SATURDAY
im outta here, brooklyn workshop sunday
im heading for the city
been talking to dr kioni lately
been some rewarding conversations
i been learning a lot
one of the things thats become clear to me
is that im not a true practitioner after all
ima dabbler
i been taking on clients lately, in order to assure my bonafides
but its still very much dabbling rather than practicing
but ive come to understand
if i want to bring about changes in hoodoo
i have realized i have to move from where folk are
rather than where i want them to be
started taking on clients as part of that
and now i see i got to build me a bonafide practice
one thing that he brought to my attention is specialization
i been taking on almost anything, relationship work, job work
anything i dont consider evil, i aint going there
but he specializes in motivational work
which i absolutely love to do
i still want to take hoodoo to higher ground
but its apparent to me that im going to have to go
back to basics
so the points of building a practice im seeing so far
getting the word out, which my blog seems to do, and will work on my
website
to further manifest this
deciding what are the basic supplies that i need to feel well stocked
what are my basic spells for given types of cases and being prepared to
adlib them as necessary
some of this new understanding on my part comes from conversations ive
had
with djenra windwalker in which she has challenged but at the same time encouraged
my practice
and another point that i earlier deduced from dialogues with papa gede
nibo bey is
what is the hoodoo lifestyle, how do i sanctify my time, my space, my
work
on a daily basis like nibo do
im still the same old arrogant so and so ive alway been
but im cooling my jets and moving into an intense study,
listening and learning mode
before i came online i thought i was the last of the bigtime hoodoomen
i was isolated and not aware of other serious practitioners,
or rather
serious dabblers
once i got involved with the online hoodoo community it became clear
that not only am i not the last of the bigtime hoodoomen but i am not
very knowledgeable - not very knowledgable at all
i still got the power
but i got to bring my skilz and my practice up to stuff
and i dont have but so much time to give this cause my primary
hoodoo practice is still manifested through my art and my literary
hoodoo practice
other folk may not think literary hoodoo is real hoodoo
but for me is the most powerful move on the board
this other thing im doing strictly to maintain my bonafides
and its still going to be on the side of my literary hoodoo thing
writing novels is a fulltime gig that takes everything i got
but my definition ofmyself as a hoodooman is my core selfdefinition
and my love of the tradition is without bounds, i see the potential of
what we can be
but ever more i see the beauty of what we are
if i want to take folk to higherground
i got to Work from where they are
gotta go, brooklyn bound
another ongoing source of insecurity and frustration
so many folk depending on me
and im always coming up slack
i really look forward to consulting with my mentor
babajohn o killens, the great griot master of brooklyn
i need to be reassured that my work is good
that im taking care of business to his satisfaction
first thing i do when i hit the city, going to his grave
tend to his altar, collect some goober dust
since i dont do lefthand work
what i get from johns grave i call holydust
im outta here, be well
rdoc
WEDNESDAY
well, ive lost my nerve and dont believe
im going to send that post out on the hoodoo lists
after all
the stars that had me baying at the moon
have moved into a different alignment and ima
cool my jets
best i just do what i do and let
the Work speak for itself
there was a time not too long ago i thought i was
the last of the bigtime hoodoomen
got online to promote a book and stumbled
into the online hoodoo community and found
out not only am i not the last of the bigtime
hoodoo men
but that im not very knowledgeable
there are major gaps in my hoodoo training
and knowledge
i been humbled
trying to listen and learn instead of
huff and puff like im inclined
i suspect i best to keep
laying in the cut
a couple of commentaries
and its back to the woodshed
for rickydoc
the house of representatives put off
renewing the civil rights act
republicans claim it is unfair that the south
be singled out like that
im not going to go into why they singled out
or how georgia just last year pulled skullduggery
and let us not go into floridas tricks
civil rights commission been so counterfeit lately
they might as well let it die
must be afraid the midterm elections will
cost them the house so they best to officially kill it
instead of accepting pro forma
okay, im feelng fidgety, got to go
brief comment on randall kennedy and post black leadership
testified in a recent hate case that the whiteguy calling the
blackguy he was beating with a baseball bat nigger could
have been using it as a term of affection
who chose this guy
who says media conveys leadership
getting manuscripts off my plate
for big rest push
working legba bronzes
family issues in the delta
going home soon as
hanging tough
rdoc
TUESDAY
hello world
just lifting my head up here for a minute
see whats going on
i been reading my recent posts and its like
flowers boy you really tripping aint you
i dont know whats come over me
i been saying things i shoulda kept to myself
i blame rest for the weary
im so deep into that novel, so deep into my vision
my work, my world, thats its starting to leak thru and im telling
you things i probably shouldnt say
i gotta speak truth to the people
the truth as i see and feel it
that is my geas
thats where i get my power
probably should close this blog down until the
end of the summer woodshed
ohwell, in a case like this
one trusts the power
ima say whats in me to say
whenever i in my work, run up on something i want to say
but am afraid to say because it doesnt sound like something i should
or because its going to set me up for embarrassment and ridicule
i take that as a challenge to me as a literary artist and i say it
i aint gon never be afraid to speak my truth to the people
or to power
situation like that i figure its something im spose to say
and all the more important if im afraid to say it
i may not see how it fits in just yet
but when the power call i listen
im working on a listserve version of last few posts im calling
rickydoc trickmasters meditations on power
soon as i get my nerve up
gon send it out on the hoodoo lists and the orisha list
gon send it out on the black nationalist lists
gon get ridiculed buked and scorned
but im playing the mythwork, long as im growing
it just becomes part of the legend
may the gods of literature
be good to me
rdoc
SUNDAY
so im like on this obsessive
quest for power
power power power
personal power of course, control
of mind soul and body
family power,
im a social climber
always looking for the edge, always trying to make it
always striving to move self and family into more secure class
social power,
im personable, people like me
get along well with others, capable
of leadership if im motivated, damn
good follower if im not - ima team player
also im a charismatic
part of my training as a young hoodoo
was the conscious use of my charismatic powers
i got the magical glamour
i got the power
im capable of taking souls
i keep that power on a leash
community power
trained as political organizer
empowerment of exploited communities is my main game
from which all others spring
i believe in empowering all the various
communities of which i am a part
group power
ima organizer, its a political habit to empower groups
to join and form them as necessary
organize organize organize
my understanding is that voluntary organization is the fundament of power
in a democracy or any other society
my primary skill is leadership, providing vision and ennabling infrastructures
as necessary, keeping players and constituencies happy and growing
im actually pretty good at it but my plate is full and leadership is a fulltime gig
so i only do the leadership thing when nobody else can
tribal power
ima race man
southern black bougie stylee
i was brought up to assume responsibility
for the welfare of my people
thats nonnegotiable
what is negotiable is my concept of tribe
i been trying to expand it, understand that
i got two families, blackfolk and all humanity,
i accept the tension of that and
try to serve them both
most of the times those demands are congruent
sometime they are not, my primary allegiance is to blackfolk
nonnegotiable
thats what makes me a leader
thats what makes me what i am
artistic power
i want to create wondrous, powerful and
beautiful works of art
i want to break the rules of craft and create new forms
that inspire artists who come after me for generations to come
i want to create Work with the power to influence every person
who reads it, the power to touch them in their deepest souls
to fan their dreams, empower their aspirations
and shape their realities
work with the power to shape civilizations
in its image
works that awaken the sleeper, protect the weak
and guide the strong
mighty and powerful spells
that will encourage humanity always to its greatest self
works that will be rest for the weary soul
thats what i want
give me that and i will be satisfied
cultural power
ima visionary artist
and a political intellectual
i want to shape the very future of humanity
in the image of my vision of them
destinic power
i want the power to influence human destiny
at will
working at the crossroads
i want to shape a spiritual tradition
that trains its young travelers in this skill
cosmic power
i strive to be a force for good
to ameliorate suffering of all kind and enhance
the human condition whenever i can
to awaken the sleeper, protect the weak
and guide the strong
magical power
ima hoodoo sorceror
and a wouldbe prophet
a high magician whose every
waking and unwaking thought is
a quest for more power
in the world and in the spirit
i would things be as i see them
i am a conjuror
and reality has often bent itself to my will
you have no idea of just how freaky i am about power
but im cool about it, i do the humble thing to the max
because i know thats the mature manifestation of power
but on the real side and under the surface, every move
i make, every word i speak, is a quest for more power
a quest to be true force
in this world
being real with it
rdoc
hello world
finished my phase
hard to believe
gon take a couple of days off
attend to some domestic honey do
some manuscripts i been stalling off
and some online organizing i need ot catch up on
then do the brutal redpen
im scheduling a month
moving right along
rdoc
SATURDAY
times like this i wish i had a better platform
seems the repub party has been conducting an
organized campaign to scrub black voters off the voting lists
this effort resulted in contested victories in 2000 florida
and 2004 ohio, which could be said to be responsible
for the unbelieveable age of bush - it will take generations of
work to clean up his messes
in florida they said they were scrubbing off felons but
they only found black felons (demo), not hispanic ones (repubs)
and many who were scrubbed were not felons but only found
out when they went to vote that they were no longer eligible
and in ohio their campaign was lead by blackwell, the black guy now
running for governer - john killens used to say uncle tom, who died keeping the faith
was not the right icon for black traitors but rather gunga din
now an errant memo from repub national committee shows
that they have not only targeted black communities with these illegal scrub lists by sending out mass mailings to black districts and challenging those sent back as undeliverable
they are also systematically targeting black servicemen
and women who are deployed overseas, as in iraq
when their do not forward letters are returned as undeliverable
they challenge the soldiers right to vote in that district
what manner of political skullduggery is this, this goes far beyond whats acceptable as political dirtytricks in america but then so does torture as policy or total information awareness policestate programs
they have no shame, just no shame, and no respect for our civic institutions
trying to impose democracy in the middleast and kill it in america
and they have ruthlessly and systematically subverted the institutions
that are supposed to protect us from the rapaciousness of the powerful
the courts, the media and the honor of the american people are empty shells
and all i can do is cry out in the night, (uh i meant speak out on my blog)
its so frustrating
to be a conjureman with no real power
rdoc
FRIDAY
whining again: content, flow and swagger
10 oclock pm and i havent written a word
one of those burntout days - gods way of forcing
rest on the weary - hopefully im rested enuf to clock
me some pages before the day is done
had lunch w/my nigerian advisor, e.c. osondu, today
he said arthur youve been moaning on your blog again
ec always accuse me of whining
arthur you should only roar he says, roar all the time
what i call myself doing is leaving a record of my struggles
for the literary hoodoos who come after me so that they
might learn from both my victories and my defeats
was looking at my boy muki garangs blog today
nairobi writer and performance artist, fellow traveler
and keeper of the faith - muki true force, the cutting edge
so anyway muki was complaining about kwani? slam
he say the rules work against true masters of the word
though he graciously gave props to winner he
felt aggrieved
he received this comment from a fellow nairobi traveler:
sup son, tight blog for real i feel like u the dopest poet in nairobbery from content to the flow and the swagger.I know kwani is a bitch but @least it is a platform for you to teach these ignit mufacks bout the word. About the judges i agree to most of these randomly picked people dont know the half but like i always say its better to be the underdog as you will always be hungry…i look @ it this way i dont need to be called no.1 to know that i’m the best,i dont need no airplay to know that im ten steps ahead of the rest , i dont need jack from this bullshit industry cause i know whether they like it or not they cant take away the talent thats in me…keep yo head up. Baraka
now thats what im saying
one hungry brother to another
i love that phrase
from the content to the flow and the swagger
i asked ec, i said what about when im huffing and puffing
you dont ever say nothing then
cause i do believe in
the content, the flow and the swagger
in particular the swagger
hanging tough
rdoc
warcrimes on the hill
interesting article claiming todays 'debate' on iraq
constitutes a war crime, which in a sense it does
that they could be posturing about something so deadly serious
but this guy says milosovic (samesame hitler) was never accused of personally participating
but of supporting the following definition of a warcrime according to article 147 of 4th geneva convention:
"Willful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement of a protected person, compelling a protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile power, or willfully depriving a protected person of the rights of fair and regular trial, taking of hostages and extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly."
you know thats close enuf to hurt when it come to american policy in this war,
casual collateral damage, torture as policy, allowing its troops to murder w/impunity, locking folk away w/o rights and remedies, violating american cvil rights at will and and all manner of dictatorial skullduggery and a stop me if you dare attitude
i been noticing how after initial declarations of openness of haditha
we have heard nothing since, its clear that its strategic
speak on it, cant say we didnt speak on it, then stonewall it unless forced
by the time we let out whatever we let out it will be old news
i am constantly amazed at their lack of shame
history will be amazed at what we have allowed
in our name
in struggle
rdoc
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