THURSDAY
so apparently ayman zawahiri, al qaidas #2 tried to play the race card
aint that something, trying to play us, old boy trying to play the players
and did so kinda clumsy, called obama a house negro
what they translate as house negro is actually the arabic term for house slave,
which is a door they dont really want to open if they trying to play black people
lets talk about the arabic slavetrade why dont we and why
all those enslaved blackfolk have disappeared as a people
if they want to play blackfolk do someting about darfur
al quaida need to work on their propaganda, they a little dated
and crude too - clumsy propaganda is propagana you see thru - when its
sharp you dont realize you been had - thats when its clean okeydoke
whats interesting is that some hardleft blackfolk will be susceptible
thats whats sad - nation of islam will not, hardleft will - thats sad
im buried in manuscripts but getting thru, one by one im clearing the decks
meccas novel, beccas shortstories, no more studentworks after dec 1st
and i will be a free man
rdoc
WEDNESDAY
hello dear regulators, got a little something something for you
other day eoghan on the conjure list held forth on ndoki -
fascinating concept as he laid it out, struck me somewhat like the mojo,
i believe he congo and that this is a congo concept, hope he dont object to shango presiding - i thought it appropriate
let me try to digest the gist of it for you. apparently he had been on the old hoodoo radio hour talking about ndoki. one of the folk on the list ask him to clarify
this what he wrote:
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ndoki is simply a notable energy, or an extraordinary talent. although there are certain specific differences in the kongo understanding of it and how it works, it is roughly analogous with aché. ndoki, being energy is in itself neutral. how someone uses it - either for personal gain or for the communal good will determine if it is good or bad.
all people, places, and things have energy or strength, ngolo, but those which have a "don" as it were, have ndoki. a doctor has ndoki, a successful gambler has ndoki, an herbalist has ndoki, as does the diviner, and even the mass murderer or witch. clearly the last two would be viewed as evil....
as for it being viewed as a plus or minus, that would depend on whom you ask. generally, as with most other african traditions, and quite a few non-african one as well, most people go out of their way to avoid initiation into any ritual priesthood. it is not something anyone in their right mind would be eager to do if it could be avoided. it means restrictions and hard work and usually a fair bit of expense. all of this is followed by what usually amounts to very little benefit for the trouble.
you initiate only if there is no way to avoid it. and even then, you often try to see if you can buy your way out of doing it. anyone in a culture where such things are normal would consider you out of your effing mind if you told them you wanted to do that. of course, they know, as does all the rest of the world, that people from the us are crazy.
eoghan
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he was then asked if it could be said that we all have ndoki, even folk who do not manifest it got some thing special about them - his response:
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absolutely not. we all have a measure of ngolo which means power, some have quite a bit of ngolo, but not all are ndoki. and the truth is that it is not the potential, but the demonstration and exercise of exceptional ability that may be identified as ndoki. further, it is not just something, but specific somethings, extraordinary somethings. it is exceptionalism, and frankly we are not all exceptional, no matter how pc it may be to say so. any kongo would be very quick to assert that no, not all people or things are ndoki.
and, if it isn't demonstrated, then it isn't ndoki. ndoki may be political power, healing power, financial power, magical power, divinatory power, military and or athletic power or intellectual power. whatever kind of extraordinary power it may be, and these pretty much exhaust the main categories to which the term ndoki might be applied, it must be demonstrated in practice to be ndoki. potential does not exist within the definition of ndoki. it is as much as the extraordinary character of the gift, its exercise that defines someone or something as ndoki.
lastly, ndoki is not a natural quality but a super-natural one. it is by definition, not only exceptional, but un-natural. normal people, and the vast majority of people are normal, do not possess ndoki. by the way, kongolese would assert that "normal" is good. while you might respect and even honor ndoki, good ndoki anyway, you are as likely to simultaneously fear it, and you would not want to be it.
it, like initiation, like priesthood, is something that may be thrust upon one, but not a thing to be desired.
eoghan
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to which the person who had been inquiring replied she understood now that its only ndoki if its unnatural extraordinary demonstrated quality and even if its good its to be feared. she say it look like if you dont have it you dont want it or best not to demonstrate/develop it.
say she know people who “struggle not with the extraordinary ability they have, but because of it."
say they got to manifest like they got to breath
i could relate, was telilng one of my students the other day, he got talent but he say he dont know if he want to be a writer, i tell him forget about it then and in my heart i gave up on him, writers got to have that fire in the belly got to want to write so bad it dont matter what the world say, otherwise when the going get rough you gon fall by the wayside and the going always get rough, want to be an artist aint no wanna, got to be gotta
i email this eoghan, told him i detect true force, (part of my job description) ask if i can quote him, ask him who are you, come macking like that im spose to know who you are, what practice you do, what brought you to a hoodoo list, whats up partner
he do cuban palo he say, "grew up around" hoodoo and haunted hoodoo 'curio' shops as a child, noted similarities when he start practicing palo
"I am one of those odd birds though, both scholar and practitioner. The result is that all too often neither camp wants me. So, I continue to look for my own place. Fortunately, I sense that it is more about the journey than the destination. I hope that's so... the destination doesn't seem to be on the map. As for whether I am a true force or not, that is not for me to say."
true force he may or may not be but he is a mack
far be it from me to begrudge nobody pontificatory skilz
his reply to her insight:
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basically, yes. the thing is that any unnatural power is feared...one may desire the good fortune or the wealth, but one is very cautious about anything unnatural. apart from it's potential for evil, there always exists the potential that one may be accused of evil in such cases.
one seldom hears of kindoki being unhappy about being kindoki, at least not the good ones...being ndoki like all other gifts, has its good and bad side. nothing is without its price. but does the swan dislike its feathers?
eoghan
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indeed
guess thats it for today, done my duty
little aggregating and im gone
so leiberman has been left in a government oversite capacity no less - demos too close
to 60 to dump him easy, but if he say one mumbling word against obama he need to go
The Great Right Hope: Hillary Clinton? - Noemie Emery, Weekly Standard
In Congo's War There Are No Angels, Alvaro Vargas Llosa, The New Republic
i will give you more later, right now im
outta here, got pages to clock
all my love
rdoc
TUESDAY
alex: this one for you
two paths for the novel: zadie smith: newyork review of books
zadie smith say either or realism nonrealism
alex yates position is take them both
rdoc
MONDAY
hello world, aint got time to stay, still trying to clear my decks - that damn race in the south
piece still burning up time and got to get thru manuscripts been on my desk all semester
got a mess of personal tribulation i wont bore you with, suffice it to say the old conjureman feeling a little pressed right along
in here - ima clock me a 3, maybe even a 6 - cause otherwise i feel like life beating me all about the head and shoulders
okay doc, lets do some aggregating, this one i thought was cute, what you think
Mccains Black Relatives Support Obama - Elgin Jones, SFTimes
every 2 years mccain family, black & white, hold reunions in carrol county mississippi
black mccains say they dont know if they was family slaves or family miscegs
though many white mccains attend the most prominent mccain has not
apparently slave traders ancestors embarrasses him politically
2001 he claimed the mccains never owned slaves
but apparently the good folk at the mccain plantation
were not only slave owners they were slave traders
another article i read say michelles family was owned by anderson coopers family in south carolina
throw in obama and cheney and you start getting a feel for just how tangled a racial web we weave
The ugly side of 'beyond race' Gregory Rodriquez LA Times
interesting article say spat between blacks and gays over prop 8 reflect
habitual tensions between outsiders struggling to be insiders
Rather’s Lawsuit Shows Role of GOP in Inquiry Jacques Steinberg, NYT
another interesting note, rather case exposing CBS effort to placate republicans
evidence of how MSM has rolled over for the republican attack machine
Interview With Condoleezza Rice - H. Cooper & S. Malcomson, NYT Magazine
Obama's No Dove, But a Smarter Hawk - Jonathan Freedland, The Guardian
Ignoring the Truth about Georgia War - Mary Dejevsky, The Independent
Kenya's Obama Fantasy - Pascal Zachary, Foreign Policy
Obama's organizer roots are key Chuck Wilber, Detroit Free Press
A Focus on Diversity Keeping Us Apart Jonathon Zimmerman, History New Network
How Obama Might Change the Politics of Race in Unexpected Ways James Cobb, History News Network
Incitement to Assassination Has a Special Place in the History of Racism Glenda Gillmore, History New Network
Obama Win Prompts Wave of Hate Crimes Hannah Strange, Times Online
guess im sensitive to this backlash working on that race in the south piece, just thought to
call this backlash the 2nd reconstruction, gon have to look at that
im gone
rdoc
POSTSCRIPT: 11:22am and clocking pages. god is good
That Zadie Smith article was a real interesting read Arthur- thanks for posting it. Was helpful for me to see the question of authenticity directly tied to the question of traditional narrative realism. The reason I moved away from realism for half the book stemmed from my inability to write authentically (or authentically inhabit the personas of my characters) in the context of narrative realism. Realism depends on the conceit that the internal workings of the soul/personality are finite and knowable, and I kind of had to own up to the fact that there were some places I just couldn't go. Once I did that I got room to play.
Good luck with your pages- I hope December 1 comes soon.
Posted by: Alex Yates | November 20, 2008 at 10:11 AM