rootwork the rootsblog: a cyberhoodoo webspace

the guardian at the gate and a 20 point plan to destroy black new orleans

i dont generally post entire articles but every once in awhile
i make an exception, going to post this article on the
ethnic cleansing of new orleans

folk jumped on nagin for his chocolate city comment
and its unfortunate that he brought god into it and all
because the issue he was raising is valid

bringing god into it just confused it and provided our
enemies a way to ignore the issues & attack him on an easy kill

nagin so questionable at this point that landrieu might have more black
support in upcoming election -  assuming there will be a black electorate

because clearly there is a dynamic in place excluding
blackfolk from the reconstituted new orleans

and as a delta conjureman that irks me
the delta is my holyground and my tradition was
born and bred there and those with vision see
the writing on the wall

ima memphis boy, memphis do or die and if the
forces of evil were trying to de black memphis and
destroy memphis' uniquely black culture i would
be up in arms - as it is i can only hope new orleans
black folk are going to really and effectively resist this

we got to turn this trick

but i know some of them personally and many of
them arent returning, they either cant, wont or just
so shell shocked they still in a strange kind of limbo

i been playing a lot of old new orleans songs
like do you know what it means to miss new orleans

and sometimes it makes me cry

o god how can they do that to
one of the afrospiritual centers of the world
how can we let them

memphis is at the mouth of the delta, its interface with the rest of america
and high on the bluff its been impervious to floods and storms
considers itself the guardian at the gate

as do i in my highjohn the conqueror manifestation
guardian at the gate and defender of the faith

im concerned that our sister city is going down
and im fighting mad - i dont know what but by god
i got to make a move

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

a site called new american media is where i found it, originally from San Francisco Bayview (both were interesting activist news sources)

A 20-Point Plan to Destroy Black New Orleans
Commentary//Analysis,  Robert D. Bullard, Feb 01, 2006

As reconstruction and rebuilding move forward in New Orleans and the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coast region, it is clear that the lethargic and inept emergency response after Hurricane Katrina was a disaster that overshadowed the deadly storm itself. Yet, there is a "second disaster" in the making - driven by racism, classism, elitism, paternalism and old-fashioned greed.

The following "Twenty-Point Plan to Destroy Black New Orleans" is based on trends and observations made over the past three months. Hopefully, the good people of New Orleans, Louisiana, the Gulf Coast and the United States will not allow this plan to go forward - and instead adopt a principled plan and approach to rebuilding and bringing back New Orleans that is respectful of all of its citizens.

1. Selectively hand out FEMA grants.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is being consistent in the slow response in getting aid to Katrina survivors. FEMA's grant assistance program favors middle-income households. Make it difficult for low-income and Black Katrina survivors to access government assistance. Direct the bulk of the grant assistance to middle-income white storm victims. The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and several other legal groups have sued FEMA over its response and handling of aid to storm victims. FEMA has referred more than 2 million people, many of them with low incomes, to the Small Business Administration to get the loans.

2. Systematically deny the poor and Blacks SBA loans.

Screen out poor and deny Black households disaster loans. The New York Times editorial summed up this problem: "The Poor Need Not Apply." The Small Business Administration has processed only a third of the 276,000 home loan applications it has received. However, the SBA has rejected 82 percent of the applications it received, a higher percentage than in most previous disasters. Well-off neighborhoods like Lakeview have received 47 percent of the loan approvals, while poverty-stricken neighborhoods have gotten 7 percent. Middle-class Black neighborhoods in the eastern part of the city have lower loan rates.

3. Award insurance claims using the "wind or water" trap.

Because of the enormity of the damage in the wake of Katrina, insurance companies will categorize a lot of legitimate wind claims as flood- or water-related. The "wind or water" problem will hit Black storm victims hardest because they are likely to have their insurance with small companies - since the major firms "redlined" many Black neighborhoods. Most rebuilding funds after disasters come from private insurance - not the government.

4. Redline Black insurance policyholders.

Numerous studies show that African Americans are more likely than whites to receive insufficient insurance settlement amounts. Insurance firms target Black policyholders for low and inadequate insurance settlements based on majority Black zip codes to subsidize fair settlements made to white policyholders. If Black homeowners and business owners expect to recover from Katrina, then they must receive full and just insurance settlements. FEMA and the SBA cannot be counted on to rebuild Black communities.

5. Use "green building" and flood-proofing codes to restrict redevelopment.

Requiring rebuilding plans to conform to "green building" materials and new flood-proofing codes can price many low- and moderate-income homeowners and small business owners out of the market. This will hit Black homeowners and Black business owners especially hard since they generally have lower incomes and lower wealth.

6. Apply discriminatory environmental clean-up standards.

Failure to apply uniform clean-up standards can kill off Black neighborhoods. Use of full-scale cleanup of white neighborhoods to residential standards, while allowing no cleanup or partial cleanup - industrial standards - of Black residential neighborhoods. Failure to clean up Black residential areas can act as a disincentive for redevelopment. It could also make people sick. Use the argument that Black neighborhoods were already highly polluted with background contamination, or "hot spots," exceeding EPA safe levels pre-Katrina and thus need not be cleaned to more rigorous residential standards.

7. Sacrifice "low-lying" Black neighborhoods in the name of saving the wetlands and environmental restoration.

Allow Black neighborhoods like the Lower Ninth Ward and New Orleans East to be "yielded back to the swamp" while allowing similar low-lying white areas to be rebuilt and redeveloped. This is a form of "ethnic cleansing" that was not possible before Katrina. Instead of emphasizing equitable rebuilding, uniform clean-up standards, equal protection and environmental justice for African American communities, public officials should send mixed signals for rebuilding vulnerable "low-lying" Black neighborhoods.

8. Promote a smaller, more upscale and "whiter" New Orleans.

Concentrating on getting less-damaged neighborhoods up and running could translate into a smaller, more upscale and whiter New Orleans and a dramatically down-sized Black community. Clearly, shrinking New Orleans neighborhoods disproportionately shrinks Black votes, Black political power and Black wealth.

9. Revise land use and zoning ordinances to exclude.

Katrina can be used to change land use and zoning codes to "zone against" undesirable land uses that were not politically possible before the storm. Also, "expulsive" zoning can be used to push out certain land uses and certain people.

10. Phased rebuilding and restoration scheme that concentrates on the "high ground."

New Orleans officials are being advised to concentrate rebuilding on the areas that remained high and dry after Katrina. These areas are disproportionately white and affluent. This scenario builds on pre-existing inequities and "white privilege" and ensures future inequities and "white privilege." By the time rebuilding gets around to Black "low-lying" areas, there are not likely to be any rebuilding funds left. This is the "oops, we are out of funds" scenario.

11. Apply eminent domain as a Black land grab.

Give Katrina evacuees one year to return before the city is allowed to legally "take" their property through eminent domain. Clearly, it will take much longer than a year for most New Orleanians to return home. This proposal could turn into a giant land grab of Black property and loss of Black wealth they have invested in their homes and businesses.

12. No financial assistance for evacuees to return.

Thousands of Katrina evacuees were shipped to more than three dozen states with no provisions for return - equivalent to a "one-way" ticket. Many Katrina evacuees are running short of funds. No money translates into no return to their homes and neighborhoods. Promote the "right to return" without committing adequate resources to assist evacuees to return.

13. Keep evacuees away from New Orleans jobs.

The nation's unemployment rate was 5 percent in November 2005. The November 2005 jobless rate for Katrina returnees was 12.5 percent, while 27.8 percent of evacuees living elsewhere were unemployed. However, the Black jobless rate was 47 percent in November compared with 13 percent for whites who have not gone back.

Katrina evacuees who have made it back to their home region have much lower levels of joblessness. This is especially important for African Americans whose joblessness rate fell over 30 percentage points for returnees. The problem is that the vast majority of Black Katrina evacuees have not returned to their home region. Only 21 percent of Black evacuees have returned compared with 48 percent of whites.

14. Fail to enforce fair housing laws.

Allow housing discrimination against Blacks to run rampant. Katrina created a housing shortage and opened a floodgate of discrimination against Black homeowners and renters. In December 2005, the National Fair Housing Alliance found high rates of housing discrimination against African-Americans displaced by Hurricane Katrina. In 66 percent of the tests conducted by the NFHA, 43 of 65 instances, whites were favored over African-Americans.

15. No commitment to rebuild and replace low-income public housing.

Shortly after Katrina struck, even the secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development spoke of not rebuilding all of the public housing lost during the storm. The HUD secretary's statement is a powerful signal to New Orleans' poor that public housing may not be around for them to return to.

16. Downplay the Black cultural heritage of New Orleans.

Promote rebuilding and the vision of a "new" New Orleans as if the rich Black culture did not matter or act as if it can be replaced or replicated in a "theme park" type redevelopment scenario. Developers should capture and market the "Black essence" of New Orleans without including Black people.

17. Treatment of mixed-income housing as superior to all-Black neighborhoods.

First, there is nothing inherently inferior about an "all-Black" neighborhood - or an all-Black anything for that matter. Black New Orleanians who chose to live in neighborhoods that happened to be all-Black - whites have always had the right to move in or move out of these neighborhoods - should not be forced to have their neighborhoods rebuilt as "integrated" or "multicultural" neighborhoods. Also, "mixed-income" housing, to many Blacks, conjures up the idea of 10 percent of the fair market housing units set aside for them. Many Blacks are battle-weary of competing for that 10 percent. New Orleans was 68 percent Black before Katrina - and most Black folks were comfortable with that.

18. Allow "oversight" (overseer) board to manage Katrina funds that flow to New Orleans.

Take away "home rule," since the billions of Katrina redevelopment dollars that will flow to New Orleans is too much money for a majority Black city council and a Black mayor to oversee or manage. More important, the oversight board will need to represent "big-money" interests - real estate, developers, banking, insurance, hotels, law firms, tourist industry etc. - well beyond the purview of a democratically elected city government to ensure that the vision of the "new" New Orleans, "smaller and more upscale," gets implemented.

19. Delay rebuilding and construction of New Orleans schools.

The longer the New Orleans schools stay closed, the longer the families with children will stay away. Schools are a major predictor of racial polarization. Before Katrina, over 125,000 New Orleans children were attending schools in the city. Blacks made up 93 percent of New Orleans schools. Evacuated children are enrolled in school districts from Arizona to Pennsylvania. Three months after the storm, only one of the New Orleans' 116 schools was open.

20. Hold elections without appropriate Voting Rights Act safeguards.

Almost 300,000 registered voters left New Orleans after Katrina. The powerful storm damaged or destroyed 300 of the 442 polling places. Holding city elections pose major challenges regarding registration, absentee ballots, city workers, polling places and identification for displaced New Orleanians. Identification is required at the polls, and returning residents may not have access to traditional identification papers - birth certificates, drivers' licenses etc. - destroyed by the hurricane. More than three months after Katrina struck, 80 percent of New Orleans voters have not made their way back to the city, including most African Americans, who comprised a two-thirds majority of the population before the storm.

Most of the estimated 60,000 to 100,000 New Orleans residents who have made it back are white and middle class, changing the racial and political complexion of the city. Holding elections while the vast majority of New Orleans voters are displaced outside of their home district and even their home state is unprecedented in the history of the United States, but it also raises racial justice and human rights questions.

Robert D. Bullard is the director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University.

tavis smiley, a call for vision and the covenant with black america:i will not be left out of this conversation

WEDNESDAY

the covenant with black america

tavis smiley and third world press
putting out a book scheduled february 22nd
the covenant with black america

this book will address 10 most pressing issues facing black america  (sound familiar?): comes from smileys annual state of the black union symposium

smiley say "this book is in a sense a love letter from black america to black america to educate ourselves on the issues we all know exist in our communities and then to challenge and hold each other accountable to fix them. moreover, the covenant is our document of accountability for the entire body politic post-hurricane katrina and in advance of the 2006 and 2008 national elections."

apparently after cspan showing of 2005 symposiusm folk were asked to send suggestions for black agenda, a committee sorted through suggestions and developed covenant

the book is scheduled for publication february 22nd  on february 25th there will be a mass reading and discussion in conjunction w/smileys 7th annual state of the black union to be held in houston, after which there will be a 7 city tour, (including memphis on march 7th, maybe i can make that)

"each chapter outlines key issues, provides resources and action plans for what individuals, public policymakers and corporate citizens can do to move the african american community forward socially, politically and economically"

also includes "information on how individuals and households can make changes that will immediately improve their circumstances in specific areas, such as health, education, crime reduction, financial well being and personal security."

well now im very impressed with this effort. sound like folk trying to come up with that agenda for the 21st century that we all know to be necessary

only problem with it of course is that they didnt invite me
or my opinions

so i will have to riff off what theyve done
to address the strategic issue im most concerned with
and that of course would be vision

cant talk agenda without talking vision
am i the only one who understands this

we have no vision of who we are and where we going
what kind of people do we want our generations to be
and i believe that without vision the people will perish
(is that my line or have i seen that somewhere before)

their 10 issues are as follows

- education
- criminal justice system
- police accountability
- healthcare and well being
- economic development and employment
- housing and community development
- participation in the democratic process
- information technology
- rural communities
- environmental justice

oikay what im sure theyre doing is not so much giving final answers
as opening dialogues on answers

so im going to participate to the full extent of rootsblogs ability to
squeeze into this dialogue cause this seem to be the most sophisticated
effort to date to set up a black agenda
and rickydoc flowers is not going to be left out of this conversation

first off we could have put justice system and cops together, thats one issue
and we could have had something in there to deal w/culture

self definition, who we are, what is our role in the evolving multicultural reality
the struggle to define ourselves and maintain that self definition in the face of ongoing hostility

could have been something in there about the struggle itself, the movement
the struggle for empowerment in the 21st century - how does it strand, whats our
strategic posture

this is not the first time that black influentials have come together and set agendas
there were equally hopeful convention movements in the 1870s, 1930s and the gary convention of 1971
weve done this before and they have all come to naught in terms of lasting and significant change
we gon see if rickydoc can make a difference this time

listen o ye firstborn to the geas of rickydoc and i will give you a mission  greater than your adversity - i will give you the stars   (sorry, i take that back, yall aint ready for all that just yet, need better preparation of the ground before i plant that seed)

the metaquestion is what is our vision of who we are and where we are going
and how do we promote that vision so that a substantial percentage of black folk
sign on to it - a vision great enough to encompass all our strategies and divisions

until we have it its just tactical chaos
and much to easy to play us against the other

since they didnt deal with it i will
and try to use the energy generated by their efforts to promote my 21st century strategies of empowerment - have my little say so

i will appoint myself, the resident expert on vision
soon as i get a copy and see the format and what their little babysteps entail
i will write the 11th chapter - vision

who are we, what future do we see

a vision of who we are
and a strategy of shaping our generations accordingly
thats what i do, nobody does it better

one of the main problems with developing a strategy for black america
is getting the word out and getting a substantial percentage ofthe
black population to sign up on it

whiich is what impresses with about this black covenant effort
this is an ideologically sophisticated rollout, big guns, nice website, etc etc
this just might make a difference, dreamer that i am i hope so

my estimation of tavis smiley has gone up a substantial notch
got a little player in him

ima reach out
but i aint gon be no supplicant, you know i dont play that
i got to make them come to me

see if i can get my hands on an early copy so i can hit the ground running
timing is everything when you working the roots & setting up the board of destiny

they slacking on the longgame, slacking on the destinywork
ima fix that - ima do the 11th chapter of this text - vision

and ima do it so strong that they cant ignore it
ima do it so good that i become part of the moment

i am not going to be left out of this conversation

i whine so much about not getting no respect that
sometime folk think im having a pity party but such is not the case

i aspire to the prophetic and i expect that to be a hardrow to hoe
to be dismissed and disregarded comes with that territory
but that dont stop me from running my game, if anything it feeds me

ill show you too

in pointing out disrespect i hope to rectify it
while getting my strategic vision into the dialogue whenever and however i can

i want this covenant effort to be successful
and whether they know it or not, im the best destinyplayer we got
i will not be left out of this conversation

i am rickydoc trickmaster
wouldbe prophet of the hoodoo way

and i know a crossroads when i see one

as you know my hoodoo mantra is:
awaken the sleeper  protect the weak guide the strong

rickydoc bout to do some guiding up in here

kwani? kommentary: sls kenya: rastaman freeman: keeping the faith

hello world

just got my last kwani - sls kenya post ate
pissed me off when you paying
the kind of bob im paying for computer time

ima do a quick version and im outta here
only one set of computers in town and thats at the postoffice
100 bob a card

on lamu, island in the indian ocean off kenya
its like ive gone back in time about 2 centuries

little islamic coasttown, tight little mazed streets
people hanging out on their roofs and balconies to
catch the sea breeze you dont catch in the mazes below

im living separate from everybody else on the roof
of somebodys house, didnt realize it till i came down
stairs and this guy was brushing his teeth in the courtyard below

we stood there staring at each other in still life surprise
before we nodded good morning and went on about our business . .

my carnivore reading went well
working with this band called sent-a-lain
and we took the roof off the sucker

jumped off the stage (havent done that in years - its a wonder
my trick knee didnt give out on me)
and went out amongst the audience using my longtailed
rattle to remove conditions and all

started dancing and prancing behind the bandwork
doing my shamans dance

and i been doing this thing lately when i do shine where i use
when the shark trying to get shine to stop swimming to
comment on politics of the day

had the shark offer shine some personalized social security accounts
some fema trailers and some ocean front propety down in cuba

shark said dont pay no attention to all those reports about torture shine
you know i wouldnt do that shine, you know i wouldnt hurt you shine

then i commence to commenting on kenyan politics, scandals i been reading about
the shark offer shine a big mess of tribal patronage in the expanded cabinet
offered him some police jobs (big bribery thing) and his your own breathalyzer shine,
your own bank account (police corruption again)

oh i was on a roll

then i preached and prophesized my firstborn mythwork (it was east africa afterall)
and spoke truth to the people (at least my truth)

instead of my customary general audience act w/its healing theme
i did my hoodoo prophet act which i only do when i got a downhome audience
deeprooted in the tradition

and sometime you do your act and the magic dont come down
this time the magic came down, in large part because of sentalein
we didnt even rehearse or nothing - but they took me to higherground

they were fronted by this incredible blind guitarist michel onigaro
my boy oneko on drums and two other brothers
ima hit with them again - swear by all thats holy i am

and i threw divination while i was hitting the highpoints like
stand up you mighty race and
i have had visions, ive seen the promised land

if you would reclaim your legacy as gods holy instrument
you must stand on higherground

i been pondering public divination ever since i read a book
on the prophets of east africa that said the difference between a diviner
in these cultures and a diviner/prophet was that the diviners readings
were private readings for personal issues

while the diviner/prophets readings
were also public readings concerning tribal issues
and as you may or may not know, i aspire to the prophetic

was at one point inspired to give binya one of the
highjohn roots from my divination pouch

told them what highjohn means to us
the hopebringer, the burdenbearer, the battlefighter, the jackpot winner
an ultimate force, a mighty power

said he might be in mississippi when the lash falls on a slave in the sudan
but before the blood is dry on the back the conqueror is there
whispering hold on - our day is coming

told them the old folk say the conqueror got blackfolk out of slavery
by tricking old massa - that afterwards the soul of the conqueror went into
the highjohn root - to return whenever  blackfolk in need

even the space contributed, i wont even try to describe the carnivore
but i got posters, kwani reading featuring yours truly - a good time was had by all

so then we came to lamu, a airkenya commuter flight and a dhow
and its like we are in another world

and im living on somebodys roof with very archaic facilities, its deep
and at night everybody is on roofs and balconies catching those sea breezes
its like the rooftops of lamu are another city on top of the one below

i slept on the roof last night, theres a bed out there with a mosquito net
this roof cat has adopted me and we sat there watching our world
and stars like you wouldnt believe

my little group back in naroibi decided to call themselves
the page

i dont know what got into me making all those commitments
but ima try to get them through - feel like they depending on me
i made a lot of promises - babajohn o killens kind of promises

tripping me out that im the only african american writer again
specially since its such a special moment with this kwani thing

and there is a hunger for that connection
both among the young kenyan writers and
regular folk - at least here on lamu

since i been here folk calling out to me
when they see me walking down the street
cause of my dreads mostly - burning spear they call me

this morning i was talking to this brother running solidarity mack
(he was trying to sell me something)
but after the deal he was still full of solidarity and talking about how
african americans are 'fighting for all of us'

he said, there you are strong, here we are still weak, you are fighting for us all

and i kept trying to tell him that we struggling there too, and i wouldnt exactly call us strong
but he was insistent, no you are strong and you are fighting for us all

and all his buddies came up pleased to see an african american brother touristing
talking about how they have to maintain and how inspired they are by our struggle
though i think they would have been even more inspired if i had been from kingston
cause it was the dreads more than anything else that spoke to them

burning spear is obviously iconic with them cause when i walk down the street
folk point me out and whisper burning spear burning spear

its a friendly town
tight little town with folk all up in your space like that i guess they have to be
interesting dynamic w/the african/islamic - tourist/cosmopolite character

folk still wary but they smile, nod greetings, try to be helpful
whereas in nairobi folk got that urban armor on
look at you with that sharp urban wariness or like you fresh meat

the blackfolk of lamu obviously feeling a little pressured
cause they got that blackworld solidarity thing happening

aint nothing like it - resonates in my africanamerican soul
when blackfolk on the twisty little streets of lamu call out
to me as i walk by - smile when they see me

give me that little nod all blackfolk understand

like this young guy keep riding by on one of those lamu donkeys
when he see me he raise he fist and yell rastaman freeman

somewhat embarassed
i fist him back and go respect respect

and i hear him yelling at my back
rastaman freeman

i try my brother
i try
             
my love to you all

may the gods be good to us all
in the coming year

rickydoc flowers

wouldbe prophet of
the hoodoo way

awaken the sleeper
protect the weak
guide the strong

kwani? kommentary:sls kenya: working at the crossroads

tropichello world
sorry i been tardy with my postings

been running hard
got so much to say one wonders where to start

okay, kwani?

last time i was here they were just putting it together
didnt have the first issue out, it was still a dream

this time, kwani? has become a powerful and sometimes controversial force
kwani? 3 just came out, and its extraordinary what theyve done
all sorts of cutting edge fiction and nonfiction

including works by folk like billy khora that use all kinds
of fictional and film techniques in journalism and you have
to read it to really understand the delightful thing hes done

and there are dazzling literary moments all thru the work

now for the juicy parts - its has become such a powerful force
in kenyan literature that folks are taking potshots at it and
binyavanga, the editor and nurturer of the movement it represents

binyavanga is a most interesting brother, im very biased in his favor
so dont expect me to be objective

he reminds me of myself during the new ren days
but is is far more powerful a force than i ever was
i envy him his power - and the future in front of him

a big man, big presence, you can tell when hes in the room
a fierce artistic intellect whose interests and conversations
will leap from the role of ngugi in kenyan literature to parasites in the sudan
to the influence of crises on african nationalism to the integrity of artistic spaces and all about the conceptual universe and all fiercely done

his commitment of nurturing a kenyan literary infrastructure is unassailable
though obviously folk are doing it

he and tony mochama got into a big to do over dinner the other evening
over a debate thats been going on in the literary section of local newspaper, the standard
where somebody (i will have to get the name from my tapes) attacked kwani?
and binyavanga

tony is an editor of the page and binya was attacking the page
as debasing the kenyan literary conversation

his arguments as always were pristine in their quality
but the intensity of the attack showed the depths of the hurt he was feeling

and tony was squirming cause he could feel the fire of binyas hurt
but tony is an irrepressible wildman at heart, one of those mad trickster types
whose wild flights of eccentricity contain moments of mad brilliance
and they mostly ace boon coons getting a little exercise

apparently some folk had called binya the 'high priest of kwani culture'
(sometimes phrased 'high priest of the kwani cult') and the table was laughing at him
calling him pope binya the 1st and he was spouting fire

the table was full of young kenyan literary talent, binya and tony, paraselo and june
and billy and others and the conversation was fiercely and exhilaratingly literary

and they are fiercer than literary dialogues in the states
cause they feel more is at stake,
if they fail they feel that literature will die again in kenya

apparently after ngugi there was a big lull in literary energy
and ngugi is still this huge force in kenyan literature and everything seems to be
ag and bg, before ngugi and after ngugi and everything is judged by its relation to ngugi

now that theyve generated all this literary energy and getting play from the world for it
(they won the caine prize for african literature twice in a row, first binya, then yvonne)

met this brother joshua who has a dream of a theatre for the deaf
told him i would try to publicize it for him (promises promises)
it was such a sincere little dream, i did an interview of him that i will podcast

it was my conversation w/joshua that made me conscious of why
i was really here, moved me out of literary tourist mode into observer/recorder mode

and then their relationship with summer literary seminars - kenya has really played out well for them and sls
sls is the work of mikhail iossel
mikhail is a russian writer who set up the summer literary seminars in russia every summer

hes married to a kenyan, vika, and travels here often, decided he would try to
set one up in kenya

he just happened to meet binya in a bar, the first time they were just interacting
that was in 2002, he asked some african american writers to be faculty and had
some students and the very week we were supposed to come to mombasa
it got bombed and all the writers bailed but me - no way i wasnt going to africa

my first time too, me and bonnie, we had a wonderful time
our first introduction to the kwani crew, the magazine was still just a dream then
they were working on the 1st issue

wasnt but a few students, all american and after daily workshops
we spent a lot of time touristing kenya - animal parks, navisha, riftvalley, etc
which was cool, and we were in the middle of downtown nairobi which was intense
spent last 3 or 4 days on beaches of mombasa which was also cool after intensity of nairobi

but it was a radically different experience this time
this time there were only 3 american students and this time kwani had become a force and
there were something like 70 kenyan writers involved and
the days were filled with panel discussions/workshops about kenyan literature and issues
it was an incredible experience

interesting the alliance between kwani and sls
mikhail has been a vehicle of international exposure for binya and kwani
and binya/kwani have provided an incalculable literary substance
to mikhails dream of a sls kenyan component

the kwani movement is a serious literary movement whose influence
will be incalculable as only powerful literary movements can be
and mikhail likes being part of literary energy - he feeds off it

what has made this time so special is interacting with the young literary aspirants
they are very hungry for connections that can help them break into the industry
into the global literary family

and a couple of them have come at me hard
help me with my work
what can you do for me
can you help me get published

help me master the word
or performance

some of the ones ive met whove come at me so hard ima take them under my wing

like christopher, wouldbe novelist whose idea of african american lit stops at richard wright
i got to bring him up to date

muki garang, performance poet, from the southern sudan, calling for revolution in the southern sudan, fan of sekou and def poetry jam, jamming the stage

binta, softspoken would be novelist, wondering how to get into a masters in writing, im supposed to send her info on mfa programs, while i work with her on her stories so shes ready for primetime when we send her on the application process

another softspoken young sister (found out later her name is lucy) that i didnt realize was coming at me for help because she was so self effacing about it, once i realized that the men and the women came at me differently, the young brothers would come forthright, im such a such, i do such and such, can you help me, whereas the young sisters are much shyer and self effacing and ask for help in a more indirect manner that i didnt recognize at first and found myself not giving them as much attention but im clear now

when she did performance poetry at paa ya paa is when i got my understanding

and of course the mighty and incomperable grandmaster

okay this is going on and on
ima go through and edit it down

i know other folk who have tried to give chronicles of literary activities and
they are almost inevitably windy
everything thats important to me aint in important to you

got a lot more i want to say

want to speak on my fellow faculty, tom and mike and fionna and john, really interesting folk

and doreen baingana, earlier i put doreen w/the kenyan writers, noticed it and decided to leave her there cause i figure uganda is kinda enuf and her affinity w/the kenyan literary experience is stronger even than the africanamerican affinity i so prize but actually she is from uganda (based in dc) and tropical fish, her first book of shorts, won the awp award, im really looking forward to reading them

and there is red sarah the poet, cool vicki and pat - there is a certain bonding that happens at these things, folk become family of sorts

and i need to speak on being the only african american writer involved
in something that should intrigue african american writers

folk missing out on an interesting experience and i feel honored to be
the observer on this one

got to tell you about my boy oneko, a kindred spirit
dreadlocked drummerman, and michel onigaro, blind guitar player

we both supposed to perform at this big nightclub tuesday
i asked them if they would hit with me on one of my pieces

(note: i expected a little acoustic drum thing happening, turned
out they were a real band,sent-a-lain, they took me to higher ground)

my griotic performances have been going on real big here
they like that traditional storyteller thing in my work

i been inquiring about the local highgods so i know whose territory this is
who to call on tuesday,  ngai of the kikuyu, nayasi of the luo, nkai of the massi
nyasaye of the luo,  nyasa of the kissi, mungu of the coastal tribes

and ima try something new on them, my piece that i been working on, de geas of rickydoc
i got this point where ima stop, layout my divination circle and divine right there and then
we will see if i lose my nerve or otherwise blow it, but right now thats what im feeling

specially where i expect oneko and michael to be taking me

okay, one more point and im out of here

went to this artists colony paa ya paa yesterday
met the founders, two most wonderful folk

first the colony itself is an extraordinary nature compound

the owner is this dignified elder brother, who came in macking
your excellency he addressed me, surely you would rather be outside (in the parklike areas)

the bus driver had parked in it and he came out going
this bus is not part of nature, it must be moved

he was fascinating everybody, i said hes a mack,
and had to explain what a mack was
a master of the word i told them

im the last bushman in kenya he said mischievously
turns out his wife is american, sister, philla, from chicago
one of those classic elder artistic black women
and just as gracious as she could be

when i did oscars signifying monkey
we bonded immediately
turns out she and her performance group, ensemble bush back
had done the same version some years before
she was shocked to hear that oscar brown had died

they have artist residencies, said i could come anytime i want
got the 411 on them later from other folk
turns out their story was even more fascinating that i assumed it would be

okay im out of here
will edit this later

you know my philosophy
get it out on my head and onpaper/online
i will clean it up later

as you know im always trying to be attuned to the significant
tryhing to determine what is most significant about this moment, this experience

i think for me at the moment the important thing is to follow thru
on my offers to help these kids
cause you know i dont have time for it but i told them i would

what im going to do i think is try to establish an online workshop with them
maybe some sort of connection to the new ren workshop
so that folk in brooklyn critique the nairobi works and vice versa

get them up to speed - then start trying to funnel them into mfa programs
in the states - just more frustrations is what this is going to be
but i will probably be able to nurture some of them through

ima make time - i believe john o would approve

this kwani/sls kenyan experience has been just as magical
as the first one, but for radically different reasons
im as excited about being part of kwani culture as mikhail is

i recognize a crossroads when i see one
im standing on holyground

im outta here
found an ethiopian place last night

i love ethiopian food and last night somebody mentioned ethiopian
and i was like, damn thats right, ethiopia is next door, they probably
got plenty ethiopian restaurants here, best i get on that

later

rdoc

kenya kommentary: representing: african american to the bone

hello world
on my way to kenya
plan to keep a running commentary
if i can find an internet cafe like i did
last time

im too tickled
had a wonderful time last time
mostly cause i met this kwani crew
its like they got a harlem renaissance thing happening
nairobi style

ive attached the schedule
kwani has a much higher profile this year

gon be interesting

always trying when about to go through an experience to
gain the most out of it  -  at all times in a what is most significant about this moment
mode - alert to moments of fa

looking forward to it

and im very conscious of representing
african american to the bone

gon do my act
it went over well last time - mostly,
oral tradition and all

so often folk from the continent dont think we can throw down
think we lost our licks

so i enjoy representing, bells on the ankles and my longtailed rattle
and all, doing an afroamerican hoodoo thing

my ritual performancework being acknowledged as the real thing
on the continent mean a lot to me

last time i didnt have my instruments
this time im taking it all the way home

thats why i been working on my signature piece
gon initiate that bad boy on the continent

got to represent and leave that good impression
cause im very proud of being african american
and i want folk of the world to think well of us

folk around the world like to sneer at us cause when
they think afroamerican they think MTV and BET

but thats alright cause when i was coming up being afroamerican meant
something else - our struggle was the model for struggles around the world
thats what im representing when im in the world

im looking im listening im learning
im growing in struggle
do a little good here and there all the better

solidarity means more to us than it does to blacks of the world
that grew up in black countries
where the very being of blackness is not challenged and defined every day

we grew up under the gun and solidarity is one of our greatest values

when im somewhere and i see another black person and i give them that
little you and me nod and they dont respond it hurts my feelings

i expect that acknowledgement to the point where it totally throws me off
when i dont get it

i get to kenya and its like when i went to jamaica recently
im just overwhelmed with the blackness

naive or not, for better or worse
my attitude is damn, look at all this solidarity

im outta here
keep you up as i can

in struggle
rdoc

awaken the sleeper
protect the weak
guide the strong

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

Summer Literary Seminars - Kenya 2005 Schedule

 

Wednesday, Dec 14th

Noon – 2pm

Registration/meet and greet.

2 – 4pm

Official opening of program.

Remarks from Binyavanga Wainaina, Mikhail Iossel and Thomas Burke.

Lecture by Marjorie Oludhe-McGoye

 

6 pm Welcome Cocktail

 

Thursday, December 15^th

10am – 12noon

Craft-based Lectures

New Journalism and Investigative Journalism

Nonfiction within a context - an introduction to the nonfiction process

  Parselelo Kantai

Fiction 

Fundamentals of good fiction writing  Thomas Burke

Advanced Fiction Writing 

Advanced Perspectives on the craft  Arthur Flowers &

Mikhail Iossel

2 – 4 pm

Roundtable presentation followed by group discussion The Business of Writing in

Kenya

Stanley

Gazemba, Binyavanga Wainaina, Fiona MCrae, Mike Vasquez and Mikhail Iossel

 

Friday, December 16^th

10am – 12noon

Craft-based Lectures

New Journalism and Investigative Journalism

Translating

Kenya

for Kenyans - perspective and audience in non-fiction    Billy Kahora

Fiction

Crafting the short story    Doreen Baingana

Advanced Fiction Writing 

The editor’s perspective - what kind of work excites us?  Fiona McCrae &

Mike Vasquez

2 – 4 pm

Lecture:

“Soundtracks: The Meeting Of Music And Creative Writing” Dr Joyce Nyairo

Roundtable presentation followed by group discussion Spoken word: Where Literature meets Music

Arthur Flowers, Oneko Arina, and Kama of Kalamashaka.

 

Saturday, December 17^th

11 am – 6pm

All day event: excursion to Paa ya Paa artist colony in the outskirts of

Nairobi

for an afternoon of visual arts, music, and nyama choma barbeque.

 

Sunday, December 18^th

Free day.

 

Monday, December 19^th

10am – 12noon

Craft-based lectures

New Journalism and Investigative Journalism

Building a viable career as a nonfiction writer Parselelo Kantai

Fiction

An editor’s perspective - what do editor’s look for?  Mike Vazquez

Fiona McCrae

Advanced Fiction Writing

The editing process and experimentation with form and style  Binyavanga Wainaina

Thomas Burke

2 – 4 pm

Lecture: The

Matatu Culture Dr.

Mbugua wa Mungai

Roundtable presentation followed by group discussion Writing within a Context: The Kenyan Conversation

Binyavanga Wainaina, Tony Mochama and

Stanley

Gazemba

 

Tuesday, December 20^th

10am – 12noon

Roundtable presentation followed by group discussion Opportunities and challenges of getting published in the

US

Arthur Flowers, Doreen Baingana, Mikhail Iossel, Thomas Burke, Mike Vazquez, Fiona McCrae

 

Noon: Closure, SLS-Kenya 2005

Remarks by Mikhail Iossel

Invitation to participate in SLS-St Petersburg 2006.

 

7pm

Kwani Reading with Arthur Flowers

Carnivore’s Simba Saloon

 

Wednesday, December 21^st

Transition to Lamu/safaris begin.

 

Wednesday, December 21^st – Saturday, December 24^th

Meet on

Lamu

Island

.

Independent writing time, with nightly group dinners at one of several oceanfront restaurants.

 

Saturday, December 24^th

Evening: Christmas Eve party on

Manda

Beach

.

 

Sunday, December 25^th

Morning: group breakfast and writing time.

Optional group trips to

Lamu

Museum

,

Swahili

House

Museum

, and Donkey Sanctuary.

Afternoon:

Dhow ride with stop at Manda beach for swimming.

Evening: sunset participant reading and workshop on Yumbe House rooftop area; group dinner to follow.

Nighttime: Christmas party on Manda beach.

 

Monday, December 26^th

Morning: group breakfast and writing time

Afternoon: walk to Shella beach for lunch and swimming; take dhow home.

Evening: sunset participant reading and workshop on Yumbe House rooftop area; group dinner to follow.

 

Tuesday, December 27^th

Morning: group breakfast and writing time

Afternoon: TBA

Evening: Farewell group dinner at Hapa Hapa.

 

Wednesday, December 28^th

Lamu to

Nairobi

.

Program finished.

Fees(KSh)
Students:
Private Schools & Universities                           KSh 3,500
Public Universities Literature Students                KSh 1,300 (Subsidised by Kwani Trust)

Non-students:                                                  KSh 5,000

Contact Jacqueline Achwoka at the Kwani Trust office or on 0733298689 for more details on SLS.

  

Suite 1S, 1st Floor
Madonna House( opp Soin Arcade)
Westlands Road
Westlands
Nairobi
______________________________

P. O. Box 2895
Nairobi 00100
KENYA
______________________________

Tel :  +254 20 4451383 / 4450490
Cell : +254 733 526358
Cell : +254 721 934807
______________________________

Email : [email protected]
URL : http://www.kwani.org
MSN : [email protected]
______________________________

kwani?

red flannel mojo: paradigms of african american struggle in the 21st century

MONDAY

i think ima use this week to start playing with this
paradigms of struggle idea

start laying out the concepts that will inform my newsite
red flannel mojo: paradigms of struggle


there will be new paradigms of struggle in the 21st century

im talking about looking past the old paradigms of what african american struggle entail
and trying to figure out what the new paradigms will be

the only thing certain that they will be entirely new rifts designed to meet the demands
of this moment in our historical destiny

something i dont think we have yet imagined, i expect too that the web will play its part
but only a part - the criteria of success is movement on the ground - empowering black communities
on all levels

just how will the movement manifest itself under current conditions

folks still stuck on old paradigms but you dont win battles that way
you got to come up with something new, something that aint been seen before
specially when you in contention with powers much greater than you are

old rifts like a black political party, integration and/or seperatism,  black power, panafricanism,  black economics,  cultural nationalism,  none of them alone are sufficient to  transform this condition we have found  ourselves in, they have all been tried extensively - we  have to try something new -  something thoroughly integrated with the dynamics of the times

ive been working  with this concept of empowerment but im  not exactly pushing my own agenda  at the moment,  im throwing the floor open for discussion

first let me lay out the board
what factors have to be taken into consideration to encompass contemporary struggle

four threads of contemporary struggle
social, political, economic and cultural
understand how they most effectively interplay

got to understand blackfolks social conditions and aspirations
understand the temper of the american public
understand that of the world

and eventually the cosmos

got to put the african american condition
in context of the worldwide black condition
(global positioning is a prerequisite of contemporary power)

sectors and agendas

the african american sectors (players)
politically, socially, economically, culturally

class sectors

elites and counterelites
middle class
working class
struggling class

game sectors

community activists
politicians
businessfolk and entreprenuers
teachers and academics
professional classes
artists and intellectuals
labor


then once i get a feel for the board
lay out agendas for contemporary players

(thats the way the hoodoo man play, i got to know the board
before i make my moves - when i move i got to be working the roots
of this thing and the only way to find the roots is to work the board)

so then i try to identify the most influential african american players in the
various categories and why - what makes them effective
what are the strengths and weaknesses of their game

what exactly are they doing and why
how do they see the game

this is where the interviews come in, start interviewing players
see where they fit on the board
of destiny

(most african americas players share allegiance
with other power bases, identify influences)

games and countergames

got to make strategic speculations on allies and
opposing agendas
(point being to encompass their games in the sheer comprehensiveness of my own)

then layout the influential dynamics

layout the traditional avenues of african american struggle
how do they manifest at the moment
what are likely scenarios

what are optimal scenarios

what would be preferable for african americans
tribally  (afroamerica)
domestically  (america)
internationally  (the world)
cosmically (the future)

agendas and counteragendas

other agendas and how they influence the african american agendas

and so forth along these lines
to point of maybe understanding how african american empowerment strategies playing out
and in defining them perhaps even influence them

and so immersing myself in the flow as to enable predictions
perhaps to prophecy

i know, i know

its rough, im just putting it up now, these my first thoughts, i will work on it this week
i feel like tackling something with a little substance this week

love and struggle

rickydoc trickmaster
wouldbe prophet of the hoodoo way

hoodoo destinywork and the geas of rickydoc

hello world
as you may know i been off the grid
still on the road so i been posting sporadic

below is a listserve post from the hoodoo way
sometimes i put them in rootsblog when they reflect
a development of my worldview, my vision

have recently it seems focused on destinywork
both in my Work and in Rest for the Weary
wherein a concern for Fa drives protagonist
tucept jubilation highjohn

and noticed an evolution of my destiny thing
happening in this post

been interesting when i see development of a position
over a period of time reflected in online work

one of my standing tensions as a contemporary black voice
is trying to work with that imperative of being a black voice
and also being an effective voice for all humanity

and i have noticed lately that my concern has expanded
from trying to shape the destiny of the black race
to incorporate the destiny and wellbeing of all humanity
while remaining first and foremost a black voice

which is something i have proposed in theory
so its interesting seeing it work itself out in my own vision and Works
the diifficulty of a lifelong black nationalist reaching for higher ground

this post also reflects the ongoing evolution of my attempts to modernize hoodoo
as a true power in the 21st century, my hoodoo prophet thing

this particular post (revised) was in response to an inquiry about what was happening
with the list, energy been low and i had pulled back as i have
done with all my online activities, in pursuit of this novel
and other reasons as laid out below:

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

hello all

i dont really know how to answer that question
thought about dropping it but there are so many strong folk
on it that it seemed a waste to let it go

as you know it flares up occasionally and its always
illuminating when it does
so i decided i would let this list do what it wanted to do
when it wanted to do it

ive personally pulled back right now because
one im concentrating on finishing my novel this year

and two i have lately felt a sense of inadequacy about my hoodoo knowledge
as moderator

most of the things that interest most hoodoos dont interest me
so my basic knowledge has holes in it

(for instance im not really interested in magical recipes, i was when i
started out, but in my hoodoo maturity i work more with my head than my hands)

but anybody who is interested in dialoguing conventional hoodoo topics please do so
and i will participate to be best of my inadequate knowledge

samesame atr related hoodoo dialogues, as an uninitiated hoodoo my
atr knowledge is also limited, i try to keep up best i can w/those limitations
because atr has become so interwoven with contemporary hoodoo
and appreciate all the atr related hoodoo knowledge you can bring to the table

and the things that do really interest me dont interest everybody else
i want to develop new skill sets for hoodoo

this vision of mine about empowering hoodoo as a spiritual/magical tradition
about  manifesting hoodoo as guide and guardian of human destiny

which is going to require new hoodoo skills, new hoodoo dialogues
(and a new hoodoo mythology)

at one point when it was clear the list energy was fading
papa ce suggested a more craftbased focus for the list

which i got no problem with but my idea of 'craft' is just so different from
everybody elses, far as im concerned it has been a craftbased discussion

i want to be a destiny player
i want human destiny to be part of our gameboard as hoodoos
the ever evolving ability to influence or shape human destiny as we see fit

that entails the development of new ideological and prophetic skills
and perhaps new magical skills, or rather the development of our
highmagic skills along with the folkmagic skills we now emphasize

folkmagic focus was good when we were a folk people but we
are not a folk people anymore and strictly folkmagic just wont get it
in the 21st century

i aint saying dump folkmagic im saying that cant be all that we about
hoodoo has to evolve if its going to be a viable 21st century power
and the power is already in our hands if only we are bold enuf to take it

but i felt like folk were getting tired of  me constantly hitting this
and instead my attempts to dialogue it were turning folk off instead
as witnessed by the steadily declining activity on the list

decided to concentrate on novel because hopefully my novel will
make my vision clear in a more complete and compelling manner
than listserve activity

i have done much thought on the dynamics of listserve activism
and it seems that the pattern is that a few folk hold conversations
while the rest of the list mostly lurks and perhaps listens with
occasional input

the problem there is that this list is so small that often we dont
maintain critical mass

its still only about 40 folk some of whom who came on early
probably could be dropped because they arent interested in
the direction that its taken

its also an awkward mix of practicing hoodoos who are intrigued by destinywork
and literary/artistic destinyworkers who are intrigued with or dabblers in hoodoo
(and a couple of wildcards im not quite sure how to define)

but there is a gap in their interests and approaches
and often the twain does not meet

my goal is to bring those two threads together and enable hoodoo destinywork
as a primary hoodoo skill of the future

the folk on this list been cherrypicked
each and every one a player of power and potential
each one somewhat interested in shaping the hoodoo future

in using our power to save and empower the blackrace and culture
to nurture and empower its generations
to ameliorate the human condition
to heal the sick, the deaf dumb and the blind
to awaken the sleeper, protect the weak and guide the strong

in being true powers on this planet
in making this a better world

ive run up on some more but it embarrasses me now to ask folk of power
to join a list that is not active

also my own knowledge inadequacies have begun to bug me
but you know hoodoo knowledge is a lifetime thing so
im trying to fill in my knowledge gaps all the time

right now my primary focus is my novel
i got to put this puppy to bed
finish that novel and i wont have to do so much
begging and cajoling to make things happen

so im only going to be so available to the world, rickydoc
is in the woodshed this year

but this list is still my heart

i have met so many wonderful spiritworkers with such great heart and power
through this list, it has given me a hoodoo community to be part of
and i have learned so much through our interactions and part of the
reason i have withdrawn is feeling the need to grow some
into the power of us as a hoodoo community

something that could not have happened before when hoodoos were
regional and isolated forces, the internet has enabled hoodoo communities
and dialogues and an evolutionary process that has only just now begun

it would behoove us to attempt to shape that process, to shape our hoodoo future
to conjure our own realities rather than allow other realities to be imposed upon us

are we or are we not conjurors

nowhere else am i challenged as i have been challenged here
and i love so much that we have been hoodoo family
and nowhere else have i been able to speak about the things that are important to me

the future of hoodoo
the cultural roles and responsibilities of hoodoo
the nature of hoodoo power and that of its practitioners
hoodoo as guide and guardian of the blackrace
hoodoo as guide and guardian of the human race
the evolution of hoodoo as one of the worlds great spiritual/magical traditions
the evolution of atr as one of the worlds great religious traditions
the destiny of the human race

and so forth along those lines

woodshed and inadequacies aside
ima try to put a little more energy into the list i guess
(if you know of folk who would fit the hoodoo/destiny focus
of this list please invite them to join it, with the understanding
that it is a very tight list and only a very few folk gon fit the profile)

i appreciate gedenibos call even though he messing w/folks head
or maybe its highjohnny conqueroo fucking w/folk
they both love that trickster knowledge

in spirit and struggle
rickydoc

when you need me you call me, i will come

this is actually a performance piece
my signature piece
its okay on the page but it comes to life in performance

a little self promotion there, cause im
always on the market for gigs on the college circuit
cause i like to get paid, i like to cut paper

so ima give you the words but im not gon include
my special sauce cause then next thing i
know you will be out there doing my act

okayokay, just for you, my special sauce
is the ankle bells, thats what make me
prance dance and act a fool

thats what make me shake
my longtailed rattle

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

i am flowers of the delta clan flowers
and the line of o killens

i am mythmaker
a weaver of conjure and a worker
of storm, a caster of bones and
tomorrows truths

i make myth and myth makes tomorrow
as i define so shall it be for you see my friends
i am a conjuror

a dread delta hoodoo with twisted hands
and seared mouthharp lungs
come to call thru fierce arrogant hunger
to me o mighty race

for i have had visions, ive seen the promised land

it is i rickydoc trickmaster
casting my vision as far as i can see, determining the
challenges the tribe will face and now i will prepare
the tribal soul to meet them

for it is i rickydoc rootdoctor,
speak in the name of the old gods
speak in the name of olodummare, ngai and nkulunkulu
speak in the name of legba and oshun

i works for mr conqueroo
the hopebringer, the burdenbearer, the battlefighter, the jackpot winner

it is i rickydoc rootdoctor
come to call you firstborn, you who walked first
on two feet, once again you must stand where others crawl
once again you must show the way

listen firstborn to these words of power
listen firstborn to the geas of rickydoc and i will give you a mission
greater than your adversity

i will give you responsibility for humanities march into its ever greater self
and i will i ask that you take responsibility not only for your own destiny
but the destiny of all peoples and all jah creature great and small

i will ask then that you strive always to be greater than you are
and when you come to the crossroads always take the highroad
always go for the greater self, always go for the greater good

i ask only that you be the great and glorious people you
were meant to be, the illuminated children of the sun
humanities living ancestors and gods true chosen

it is i rickydoc trickmaster, i have seen the promisedland
and this is what i see

i see a people mighty and strong, wise and illuminated
i see a people respected throughout the cosmos
and striving always to be greater than they are

listen firstborn to the geas of rickydoc
if you would reclaim your legacy as gods holy instrument
you must stand on higher ground

and yes we have come such a long such a long long way
but we still got so very far to go

and the next time that you find yourself in trouble
i want you to remember what the old rootdoctor said
every goodby aint gone, cause you sick dont mean you dead
and trouble, it dont last always, trouble dont last always

and when the hardtimes come and they
always do i want you to hold on be strong
you fight the battles friend nobody else could win

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

i am rickydoc

activism, human destiny and the hoodoo way

apologies to all
this one was in response to a listserve thread
about hoodoo and spiritual activism

ima just put it up now, but im tired and dont feel
like working on it, i will clean it up tomorrow:

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

i agree that activism of the spirit is the highest level of activism
which is why i have focused my organizing activities on the hoodoo tradition

jesus has turned more heads that marx ever thought of

i tend to think of spiritual activism the way i think of my art
i do my activist thing because i was trained to make a contribution
whenver and however i can
but i dont expect it to really change the world

it may change the conditions of specific individuals and groups
but after almost 40 years in the struggle i dont expect a lot
i do it because i have been trained to do it and as a child of
the 60s i would feel bad not to help however and whenever i can

but my art, thats a different thing, i expect my art to influence
generations after generations and to really make change
not in my lifetime, art doesnt work like that, but its capable of
changing generations, of actually influencing the destiny of humanity

in the same way that say for instance ishmaels mumbo jumbo
changed african american literature from christian based to hoodoo magic based work

and in the same way that change keeps reverberating through african american culture
generation after generation, thats the kind of influence i want my work to have

and i feel the same way about the hoodoo tradition
if we can make the hoodoo tradition powerful it will influence
generations and generations in the same way that christanity, islam, judaism
and so forth have shaped their cultures,

we can use the hoodoo tradition
to shape our culture (and thru it the world)
and shape the destiny of the blackrace and all humanity

i dont believe there is any more powerful contribution to make
than to shape a spiritual tradition in such a way that it evolves
along the lines you think suitable

if we do it properly, we can do it the same way that islam has shaped its culture
that chrianity has shaped its, judaism, hinduism, etc etc,

and because we are in at the beginning more or less of this process we are the ones
who will determine the lines of hoodoo evolution and its influence on
the destiny of humanity

its on us to make sure its a strong contribution and try to alleviate the
weaknesses that can so often attend to spiritual activism and result
in abominations like jonestown or other such

accordingly as part of that hoodoo activism i dont want to shape
hoodoo as a religious tradition, i would like to leave it a magical and spiritual
tradition, one that questions and is skeptical rather than basing its power
on blind faith

in part because it has traditionally been so and i believe there is a strength
in that approach that a religious tradition does not have, a flexibility

but it is because of the religious component of contemporary hoodoo
the fact that so many practitioners of other atrs have interfaced with hoodo
that i have reached for the compromise of aspiring to the prophetic

even withini religious traditions the prophet is free of  institutional hierarchies
(much like the hoodoo vis a vis the other atr hierarchcial religions)
the prophet is a part of yet not

the prophet is an individualistic practitioner (much like hoodoo (and mystically inclined artists for that matter)

and there is not much difference between the sorceric and the prophetic
they manifest the same powers, except that one serves only clients and self
the other also serves god(s) and the community

i was made aware of this distinction reading a work on the prophets of east africa
and the book made the statement that the difference between the diviners (which is basically what we are) of the masai and others tribes and the prophet diviner (the diviner who is also ackwnowledged prophet) is that the prophet diviner is not only concerned w/clients but with the guidance of the entire society (or tribe)

and that the prophet diviners practice went beyond the private readings of the diviner to include public ritualwork (which for me is those of us who practice performance ritualwork)

i have been asked what i mean with term destiny workers
or destiny players

and basically i mean folk who are trying to shape the destiny of humanity
who feel that human destiny is not a given but that we shape it daily and
that with study and application it can be shaped as we see fit

that part of my interest in adding highmagic to the folkmagic focus of hoodoo today
striving to be able to shape reality so that it reflects our vision of what it should be
and not necessarily just accepting it as it is

folk who are comfortable using ageold techniques of ideological and prophetic orchestration
to try to shape the destiny of humanity in the direction of their vision for humanity

i dont agree that the end is near
i have an unshakable faith in the ability of humanity to make its adjustments
and to continue to evolve - to shape its own destiny

part of this faith is a faith in myself as one of the worlds destiny players
i am constantly trying to assess the challenges and opportunities that will face
future generations and try to input into the cultural mix (the tribal soul)
he psychological and cultural traits that i think will finesse these challenges
and keep humanity growing on
the good foot

i realize this is perhaps misplaced confidence on my part
but nevertheless it is

and i have decided that the hoodoo tradition is the most promising instrument
of this ongoing effort to forge a more appropriate human destiny

and part of my hoodoo mission is to develop this confidence and this power
and the necessary skills to manifest this prophetic power in
the hoodoo practitioners of the future

my most fundamental phrase that i hope to imbed in the culture is:

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

so i dont agree that the end is near
i do agree that americas dominance is only a phase
and yes the change might be catastrophic

but i have an abiding and unshakable faith in
the ability of humanity to make whatever adjustments
are necessary in our ongoing evolution to higher ground

and i believe in the activism that enables that struggle
even when it looks most hopeless

i believe that it is our responsibility as
the awake and aware in the land of the half sleep
to use our powers to take care of the community
and provide guidance and protection

my spiritual activism is my primary focus
but i do not see that as dichotomous with my
community activism and see them as two sides
of the same coin

how strong can we be
if the community is weak

in spirit and struggle
arf

on trickeration and the mothership connection

last week on the hoodoo way list papa gede nibo
raised the question of the mothership

this got folk going
folk start riffing the mothership as a metaphor for the cosmic all
folk start riffing off geogre clintons mothership connection and the cosmic funk
the question of the nuwabian ufo beliefs came up
etc etc

jacqui suggested that we were the mothership
the mother and father she said of humanity

about the time of that conversation
i did a piece called when elephants dance in which i spoke on the tsunami
and said when the earth shifts in search of its own equilibrium humans die
when solar systems shift planets die

said thats why we have to get off the planet, spread out and increase the odds
of human survival  (one planet is not enuf)

a reply on the list said that it was irresponsible perhaps to focus on spaceage issues
and that we would not find 'refuge' in space, we could not 'flee our problems'

my reply (edited) is as follows:

first that i was in total agreement with him
im all about whats happening now

but i do believe that effective whats happening now moves
have to be designed to have maximal influence on the
destiny of the blackrace and all humanity

im talking longgame
the longer your game the stronger it is
and for me the longgame is about shaping the
destiny of our generations

which is done by working the tribal spirit - working the tribal soul
(or if you prefer a more scientific phrasing - working the tribal culture)

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

which means you have to make the moves now to shape the future then
but you got to be shaping as many generations as your vision can handle

christanity and islam took about 2000 years or so to get to where they are now
in terms of their gamestrength
whereas hoodoo and atr aint got hardly no gamestrength
hell we aint even organized
(except for the fledgling hands)

so if  we in the 21st century thinking say a minimum of 2000 years ahead
then we talking spacegame, if humanity aint off the planet 2000 years from now
something has gon desperately wrong

but the moves have to be made now to shape
the destiny of humanity 2000 years from now

i aint talking about fleeing nobody
im talking about engaging them head to head

im talking about positioning ourselves to be humanities guide and guardian
as they evolve into whatever the future of humanity entail

which means that our vision of humanities destiny has to be greater than all others
to encompass more generations and be a more cosmic vision

if otherfolk thinking 200 years ahead we got to think 2000
if they thinking 500 years ahead we got to think 5000
and just swallow their games with the sheer power of ours

im talking about making ourselves masters of trickeration
on a whole new level

making ourselves masters of strategy
the key that opens all locks

thats traditionally been our greatest power - trickeration
thats what hoodoos do

thats what we call ourselves doing anyway
in our Work and our lives

a lot of folk they so sure we gon lose they scared
to even step up to play cause they so sure we gon lose

but for those of us who have committed ourselves to
the destiny of the blackrace and thru them all humanity

our every act, our every thought, our every product, our every move
is predicated on how it will influence the destiny of the race

we got different ideas of how to go about that
but thats what we about

in particular those of us who consider hoodoo the
indigenous african american spiritual system
consider it an act of cultural custodianship
an instrument of political and spiritual redemption

and if we gon game we got to game the strongest game that ever was
we got to outgame everybody on this planet

2000 years aint nothing for serious hoodoo game

either we talking longgame or we aint
and if we talking longgame we including the
dispersal of our culture and our generations
among the stars

we aint talking about fleeing nothing
we talking about being an integral part of the evolving multiculti mix
but establishing ourselves as such an illuminated culture and people
that everybody on the planet aspire to be us
and be with us

which is why i dont have no problems with the multiculti nature of hoodoo today
but i will not let hoodoo be stripped of its cultural responsibilities
and become just a spicier newage flavor of wicca

but yes we are members of both families, human and black
so our vision has to serve both of our families
both blackfolk and all humanity

which is why im trying to shape and define hoodoo as the
prophetic tradition of the world
and blackfolk as a chosen people

fully understanding that i have to avoid chosen people syndromes

but also fully convinced that blackfolk must have a mission
greater than their adversity
something that will call on them to be greater than they are
that requires of them their very best as a people
that requires of their generations their very best

responsiblity for humanities march into its ever greater self
de geas of rickydoc

if we would reclaim our legacy as gods holy instrument
we must walk on higher ground

and thats why i call the nuwabians a travesty
and i feel sorry for the folk caught up in it
for me they represent all the problems w/spiritual game
that blindly cultic follow the leader hierarchy
that spaceranger ufo mythology that aint got nothing to do
with the mothership connection
aint nothing but a colored jonestown far as im concerned
a bunch of spiritual thugs

and i will not abide a thief of souls

that aint no longgame, thats diversionary bullshit
im talking longgame up in here

but that destiny has to be shaped right here and now
its is shaped in the moves we make as conjurors and
cultural custodians today and tomorrow

it is shaped in the conversations we have when
we reason together on this list

it is shaped in our attempts to define ourselves
and our Works for the 21st century

in our every thought and act
we shape and conjure our future reality

as i say in my best prophetic moment to date:

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

when i say prepare the tribal soul to meet them
im saying the true battle is within

it is in constantly shaping our souls for this struggle
and forging into the tribal spirit whatever we need
to shape our generations into the kind of people
we would them be

the game aint always the same
just as we are trying to find the vision appropriate to our
times and condition, so too will the hoodoos of the future
have to find their own visions

and shape the tribal soul for the challenges of their times

my earthbound vision does not truly encompass when we have spread
out amongst the stars and our culture has evolved into
manifestations i can only imagine

but i will try to lay down principles of tribal/human evolution
principles of destinic guidance
that will be applicable no matter what challenges the
future brings to our people and our generations

no matter where blackfolk be in the foreseeable and
unforeseeable future they will be alright as long as
the hoodoos of their times

cast their vision as far as they can see
determine the challenges the tribe will face
prepare the tribal soul to meet them

it is de geas of rickydoc

be well be wary
be safe

word by
rickydoc flowers