MONDAY
hello world, listening to solomon burke today, works like mountaintop
just right for a hard working downhome groove - oldschool
rootsblog stats been falling cause of my spotty posting - ohwell
bes that way sometime, got to stay focused, rest for the weary gets it all
in the name of babagriot john o killens,
the great griot master of brooklyn
who not only taught me how to be a writer but
how to be a visionary
babajohn come to mind cause while wandering the net this
morning i read a Memphis columnist talking about how classic
browneyesblue experiment illustrate the influence of self
perception on behavior and lifechoices
which make me think about why im trying to do this chosen people thing
in spite of all the problems that come with chosen people scenarios:
hitler and the jews, israelis and palestinians, boers and kaffirs
brahmins and untouchables,
the grand old south and the republican southern strategy
the list of chosen people scenarios gone bad goes on
so i feel real defensive about going this route for the black
generations - let me try to explain:
at one point as a young ideological orchestrator, trying to develop my political strategy for
blackfolks empowerment i decided that everything i had to say had been said before
harlem renaissance, civilrights, blackpower, martin, malcolm, marcus and ida b, literary thinkers like
ishmael, amiri and gaylejones, langston, richwright and zora, etc etc ad infinitum
its not like blackfolk dont know what has to be done to get out of this trickbag, its the
execution thats been problematic, how do you transform an entire race of people
a necessity which basically lead to a decision to try to change blackfolks culture
and lifestyles souldeep, otherwise none of the strategies of empowerment
were enough to change the destinic dynamic,
politicalpower, education, blackcapitalism, radicalism, individual achievement and community
development, various activisms, etc etc etc,
none of them have worked to fundamentally change the condition of
blackfolk in this world, much less america
so what i decided some years ago was that just telling black people to act right
just wasnt sufficient when you are as behind and discouraged as we are
when your subservience is built into the social and psychological system
it would be hard to explain to folk who havent experienced it, the crippling sense
of inferiority that blackfolk have to contend with and how it cripples efforts
to heal the dysfunctional elements of black culture and lifestyles
both individually and collectively
for however many hundred years we been here, folk been exhorting blackfolk
to get it together, to be normal citizens instead of dysfunctional bottomfeeders
dont get me wrong, i accept racism and all as breeding grounds but i think it is only
by taking responsibility for our own destiny that we will be able to finesse racism and
turn the trick, that only we can really fix this and that we will
be abused and disrespected until we by our behavior
make that reality false,
and i believe you can be whatever you aspire to be, that you conduct
yourself as you aspire to be and over the years you become it
conduct yourself as you aspire to be and you shall
it is the essence of conjuration, for forcing reality to bend to your will
this is how ive become a writer, a conjuror and a wouldbe prophet (jury still out on that
one, i have not yet been able to pull that off to my satisfaction)
and racism - crying about racism is like a sailor cursing the sea because its wet
surely by now we have factored racism into our strategic posture
cause its not going anywhere - granted its better than its been but thats not saying much
every once in awhile something like the genetics guy or jenas nooses remind us
of where we really stand in this country
so based on principles of healing for hoodoo clients with particularly strong behavioral problems
where i dont try to just stop dysfunctional behavior as much as i try to change that negative energy to
productive energy, rather than just telling them to stop doing ingrained negative behavior
i believe in giving clients life affirming goals to achieve that re channel that energy
i have also found this a useful tech for my own attempts to keep growing in power
accentuating the positive, eliminating the negative and changing bad energy to good
and so often i saw where blackfolk latch onto the most most preposterous ideas/strategies
out of this desperate need to feel good about themselves, so i decided to use that energy too
i decided that only by giving blackpeople a mission greater than their adversity could i channel/
conjure the energy that it would take to get us out of a historical trickbag of this magnitude
i have to give them a vision they can believe in
a vision that will inspire them to superhuman effort
a vision that will illuminate them, make them greater than they are
this also has to be a vision that serves both my families, blackpeople and
all humanity - that inspires both of them to be greater than they are -
it must be a better way
so i came up with this firstborn thing, black culture as
guide and guardian of humanitys destiny
needless to say its made my literary life more complicated, make my Work that
much more perplexing to folk, such a particular vision mess w/my readership such as it is
my stature in literary circles is so marginal that i often wonder if
im just totally delusional to consider myself important as i do
of historical stature and significance
in spite of all evidence to the contrary
i cannot tell you how many times ive wished i was a normal writer, w/readership and
respect (and grants and prizes and books in print) ohwell, bes that way sometime
sometime i wish i never met, never heard, of babajohn o killens, the great griot master
of brooklyn (this drawing of babajohn as long distance runner by babagriot tom feelings - respect)
so anyway, reason i chose this guide and guardian thing is because i needed
a vision that would ask of blackfolk their higher selves
and one that would by offering critical destinic service to humanity place blackfolk
in a position of power, soft power to be sure but the only kind worth having
illuminating power
the power of service
as a hoodoo sorceror and a lifelong student of power and magical charisma i know that power is a constant negotiation, people give me power because i use it in their service
and when folk decide im not serving them well, then that power is withdrawn - so for a blackfolk as powerful reality, i have to develop a culture that is one of service to humanity
now you may notice that this is a jewish destinic model, the jews at their best
a chosen people scenario - hopefully at its best
at its worst a chosen people scenario becomes a we better than other folk, in particular those who
subordinate to us, which if you really running this good is everybody
i have to avoid that destinic trap at all cost
id rather my people stay weak than become rogue force, as the jews have done in israel,
(i understand how yall got caught up in that trap but im sorry you havent been able to break free)
the black struggle, and in particular my own destinic scenario, is built on
a jewish diasporic model, we must learn from both their victories
and their stumbles,
so even though the success of this strategy is very speculative, i struggle
to build proscriptions against the chosen people syndrome into it
just in case i actually do transform my peoples souls
and their destiny
okay, ima work on all this later, try to flesh it out for you, work the nuances a
little better (rest for the weary all nuance 24 damn 7 - thats why its taking me so long)
this kind of stuff, where im working thru real issues, i dont mind investing rootsblog time in this
even if nobody else is interested, i feel that one day, when the judgments of our generations
efforts are made, its those of us who were working thru the real issues facing
our people at this historical point and time who will be influential
on future generations (and maybe get some respect denied me in my lifetime)
but ive invested about 30 minutes on this riff so far this morning
and thats about all im wiling to invest, i got to clock some pages
cant really blame the literary world i dont get no respect (or readership)
in the final analysis thats just a failure of craft, best i get back to work
if i clock enuf pages today, get some schoolwork off my plate
i will come back to this - big if
my love to you all
rdoc
hanging in there
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