rootwork the rootsblog: a cyberhoodoo webspace

hoodoo haints: in the name of the king, toni cade bambara and cultural workers, rickydoc flowers and ideological orchestration

SUNDAY

hello world, this turned into an interesting post (for this post you
need to put on some cassandra wilson cause this a magic carpet ride)

in the course of it i hainted martin luther king

getting very comfortable calling hoodoo ancestors haints and enjoyiing the process of gradually discovering them like im doing

think ima work it into rest (sorry ec)

im been using this riff where jubilation highjohn drape himself in 101 talismans when he is about to do performancework in the novel,

its become a trope but its 101 just because i liked the poetry of it - one hundred and one talismans

but what i should do is call on 101 hoodoo haints in the lyrical riffs - the hoodoo pantheon of rickydoc - drop an invocation into the text whenever i see narrative opp to do so

do it raw now, clean it up later -  narrative opps that reflect whatever attributes i want to give the haint
was thinking about it cause i hainted martin luther king while writing this post

im getting very comfortable calling my hoodoo ancestors haints
hainting them as the process of transforming them into tribal deities/guides/etc

how would i define that loafication process, that orishafication process,the sanctification process, in which tribal ancestors are annointed, want something very hoodoo, haintifying, haintification maybe

am i deifying them, that dont quite work for a highmagician to construct a process of deification
its beneath me - in the holy narrative im attempting to create, how do i want these tribal haints to function

deities
or something more

gotta be something more

why then do i feel the need to make it a holy narrative
because its more culturally binding, more effective mythwork

but i dont ever want to encourage subjecting humanity to the rule of deities
i think i see deities as instruments of humanity being greater than it is, as guides not masters

at the same time i acknowledge that most folk need deities

or someting along this line, i will have to figure it out later
this dont sound like one i will be able to answer off the cuff

what happen was i working on this presentation for the
educational opportunties center syracuse

cultivating success

my 1st straight up motivational speaker gig
hate to charge them but i aint doing it for free no more

they teach folk struggling, working folk trying to get back in school, immigrants, refugees
im talking to the teachers, consultants, administrators at their annual thingee

talking about teaching as a sacred calling
about teaching folk whove been left behind to catch up
about the challenges of that in the 21st century -

talking about teaching as handling fragile souls and how you get
weary in those social work jobs but you know you doing what

nobody else can . . . (blah de blah de - o you know the routine
my basic riffs shaped to the moment

ima rock the house and get paid, not a lot,
just enuf to feel good about it

that mean i got to shine

conch, anklebells, bluesharp and kalimba
they gon get the throw down - the full monty

trying to think of a performance haint to call on
somebody who know how to put on a hoodoo show

maybe marie leveau
apparently she knew how to put on a show, w/the snake and all

or maybe martin, because thats the kind of show
i really want to put on, on the realside, thats who i emulate

as a performance speaker

i want the martin luther king effect
21st century stylee, hoodoo stylee

im the name of martin luther
thats who im going to call on for performance work henceforth

shame about his daughter dying recently
shame about the family not holding up the torch

but i guess it bes that way sometime
folk got the right to walk their own path

have to remember that w/my nephews, my crew
my daddy didnt push me, he let me make my own decisions

take the consequences of faulty ones
one decision ive never regretted was to hold the torch up high

imogunla alakoye once ask me, who most changed the african american condition
martin or malcom, and imogunla was a malcolm acolyte, even looked like him

but we both agreed it was martin

that say a lot to folk who lived thru the pre civilrights south
i was trying to explain it to a ghanian partner of mine the other evening

who was shall we say not appreciating nonviolence as a strategy and talking a lot of i woulda this and i woulda that and i tried to explain the pre civilrights south situation and why it was the strategic posture appropriate to the moment and the courage it took

and i tried to explain the difference the struggle made in our lives
how the struggle caused us to say we just wasnt gon take this kinda treatment no more

and i was so inarticulate but he felt what i was trying to say

you folk who went through that with me you know what im talking about
i know you feel me

and you folk wasnt there
you feeling it too - i know you do

recently picked up a book walking down jericho road about the memphis garbargeworkers strike that
brought martin to mason temple that rainy night in 68, when he say he been to the mountain top

say he aint fearing no man - may not get there with you
but we as a people will get to the promised land - i seen it he say

thats the hoodoo haint im calling on for performance work henceforth
in the name of the king do i do this

in struggle
rdoc

SATURDAY

hello world
trying to post but not really feeling it

bush giving up a lot of material but truth be told
bushs antics have begun to bore me

his recent comment about the deadlines causing more casualties
same old bush trying to blame otherfolk for the consequences of his policies

we all know why we taking casualties in iraq

bush de classifying years old report on al quaeda in iraq
samo samo - amazing that he thinks we will still fall for this selective intell trick

even folk used to believe him tired of it, he keeps trying the same old techs
the same old slogans

goodling immunized testimony blaming everybody but herself
samo samo - the republican rightwing has just tired me out

darfur  samo samo   haiti  samo samo, im tired
im weary in my bones im weary

this morning i followed a google inquiry to rootsblog posts from 3 years ago
and it was kinda depressing - most of it does not stand the test of time

and i have written a lot of wordage for this thing and still average 50 hits a day
i read about folk w/100s and 1000s of hits a day and there is arthur, still chugging along -

the little engine that could

ive tried being more topical, but topical often bores me
you want straight news best to get it elsewhere

if im going to be putting the time in i have to deal with whats important to me
which often im sure becomes repetitive because it reflects my obsessions

its like im thinking out loud, working thru concepts impo to me as a thinker
a visionary and ideological orchestrator

im fond of that concept you notice, ideological orchestration - got it from toni cade bambara basically
she once at a writers conference john o did at howard referred to writers as cultural workers

the term spoke to me - she called them cultural workers because of her left marxist thing
but ive always been comfortable with the great man/woman theory of history - if you get my drift

so i translated that as cultural orchestrators, befitting a players sensibility who considers everybody, including the powerful to be played - to be placed on the board of destiny - the visionary artist is a manifestation of the individual as historical force - the left i come out of isnt comfortable with that

this comes out of the aesthetic of the griotic literary school of which i am a member - we consider ourselves cultural custodians, shaping the culture through our works

over the years this strategic posture evolved into ideological orchestrators - ideological players like myself
in contention trying to shape the way the world thinks - thereby shaping the future, the destiny of humanity

- the longest most comprehensive game, the one that swallows all others, is the one that wins
that is most influential in the shape of things to come

i think ideological orchestration but often use cultural orchestration because its more digestible to folk

but other writers get deals and make money off thoughts not nearly as pertinent or profound
(at least i think they pertinent and profound, sometimes i wonder if im just delusional)

they get listened to and get respect, me im just out here wailing away for my 50 a day
i console myself w/awareness that visionaries often dont get play during their lifetime

but i do often wonder about this blog and the time investiture, wonder if its worth it
i got to assume it is, i have over the years come to trust my creative obsessions

like when i became obsessed with learning bluesharp
and blew and blew and blew and it felt like a diversion then but i couldnt help myself

and now it (and kalimba) have become integral parts of my identity as a literary bluesman
a performance poet and ritual prophet/sorceror

these obsessions feel like they a waste of time when you caught up in them
but i assume that all this blog wordage will be historically significant somehow someway

one hopes one prays
because i dont seem to have a choice in this, every couple of days i sit down no

matter what and just write about something anything, whatever come to my head
while im sitting there

these blogs dont work unless you get obsessive about it and i tend to
the obsessive, its my artistic temperament, my big projects - novels and holybooks

wouldnt get done if i wasnt obsessive about it
but sometimes it works against me and i hit the wall - repeatedly

just bam bam bam bam bam

ohwell, i got to assume that when the roll is called my name will be there
got to assume it will all work out and the generations will appreciate what ive done

got a little taste of the blues i believe
sorry ec, just dont feel like roaring today

lets do a couple of comments flowers and get outta here
maybe reflect on some ticklish situations in which im not quite following the progressive partyline

lebanon: what can they do, cant enter the camps and cant let fatah a islam keep growing, got to ignore palestinian complaints but i hope they work hard at minimizing collateral damage (dead civilians)

dustup between congressional black congress and fox news in one corner - obama, clinton, edwards
et al in the other - theyve all have refused to participate in a presidential debate cbc set up w/fox in september

im with the candidates, cant support fox news efforts to fake folk out when they use their power so blatantly against our interests as a people - somehow they will context this to their agenda of discrediting us

i hear the fox been giving the cbc various sorts of bribes and other pr moves, but their substance is poison - far as im concerned them cbc folk need to straighen up and fly right - or left as the case may be

immigration: conflicted about being supplanted by hispanics but have to come out in favor of compassionate immigration policies because of our historical alliance and because it also affects folk from africa and the caribbean - just hate that blackfolk falling further into the cracks but that aint the fault of hispanics is it

we basically got to do it like the jews did it - small numbers, big game, global backup
got to turn the whole race into players

advice to barack and hillary under attack from republicans for recent vote against funding: ignore them
dont let them get you all defensive about what you know is right - shaping the dialogue is an old repub trick

samesame ex president carter, i admire that man, he speak his mind when he know he right - did it with israel (that took courage), did it with bush (just speak the truth)

hated they forced him to backup w/that silly tradition of presidential courtesy, his allegiance should be to america, to a world afflicted with bushitis - speak truth to the people man and let the chips fall

something i have to constantly remind myself
in the name of jimmy carter

and toni cade bambara

im outta here, taking my blues to

the sacred desk and clock some pages
thats always good for what ails me

my love to you all

rickydoc flowers
hanging in there

handling souls and testimonials: my spell worked perfectly thank you

WEDNESDAY

hello world, seems danny glover will be directing

a film on toussaint louverture, the 18th century haitian revolutionary, in a film produced by venezuela/chavez

danny glover been an interesting force has he not
might as well annoint him roving ambassador of black america

might as well make it official

least he wont have a white lead like upcoming bury my heart at wounded knee film

which told the story of the displacement of the nativeamericans, right - so hollywood continues that displacement by casting a white lead 

everyone felt very strongly that we needed a white character or part white/part indian character to carry a contemporary, mostly white, audience through this project" says scriptwriter daniel gait

actor adam beach is ojibwa so its a nativeamerican faking white in an ahistorical character
whose only purpose is give white audiences a narrative they can relate to

on what a twisted weave we web

reminds me of that old story about the lion and the hunter and
how the story go depend on who tell the tale

just read this fascinating nyt article, at least fascinating to a writer whose work engage storytelling,
that talked about the impo of personal narration to the formation of character

talked how the way you tell your lifestory shape your evolving personality

how telling your story in 3rd person appear to be psychologically healthier
than telling it in 1st person because it gives you the distance

necessary to finesse the hardtimes instead of wallow in them
(instead of you got the demon the demon got you)

and all kinds of fascinating such tidbits that will work themselves into
rest for the wearys narrative structure (sorry ec)

specially since a large part of rest is riffing the slave narratives, which were all 1st person

was thinking how i could have chars working their way from 1st to 3rd as a healing dynamic
and all sorts of such like riffs that i will keep in mind as i do this draft (sorry ec)

will have to read the article closer and ponder on its pertinence but right now, im trying
to get my groove back on, i been slacking with the pages, minnowbrook threw
me off my game - i was clocking pages before i went off those 3 days, i got to

chain myself to the sacred desk

this personal narrative thing also goes with my little mantra on the construction of self identity
as conjuration - conduct yourself as you aspire to be and you shall

wonder how glover fancy himself,
a contemporary louverture of some sort id say

him and chavez both
21st century revolutionaries id say

a luta continua
rdoc

MONDAY

hello world, you know i never trust website testimonials
its like yeah right, how long did it take you to write that one

but this one i received recently warm my little hoodoo heart
had a client recently, youngster, 17, 18, im not sure

was having trouble with her wastrel boyfriend and ask
me to take the case - make him love me, make him true

i ask her for the details, i consult the conqueror
and tell her i cannot do it, i will not take this case

he didnt sound like somebody worth keeping, he was treating her badly and abusing her, i advised her to let him go - walk away

but she was insistent, told me she had tried other hoodoos that had taken substantial amounts of money & left her feeling used

and if she didnt get right with him
she was just gonna die

she sounded so young to me, you know how it is when you that age
like it was this man or nothing,

and he was a young knucklehead not ready for love
didnt appear to be a bad guy, just wasnt ready for love and commitment

i told her be patient and the right one will come along
never take bad treatment from anybody -

she was preparing to go to college and all, had all these dreams

i told her spend this energy you using to chase/hoodoo this man
making yourself into the kind of person who will draw a good mate

concentrate on your life for a minute
told her its a world of choice still out there for you, this one is not it -

but she so young and desperate and by this time
i cared about her, had already taken on her case

and i was moved by her faith in the tradition to help her
thats what butter my bread

so i told her i would take the case but only if i was allowed to
construct the spell to do what i thought it should

she agreed

this is one of those situations i was talking about earlier
where you really have to be careful w/folks lives

folk ask me for life advice all the time and im very conscious i
might tell them to do something they shouldnt have

i often give life changing advice - advice that affects their destiny
and expect them to follow it with almost blind faith in me

if i dont feel that faith i dont take the case

and you really have to be careful when you have that kind of power over folk
when you handling souls

but at the sametime as a hoodooman, thats what i do, give life advice
handle souls

and im good at it, my heart is right, im sensitive to empowering folk and i aint
in it for the money - or the power - im in it to help people

i turn down the great majority of cases that come to me
its a big decision to take on responsibility for a troubled soul

dont make enuf money to justify the emotional expenditure or loss of noveltime
even if i were charging abusive money it still wouldnt be worth it

i charge 9 dollars or 99, depending on what i think folk can stand
only reason i charge anything at all is cause folk dont take you seriously unless you do

even then i often give folk the option of paying me only if you satisfied w/the results
and just as often give the advice for free during the consideration process - but if you actually

want me to Work for you, then you got to pay

for a desperate 17 year old still in highschool i tell her 9 crisp new dollar bills
but i dont tell her where to send them - i make it difficult for her to pay me even that

but i have to help her, in the course of consideration ive become fond of her
and i cant have her out here naively giving her soul into the care of charlatans

so w/a degree of trepidation, i design a spell that would bring him back & hold him if
that was to be but designed more to give her the strength to walk away if she so choose

designed to force her to decide what she wanted out of life
what she want out of a man - and demand it of both life and men

so anyway i recently receive this email from her,
edited to remove personal information:

Hello again sir,

First off I wanna thank you so much for helping me. I tried the spell but in the end it did not work for long but surprisingly I am not really upset. I tried to make things work but at the end of everything I couldn't make (   ) change his ways so he must see his mistakes on his own. I feel as though the work you did for me has given me the confidence to stand up for myself and I realized when doing my meditations the man I wanted,(   ) was no longer capable of being and it was in my best interest to really take a stand for myself and move on. I guess it took a little bit of ancestor magic and religion to pull the curtains from my eyes and I thank you dearly. I even think that the spell sent me someone else that matched what I was asking for in my meditations but all i'm worried about is doing well in college this fall. I do miss (   ) but now I understand what you meant when you said you wanted to give me spine and believe me I have a lot spine now. I remember you saying when I contacted you a long time ago something about nine dollars, if you charge anything I'll pay it because I have gained so much from this experience.   Again a huge thank you

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

i write her back and tell her au contrary
sound like my spell work perfectly thank you

in the name of the conqueror

o im so good at what i do
soulwork by trickmaster

wouldbe prophet of the hoodoo way

queen mother ree ree (marie brown) and de geas of rickydoc: this is my vision, this is what i see

SATURDAY

in the adirondacks for a schoolhouse conf on humanrights
probably do a posting of my little panel presentation

work been spotty, work a couple of days, dont work a couple of days
that wont get it, got to hit it everyday, got to step up my game

colin powell has a new book out in which he says he was fired by bush
so what else is new colin, says he would have stayed if bush let him

thats so sick colin, that is really sick

like he still hasnt figured out facilitating bush
is not something he should be proud of

talks about the last meeting, what the whiterhouse calls a 'farewell call'
with departing cabinet members and how he decided to use his last chance
to make clear iraq was failing and why

and how the president was clueless

that was really strange, he reported to an aid afterwards
the president didnt even know why i was there

found an interesting site on black nationalism this morning
as you may know, i consider myself a black nationalist

this site talks about the history of black nationalism
as if its something pertinent only to the past

and the historical goals of black nationalism it explores
separatism and all that, are so unsophisticated

didnt deal with issues of contemporary black nationalism
with our attempts to develop a more sophisticated black nationalism

one that works in the contemporary multiculti environment
one that encourages political sophistication instead of the lack thereof

i will maybe have to do that, sit down an articulate a viable 21st century nationalism, in many ways thats what im always doing

there is a lot of pressure these days
to turn our backs on black nationalism as archaic and regressive

so often nationalist voices seem so unsophisticated
(one wonders if that counts for me too)

i guess thats the reason im a hoodoo, because its the black indigenous system, and i intend to make it a strong one, as i would any other black instution

this article on black religion at the site is indicative of nationlisms

fascination with the past, not that i got anything against that, but its
working out the problems of the present and the future that engage me

with building black institutions and infrastructures

thats john o's training, build black institutions, build black infrastructures
(probably why im caught up in this palf thing, heard the warhorn)

and at some point im going to have to sit down and really articulate
the challenges of being a nationalist in the multiculti 21st century

but for my generation, the black and proud generation
nationalism, the struggle, the movement, is non negotiable

nationalism saved us from the pre civil rights reality
and we will continue toserve it

we learned something during that period that we aint gon never let go
a sense of responsibility for our own condition, self determination, control

of our own destiny instead of letting it be controlled by people who despise us
thats what irritate me about blackfolk waiting to be saved - reparations et al

in my cultural orchestrations, my attempts to shape afroam culture/destiny
self determination is high on the list of traits i want to inculcate

okay, something else i was going to comment on and im out of here

whatever it is it got away
back to work

my love to you all
specially you lesley ann

lesley ann brown ran across my blog and got in touch, i checked out hers
and will have to put that link in here - lesley ann good people

i see she got a comment in commentary
(got your nerve, finish yours i will finish mine)

me and lesley ann go back, lesley used to be one of marie browns legions
back in the day when marie had her office down on broadway and houston

those were the days, maries office was the heart of the
africanamerican literary community in newyork at the time

i used to read manuscripts for marie and we had a ball down there
maries office down on broadway was mission control then

googled her to see if i could find a link for you and found this

presentation on aalbc she gave about literary harlem and as usual
she gave everybody props but herself (including me)

"Out of the Harlem Writers Guild emerged The New Renaissance writers organization that met at the Schomburg and included among their members Arthur Flowers, Malaika Adero, Joyce Dukes, Brenda Conner Bey, B. J. Ashanti, Doris Jean Austin, Terri McMillan and others."

hwg be trying to excommunicate me and the newren crew
but they cant change history even though they try

for a couple of years i made a decent living reading manuscripts for marie
and most of them werent anywhere near primetime

one day i asked her, i said marie why do you do it, spend all the money
and all this energy on works that dont have a chance in hell

she said arthur, you and i, we in newyork where we can get whatever we need
these young writers cant get it anywhere else but me

now thats black nationalism at its finest
we used to call her queen mother ree ree

and still do

a luta continua
rdoc

THURSDAY

hello world, working hard, in the groove

noted article about dustup over the o reilly factor
comparing him as propagandist with father conglin (sp)

laid out 7 propaganda techs that o reilly uses regular
must have hurt him cause he squealing

some propaganda points article made:

appeal to fear as classic wartime propaganda, often a threat to ideals and way of life, this is also reflected in nightly news report  “no danger is too small to magnify into a national nightmare”, an integral part of the fear tech is a restoration of order principle

forging good and evil dichotomies, devils and deliverers, some sociologist say this has enabled societies to ‘construct their moral blueprint, establish social cohesion and exercise social control and its showing up in war is not surprising – again used in domestic crime news stories – good people like us are preyed upon by bad people who want to destroy us

redefinng critics as bad or the enemy, once the president makes a decision, dissent is no longer acceptable or patriotic

name calling ‘gives a person or idea a bad label to make the audience reject them without examining the evidence, such as kool aid left

glittering generality are terms that make things positive without considering evidence, like patriotism, hero, freedom

transfer uses authority of one idea or person to make another acceptable or better

plain folks is when host present himself or chosen folk as just good people, not elites
bandwagon suggest that because everybody approves the audience should to

testimonial is using a respected or disrespected person endorsing or rejecting an idea or person

card stacking the selective use of fact, half truths or lies

articles goes on to use charts and such but thats the gist of it

im gone, got so much work to do
starting to get a little antsy about palf

got notice of sls kenyas program starting up
and im not on it, first time ever

im not surprised, i figured as much, but man i hate not
being a part of sls anymore

i got family over there in kenya now and i am going to miss them all
going to miss my ethiopian spot and lamu and kwani and muki and everybody

but the potential of palf is so that i cannot turn away
and cant let jeff down either, hes been a trooper w/this thing

so now i got to make palf happen
its gotten so big conceptually so soon that im afraid it

has overtextended itself - its jeff been moving that ball and i
been dragged along kicking and screaming and protesting i got work to do

but now i got to move my commitment up a gear
cause it cost me my sls gig

and if i dont work harder to make palf happen im
really going to feel bad this coming december

when i should be in that ferry to lamu

hopefully when things chill out i will be asked back
if not, thats the way it goes, good things dont last forever

what will really chill me out will be to finish this draft
then i will be feeling no pain

im out of here
rdoc

MONDAY

hello world, life got me ducking and dodging
aint no work been done for a couple of days - bummer

then i look at that account of the haitian boat capsizing
61 folk dead, apparently some of them eaten by sharks

and i think how so many blackfolk in the world
really struggling

read reports that patrol boat rammed them and
was towing them when their boat capsized

if so, ought to be a crime against humanity

like the policy toward haitian and cuban refugees
if you cuban stick around, if you haitian get back

smell like racism
feel like racism
probably is

folk been trying to address that imbalance for awhile now

also the conditions in haiti have not improved much since the election - bummer
i know that brothers heart is right but he dont seem to have what it take

whatever on earth that could be

i will have to put my finger on that pulse again
i think i must have lost hope, haiti seems so intractable

gotta keep the faith
gotta keep on swinging

aint no ways weary
and it aint in me to quit

rdoc

SATURDAY

hello world

had this great idea that doesnt seem so great now

decided to do posts every once in a while
of that hoodoo vision im always talking about

de geas of rickydoc,
eventually these will go in hoodoo book of flowers

but i work it here (still trying to justify the time
spent on rootsblog w/something i consider impo)

had in mind to start w/some rules of community

establishing and maintaining community behind crises
or in founding and pioneer situations

whenever folk find themselves in a survival situation, when they find themselves in new ground  - when 9 or 90 of my people are gathered there will be community

okay, that was pretty weak flowers
seemed really profound when i thought of it

maybe instead of trying to layout rules of community
it be more cost effective to work the vision

need to do that for rest anyway
the illuminated children of the sun

the story of a great and wondrous people

a starfaring people, guide and guardian of humanitys
march into its ever greater self

if i can really bring that to life, it will go a long way
towards making the geas of rickydoc real

weary but hanging in there
rickydoc trickmaster

wouldbe prophet of the hoodoo way

sanctifying hoodoo haints: e.c. osundu and the caine prize, rickydoc in the woodshed

WEDNESDAY

i must have clocked 9 hours or more today
i feel like a real man, i feel like a big mac or a blt or something

quick commentaries and ima knock off some projects (manuscripts)

1) oprah backs obama, i feel you girl, i really do

2) rev al makes curious commentary:

“as for the one mormon running for office, those who really believe in god will defeat him anyways, so don’t worry about that; that’s a temporary situation”

beg pardon, i didnt quite get that

well rev al, your enemies gon crucify you for that one
painful to see you wiggling like you doing, i meant this and i meant that

you got busted
just make your apologies and move on

cant get your back on this one man, i aint in it
dont see where this one got nothing to do w/colored people

i got issues w/the mormons conservative bent but truth be told all you believers got
questionable dogma and i consider fundamentalists of all stripes problematic

its that fundamentalist flavor in this one delight your enemies
and dismay folk who want the best for you - and of you

just make your apologies and move on man
and look here dawg, might have to check yourself

on another note, first i started using in the name of the conqueror

in my bid to attribute the conqueror as zora did when she gave him
afroam folkloric attributes instead of john the baptist attributes

then i started using in the name of o killens, to sanctify john o

then i used in the name of gullahjack one time and im thinking
i should have a pantheon of hoodoo saints that i use according to need
and that im trying to ancestorfy (or deify as the case may be)

got that focus on ancestorfying from djenra windwalker
i had said something here about my relationship with god once and

windwalker pull my coat that it was more afrospiritual to consider
that a relationship with the ancestors and it was like a light
went on in my headod

god gods ancestors, all pretty interchangeable to my way of thinking
aint gon get caught up in no dogma if youg et my drift but ancestorfying
is a very afrospiritual approach to the spirit that i find useful in my attempt

to empower the african way of god
take it to higherground

so anyway ive decided to create my own ancestral hoodoo pantheon
for service according to the need

first the family ancestors im closest to

1 my father, dr arthur flowers sr
2 my maternal grandfather, grandaddy ross
3 my paternal grandmother, grandma flowers

4 john killens
5 david walker
6 harriet tubman
7 gullahjack
8   ida b
9  fred hudson

man, i wanted to do a solid hoodoo 9
but what about nat turner

and addison gayle - addison is one of my special folk
in terms of life influence, as is fred hudson

i would want to sanctify both of them, david earl jackson
and safiya and doris jean too, this list is going to get prohibitive

that drawing above for instance is john killens as a long distance runner
done by tom feelings, both of them deserve ancestorship

okay, two pantheons, a personal pantheon and a tribal pantheon

1 dr athur flowers
2 granddaddy ross
3 grandma flowers
4 aunt josie
5 aunt elise
6 doris jean austin
7 safiya henderson holmes
8 david earl jackson
9 fred hudson

and imogunla, sometimes i forget
imogunla actually dead

rickydocs tribal pantheon

1 john killens
2 zora neale
3 davidwalker
4 gullah jack
5 harriet tubman
6 marie leveau
7 nat turner
8 martin king
9 addison gayle

(what might be interesting is to have a descendents pantheon also
of 9 children/students/younger generations you keeping an eye on
this one problematic because they not ancestors/dead but a diff kind of spirit
one to be nurtured, will have to work this one out conceptually)

obviously these listings will be flexible, some folk coming on some dropping
and fred hudson for instance as much tribal as he is personal

but basically im saying that a hoodo pantheon will consist of 18 (possibly 27) folk
personal, tribal and destinic (this me laying paths for the hoodoo future - one of my own attributes)

9 personal/family haints and 9 tribal haints, i should have a full
pantheon of tribal haints for folk to choose from

attribute (give them powers and a narrative) them for different tasks
as needed, for instance for literary stuff i use in the name of o killens

for tribal guidance i use the conqueror

for warmaking i use gullahjack, for sanctuary i will use harriettubman
nat turner for the hard moral choices, and so forth along those lines

also i really have to come up with a hoodoo term for sanctifying folk
for the process of transforming them into loa/orisha/etc - what would
be a good hoodoo term for that be - use rest for the weary to attribute them (sorry ec)

could i rehabilitate haint maybe, hoodoo haints doesnt feel quite right
too close to saint and connotation too negative, but it is a spirit that hangs around

i will use hoodoo haints till i coin a better one
in the name of the conqueror

man this post started off as a quick comment on rev al
and went on and on and on on and on

gotta go, gotta clock some pages
in the name of o killens

word by trickmaster
wouldbe prophet of the hoodoo way

TUESDAY  6:46

2 days good work, thats a good sign
today will tell the tale

was reading over this weeks post and perhaps im obsessing
as i tend to do and will bore you dear regulators, i will restrain myself

had lunch yesterday with ec osondu
ec chastise me as he so often do

ec quick to tell me when im whining

arthur youre whining on your blog, you must be a lion arthur
you must roar arthur, roar all the time arthur

i tell him i cant roar all the time ec, i roar most of the time, most of
the time im huffing and puffing but sometime the blues run me down

havent been whining lately so he hit me on another sensitive spot

arthur i see on your blog that your novel continues to grow, arthur you must
restrain yourself and finish the thing

so now he basically accuse me of fitzing around w/my novel

i got defensive cause i fear he right and nobody will be
more pleased than arthur when this novel stop evolving

the implication is that i am going in circles but i know
this novel is not yet what it is to be - in my heart i know this

and i just got to be patient with it
this my masterpiece, i know it is, the novel i was born to write

i confess - i want this bad boy to be so complex folk dont ever figure it out
but i want to tell a good story too, one that last forever

im outta here, got pages to clock

arf

ollie ollie oxenfree: sanctuary, seung-hui cho and the creative writing workshop

TUESDAY

hello world, working on this presentation for the baobob society
next time i agree to do one of these for free somebody slap me

i owe the baobob society, no mas
too much time and energy, too many workdays

manhours and anxiety
it aint worth it -no mas

2 weeks left in the semester and im just holding on,  in my heart
im already through, im just going through the motions now

in my heart im already in the zone
if you see me its just a mirage, dont waste your time saying hello

wo more weeks schoolhouse - and 4 manuscripts i have agreed to
read for various folk, wade through that pile and i will be free, lord

no workshops, no organizing assignments, no manuscripts, no socializing, nothing
just gon be me and that novel this summer  (and some memphis/familytime)

but all other obligations gon get put aside,  that dont come easy,
have to fight for that space

nagging sense of responsibilty for orchestrations
in play work against me - without attention things fall apart

but ima novelist born near the end of a career held in low regard
and im tired of not getting my due respect in the world

got a novel that just might be a masterpiece - then again it might not
i will never know at the rate im going

i just cant take it no more, cant take
another year without my novel, just cant do it

ima march thru those manuscripts like sherman thru georgia
by all thats holy ima get my decks cleared in the next 2 max 3 weeks

every summer i plan to work like a fiend
every summer it take awhile the get the groove, to get desperate enuf

well this summer im more desperate than ive ever been
this summer everything going on minimum maintenance

ima hit the ground running, and ima ruthlessly cut those ties
this summer ima act like im serious about

dream of mine
this rest for the weary

showtime by
rickydoc

SATURDAY

hello world - some game and sidegame

when you in contention and the game is afoot
be wary of being sidegamed

all the ink lately been on gonzales resignation
nothing about politicization of the justice dept

prosecutors using their power to criminalize political opposition

hope we dont lose focus on whats important
sidegame when winning dont change the board

you get diverted into sidegame when you not
laser focused on the truly significant

word by rdoc

FRIDAY

hello world, thinking about gonzales and his sense of privilege
thinking about why i think bush so dangerous

been ruling like a king, emperor dont need no clothes
whatever he say been law just cause he say it is

folk get thrown in jail forever, folk dying in droves in iraq
just cause bush say so, policestate policies just cause bush say so

o these been some real interesting
historical times

really focus you dont it
cant afford to let things drift can we

bush and his aint played fair for awhile now
i think we in a couldnt happen in america moment

and if it wasnt for bush and iraq
still would be

but we got to chance to flip this now
bush brought the clarity

when it was amusement at creationism thats one thing
folk dying in iraq and policestating america is entirely another

got to get on it
got to stay on it

convince americans, the world
and fundamentalists everywhere

there is a better way

a luta continua
in the name of the conqueror

THURSDAY

hello world

interesting the creative writing folk saw this guy before other folk did
creative writing workshops are often like group therapy

folk show their deepest hearts in good work and often that deepest heart
is disturbing and as creative writing teachers you try to put your own judgments aside

and judge their work w/detachment but sometime its difficult cause you
dont get to choose who sign up for your class, any old ax murderer might come thru

i had one students every story was graphic child abuse, every story - and he was
a good writer w/powerful images like watching blood running down the back of the childs leg

i couldnt even read it much less try to immerse myself in it and offer
suggestions to make it better - but i did

to this day i remember how much trouble i had dealing w/that students work
everytime that student turned a story in i would brace myself

it would ruin the whole week far as i was concerned

i would wonder where this fascination with child abuse came from
but was afraid to ask, he wasnt threatening or anything, he was a very nice kid

i was afraid he had been a victim, not a perpetrator and maybe he thought of it as
therapy of a sort, which is often what writing is - and the workshop handled it well

thats always a concern, does it discombobulate the workshop

but ive had the angry ones too, every critique laden w/aggressive profanity
intimidating and disruptive to the kind of trust a workshop needs

for workshop to work you have to be willing to bare your soul and say -
well what do you think

i had a problem student one semester decided he wasnt happy with the way i ran workshop
one day he threatened to drop the class and was shocked when without thinking i blurted out 'good'
and walked away - but later mr superprofessor convinced him not to drop the class

and regretted it - i am trained not to judge the morality of young writers works, that just
because they write about violence or such doesnt mean its their personal trip - and it doesnt

but as a writer im also trained to read between the lines and i recognize trouble when i see it -

the official line is that a writers work doesnt reflect their personality but in truth
anytime a writer puts two words together it says something about their state of mind

and its my job to recognize that, been doing it almost 40 years now

specially since i personally believe in the morality of literature, i believe that the literary life does have a moral center and that writers are gods reps on the planet - as a professional i keep that personal aesthetic to myself and dont judge folk on it - but sometimes its difficult

i had one student write about cutting my throat, not 'the professors throat' - my throat
'somebody should cut his throat and put him out of his misery'

that one i refused to teach, or be in office with alone, etc etc - not because i actually thought
she would cut my throat but because i no longer wanted to try to help her

reason she threatened me is because i was still trying to help her
when everybody else had given up on her - so i was the one she focused on

we are trained to be nonjudgmental and in truth you have to be to help them do what they
want to do whether you approve or not -  not just morality but craft and narrative decisions, everything

wouldnt be of much value as a creative writing teacher if you only teach students that write and thnk like you

its part of being a professional  but sometimes you walk the line
had a student i really like other day write a story with a little barbie doll love interest

i got personal with him, i told him it didnt become him as an aspirant literary man to write
barbie doll women - she can be pretty but as the writer he has to see more than pretty

character can just see pretty but the writer cant

told him it wasnt manly, that part of being a literary man is to show you 'know' women
that you dont write shallow barbie doll women, that your women are complex and fully drawn

told him that cause i knew he would respond to that challenge
and hopefully it would make him a better man in life and his work

that was a little out of line on my part, he could have been offended
but i like him and i took the chance of more personal advice

as a creative writing teacher i make judgments like that all the time
thats what i do, fiddle with folks souls  - and you never quite know what seeds being laid

i try to turn them into writers of worth and substance, writers whose work
means something - folk who are capable of facing the abyss the human soul can be

and growing strong from it
bring back understanding for other folk who

may be faced with the same abyss
this will probably make me more conscious of the way i handle them

i cannot help but think of those kids shot at v tech and look at my little students
and feel ever more solicitous of them - there but for the grace of god go my little charges

young would be writers (and students) are delicate souls at a delicate moment in their lives
and a little strangeness comes w/the literary territory

the word can break you, the word can ennoble you
but one thing for sure is that the word will expose you

when i give them suggestions about how to handle their work
its a very vulnerable moment - being a young writer or any kind of student

and im always conscious of not leading them wrong - give a wrong suggestion
they might never find their way back to their true path - their true destiny

in a story or in life

i guess i will be more conscious, more watchful
as a hoodooman (and a creative writing teacher) shaping souls is what i do

and when dealing with souls
you do so with a very light touch

in the name of the conqueror
rdoc

WEDNESDAY

hello world

do you remember ollie ollie oxenfree
from when we was kids

meant you were safe  - homefree
meant sanctuary, you couldnt be It or something

couldnt be tagged

i was thinking about it cause of my calico cat
lady comes calling, scariest scary cat ever was

she run whenever  you come near her, but she got a couple of spots in the house
she consider sanctuary, she will let you come up to her, rub her, which she loves of course

like its sanctuary to her, she feels safe there

the network router on my desk (her personal heater), a windowspot in bonnies office
sitting at your desk or laying in bed - its like a truce and nobody violates the truce

i dont pick her up and hug her, she dont run

so im standing there rubbing her and it make me ponder the meaning of sanctuary
the word sanctuary move me, it make me tingle, i want to provide sanctuary for those in need

for all the world and all its generations

gon put a little sanctuary in my destinywork
gon work it deep into rest for the weary

i want my Work to be sanctuary
i want it to be rest for the weary

in the name of the conqueror
all my love always

rdoc

i want to be there when the people turn it around: prophecy, voterfraud and the primeval mud

SATURDAY MORNING
 
so im sitting there doing palf work and im listening
to hugh masekelas - send me,

have you really listened to those lyrics:

i want to be there    when the peopole start to turn it around
when they triumph over poverty

i want to be there  when the people win the battle
against aids     i want to lend a hand

brought tears to my eyes
rdoc

SATURDAY

hello world

this kiri davis, young sister did film - a girl like me
in what appear to be a nice happyhead of dread

i dont get a lot of comments on this blog
sometime that bother me sometime it dont

recently got one from shailja patel
indian performance poet, author of migritude
fellow traveler and keeper of the faith

that one moved me, encouraged me to keep struggling
i appreciate those public expressions of support and/or challenge

but folk more inclined to contact me offlist for some reason
which is cool when its cool, not cool when its not

got two emails today, one cool the other not - but connected in a way
one about documentary by 16 (now 18) year old kiri davis entitled - a girl like me

reprising the old black/white doll test w/black 4 and 5 year olds and
predictable selfhatred results

email was saying kiri was contender in cosmo film contest, vote for her
but when i went to do my duty i saw the contest had been closed down

film still available for viewing though, some good work, im impressed
subject matter being what it is be nice if thats dread - why weave when you can dread natural ting

which bring me to other email from some idiot protesting the firing of imus
email appropriately entitled - nappy headed hos

classic racist rant - why he sent it to me i do not know
some of the points about self determination and responsibility i actually agree with

but he himself kinda scary

one of the reasons black voices who believe as i do that the responsibility
for our condition lies with us hesitate to say it is it becomes fodder for folk like this

started to reply, tell him im not interested in his opinion but
i figure folk like this best to let them stew in their own juices

not my job to enlighten the benighted and
any communication w/him just liable to generate more

my daddy told me never wrestle w/pigs
you just get dirty and the pig enjoys it

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

Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson are the great dividers. Black and white America have never been farther apart than they are today. It’s OK for you to call each other niggers. But when one white guy uses a phrase created by black men, you bring out the lynch mob. They have succeeded eliminating the best political show in the country. Everyone loses. All this does is make me, a white man, resent the black race. It’s OK for you to have BET, but if someone came out with WET, there would be an outrage. It’s OK for blacks to be racist. It’s OK for blacks to have Hip Hop stations that degrade women. I don’t judge a man by his skin color, but rather by the way he behaves. This is making that hard to do. Why don’t black people take responsibility for their own well being? Why don’t black people learn how to speak and write in proper English? Blacks are the most violent race on earth. I’ll offer the chaos in Africa, and in the murder and crime in black America as examples. Show me a predominately black neighborhood, and I’ll show you a dangerous place to be. You should be ashamed of yourselves, and stop blaming the white man for your problems. Remember, the slaves were sold to white slave traders by black men. The problem started and remains within your own race. It seems the real racists are the black people. Black people are even racist against other black people with darker skin than theirs. Wake up and smell the coffee

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

smell the coffee indeed, pretty fragrant dont you think

in earlier post on imus i said folks is pretty good mostly and they are
but you still got folk like this crawling around in the primeval mud

dont sound to me like he need much of an excuse to hate blackpeople
i slotted him on into junkmail where he belong cause im not interested in his rants

sorry about that 'dont sound to me . ."
sometime i dont speak too good

a luta continua
rdoc

FRIDAY

hello world, i cheated

as many of you know, i aspire to the prophetic
but the prophets of antiquity have an advantage on me

when their stories were wrote they were after the fact

and filled with prophetic foresight of incidents that had already happened
if you get my drift - the biblical writers just wrote the prophecy to match the history

which in my era is a no can do because the records are better
but with the blog i can go back and make my prophetics work

i had swore imus wasnt going down but lo and behold down he went
so i went back two posts ago and wrote that in - 2 weeks i gave him - heh heh heh

im suprised at the pressure brought against him, sometimes the system
does work and you have to give begruding credit - folks is pretty good mostly

now if we can just get those knucklehead gangstas to straighten
up and fly right we be good to go

bush wish he could rewrite his stuff

bush out here talking about the democrats bill would mean lengthening
army tours when thats exactly what they themselves have done

i was wondering why media letting him get away with it

even deeper the very next day army announced they lengthening tours
even deeper when asked about it they say bush didnt know - thats so scary

the decider and commander in chief didnt know
deliver us lord

in the name of the conqueror

rdoc

THURSDAY

hello world
im running, just wanted to make a quick comment

article in times this morning about voter fraud prosecutions -
why this prosecutors thing is so important

profiles about folk caught up in it like nashawna purdue
who was on probation for a bad check and didnt
realize she couldnt vote and got fired up at
an al sharpton rally where he lead them all to
cityhall to register - when she realized she
couldnt vote she tried to retract the registration but
they sent her to jail for 5 years anyway - didnt even try to vote
just registered - 5 years in jail

her and her family - shes in blue - now shes in jail

for wanting to vote -
5 years

bush offend me

in struggle
rdoc

bitches, niggers and hos: imus, gladys knight and the power of the word

MONDAY MORNING

hello world, rootdoctor feeling pretty good today

been listening to mingus live: music written for monterey 1965
(remind me of when me and my daddy seen mingus at the downunder)

clocked some good pages this weekend after having given it all to schoolhouse lately - o that felt good

all week i do other folks stuff
but the weekend belong to me - my Work

then i pay for it during the week - no problem
moving into pre woodshed a little early this year

still fear that im just spitting in the literary wind but whenever has
that stopped a true writer - the generations will absolve me

let me do some quickies and im outta here

1) iraq

10 american soldiers died over the weekend, no telling how many iraqis - and 100s of 1000s of shiites marched against the american occupation

bush has run out of time - 4 years or is it 5, is long enuf

to do what bush wants to do would require another 20 years of occupation and thats just not gon happen, american people wont stand for it

be different it it had been a real war instead of a discretionary one
be different if there was a political will among the iraqis but there isnt

it is not 'supporting the troops' to keep them dying in a bullshit war

supporting the troops would not have them serving multiple tours
supporting the troops would not cut their benefits when they return home

or house the wounded in rat infested moldy hospitals
supporting the troops would send more money to the front and less money to halliburton

chenys retirement fund

2) private bushadmin/rnc email system - jackpot

apparently bush admin set up a separate email system in whitehouse
in order to keep their political emails off the official system

which mean that they have a treasure trove of politically compromising
emails set up precisely to avoid government record retention rules

excuse me, record retention laws

as you know dear regulators i like to call the shots before they go down
want to know whats happening before it happen - best you to check w/rick

i got it with the prophetic thing like that
take my word for it, this gon be a magic carpet ride

3) saw this great show on the history channel yesterday, banned from the bible II
about the books that didnt make the bible and what fascinated me

was that these books were basically sacred shortstories based on jewish history, myth and folklore
and they didnt make the bible for all kinds of reasons having to do with spiritual and cultural dynamics

and it put me in mind of this collection of shorts i want to do after i do rest for the weary
and the hoodoo book of flowers, ima do the hoodoo tales (w/geo hunts works)

sacred hoodoo shortstories

and that banned from the bible dealio gave me so many ideas of
how thats going to work - or not work as the case may be

im outta here
4 am and i got to clock me a 3 before the sun rise

cant afford it, i got so much to do - but if you want to be a novelist
got to take time, got to steal time - whenever wherever you can

ima take me a 3 this morning,
for which i will gladly pay woodshed catchup dues

in the name of the conqueror

rdoc

SATURDAY ADDENDUM

bitches, niggers and hos

dramatis personae: imus in the morning and his producer, somebody mcgurk
referring to rutgers women basketball team in ncaa:

imus: "thats some rough girls from rutgers, man they got tattoos
mcgurk: "some hardcore hos"
imus: "thats some nappy headed hos there, im going to tell you that"

cue the predictable responses - calls for firing him (i give him a week maybe two)
i felt sorry for the young sisters but hopefully they dismiss the ravings of a fool

but you know o regulators the only reason folk like this think they can call us any old thing
is cause we do it ourselves, bitches niggers and hos - all the time

i was myself tempted upon reading that reverends butts and bernard now lobbying

for the developer whose bid for starrett city in brooklyn was rejected
because of concerns he would raise rents and throw folk into the streets

so he cut the reverends butts and bernard in for a piece of the action:
and now they blackfacing him - we trust him they say

reminds me of andrew young blackfacing walmart

but this one seem particularly shameless
butts say if its money to be made he want his share

you would expect the right reverend butts of abyssinian to look out
for the people in this matter - one must ask what would martin do

i think thats one of the reasons blackfolk keep coming up with excuses
not to support obama, they scared they gon be disappointed again

taken for a ride

me, im giving the brother benefit of the doubt, hes paid what
a friend of mine once called the blacktax

as for butts, at least hes up front w/it, since im swearing off ho
ima just call it prostitution and be done w/it

that aint got no kick does it, and sellout dont quite cut it, what i
really want to call him is a ho - but i wont

rdoc
working in code

SATURDAY

hello world, old rootdoctor feeling a little subdued today
tired of huffing and puffing, tired of putting my business in the street

and im moving into a pre woodshed mode now, too desperate to wait till summer
i got to move some pages - and i apologize o regulators for the next 4 months or so

im going for the zone and its just gon be me and that novel
the world inside my head - i try to make it an interesting ride

for you

strange dance literary hoodoo online
hoodoo is an occult science, secrets are my stock in trade

but a literaryman, telling my business is what i do
spose to do it with some style

you might have noticed how tight and elliptical im getting
ima speak but ima speak in code

had an email yesterday, notice about an article on black bloggers
my boy prometheus 6 gave me a headsup some months ago, i got in touch

with her, she said she would get back to me, next i hear about it
is a notice that the article is out

guess i wont waste my time reading it, obviously she dont know
whats happening now

but then again, guess i will look at it, see if rootsblog at least got mention
if not, have to put her on the ill show you list

its a long list
rdoc

FRIDAY

schoolhouse been riding me
aint had time for Work or blog

and feeling a little tired of it all to tell you the truth
this blog take up a lot of my time to be so insignificant in the world

but i was just sitting here listening to gladys knights before me cd where
she do the classics, billie ella carmen sarah lena and them

it put me in a good space, put me in a very good space
you can imagine gladys knight throwdown on the classics

cant help herself, got the funk in her blood
i can relate

thought id pass the love on

rdoc
hanging tough

WHO KNOWS WHEN I WROTE THIS??

hello world, i been out of it, havent been posting have i

caught up in the end of the semester crunch,got to move palf
up a notch, got to move into my summer woodshed groove

just thinking about it make me tired
production mighty low to always be so overextended

been reading w/some concern about the housing mortgage debacle
because i figure many of those folk losing houses blackfolk and fellow travelers

read one account say even w/all the folk losing homes
bunch of folk got homes otherwise wouldnt have

say the majority of them will make the hump

folk in trouble need to get ahead of it, try to cut a deal
can often cut a deal, dont wait until its too late, get on it

i of course blame the bush admin, i dont know what they did
but im sure its their fault

have to watch them like hawks,
they offend me - they dont believe in governing

just released army report accuse a gen mccrystal of being highest general
in tillman coverup, turns out he just the latest bush scapegoat

they offend me

also i was reading where tech blogger kathy sierra threatened by cyberbullies
to point where she had to quit blogging and is in seclusion -  over tech issues?

darfur continue to wither and somalia in a shooting war now

these are situations i have put energy into, armchair energy apparently
i like to think words have power, in my heart and soul i believe this

maybe just not my words - i tell my activist literary students all the time
do your activism cause you got to do what you can when you can

but its your Words that will truly change things in this world
i would explain it to you but im questioning it myself these days

ohwell, let me try for a 6 today
make my case to the generations

doing beloved in my hoodoo lit class
now those are words of power

and maybe just maybe ive helped one family
keep their home - that would be sufficient unto the day

in the words of fellow hoodoo traveler
katrina omogun - im outta here

rdoc

on the nature of politicians: ray nagin, barack obama and the covenant of crabs

SUNDAY

hello world, i been off the grid

between schoolhouse, nonprofit paperwork for palf
and trying to keep a little novel momentum i been

swimming underwater and barely able to take a breath
but i did want to make a comment on the importance of

the hearings on the Justice 8 because its so representative
of the politicizing of government in the bush admin

bush and the repubs trying to dismiss it as partisan politics
bush say lets move on - but thats precisely the point and
what ought to infuriate the democrats

dirtytricks like pushing the state AGs to bring voter fraud cases that
end up throwing blackfolk off the voting rolls like they did in georgia

the elections results in ohio 2004 and florida 2000 were no fluke but the
result of unacceptable dirtytricks been institutionalized in bushs justice dept

gotta go - schoolhouse all day friday, palf all day saturday, got to
clock some pages today, article about somalian writer nuruddin farah
in todays washington post put me to shame:

"But mainly, he sits alone in a rented apartment he uses for a writing studio in Cape Town and maps out novels. He works from 8:30 a.m. till 4 p.m., on the theory that it's the hours and discipline that matter. Going for a word count encourages hasty work to fill a quota, he figures."

i think about my buddies from when i was a cub who fell by the wayside
because they just never got discplined about production - and then i see how much more
disciplined the primetime players are - its all in the discipline children, clocking pages

only 6 years older than i am and look at how much hes done

ohwell, just give me 3 today, maybe a 6
but before i go id like to thank the regulators for coming

through for me with the hits, it warmed my heart

i cried out for help but i didnt really expect it
seem there more folk appreciate what i do than i realized

thats what keep me going

all my love
rdoc

ALERT: CALLING ON RICKYDOCS REGULATORS

i need a little help gang

me and jeff doing this annual pan african literary gathering
pan african literary forum, its got potential of being true force

im spose to be handling the website

we getting one built but i put up a placeholder to hold the domain and google wont pick the thing up

make me look bad, like i aint pulling my freight

i just went and registered PALF manually but i need folk to link to it, go to it, generate some traffic so search engines start picking it up

im calling on the regulators, thats you partner

its just a page now, ima beef it up this weekend
make the trip worth your while

but right now i need you to take me on faith
i just need a minute for you to hit that llink, stop by for a cup of coffee

panafricanliteraryforum.com

the pan african literary forum (got to start mentioning it whenever i can)
gon gather african writers from around the globe every year

every year a different part of the black world, 3 years each to really get a feel
for the place, then move on

1st 3 in ghana, 2nd 3 in brazil, 3rd in south africa and so on
give an annual pan african literary prize upholding the panafrican vision of dubois and others

train young panafrican talent, o its gon be wonderful

but starting a non-profit is rough, we been fumbling stumbling trying
to put together a primetime operation

jeff been moving the ball, buncha folk signing on, and rickydoc slacking the website
help me get it off the ground will you - the game is in play

you know i am not happy about this drain on noveltime
but the game too strong to let it lay

my name on the package how
got to give it whatever i got to give

got to find me another gear

appreciate your help o regulators
Pan African Literary Forum

rdoc
(thanks chris, good looking out)

TUESDAY

apparently an attack ad depicting hillary as bigbrother
was put on youtube and signed off to barackobama.com

i suspect parkridge47, outed by the huffington post as phil de vellis
say he was doing guerilla work to show it could be done

and in support of barack obama, support like that obama dont need

apparently phil worked for blue state digital, political consultancy working
for obama and had to resign cause neither obama nor bluestate can afford

to be linked what dirtytricks against their own
if hillary does win the rightwing will get more use from that attack ad than obama does

lowblow hillary and put obamas name on it
that aint cool, makes them both look bad

phil sound real proud of himself dont he
probably a better career move for him than obama

rdoc

MONDAY

ray nagin got in front of a bunch of black editors
and start whining how he got targeted for

saying new orleans gon be a chocolate city again
i wouldnt trust ray nagin to run a goldfish bowl

the talk a good game but im told in circles of power that he selling new orleans out
how he trying to keep the poor from coming back and how he ask for money

not to rebuild but to buy out the poor who do return

that he has a vision of taking new orleans into 21st century
a vision in which poorer black folk need not apply

the proof is in the gumbo, if he was serious we would see some
crises selfhelp going down in new orleans, a sense of things being done

but you dont feel that happening, it make me cringe when i hear him sprouting blackness

which is why im reserved on obama, politicians are heartbreakers by definition

but i have decided to get on obamas wagon, caveats and reservations intact

i have said before that he strike me as sincere and as much as i fear being took
again by believing in somebody - ima give the brother benefit of the doubt

he seem to be sincere and he carry his blackness w/dignity

i aint gon begrudge him the strategic and tactical space he need to be a politician
maybe see if rootsblog can get him a little room to manuever - stay tuned

got a email forwarded to me recently - written by somebody name i believe barcardi l. jackson
knew a dancer back in memphis name bacardi light, wonder if its the same barcardi

cant be too many of those and i can hear that barcardi in this text:
you glow girl

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

On Barack: An Open Letter and Invitation to Thoughtful Brothers and Sisters In America
               
As I and my husband sat watching The State of Black America 2007, presented by Tavis Smiley, we were awe struck, motivated, inspired, filled with pride and edified by the broad ranging views of the impressive collection of black intelligencia represented on the stage. Following each of the richly-crafted commentary from rapper Chuck D to astronaut and engineer Mae Jemison to Professor Cornel West to poet Sonya Sanchez to one     of my innovative classmates Omar Wasow (just to name a few), I ooohhed and ahhhed out loud as each broke it down, laid it out and spoke truth to power. 

But then it happened . . . my enthusiasm came to a screeching halt!  Here we go again . . . that same gratuitous question mainstream media outlets across America seem to be commissioning ambitious black folk to answer and justify: Is our brother, Barack Obama, down enough with the cause to deserve our support? I just knew this panel of amazing minds and deep souls would once and for all stop the madness and give a resounding,     "we're not falling for another Rove-ian mindtrick to sidetrack us from the    substantive issues at hand to debate your historical lies and give credibility to your ignorance." 

I just knew this conscientious crew would cite to Obama's academic excellence and obvious intelligence, his outstanding achievements, his proven commitment to our community through his life's work, his impressive legislative record, his coalition-building skills and political experience.  But instead, Malcolm's proverbial     crabs started grabbing, pulling, pinching and reaching for dear brother Barack's neck.  I was mortified.                   

Seeming to come to his aid, one of my longtime heroes, Professor Olgetree, pointed out that Barack, Michelle Obama and others of his students had not only been impressive students at Harvard, but had dedicated their lives and careers to public service.  But, (damn it), he added, he can't take our vote for granted.  Then, Brother Cornel (whose audio version of Race Matters I listened to so many times I almost committed     chapters to memory) chimed in, not to save Brother Barack, but to highlight his absence from the State of Black America panel to be (how dare he) at some other event to boost his Presidential candidacy when he knew about Tavis' event more than a year ago. 

While Professor West did mention that his questions about the depths of one's love for the people were relevant for all candidates everywhere, they, unfortunately, were explicitly asked only of Obama.  Finally, our fearless leader and host, Tavis, who, by his own admission, knew Barack before he was "Barack Obama" sealed the tomb.  He assured the audience that, the night before, he got a call from an apologetic Barack who was unable to attend, but "really wanted to be here." 

As if completely cued in by the tone in Brother Tavis' statement, the audience gave a loud and unambiguously sarcastic "Aaawwww."  Adding salt to the wound, dear friend Tavis responded, "well, that's what he told me" in that familiar I-know-he-sounds- like-he's- full-of-it-but-I'm-going-to-pretend-to-be-his-brother-anyway delivery.

Now, I don't point out the dynamics of this dialogue to take away from the amazing legacies of Brothers Ogletree, West or Smiley.  They've all made important and lasting contributions to our community and will likely continue to do so, but I do question why they, and we as a community, tend to be so uncharitable toward our own, but inexplicably benevolent to others.    

For example, how does a white man who signed the deeply disparate crack-cocaine bill into law, introduced a devastating crime bill that further entrenched the prison industrial complex at the expense of black communities and black political power everywhere, oversaw the murder of more people on death row during his presidency than any president in the history of our country, completely dissed and dismissed our sister Lani Guinier, who would have been an amazing Attorney General for our country and for our community, purely for the sake of political expediency, get to be donned the    "First Black President"?  Is our loyalty so easily spawned because one acts like a "pimp," plays the saxophone and visits a few pulpits? 

I am absolutely amazed at the absence of critical black analysis about Clinton's     performance in office while Brother Barack has to be hyper-analyzed, criticized and have his thumbnails extricated for DNA samples before we'll believe he's one of "us."  There is no other candidate in this or any other Presidential race (save Shirley Chisholm who, in her day, was hung out to dry by the Black Caucus) who has had to work so hard despite an extraordinary track record to show us that he or she is about the business of making the country better for black people and thereby making the country better for all people.

Al Sharpton, you are absolutely right that everyone who looks like "us" is not one of "us" - at least to the extent that you mean not all black people work for what's in the collective best interest of black people (that is, if such a collective interest still exists - which is another discussion altogether) - but when did you become the blackometer? And, why raise a question of loyalty when you have no substantive evidence of disloyalty?  Just to hear yourself talk? Because he's getting more press than you? 

I'm not suggesting for a minute that Obama and every political candidate not be held accountable for their voting records, their political past, or even their personal judgment, but to question Obama's blackness simply because he is black is the ultimate irony and a dumb distraction, for which Republicans and racists everywhere are cheering us on. And, to question Obama's loyalty simply because he didn't make an appearance at this week's forum hosted by the black gatekeeper flavor of the month is sheer idiocy.                   
I think a more relevant question is what do the black commentators who make the television and radio appearances to raise and answer the question of Barack's blackness have to gain?  It certainly provides them with more face time before the American public and cushions their backsides with a blacker-than-thou throne (even if only in their own minds). 

I think a more relevant question to our so-called black leaders and academicians is     what (other than a supersized ego or potential profits) gets in the way of their unequivocal support of the only person in the race who has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to implementing policies that best serve black people?  To be sure, there may be valid critiques of Obama, but his absence from a forum, his failure to be stereotypically "black" or the fact that he is black are not valid or even useful critiques.

So, forgive me for being just a bit skeptical of those black politicians (who reside in key states - e.g., Brother Al and South Carolina State Senator Robert Ford) whose primary critiques are that Barack just may not be black enough or, even better, that America's just not ready for a black President, so they can gain the political spoils and spotlight press of selling out a brother early and often.

If I had the technological saavy, I would jump off this page with all the passion, hope, rage and volume of Spike Lee's Dap and tell you, brothers and sisters everywhere, please please please WAKE UP!!!!!!!! The best thing Barack can do for us is to win, not show up at yet another black forum simply to prove he's one of us by placating the egos who believe Barack should clear his calendar for their "ultimate black" event! 

There are plenty of other candidates (and so-called leaders) who warrant our scrutiny     and skepticism - not to mention a host of misogynistic lyricists, child molesting musicians, and other unaccountable black-community-made millionaires.  Barack, however, has proven with his excellence, his achievements, his commitments, and his life's work that he warrants our support.

Rather than using his credentials and connections to build his personal wealth, Obama chose to pursue careers like providing job training for residents of poor neighborhoods, directing voter registration drives and fighting for civil rights.  Unlike other candidates in the race, Obama has been consistent in speaking against sending our black babies to murder, and to be murdered by, brown people in the Mesopotamia for the sake of    multinational corporate interests. 

He has successfully forged coalitions with people across racial and political lines to introduce a host of legislation that would, among other things, get guns off our streets, reduce greenhouse emissions, and limit the influence of special interest     lobbyist on Capital Hill.

As for whether Barack's black enough, let us not forget that race exists in America not in our biology, genetic code or even our phenotype,but rather by the institutionalization of the economic and social construct of chattel slavery and its vicious offshoots.  Under that regime, "a dab'll do ya."

Whiteness equates to economic and social privilege and that    privilege fades as it traverses the racial spectrum.  Anyone who has any black ancestry living in this country, whether for a day or for generations, will experience the vestiges of slavery and the consequences of white privilege, making the question of whether one is descended from enslaved Africans or colonized and oppressed Africans irrelevant. 

It is not simply the experience of that oppression, however, that demonstrates     loyalty to our community and that deserves our community's loyalty, but rather recognition of the injustice of it and actions taken to dismantle     it.  Clearly, Obama has met this test!

Let the record of each candidate speak for itself.  But, for the sake of our ancestors and, more importantly, our descendants, do not inadvertently become a pawn of white privilege by demanding that Obama's record be scrutinized more closely and meet a higher standard than his white counterparts simply because some narcissistic crab in a barrel didn't find himself at the top.

Sincerely,   B.L. Jackson  A Sister Who Unequivocably And Without Apology to Hillary, Bill or Al, Supports Barack Obama for President And Invites Other Thoughtful Brothers     and Sisters To Do the Same

distinct loss of cool here
but i agree with her basically

this email appears to be a bit dated but
the questions still pertinent

i had my own objections to that state of black america roadshow
and travis covenant too - what good could it be, they didnt invite me

thats a felony
rdoc

in the woodshed: babajohn killens and doris jean austin, clocking pages and the power of narrative

SUNDAY

hello world

ima news junkie, i spend a lot of time netwandering
i enjoy commentary

i note congressional hearings of prosecuters claim they were fired because they wouldnt do political dirtywork- well what about the ones who did - what do it take to be a loyal bushie, thats the story i want to see

i note how walter reed scandal exemplify enduring incompetency of post katrina bush admin -

they too used to getting away w/murder, havent figured out yet
they cant operate like they used to

but calling bush out seem redundant
if he fool you, shame on you::

"There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."    President G.W.Bush

i dont have time for bush, its springbreak and i plan to zone that novel this week

this weblog takes a godawful amount of my noveltime but
it came along just when i needed it - like it was just made for me

no editors no industry no establishment gatekeepers on rickydoc
i am the master here

any other age i would have had to push a pamphlet on the streetcorner -
or sew them into the lining of old clothes

here im on the cutting edge and i know it
i aint got a lot of readership but i got good readership

and the struggle for literary respect dont really bother me
enuf historical/literary precedent that i can rationalize it

want to say/do something new got to be willing to pay dues
and pathmaker will be one of the attributes i give the conqueror

but feeling a little anxious right along in here
got a week springbreak and anxious to clock some pages

woodshed time
o wouldbe novelist of historical stature and significance

you gon flitch the time off with this and that
or are you gon clock some pages

woodshed is when you got to withdraw from the world and focus, according to
the way i heard it when john coltrane 1st came out to play they blew him off the stage

boy had this woodshed out back and he went into that woodshed and he practiced and practiced until he was the john coltrane and he come back and took the stage and said now play this

in the conquerors name (ida b and davidwalker too)
word by trickmaster - a desperate man

THURSDAY

the hope he aint black syndrome
hello world, so im reading on google news

about this former sailor paul hall who was just arrested for passing info about his ship 2001 to a jihadi website and im thinking i hope hes not black when i read:

"i corresponded with an e-mail site. It wasn't nothin' top secret like these people are saying, you know what I mean? I was just talking about, like the Cole . . . whatever."

might be black, interesting how the reporter dropped the g  - know what im saying - still hoping hes not cause

i am concerned that young black islamics and such like those haitian americans in florida last year will get caught up in this jihadi thing playing at being revolutionaries

like many of the black militants of my day, just caught up in revolutionary romance - make me cringe everytime one get brought up on charges

aint even our war - one of those confusion of allegiance issues
boy call hisself abujihaad

folk need to grow up real quick - apparently he did it before september 11th
- i suspect abujihaad didnt realize just how hot it was gon get

if he is black and i still hope he aint - its unfortunate
the allegiance of black islamics will be an issue eventually

thats gon be a difficult row to hoe

been re reading texaco for my hoodoo lit class
it amaze me how much of my own lick is in these works

everytime i  re read them i am again enlightened
this texaco a work of wonder - of course im taking notes

"in what i tell you, there's the almost-true, the sometimes-true, and the half-true.  That's what telling a life is like, braiding all of that like one plaits the white Indies currant's hair to make a hut.  And the true-true comes out of that braid. . . .you can't be scared of lying if you want to know everything." (pg 122)

damn right im taking notes
i dont steal, i intertext

true that
rdoc

WEDNESDAY

i was just thinking about a comment i made in previous post about
writers belief in the power of narrative and i might play w/that some this week

right now im dragging, got some personals dogging me

squeezing a little work in, strictly defense
do my daily 3 no matter what or i will really feel bad

but that iraq a bummer - 9 americans and 100+ iraqis yesterday - rootdoctor dont see no good options there for nobody - darfur etc still under and its just statusquo all over the world

also i been trying to set up the palf website, its glitched to high heaven and its rickydoc thats slack - again

im tired, im the kind of tired mean shutdown coming
 when the mind and body just quit on me and
i collapse in place

if you fight it you dont get nothing done and no rest either
adequate rest is an critrical component of the high achievement llifestyle

so when shutdown come i accept it:

a lotta sleep, a little tv (nothing heavy), space opera
scifi (dont have to parse it as i read it - escape to the stars)

2, 3 days i be good to go

still more fumes than fuel but beggars cant be
choosy can they

rdoc
hanging in there

and what you might ask does south memphis have to do with this
nothing, i just like the picture, it makes me smile

MONDAY

hello world, rootdoctor a little depressed today

online initiative for new ren writers guild doesnt seem to be working and was wandering about the net when i landed on the harlem writers guild site 

and there is a list of hwg writers there and it never cease to amaze me that i have been excommunicated - in spite of the fact that i was once executive director of the guild - amazing

true i left under pressure, thats when new ren was founded, but still - its actually kinda funny how they have just rewritten guild history to exclude me - writers tend to believe narrative trumps reality any day

interesting they still got doris jean and terry mac, my cronies in crime and co founders of new ren

i really miss doris jean austin, i have her last manuscript, wish i had her papers - need to think about getting that manuscript knocked together and published, maybe hunt down her sister and see if i can get ahold of her papers -but all that just contributed,what really gave me the blues was

i pulled out rest for the weary yesterday and finally got back
in the groove but looking at it was a bummer,

sections i thought were good to go were all of a sudden looking lame

will this damned thing never be done
will i never live up to my responsibility as custodian of john killens legacy

ohwell - all you can do is keep pushing rick, im sure there were times when
babajohn felt weary, buked and scorned, but he kept on pushing and i will too

i remember this dojo sign on nostrand that says:
i will not quit a fight nor die a loser

3 hours a day rick, get you to the promiseland
3 measely hours a day

in the conquerors name (and doris jean and imogunla and safiya too)
rickydoc flowers - hanging in there

.

rickydoc trickmaster the high hoodoo and the baobab society: copping a plea

MONDAY

SUNDAY:on the nature of mission failure

hello world
seems the cherokee voted out their black members - that hurt

consider walter reed soldier care scandal and bush drive to cut vet benefits and  privatize support services

more of bushs ownership society - some things private industry just dont do well - often no profit in doing well

somethings government got to do - like katrina rebuild - or take care of its wounded soldiers - bush talk about supporting the troops but deny them benefits - whiteman speak w/forked tongue

speaking of forked tongues, seen august wilsons gem of the ocean last night and it was an act of wonder

sanctuary work - an issue dear to both our afroliterary hearts
and it put so much on my mind (and soul)

i was telling bonnie some of the ideas it gave me for rest
and she carefully said   'isnt that . . .borrowing?'

i said no, thats stealing - depending on how well i do it
'amateurs borrow, professionals steal'

an august wilson play is a primal experience
like stories around the tribal fire

so i took notes - how could i not, a master was at Work
and on that note let me see if i can get back in my own groove

kinda deep how he finished his 10 play mission and then he died
o i got to get busy - the work is cold and i am tired

no, i am beyond tired, i am weary
a weary from which there is no rest

ticktock ticktock

rdoc
stealing from the very best

SATURDAY

hello world, didnt get no nibbles from de geas, ignored again
what else is new - all you can do is take the shot

one thing blackfolk love to claim is  - i got a little indian in me

even i consider native americans natural alllies and like to romanticize the black seminoles of florida fighting off invaders

however it seem the cherokee having a vote today
on if they should toss out the black members of the tribe

like brother ("this should have been a nonissue") baldridge here
descendant of black cherokee slaves called freedmen

who have been members of the tribe since being freed during
the civilwar and the treaty of 1866 decreed them tribe

went on the trail of tears and everything

about 3000 still with the tribe, more cherokee than black
with just that one magic drop

now some in the tribe sayiing they not really cherokee
tossed them once in 1983 and got overruled by a tribal supreme court - so they trying it again

apparently its all that casino money, the tribes afraid freedman descendants, which potentially number in 100s of thousands, will try to claim tribal largesse, like many whites w/minuscule indian blood have done - the freedmen are an easy target

the cherokee, the choctaw, chickasaw, creeks & the seminole
were called 'the 5 civilized tribes' because among other things they owned slaves

now the tribes deny the existence of its exslaves, say the dawes commission
justify it, say they want to be pure

seminoles tried to dump the black seminoles in 2000 but got overruled by dept of indian affairs
creeks battling their freedmen in court

you get the gist of it, blackfolk under the gun again
you listen to the old rootdoctor now, we gon have to finesse this racial identity thing

i got a plan - what i need from you is to carry yourself with the dignity of true players
and eventually the world will get the message they dealing with a new people -

conduct ourselves as we aspire to be and we shall
this is the essence of conjuration -

destinywork take 3 generations minimal: what we know in our minds, our children will know in their hearts, our grandchildren in their souls - culture move hard culture move slow

but it do move
and we cant afford no slack when it come to the destinywork

thats why leaving the baobab society hanging like to broke my heart
that is not the model of struggle i want to be to them

my word is bond

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
swear fore god i will

rdoc

FRIDAY

hello world, well good news dear and loyal surfers
one - my favorite singer in all the world, randy crawford, got a new album out

her and her boy joe sample say they feeling good - a new randy just what the rootdoctor ordered - i got everything she ever did - hunted them down over the years - and in a couple of cases transferred rare lps to cd - thats my girl

two - the esf baobab society has invited me back for another shot  -  april 26th, dont let me forget now, somebody remind me, april 26th

if i do good i might be asked to do the black history month
banquet again, i think the dinner on the 26th more multiculti

which mean i cant do my spiritual leader of the blackworld thing and need to come with my we are the world approach

what made that other one so special is that i could speak
as spiritual leader of the blackworld and those opps are rare

usually my audiences mixed and so i come from
my healer thing - my wash all your troubles away thing

my we the world, the future belongs to you thing
i do both equally well, i serve both families as appropriate to the moment

but black history month thats when i get a chance to do whats
dear to my heart - save the race

ima do it so well on the 26th they ask me back for black history month next year maybe
and ima see if i can do some service

i used to open the annual caribbean students show w/a libation/witchdoctor act
but that leadership group graduated and that little gig died out

i enjoyed that and was disappointed when they stopped calling on me

and i realize the problem was that i was doing the show but i wasnt doing the service
i was a fake shaman

since that convocation ive had something like that w/baobab society
but i missed the show, now i got to do the service

my own slack has forced me to the real, aint that the nature of slack

okay quick commentary and im outta here, whats happening in somalia
my understanding? is that troops from puntland heading south

as you may know, puntland and somaliland are autonomous and relatively
wellrun regions of somalia that have stayed clear of the chaos

if puntland is aligning itself with the government thats a very interesting move
gotta put my finger on that pulse

last day of admissions process, gon be wonderful getting that energy freed up
be able to Work again - been a rough two weeks my friend

but i got randy, freedom, still cool w/the baobab society and puntland in the fray
this just might be a good day

all my love
rdoc

WEDNESDAY

hello world, im coasting
starting to recover from missing that gig

that will always be one of my liferegrets
but what can you do but keep on stepping

finally caught up with the schoolhouse and can breath again
get a little Work done

did a strategic distribution of de geas, got to divorce myself from any response, or even worse and more likely lack thereof

im just trying to recover the fumble, do what i said id do
though it do embarrass me when i get to huffing and puffing

some quick commentary and im out of here
still feeling a little battered

i see where there been a lot of controversy over word nigger lately - pure d hate it myself

old delta boy like me who lived through the pre civilrights south - who remember little dittys like: niggers and flies i do despise, the more i see niggers the more i love flies

call me nigger at your peril - nigga niggas niggaz niggist - whatever

but the efforts to legislatively ban the n word seem misguided - what you gon do, throw kids in jail if they insist on using it

they will use it just to show us they can - like they do now

got to be another way of breaking them of that one
they swear when you spell it nigga or niggaz its new and okay and even endearing

according to the nigga motorcycle repair kit the spelling aint that new after all
my generation will fight this one till our dying breath

might be a lost cause maybe not - guy who built the niggaspace networking site for young blackfolk had to do a lot of explaining on his homepage:

This site is in no way meant to be racist.  A common endearing term used by many black people is, "nigga" not to be confused with a different and offensive term, "nigger".

The word, "nigga" is in rap songs, daily conversations, on TV, etc. yet the word still has so much mixed emotions attached. One of my intentions is for this word to no longer have such mixed emotions. Part of my intention for this site is for the word nigga to embody images of brotherhood, and fraternity rather than images of ignorance and hate.

How great would it be, if the mixed emotions that this word carries along with it, were stripped down to something more positive? Only positive.  Of course there are going to be two sides to this, but just know that intentions are noble. So create an account, and start the revolution!     Tyrone

the revolution - anytime you got to do that much explanation you know you wrong
when i googled it for the link some blog said something along the lines of

"a space where niggers can call each other niggers while the world watches - kinda like tapdancing with typing"   
apologies to the tapdancers but you gotta admit that was cute

by the way, that little ditty about niggers and flies was a black thing, not white - cant legislate something like that out of existence, wish it was that easy

we got to maintain our ground on it

and in the same way its become tacky for whitefolk to use it we got to keep insisting its just as tacky for blackfolk to use it and hope it dies the same death - win or lose we fight the good fight

one of those cultural conflicts i been talking about
accentuating the positive, eliminating the negative, hanging on to the in between

patience children
culture move hard culture move slow

on that note ima try to get some novelwork done this weekend
been a couple of weeks no noveltime now  - that will never do

images from the jim crow museum of racist memorabilia

i got a couple of nice memorabilia pieces myself, got a nice picaninny
in overalls, a mammy ashtray and a grinning banjo player  -

i consider them sacredworks - go figure

in the conquerors name
rdoc

MONDAY

hello world, i cant believe i missed that gig
i was so looking forward to it

the esf students done right by me and i left them hanging
god help me i left them hanging

i live for that tribal relationship with black students
guide and guardian - its more than a job its a mission

folk from my generation know what im talking about
a luta continua

gotta go by the next baobab meeting and apologize
hope they give me another shot

try to use this hammer to be stronger, otherwise it just feels bad
got to try to finesse it, turn it into power

- be more serious about what i do
- develop true relationship w/boabab society if i can
- get that piece into the idea marketplace

then i will feel better about it all, even if piece is ignored as they generally are
i got to assume that everytime i get my vision out there it speaks to a chosen few

on another note, i was reading this nyt article this morning
about the future of the nation of islam after farrakhan

it made a couple of comments reflecting my own reservations
about black islam in the united states

im conflicted about islam in the afroam community
i have to accept it, my own many roads to timbuktu political philosophy demands it

and some of my best friends are afroam islamics,
they tend to carry themselves w/a dignity and purpose that i admire

but i consider islam just as imperial as i do christanity

black folk who go islamic expected to make themselves over into little quasi arabs (maybe rename themselves after muhammad ali, one of the worst slavetraders to ever depopulate the sudan)

in america as in africa and the sudan and elsewhere
those of us follow an african way of god in competition for the souls of blackfolk

with the proselytizing and often coercive religions of the desert

the african way of god been losing out for centuries, aint been organized
or as illuminated and/or ruthless as islam and christanity - like its been stuck in a historical rut

de rootdoctor been trying to prod the african way of god
make it a contender

same way i dont submit to christanity and its biblic worldview
i dont submit to islam and its arabic worldview which presuppose

black adaptation to its precepts, culture, language and vision
but then i dont submit to yoruba fon akan or congo either

of them all i am more comfortable w/african ways of god
hoodoo is a proud member of the afrospiritual family but

i dont like other folk lording it over african americans - period
white, african, arab, latino, asian, nativeamerican, whatever - not in the conquerors house

i believe your spiritual system should reflect your particular history
your particular worldview, mythology, culture and destiny

only in that way do you and yours grow truly strong
thats why ima hoodooman, a practitioner of the african american indigenous spiritual system

thats why im so determined to make hoodoo a strong and illuminated system and not
just a cultural curiosity - a system you can believe in dear and loyal surfer

one in which you can grow strong

i believe the judgement of a systems power is in the lives of its believers
are they a strong people, a beautiful people, contributing gracenotes to the worldspirit

i will work with all these other systems, christanity, islam, yoruba, fon, wicca, etc
and whatever else blackfolk decide they want to be, buddhist, hindu, whatever

hoodoo aint never had no problem working with folk: any method anytime
(the hoodoo modality is to absorb contenders - just like we got to do)

but the high hoodoo dont really approve of blackfolk remaking themselves to fit the visions
of other folks cultures, i believe we should put our energies into empowering our own

nyt article about the future of the nation of islam after farrakhan raised
some of those issues - im just gon quote the passage

“They still haven’t reached the point where there is no color,” said Yassir Chadly, an imam based in Oakland, who immigrated from Morocco 30 years ago. “Islam is universal; it can’t be cut into little sections.”    (rdoc note: tell that to the muslims of darfur why dont you)

Such statements make followers of the Nation bristle.

“We are not imitators of Arab culture; that would put us in an inferior position and make them our superiors,” said Muhammad Muhammad, a 40-year-old adherent from Oklahoma City.

i dont mind blackfolk identifying w/other systems, thats very 21st century
but within that, black allegiance got to be paramount in my world

islams submission thing dont leave a lot of room for other allegiances

the name islam mean submission or something like that
and as you know the conqueror do not bow

on a more personal note
ima go by the multiculti office and cop a plea, all i can do

had a nice relatonship with the baobab society
they believed in me and i left them hanging

that hurts, you have no idea how much that hurts
folk believe in me i cant leave them hanging

need to find out when they have their meetings
go by and cop a plea - all i can do

try to redeem myself , offer to do some service
they aint gon want to hear it

not looking forward to abasing myself
but on this one i will bow

repeatedly

rdoc