rootwork the rootsblog: a cyberhoodoo webspace

raise the sun up in the morning

FRIDAY

latest report

fighting in the southern sudan
initial reports say hundreds dead mostly civilian

will have to look into that
conjureman dont like surprises

on thing thats not a surprise is listening
to bush these days and he stil not open

to anything but what he want to do in iraq
and its kinda frightening

politically you thinking this will encourage
the republican freefall in the eyes of the public

but that situation in iraq goes beyond politics
people dying on a humbug, we need to get out of there

and bush just refuse to budge in the slightest
this some kind of hell designed by a neocon fiend

hangtough, this too shall pass

rdoc

THURSDAY
solid gold

i forgot - im supposed to be doing a panel
for african voices in the city on dec 2nd

on speculative fiction

i forgot all about it until one of my cityfolk
emailed me that she would be there

okay, i got to get seriously busy on that
cause i do not like to be unprepared

and african voices thats my crowd
my base, i got to shine for the base

speculative fiction, im tickled they asked me
like the time black images books bazaar down in texas

asked me to participate on a romance panel
because they considered another good loving blues a 'love novel'

i was the only male writer with about 20 black female
romance novelists - they called me 'dr love'

that was one of my favorite panel experiences ever
talk about drama, that was memorable,

but this one will be close
my crowd my field

first i figured they wanted me to talk about scifi fantasy
so i was playing with the blurry border between magical realism and scifi fantasy

ive gotten some of my best licks from scifi
my thing about prophets, magicians and holy grounds

my visionary thing

so i start crunching trying to come up w/something profound to say
im looking for some dazzle right, but then i received this notice from them:

From 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm, Sheree R. Thomas will host “Writing the
Marvelous Real: Magical Realism for 21st Century Voices,” an interactive
speculative fiction writing workshop. Magical realism, or more
accurately, “the marvelous real” is a powerful genre that takes ordinary
people and places them in extraordinary circumstances.  First coined by
the great Cuban novelist and musicologist, Alejo Carpentier (1904-1980)
in his novel on the Haitian revolution, The Kingdom of This World,
“magical realism” is actually a mistranslation of Carpentier's vision of
"lo real maravilloso,” where realistic elements appear in an otherwise
“magical” setting.  The works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Alice Walker,
Arthur Flowers, Salman Rushdie, Luke Sutherland, Laura Esquivel, Gloria
Naylor, Isabelle Allende, Jorge Luis Borges, Italo Calvino, Angela
Carter, and numerous other slipstream storytellers are representative of
this complex and exciting body of work." 

now thats what im talking about
and look at that crowd they put me in

i detect sherees hand in this
slipstream storytellers indeed

thats my thing, african american magical realism
teaching a course next semester called

literary hoodoo and the sacred text:
magic and magical realism in african american novels

this my core course
i can do this is my sleep:

talk about magical realism
how it works in literature

how it allows you to break free of reality and contemplate
not only what is but what could be

how it allows you to manifest as a visionary

how different literary cultures manifest it differently
magical realism in the works of reed, toni, wideman, naylor, gayle jones, etc etc

how mumbo jumbo transformed african american writers into literary magicians
how african american magical realism comes from the griotic and hoodoo threads
how griotic african american writers function as cultural custodians and ideological orchestrators

on the nature of nommo: the power of the word to conjure reality
the conjuration of alternative realities through literature

the relationship of magic, reality and literature
how magic works in the real world and the nature of conjuration
the development of a sacred language and text through literary hoodoo

on visionaries and magical realism

so forth and so on, o i got a lot to say about this one
so i went into old texts and pulled out all this stuff, now i

got plenty raw material for this and thats always the difficult step
now all i got to do is go through and knock it into shape

them ima close it down with riffs from
the writer who would be great

oh ima dazzle them i am

this what i like to do
as you know it irk me i dont get no respect in the world

so when folk come to these things and im on the agenda they
generally real casual about it ' and some guy name flowers'

so i come in and i do my little low profile observer thing
and everybody else getting the play and i know im the master

im in that hoodoo mode and im
the center of the universe

then i do my presentation and i put the dazzle on them
and then its like who is this, but i stay in the observational mode

i fend of the wellwishers and disappear, the international
man of mystery - mythwork

thats why i work at it hard these things, i never present unprepared
and whenever i speak i speak in words of power

the world may not give me no respect but the folk
who was there know they was in the presence of power

saturday: speculative fiction panel: dec 2nd, 270 w. 96th st, 330 pm - nyc
sunday: new ren workshop in brooklyn - nyc
monday; radical maturity panel: 500 hall of languages, 12noon - syr

one of those weekends

i had hoped to get some work done this weekend
but these all ones i couldnt say no to

i generally say no, its not worth the distraction
leaving for kenya on the 11th, sls/kwani time and feeling pressed

will start reporting on that pretty soon

trying to have a good draft of rest for the weary to take with me,
plan to get a lot of work done on the rooftops of lamu

so i need to clock some manuscript
also got class today, behind on my prep
and a brand new presentation for saturday

im behind schedule again

and its the end of the year
got to get into that end of year reflections mode

should i do a griotic report
supposedly im doing that every year

i might as well maintain one iniatitive
ive let so many fall by the wayside

and i need to do that rebuild of rootwork
before the year is out, i see the new rootwork

as a magazine format where i can publish things
by other folk and establish a nice meeting ground

end of the year closeout
leftover projects

spoke to my boy jeff parker yesterday
well, we had an email exchange

one thing about teaching in a good mfa program
is learning from the young turks who come thru

we get 200 plus apps and choose 6
of the strongest we can find

keeps you growing trying to keep up with them
and some become literary companeros

jeff parker was in my first class here at syracuse
an experimental fiction class, and the 1st day he asked

are we going to do hypertext

my response was whats hypertext
jeff parker gave me my first online licks

made me understand network as a 21st century instrument
that it behooves a 21st century literary man to master

thats my boy
i liked his closure on his email

solid gold
rdoc

WEDNESDAY

graduation: bebe moore campbell: 1950 - 2006

whoo, read over my presentation
for the 4th and its quite fluffy, i will
be able to cut out a third of that easy

let me see: quickie time then back to work

only two options left in iraq:
cut and run or cut and jog

in fiji troops exercises 'secured' parts of the capital
and general has threatened coup by friday if demands arent met
situation continuing to deteriorate, looks bad

and check out this photo, these are unhappy blackfolk

apparently the firefighter was fed dogfood as a prank by his squadmates and he was unhappy about it

the haters in cali say its not racist, it was just a prank among buddies they say,

brotherman didnt agree but when city voted a payout the haters howled, so the mayor vetoed it

they dont understand they say why the blacks so unhappy about it

jesus they say, just a little dogfood
negroes are so touchy these days

last note: saw bebes obit in times yesterday
bebe was good people and i hate to see her go

specially since she was only 56
brain cancer apparently

my generation checking out one by one
ticktock ticktock

i once heard hippies on a bus refer to death as
a graduation and i liked the idea

bebe moving on, bebe had style
and she showed the oldboy respect, that

goes a long way with me
she once tried to hook me up

some schoolhouse gig that she didnt want
she tried to pass it on to me

it didnt come thru
but i loved her for trying

carry on girl
make a way

and on that note
best i get back to work

rdoc

SATURDAY

hello world
still in the delta

my boys helped me tend my bottletrees
yesterday, first time weve gotten explicit

about their training

been nice being home for the holidays
though i am concerned about the world

i take a couple of days off and the
world goes to hell in a handbasket

fiji expecting a coup any minute
ethiopia and somalia massing troops

i feel like those shamans of old
who got up early in the morning to

make sure they raised the sun
and didnt leave the world in darkness

yall chill till i get back to the sacred desk

and get that sun right on back up
there where it belong

in struggle
rdoc

social justice and radical maturity: 2nd draft

hello world
working on this presentation for the 4th

this the money draft, ima hit it one more time before the 4th
cut out the inessential and count it as a done deal

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

RADICAL MATURITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

I am flowers of the delta clan flowers and the line of o killens
i would like to thank you for inviting me to participate in this forum

ive had many requests since that convocation
and ive said no to most, but this one I accepted

because the subject matter interests me
social justice and radicalism in the 21st century

because i am very conscious of being an aging radical and
somewhat out of step with everybody

im no longer a radical in the classic sense of the word and many of
my radical peers consider me an apostate

but to my way of thinking im more effective a radical than
ive ever been

ive learned to work with the system and the evolving
instruments of the 21st century

a recidivist child of the 60s, a radical warhorse of love peace and happiness
the quest for social justice has been important to me all my adult life

social justice can be generically defined by concepts like
freedom of thought and political liberties

security and freedom from want
quality of life issues health, education and welfare

the potential of making full use of your abilities
a fair playing field and freedom from abuse by the powerful

and so forth along these lines, basically human well being
for everybody, a fair allocation of social resources

we want everybody on the planet to be healthy wealthy and wise
of if you prefer more functional rhetoric, human capital, a developmental necessity

problem here is that different folk, different societies, different ideologies, different eras
have different ideas of what social justice entails, of what fairness is

dick cheney and i probably define social justice differently
my definition of social justice entails empowering the people,

it irks me when people(s) and communities are taken advantage of
by those in power – power institutions and overachievers like myself

as a wouldbe leader and man of power
i am systematically concerned w/the ethics of power

as an ethical practitioner of ideological power i got to be conscious of class issues
of the observational (dehumanizing) distance of the artist and the intellectual,

the obligatory strategic callousness of the wouldbe leader

got to consider all these in my bid to live a socially productive life
to achieve my artistic dreams and be a leader of my people

not only a visionary
an effective visionary

so i am very interested in exploring effective activism in the 21st century
i consider it in fact a critical and essential speculation

do you want to howl from the margins
or do you want to effect true change

guy ward churchill in denver left himself open for attack
and deb frisch shot herself in her own progressive foot

this is not my idea of effective academic radicalism
this is sidegame, this is entertainment

so just how does one go about being an effective agent of change
what is true game and what is diversionary sidegame

first i would define myself more an activist than a radical
ive grown up and my maturity as a lifelong organizer has been hard won

my radical goals have not changed but my tactics have

i see old radical comrades still stuck in that rejectionist mode
unwilling to grow out of their comfort zone and its a sad waste of potential

the other reason i chose to do this one is because i would be speaking
to folk interested in social justice as practiced by academics, artists and intellectuals

what i call ideological orchestrators
i believe you have a special role to play

i often watch young writers/intellectuals get caught up in the activist charge
of being marginal to struggle

and i tell them no no that means you dont understand the power of art, the power of ideas,
you dont understand the power of the word

i do my community service because its whats expected of me and you always do what you can
to alleviate the human condition, but i dont expect that service to cause fundamental change

it might help an individual -  or a community
but it wont cause fundamental change in the human condition

my only real shot at causing fundamental change is through my words
my Work

as an artist (visionary) you use your craft (words, ideas, media, etc) to create a vision
that so excites the human imagination that folk try to live its principles in the realworld

so that, no matter how negligibly, reality adjusts itself to your vision

you’ve got the usual suspects, philosophers, activists, politicians and theologians
folk like locke and rawls, marx and ida b wells, artists like casely hayford or harriet beecher stowe

visionaries like john o killens

you have the example of hg wells influence on the text of the united nations declaration of human rights
the influence of public intellectuals and policy institutes on the right and left

the list of folk who have contributed to the evolution of social justice is exhaustive
and whose to say that problematic student youve been bending backwards for wont make a contribution

whatever your field or interest you can make a contribution to the expansion of human rights
to the evolution of our understanding of social justice, to the empowerment of the people

some say social justice should be an absolute and unchanging verity but
it seems to me to evolve according to the challenges of different eras

the magna carta was the codification of social justice in its time
as was the declaration of independence or the united nations human rights principles

so what are the challenges of our times that will define our own contribution
to the evolution of social justice and the enhancement of the human condition

clearly we must count the stresses of globalization
under this i will subsume the conflict between islam and the west

also the rightwing ascendancy exemplified in the bush administration
and the recent election

one thing bush and the rightwing have done is force me to
confront my own ambivalences about being an american

and i have decided that i love america very much
as an african american i assure you i know america is not perfect

but at its best it stands for something it no longer does
that righteous ideal of what america could be, the very part i love about it

this battle for americas soul has just begun

bush has been in many ways a blessing
he and his have forced us out of the comfort zone

to consider what will really work and what is just rhetoric
surely it is apparent by now that we cannot afford to be dismissive of politics and policy

these policies dont necessarily hurt me, im one of life winners, ima get mine
but authoritative, abusive political systems hurt everybody and degrade the human condition

and in my concept of social justice we who have been blessed
are saddled with the responsibilities of that blessing

so what does the contemporary struggle for social justice entail
according to rickydoc

same thing it always has, basic human rights and well being for everybody
and in particular for the dispossesed of the world
it is a worldwide community we live in now

which will require communal responsibility in an age of individual achievement

caring (and providing somehow) for the whole world and not just your little slice
your family, your neighborhood, your class, your tribe

another factor shaping our challenge is emerging technology
the net has changed organizing forever, your potential reach is global now

and it allows organizers to bypass the gatekeepers

youve got the cyberdemocracy of the black radical congress
the free range web activism of the antiglobalization  movement

folk like the zapistas and move on.org, activist weblogs and the democratic netroots movement
are redefining  the nature and dynamic of organizing

it behooves us as organizers to master these new instruments of empowerment
the net has redefined what an armchair revolutionary is – it is no longer a joke

but the primary instrument will always be the quality of your vision

just what constitutes effective activism for artists, academics and intellectuals
what exactly is ideological orchestration

i see ideological orchestration as the ongoing competition among proponents of different belief systems
in an overarching attempt to influence the way the world thinks and the shape of human destiny

i call it orchestration because like some maestro conductor you are constantly coordinating a hopefully harmonious mix of strategic and tactical maneuvers, playing others as you yourself are played

some moves bold and open, others subtle and evasive, some hidden deep in shadow and misdirection

it is the longest and most comprehensive vision that wins
the one that subsumes all others

one designed to grow with time, the visionarys true instrument

if you truly understand the book of destiny young hoodoo
everybody on the planet works for you

everything is susceptible to strategy, the key that opens all locks
let others waste their energy in unstructured activity

you are a rootworker, studying the hoodoo board of destiny

until you have noted the handles and positioned yourself for
maximal impact, minimum effort,

and when you do move young hoodoo you work the roots of things
true significance, true influence

we call that putting the key in the hoodoo lock

you who so understands the book of fa
your every move changes things

when moving a people you must think in generations or strategies
are ineffective - frustration and burnout certain.

i have become comfortable with the glacial pace of social and cultural change.
a lifelong organizer you win some you lose some, you keep on struggling

the most salient point of being a mature radical
is that i dont mind defying radical dogma when necessary

i dont mind calling reparations a fools game
i dont mind insisting that whitefolk just arent the issue, we are

and i pick and choose my battles, got to use my energy wisely these days
i dont sign up for every campaign and i am not susceptible to activist guilttrips

i do my part but im systematic about it, i got game in play
and no need to prove anything to anybody, tempting though it be

there are times when i wonder if i have unduly compromised myself
am i truly a viable force, or just an unwitting buppy instrument of the powers that be – outplayed and outgamed

or even worse, a deluded dreamer and not even in the game
but it does not matter, win or lose im here to play

the option is to be a victim

i will always be a warrior, but i am no longer a young and vigorous warrior
i am an old warhorse now, hopefully wise and wily

one who has been through enough campaigns that it is the longcampaign that i concern myself with now - how does one live a life rich in grace and achievement that is still yet one of absolute commitment to struggle

a lifelong visionary and effective ideological orchestrator
the longgame

my record as an organizer has pretty much been one of unrelenting failure
i can only hope i have planted a destinical seed or two

I no longer consider myself a radical and yet I do
some would question whether I can even consider myself an activist

but I know that I am more effective a force for radical change that I have ever been
until the day I die I will awaken the sleeper, protect the weak and guide the strong

I wanna be a hero
and I got no shame

or in the words of fannie lou hammer of the mississippi freedom democratic party,

'sometimes is seems like to tell the truth today is to run the risk of being killed.
but if i fall, i'll fall five feet four inches forward in the fight for freedom.'

that is all
this spell is done

art is long, life is short

TUESDAY

hello everybody
heading for the delta for thanksgiving

wont be in pocket but a moment
but one takes what one can

been clocking pages but

otherwise stressed, going thru one
of those rough periods

that ride down to the delta
might cool me out

think maybe i will clean up draft of
radical maturity and social justice in the 21st century
before i get on the road

and speaking of radical maturity

charlieboy wait up dawg on that draft thing
hold off on those personals till we see

whats what up in here
where the real game is

these are momentus times and liable to be significant
when you standing at the crossroads

you move with caution

(note: enjoyed that riff, wonder if i can develop
a hoodoo voice, my rickydoc voice, a prophetic voice that
macks without shame or reservation)

in struggle
rdoc

SUNDAY
art is not an ends to itself but a means of addressing humanity     mussorgsky

hello world

working hard on rest
preparing to go to sls kenya
drafted mature radicalism and social justice in the 21st century piece

read a washpost article (subscription) this morning
by prendergast about why bush admin has not

made any strong moves on darfur

apparently they getting counterterrorism coop
from the sudan that they dont want to lose

article say when memo outlining darfur situation
was put before him early in his admin, bush angrily

scribbled 'not on my watch' in the margins

some guy say maybe it was placed on top of his wristwatch
and he was demanding that it be taken off

according to prendergast we can expect more bush rhetoric about
saving darfur but dont hold your breath

its all on you kofi
so what else is news

in struggle
arf

FRIDAY

reading reports that the sudan has agreed
to a joint un/au force of 27,000

i find it hard to believe
and will reserve judgement until i get more info

if actuctually truth and i doubt it
the devil will be in the details

more observers or real troops
who is in command, etc etc

apparently kofi is pushing hard to get some
resolution of this before he leaves in january

may the gods be with him
in this endeavor

ive said it before, gon say it again
darfurfolk gon have to militarize

long as we depending on other folk to save us
might as well give up now, just roll over and die and

save the arabs the trouble

rdoc

WEDNESDAY

hello world

some quickies now and i gotta run
manuscripts to be read and work to be done

i guess its sleeze week, not only is mike tyson
contracted to hoe for the heidi fless stud farm

but oj has written a book entitled if i did it, this is how ida done it
or something like that, a fox news/regan publications production

one wonders how low can oj go
oj and fox news who knows

this brings to mind all the blackfolk who supported oj back
when, what you think of your boy now

as i said back then (and got jacked up i might
add by the system out to get the blackman crowd)

we ought to hold blackfolk to a higher
standard than anybody else would

oj dont get it
and neither do his dwindling supporters

i guess he just used to the spotlight
and any spotlight will do

i see the un finally talking about sending troops
to chad since they cant seem to get along w/the sudan

at least stop the chadian incursions

one dismissive diplomat say they will still need the sudans permission
otherwise the sudan will consider international troops on their border
a hostile act

oh reallly?

on a better note, salvador plascencia read for the
carver reading series yesterday

thats my boy, he graduated from the program
and it was good having him back, he enjoyed being back

check out his novel, the people of paper
when you get a  chance

it was good seeing him
he is irreverent a reader as he is a writer

thats it, im gone
life is short, art is long

hangtough
rickydoc

some oldschool literary quotes

hello world

i found an old inspiration page of some of my favorite literary quotes:
some of them are just fragments, the paper was old worn and torn

i may add more during the week,
maybe take out some that no longer move me:


art is not an ends to itself but a means of addressing humanity     mussorgsky


the poet is a bird of strange moods.  he descends from his lofty domain to tarry among us, singing; if we do not honor him, he will unfold his wings and fly back to his dwelling place gilbran


when you wound a poet  you forfeit eternity      milosz

and they shall be accounted poet kings who simply tell the most heart easing things    keats

chose an author ( to read) as you would choose a friend     dillon

everything goes by the board, honor, pride, decency . . to get the book written.  if a writer has to rob his mother he will not hesitate.  the ode to a grecian urn is worth any number of old ladies    faulkner


there is only one trait that makes the writer, he is always watching     callaghan


i court others in verse but i love thee in prose     prior

poetry remembers the future    cocteau


for the creation of a MASTERWORK OF LITERATURE, 2 powers must concur, the power of the man and the power of the moment      arnold

______ a battered old novelist and is my business to comprehend     h james

______ writer finds style as the mystic finds god, in his own _________ ellis?


no poem was ever suppressed, if it was a poem.  delayed, yes.  muffled.  buried for a generation or a century.  but not suppressed.  macleish

a poet is a prophet only in so far as he has an audience in his own time.  to wait for the future with which he is already abreast is to deliver his message too late.  the poet must point out what is happening while it is happening, he is not there to deliver funeral orations . . . his antannae has to be moving, his feelers waving with a feverish intensity.   isaacs

unless the bastards (critics) have the courage to give you unqualified praise, i say ignore them    steinbeck


OF MAKING MANY BOOKS THERE IS NO END   ecclesiastes   12:12

sometime you swaggering sometime you not: sekou sundiata on a sungun: 360%

WEDNESDAY

sundiata on a sungun: 360%

"By putting this election and partisanship behind us, we can launch a new era of cooperation and make these next two years productive ones for the American people,"   bush post election

yeah right, fool me once shame on you

took the house and got our
fingers crossed on the senate

now we got to consolidate that ground
got to play bush like he trying to play us

saw where a brother got elected gov of mass
i wasnt even paying attention to that one

im pleased we took back congress
but i feel a certain numbness

like this struggle has just begun

cleaning up republican messes
keeping the democrats righteous

outplaying bush and
the rightwing machine

gon be more than a notion - gon be aluta continua
one thing this bush era has done

its forced me to confront my own ambivalence
about being an american

seems i love america more than i thought
and really hate what bush and crew have done to her

i look close at saddams trial and verdict, a tacky kangeroo trial that
fits right in w/torture, wiretapping and other bush policestate policies

makes me look forward all the more to what sekou got to say
about being an american, like me he is an oldschool black militant

trying to understand an ever more complex world
heard from him, that made me feel good you know

he didnt have no comps but he said the show wasnt
sold out like the website say, call the number he say

718.636.4100

i call, i got tickets, looking good
this the promotional material on the bam site:

The events of 9/11 changed America. We all know this. But what exactly does it mean? How have our cherished notions of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness been called into question? Is there room in this radically altered landscape for compassion, solidarity, and love? And where, if anywhere, is God? Cosmic questions these, and as posed in vanguard poet/monologist/composer/musician Sekou Sundiata's the 51st (dream) state, they are a thrilling clarion call to civic and artistic action.

Aided by composer Graham Haynes, Sundiata and his musical ensemble take us on a galvanizing soul search for our identity, all the while asking questions via a rousing cycle of songs, poems, monologues, and projected images. A work for the people, the 51st (dream) state comes from the people. An artistic residency in Harlem and public engagements with college and university communities all over the country yielded a dizzying spectrum of opinions, beliefs, anxieties, and passions. And they've found their way into Sundiata's astonishing work, granting even more immediacy to this urgent investigation of who we are, what the rest of the world thinks of us, and what keeps us going.

i tell you gon be showtime up in brooklyn this week
and so appropriate on this post election day

like i said in my saturday post
gon be an experience, be there or be square

the one i really want to see is the one he wrote about his own
trials and tribulations, but i will take what i can get

to this day i remember a line from his first piece
sound of the memories of many living people, back in the 70s

sundiata on a sungun, 360%

in struggle
rdoc

TUESDAY: ELECTION DAY

well, todays the day

today we get to express ourselves
on the imperial presidency of george bush

im depending on you today
fellow travelers and keepers of the faith

o valiant few

my daily numbers been falling lately
naturally im concerned

but i kinda dont care, you get what i give you
and i give you what i can

today i feel like amadeus when he passed
out new music one time and the musicians

protested, this is not music they said

it is not for you he replied, it is for a later age
play it like i wrote it

today is a mingus among us day
do your part fellow travelers, ima do mine

a luta continua
rdoc

MONDAY

hello world

you know i keep trying to cut back on this weblog
i fear i cannot justify the time it takes

but the only way a weblog works is if you get obsessive
about it and im an obsessive type individual

i enjoy having a forum no matter how neglible it be
im disappointed i got neglible readership and

im disappointed somebody doesnt pay me
cause i work as hard as folk who do get paid

but i love the freedom to do what i please
say whatever i am moved to say

and however i am moved to say it

that freedom has evolved my narrative style
both here and in my fiction

hopefully when i look back i will judge this effort
to be have been strategically effective use of my time

a decent contribution
to my body of work

it has an immediacy that none of my other
primary projects (novels and holybooks) have

am sloshing along with that novel
im putting in the hours but im moving godawful slow

basically a page a day

which by the way is taking superhuman effort
im struggling for that page and dont always make it

was thinking a draft this semester, a draft next semester,
then the summer woodshed crunch

look like it might be one draft both semesters
then the summer crunch

ohwell, you do your best
you go with the flow

just tried to get tickets to 51st state

work by an old buddy of mine, sekou sundiata
at the brooklyn academy of music wed thru fri

really wanted to see it

been really conscious of how i spend my time these days
been conscious of my mortality, been trying to get my work done
been trying to enhance the quality of my days

would have been nice to see sekous work
havent seen sekous work since the sound of the memories

we arent as close as we used to be, we used to be
stone cut buddies, but time sometime mess with that

we once had a misunderstanding over a woman and we
cool and all but aint like it used to be

we always gon bump heads on a certain level cause we two type a
dogs in the same pack and thats just the way it is

sekou was the leader of the pack when
we was literary cubs in the city

o i held my own but sekou was the boss dog
back in the day literary harlem belong to sekou sundiata

now weve all scattered out on our
separate trajectories - ah but back in the day . . .

when we was young and immortal
and destined for greatness

be nice to see what the mature sekou doing
but its already sold out

ima get in touch with him see what he can do

but its probably fruitless, he probably been swamped w/requests
since ny times did an article on it saturday

but hey if you dont try then nothing happen, right
i would really like to see sekous mature work

i got a shot cause me and sekou used to run the rails

he call it the 51st state
an exploration of what it means to be american

ought to be interesting cause
sekou an interesting thinker and artist

been up and down the road some
fellow leo whose used up many of his lives

he been growing well and the mature sekou
likely worth listening to

gon raise some serious issues
put the serious poetry/multimedia on them

gon be an event
all sekous works are

sekou can be fearless

if you get a chance you probably
want to check it out somehow

if i dont get a ticket, i will spend that time writing
my own little contribution to the tradition we both love

friends still here and friends still gone
a luta continua

SATURDAY

no novel work yesterday

schoolhouse consumed it all
the ivory tower drain me while darfur festers

sudan tried using army conscripts
rebel troops walked over them

sudan has fallen back on janjaweed
sorched earth assaults on villages

sudan rejects plan to replace au force w/un troops
(who expected them to is what i want to know)

the west, distracted by bushs antics
cant get a darfur groove on

most recently the gang that couldnt shoot straight
put the instructions for making a nuclear bomb online

in arabic
because neocon hawks demanded it

and pentagon unveils pr website to counter
negative media reports on iraq, rumsfeld, et al

their idea of responding to criticism is change not policy but slogan - they figure narrative conquers any reality

a principle the old conjureman can appreciate

yesterday bush admin claim blackhole detainees should not
have access to lawyers because they might talk about being tortured

one detainee laywer say this has moved beyond
kafka into alice in wonderland

let the farce play on but im tired
im gone

o, let me not forget the women of beit hanoun
talk about being game, its a luta continua up in there

that kind of dedication in a civil disobedience program
would cover a lot of ground, but the blood so bad its

an unlikely strategy - unfortunate

rdoc



THURSDAY

hello world

the old hoodooman plenty tired today
tomorrow looking like a collapse day

been mingus among us all day

me and my daddy once saw mingus at the downunder
one of the few times me and my daddy hung out, a snowy winter night in the city - and mingus

when i pull out mingus that mean im going deep
in the mingus zone

been clocking 1 to 2 weekday pages per
not much - but i will take it

lets see: some quick commentary

kerry a fumbler but you know he right about iraq
as a fellow vietnam vet whose nephew is in iraq

getting hurt or dying in a bullshit war for venal agendas
is a losers hand, take somebody been there to testify

bush wouldnt know
let me tell you what he do know

been hearing about a film  we must kill the bandits 
by kevin pina, us filmmaker

chronicles the brutal repression of aristides supporters
after us deposed aristide in february of 2004

aided and abetted by the un backed brazilian led minustah (thanks luna)
and us marines supporting the interim government

sound like one of those films you need to see
but you dont really want to see, hotel rwanda

and whats up with cuban terrorist luis posada carriles
apparently the war on terror is just for some terror

bush say sometime terrorism okay depending
which side the bread get buttered

bush administration 'lost' his files they say
he could be released any day

blew up a cuban airliner, assassinated various folk but
bush claim an anticastro terrorist aint really a terrorist terrorist

politics you know, thats all move bush

republicans and principles are like evangelists and homosexuality
the louder they doth protest the more you wonder

i really shouldnt gloat that the

president of the national association of evangelicals
and antigay crusader apparently been outed

i appreciate the political ramifications
but empathy w/the human condition regrets it all

who aint got secrets

ima leave that one alone
ima let the lord take care of that

last note and im outta here - i been reading about the drunk fat mice, right
apparently if you cut back your caloric intake the

body goes into a famine mode and prepares to live longer
well i had worked my way from 250 to 214 and dropping

got happy and fell of the diet/exercise wagon for a month or so
ballooned up to 225 - it was amazingly easy to do so

it will take months of hardwork to regain that lost ground
ohwell, live and learn - one hopes - (gymrat it is)

okay, okay, one more lick and im gone
ima call this one all hail the chief decider

it is so juicy i cannot resist it

in seattle recently a schoolbus driver was fired for giving bush the bird
one commentator say maybe she was saying bush was number one

too easy right, i apologize

im going back to work
world too strange for me

rdoc

WEDNESDAY

hello world

im clocking pages
homeboy kirk whalum on duty

bob gates office is right across the hall at the schoolhouse
he showed me some new work today, ima show you

feeling kinda humble today, deep blue today
sometime you wonder how you using your life

is the world right after all, is my significance all in my head
am i a dreamer having a good old time with myself, am i delusional

this claim to be a hoodoo
a magician, a shaman, a conjureman, a prophet

like the world never seen

cue the powerless native claiming
for himself a measure of empowerment in the world

if only in his own mind

literary world work on the same principle
justified and authenticated by the work

the almighty Work

i fear sometime this novel is a joke
upon myself and upon you dear believer

it is so different cannnot judge it and
all i can see is the thing still dont quite work

last 8 years been full court press and i still dont
have a viable manuscript, whats going on here lord

you trying to tell me something?

at this point i cannot afford to judge its value
i do not have that option, if i dont like it what ima do, quit?

at this point all i can do is struggle on
got to make it happen

win or lose, masterpiece or delusion
got to make it happen

like i see it in my literary soul
god what i see in my soul

im outta here
got to clock some pages

the lose option is always there, i
just ignore it

i always expect
to win

rickydoc flowers

aspirant novelist of
stature and significance

stumbling into the zone: got to save america, got to save the world

WEDNESDAY

okay, some quick catch up

damn good day yesterday, clocked 4 good hours
got a lot of work done and was prepared for class too

now thats what im talking about -

course yesterday dont count now
got to face the beast all over again, but thats the way it goes

i been following those links john garst left in his comments on my johnhenry post
gon have to do a john henry part 2 post i been learning so much

fiji still on edge, but even more disturbing (folk aint dying in fiji)
is that arabized blacks in chad have begun copycat cleansing

aping their arabized brothers in the sudan

also i been monitoring the nov 7 blackface races
3 repubs 1 demo - moderate to rabidly conservative blacks

only one w/traction is michael steele in maryland
the princes of prince george blacks crossed party lines to support him

cause they say mfume, who lost the primary 41 to 44%
didnt get support from democratic establishment and steele is

a nice guy they say

my memphis homeboy harold jr falling behind in the senate race   (duuuhh)
after putting up a stronger race than anybody down home expected

im conflicted on that one, dont particular care for harold jrs triangulatory style
but was hoping he would pull it off and add another senate seat to the pile

maybe grow into a more righteous mode - whishful thinking most likely
a win would probably just encourage him to keep pandering

now he behind and trying to rally his black base in memphis/west tennessee
but its hard to get excited about somebody aint been championing blackfolk

harold jr decided to bet on whitefolks love for a crossover black- so be it,
i admire his senatorial ambition but the price is high - i wish him luck w/them

if i was back home id probably vote for him but id feel soiled

blackwell and the other black repub falling behind im glad to say
specially blackwell, that comprador deserve a comfy retirement

the others strike me as basic opportunists
blackwell is a dedicated traitor

recently spearheaded a voter id suppression scheme in ohio w/a list
of approved ids that includes a platinum credit card or a yacht license

one daley show skit claim blackwell is making history, :“first time in our history
a black man will have the opportunity to disenfranchise everyone else”

okay, one more quickie and i got to clock pages

rumsfield say bush admin going to commit additional billions to beef up
shiite militas - excuse me i meant iraqi security forces

one wonders how long we plan to arm, train and support
murderers who drill holes in folks heads for fun

and i see the puppet minister of iraq finally got the nerve to stare down
his enemies like the us been begging him to

told the us army to back off
from sadr city

the madhi army hes afraid of, the us he takes on fearlessly

basically we training, arming and financing shiite militias
and a government as much our enemy as anybody there

mad cause they not allowed to drill holes in sunni heads

for this we bleeding
for this we dying

our fault neocon fantasies inflicted on these folk
one incompetent mistake after the other, but thats

no reason to stay

there is no political will for the kind of investment it would take
to have the slightest chance of succeeding in iraq at this point

one thing a good bluesman got to know
when its time to go its time to go

starting nov 7th

we need a more sophisticated team in charge
these are trying times - not ideological fantasies

say the conjureman who live for such
and know the difference between the two

we got real problems need to be dealt with
need some true governance up in here

sorry prince george, your boy steele got to go
nice guy im sure but black is as black does

republicans of every type, stripe and color
need to get the message - with the quickness

got to ride the whirlwind on this one
the world is depending on us

rdoc

TUESDAY

trouble in paradise

fiji on the ropes again

tension behind army commander bainimaramas threats
to depose prime minister qarase

qarase attempts to sack bainiarama but the army balks

now army in the streets and fears of yet another military coup roiling fiji

trigger this time is proposed bill to give amnesty to
native leaders of attempted 2000 coup

let me see if i can set this up for you real quick

fiji half and half split between indigenous fijians
and indian population brought in by british

indians economically dominant
fijians own the land (tribally) and the army

consequently fijians politically dominant

fijian attempts to keep indians from electoral dominance
have lead to repeated military takeovers and attempted coups

this tension between blacks and east indians has played
out on various islands in melanesia and the caribbean

probably more volatile on fiji than anywhere else
uneasy standoff between ethnic factions very fragile

and under pressure by government plan to offer amnesty to
native activists who pulled 2000 coup on elected indian government

army tends to think of itself as political arbiter
a tendency to coup and countercoup has been problematic

and provide grounds for current fears
thats basically it i believe

folk are going to try to chill this out
again

in particular australia and new zealand, which have traditionally
had influence in fiji if you get my drift

the point is to avoid natire resentments
leading to suppression of the indian population

blackfolk tempted to do unto others
before it get done unto them

a situation that calls out for the highroad
somehow someway

cant we all get along

rdoc