SUNDAY
hello world, while hunting zuma links i found that one below, a southafrican news site where
south african reporters consulted sangomas for divinations about how the election would turn out
obviously didnt have a lot of respect for the diviners
while i was there i read all these sensationalist articles about muti killings
where south african magicians kill children for bodyparts, they call them muti killings
they are prosecuted under whats called the human tissue acts - (rough when you got to have a law for this)
now, these articles kinda sensationalist and you never know the real deal in a case
like this where you are out of culture and afrospiritual practice everywhere is often denigrated
but im thinking this is actually an issue in some traditional spaces and its one i rail against when it shows
up (diluted) here in the americas, recently some of mambo racines folk were arrested trying to bring a freshly dug
skull through haitian customs and there are many practitioners here who dont object to the skull bit at all
atr deal in blood and bones w/the regularity but i find it appalling and aint gon restrain myself from saying it no more
i am not susceptible at all to the tradition rationales i hear from the atr practitioners, its fucking barbaric, and when allowed it opens the door for all kinds of atrocities like the ones accounted in these muti killing articles
that shit got to go, rickydoc say so
gon lay de geas on the hoodoo line
folk be telling me how various gods/spirits insist on it and thats just bullshit
this just primeval human thinking and most cultures have left it behind, have evolved
all cultures have that constant tension between tradition and evolution
cultures, traditions, religions evolve all the time and leave antiquated practice behind
even if they just go virtual, like the catholics do, drinking the blood and eating
the flesh of christ is not that appealing to me either, virtual or not
thank god we aint talking muti killings here, im talking bout that whole headset, all that killing
and all, all those sacrifices and belief in the power of blood and body parts, we wallowing in blood
i got to get rid of that whole headset
all that blood and guts state of mind
animal sacrifice, so forth & etc
that shit got to go
oh i can hear them now, oh you just parroting the west
you do not understand these things - fuck that
that shit got to go
in the name of the conqueror
that shit got to go
folk think prophecy about telling the future or something
but prophecy is about regenerating tired cultural practice
determining what is viable, and what should be left behind
hooking up cultural practice with destinic consequence
and de ol hoodoo prophet gon tell you straight up, that shit got to go
with all my power im gon extract that shit
mark my word
rickydoc trickmaster
wouldbe prophet of the hoodoo way
SATURDAY
hello world, trying to convince myself to do an end of the year report
laying out the most significant issues of the year and speculations
on developments in 2008 but im having trouble convincing myself its worth it all
guess it depends on how much novelwork i get done over next couple of days
some real quick quickies
obama cutting into clintons lead in black vote
un african caucus backed arab/islamic caucus effort to disband un human rights panel on sudan as part of arab/islamic caucus campaign to alleviate pressure on the sudan
justice and admin tell congress/courts any investigation of the destruction of cia tapes will impede their own investigations - but whats being investigated is justice/cia/admin obstruction of justice - thats bold, thats so bold, it never cease to amaze me how bold they are
my toss say look like 100% zulu boy zuma will be the next president of the anc/southafrica -
course any diviner can have an off day, like south african historian leonard thompson, who wrote in 2001, "the new president [thabo mbeki] appointed as deputy
president jacob zuma, a loyal anc member who had no formal education
and posed no challenge to mbeki's leadership" - see what im saying
what else, nothing, im not feeling this
maybe later, im tired, im down, im done
i got the blues
sometime the punches be coming at you so hard you cant get your feet under you -
it be like BAM . . okay shake it off rick, shak . . BAM . . sh . . shak . . BAM
and it be like damn, i need some slack, lord
just let me get my breath, lord
mercy. lord
then again, there is that great blues line:
anything you werent born with
you can learn to live without
ike turner r.i.p.
THURSDAY
hello world, following a link to rootsblog i came across a nytimes
listing of the best novels of last 25 years, apparently they asked some
100s of literary folk what novel they would choose and then put their
reasoning/essays about which novel they chose, it was fascinating reading
some of them protested being asked to choose 1 novel but they participated
everybody got a favorite novel, one that moved them, or they think moved society
or the literary world, this was done in 2006 sometime, wonder if the list would be now
beloved by toni morrison was the winner
runnerups
underworld by delillo
blood meridian by mccarthy
rabbit angstrom (4) by john updike
american pastoral by phillip roth
counting the honorable mentions the gender breakdown was 2 women
20 men, and the list was classically canonized, wasnt for toni at the top
it would have looked kinda generic, the usual suspects, still, some very
interesting discussions on what makes a novel important, for instance
jane smileys essay, talked about how toni built dramatic suspense into beloved
i might have to dig back into this article when i got some discretionary time, get some
pointers - what was kinda humbling was how many of them i havent gotten around to reading yet
also kinda humbling, i been hoping this novel would be my masterpiece but its so strange
i cant really judge whether its actually works or not, much less is a true masterpiece
at 57 i have to consider that i might not have a masterpiece in me, ohwell, too late in the
game to do anything but plug away at it and accept whatever i get, reminds me of something
buddy of mine, playwright aishah rahman once said, i once told her i wanted to be the greatest novelist
ever lived and she said no art, thats not what you want, what you want is to sing your song
best you can sing it, that way you can appreciate other folk singing theirs - one of the best pieces
of advice ive ever gotten as a young writer, its kept me from being jealous of my buddies work/acclaim
and trying to write like other folk, best i keep it in mind
read a very evocative black agenda report article by khail muhammad
that puts bill cosbys uplift agenda in context of a longline of uplift agendas
from booker t on and does a good job of skewering them but also sets up some false
dichotomies using this poll sometime ago that asked if middleclass blacks
were aspiring to 'white values', thats not really the issue - i for one am not
trying to getting to get black folk to 'be white' and just because
particular whitefolk try to skew the question and rationalize racism et all as
black pathology kinda aint got nothing to do with what we got to do to flip this
script, and we cant let them define the dynamic, which is what this article does, the
question is not black vs white values, thats a fakeout question easily knocked down
let me define what black values are, or ought to be
and struggle aint no either or, its working with both hands
on many levels its a fakeout article but it was a very evocative, with a lot of points to chew on
i aint got time to breakdown all the nuance on that perennial question right now
maybe tomorrow
im always gon try to speak truth to the people
even when they dont want to hear it
but im kinda tired of always being the contrarian, of being out on a limb and feeling
misunderstood, feel like i should just keep my mouth shut sometime
books out of print, 100 hits a day w/rootsblog
sometime i feel like im just wailing in the wilderness
youd think i had enuf sense to give up by now
but i dont think i can
once again, just do what you do rick
just do what you do, hang in there
all my love
rdoc
WEDNESDAY
hello world, i wanted to leave my rest for the weary post up for awhile
but i got to be moving on, readership been weak lately, who cares
rest for the weary coming right along, if anything im in the zone
i notice this article about obamas unofficial campaign slogan
fired up, ready to go
apparently he was in some little town in south carolina when local activist, edith childs, woke up the crowd with fired up, ready to go chant
obama say he was kinda tired when he got there, say he was whipped
but "after a minute or two, Im feeling kind of fired up." he say, "im feeling like im ready to go."
he been using it ever since
i also notice hillarys campaign playing dirty tricks on obama lately, or rather oppositional work
tried to stick him with a charge of illegal campaign contributions thru his PAC
(one of which being a campaign contribution to hillarys senate campaign, go figure)
when he accused her of dirty tricks, the clinton campaign claim it was republicans that did it,
but journalists say it was the hillary folk planting those stories, just yesterday i read one of
hillary folk saying obama drug use as young man was going to make him unelectable,
a little while back they tried to use a kindergarten essay say he wanted to be president
one day against him - hillary hillary
obviously their oppositional research is in full swing now that obama seem to be getting some traction
i been basically sitting this one out cause i got respect for hillary and im conflicted about
whether i think president of the united states is all that great a job for obama anyway
i want him to keep being a community activist i guess - seem like a higher calling
kinda like folk who think im a sellout cause im a 'professional' writer now
instead of the community poet i started out as
all us writers 'in the tradition' started out as community poets but you cant stay there
and its become a pejorative term for unsophisticated work among us
and you proud of your community poet roots and your community poet skilz
(i can still move the people) but when you grow beyond that your influence is magnified
you still warriorkind but you more sophisticated in your game
and your work - if anything you striving to be an international force
destinic in your scope
im still conflicted about obama running for president
but im starting to hear the warhorn lately
fired up. ready to go
if its good enuf for oprah
its good enuf for me
rdoc
You have a Great New Year.
I was given a gift of your site, for I am also Vet from Nam
and this one subrealism.blogspot.com with some wise younger men/women
In reading your post about the problems in our atr and theirs about the culture
I riffed this am
“Nothing Human Is Alien To Me.” 2007/12/25
The Father “Spirit” offered a powerful thought as a gift, through a very wise child. The African sages say the father brings the spirit; the mother creates the culture.
When I stated the Self was a great break through in science in the 20C , I was looking first at the meme passed down by our great Philosophy – the idea that you must know one-self in-order NOT to be a slave or control by others evil desires; and shape one’s journey back to a beautiful void - NU. Where life is regenerated and creates a new.
But!
Baba you have elucidated its evil twin – First I must state I do not believe in a devil – literary, yet; I do believe what appears passive can be as evil as a Hannibal band of zombies. Americans have built an appearance of naiveté that is unsettling when I think about it. The public and social network that a self must have: to live, has being taken over with illusion and to now perpetuated: we against them mindset. We are in a state of dissonances that is quite frankly frightening.
Science knows one CAN NOT control irrational thinking or non-violent behaviors, what are the social contents and narratives, that gives rise to “Utopian and Nostalgia” ideal that turn vicious, ugly, vile, and inhuman? And when I talk to my younger generation, I remained of what Jimmy Baldwin stated in the well of wisdoms: the fight for us was not just for a vote, it was to be more human and playful.
Now I going to admit this: no-one parties’ like a “black man” but they have created a ‘dead zone” of music and lewdness which has no real counter “check it” reality until too late. “The Warrior knows that he can not sleep.” My faith is always with Life that is struggling to live and blossom – Ase’
Peace and the best in the Year of The Rat - good business year, we will need it. The 100 year rule of the "Yankees" is slipping in the market place.
Nana Kwame "Osunwole"
Posted by: nanakwame | December 25, 2007 at 12:09 PM