rootwork the rootsblog: a cyberhoodoo webspace

rootwork: this week in significance

TUESDAY

one wonders if the timing of obamas birthcertificate newsconference denouncing political sillines
we dont have time for this - and the demise of bin laden is purely coincidental, surely obama would

not be so calculating, surely

i was thinking, one of the things i like about being a writer is that all the little failures of life
are no longer failures once you write about them, then they just good material, literature and

the blues both, like some kind of philosophers stone, turning trial and tribulation to strength and power
into art, everything literature touches is turned to spiritual gold

MONDAY

so, when i went home for springbreak and took that detour thru southcarolina to visit papa gede nibo bey lakwa
i met his wife, manbo fatima, a force equal to the papa, they took good care of me, i gave them a copy of priomiseland

she recently sent me an facebook email giving me props on promiseland, called it a biblet, a shorthand bible
congratulated me on pulling off a sacred text 'for those who see'

i was so tickled somebody was giving me props on that i wrote the following, 3 posts right after the other:

1) thanks my sister, i think of you and papa joe often, i been trying to do afroam sacred lit, i am moved that you see what i was trying to do with that, samesame this novel im working on, that papa joe is in and now manbo fatima too - soon as this novel done im going to concentrate on my afroam sacred text, i call it the hoodoo book of flowers:the great black book of generations, and its explicitly an attempt to write an afroam holybook, based on a sacred telling of afroam history, sensibility, culture and destiny, ive done many drafts over the years, theyve all been failures, not in any way luminous, now im structuring it as a divination system ive worked out, its been a very frustrating effort that i constantly have to keep boosting myself up to believe in it, having you see what you have seen in promiseland encourages me to keep working, i appreciate that, all my love, rickydoc

2) reason its been such a challenge is because it not only has to be divine, but it has to be cosmological, it has to cover the whole of the human condition and human destiny, i want it to be a distillation of the very best that afroam culture has to offer the world and all its generations, i want it to be an African American Way

at the same time it has to transcend the tribal and become a universal way, its been more than a notion

3) basically what my novel, rest for the weary, is, is a chronicle of my attempt to write an african american holybook by a hoodoo sorceror, jubilation tucept highjohn, horse of the conqueror, who aspires to be a prophet, and fails

forgive me for running all this on you but its refreshing to run this by somebody who understands what im trying to do with that, i figure the best use of my limited time on the planet is to develop/encourage an african american sacred literature tradition that will continue to guide our generations forever and ever - that mean it got to be more than just my works, i got to encourage/nurture a body of sacred afroam literature that feeds itself unto eternity, like the jews have done

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An African American Way. The sheer audacity of it sometime amaze me.  One of the moneylines in Rest is Highjohn all dejected with failture:  Who am I, to think I could found a Way.

 

SATURDAY

 

graduation this weekend, one more class, 2 novel manuscripts, couple of shorts, and i will be done

got humbled in last undergrad class, class picked up on something in a story that i missed
that was deep, make me wonder if im slipping, if im losing my edge, one of my great fears

or if its just end of the year shutdown, i prefer that call but i fear the other
all the more reason to make sure this woodshed is a good woodshed

was thinking this morning that i would do an occasional piece ima call rootwork: this week in significance
or something like that in which i note what i think are globally significant developments, was thinking

that the shifts in egyptian foreign policy got to be worrying israel, this a significant moment in israel/arab
dynamics, which have for a variety of reasons become of biblical/koranic importance in world

i will have to keep an hoodoo eye on that

 

metathoughts & microfocuses: works everytime

THURSDAY

diggin into joyce i realize its always been a seedwork of mine, now we formalizing our relationship, got me to thinking what are the other seedworks of mine, mumbojumbo, texaco, onehundredyearsofsolitude, thehealing, mamaday, ulysses, midnightschildren, ifonawintersnightatraveler, beloved, theireyeswerewatchinggod, thecattlekilling

andthenweheardthethunder, by my mentor, babajohn killens, the great griot master of brooklyn, this the root,
this where it all began, this the one made me realize i wanted to be a writer one day

have also been influenced by my students, the ones whose styles were so close to my own they influenced mine, its like they gave me permission to do my thing, folk like rachel and aaron, nina and parker

well, actually parker dont fit in that list, our styles arent that similar, parker just been a mentor of mine
but no sense opening that door, they all been mentors of mine

 

 

TUESDAY ADDENDUM

dug in, clocking pages, appalled at how bad it is, how much work i got to do just for this months draft
plan is do enuf of draft to turn in to ellen by end of month, she sell and i get editorial feedback for summer

so immediate goal is functional draft at least by end of may and i cant imagine i wont have it before then
i withdraw all claims to intertexting joyce, i feel like i should have kept that post to myself

what im realizing though, its always been a seedwork of mine, just formalizing the relationship,

but right now that im digging into REST fresh i feel kinda humbled by just how bad this text is
and blessed that im damn near in a woodshed mode, and i think ima stay in it, im working, lord

boot up the traveling spirit

TUESDAY

some metathought today: as you may have deduced dear regulators ive decided to climb into the ring w/joyce
now i realize this is somewhat ambitious of me and that it has to manifest in the next 4 months

i figure even if i fail to hang it will add layers of meaning to the text, so anyway what resonates most w/me
is that joyce was very consciously attempting immortality by engaging the human condition in ulysses

so i got to make the human condition a metaphorical structure in rest, or rather a more conscious metaphorical structure, its always been important to me as a conscious literary man and

literary mystic - and i see how old boy joyce played his work for immortal significance, old boy a mack

so im trying to think what can i use like ulysses used chapters as a structure for that exploration
and its like i already got the structure in my 9 movement headings, which come from my geas of

rickydoc, which is my little shorthand conjuration/mantras for shaping the generations to come, which is
what im all about as a wouldbe hoodoo prophet, trying to call humanity to its very best and shape its

generations as i so see fit to implement the highroad, (biggest challenge been transforming myself from tribal advocate to advocate of all humanity, ima have to just let that tension play out in the text, play it as a strength)

so anyway, my 9 movements are:

1    cast your vision, young hoodoo, as far as you can see, determine the challenges the tribe will face, prepare the tribal soul to meet them

2    listen o ye firstborn, to the geas of rickydoc and i will give you a mission greater than your adversity, i will give you a destiny

3    i ask only that you be the great and glorious people you were meant to be, the illuminated children of the sun, humanitys living ancestors and gods true chosen - awaken the sleeper, protect the weak, guide the strong

4    o masters of strategy, the key that opens all locks  

5    and when you come to the crossroads, always take the highroad, always strive to be greater than you are

6    accepting responsibliity not only for your own destiny & well being but that of all peoples and all creature great and small

7    o my star faring peoples, there is always the next step, there is always a way

8    and when you need me you call me, i will come

9    i am rickydoc

interesting, i revised them as i wrote them out here, you may remember an earlier draft of this a couple of
posts ago, now i got to change this sequence in the text (benefits already, thats what im talking about)

then what i got to do is come up w/a metaphorical structure within them that play with them as concepts

the whole novel basically explores them, makes them as point, but now i got to more consciously play the metaphorical structures in a manner that engages the human condition and my dialogue with it as literary mystic and hoodoo player

now generally i would work this out in my notes document over next couple of days then start inserting it into passages in the novel, the 1st inserts will be crude and unsubtle, 1st i go thru whole manuscript just putting images and such in where i think they will fit, changing existing images to reflect new conceptuals, (motifwork by mildred barya) they will be terribly crude and obvious and awkward and the novel will suffer, but over the next 4 rewrites or so the new lick is assimilated and hopefully graceful, i know the routine, dont mean i got to like it

so lets say a week or two of initial focus until at some point i get tired of the diversion and abandon it as a task to focus on moving forward again but by then its an integral part of the text and my textual consciousness,

by then its organic

what i might do is work some of this process out here on rootsblog, feed this ravenous blog some free wordage

and this promise i make to you dear rebulators, i will stay on deadline, the temptation will be to stop my forward

motion and focus on this, thats a no can do, i know better, ima vet at this, this 30 minutes or so is all it gets today, after a goods days work i might pick it up later this evening, everyday it will get a little time,

but otherwise its back to the text, microfocus rick, word by word, sentence by sentence
on that note let me go into the text and change my movement headings, and stay there . . .

 

 

MONDAY

5:50am: had a decent work weekend, woke up this morning hoping to maintain and just not feeling it
last week of schoolwork and hoping to transit w/momentum but i think i will be flatout chilling

for a week or so, just kind of recovering, or maybe its just premature, got one more week of

opm: other peoples manuscripts, and then im trying to fight off being intimidated by ulysses
my students all took a ulysses course taught by a colleague and i been getting reports

now all of a sudden i want to bust ulysses, which i know to be a trap, but still it will probably
elevate my game, i just got to be careful, and im not taking no breaks either, im just going to

sit here at the sacred desk and struggle, plan is to finish this thing this summer, i dont really
think ima need the whole summer but since i got it ima use it - im out

7:06am: addendum: key is always the same, think all the metathoughts you want but when you sit down
at the sacred desk its strictly microfocus, word by word, sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph

 works every time

9:08am: amazing: metathoughts you do while driving and cleaning house and stuff, but when you sit down to write you focus down and wade thru the mud and the end of the session youve made major progress, its magic, man i feel good and the day has just begun

energy still low: hold on

SATURDAY

hello world, 1 more week & i will be free, semester over & just me & my novel for 4 months, thats what i call heaven
anyday now ima boot up my traveling spirit, then when you see me it will be a mirage, me is at home working, kicking back in heaven, clocking pages,

in fact ima start this weekend, cause you dont want to hit the woodshed at a deadstop, you need momentum, had a little momentum a mintue ago but i lost it trying to close down the semester

ive been immersed in lizz wrights i remember i believe, (below) been learning the song, ima
work it into my reportoire, with kalimba, for some reason it really speaks to me

just got thru judging 50 app/manuscripts for a writers retreat, made me conscious of my own, lying fallow
kinda scared, got those woodshed willies, like i tell my students, ima ignore them, doubts and anxieties, they never go away, ignore them

 

 

 

WEDNESDAY

so skip got this pbs special on blackness in latin america on pbs, missed the 1st one but
the preview is here and i found it provocative, glad to see skip got his game on, some dialogue

over in facebook in playthells yard about it, this is a post i made on why i think its an important program

i think racial identification will be one of the defining factors of the struggle in the 21st century, as the world moves toward a oneworld reality the question is which cultures will be important parts of that reality and which will disappear or be marginalized and blackness is in danger of being marginalized because so many folk are ashamed of claiming themselves black as evidenced in south america, as evidenced in sudan, as evidenced by folk like clarence thomas here, it aint about skin color, i got black friends and family who look white and would tear the heart out of anybody who tried to deny them their blackness, whereas clarence aint nowhere black, its about identification, and as long as we are weak folk will not want to identify but as we make blackness something to be proud of (which entail extracting the weak aspects of blackness and empowering the strong) folk will want to identify and this goes in particular for mixed folk of which there will be more and more, like obama, who identify, and latin america is like a prototype of that identification issue and personally i claim all the mixed folk of latin america as black and it do my heart good to see when they do too, aint about color, its all culture, and in that skip is raising that issue and getting getting heartwarming responses of panafrican identity i am moved by this production so far, im sure i wont agree with everything skip bring to the table because well you know skip, but when he come right ima give him his props

so playthell jacked me up, say i was dreaming, thats northamerican blackfolk, blackfolk everywhere else divided by color - like i dont know that, but i certainly aint gon get into a fight w/playthell, made my last comment and ima let it be -

i acknowledge what you say playthell about this being the north american model of blackness but as afroam blackfolk been the model of struggle for the world many times so do i hope this modality to once again hold, in keeping with my position on afroam blackfolk as a prophetic factor in the blackworld and in conjure culture reality dont necessarily trump, not if you believe in the power of your game, and in this case im committed to my game, my longvision say this got to be so, so ima make it so

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my girl lizz wright got a new album out, so strong i actually bought the cd, well downloaded it on amazon, same thing, well 4 cuts i got off amazon, they dont have it on youtube yet but this is one of her doing i remember almost as good as it is on album

addendum: the more i listen to it the more i think i will buy the cd, i want to support her
artists you love like i love lizz wright you should support - i want the industry to respect her

like i do, ima pay

 

 

TUESDAY

okay, back upright, had a rough weekend, missed my film opening, was just too tired, wore out tired
had to do a 24 hourdrive the next day, needed sleep, slept, made the city run,

it was a conversation w/steve cannon at the gathering of the tribes hq in ABCity

was supposed to be about neworleans voodoo vs memphis hoodoo as its manifested in our works
but we didnt really focus on that, steve was drifting so i mostly fed him cues as honored elder

we did cover a lot of ground but nothing like what i would have liked to cover, we talked about hoodoo
in afroam lit past and present, talked about the rivalry between neworleans and memphis and memphis

insecurity in that, how memphis is tryng to claim highhoodoo thru lit and how the afroscifi and afrofuturist
folk have been running hoodoo and all kinds of stuff, then they paid me, wasnt that a moment of grace

but i had to come back thru that big storm, driving down and back daytrip kinda wore me out
so anyway, what about the teaparty repub out in california that sent out the obama chimp pic

under heading, now we know why no birth certificate

her 1st apology was a classic, ive got blackfriends, obama the halfblack, etc, might not be racist but it sure is clueless

I'm sorry if my email offended anyone. I simply found it amusing regarding the character of Obama and all the questions surrounding his origin of birth. In no way did I even consider the fact he's half black when I sent out the email. In fact, the thought never entered my mind until one or two other people tried to make this about race. We all know a double standard applies regarding this president. I received plenty of emails about George Bush that I didn't particularly like yet there was no 'cry' in the media about them. One only has to go to Youtube or Google Images to see a plethora or lampooning videos and pictures of Obama, Bush and other politicians. That being said, I will NOT resign my central committee position over this matter that the average person knows and agrees is much to do about nothing. Again, for those select few who might be truly offended by viewing a copy of an email I sent to a select list of friends and acquaintances, unlike the liberal left when they do the same, I offer my sincere apologies to you--the email was not meant for you. For any of my friends or acquaintances who were the recipients of my email and were truly offended, please call me so I may offer a sincere verbal apology to you.

she gon give her friends a 'sincere apology' because this one sure isnt, she talking all defiant on
this one, but after a week of media attention & resignation calls she changes her tune

"To my fellow Americans and to everyone else who has seen this email I forwarded and was offended by my action, I humbly apologize and ask for your forgiveness of my unwise behavior. I say unwise because at the time I received and forwarded the email, I didn't stop to think about the historic implications and other examples of how this could be offensive. I am an imperfect Christian lady who tries her best to live a Christ-like honoring life. I would never do anything to intentionally harm or berate others regardless of ethnicity. Everyone who knows me knows that to be true."

yeah, right, the 1st one was the sincere one, this one been vetted, both classic
in this case one picture is worth a thousand words

 

 

THURSDAY

energy still low, feeling a little dazed, trying to hold on for 3 weeks semester endgame, supposed to be
going ot the univ of kentucky for a program about babajohn killens, my mentor, arranged by adam banks

but im tired, april is full of stuff, did a voiceover narration for documentary, got to go to reception tonight, doing a performancepresentation on collaboration and hoodoo as spiritwork at a psychiatrists convention fri, interview for hoodoo documentary in city sat, kentucky wed . . . well you get the point, and manuscripts up the wazu, focus rick, step by step get thru it, 3 weeks and im free, just me and my novel, focus, hold on

 

and this is the video, for those who prefer their longgame live

heres the text of obamas speech: you be the judge: i say the game is on

Remarks of President Barack Obama - As Prepared for Delivery

The Country We Believe In
The George Washington University
Washington, DC
April 13, 2011
 
 
Good afternoon.  It's great to be back at GW.  I want you to know that one of the reasons I kept the government open was so I could be here today with all of you.  I wanted to make sure you had one more excuse to skip class.  You're welcome.
 
Of course, what we've been debating here in Washington for the last few weeks will affect your lives in ways that are potentially profound.  This debate over budgets and deficits is about more than just numbers on a page, more than just cutting and spending.  It's about the kind of future we want.  It's about the kind of country we believe in.  And that's what I want to talk about today.
 
From our first days as a nation, we have put our faith in free markets and free enterprise as the engine of America's wealth and prosperity.  More than citizens of any other country, we are rugged individualists, a self-reliant people with a healthy skepticism of too much government.
 
But there has always been another thread running throughout our history - a belief that we are all connected; and that there are some things we can only do together, as a nation.  We believe, in the words of our first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, that through government, we should do together what we cannot do as well for ourselves.  And so we've built a strong military to keep us secure, and public schools and universities to educate our citizens.  We've laid down railroads and highways to facilitate travel and commerce.  We've supported the work of scientists and researchers whose discoveries have saved lives, unleashed repeated technological revolutions, and led to countless new jobs and entire industries.  Each of us has benefitted from these investments, and we are a more prosperous country as a result.     
 
Part of this American belief that we are all connected also expresses itself in a conviction that each one of us deserves some basic measure of security.  We recognize that no matter how responsibly we live our lives, hard times or bad luck, a crippling illness or a layoff, may strike any one of us.  "There but for the grace of God go I," we say to ourselves, and so we contribute to programs like Medicare and Social Security, which guarantee us health care and a measure of basic income after a lifetime of hard work; unemployment insurance, which protects us against unexpected job loss; and Medicaid, which provides care for millions of seniors in nursing homes, poor children, and those with disabilities.  We are a better country because of these commitments.  I'll go further - we would not be a great country without those commitments.        
 
For much of the last century, our nation found a way to afford these investments and priorities with the taxes paid by its citizens.  As a country that values fairness, wealthier individuals have traditionally born a greater share of this burden than the middle class or those less fortunate.  This is not because we begrudge those who've done well - we rightly celebrate their success.  Rather, it is a basic reflection of our belief that those who have benefitted most from our way of life can afford to give a bit more back.  Moreover, this belief has not hindered the success of those at the top of the income scale, who continue to do better and better with each passing year.
 
Now, at certain times - particularly during periods of war or recession - our nation has had to borrow money to pay for some of our priorities.  And as most families understand, a little credit card debt isn't going to hurt if it's temporary.
 
But as far back as the 1980s, America started amassing debt at more alarming levels, and our leaders began to realize that a larger challenge was on the horizon.  They knew that eventually, the Baby Boom generation would retire, which meant a much bigger portion of our citizens would be relying on programs like Medicare, Social Security, and possibly Medicaid.  Like parents with young children who know they have to start saving for the college years, America had to start borrowing less and saving more to prepare for the retirement of an entire generation.
 
To meet this challenge, our leaders came together three times during the 1990s to reduce our nation's deficit.  They forged historic agreements that required tough decisions made by the first President Bush and President Clinton; by Democratic Congresses and a Republican Congress.  All three agreements asked for shared responsibility and shared sacrifice, but they largely protected the middle class, our commitments to seniors, and key investments in our future.
 
As a result of these bipartisan efforts, America's finances were in great shape by the year 2000. We went from deficit to surplus.  America was actually on track to becoming completely debt-free, and we were prepared for the retirement of the Baby Boomers.
 
But after Democrats and Republicans committed to fiscal discipline during the 1990s, we lost our way in the decade that followed.  We increased spending dramatically for two wars and an expensive prescription drug program - but we didn't pay for any of this new spending.  Instead, we made the problem worse with trillions of dollars in unpaid-for tax cuts - tax cuts that went to every millionaire and billionaire in the country; tax cuts that will force us to borrow an average of $500 billion every year over the next decade.
 
To give you an idea of how much damage this caused to our national checkbook, consider this:  in the last decade, if we had simply found a way to pay for the tax cuts and the prescription drug benefit, our deficit would currently be at low historical levels in the coming years.
 
Of course, that's not what happened.  And so, by the time I took office, we once again found ourselves deeply in debt and unprepared for a Baby Boom retirement that is now starting to take place.  When I took office, our projected deficit was more than $1 trillion.  On top of that, we faced a terrible financial crisis and a recession that, like most recessions, led us to temporarily borrow even more.  In this case, we took a series of emergency steps that saved millions of jobs, kept credit flowing, and provided working families extra money in their pockets.  It was the right thing to do, but these steps were expensive, and added to our deficits in the short term.
 
So that's how our fiscal challenge was created.  This is how we got here.  And now that our economic recovery is gaining strength, Democrats and Republicans must come together and restore the fiscal responsibility that served us so well in the 1990s.  We have to live within our means, reduce our deficit, and get back on a path that will allow us to pay down our debt.  And we have to do it in a way that protects the recovery, and protects the investments we need to grow, create jobs, and win the future.
 
Now, before I get into how we can achieve this goal, some of you might be wondering, "Why is this so important?  Why does this matter to me?"
 
Here's why.  Even after our economy recovers, our government will still be on track to spend more money than it takes in throughout this decade and beyond.  That means we'll have to keep borrowing more from countries like China.  And that means more of your tax dollars will go toward paying off the interest on all the loans we keep taking out.  By the end of this decade, the interest we owe on our debt could rise to nearly $1 trillion.  Just the interest payments.  
 
Then, as the Baby Boomers start to retire and health care costs continue to rise, the situation will get even worse.  By 2025, the amount of taxes we currently pay will only be enough to finance our health care programs, Social Security, and the interest we owe on our debt.  That's it.  Every other national priority - education, transportation, even national security - will have to be paid for with borrowed money.
 
Ultimately, all this rising debt will cost us jobs and damage our economy.  It will prevent us from making the investments we need to win the future.  We won't be able to afford good schools, new research, or the repair of roads and bridges - all the things that will create new jobs and businesses here in America.  Businesses will be less likely to invest and open up shop in a country that seems unwilling or unable to balance its books.  And if our creditors start worrying that we may be unable to pay back our debts, it could drive up interest rates for everyone who borrows money - making it harder for businesses to expand and hire, or families to take out a mortgage.
 
The good news is, this doesn't have to be our future.  This doesn't have to be the country we leave to our children.  We can solve this problem.  We came together as Democrats and Republicans to meet this challenge before, and we can do it again.
 
But that starts by being honest about what's causing our deficit.  You see, most Americans tend to dislike government spending in the abstract, but they like the stuff it buys.  Most of us, regardless of party affiliation, believe that we should have a strong military and a strong defense.  Most Americans believe we should invest in education and medical research.  Most Americans think we should protect commitments like Social Security and Medicare.  And without even looking at a poll, my finely honed political skills tell me that almost no one believes they should be paying higher taxes.
 
Because all this spending is popular with both Republicans and Democrats alike, and because nobody wants to pay higher taxes, politicians are often eager to feed the impression that solving the problem is just a matter of eliminating waste and abuse -that tackling the deficit issue won't require tough choices.  Or they suggest that we can somehow close our entire deficit by eliminating things like foreign aid, even though foreign aid makes up about 1% of our entire budget.
 
So here's the truth.  Around two-thirds of our budget is spent on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and national security.  Programs like unemployment insurance, student loans, veterans' benefits, and tax credits for working families take up another 20%.  What's left, after interest on the debt, is just 12 percent for everything else. That's 12 percent for all of our other national priorities like education and clean energy; medical research and transportation; food safety and keeping our air and water clean.
 
Up until now, the cuts proposed by a lot of folks in Washington have focused almost exclusively on that 12%.  But cuts to that 12% alone won't solve the problem.  So any serious plan to tackle our deficit will require us to put everything on the table, and take on excess spending wherever it exists in the budget.  A serious plan doesn't require us to balance our budget overnight - in fact, economists think that with the economy just starting to grow again, we will need a phased-in approach - but it does require tough decisions and support from leaders in both parties.  And above all, it will require us to choose a vision of the America we want to see five and ten and twenty years down the road.
 
One vision has been championed by Republicans in the House of Representatives and embraced by several of their party's presidential candidates.  It's a plan that aims to reduce our deficit by $4 trillion over the next ten years, and one that addresses the challenge of Medicare and Medicaid in the years after that.
 
Those are both worthy goals for us to achieve.  But the way this plan achieves those goals would lead to a fundamentally different America than the one we've known throughout most of our history.
 
A 70% cut to clean energy.  A 25% cut in education.  A 30% cut in transportation.  Cuts in college Pell Grants that will grow to more than $1,000 per year.  That's what they're proposing.  These aren't the kind of cuts you make when you're trying to get rid of some waste or find extra savings in the budget.  These aren't the kind of cuts that Republicans and Democrats on the Fiscal Commission proposed.  These are the kind of cuts that tell us we can't afford the America we believe in.  And they paint a vision of our future that's deeply pessimistic.
 
It's a vision that says if our roads crumble and our bridges collapse, we can't afford to fix them.  If there are bright young Americans who have the drive and the will but not the money to go to college, we can't afford to send them.  Go to China and you'll see businesses opening research labs and solar facilities.  South Korean children are outpacing our kids in math and science.  Brazil is investing billions in new infrastructure and can run half their cars not on high-priced gasoline, but biofuels.  And yet, we are presented with a vision that says the United States of America - the greatest nation on Earth - can't afford any of this.
 
It's a vision that says America can't afford to keep the promise we've made to care for our seniors.  It says that ten years from now, if you're a 65 year old who's eligible for Medicare, you should have to pay nearly $6,400 more than you would today.  It says instead of guaranteed health care, you will get a voucher.  And if that voucher isn't worth enough to buy insurance, tough luck - you're on your own.  Put simply, it ends Medicare as we know it.
 
This is a vision that says up to 50 million Americans have to lose their health insurance in order for us to reduce the deficit.  And who are those 50 million Americans?  Many are someone's grandparents who wouldn't be able afford nursing home care without Medicaid.  Many are poor children.  Some are middle-class families who have children with autism or Down's syndrome.  Some are kids with disabilities so severe that they require 24-hour care.  These are the Americans we'd be telling to fend for themselves.       
 
Worst of all, this is a vision that says even though America can't afford to invest in education or clean energy; even though we can't afford to care for seniors and poor children, we can somehow afford more than $1 trillion in new tax breaks for the wealthy.  Think about it.  In the last decade, the average income of the bottom 90% of all working Americans actually declined.  The top 1% saw their income rise by an average of more than a quarter of a million dollars each.  And that's who needs to pay less taxes?  They want to give people like me a two hundred thousand dollar tax cut that's paid for by asking thirty three seniors to each pay six thousand dollars more in health costs?   That's not right, and it's not going to happen as long as I'm President.
 
The fact is, their vision is less about reducing the deficit than it is about changing the basic social compact in America.  As Ronald Reagan's own budget director said, there's nothing "serious" or "courageous" about this plan.  There's nothing serious about a plan that claims to reduce the deficit by spending a trillion dollars on tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires.  There's nothing courageous about asking for sacrifice from those who can least afford it and don't have any clout on Capitol Hill.  And this is not a vision of the America I know.
 
The America I know is generous and compassionate; a land of opportunity and optimism.  We take responsibility for ourselves and each other; for the country we want and the future we share.  We are the nation that built a railroad across a continent and brought light to communities shrouded in darkness.  We sent a generation to college on the GI bill and saved millions of seniors from poverty with Social Security and Medicare.  We have led the world in scientific research and technological breakthroughs that have transformed millions of lives.
 
This is who we are.  This is the America I know.  We don't have to choose between a future of spiraling debt and one where we forfeit investments in our people and our country.  To meet our fiscal challenge, we will need to make reforms.  We will all need to make sacrifices.  But we do not have to sacrifice the America we believe in.  And as long as I'm President, we won't.
 
Today, I'm proposing a more balanced approach to achieve $4 trillion in deficit reduction over twelve years.  It's an approach that borrows from the recommendations of the bipartisan Fiscal Commission I appointed last year, and builds on the roughly $1 trillion in deficit reduction I already proposed in my 2012 budget.  It's an approach that puts every kind of spending on the table, but one that protects the middle-class, our promise to seniors, and our investments in the future.
 
The first step in our approach is to keep annual domestic spending low by building on the savings that both parties agreed to last week - a step that will save us about $750 billion over twelve years.  We will make the tough cuts necessary to achieve these savings, including in programs I care about, but I will not sacrifice the core investments we need to grow and create jobs.  We'll invest in medical research and clean energy technology.  We'll invest in new roads and airports and broadband access.  We will invest in education and job training.  We will do what we need to compete and we will win the future.   
 
The second step in our approach is to find additional savings in our defense budget.  As Commander-in-Chief, I have no greater responsibility than protecting our national security, and I will never accept cuts that compromise our ability to defend our homeland or America's interests around the world.  But as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mullen, has said, the greatest long-term threat to America's national security is America's debt.
 
Just as we must find more savings in domestic programs, we must do the same in defense.   Over the last two years, Secretary Gates has courageously taken on wasteful spending, saving $400 billion in current and future spending.  I believe we can do that again.  We need to not only eliminate waste and improve efficiency and effectiveness, but conduct a fundamental review of America's missions, capabilities, and our role in a changing world.  I intend to work with Secretary Gates and the Joint Chiefs on this review, and I will make specific decisions about spending after it's complete.      
 
The third step in our approach is to further reduce health care spending in our budget.  Here, the difference with the House Republican plan could not be clearer:  their plan lowers the government's health care bills by asking seniors and poor families to pay them instead.  Our approach lowers the government's health care bills by reducing the cost of health care itself.
 
Already, the reforms we passed in the health care law will reduce our deficit by $1 trillion.  My approach would build on these reforms.  We will reduce wasteful subsidies and erroneous payments.  We will cut spending on prescription drugs by using Medicare's purchasing power to drive greater efficiency and speed generic brands of medicine onto the market.  We will work with governors of both parties to demand more efficiency and accountability from Medicaid.  We will change the way we pay for health care - not by procedure or the number of days spent in a hospital, but with new incentives for doctors and hospitals to prevent injuries and improve results.  And we will slow the growth of Medicare costs by strengthening an independent commission of doctors, nurses, medical experts and consumers who will look at all the evidence and recommend the best ways to reduce unnecessary spending while protecting access to the services seniors need.  
 
Now, we believe the reforms we've proposed to strengthen Medicare and Medicaid will enable us to keep these commitments to our citizens while saving us $500 billion by 2023, and an additional one trillion dollars in the decade after that.  And if we're wrong, and Medicare costs rise faster than we expect, this approach will give the independent commission the authority to make additional savings by further improving Medicare.  
 
But let me be absolutely clear:  I will preserve these health care programs as a promise we make to each other in this society.  I will not allow Medicare to become a voucher program that leaves seniors at the mercy of the insurance industry, with a shrinking benefit to pay for rising costs.  I will not tell families with children who have disabilities that they have to fend for themselves.  We will reform these programs, but we will not abandon the fundamental commitment this country has kept for generations.
 
That includes, by the way, our commitment to Social Security.  While Social Security is not the cause of our deficit, it faces real long-term challenges in a country that is growing older.  As I said in the State of the Union, both parties should work together now to strengthen Social Security for future generations.  But we must do it without putting at risk current retirees, the most vulnerable, or people with disabilities; without slashing benefits for future generations; and without subjecting Americans' guaranteed retirement income to the whims of the stock market.
 
The fourth step in our approach is to reduce spending in the tax code.  In December, I agreed to extend the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans because it was the only way I could prevent a tax hike on middle-class Americans.  But we cannot afford $1 trillion worth of tax cuts for every millionaire and billionaire in our society.  And I refuse to renew them again.
 
Beyond that, the tax code is also loaded up with spending on things like itemized deductions.  And while I agree with the goals of many of these deductions, like homeownership or charitable giving, we cannot ignore the fact that they provide millionaires an average tax break of $75,000 while doing nothing for the typical middle-class family that doesn't itemize.   
 
My budget calls for limiting itemized deductions for the wealthiest 2% of Americans - a reform that would reduce the deficit by $320 billion over ten years.  But to reduce the deficit, I believe we should go further.  That's why I'm calling on Congress to reform our individual tax code so that it is fair and simple - so that the amount of taxes you pay isn't determined by what kind of accountant you can afford.  I believe reform should protect the middle class, promote economic growth, and build on the Fiscal Commission's model of reducing tax expenditures so that there is enough savings to both lower rates and lower the deficit.  And as I called for in the State of the Union, we should reform our corporate tax code as well, to make our businesses and our economy more competitive.  
 
This is my approach to reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over the next twelve years.  It's an approach that achieves about $2 trillion in spending cuts across the budget.  It will lower our interest payments on the debt by $1 trillion. It calls for tax reform to cut about $1 trillion in spending from the tax code.  And it achieves these goals while protecting the middle class, our commitment to seniors, and our investments in the future.
 
In the coming years, if the recovery speeds up and our economy grows faster than our current projections, we can make even greater progress than I have pledged here.  But just to hold Washington - and me - accountable and make sure that the debt burden continues to decline, my plan includes a debt failsafe.  If, by 2014, our debt is not projected to fall as a share of the economy - or if Congress has failed to act - my plan will require us to come together and make up the additional savings with more spending cuts and more spending reductions in the tax code.  That should be an incentive for us to act boldly now, instead of kicking our problems further down the road.  
 
So this is our vision for America - a vision where we live within our means while still investing in our future; where everyone makes sacrifices but no one bears all the burden; where we provide a basic measure of security for our citizens and rising opportunity for our children.  
 
Of course, there will be those who disagree with my approach.  Some will argue we shouldn't even consider raising taxes, even if only on the wealthiest Americans.  It's just an article of faith for them.  I say that at a time when the tax burden on the wealthy is at its lowest level in half a century, the most fortunate among us can afford to pay a little more.  I don't need another tax cut.  Warren Buffett doesn't need another tax cut.  Not if we have to pay for it by making seniors pay more for Medicare.  Or by cutting kids from Head Start.  Or by taking away college scholarships that I wouldn't be here without.  That some of you wouldn't be here without.  And I believe that most wealthy Americans would agree with me.  They want to give back to the country that's done so much for them.  Washington just hasn't asked them to.
 
Others will say that we shouldn't even talk about cutting spending until the economy is fully recovered.  I'm sympathetic to this view, which is one of the reasons I supported the payroll tax cuts we passed in December.  It's also why we have to use a scalpel and not a machete to reduce the deficit - so that we can keep making the investments that create jobs.  But doing nothing on the deficit is just not an option.  Our debt has grown so large that we could do real damage to the economy if we don't begin a process now to get our fiscal house in order.  
 
Finally, there are those who believe we shouldn't make any reforms to Medicare, Medicaid, or Social Security out of a fear that any talk of change to these programs will usher in the sort of radical steps that House Republicans have proposed.  I understand these fears.  But I guarantee that if we don't make any changes at all, we won't be able to keep our commitments to a retiring generation that will live longer and face higher health care costs than those who came before.
 
Indeed, to those in my own party, I say that if we truly believe in a progressive vision of our society, we have the obligation to prove that we can afford our commitments.  If we believe that government can make a difference in people's lives, we have the obligation to prove that it works - by making government smarter, leaner and more effective.
 
Of course, there are those who will simply say that there's no way we can come together and agree on a solution to this challenge.  They'll say the politics of this city are just too broken; that the choices are just too hard; that the parties are just too far apart.  And after a few years in this job, I certainly have some sympathy for this view.    
 
But I also know that we've come together and met big challenges before.  Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill came together to save Social Security for future generations.  The first President Bush and a Democratic Congress came together to reduce the deficit.  President Clinton and a Republican Congress battled each other ferociously and still found a way to balance the budget.  In the last few months, both parties have come together to pass historic tax relief and spending cuts.  And I know there are Republicans and Democrats in Congress who want to see a balanced approach to deficit reduction.
 
I believe we can and must come together again.  This morning, I met with Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress to discuss the approach I laid out today.  And in early May, the Vice President will begin regular meetings with leaders in both parties with the aim of reaching a final agreement on a plan to reduce the deficit by the end of June.
 
I don't expect the details in any final agreement to look exactly like the approach I laid out today.  I'm eager to hear other ideas from all ends of the political spectrum.  And though I'm sure the criticism of what I've said here today will be fierce in some quarters, and my critique of the House Republican approach has been strong, Americans deserve and will demand that we all bridge our differences, and find common ground.
 
This larger debate we're having, about the size and role of government, has been with us since our founding days.  And during moments of great challenge and change, like the one we're living through now, the debate gets sharper and more vigorous.  That's a good thing.  As a country that prizes both our individual freedom and our obligations to one another, this is one of the most important debates we can have.
 
But no matter what we argue or where we stand, we've always held certain beliefs as Americans.  We believe that in order to preserve our own freedoms and pursue our own happiness, we can't just think about ourselves.  We have to think about the country that made those liberties possible.  We have to think about our fellow citizens with whom we share a community.  And we have to think about what's required to preserve the American Dream for future generations.
 
This sense of responsibility - to each other and to our country - this isn't a partisan feeling.  It isn't a Democratic or Republican idea.  It's patriotism.
 
The other day I received a letter from a man in Florida.  He started off by telling me he didn't vote for me and he hasn't always agreed with me.  But even though he's worried about our economy and the state of our politics, he said,
 
"I still believe.  I believe in that great country that my grandfather told me about.   I believe that somewhere lost in this quagmire of petty bickering on every news station, the 'American Dream' is still alive...
 
We need to use our dollars here rebuilding, refurbishing and restoring all that our ancestors struggled to create and maintain...We as a people must do this together, no matter the color of the state one comes from or the side of the aisle one might sit on."
 
I still believe as well.  And I know that if we can come together, and uphold our responsibilities to one another and to this larger enterprise that is America, we will keep the dream of our founding alive in our time, and pass on to our children the country we believe in.  Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.

 

meet me on the battlefield

WEDNESDAY

i been putting out fires all over the internet of folk trying to get obamas base to turn against him
i am so concerned about his budget speech today, so much is riding on it, his enemies got him

backed into a corner and his base is turning on him, my boy is between the rock and the hardplace
and its like ive throwndown for him, im afraid to watch the damn speech for fear it will not satisfy all

folk he got to satisfy, it does not matter, im down for the count, you and me brother, against the world
so i was working this morning on class prep about 2 am and also back and forth emailing a student

about a manuscript and i said what are you doing up at 2, drinking midnight oil i suspect, she said
this time of semester sleep is your enemy, not your friend - no shit sherlock, tell me about it

its now 2:35 and im done, do i have enuf in me to get a 3 hour novelsession in, answer is no, take a nap, try again
3:10, couldnt do it, sleep, tossed and turned and stumbled back to the sacred desk, will do my novel 3, take

a quick nap before 1230 class and zombie thru the rest of the day, bes like that sometime, even though
im prepared for class, the perfectionist in me wants to give it another 3 hours or so, just to make sure

can never be too prepared for class, it would be nice too to get a headstart on tomorrows class but right
now i got a discretionary 3, i can get a whole paragraph of my work done - quit whining rick, get her done

TUESDAY

 
might be because i went thru that superbug thing but i been ruthless on the work, mornings for novel no matter what
kinda humbling to see the rough text ive shown to folk, process rick, want to be a player this the cost you pay

hardlines on obama being drawn amongst black macks, i havent seen folk on their hindlegs like this in a longtime
i believe its because the repub assault on the body politic has become so brutal and obamas responses so critical,

i hope i do not lose friends & colleagues behind this but the hardlefts unreasonable demands & crippling blows
in the name of revolutionary purity cannot be left unchallenged, times too hard to play games, stakes too high

they trying to get obamas base to turn on him, but dont they understand,

if obama go down we all go down, dont they see what the repubs are trying to do to

the america we love, the one they trying to destroy, the one that cares

rickydoc has got the blues

MONDAY

rev al and cornel got into a dustup (debating black leadership cilp) on msnbc the black agenda sunday,
folk been talking about who won and all that, but the salient point is that the hardleft been out to bring obama down

and cornel reflect that position, its like they on another planet while the rest of us in the trenches,

then cornel let his ego become part of the calculation, him and smiley, and the hardleft, working against us

i dont agree w/everything obama do but i think he doing best he can under serious constraints, - the curious dynamics of struggle in the 21st century mean he the frontline, and it dont do to leave him out there on his own w/o

no backup, which is what the teaparty left suggest, demanding that he adhere to their standard of purity
raining crippling blows on him while he taking serious incoming from the enemy

these are serious times, much too serious for bullshit  -  im pleased he trying to flip the script now, putting taxes and entitlements into the mix, cant keep letting the repubs define the battle as cut cut cut, now that

ryan gave him a target he gon try to paint the repubs as unreasonabe, which they are, wont be difficult

if he had come up with a serious plan 1st they would have piled on, now he got something to work
with, couldnt play hardball when government was facing shutdown but now he gon bust the move

im telling you the boy got game, we the ones thats slack, obama cant play no stronger than our game allow
as long as we cant turn an election he has to play to the right, even still he dancing hard as he can

and when i do challenge obama its w/love of struggle and compassion for a fellow traveler on point

SUNDAY

so, all of three days apparently, i dont know what i had but it knocked me down, had to take the count
sometime you get so sick its transformational, thats the way i feel, like i been thru the fire and been purified

while i was out the repubs whipped the dems on the budget fight, thats what happens when i take time out, the world falls apart on you, folk seem to have forgotten it was republican policies that almost brought us down

well, im back, evildoers beware, worked on novel yesterday for 1st time in about a week, good work, redemption work

 

 

THURSDAY

maybe because ive had this persistent bug im feeling down on everything, in particular social media, got the
why do i do this thing blues, facebook. listserves, blogs, just a waste of noveltime, ima let it go for awhile

but ive said that before, its like ima junkie, i like to tell myself i got a constituency but its not a very big one, im thru

showtime and the traveling spirit

WEDNESDAY

when i 1st heard it was sweet mickey i was dismayed, it was like haiti please get serious
i have heard he is a duvariarist, misogomist, crude and rude - ie fela he is not, no bob marley here

and i dont know that i would want fela (or marley) running my country, all i can do at this point is hope he
rises to the ocassion, that he proves himself ready - ezili danto says option of business as usual was much worse, which is actually why it was rejected, while i was there i looked at her bio and notes she quotes campbell, 'if you want to change the world, you have to change the metaphor"

i feel her on that one, in the name of the conqueror

as always haiti my blessings are with you, may god hold you in the palm of its hand

 

 

 

TUESDAY

all this government shutdown talk comes out of the republican uber policy of defunding the government
depriving it of the tax resources it needs, then claiming that we cant afford services, cant afford to fund

the government, this fascination with a weak government is inexplicable to me, whats the diff between
what the gop wants and the taliban wants, why do we keep putting folk who dont believe in governing in

charge, do we not remember what happened the last time, the reason america was so desperate they

elected a black man - instructions to the cadre: the big battle of next couple of weeks will be ensuring
blame gets squarely laid on the doorstep of the republicans, have at it

 

MONDAY ADDENDUM

might be a little too early to send out the traveling spirit, a month of disassociated travelng spirit short my students
hoodoo theology you got two spirits, got the resident spirit, lets call it the housespirit, & you got the traveling spirit

this the spirit that wander about in dreams, meditations, spiritwork, etc, i tend to use it as a remote control avatar
while the real me is sitting at home working at the sacred desk i send the traveling spirit out to interact w/the world

folk think they be talking/interacting w/me but that aint me, me is at home working,

where does one get a traveling spirit you ask: well, 1st you identify your consciousness, then you
implement it thru meditational/magical practices, atral projection experimentation, etc, etc, its complicated

but ive found it very useful, my traveling spirit is socially adept and can handle most occasions
but im so deep into my own reality/novelwork that im just not there, just going thru the motions

if you see me its a mirage, dont waste your time saying hello

the case can be made that this is delusional, but that dont matter to me, ima conjureman
making real into the world that which was not is what i do

i conjure my own realities, and as long as i believe/manifest them w/my magical will they real to me

this is a power i have because i choose to believe i have it, i dont conjure realities i cant impose

what kind of bush idiot conjureman would that make me, i dont conjure realities reality will deny

resist maybe, but not deny

 

MONDAY

  

its like summer woodshed has started a month early, this weekend was throwdown & im feeling novelstrong
im not giving this up, im digging in, im sending my traveling spirit out to finish the semster, its showtime

me and that novel, we in a new space, working that 3rd i was telling you about, got a whole new sense of
novel, thats a problem w/a project take a decade or so, you evolve, your idea of what you doing evolve

cant fight evololution, greater understanding & mastery of craft, you work w/it, you conscious that you cant
let the novel constantly be reconcepting itself, but you have to accept some, you have to be deft of foot

and im still on target for summer deadline, it just mean more sweatwork on my part, thats a price i dont
mind paying, for a stronger novel, i cant imagine a price i wouldnt pay, for a stronger novel

 maybe thats why i feel like im starting my summer woodshed early, im stealing time now - showtime