to deny them their blackness, then you got clarence thomas, all blackfolk aint black

blackness is a cultural construct, toni morrison say once upon a time we were forced to be black, now we choose to be black.

and in the multi culti future we want to retain the allegiance of blackfolk choosing to be proudly black, and of mixed folk like obama,

why on earth would we want to give up the one drop rule just when it gives us an advantage in the multi culti reality of the future -  when we want to expand our genepool and our numbers

im my heart of heart im still a black nationalist, still a child of the 60s - i was there in the temple the night king say he been to the mountaintop, when he say i might not get there with you but i know that we as a people will get to the promiseland - feel like ive been in the struggle all my life

im what they use to call a race man, southern black bougie that feel like we got a responsibility to take care of the community, to take care of the people

who feel like like harriet tubman when she escaped slavery and went back for the rest of her family, you cant just save yourself, whats the point of that 

(look, you right down the street from harriets grave in auborn, make sure you make that pilgrimage while you here)

babagriot david walkers words as good today as when he said them during the great gitting up morning, "our greatest happiness shall consist of working for the salvation of our whole body. when this is accomplished a burst of glory will shine upon you which will indeed astonish you and the world."

but i call myself a sophisticated black nationalist, who understand that the old definition of black nationalism wont work in the 21st century, the world has become too interconnected

remain exclusively tribal and you putting yourself outside of the historical flow - but you cant turn your back on your people either cause they still suffering – water still rising

we have to figure out how we serve both our families, both blackfolk and all humanity - because serving humanity is the strong way to go - and the only way to go when you only 10% of the population and you dont want to be marginalized - got to have allies, got to define your positions so they represent the widest body of folk, the most powerful progressive coalitions

black activists have always known you cant just serve blackpeople, once something get tagged as exclusively black it will be rejected by the mainstream and even other minorities, baracks trouble reaching hispanic and asian voters is reflective of that tension, that competition

he has to prove to them that he wont marginalize them in favor of blackfolk – got to serve everybody if you want to run 21st century game – and those tensions between our communities, we got to work them out

black activists have always backed progressive policies that help everybody w/the understanding that help blackfolk too - like establishing public education during reconstruction, like promoting living wages and universal health care, like resisting school vouchers, cause you cant just give up on public education

obama represent a new breed of black politician, when jessie jackson said obama wasnt black enough for not going to jena, jessie's son, jesse jr., obamas national co-chair, responded with an op-ed article in the chicago sun-times titled "you're wrong on obama, dad”

the new black politicians, in order to appeal to whites and others and still represent - folk like deval of mass and booker of newjersey, they have sold themselves as managers not as blacks - and of course they still have to be better than anybody else, thats one rule thats still operative, black achievers still have to be twice as good as anybody else

obama didnt get where he is by being black, if anything he got there in spite of being black, he got there by being better than anybody else at what he do, because he did his homework, because he running a campaign without any room for error

look at the innovative way hes used the internet to get his word out, to raise money
to inspire and engage legions of folk new to politic - folk like you

he has outorganized and outmaneuvered the competition on every hand, its interesting that folk now trying to say hes just words and not  doer - cause when you look at his campaigns effectiveness and theirs, look to me like he the doer too

and im proud of my people for understanding the nature of the game, and giving him the room he need to do his thing,

i remember when media was questioning whether obama was black enough, well i guess we showed them, 80, 90% support w/o demanding he be overtly black, this political sophistication tickle me

this is indicative of the sophistication we need to bring to the 21st century
the ability to see the longgame, to be players on the hoodoo board of destiny

in the words of babajohn o killens, the great griot master of brooklyn "our struggle for liberation was indeed a long long distance race, for we are out for nothing short of winning the entire human race and we were up against a formidable foe, and to win this race would require planning, pacing, discipline and stamina, and a belief in our ability to win the long protracted struggle. . . .we must construct one hundred year plans.  two hundred year plans.  we must construct institutions for generations yet unborn .. ."

longgame strategies must be designed to train us into the kind of people we want most to be, longgame strategies are designed to shape generations, this is the essence of conjuration - conduct yourself as you aspire to be and you shall

we have to forge a people capable of systematically responding to changes in their political environment in both a timely and effective manner  - stopping the aids scourge through monogamy, education, healthcare, etc, is the quickgame - using a cultural hammer of this magnitude to make good health practice a cultural trait in our communities is the longgame

winning seats and beating the republicans in 2008 is the quickgame, delegitimizing the rightwing impulse in american politics is the long - using the 2008 effort to institutionalize our power and make us better more sophisticated players in the electoral system is the long – training ourselves in power is the long, illuminating the american soul is the long - 

utlimately thats what obama relying on - illuminating the american soul - providing a better way, to
an america hungry for one

how do we maintain allegiance to both our two families, blackfolk and all humanity?
by equating the black struggle with the struggle for human dignity   -  obama

by taking responsibility not only for our own struggle and our own destiny,
but for the destiny of all peoples and all creation great and small  - obama

by positioning ourselves as guide and guardian of humanitys destiny –
of humanity eternal struggle to evolve, to be better, to be greater than it is

by showing america there is a better way
by showing the world and fundamentalists everywhere - there is a better way

for in the final analysis the battle will be one of grace - which is the better way

this is how struggle will play itself out in the 21st century
this is what will get us out of this historical trickbag we have found ourselves in

this the finesse, this whats gon put us ahead of the curve
what hollywood calls the magical negro, yall know the magical negro right

the one thats always giving whitefolks soul in the movies, teaching them how to feel - bagger vance,
the green mile, independence day, pretty much any role sidneyportier, queenlatifah, morganfreeman
ever played

lot of blackfolk want to put the magical negro trope down, but there is something very powerful in that
classic american trope that we need to ride, just like obama doing - weve always put soul in the mix

weve always operated as americas conscious and consciousness
the canary in the mineshaft of american democracy

but you cant be no magical negro, cant represent no better way
unless you striving always to be greater than you are

cant be waddling around in the mud if you want to play destinygames

and whats truly significant here is how much of his support comes from the millennials,
thats you, thats your generation, you funky multi cultis

you college students, you overachievers and would be counterelites,
what dubois called the talented tenth, what im gon call the committed

carrying the hopes and dreams of all the folk, all the ancestors whove come before you
all the dreams of your familes that have come together in you,

the dreams of your community, your tribe and all humanity
achievers got responsibilities other folk dont

for you and i, we have been blessed
and there are certain responsibilities
that come with blessings of this sort

when you look at barack obama life, it has been a career of service
community organizer, civilrights lawyer, politician, presidential aspirant

a rough and dicey job by the way, with a lot of compromises if he gets it
there will be times his policy decisions will break our hearts but thats the way it plays

dont never give your heart to no politician,
your head maybe but not your heart

but politicians they got their role to play, everybody dont play the same role - everybody dont struggle the same and we have to respect that - we a nation of activists and there is more than enuf struggle to go around

and wont everybody be committed either, like dubois talented 10th you
can only expect about 1 in 10 folk in any group to be committed, to feel that

sense of responsibility to the rest of us, folk like the baobab society

you have no idea how proud i am of you, how moved i am that youve asked me to speak again
you have no idea how much I value the special relationship i got with the esf crew,

that tribal relationship with students of color on campus is important to me

because without you we are nothing, you are our dream, you are our future
you are our legacy, buddy of mine, sekou sundiata once said the slaves

dreamed us, when they were able to climb into their own space, they dreamed us up
and my generation, we dreamed of you  -  and its okay too that everybody aint committed,

cant begrude folk wanting to live their lives and raise families, thats the pure essence of struggle, but for those of us who do want to help the race, who do want to make a difference - to make a contribution,

we have choices to make - some choices i assume you have already made, if the
environment wasnt important to you i suspect you wouldnt be here

but the major challenge of the committed life is to figure out how does one live a life rich in grace, comfort and achievement that is still yet one of absolute and lifelong commitment to struggle - what my mentor, babajohn o killens, the great griot master of brooklyn, called being a longdistance runner.

being able to sustain struggle throughout your lifetime, avoiding burnout, maintaining an
effective strategic posture, staying on the cutting edge

and taking the longview, what i call the longgame - working in generations

cast your vision young hoodoo as far as you can see, determine the challenges the tribe
will face, prepare the tribal soul to meet them

o i have become comfortable with the glacial pace of social change.
when you’ve gone through as may phase of struggle as i have, you know that

phases of struggle come and go.  you win some you lose some   -  you keep on struggling
you note the lessons you make your adjustments    you keep on struggling

every day and every way, relentless, focused, smart and strategic
building institutions, shaping generations

then when you come to those crossroads moments, when destiny lies
in the choice of the moment, moments like this one, this very moment, you ready

to stand up and be counted, got resources to bring to the table

and i would that you leave here this evening renewed     in struggle
refreshed and regenerated      in struggle     in life

strong in your power and confident in the victory of all that is good,
of all that makes us human, of all that makes us care

weve come a long way you and i,   weve climbed some difficult mountains
but we still got so very far to go

and only thing certain is that life will knock you around some
and the only thing fatal   is giving up

and when the hardtimes come, and they always do, i want you to keep
on keeping on     want you to hold on   you must be strong     you fight the battles friend

nobody else could win  (bluesharp closure)
nobody else could win

i am mythmaker, a weaver of conjure and a worker of storm a caster of bones and tomorrows truth i make myth myth makes tomorrow as i define so shall it be for you see my friends i am a conjuror a dread delta hoodoo with twisted left hands and seared mouthharp lungs come to call through fierce arrogant hunger to me o mighty race for i too have had visions, i too have seen the promised land

listen o traveler to the geas of rickydoc and i will give you a mission greater
than your adversity - i will give you a destiny

i say we consider the security and prosperity of our generations the prime directive. i say we calm, cool and collected,. we remain forever vigilant, we maintain an ever evolving, multifaceted strategic posture - some moves bold and strong, some hidden in shadows, some waiting silently in the wings.

masters of strategy: the key that opens all locks

the ol conjureman ultimate goal is that blackfolk be so strong in spirit, so powerful a people that no matter where in the world, or the cosmos, we find ourselves in the foreseeable and unforeseeable future - that we not only survive and prosper as a race and culture but that we are illuminated and empowered -  forces of righteousness and the evolution of the human condition

i ask only that you be the great and glorious people you
were meant to be, the illuminated children of the sun

humanitys living ancestors and god true chosen

when you come to the crossroads always take the highroad
always strive to be greater than you are

awaken the sleeper, protect the weak, guide the strong
and when you need me you call me i will come

in the name of the conqueror
that is all, this spell is done

babajohn killens presentation: conjuremen and official secrets: catch them while you can

WEDNESDAY

hello world, this one you got to move fast on, a website called
wikileaks that publishes confidential info that folk have leaked

a judge just tried to shut it down because a cayman island bank
objected to some of its info put on line and we know what cayman

island banks do right

it has also put the guantanamo operating manual online
the rules of engagement in iraq -  you get the picture

the good stuff, secrets those in power dont want yu to know

but the judge who closed it only closed the domain name which
mean he dont know how the internet works

the backdoors and mirror sites are still up, here is its protocol address and
are a few mirror links set up for just this contingency -

quick now, catch it while you can:

Wikileaks.org 
http://88.80.13.160/ 
http://wikileaks.be/ 
http://wikileaks.de 
http://wikileaks.cx

man, i got to remount rootwork.com
us conjuremen love secrets - specially good ones

oh, congrats to obama on taking wisconsin - cutting deeper
into hillarys base and boosting his delegate lead

if we can take texas and ohio this is a wrap

thats two weeks till march 4th - 2 weeks of devilishment
i shudder to think what a desperate clinton camp will try next

i did a presentation yesterday for adam banks rhetoric class
which is studying babajohn killens, its a great class that reminds

me of babajohn cause he does a community version of whatever
he is teaching just like john always stipulated that his workshops

would be open to the community, its kinda long and those of you
who know me, dear regulators, have heard it before

but here it goes

==============

(conch horn)  lord legba open this gate, it is i rickydoc rootdoctor ask that this gate be open, this work be done, in the name of the conqueror

first id like to apologize, feel like I been hogging the conversation, which aint my lowprofile style, but john o mean so much to me, , it never cease to amaze me that john killens dont get his propers as a literary visionary, and I am so tickled to be part of a class where he getting his due respect - I asked adam if I could say a few things, some personal memories cause I was one of his legions, for 13 years I followed babajohn from school to school – in spiritual traditions there is whats called the unwritten knowledge that is the example of the masters life and I kinda wanted to share a little of that with you

ritual opening on all my works: I am flowers of the delta clan flowers and the line of o killens. . ., this is a griotic opening formula where you start by telling who you are and who you were trained by- i was trained by babajohn killens  - babajohn taught me not only how to write but how to be a writer, taught me how to be a visionary, what he called a long distance runner, what I call the longgame, babajohn showed me the way

back in the day, john killens was the only one of the major writers who tried to pass it on, to teach young writers, provide a space for them to grow, whenever john taught he would stipulate that his workshop would be open to the community. So over the years he drew a cadre of young writers to him – tmc, nikki, eliz, bebe, etc

came to nyc in the summer of 73 to get into babajohns workshop at columbia and stayed in it till he died in 1986.- for 13 years i followed john o. killens from school to school, (the story – I had read . . .)

babjohn worked hard to institutionalize a progressive black literary infrastructure - babajohn train generations of blackwriters in the longgame - he trained us in how to be a literary mob, how to wield literary power, how to be successful writers, how to produce works, market works and how to be culturally and socially influential

we were all politicos and artistic activists who had come out of the black arts movement, where the point of art was to develop it as an instrument of cultural redemption and empowerment, john o showed us how thats done  -  how to be culturally influential, how to change things (the example of terri mcmilan)

content and context, (the dialogue in African americn lit and the generational developments and the charge against politically inclined literary writers of craft and content struggle)  john o stipulation:  "the more important that you have to say the more obligated you are to say it well"

for 13 years I followed john o Killens from school to school. johns rep declined over the years  -( the schools – medger evers the meeting place and its tribal griot – the great griot master of brooklyn)

the last time I saw him in Brooklyn, (death watch and hollywood advice barely able to move -  dont lose soul and his never sell your name, speak from heart not wallet - him telling me to sit him up in the chair, calling up ms grace, i like to see he said - i know you do she said

i like to know whats going on around me he said, 
i know you do she said)

keith gilyard, adams mentor, once said to me that the primary trope of afram lit is struggle  - the ongoing struggle for survival and empowerment that blackfolk have waged since we came to this land and that has more than anything shaped us as a people 

africanamerican literature is consciously griotic and passionately concerned with cultural custodianship. 

as the voice of a culture that has since its inception felt itself under mortal siege, african american literature is fundamentally shamanistic and vitally concerned with communal health and empowerment.  its most revered figures have all been culturally engaged.  Langston, zora, amiri, tonimorrison, creating the visions without which the people shall perish and serving in its mythic heart its ageold griotic function of keeping the culture alive and viable.

Not only did john o teach us the skilz to fulfil that function, john o tried to institutionalize committed afroam lit – so that it would train and nurture generations of committed black writers, cause john o played the longgame – what he called being a long distance runner

"our struggle for liberation was indeed a long long distance race, for we are out for nothing short of winning the entire human race and we were up against a formidable foe, and to win this race would require planning, pacing, discipline and stamina, and a belief in our ability to win the long protracted struggle. . . .we must construct one hundred year plans.  two hundred year plans.  we must construct institutions for generations yet unborn.."

babajohn taught us that in ideological orchestration, the the longer more encompassing your ideological game, the stronger it is, the one that subsumes all others – babajohn taught us how to be visionaries

babajohn o passion was that our people and our culture survive the cosmic cut, and become one of the worlds influential cultures, that we continue to grow and evolve as a people and culture and dont decline and wither away

john o position was that we must build a culture so strong and beautiful that the entire human race want to be black – john o would have been very impressed with obama, cause john o taught us every generation got to figure out its issues and how black identity in the multiculti reality of the 21st century is one of our big issues and obama has figured out how to make struggle serve both our families, blackfolk and all humanity

thats good game on a lot of levels – black culture as guide and guardian of humanities struggle to evolve

there was once a time in my memory when african american culture was considered one of the worlds sacred cultures, and not only in terms of spiritual practice, the viejos and the like but also in terms of political practice, our struggle has inspired struggle around the globe,

we are still one of the most progressive political blocks in the west, the world - friend of mine once said we the 2nd toughest people on the planet - but we got to be on the highground to do it, cant be waddling in the mud if you want to play destinygames, - hiphop a powerful force but it got a lot to learn  - about representing

john o taught us that that as writers and trained cultural forces we in our works leave a legacy for future generations & you should be conscious of what you want that legacy to reflect,  you want it to mean something, you want to stand with Langston and zora and richardwright and all them  - 

he taught us how to use the word as an instrument to move the people, what adam the other day called a vehicle – everybody got their vehicle, and words are ours, he taught us how to get up on a stage and use words to move the people, (I am rickydoc rootdoctor, I am mythmaker . )   john taught us how to mack

taught us how to be cultural custodians, to be guide and guardian of the tribal soul and destiny, to be shield and spear

he taught us that literature  a sacred calling & he guided us through all the stages of our lit development -  when we didnt know how to write he taught us how, when we knew how to write he taught us how to be professionals, when we were professionals he taught us how to be great writers, not just writers, great writers by his understanding of what literary greatness entail

in my literary youth i aspired to be an intellectual of power who would forge blackfolk into a conquering horde and fling them into battle,  power was my thing and field of study and people were just factors to be used - this was reflected in my work  - 

one day babajohn pull me aside and say "art you a brilliant writer but with a little compassion you could be profound"

all i heard was brilliant - wasnt till many years later i realize babajohn trying to make sure my contribution, as his student, would not be hard and cold but warm and loving  - old shaman trying to ensure the health of the tribal soul

i have internalized so many of john o precepts about being a writer that he continues to guide me in new challenges, i would never do anything as a writer that i dont think john o would approve of  -  there are times when I regret I ever met john killens , hadnt been for babajohn i dont think i would have been a novelist.  would have been some easier kind of writer, making money and getting some respect instead of obscure and marginalized

but on the real side I cannot fully express to you how proud of being one of john killens legions - what sara fabio once called 'killens chillens' knowing john was a once in a generation experience, there will never be another like him, and I feel like I was totally blessed to have known him, to have been trained by him - with everything I do I praise his name  - my mentor in struggle - babajohn o killens, the great griot master of brooklyn 

I want to thank adam for this class, I want to thank this class for showing john o some respect, some appreciation – means a lot to me, cause with all his heart and soul he loved you, he loved black people, he

gave them everything he had to give, he tried to represent

that is all
this spell is done

===================

i didnt even finish, i teared up and got emotional on that last paragraph
ima do a self enclosed version and see if i can get it published somewhere

maybe fill in those parentheticals were i addlibbed

i dont usually concern myself w/publication unless somebody ask me to give them something
but this one is for babajohn, not me -  for babajohn i will put myself out there

i been ruthless about telling folk no these days, folk always asking me to present
i wont never get no Work done i tell all the folk ask me to present yes

but the baobob society over at esf got me again this year, cause i stood them
up last year for the spirit and essence black history month dinner, i owe them

i already gave them one make up, but i told them i would always be available
to them so they called me on it, spose to do that one the 23rd, best i get on it

my love to you all
in the compassion of o killens

rickydoc flowers
a luta continua

antiwar presentation: do i drop knowledge or rouse the rabble, that is the question

SUNDAY MORNING

nailed it

nice rally, real oldschool, community and su students
i was moved to be part of it

there was a contingent of iraqi veterans against the war there
apparently they had initiated it
active duty iraq vets from fort drum, so i opened up with an old

marching cadence in solidarity, right after the conch, sang

the morning son is rising, the captains had his say , you pray to god
youll see another day - in vietnam vietnam vietnam

and identified myself - head and head, 1st of the 505, 82nd airborne
vietnam blew my young mind - and as i watch another generation march off . . .

and then segued into the text - yada yada
you have to be flexible like that, adjust to the moment

young soldier w/the maroon airborne beret came up after my presentation
said he was glad i was there, i told him no man, im glad you here

i wanted to do the bit about vietnam making me aware of being part of history
that history is not something happen to other folk other places other times

history is now - and what we do this day
means something to future generations

i think it would have meant something to those young dissident soldiers to make that point
but i didnt have but 4 minutes and they were rushing me off stage as it was

i had clocked my presentation at 4 minutes but the crowd kept applauding and cheering
and messed with my timing, i will never again accept a 4 minute time slot

in struggle
rdoc

WEDNESDAY NIGHT

hello world, got to work out that presentation for saturday
got to get it going cause i dont like to be slack, i like to be ready

when its showtime i like to show, wihch mean i have to get
that draft right now so i can be working it a couple of days

four minutes or less they say, thats cool, less time to fill, hit it
and quit it rick, thats the way i like it, who was that masked man

so, the big question is, do i drop knowledge
or do i rouse the rabble

to storm the barricades
be nice to do both

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

(lord legba, open this gate)
then the conch (keep it tight)

there come those times in the well lived life, when you feel the need
to stand up and be counted - that time has come, that time is now

when I was first was asked to do this thing today I said no
told peacecouncil i was gon be out of town, thanks for asking me

cause i didnt feel like the hassle, the effort, the anxiety of getting up here
trying to move the people in 4 minutes or less, and i was like look here partner ima pass

but I thought about it, decided it was time to stand up and be counted

decided this gathering of the faithful, this action we have mounted here today
Is bigger than the war in iraq, this is a battle for the soul of america

and this a battle we can not afford to lose
bush been a blessing, a wake up call

we had gotten complacent
forgot this an ongoing struggle, this aluta continua

we let the right wing outorganize us, all this happen this last 6 years or so
this your fault, this my fault  -  this been 20 30 years in the making

we was chilling while they was organizing, coming up w/new ways of mobilizing      their forces
forging the tactics of tomorrow while we still stuck in the 60s

marches and protests, the makedo strategies of the weak and the powerless
21st century yall, got to get our game on

something they havent seen before, something they not ready for
longgame strategies designed to shape us into the people we need to be

got to think in generations – longgame
destinywork – shaping souls

been a warrior in the struggle all my life
but I am no longer a young and vigorous warrior

i am an old warhorse now, hopefully wise and wily and i have been through enough
campaigns that it is the long campaign I concern myself with now

how does one live a life of grace and achievement that is still a lifelong commitment
to struggle  - how do you avoid burnout in a lifetime of struggle, effective struggle

o i have become comfortable with the glacial pace of social change.

phases of struggle come and go.  you win some you lose some, you keep on struggling
you note the lessons you make your adjustments    you keep on struggling

every day and every way, relentless, focused, smart and strategic
building institutions, shaping generations

then when you come to those crossroads moments, when destiny lies
in the choice of the moment, moments like this one, this very moment, you ready

to stand up and be counted, got resources to bring to the table
that time has come, that time is now

we got a emperor say he dont need no clothes, say who you gon believe, me or your
lying eyes - well this america we got now, this is not an america i want to live in

this is not a world I want to pass on to my children

so i got back to the peace council folk and i said yeah, ill be there
cause i wanted    to be here     today     with you     my peeps in the struggle

fired up and ready to go
getting they game on

be able to tell my children i was there  - i stood up, i was
counted - during the great gitting up morning

and i would that you leave here this evening renewed   in struggle
refreshed and regenerated    in struggle

strong in your power, confident in the victory of all that is good,
all that makes us human, all that makes us care

weve come a long way you and i,  weve climbed some difficult mountains
but we still got so very far to go.

and when the hardtimes come, and they always do, I want you to keep
on keeping on     hold on you must be strong     you fight the battles friend

nobody else could win  (bluesharp closure)
nobody else could win

that is all

in the name of the conqueror
this spell is done

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

decided to go with dropping science

once upon a time i would have roused the rabble
an elder statesman now, i prefer to drop science

when i do move the people, i want to move them well
move them to true power

notice i open w/legba, close w/the conqueror
in accordance w/de hoodoo book of flowers

raining outside, some lightning, rumbling thunder
one of my faces stormbringer you know

this my kind of weather
page clocking weather

rickydoc on a sungun
360%

cultivating success was the theme of the conference

FRIDAY

hello world, lost too many work days, the pay was neglible,

gon continue to say no to these gigs more likely than not, unless as with the
education opportunities center mission of helping the disenfranchised, im feeling it

ah but the standing ovation, all the comments about how i made them
feel good about what they do, one brother said "i didnt know we were so important"

a little pep talk for my weary legions

i tried to make them feel good about a life of service, tried to encourage the highroad
of true commitment, renew them in struggle and give a little rest for the weary

i do get satisfaction from my hordesman skilz
from being able to put an audience in the palm of my sweaty hand

and take them to higherground
take them to the promised land

make the moment a significant one
and wash all your troubles away

as a young hoodoo in training i once broke my personality up
into 3 or 4 distinct faces to be used in diff situations according to need

the poet
the hordesman
and the conjuror

actually there were more but i just dont remember them at the moment

the poet for was for the sensitive moments, love and family and such
the hordesman was the ruthless politico, the gatherer of hordes
and the conjuror the magicworking visionary

and you had to make sure the right head was handling the right business

didnt want the hordesman dealing with love cause the hordesman was too calculating
didnt want the poet doing politics cause the poet was too uh  nice, you see what im saying

and when it was time to move the people
to preach from the mountaintop with the wind whipping my dreads about

thats when i called on the hordesman
the conqueror

in my youth my goal as a political intellectual and highmagician
was to gather blackfolk into a conquering horde and fling them into battle

in my youth i called for holywar

over the years ive moved on from the fling my people into battle bit
eternal holywar is kind of a drag, tires me out just thinking about it

still want to gather them together

but my concept of the longgame
has replaced the longwar

less wear and tear on the soul
and the body politic

i will deal with all this later, dont have time today, lost pages in
the last couple of days, i got to get back to work, gotta catchup

ima desperate man

all these words, strong as they are they dont mean anything to me
ive chosen to live or die on the novel, thats where ima make my bones

i swear by all thats holy

rdoc

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

well, hello educational opportunities center

i know yall must be wondering, whats with the bells, who contracted this guy

I am flowers of the delta clan flowers and the line of o Killens (conch) (murmur: lord highjohn it is is i rickydoc rootdoctor ask that this gate be opened this work be done     in the name of the king)

i would like to thank you for inviting me, for making me part of this special moment
and I would like to suggest that possibly this moment is even more special than you realize
for we find that in this moment, this very moment, this cusp of the 21^st century, that these are trying times

the world grows ever smaller, the world grows ever more complicated, ever more complex
and the challenges of mastering it ever more important

my understanding is that you are on the frontlines of the primry challenge facing our society
or any other - making sure that no person, no man woman or child is truly left behind

the social pressures of globalization have made it ever more important
that folk are trained and shaped to the 21^st century

there is less slack in the system now, before the unprepared could find a way, could make a decent living, raise a family and so forth, but that’s becoming more and more problematic

its an ever more complex society, and it will only get more and more so
it will continue to penalize those who dont know how to manuvuer thru it

your charges - its harder than ever to be poor, harder than ever on the disenfranchised
rapacioius instritutions exploit at deregulated will, the disparity of incomes grows great and greater

and who is it holding the line, this precious few, humanity at its best, eoc that’s who
who is it striving to make it an even playing field, eoc that’s who
who is it striving to give everybody a chance at the american dream, eoc that’s who

o I can feel the power up in here this evening and
i salute you for what you do and apparently you do it well, I hear the statistics are good

and I know its a struggle and sometimes you lose perspective and you have
to remind yourself of just how far youve come, that with all the fumbling
and stumbling the work does get done - o i feel the power up in here this evening

AINT NO EASY THING THIS THING YOU DO

I know I dont have to tell you that, I know im speaking to the choir on this one
but its hard work helping the disenfranchised

what on earth cause you to choose this life, this profession,
what were you thinking

you look at sister sue and cousin bob and they got real jobs, at the end of the day they leave their job at the office - your job goes home with you

worrying about people that you have come to care for and you know you shouldnt
but if you didnt care you wouldnt be in this business

if you didnt believe in your heart that we are responsible for our fellows
that it is the willingess to care for others that distinquishes humanity as its best

assures our survival as a species

you wouldnt be in this business if you didnt believe humanity is at its best when
helping its less fortunate members

you wouldnt be in this business if you didnt believe
that a society can be judged by how it treats the least among us

that a civilization is only as strong as its weakest

you wouldnt be in this business if you didnt believe that those of us
who have been blessed with relative plenty have a responsibility to pass that blessing on

to do what you can when you can to help those in need
to make a better world however whenever we can

to awaken the sleeper, protect the weak and guide the strong.

there is nothing that aggravate me more than to see
the weak taken advantage of by the powerful

specially when you know they trying, when they doing their best
they wouldnt come to you if they werent trying, if they didnt care

and why do they come to you, cause they know eoc holding the line

all the complaints, I know you’ve heard them, all the failtures, I know youve felt them
all the lessons, I know you’ve learned them, over and over, but at the end of the day

eoc - holding the line moving the ball
making a better world, person by person, family by family

in the words of those great philosophers, larry curly and moe -
step by step and inch by inch, slowwwly we turn

america is at the crossroads, what type of society will we be, will we be a caring society that looks out for our neighbor, or will we be a dog eat dog every man and possibly woman for self

the souldefining issues of the day, america at the crossroads eoc holding the line
the impact of globalization, eoc, immigration, eoc, incarceration, eoc, refugees, eoc

all of these issues impacting your clientele
all these issues requiring that they be better able to navigate the shoals of 21^st century society

everybody got to step up because those that dont will be plowed under

and who is that again, who will help the disenfranchised step up, why eoc of course
how can you stand it, being so important, doing so much good

and you not like your average do gooder, going out looking for some good to do
hey you wake up everymoning knowing you got to do good 9 to 5, getting your little

points in heaven just by punching the clock
aint you lucky one, oh yeah, and so are your clients, cause eoc holding the line

educ has always been the door opener in this society
with it you have a chance, w/o you dont have a chance in hell (bluesharp here maybe)

society wants to warehouse the disenfranchised, abandon them

but you wont let them will you , the willful, stubborn glorious fools of eoc,
tilting at windmills of disregard, at windmills of abandonment and human degredation,
o you merry band of believers

in redemption and second chances, whattasay eoc: we got this

this aint no easy thing, educational opportunities for the disenfranchised
we talking dependable miracles here, not any old body could do this thing you do

teaching, its a sacred calling
saving souls, making a way

unlocking folks potential
empowering them in this crazy world, this dance called life

giving them a sense of agency
of being able, capable, to do something, anything, in a world of nothing can be done

helping them feel capable of handling it
and you know that’s the 1^st step, I can I can, I know I can

oldest profession, its got to be teaching
anybody else want to claim it, my question is who taught you

somebody showed you something
they probably called it cultivating success

look here, if you really want that mastadon, this how you go about that, see

look here, rub those there sticks together,together, not waive them, rub them, trust me, rub them, you get you some fire, here let me show you

cultivating success
success at life, at finding your destiny

what exactly is success in this business, well I expect you know better than I do

that you turn out folk capable of making it in society
give them a belief in their ability to overcome obstacles

the skilz necessary to achieve security and satisfaction in the 21^st century
to live the good life

you give them the tools, you give them the consciousness - you hope and pray

there is that moment, hard to describe when you can see understanding taking root
and you know that you got this one, this time you won, this one this one is going to be okay,

gon struggle, who dont struggle, but this one is ready

this one gon make it, this one gon live a rich and rewarding life
this one will be able to finesse the trials and tribulations that are so much a part of life

once again, you have awakened the sleeper, protected the weak, and guided the strong
ta ching

how did you get into this line of work
I assume that you wanted to make a difference - to somehow make a better world

well if it is getting better its because of folk like you

aint that what we all struggle for, to make a better world
to ameliorate the human condition howsomeever we can

and what better way than helping those of us who are less fortunate
which bring me to the flip side of  cultivating success

so we got a good idea of what consitute success with your folk
but that’s a two way street, what does your success entail

doing what you do well, that’s basics
and avoiding the kind of burnout social work so often entail

every day being engaged in folks life and death decisions it wear you down
constant emotional engagement, it wear you down, peoples lives

they wear you down

you gotta have heart, you want to be in this business

not only the kind of heart that cares
but the kinda heart that can take punishment and keep on ticking

cause this a rough business, I know it is
handling damaged souls take a lot out of you

no matter how hard you try, you got that nagging sense of responsibility
the knowledge that no matter what you give its likely not to be enough

you always feel inadequate, always wish you could give more
you got dreams, you got lives and raw souls are in your hand

thats a burden most folk couldnt bear

it weary you out
it break you down

and i know you get weary, i know you get weary sometimes
and when the hardtimes come, they always do

when you thinking you cant do this not one more day
wondering what on earth made me decide to do this with my life

when you feel like you cant go on

i want you to keep on keeping on

you didnt come into this business because it was easy did you
you came into this business because it was a chance to help people
to make a difference

im talking to the committed, i man speaking only to the righteous, fellow travelers and keepers of the faith - strong in the belief that our lives are important, and should be spent in service, that it gives your life meaning

and you will leave behind a legacy of healthy souls and empowered lives

know that you made a difference
know that your brief sojourn on the planet has made for a better world

and I want you to leave here this evening refreshed and regenerated

with the satisfaction that your sacrifices have been noted, your commitment appreciated
that you have left behind a legacy of healed souls and mended lives

that you have fought the good fight a battle nobody else could win
hold on you must be strong you fight the battles friend nobody else could win

the next time you find yourself in trouble, I want you to remember what the
old bluesdoctor said, everybody goodby it aint gone, cause you sick dont mean you dead

and trouble it dont last, it dont last always (I want you to do that one w/me)
that’s the one I want you to take home with you

cause everybody got trial and tribulation, into each life some rain must fall
but the lord dont give you no burdens you cant carry, and its only through adversity that</