rootwork the rootsblog: a cyberhoodoo webspace

the black struggle as americas conscience and consciousness: the geas of rickydoc

MONDAY

hello world,
hanging on by the hair of my chinny chin chin

okay ima swear off the extensive daily pagecount stuff
i think you got the idea

other than a running count (18 pgs behind) ima let that be
as you see i can get very obsessive about my daily page count

for those following the manual
the daily page count only works on mature manuscript

for early stages i count hours because you put in more hours than you get pages
cause its more thinking, pondering and contemplating

i think this week ima follow through on a comment i made in last weeks post

you know i am always trying to understand this weblog thing and
how the internet affects me as a 21st  century artist and intellectual

trying to stay ahead of the changes and on the cutting edge
its got to be more than navel gazing, ima professional

and im always trying to understand how to be use it as an
intellectual aspiring to historical stature and potential significance
instead of a clueless civilian

how to make of it an instrument

one function is working out concepts
of my evolving cosmology,  i say something unexpected that i find provocative and
worry at it until it take me to another step and i just keep on stepping

i be macking, i sit down and i commence to macking, i mack an issue and go
wherever it take me, looking for significance and following threads w/potential to go deep

looking for the crossroads

occasionally i end up places that scare me, and i have
to ask am i willing to say that - pretty much always answer yes

i like to think i have the courage of my mack

the comment im thinking might have potential was:
part of my multicultural strategy is to make the black struggle
americas conscience and consciousness, its moral center

that statement i found provocative
this is obviously something i been leading to for awhile

i push the same issues all the time but i say it different ways and in different forums
i believe this particular rhetorical structure will allow more folk to understand my vision

i think ima do an extended peice working this one out
maybe do a full weeks post to get me going on that
and ima work this thread more deeply into rest for the weary

this comes from me trying to find a niche for black folk in the multicultural future

neither integration nor segregation are working projects for longterm viability
both lead to dead ends

integration eventually means blending black folk out of existence
segregation means isolating ourselves from everybody else and declining as a people

my goal is to maintain blackness as a distinct culture and to empower that culture
so that it becomes one of the definitive cultures of the future

by defining black struggle as americas moral center
it would force the struggle to evolve, and make allies of all progressive folk

this is also in keeping with the one drop strategy
to maintain the american practice of counting anybody with one drop of blackblood as black

this is advisable in the 21st century strategic posture because it increases
our numbers and manifests race as a social construct - malleable

we want everybody in america to want to be black

want to give the young hiphop wannabes an adult blackness to aspire to
we want to play off the american fascination with soul

also the historical role since the emancipation struggle
blackfolks have one of the most consistently progressive forces in america

we have to continue demanding of america its very best

this approach comes from blacks neglible demographic numbers
black leaders have always had to search for allies to get anything done
black  leaders learned agendas designed just to appeal to blackfolk are nonfunctional
their rhetorical strategy has been that raising everybody raises blackfolk

pushing civic agendas like defending public education in spite of
rightwings attempts to buy us off with voucher programs

also we playing off the magical negro role so favored in hollywood
where the magical negro helps the hapless whiteperson get soul

this is a role embedded in the american cultural imagination
where blackfolk are either magical soulsavers or dysfunctional criminals

this agenda is designed to levarage these social dynamics into a destinic dynamic
designed to ensure the survival and prosperity of the black generations
and all humanity - to lead you must serve

of course the big negative here is so much of afroam culture is dysfunctional

in order for people all over the world to admire and aspire to blackness
we have to build a culture so powerful and so beautiful that folk want to be black

this also is a dynamic already in play, witness the hip hop nation

on one hand afroam culture has been the model for libaration struggles all over the world
on the other hand afroam culture is so dysfunctional you wonder if we will survive as a people

and sometimes if we should

i got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative and hang on to the in between
this is the role i play as a cultural orchestrator and hoodoo defender of the faith

i see the blackrace as an illuminated people, it is many generations long
i call this effort to call blackfolk to their highest

the geas of rickydoc - i hope to lay this geas of transcendence on future generations
reach for higher ground or else

so then the question becomes how to program it ever deeper into the
social consciousness

i consider my works the seeds of future realities
and my orchestrations preparation of the ground

two constituencies here

one, got to convince blackfolk its a good strategy
got to get blackfolk to consistently operate on higher ground

i ask only that you be the great and glorious people you were meant to be
the illuminated children of the sun

destinyworkers all

got to convince whitefolk and other ethnics that blackfolk
are a model of human illumination and the path of human destiny

that blackfolk are a transcendent people always evolving
and leading humanity to its ever greater self

reprising a role that our destinic mentors the jews
before they stumbled over the palestinians and succumbed

to the call of the wild

basically we want to play the chosen people role
without the chosen people syndrome

those of you familiar with my work will recognize the parameters of this play
im just gon say it differently and in a manner i think will be effective

if i can convincingly layout this blackstruggle as americas moral center bit
and make it stick with some influentials, it will move my agenda forward

and hopefully it will raise the rhetoric/goals  of the blackstruggle
beyond its current fascination with insular foolsgame like reparations

my apologies for working this out in public and inflicting on you the sweat
you are not supposed to see

im just kinda laying out initial thoughts on the concept
will work it over the week and make it happen

(note: i always say that, then current events drive me right along
got to get rootwork.com up to speed so i can have a space to work out more
in-depth works than blog format will allow)

right now, im outta here
id say im about 18 pages behind how

im looking for more gears now
ima desperate man

10 pages a day is obviously an unreasonable goal
but you know 'reasonable' dont get no novel wrote

never did, never will

later . . .
rdoc

 

hard truths from the conjureman: blacks, hispanics and immigration policies, arabs, jews and models of empowerment

MONDAY

and you o mythworker, o teller of tales
and weaver of lies, o fool of a trickster

is there nothing you hold sacred
no boundary you will not cross
in search of a song . . . .

im going to start working on a myth

i was looking at that piece i just wrote and had this image of blackfolk
withdrawing into a defensive circle and
thought it would be nice to depict the race as a group like that and then i
thought about this myth of the children of the sun i been playing with
and i thought im going to start telling that myth as part of this
weblog

those of you familiar with my work will recognize the basic parameters
i figure i will stumble at first but ima keep telling it until i
start making it shine, maybe a booklengthwork, every week ima tell more of it

and so i begin:

once upon a time there was a mighty people
a star traveling people respected throughout the galaxy
the illuminated children of the sun
humanities living ancestors and gods true chosen

legend is that they are guard and guardian of humanity
destinyworkers, leading humanity unto its ever greater self

legend is they had a vision, legend is they had a destiny . . . .

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

okay, im stuck, and embarassed
will get back to this during the week, hopefully
bring it to life, hopefully
figure out where im going with it, hopefully

but you know, as weak as it is
ima stick with it and see if i can make it a regular part
of my presentation, it will justify the time i give this blog
get a little mythwork done

now thats what i call working at the
crossroads

word by
rickydoc trickmaster

be well, be wary, be safe

SATURDAY
speaking truth to the people

once when i was a young conjuror in training
i had this discipline where once a month i would speak absolute truth
to everybody i knew - for the whole day i would
speak nothing but the truth as i saw it

i quickly abandoned that discipline, it was more trouble
than it was worth

but i think this week i will speak hard truths on difficult issues
at least my truths, thought about it when i did the bill cosby post

i admire what he trying to do even though its not how i would go about it
if you gon call the race to account got to spread the blame

but his issue is community dysfunction and he taking the blows
in a quixotic effort to save blackfolk

i admire that - i think its a profile in courage

but i get enuf flack from my radical friends and colleagues
so i been reluctant to publicly speak on the coz

another issue i been reluctant to speak on is immigration
cause im conflicted

my progressive instincts say i got to go along with it
but im concerned that its gon hurt blackfolk

already we been pushed aside by the burgeoning hispanic population
and i fear we will be left on the bottom again - gon have to learn how to beg in spanish

and i envy them their growing power, they hardworking disciplined folk
unlike so many of my own - they mobilized 500,000 in their la march

and affected the political debate in their favor, thats power and i envy it

im nervous about where this dynamic leaves us
blacks and hispanics clash about as much as they get along

but this immigration situation doesnt just affect hispanics
it also affects caribbeans and thats family

and all them dark hispanics, they may not know it yet
but they family too

also the rise of the hispanics is kinda inevitable
and we got to maintain a working relationship

cause in the future we gon need their help a lot more
than they will need ours

so blackfolk may be conflicted on this one but in the final analysis
we got to support liberalized immigration policies

ive spoken before on our impending most favorite minority demise
i believe we have to prepare for that inevitable eventuality

by maintaining a working relationship
supporting their struggles whenever we can

and claiming the allegiance/identification of darkskinned hispanics
a strategic fifth force so to speak (more on that later)

also there is some room here for crossroads game between the old power
and the new - if you get my drift

forget most favorite minority anyway, it was weak game
i say we move into global shadowplay

as much as i envy mobilizing a 500,000 march i think its old and tired game
been there, done that - all that marching and protesting, i think its yesteryear game myself

the make do game of the weak and the powerless and i for one will be glad when blackfolk move on

for me its all about strategic empowerment - the longgame
a grinding day to day commitment to 20 year plans, 100 year plans, 100 generation plans

we have to forge our people into a global (and even cosmic) instrument of power

my model is still the jews, how a disrespected minority can achieve security
power and prosperity in a hostile environment

thats another issue i tend to avoid, jewish power
the israeli lobby been spotlighted recently in some report i heard about
and will have to hunt down

the jews of course insist that there is no such thing and anybody who says so is antisemitic
well i understand the tactical imperative of disowning power but everybody knows the jews wield power inordinate to their numbers

that they have inordinate influence in power industries such as finance, media and entertainment, and that many of our policies in support of israel are antithetical to our strategic interests

but i do not want to get on the wrong side of the jews, they can be ruthless enforcers
jews probably the only folk on the planet more sensitive than black folk
two battlescarred folk feel like they always on the edge of disaster, always ready to rumble
but blackfolk got to speak truth on this issue, we learned it from you

that situation w/the palestinians, you wrong on that, i say it
as a friend, you jackboot wrong

also i be dancing around the arab/islamic conquest of africa
ticklish because so many strong afroam have gon islamic

but the truth is the truth

when blackfolk rename themselves after muhammad ali - one of the most proficient slavers/killers of blacks ever to depopulate the sudan we have a problem

genocide in the sudan, slavery in mautetania, etc etc
islam must be made to understand it is a guest in africa and not a conqueror

mess around and let africa go islamic we will have no place to call home, no place
where the african way can grow into the glory it could be instead of the ruin that it is

surrounded by our enemies
the west on one side, islam on the other

also i avoid this one because i dont approve of what often passes for discourse
in islamic circles, dont want nobody issuing no fatwas on rickydoc

but if you call yourself a serious artist and intellectual you got to be willing to speak
truth to the people and i like to think of myself as a serious man

a serious
artist, intellectual, conjureman

my response to the cultural establishments (black & white) refusal to treat me
with respect, you might not take me seriously but i do - and when i speak i speak in
words of power - i will speak the truths that make other folk tremble

and the hard truth of the moment is that

all my political life hispanics been our allies in struggle
we always ready to call on them to back our plays

the progresssive among us struggle for commonground
and to avoid ruptures
if they want to throw down on this we got to throw down with them

but ima tell you that civilrights mode of empowerment, based on our own, is of limited utility
the jewish model is more appropriate to the times, a diasporic/global model of

ritualized group solidarity, strategic positions of influence in influential  social sectors
a vision and a sense of destiny - the longgame

that civilrights model is like an old ghetto neighborhood, let the new folk have it
its time to move on

i will forge blackfolk into an instrument of power or die trying

and im not gon let folk stuck in yesteryear restrain me from doing what have to be done, from saying what have to be said

all that dysfunction killing our communities got to go
thats not gon be part of the black future the old rootdoctor see

21st century yall, no more games, we got to do this

and i would you be tricksters all
a people of power and masters of strategy
the key that opens all locks

it is the geas of rickdoc

i know this is so far from the current reality
that you might not see it like i see it

but i am a dreamer, a conjuror and a lifelong organizer
an ideological orchestrator and a wouldbe prophet
of the hoodoo way

forcing reality to bend itself to my will
is what i do

the first step is to see
things as they truly are

word by
rickydoc trickmaster

awaken the sleeper
protect the weak
guide the strong

amiri baraka and lord legba, highjohn the conqueror and an african american way

THURSDAY

hangingtough

took a couple of punches today
sometimes it seems no matter how hard i try
i just keep coming up short

it takes a village

well im certainly not fool enuf to support bill cosbys
quixotic campaign to address community dysfunction

my radical comrades already think im questionable
and i agree his analysis lacks the depth of a more
accomplished player such as myself

much too much you and not enuf we

but the old rootdoctor admire a man w/the courage of his convictions
a blackman who could kick back w/his riches

out here doing what he can - trying to make his contribution
to the condition and destiny of blackfolk - saying what he think need to be said

21st century yall, no more games, we got to do this

almost prophetic what he doing, using the media attention celebrity commands
as delivered in front of the notorious convention center in new orleans:

"It's painful, but we can't cleanse ourselves unless we look at the wound. Ladies and gentlemen, you had the highest murder rate, unto each other. You were dealing drugs to each other. You were impregnating our 13-, 12-, 11-year-old children. What kind of a village is that?'

WEDNESDAY
rickydoc in the zone

i wrote the most wonderful scene this morning

its the memphis riots of 1866 and i have this slave child who was
"apprenticed" after the end of slavery and is using the riots to try
to get to her real parents on another side of the city but she doesnt
know where they live,

she has not been allowed outside since the last attempt years ago
she doesnt know where they live and the streets are full of rioting yahoos
killing colored folk

on an apparently empty street she almost runs up on a mob
when i have this old black woman suddenly appear beckoning her to safety
basically trying to show blackfolk helping each other survive

but i had this segment elsewhere of somebody calling on harriet tubman in a ritual
and harriet herself leading a bunch of slaves to freedom suddenly doing her sleep thing

then i thought what if that beckoning oldwoman is harriet and im saying
that when she did that sleep thing she was helping some escapee on another plane

so i put them together and god it feels good - now im playing with it to make it work
and i think maybe i will have the conqueror have played a role in this
maybe setting up a crossroads moment

so now i have to make this little girl escaping a significant historical crossroads of some sort
damn im in the groove, i live for these moments

of revelation

i been bad this weekend - generally i take the weekends for rest and pay the cost,
playing academic catchup, manuscripts to be  graded/critiqued, class prep, etc

but this weekend i been bad, i been working on this impo scene (idas escape, the husharbor, the gathering/mission) and when monday came along i was unwilling to quit, if i stop now it will take fri and sat just to get my groove on again (if at all)

so i squeezed the schoolhouse, woke up early tuesday morning crunching it to get thru my tuesday class straightup and now i got to prep for thursday and got studentconferences today and should be schoolhousing but instead this morning i got right back on that scene, fuck everybody including me, i got to get this novel done

what im doing now is inputting the longhand pages i did over the weekend but thats always something of a rewrite in itself and so i was back there on my writing porch trying to hustle thru this when bam, this narrative revelation came down on me and now im off to the races and so excited i had to tell you about it (bonnie muttering i should get off the internet and get back to work)

so i got to get back on it, try to get thru it in the next couple of hours so i can get my schoolhouse work done - this spose to be my day off anyway - well actually its a prepday but closing down the semester you dont get no days off noway, its catchup catchup catchup

not only have i squeezed the schoolhouse i have also allowed some impending lifecrises to fester
got to get on those real quick - but i tell you dear surfer, a scene like the one im working on now

for that i will pay my dues without a whimper

amiri baraka was here day before yesterday, brought up by the Black Artists student organization, and i hung out with him some, that was inspirational - didnt want to come off my game, found out about it the last minute, the day of, but hey it was amiri, one of the great destinywarriors and one of my few remaining mentors in the game - im rolling today in amiris name

im outta here

rdoc


TUESDAY
crunched all weekend and still crunching
will have to pay schoolhouse dues - this gon be a catchup week
holding on by the skin of my chinny chin chin

i works for the conqueroo
hello world

spose to be working so ima just hit it real quick
set up the sermon for this week - on an african american way

i have been most of my hoodoo life a devotee of lord legba
but i also serve highjohn the conqueror

there is therefore some question in me about the conqueroo/legba relationship
i still believe i serve lord legba but i works for the conqueror now,

i believe the conqueror is an afroam manifestation
of that trickster force, some kin to legba and that i can serve them both

i dont have much choice in the matter, i do not serve the conqueror of
my own volition - i have been called

its seems that the conqueror is a specifically afroam context
an african american way

some folk question my looseness w/legbas rules and imply a retribution of sorts
but since i first devoted myself to legba i have been given a dispensation to break the rules

even legbas own

long as i do his bidding and enlarge his space
that dispensation is even more so under de conqueroo

i believe de conqueror reaching for his own
i believe its time

word by
rickydoc flowers

gullah jack and 21st century trickeration

hello world

a hoodoo way thread
on gullah jack and trickeration in the 21st century

is it still a viable power

the question was are folk like gangster rappers
tricksters in a modern context

always a question with rootsblog of
if im telling too many secrets

because im a writer i have to walk the line
much of my destinywork is underground but my mythwork entails
working in the public eye

thats what writers do, put they bidness in the street
its a fine line to walk, a writer and a destinyplayer too

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

hello all

i too am a devotee of gullah jack
& blessed w/one of papa gede nibo beys gullahjack hands

what speaks to me about gullahjack is that of all the slaverytime revolutionaries
natturner, denmarkvesey, gabrielprosser, etc - gullahjack stayed true

the others sanctified struggle thru christian imagery
gullah jack sanctified struggle thru african rites

thats my boy, and i dont think it was so much that he was shucking and jiving
as making himself look unthreatening in whatever mode was available to him

trickeration always been and will be our strongest power
we aint never moved away from trickeration

its just the nature of it evolve as we do
but trickeration got to have intent

trickeration designed to just get over aint trickeration
at least not in the sense we want to hoodoo define it

then instead of you got the demon the demon got you
and you liable to find yourself a tool used against us

trickeration should be designed to flip the script
turn the tables - hit a straight lick w/a crooked stick

as long as we weak our game got to be trickeration

many of us work for the powers that be
or trying to accumulate power in the name of the community
that bring us into strategic interaction w/the powers of this world

we spooks sitting by the door

if the true powers of this world took us serious at what we do
if they thought we had a chance of really flipping the script
they would take us out without hardly a blink it would be so easy

like they did lumumba or martin

or the sharecroppers of the delta during the voting rights struggle
who lost home, livelihood and sometimes life when they
truly challenged the statusquo

if we real about power and saving/empowering blackfolk
our only camoflauge is trickery, seeming to be less than we are

but that dont have to be buffoonery, that's a little too oldschool

its about appearing unthreatening on the surface,
apparent acceptance of the rules of the game

(i take refuge in art myself - its just fiction  - or research, or mystical fantasies -
conversation piece magic, dont take me seriously ha ha)

even better since you want to be an acknowledged player (least i do)
is appearing useful, then the game is in play

in this mediabased world you want to be a player (influential in human affairs) you got to raise your profile, but at the sametime you dont want the world knowing all your business - got to shape that metaimage, the one the world sees, maintain it, put that hoodoo traveling spirit to work

rickydoc is an edifice that i work at everyday

in the metauniverse of the web
a virtual reality power that will shape its realworld manifestation

gaming these days is trickier than it was when i was coming up
got to be comfortable in the metaverse

got to have crossover skilz, able to deal real comfortable w/two faces
your multiculti face and your blackface

and let it be done in all sincerity
in the name of the conqueror

as we move into power, that same old trickeration becomes strategy -
the key that opens all locks

i would you my people
be masters of strategy

the key that opens all locks

word by
rickydoc flowers

awaken the sleeper
protect the weak
guide the strong

delusions, illusions and other such trickery: if i am in truth the hope of the race, we in bigger trouble than we thought

THURSDAY MORNING

finally - im outta here
see you in the delta

good lord willing and the
crick dont rise

24 hour drive, done it a million times
ima be kicking it a little cause im running late
watch over me queenmother tubman
get me thru

bless my journey

your devoted traveler
rickydoc

WEDNESDAY

on selling the port and feeling the heat

bush makes a good case of trusting arab countries
that have aligned themselves with us in current conflict

but instinct says no, especially when confronted w/a done deal no debate
another example of the bush administrations arrogance/secrecy

interesting watching bush squirm on an issue he has wielded
so ruthlessly against others - looking weak on security

apparently the port security gaps are huge and ignored and have
very little to do with nationality of who owns the port own/rents/whatever
but this will expose their cavalier attitude towards security that isnt political

they claiming now that bush didnt know about the deal until the controversy hit

this is supposed to make us feel better - that he was once again clueless
about such a politically fraught and security related decision

the gang that couldnt shoot straight has fired off another misguided wmd
its amazing how tone deaf they can sometimes be

what tickles me is that it challenges his reputation for being strong on terror/security
makes him look as silly and uncaring (as usual) to folk who have  been inclined
to give him benefit of the doubt

the question is do any of us feel more secure because of bushs policies
(invading iraq, torture as policy, imperial presidencies, civilliberties violations, fantasy budgets, et al) and the answer is no, the world does not feel safer, not by a longshot, if anything it has gotten frightfully surreal

another interesting development is haitis preval welcoming aristedes return

thats got to be a ticklish situation for him - it will inflame aristedes
enemies just when preval needs to reach out ot them and aristede
may contend for the allegiance of haitis poor

preval was once aristedes deputy and presidential place holder
it will be difficult for preval & aristede to get beyond that history of allegiance

but preval could not in honor take any other position

when asked what date he could return, aristede said it was up to 'my president'
good move aristede, i hope he realizes whats at stake here

i think preval is the best hope haiti has had in a very long time
perhaps since l'overture

finishing apps, be on the road by morning
delta bound and hard tripping

be well
rdoc

MONDAY

more buked and scornment

i love comments, that sense of dialogue
the few comments i get are mostly laudatory but i would
welcome comments that truly challenge me

was all excited i had a comment on this one but then i read it
she called me wise one,  would like to think thats sincere but i believe its sarcasm

also scoffs at african american instrumentality
in global and domestic matters

ah but we do have influence, slim pickings to be sure but influence nevertheless,
our positions are often taken into consideration when america makes a move,
domestic or foreign, if for no other reason than to avoid our complaints

we do keep our finger on the pulse and if nothing else, there is a power in that

(rootgame entails maximal effect, minimal effort - study the strategic dynamics until you can get your hand on the roots of things and effect true change with the slightest nudge - now thats what i call rootwork)

other countries and institutions like the un also tend to factor us
specially in matters regarding africa and the caribbean

a variant of the jewish diasporic model, a weak variant to be sure

granted we arent very strong and we dont carry much weight in the world
(im working on that, im working on it) but we do bring some heat if we so choose

(witness the south african disinvestment campaign, we were deep in that - of course our
failures - rwanda, the sudan, haiti, liberia, new guinea, et al - have been legion)

in order to activate and empower that heat, i got to define its existence and nurture its seeds

got to act as if we do in truth have power, assess ongoing developments in that power mode, strategize based on its supposition and eventually we will truly know power

or go down fighting
instead of just go down

it is magical expectation that reality will follow
perception fueled w/enabling infrastuctures

in this case the proof is in the pudding
the sudanese have named us an enemy
and well they should

doing the best we can

i would like to be an illuminating force in the world and only that
but my people are in a war for their survival and it is a war prophet i must be

word
by rickydoc

ps: answer to question in comment below:
it do whatever i want it to

bound for the holyground
still buried in apps - but almost done

worked on rest for the weary friday and it was good
it was very good

rod jackman, fellow newren workshop member, emailed me last week
guess he detected i felt a little discouraged after last workshop

he said basically that every writer ever did something new
ignored the rules and did it they way - go for what you know

i needed that - that reinforcement of my own desperate mantra
i believe i believe i believe
i believe in this novel, i believe in me, i believe i believe i believe

good vibrations probably contributed to fridays spike, gon ride the pony
long as i can

looks like i got to go to the delta
family matters require my presence

sister been taking care of my mama 24/7 since her last stroke
now she in the hospital and my mama in the hospital too

and its like damn i guess its my turn do the care taking
hopefully just for a minute (praying for my sister on many levels)

but right now she need a little backup, she so worried about my mama
she cant concentrate on her own healing

so guess im bound
for the holyground

1st time since katrina
and already im tripping

always got research projects for rest
that i can do only in the delta

so its my novel, my family and my holyground
and all of them going thru changes, thats a very heady brew

already im tripping
opening up to the universe
whether i want to or not

down spirit down, get thee down
aint got time to be tripping

so much work to do
so much work undone

all my love
all my love to you all

rdoc

SATURDAY

those who see

un considering taking over darfur mission from overwhelmed african union troops
sudan fighting it and depictions of situation as genocide

sudanese foreign ministry complained pressure on them
being wielded by us congress and the 'african american lobby'

i was tickled to see that

one, to see that he thought the african american lobby influential on this issue
two, that he thinks there is one
and three, that he realizes we are his implacable enemies

guardians at the gate
and defenders of the black world

i seem to be attached to that phrase dont i - guardian at the gate
ima have to play with that in rest for the weary - ascribe it to the conqueror
make it a central motif (god i wish this novel would stop growing)

word by
rickydoc trickmaster

guardian at the gate

mythwork and
african american leadership in the 21st century

speaking of word by rickydoc

i believe im going to tell you something dear
surfer that i generally keep to myself

o i imply it all the time but you dont out and out say these things
it is insufficiently humble to claim significance

you hear a lot these days about black americas lack of leadership
in the 21st century

this is incorrect, black america got leadership
they got me

problem is they dont realize it yet
except those who see

bes that way sometime when you an ideological orchestrator
hoodoo destinywork based on shaping generations and you may not
get no play in your lifetime - comes with the territory

but for me to make what i see reality, in order that i truly conjure
i must conduct myself as if i am in truth what i aspire to be

a prophet of the hoodoo way

a visionary in the line of o killens
showing the way and opening paths

a destinyplayer

i dont go around huffing and puffing it and
i dont go around trying to convince nobody

but i will conduct myself as if i am in truth what i aspire to be
and i will expect reality to bend itself to my will - this is the essence of conjuration

so future posts will increasingly reflect that headset
i will show the way

and let the generations decide
how well i played the game

i am Mythmaker

it is my nature and training to maintain a low profile
i work best in the shadows - but im 55 now and if i dont
bust the move now when will i

got to manifest publically and
accept the ridicule, gon do what i was meant to do

my biggest problem of course is that im slack
i must be bout the slackest holyman ever been

most of the time im stumbling, fumbling
and fucking up

and sometimes i fear
that if i am in truth the hope of the race
we in bigger trouble than we thought

hangingtough
rickydoc flowers

hollywood and magical negroes. reverend nagin and the black belt south, medicare scams and two headed men

FRIDAY
yesterday i just took 3 hours noveltime, couldnt afford it, just took it
everyday that i see a 3 hour block laying around ima take it

that means everyday something got to suffer
but i will pay that freight

bush privatization scheme #1

to understand the snafus roiling the medicare drug rollout
you got to remember that it was designed to be a scam
like privatizing social security

it was not designed to help seniors
it was designed to let pharma/insurance companies raid, rob and plunder
the government and old folk too

instead of a clean & simple federal program
it was designed to make the fat cats richer
and actually make it harder on seniors to get drug coverage

w/doughnuts holes and other unnecessary functions
designed to look like coverage w/o actually being coverage

the tipoff is that the government is not allowed to
bargain for lower prices from big pharma

the tipoff is that the main author of the program
billy tanzin of louisiana, quit as soon as it was enacted
to become the president of big pharmas lobbying arm

the tipoff is that they misled the american people
no, forget that weak euphemism, they strategically and blatantly lied to us
tricked and bamboozled us like they did with iraq
and tried to do w/social security

remember how they told congress/the people it would only cost 400 billion
a month after it was enacted they corrected themselves, oops looks like 535 billion
turns out medicare actuarial guy knew it all along and was told he would be fired
if he told congress the real cost and now the estimated cost is a 700 billion giveaway
to the rich and powerful on the backs of the old and the sick

how can they sleep at night

and now the chickens are coming home to roost (those that can still flutter)
in the most vulnerable population we have - the old, the sick and the poor

(anyday now most of us will be clocking at least 2 out of 3, this affects us all
- and our parents too)

and now old folk sick and dying because of the bush administrations
unbelievably callous attitude toward people- use them anyway they can -
use them up

an administration that would have been happier only if the old folk
had been drugless, pensionless and social securityless too

the bush administration and its crooked congressional allies
are an abomination and ive lost my little ironic distance on this one

folk keep saying katrina been americas worst disaster to date
but far as rickydoc is concerned its been george w. bush

and his cronies in crime

what do you think

rdoc

THURSDAY
a two headed man

my boy melvin gibbs got more faces than the legal law allow

nwego's child: rootwork, the ancestral mindmeld
hoodoo-philsopher
sonic hoodoo

fractal solomon & snake 2g

excerpt from sonic hoodoo

When the universe began it began as a vibration, a throb,
"a kind of movement" Tantric philosophy says.
The technical term for this vibration is Spanda.
This throb, this "kind of movement" propagates through the universe.
It could be said that this vibration, this wave exists in different forms at
different levels of existence.
But the more correct way of viewing, Spanda, the vibratory wave is that this
wave exists as the different levels of existence.

this from hoodoo philsopher                    

rootwork today: hoodoo at the crossroads

This thing that people call hoodoo has a certain energy that powers it that has to be respected for it to work. If you try to turn it into something that it isn’t it just wont work right if it works at all.

Even if you wanted to consider rootwork folk magic (which I don’t) you’d have to admit folk magic implies a connection to a larger “folk” culture of which it’s part of and which defines it and its’ parameters. Otherwise we’d just be talking about one worldwide folk culture. The fact that rootwork/ hoodoo exists and has a definition is proof enough of what I’m talkin ‘bout. Defining African-American practices in terms of European culture and cultural values is the EXACT OPPOSITE of what the Old Skool rootworkers/hoodooists did. What they did was this: Develop and define a culture in terms of the values and technologies they and their parents carried inside of them when they got here in concert and in combination with others who shared their same cultural condition.

Whatever ingredients they used and developed were defined and incorporated for use in terms of their own culture and technology.

When they used Native American or European cultural practices they incorporated them in terms of and using African cultural practices and technology. This process of incorporating European and Native American practices and harmonizing them in terms of and to African practices is what created African-American culture.

Let me put it this way. When you hear classical music sampled on lets say, a Dr. Dre track is he using it in terms of European cultural values or the rules laid down by European musical theorists? No, he’s jackin’. He’s using it in terms of his own musical culture, the hip-hop culture and its’ own musical rules. If you took all the ingredients Dre uses to make a track and gave them to a classical composer and told to make a composition using only those ingredients you wouldn’t get a hip-hop track back. You’d get some classical music, made with classical musical rules and techniques. And conversely if took a classical orchestra to a Dr. Dre session and told Dre to make a track using only them he’d comeback with a hip-hop track and probably a hot one.

Anyone using 1920’s African-American energy manipulation techniques outside of their cultural and philosophical paradigm is spell jackin’. Placing those practices inside an alien paradigm causes the power they had to be emptied an replaced by the power of the new paradigm. They lose the power they had and become a subset of other, seemingly weaker practices. As a concrete example, I’ve seen online where people say that hoodoo is an ephemeral practice where the spells die quickly and have to be done again and again. I can guarantee you that “real” rootworkers alive today would disagree with that assessment and even a careful reading of Hyatt’s informers would contradict it as well.

Conversely spell jackin’ into the African based A-A cultural and philosophical paradigms the Essence of what rootwork/hoodoo is. This is due to the same process of reculturalization ( I think I just made a preacher word). Whatever it was becomes emptied and replaced through African- based energy manipulation techniques passed down to us today, in the same way Dr. Dre or Kanye West empty and replace musical “spells” to make their music.

                      Same crossroad, different destination.

                      Uhh, I feel another preacher word uh-huh  Comin’ on - uhh

                     Destin-A-tion! - uh - huh
                     the Power! - uhh
                     of finding your way - huh
                      yaa-suh (congregation interjects)
                     Which way will you Go !? - huh
                     When you get - uh-huh
                     To the Crossroads? - uh

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

melvins daytime gig is playing guitar
his nighttime gig im not sure, cause he a 2 headed man

spell jacking

this what he told me when i asked why 3 blogs
i have enuf trouble handling 1

"Ngewo's Chlid is an alternate energy to snake2G
snake2G is kinda confrontational
Ngewo's Child is much more sagacious and calm and has nothing to prove
Sonic Hoodoo is me talkin about what I know well "

interesting
really got to get my links updated

i like that concept - spelljacking
you gon hear more of that

in struggle

rdoc

WEDNESDAY
preach brother

my first reaction was kneejerk
nagin said what?

but once i heard the soundbites on gods positions:

"surely he doesn't approve of us being in Iraq under false pretences. but surely he is upset at black america also"

i couldnt argue with that
then him and god start indicting black men:

"we are not taking care of ourselves. we are not taking care of our women, and we are not taking care of our children when you have a community where 70% of its children are being born to one parent."

well im thinking, this is rather juicy, then come the real wingdinger:

"I don't care what people are saying uptown or wherever they are. this city will be chocolate at the end of the day. this city will be a majority african-american city. its the way god wants it to be."

o he gon take some incoming for that
and i know, like whitefolk who get caught speaking in code
he gon commence to backing up and clarifying

nonono, i didnt say what you thought you heard
chocolate he saying now is "a combination of dark chocolate and white milk"

thats kind of weak brother, you gon have to dance better than that
elections in a couple of months and folk scattered to the 4 corners
in the past hes depended on white support so he dancing on shaky ground

in spite of my own prophetic aspirations i generally dismiss folk
who got that direct connection to god

but in this case i might let it slide

cause i feel you brother nagin, i feel the frustration
and im glad to get a glimpse of where your heart is in this matter
i was concerned that you was doing the bidding of basinstreet fatcats in this matter
still am but im resting a little easier knowing you got that direct line to god

and forget that chocolate city rhetoric, much too timid,
doesnt have the solidity of "the black belt "

every other major city in the black belt south is majority black
a sisterhood of which new orleans is the mardi gra queen
im assuming new orleans gon be less black but not not black
(like some folk want, nagin aint the onliest one been talking in code)

just as im assuming we gon make a way
out of no way - like god trained us to

in struggle
rdoc

TUESDAY
the days of wine and roses are gone

well, the 1st day of school and me without a syllabus
for my tuesday class, fortunately its a class ive done often
and should have an old syllabus updated by 3

god i loved being a free man
but if you must work for a living, then teaching it is

my approaching to teaching is somewhat mystical
teaching young writers is what i do, getting paid for it is gravy

gon update rootsblogs links this week
and put two columns on rootsblog, one on each side, been wanting to do that
for awhile now, looks more professional to me, but its going to mess up
my formatting and i fear i will have to reformat 2 years worth of posts
thats not gon happen notime soon

okay a couple of quick comments and im off to the plantation
just kind of set them up, issues i want to comment on, flesh them out later

im really pulling for the iron lady of liberia, do your thing girl

has nagin lost his mind, says god is mad at neworleans, whats up with that

haitian elections coming up, born and bred in the usa, no win possible

explosion of the black blogosphere, got to update my links

okay, im feeling a little pressured here, i got to go
im schoolhouse bound

later

rdoc

MONDAY, MARTIN LUTHER KINGS BIRTHDAY
hollywood and the magical negro

hello world, i been working like a fiend
last two days of woodshed and taking no prisoners

was thinking just now about hollywood and the magical negro
some of my hoodoo colleagues are offended by hollywoods
treatment of the magical negro

all the movies where the negro with magical powers
helps some whiteperson become whole

the green mile, baggervance, ghost, the one where morgan freeman plays god, etc etc
i havent seen these pictures cause you know i just dont have the time
for hollywood interps of magical negroes - they probably offend me too

i read one review of bagger vance that said here was a magical negro in the
apartheid south and all he can find to do with his powers is
help some whiteboy with his golf game

but the trope of the magical negro im a big fan of
cause im trying to position hoodoo as the spiritual adviser of america
as the spiritual adviser of the world

reason this is potentially possible is because we are perceived as
one of the worlds magical peoples

like the jews, the nativeamericans, hindu and asians, etc
at our best african americans are perceived in the popular culture as spiritual and magical

this often leads to questionable and sensationalist interps by hollywood
and always in context of whitefolks - but what else do we expect from hollywood
the salient factor is that popular culture considers us a magical people

as do we, at our best

i want to position hoodoo as one of the worlds great spiritual/magical traditions
the worlds acknowledged spiritual advisers, reprising a role the jews have historically played
and manifested through unique mythwork and ideological achievement

to do this my primary goal is rebuilding and empowering africanamerican culture
emphasing its illumination over is equally powerful dysfunction

and a major aspect of that is shaping the worlds perception of it, accentuating the positive
eliminating the negative and hanging on to the in between

so this impression of us as a magical people is right down my alley
ima leverage that into true power

hollywoods interp is part of a cultural perception that will manifest
itself in ways both crude and profound - we just got to accentuate the positive
and leverage everything in the world as a matter of cultural empowerment

my hoodoo mantra is
awaken the sleeper protect the weak guide the strong

that role is possible precisely because the world thinks we are a magical people
and at our best, we are

rickydoc trickmaster
wouldbe prophet of the hoodoo way

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

de geas of rickydoc: i have had a vision and this is what i see

hello world
been working on a performance piece
gon be my signature piece

still fumbling with it
but im getting better w/it
decided its a kalimba piece
always have to decide if a piece works better
with kalimba or mouthharp
this is a kalimba

what i do is do it over and over in the ipod
listen to it over and over and see whats working
and whats not and just keep doing it until i
can do it in my sleep

its weak now and i pity the audiences ill be trying it on
the next couple of months but eventually this will be
my signature piece

what i would like to do is put this on podcast
got to see if thats viable,got to figure that out

latest version:  i am rickydoc  (w/kalimba and ankle bells)
first stanzas sung, go into chantmode on i am rickydoc, intimate on troubles & tribulations
end in prayer/preaching mode

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

(this section sung, so kalimba got to be tight, ive learned to start easy)

i am rickydoc rootdoctor, i am the hoodooman
i am the firstborn son of a delta hoodoo clan
i have got the power, get it while you can
a gift from rickydoc rootdoctor, i am the hoodooman

i know everything  -  that there is to know
secrets that you thought you had  - you dont have no more
love    power   money -   even serenity
tell me what you want my friend  - and i will give you what you need

cause im rickydoc rootdoctor - and i am the hoodooman

(refrain - still singing  - sometimes singing works sometimes it doesnt,
if it doesnt sound like its working i segue into chant earlier)

i raise the sun up in the morning - put the blues out at night
whatever gon wrong in your life - rickydoc will make it right

cause im rickydoc rootdoctor - i am the hoodooman

(segue into chant mode:)

i am rickydoc rootdoctor
i am mythmaker
a weaver of conjure, 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 left hands and seared mouthharp lungs
come to call through fierce arrogant hunger   to me o mighty race
for ive had visions    ive seen the promised land
i have seen the promised land

and this is what i see
i see a people tall and strong, a powerful people
an illuminated people, a culture is spread out
amongst the stars and leading humanity to its ever greater self

this is what i see  -  a people marching unto eternity
guide and guardian of humanitys destiny

it is i, rickydoc rootdoctor
speak in the name of the old gods, of olodumare and nkulunkulu
of nyame and legba and oshun, i works for mr conqueroo

the conqueror

it is i, rickydoc rootdoctor
come to call you firstborn   you who walked first on two feet
humanities living ancestors and gods true chosen
should not the first be the last

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

i will give you the stars

listen firstborn to the geas of rickydoc and i will give you power
i will give you responsibility for humanitys march unto its ever greater self

i ask then that you accept responsibility not only for your own destiny
but the destiny of all peoples and all jah creature great and small

if you would reclaim your legacy as gods holy instrument you must stand on higher ground
stand up you mighty race and god will give you power - stand up you mighty race

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

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, gods true chosen

(segue into intimate mode  - bluessung)

and when the hardtimes come, they always do
i want you to hold on, be strong,
you fight the battles friend   no one else could win

and the next time that you find yourself in trouble
i want you to remember what the old bluesdoctor said

every goodby aint gone, cause you sick dont mean you dead
lord know that trouble dont last always

long as you hold on, long as you growing strong
you fight the battles friend no one else could win

(segue into healing mode - prayer)

we have gathered here this evening in the name of the word
the almighty and healing word, that condition been bothering you
we gon leave that behind

when you come see me you check your troubles at the door
im the hoodooman

so when you wake up in the morning
wake up with the understanding that today gon be a day of struggle
that today gon be a brand new day
today ima fight the battle nobody else could win

awaken the sleeper
protect the weak
guide the strong

and when you need me
you call me
i will come
i am rickydoc

that it all
it is done

gods blessings on us all
gods blessings on us all

katrina commentary: call to action: conference/march from miss to neworleans: dec 8,9,10 (and a couple of my thoughts on what really should be done)

hello world

received this katrina call to action over the black radical congress list
dont know who sponsoring organization is, an email address but no link - unfortunate

the presentation is not as sophisticated as i would prefer it be
and no attendant website further indication of  perhaps not ready for primetime activism
which is really unfortunate cause struggle in the 21st century got to be primetime

needs editing too but im gon to put it up as i received it 

had i been asked i would have suggested changing the tone of it also

something a little less predictable (thereby less dismissible)
folk hear that same old rhetoric it goes in one ear and out the other
unless you already a true believer

and i would have dumped the repeated attempts to link katrina to reparations

(i had hoped we were going to let reparations slide for awhile - i had hoped
katrina would make it clear to black activists that it is a new day (hell its a new
century)  - and that oldtime gimme gimme needs to be left behind w/the dodo bird - 

notice how they mention  self determination almost everytime they mention reparations, 

cause they know thats where the hole in the wall - ohwell im not going to worry
about it, strategically speaking reparations is a dead end street and eventually we gon come
to the end of that road - and i do make a distinction between reparations
for slavery and the government helping its citizens after a natural disaster - thats
what i expect of any government - calling that reparations instead of disaster aid
confuses the issue and makes it less likely - clumsy rhetoric points is all that is)

but i have to give credit where credit is due (the folk in the arena 
always get some slack, i depend on that myself) - they trying to bust the move 
and i love them for it
eventually they will get around to asking me about them archaic strategies

what i wish this crowd would do instead is get busy

get up in there and start rebuilding them blocks one by one
just get busy, imtalking strongbusy, then get folk to get and keep necessary funding going
if folk were in there habitat of humanity style, just building with whatever they
got the world would get behind that with the necessary funding and expertise

im talking dahomeyan dopkwe, im talking collective work, 
one of the black nationalist verities 

im not down, im in my own struggle, but the new orleans folk need to be
throwing down with the fuck this attitude, with the no god we aint accepting this
attitude, we gon raise these barns together one by one until we done attitude - 

forget waiting for the federal government to save us - legbas beard, if this dont 
convince us to move on what will

obviously not the whole answer, im talking about the limbo folk in
cause im feeling that spiritual pain, my hoodoo feelers been twitching bad

other issues like making sure it doesnt happen again (wetlands & levees)
and better prep for when it does 
and other such have to constitute a comprehensive approach but i need to
get folk into hearth and home, either in new orleans or elsewhere, and i for
one am not willing to give up new orleans, not new orleans, one of the 
afrospiritual and artistic centers of the americas, of the world, no, not new orleans

in the meantime i am relieved to see the activist community busting a move
of any sort
cause the condition of the katrina survivors getting worse off every day

i know some of them and they are caught in this catch 22
neworleans wont let them back in their homes/neighborhoods
they getting mortgage and eviction threats
insurance company balking for one friend cause they say his 9th ward house
isnt really totally destroyed just almost destroyed and therefore not eligible
and fema help is just a frustrating joke
for folk scattered across the country and living in shelters, hotelrooms and 
with tired of it all family

folk really depressed, both katrinafolk and their hosts
and there seems to be no end in sight
because the bush administration and fema not even trying to help
beyond a politically motivated minimum they just dont care 
about them people and their indifference becomes more glaring every day

the anger that attended the original tragedy continues to grow
and bush just a fiddling

folk gon have to take matters into their own hands
this march is just the beginning - that anger reaching critical mass

i was reading where fema feared riots in mississippi
the possibility of civil disorder is still there

mark my words

(unless of course they listen to me and use that energy
to get to building - ima go ahead and put this commentary
on some venues but i dont expect its gon do the do - none
of the others have - dont know why i still hit it, just dont know
no other way to be - in my deepest soul i believe in the 
power of the word)

rickydoc trickmaster
wouldbe prophet of the hoodoo way

awaken the sleeper
protect the weak
guide the strong

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

THE CALL!
FROM OUTRAGE TO ACTION !!!

********************************************** 

STATE OF EMERGENCY CONFERENCE AND SURVIVORS 

GENERAL ASSEMBLY, JACKSON, MS

DECEMBER 8, 9, 2005 

************************** 

MARCH ON NEW ORLEANS 

DECEMBER 10, 2005 

“DEMAND THE RIGHT TO RETURN”

On December 8, 2005 through December 10, 2005 scores of survivors and

their supporters,(people who believe in freedom and justice) will gather in

Jackson, MS and New Orleans. We will gather for the National State of

Emergency Conference in Jackson on the 8th and 9th of December. Supporters and

representatives and leaders from over 50 black organizations, and labor unions

and their third world and anti-racists allies will meet in support and

solidarity of the survivors initiate an action plan to rescue the black

population and all oppressed populations from their dependency on racist and

incompetent governments. Most important the Katrina Survivors will gather at

the same place and time to form a General Assembly to speak for themselves and

to exercise their rights to self determination.

Survivors have raised the demands are for immediate jobs, education, housing,

clothing and food. Survivors have made the demand to place the control and

direction of Gulf Coast reconstruction in their hands. Survivors demand

opportunity to exercise the right to return to the Gulf Coast with dignity and

without poverty. Survivors have demand ed a complete investigation into and

prosecution of all government agencies for crimes against humanity and human

rights violations.

 LOCATION OF EVENTS

On December 8, 2005 7pm-11pm the youth will speak out on Katrina at the

Business School of Jackson State University at 1300 Lynch Street, Jackson, MS, room 134.

On December 9, 2005 from 9am-6pm in the State of Emergency Conference the

survivors will tell their stories and conference participants will organize

for action in support of Katrina Survivors demands and to build a front which

will confront and combat the racist and abusive human rights violations of the

American Government and its friends.

The General Assembly and the Conference will take place at Anderson United

Methodist Church, located in Jackson, MS at

6205 Hanging Moss Road, off I-220.

On Friday evening December 9, 2005 from 8pm-11pm there will be a cultural

program and rally at a location to be announced in Jackson, MS.

On Saturday, December 10, 2005 which is International Human Rights Day. The

survivors and their supporters (all of us) will march on New Orleans in

support of all the survivors demands and in particular in support of the right

of the survivors to return to the Gulf Coast.

OBJECTIVES

The Objectives of the December 8-10, 2005 Assembly/Conference and the

Demonstration are as follows:

1. To build a Hurricane Katrina Survivors General Assembly which will speak

for the Gulf Coast Survivors and which will demand and exercise the peoples

right to self determination in New Orleans and other effected gulf coast areas

in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

2. To demand the people’s right to return to New Orleans and to the

Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coast with dignity and without poverty.

3. To demand reparations for the governments’ criminal indifference,

negligence, and malicious actions towards the Victims and Survivors, before,

during and after Katrina.

4. To demand, launch and/or continue investigations, law suits and

prosecutions of governments, agencies and persons responsible for the human

rights violations and crimes against humanity committed before, during and

after Katrina.

5. To build a national united front in support and solidarity with the self

determination and reparation demands of Katrina Survivors, and through this

front to design and initiate a plan of action and institutions which will

allow black people to fortify themselves and serve their own needs in the face

of future disasters which are either natural or by human hands.

6. To link today’s demands for reparations and self determination to the

historical and future struggle of black people and other oppressed populations

for self determination and reparations.

THE BACKGROUND

On August 29, 2005 Katrina struck New Orleans and the Gulf Coast with the full

force of a category 5 hurricane. Within hours flood waters would rush the City

of New Orleans pouring out of an outdated levee system that, due to years of

gross and blatant government neglect, was not prepared to withstand Katrina’s

powerful winds. Quickly these waters would find and swallow up the city’s

blackest and poorest communities. Indeed many reported hearing explosions

before seeing the advancing waters. This has left some to conclude that the

floods invaded some black communities and missed some white ones not by chance

but by design.

For many there was a memory of 1927 when white business owners busted

the levee in black areas in order to guide the water away from their

businesses and affluent communities. This history supported the belief that

Katrina flood waters found their way to the jet black ninth ward and East New

Orleans by design.

Within days after Katrina struck, dead bodies, mostly black bodies,

floated through the streets, as ambulances and helicopters rushed passed black

and poor victims toward white and affluent communities, leaving the

economially less advantaged and the black to fend for themselves.

The situation would produce countless acts of heroism and courage as

men, women and children would reach out to each other and save the lives of

family, friends and strangers as government agencies and the red cross either

rushed to the aid of the affluent and the white or dilly dallied as the

devastation and disaster mushroomed. The survivors would seek refuge in the

New Orleans Super Dome and at the Civic Center as they would gather and then

wait for buses which took three, four and often five and six days to come. The

people waited in dangerous and unhealthy conditions without clean clothing,

water, electricity, toiletries, and often without food.

The major media would turn away, ignore or fail to show the peoples act

of courage and heroism and become preoccupied with what they termed acts of

thugs. Although there were few if any gun shot casualties reported to any law

enforcement or medical personnel, the media repeatedly ran stories on phantom

shootings at police and medical aids by so called armed thugs, while

broadcasting over and over again the same picture of the same few people

carrying gym shoes, clothing, food, and in one case a T.V. from a few stores.

To the major media blacks seeking and finding food from abandoned stores were

looters, while whites doing the same were identified as having found food.

The Governor of Louisiana would call on State and local law enforcement

to shoot to kill the so-called looters. The numbers of those gunned down by

police and National Guards are suspected to be at least thirty (30). In

Mississippi and New Orleans many were herded into jail with high bonds for

petty larceny or on other exaggerated charges.

When the buses finally arrived, blacks and much of the poor were taken

to so called shelters and placed in concentration camp like conditions at gun

point. Whites and the more affluent were transported to white churches and

other facilities and shelters.

Across the country outrage has grown and still grows as the criminal

indifference and mistreatment by the U. S. Government, FEMA, the Red Cross,

State Governments, Local Governments and others towards the survivors and

victims of hurricane Katrina became and still becomes more and more apparent.

The outrageousness of the behavior of these Governments and agencies

becomes even more obvious, as Katrina survivors were left with little money,

without homes, jobs and dignity and some without their children who could not

be found and nowhere have the American governments given adequate help or

shown genuine concern. Survivors seeking help have been shuffled from the Red

Cross, to FEMA, to insurance companies and back to the Red Cross again without

and have received little relief and full recovery is nowhere in sight. The

insurance companies refuse to pay for homes lost, FEMA pays too little, too

slow. Large numbers of Red Cross workers are racist, often dishonest, and

unreliable at best. The U.S.Government, the State and Local governments

involved and big time money changers go forward on plans to rebuild New

Orleans without most of its displaced black and poor populations. Meanwhile

hundreds of Katrina survivors linger in jail charged with a variety of

illegitimate charges, and well over 1,000 families of Katrina and the

government’s brutal neglect have buried their dead and no compensation for

wrongful death has been offered or seriously considered.

The burden of suffering and financial loss will once again be slung on

the back of the poor and a nation of black people which already finds millions

of its people in poverty, prison and jails, many being held as political

prisoners. This cross is to be carried by a nation of people already owed

reparation for centuries of slave trade, slavery, Jim Crow, lynching,

discrimination and countless other acts of lawlessness.

 Remembering the horrors of Katrina and the history of racial and class

oppression is not enough. The time has come to turn outrage to action.

CONTACT INFORMATION 

For further information call 1-888-310-PHRF(7473), or call 601-353-5566, or

email outrage2action@yahoo.com 

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