THURSDAY
redemption songs
couple of days ago news reports say
rita marley is going to exhume bob marleys body
and move it to ethiopia
apparently she didnt clear this with jamaica
jamaica has said no way, not our bob
which is kinda funny when you think
how ambivalent they were about him
(and rasta) in his lifetime, at least officially
before he died and became a national icon
part of the jamaican identity
(not to mention all that tourism at nine miles
but we wont go there)
arf
TUESDAY
when elephants dance
when natural disasters like the killer tsunami come down on us
folk question the gods and search for meaning
theologians call it theodicy:
why does an allpowerful & benevolent god allow evil in the world
personally i dont think its a question of
gods morality
i think its rather a matter of perspective
and cosmic harmonies
the earth does not care about us one way or the other
and when the earth shifts in search of its own equilibrium
tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, etc - humans die
it happens all the time, its part of the human condition
when universes shift, planets die
and so also they are born
there are harmonies far greater than what we see
songs far greater than those we sing
postscript
thats why we got to get off the planet
spread out and increase the odds
one planet is not enuf to ensure
the survival of the species
MONDAY
hello world
rickydoc still feeling a little lowkey
still in a self assessment mode
trying to decide if ive gon too far out on a limb
exposed too many of my core beliefs
i think old rickydoc is gon pull back some
put my moves on hold and concentrate on my work
thats whats going to redeem me historically
folk may not give me no play in my lifetime
but if i can make rest for the weary do what i want it to do
if i can leave a viable draft of the hoodoo book of flowers behind
as effective manifestations of my vision
then i dont have to beg so hard to get a hearing in my lifetime
so im going to do more of my manuscript work here
rickydocs online manual of hoodooism
and the hoodoo book of flowers
did some work on both over the holiday but im having trouble
making frames work in dreamweaver (its always something)
however i would like to make a comment or two before i go
i think we have a chance to cripple bush over social security
though lord knows ive thought we could cripple him before
but once again we are engaged in a war of narratives w/him
he says hes trying to fix social security while really trying to kill it
and weve got to say clearly that no, hes trying to kill it
and not just amongst ourselves, we have to say it
in forums designed for the general populace and say it
over and over - weve got to control this narrative
and pressure has to be put on congressfolk so that
it is made clear to them that they will pay if they support
this initiative -
i truly believe we can win this one
i believe this is a chance to expose them
for the heartless incompetents they are
ima try this year i think to be a more nuanced and effective instrument
i often in postings refer to new and old school
modes of struggle
oldschool being what used to be called racemen and racewomen
committed to the collective, dedicated to the cause
and newschool being the new managerial approach
a more individualized, pragmatic approach to black identity
and struggle
my heart is oldschool but the times are new
so i try to manifest newschool struggle
without compromising my fundamental oldschool principles
one of the reasons im always self assessing is because i fear that
i am out of the loop and the time of racial commitment has passed
that we are truly in what some folk call postblack blackness
and commitment to the race is considered quaint and passe'
but i am a child of the 60s and i refuse to give up the dream
i just got to figure out how to make it work for the 21st century
the whole question of racial identity is much more complex than its been
we want to be a comfortable part of the evolving multiculti mix
but we cannot accept the statusquo of black inferiority in that mix
and how do the mixtures identify
there is the distinct possiblity that we could disappear as
a race and culture (as black culture did in argentina, just
got blended out of existence)
am i the only one concerned
i love being black and i love blackpeople
problematic as they can sometimes be
and i will do all that is in my power to help them survive
on this rock i stand
but i got to constantly be open to growing
and to being an effective voice
to understanding and playing the nuances
to being not only up to date but ahead
of the curve
and i got to work with both hands
both the strategic and the spiritual
folk comfortable as long as i stay in the spiritual
but when i start working the strategic mode
folk turn away
but what can i do, one hand dont work w/o the other
ima two head man and i work w/both hands
soft when i can and hard when i must
okay, im just wandering now
ima close down, should go do some schoolwork
but ima work on rest for the weary
then stay up a couple of extra hours tonight to get
the schoolwork done
its 2005 and i got to be more serious about
everything this year
got to be better, stronger and smarter
the cost of bullshit goes up everyday
hangtough
hardtimes are coming
arf
SUNDAY
blackness is as blackness does
sudanese vice president ali osman mohamed taha and sudan peoples liberation movements john garang signing peace accord in naibobi
i dont see nobody in this picture i wouldnt consider black
im telling you the question of racial identity is a critical one in the blackworld
we got all these blackfolk around the world dont want to be identified black
gon solve a lot of our problems when we forge a culture
that make blackness something folk want to be
when we build a racial identity to which other folk admire and aspire
then all the blackfolk claim they aint black
will come back home
SATURDAY
lapdog journalism
recent reports about the bush administration
paying conservative black commentator
armstrong williams a quarter mil to push
the no child left behind act to the black community
is not really a surprise to us is it
its just a little more overt than usual
in their use of colored hitmen
bryan moore of the national assoc of black journalists said
“I thought we in the media were supposed to be watchdogs, not lapdogs,"
like many supporters of bushs policies
armstrong williams doesnt really care about the black community
hes just another colored mercenary
doing his job
more mercenary payoffs
haitis puppet government has begun paying
'back pay' to the renegade soldiers who led
the 'rebellion' against aristede last year
latortue, who has in the past called these killers 'freedom fighters'
has agreed to pay them almost 29 million in backpay
this in a country desparately in need of every dollar
this on top of the cia payoffs they received
to start the 'rebellion' in the firstplace
when victims are black
dont get me wrong
i dont begrudge the international aid effort
to help the victims of the tsunami
but i cant help but wonder why there is
no similar outpouring of global empathy with
the victims of african disasters
a friend of mine claims its because african crises
are often manmade and not as dramatic
but still you cant help but wish and wonder
hotel rwanda
speaking of avoidable african crises
i really really want to see hotel rwanda
but its not playing in my neck of the woods
ima have to hunt it down
islam in africa
report on islam in africa
that i picked up while perusing the competition
over at booker rising
FRIDAY
new starts
hello everybody
feeling a little restrained today
sent my january newsletter out
(a tighter version of previous post)
got a lot of REMOVEs
might be my tone
or am i really that far out of the loop
im tired of being out on a limb
tired of the gamble - will history judge me
a wiseman or a fool
wanna quit this game
just make a living
but i dont seem to be able to
guess i just got to keep on doing
what i know to be done
and convince myself not to care
if folk dont take me seriously
and just do it for me
do it for the generations
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