SATURDAY
chinese study says workaholic academics dying off like flies
twice the rate of other folk
too much work, too little sleep, too much stress
too much midnight oil, too many irregular hours
too much computer staring and funny eating habits
speaking of stress
whats happening in haiti
working on an action alert page for darur
and thought about how easily ongoing crises
get pushed offstage by new ones
the american military has been hunting
down lavalas supporters no problem
activists, artists, politicians like ex ministers yvon neptune and jocerlerme privert
all being arrested, a policy clearly designed to destroy lavalas
and now beloved activist for the haitian poor - anne auguste
it is said in haiti
"lock sister anne up in prison and she will feed the prisoners"
but they havent arrested not one of the army rebels
high or low, that instigated the murderous crises that drove off aristede
not one
policy influence again - we need to help this sister
and other lavalas advocates, this is not fair
and it is not a joke, even for a jokey commentator like me
this is the same pattern that applied during previous
american interventions in haiti
destroy progressive forces and leave maleable puppets in charge
we back to square one in haiti
every day we need to do some kind of action alert activity
choose your own crises, certainly enough to go around
a letter a day keeps the blues away
a letter a day would make a difference
a letter a day keep that stress down
youll live longer
THURSDAY
essie mae washington-williams
storm thurmonds hidden daughter
by his colored maid
has applied to join the
united daughters of the confederacy
paul krugmans latest column
on moore and F911
refers to the bush administration
as a ‘crises in american democracy’
ive figured out how to fix my
readership drop concerns
i just don’t look at the numbers
no more
cos did it again
he seems to be on a tear
it seems to have gone from casual commentary
to a campaign he wants to wage
he still speaking from frustration
rather than analysis
but passion is passion
dont nothing happen without passion
and im down for afroam campaigns
even limping lame ones
reparations for instance
i take what i can get
there are many roads to timbuktu
maybe one day he will put his money
where his mouth is
later
arf
WEDNESDAY
sisters for cynthia mckinney
black congresswomen support sister mckinneys
bid for re election
aint nothing like solidarity in the sisterhood
genocide in the sudan
kofi and colin trying to get thru to the sudanese
interesting to see two of the most powerful black men in the world
begging the sudan to quit killing blackpeople
US pressure will be a key factor here
oil, terrorism and the christian right seem
to be primary motivators
to be played for leverage
you didnt really think US interest was humanitarian did you
put that under public relations
we will take what we can get
im not feeling kerry
hes too busy playing it cautious
trying to woo mccain was real problematic
this is indicative of the bush light campaign kerry
is running, and perhaps why after two months
of bush killing headlines, hes just even steven
blackfolk casting a wary eye on kerry
where is dean when you need him
god i hope he feels secure enuf in his political manhood to choose edwards for vice
kerry and gephardt together are about as exciting as a pancake
they feel like the past, edwards feels like the future
condi and the talented tenth
last month andrew young representing the leon sullivan foundation
choked up giving condi rice an award
a couple of years ago, the naacp gave her its presidents award
and last year the national urban league gave her its national public service award
what world are these people living in
jesse jackson say he is on a low carb diet
no bush no cheney and very little rice
blackfaces in high places is not enough
what bill cosby got to say about that
they all need to stand in the corner
until they get relevant again
on relevance
notice me trying to enhance my own relevance
with added commentary on the news of the day
and get away from that personal mode i been in
but my heart isnt in it, this is not the kind of insider information
i think might make a difference, just news basically
ima have to take my time and do it right if ima do it
added news commentary
comes from me wondering if maybe my loss of readership
is because ive gotten so self referential
some of that is because im in this strange woodshed mode
and this freeform style im using now is very conversational
but mostly because its my training to be personal, ima writer
i got to be real and speak truth as I see it - that’s my geas
i remember when i was a trainee and my mentor, babajohn o killens
the great griot master of brooklyn
used to say to me over and over, you got to be more personal in your work
straight analysis is not sufficient, let them see your process
let them see what you going thru
thats what a literary man do
some of my personal business and ideas
i probably do better to keep to myself
but the internet as medium tends to encourage
letting it all hang out
its basically a conversation with yourself
its a very personal medium
and you hope you got readership but if you don’t
you still got to do it as if you did
and speak on whats deepest and truest to your heart
i see the internet as a new and powerful literary/ideological instrument
it is a brand new and evolving force and one I mean to master
part of which entails establishing a presence on the web
and if you going to be true force you have to be real and show yourself
what makes you unique amongst the billions of voices out there
you marketing a chosen persona
cybermyth working
but walking that thin line between public and private can be a brutal tightrope
ive exposed aspects of myself online that I still keep hidden in the real world
and the more I do this thing the more conversational I get with it
i shudder to think of how much of myself ive exposed in this blog
i wonder sometime where exactly am I going with this, is it worth the baggage
right now im just trusting my literary instinct
buts its all moot really cause once you in the game
win or lose you got to play it out
cause you never know if you winning or losing anyway
only future generations can make that judgment
you just got to play on player and hope you know what you doing
hope you understand your fa
and rickydoc is here to play
arf
MONDAY
my cousin ralph wiley died
we had a strange relationship me and ralph
our two sides of the family, the flowers and the taylors
were estranged
and we didnt really know each other
until my daddy and his cousin, red
the legendary and incomprable red taylor
hooked up and became best buddies and bridge partners
it was flowers taylor, who is named for both sides
of the family, told me i had a cousin who was a writer
and to check out his book, why black people tend to shout
i dont do sports so i wasnt familiar with his work
but it was deep knowing there was another writer in the family
and like myself a serious mack
specially since we were about the same age and all
the elders on his side were telling him the same thing
your cousin ricky is a writer too
when we finally met it was a nice moment
but we never did really interact as family
i went to a reading of his back in memphis
he came to a reading of mine in dc once
him and his mama
that was about the full extent of our interaction
ralph was one of those larger than life high drama folk and
i envied him his success and his way with life
even though we were never close like my daddy and red got to be
we enjoyed having two writers in the family
(one fist is iron and the other is steel,
if the right one dont get you then the left one will)
he mentioned me in his 2nd book, a courtesy mention
his booktour reading in memphis, gallery three five o i think
he opened a copy, pointed at my name and
said with that highdrama of his
one up on you cuz
ive always wished i was closer to reds side of the family
i dont know them like my sister know them, close and personal
best i can do is give my cousin ralph some play in rest for the weary
family is family and ive always been proud of him
rest easy cuz, i got you covered
arf
Blessings to your family in the loss of Ralph Wiley, a brother that I have much respect for. Ironically, a few days before I learned of his death, I had encouraged a friend to seek Ralph out to write her father's story.
His books will pass to my children so that he lives forever.
John Harshaw
Posted by: John Harshaw | June 28, 2004 at 11:30 AM