TUESDAY
hello everybody
been in the woodshed
and not posting regular
didnt get anywhere near all
what i had hoped to get done
life do like to demand its pound
of flesh/time/energy, dont it
working on a couple of postings
i want to do longer more substantive postings
posting that when i reread them months later
it looks like it was worth the time invested
dont panic, ima keep them relatively tight
working on one kinda flip about the different
countries/populations of the blackworld
and the roles they play in a blackworld order
(that one is going to piss a lot of people who
wont agree with my assessment of said populations
strengths and weaknesses)
working on one about bush and the theocratic state
working on one about the bush domestic/foreign policy agendas
and the need for a progressive alternative vision
working on what will be an annual end of the year report
on the blackworld and a strategic posture for 2005
i want this to annual report be part of my afroam griotic thing
part of my prophetic aspiration, rickydoc in the village square
but they dont post right away, got to research and polish and so forth
(i wish i got paid for all the work that stuff entails, i spend as much
time on that as op ed folk do who do it for a well paid living
but no sense in me going there, ima do it no matter what looks like
cause things i think need to be said)
for instance, was reading about aids prevalance
in women growing around the world
apparently women are more susceptible
to infection and must be doubly alert
and insistent on proper precautions
blackwomen count for 72% of aids in
american women - 72%
women have traditionally been the voices
of responsibility in the black community and
once again women will have to take on
increased responsibility in combating this
affliction
gon have to insist on healthy sex practices
also saw this listing of the 10 leading
killers of african americans
cardiovascular
cancer
stroke
injuries (the list said unintentional injuries but im assume they all are)
diabetes
homicide
hiv/aids
chronic lower respiratory disease
nephrities, nephrotic syndrome (i had to look this one up, sounded like some kind of death disease - its a kidney thing)
septicemia (whatever that is)
looks like a long list of possibilities
to be concerned about
an overall general healthy attitude
diet, exercise, regular medical checkups
the ital lifestyle, will go a long way toward
covering all this ground
afroam men live 7.1 years less than other folk
these are some tired old statistics that
we need to redress
a little while back i made a comment
about noting what has killed off your
ancestors and addressing that in your
lifestyle because it will probably come
looking for you
and on that note, let me get myself
over to the gym and make that a habit
all my love
arf
THURSDAY
israelistine
i was reading an article about a one state
solution in israel and responses from israelis
appalled at the idea because its
demographics would eventually overwhelm
israels identity as a jewish state
and i was thinking that what the palestinians
need to do is push the one state solution
then the israelis would be eager to give the
palestinians a decent two state deal
rather than the joke being imposed upon
them now
WEDNESDAY
back in the house
obama got a lot of press last nov 2nd
but an equally important victory was
the re election of cynthia mckinney
down in georgia
an example to wavering democrats
of somebody who didnt compromise her principles
to win her seat back
no more free rides for maddog republicans
in the house of representatives
cynthias back
oldschool
this photo accompanied an latimes
article about closing the trauma ward
of king drew hospital
took me back to the good old days
and gave me goosebumps
to see that old grayhaired fist of power
folk want to claim we in a post soul period
but trust me friend, i feel struggle in the air
TUESDAY
big brother is inspecting your tax return:
well, this one jumped in my face
apparently repub representative istook of oklahoma
slipped a provision into an emergency funding bill
that allowed republican congressional leaders
and their delegated agents to inspect american
taxpayers returns
they tried to slip in into a big end of year bill
that generally goes unread before pasage
which it did
senator conrad of north dakota
caught it when it was sent to the senate
and publicized it
republican attackdogs said they are shocked i say, shocked
they would never inspect anybodys tax returns
in spite of pretty cut and dry language allowing it
they just wanted a vehicle for oversiting irs spending
but apparently this is part of the new republican drive to
discipline anybody who impedes their program
now they say they are shocked i say, shocked
and that they will remove it in conference
politically the goal for progressives these days is to
take back congress in the offyear 2006 elections
one thing progressive voices have to do
in our efforts to paint over the red states
is continue to point out republican tendencies
toward theocratic, police state governing policies
we have to keep pointing out the hypocrisy between
their populist rhetoric and their elitist/antidemocratic actions
we have to keep pointing out what a mortal crime iraq is
this puts me in mind of a conversation me and adam banks had
adam is a young rhetoretician here in the syracuse writing program
a mighty mackmaster trained by my boy keith gilyard over at penn
adams field is black spaces on the internet and we had an
enlightening conversation recently about 21st century
empowerment strategies and using the internet as an organizing tool
sometimes i be crying the blues about how much time
my webwork takes away from my novelwork
but in truth if i didnt think it was worth it, i wouldnt invest in it
its amazing to me sometime how it allows me to organize
under the radar and to promote my hoodoo based worldview
something i would not otherwise have a forum for promoting
and i know im still out of the loop as far as most folk are concerned
but if i can do this for about another 10 viable years or so my
strategic and spiritual vision will be an integral
part of the afroam discourse
i am impatient with most of the african american political strategies
of my day, in particular reparations (see reparations post)
and otherwise i dont see where blackfolks seriously organizing for
struggle in the 21st century
look to me sometime like im the only one wants to really play
some serious longgame up in here
ive tried to promote my theories of struggle before and am pretty
much ignored by the black powers that be (and my beloved people)
but with the internet and my little weblog/newletter/etc vehicles i am making a
bid to be the cultural hero ive always wanted to be
ima lead my people to the promised land
i know that sound like a joke to you but i swear fore god
and all thats holy i am
you have no idea how serious i am about this
i put up with a lot of embarrassment to do this
and there are times when i am uncomfortable with my very
personal approach to political commentary
my this is what im doing and this is how im doing it stuff
but basically what im doing is offering myself as a model
to both my and future geneations, of just how good longgame is played
a model of just what it is a wouldbe hoodoo prophet do
cause nobody knows but me, and im kinda figuring it out
as i stumble along
basically i am a sacrifice, perhaps a failure in my own time
but a model for what is to come, a model of future players to be
engaged in an ongoing dialogue w/afroam culture and destiny
with this internet i am able to
show the value of my strategic approach to our condition
allay the concerns of those uncomfortable with
my egocentric hoodoo based vision
and provide a vehicle for folk who agree with me to contact me
see if we can run a little longgame together
i dont have but about maybe 50 regular readers of my weblog
(by definition some of the most wondrous and significant forces on this planet
ie, folk who agree with me - folk who ready to play some 21st century game)
me and those 50 regular readers we gon change the world
my newsletter goes out to 1000s of influential blacks
all of whom dont agree w/everything i have to say but at least
im getting my vision into the cultural dialogue
trying to shape the struggle for black empowerment in the 2st century
or at least influence it
and trying to change the perception of hoodoo in the eyes
of african american culture
that oldtimey folk hoodoo was good enuf for when we were a folk culture
but we are a sophisticated urban people now and we need
a sophisticated indigenous spiritual/magical system
i want folk to trust the hoodoo way as a font of spiritual and strategic advice
i want the hoodoo way to be an instrument of spiritual and political redemption
guide and guardian of human destiny
im working on a piece now that william cobb jelani solicitied for an anthology
hes putting together called future blacks: blacks in the year 2032
or something like that
im calling my piece the longgame: organizing for struggle in the 21st century
im enjoying putting this piece together
another chance to promote my strategic vision
for i would you my people be masters of strategy:
the key that opens all locks
i call myself a visionary and an ideological orchestrator
as i was taught by the great visionary john o killens
and just as most folk dont know who john o killens is
being a visionary can be a lonely and unsung task
but it comes with the territory so to speak
if everybody could see it, it wouldnt be a vision would it
so i aint crying no blues about it
my truevision will be laid out in my novel more
than any other instrument
even the hoodoo book of flowers wont lay it out
like rest for the weary gon lay it out
but art is such a longgame instrument
and likely not to give me much play
in my lifetime
but this internet is real here and now
and it makes being a visionary
a lot less lonely
hangingtough
rickydoc
MONDAY
hello world
ima be skating this week
got a week off school basically
i let my students 'convince me' to cancel
my tuesday class (i made them beg)
no class thanksgiving so i have
a whole week off
its woodshed time
what generally happens is school takes the week
and it takes me most of the weekend to get my groove on,
i fumble around but a real groove dont come down on me
till about sunday evening - but i got class tuesday
which means monday sometime i got to start prepping
(aint nothing worse than standing up in front of a class
and you dont know whats going on)
which means i get about a good days work in before
i have to lay it down - pissed - start cold again on friday
you get an hour or two here and there during the week
but that dont win no prizes, that just keep you in the game
barely
but this week ima be able to stay in a woodshed mode
the entire week
a whole week of full court press woodshed
god is good
ima try to finish my slavery section this week
god that would be such a blessing
walk with me babajohn
of course the woodshed gon cost me (always does)
mean i got to hump schoolhouse double next week
yall know what im talking about, got to pay for what you
want in this life
so this means i wont be doing much trolling of the internet
looking for interesting observations to make in rootsblog posts
except for something just jump in my face
any posts this week gon be personal and off the cuff
like this one
hangingtough
rickydoc
my boy got the eye
a buddy of mine, bob gates, is a photographer
i got this one hanging on my wall
check out his site when you get a chance
its unbelievable the way he see
as a conjureman, a seer of various sorts
my vision as instrument is
one of my most treasured skills
so its real interesting experiencing an entirely
different kind of vision that sees art in
the most commonplace reality
some of his pics tell stories
and some are little zen statements
the boy in his very own space
im proud to call trebor setag
my friend
one visionary to the other
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