Top Climate Scientist on the Monster Tornadoes: It Is Irresponsible Not to Mention Climate Change
Brad Johnson, ThinkProgress: "Each tragedy that occurs - such as the terrible outbreak of tornadoes and flooding storms this week in the South - reminds us of that awesome power, which is beyond our control and at the limits of our comprehension. We have also learned that humanity is meddling with that power, primarily through the burning of coal and oil that increases the amount of heat trapped in the atmosphere and oceans. Scientists have been warning our leaders for decades that this interference with the climate system is dangerous, and have worked tirelessly to explain how these threats are now coming to pass."
Read the Article

RETURNING TO AFRICA WITH LOVE -Farewell Hodari

Hodari Ali was our gentle warrior. He came to us after our dreamers and long distance runners. I remember being with him at the 6^th Pan African Congress in Tanzania in 1974. It was an early morning and we were walking across the campus of the University of Dar Es Salaam. Hodari had packed some music and – suddenly the sound of John Coltrane’s “ A Love Supreme” greeted the dawn. Coltrane never sounded so good.  It was my first time in Africa, and Hodari made it a moment I would not forget. He was doing what he did best, spreading the Good News. Hodari helped to spread the “gospel” of Pan Africanism. He taught us how to understand Islam. Like Malcolm he was another black shinning prince. When he wore his African robes it reminded us of our royalty. Many might mention how Zora Neale Hurston named The Hilltop newspaper at Howard University; I hope history remembers  it was Hodari who took this publication to new heights when he served as editor. He created a newspaper for black people that encouraged us to be global and prepare ourselves for the world stage. Yes, Hodari was visionary, when too many of us embraced excuses for doing nothing. He built bookstores during a time when we had a hunger for black classics and not simply literary pork. He built  stores that represented economic Black Power. He built a magazine distribution network long before the Internet. Like Elijah, he was our messenger, our prophet of blackness, our brother of words and love.  We are a better community because of his courage and hard work. We are better people because of his spirit and wisdom. Ali, Ali, we chant his name and now dance.

-          E. Ethelbert Miller

   

Sad News...

Hodari Ali our beloved brother died today.

ICHIRO WATCH:
Ichiro is off to a good start this season.
His average continues to climb. 2 hits last night.
Batting .319
Looks like another 200 hit season and maybe a batting title.

THE POLL NOBODY WILL TAKE:

How many members of the TEA PARTY watched the ROYAL WEDDING?

E. ETHELBERT MILLER

BASEBALL IS JUST GETTING STARTED.

PEOPLE ARE STILL READING THE 5TH INNING.

http://www.pmpress.org/content/article.php?story=20090216164752198

ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY.

SAVE THE DATE:

October 5- October 9, 2011

2011 ASALH CONVENTION

WWW.ASALH.ORG

When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations.

   - John F. Kennedy

There is the view that poetry should improve your life. I think people confuse it with the Salvation Army.

   - John Ashbery

TRIBUTE TO JOHN CAGE ON SCREEN: 4'33















by E. Ethelbert Miller

REASONS WHY BUT NOT THE ANSWERS TO.

At the same time, more people are also living in areas where tornadoes strike, across the broad band called Tornado Alley in the nation's midsection as well as in the South, so the number of observed and recorded tornadoes has steadily gone up.

The population of the South grew by 14.3 percent over the last decade according to the Census Bureau, compared with 9.7 percent for the nation as a whole. Of those states hardest hit by tornadoes this year, some were among the fastest growing, notably Texas and North Carolina.

Much of the new construction took place on the flat areas of flood plain, meteorologists say, where rains from storms in years past spread across the earth and either evaporated or were absorbed. The water now runs across pavement, seeking lower ground rendered more vulnerable to flood.


 - The New York Times, April 29, 2011 

BOB MOSES

SNCC LIVES!
Thanks to an invite from Karen Spellman, I stuck my head into the Howard University's Browsing Room (Founders Library) this afternoon. There in a small space were the folks who gave birth to struggle in the early 1960s. Whew - Bob Moses, Courtland Cox, Charlie Cobb, Bernice Reagon....
All you had to do was observe these folks and you realized they were all long-distance runners. They were also close in spirit; Not simply brothers and sisters but actually comrades. People connected by belief as well as blood and blackness.

I had a wonderful time today at the Washington Seniors Wellness Center in SE Washington. I read poems and talked politics. The entire group consisted of lovely women. One person (94) read some of her poems to me.
Much laughter before noon. The group informed me that membership at the Center starts at age 60. Well, I guess that includes me these days.

AFRICA AND THE DIASPORA: The Role and Potential of Region 6.

I was on a panel yesterday (Bunche Center, Howard University) with South Africa's Ambassador Rakwena and African Union Ambassador Amina Ali. Discussion was around the upcoming 2012 African Union Summit on the African Diaspora. The African Union established "Region 6", in addition to the five geographic regions of the continent to encompass African descendants living outside the continent in the Diaspora.

Tricycle Daily Dharma
 

The Subtle Twists of Letting Go

From beginning to end, the path of dharma is about letting go. As we let go of one thing along the way, we find ourselves attaching to the next. As we let go of gross attachments, we find our more subtle attachments becoming heightened. For instance, we may let go of clinging to material possessions, but then find ourselves totally attached to our philosophy of simplicity. It is hard to let go of things, harder to let go of ideas, and even harder to let go of spiritual pretensions. Over time, as we familiarize ourselves with the many subtle twists and turns of letting go, we begin to be more savvy about how ego steps in to appropriate the entire process.

-Judy Lief, "Letting Go"

Wednesday, May 4th, 7:00 PM

POET LAUREATE SPRING READING

W. S. Merwin, the 17th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress, will read selections from his extensive work. A book signing and reception will follow the event.

Admission is free, and seating is offered on a first-come first-serve basis.

Coolidge Auditorium

Thomas Jefferson Building

10 First Street S.E.

For directions to the Library visit http://www.loc.gov/visit/directions.html.

---

Did you know?

The human radiation absorption rate is measured in units called millisieverts.

Book Event

May 2, 2011, 6:30pm Alice Walker Book Signing Busboys & Poets, 5th and K location, Cullen Room Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Alice Walker discusses and signs her new book, The Chicken Chronicles. This intimate memoir details her experiences diligently tending a flock of chickens on her California farm along with childhood reflections of growing up in rural Georgia. For more info, visit: http://www.busboysandpoets.com/

THE X FILES:

http://blogs.clarionledger.com/jmitchell/2011/04/25/justice-department-considers-reinvestigation-of-malcolm-x-assassination/

THE VIEW FROM MY OFFICE WINDOW:

I don't know about tomorrow but today the sky has that strange look as if the aliens are about to land.

Cave Canem Workshop in Pittsburgh

Open Enrollment Poetry Workshop
Led by Sheila Carter-Jones
Thursdays, 6-8:30 pm
May 5 - June 16 Final Reading: Saturday, June 18, 6-8:30 pm
The Hill House Association Center, Pittsburgh, PA

This spring, Cave Canem offers an open enrollment poetry workshop at The Hill House Association Center in Pittsburgh, PA, for African American poets at the early-to-intermediate stage of their writing enterprises. Partcipants will attend seven facilitated workshopping sessions; the eighth and final session is a public reading by participants.

Deadline to Enroll: May 2
For details & application guidelines, follow the link below.
Cave Canem Workshop in Pittsburgh

---

CAVE CANEM FOUNDATION, INC. � www.cavecanempoets.org � 718.858.0000
20 Jay Street, Suite 310-A, Brooklyn, NY 11201

NOURA ERAKAT

Wanting to know more about the new developments in the Middle East, I contacted Noura Erakat. She provided me with this link:

 http://electronicintifada.net/node/9879

TOP NEWS

Fatah and Hamas Announce Outline of Deal

By ETHAN BRONNER and ISABEL KERSHNER

Fatah and Hamas, rival Palestinian movements, announced an agreement in principle to end the years-long internal schism.

• Reconciliation Forces U.S. to Reconsider Palestinian Aid

Sam Gilliam will be talking about his visual art on April 30th.
 4 to 5 PM at the Katzen Arts Center (4400 Mass.Ave, NW), American University.

The SeeingBlack.com 411 By the Red-Eye Crew, Compiled with Dispatches from DemocracyNow.org Apr 26, 2011, 22:55

Court Rules Mumia Abu-Jamal’s Death Sentence is Unconstitutional Grants New Sentencing Hearing
The case of Pennsylvania death row prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal took a surprising turn Tuesday when an appeals court unanimously declared his death sentence unconstitutional. It’s the second time the court has done so.

Abu-Jamal is a former Black Panther and journalist. For decades, he has argued racism by the trial judge and prosecutors led to his 1982 conviction of killing Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner.

Two years ago, the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a lower judge who set aside Abu-Jamal’s death sentence after finding jurors were given confusing instructions that encouraged them to choose death rather than a life sentence. The U.S. Supreme Court then ordered the court to reexamine the decision. Now that the ruling has been upheld, Abu-Jamal could get a new sentencing hearing in court before a new jury.

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said he’ll appeal the federal court’s decision to grant a new sentencing hearing for Abu-Jamal.

ROB CASPER

I spent the morning talking with Rob Casper at the Library of Congress Poetry and Literature Center.
www.loc.gov/poetry. Rob is a guy with plenty of ideas. Look for good things to be happening soon on The Hill.

Harryette Mullen in New York City

This Friday & Saturday, acclaimed poet Harryette Mullen celebrates the release of Looking Up Harryette Mullen: Interviews on Sleeping with the Dictionary and Other Works with two events in New York City. Co-sponsored with Poets House & Belladonna*.

Friday, April 29, 7 pm
Resistance is Fertile: A Conversation
Poets House
10 River Terrace
New York City
Harryette Mullen speaks about her playful and deeply political work with fellow poet Barbara Henning. Admission: $10, $7 for students & seniors, free to Poets House members & Cave Canem fellows.

Saturday, April 30, 3 pm
Resistance is Fertile: A Reading
Harryette Mullen with Niki Herd & Camille Rankine
Cave Canem
20 Jay Street, Suite 310-A
DUMBO, Brooklyn
Award-winning poet Harryette Mullen reads with emerging voices Niki Herd and Camille Rankine. Reception to follow. Suggested admission $5-$10 to benefit Cave Canem.

PHOEBE SNOW

TALK TO ME SOME MORE, YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO...

Phoebe Snow is dead at 60

Democracy is an everyday thing. I voted in the special DC election yesterday. There was only one other person in the voting hall waiting to cast a ballot. I was voting for a representative to sit on the school board and also someone to be elected to the at-large city council seat. These are important positions.But only 9.5 per cent of DC voters came out. That's about 43,000. Oh, and we want home rule? If you're sitting on your butt and you're not Rosa Parks you are letting your community down. How can we encourage people to fight for the right to vote overseas and do nothing in our own political sphere?

Dear Arts Advocates:

Funding for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities has been gutted
in the last three years, from over $14 million in FY 09 to under $5
million in FY 11. The District’s FY 12 proposed budget contains further
cuts; the current proposal is $3.92 million to serve all of the arts
organizations, artists, and arts education providers in the District. That
is $3.92 million within a total District FY 12 budget of $10.8 billion.
Contraction in the non-profit arts community is to be expected in this
economy, but policy-makers need to protect those least able to bear
additional burden.

To support the agency that we all benefit from, on Wednesday April 27,
2011 – Arts Advocacy Day – please take a minute to ask DC policy-makers to
support the arts in the District’s FY 12 budget.

Contact Mayor Gray via email at eom@dc.gov or by phone at (202) 727-6300,
and Council Chair Kwame Brown at kbrown@dccouncil.us or (202) 724-8032 and
ask the Mayor and the Council Chair to support the Arts, and to do that by
restoring funding for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities to FY
2010 level – $5.16million.

Sincerely,

Robert Bettmann

Riz Khan - Malcolm X: Who was the man behind the legend?

Until now: With the publication of a warts and all biography that disturbs the widely accepted story of the Muslim leader's life, including controversial insights to his political contradictions and sexual deviations. Some critics have condemned the book as a twisted biography, others say it is a timely reassessment of African-American history.

and gone are my notebook and my pencil
and there I go, too,
erased by my own eraser and blown like shavings off the page.

  - Billy Collins  "Simple Arithmetic"

TIME FOR ME TO BE THE RACIALIST AGAIN. READ RACE INTO THE STORY BELOW. Are we talking about animals or human beings? It's difficult to tell. Happy African American Family Day.

By Paul Duggan and Martin Weil, Monday, April 25, 11:51 PM

The Washington Post.

A teenager was stabbed and seriously wounded in a fight Monday at the National Zoo as the zoo marked African American Family Day. A 16-year-old was arrested and charged in the incident, D.C. police said.

D.C. police Cmdr. Michael E. Reese said the stabbing was connected to “some kind of ruckus” that apparently broke out within the zoo and might have resumed at or near the entrance on Connecticut Avenue NW.

ONE MISSISSIPPI, TWO MISSISSIPPI...

Hey, let's be real here for a moment. Did you really think Haley Barbour had a chance of becoming president?  Was this guy going to win New Hampshire? No, he was just a name in a box. Of course there are so many events that can happen in the next few months that can change everything on the Republican side. Someone might emerge out of a storm or some incident and for a moment dazzle the media - enough to ride the fake fame into the White House. Money can buy anything. Do you remember when folks were buying slaves and renting Negroes?

BILLY COLLINS

Reading HOROSCOPES FOR THE DEAD by Billy Collins.

THE MEDIA ALWAYS PUNTS:
 
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHICH SIDE THE MEDIA IS ON, JUST FOLLOW THE COVERAGE OF THE RECENT NFL DECISION. NOTICE HOW YOU'LL HEAR OR READ ABOUT THE NFL OWNERS BEING DEALT A BLOW. SEE THE CONCERN FOR THE OWNERS?  MONITOR THE MEDIA TO SEE WHO CELEBRATES A VICTORY FOR THE PLAYERS. YES NFL PLAYERS ARE WORKERS, JUST LIKE YOU AND ME. THEY MIGHT GET PAID MORE BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY THEY STILL HAVE TO FIGHT FOR A BETTER WORKPLACE AND BENEFITS.

Legislators have proposed 374 antiabortion bills this year, up from 174 last year. Lawmakers have introduced more than 750 bills on collective bargaining, with more than 500 aimed at public-sector unions, a significant increase over past years, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The Washington Post,  April 24, 2011.

WAR

20 Americans killed this year in Iraq.
All U.S. troops are scheduled to leave Iraq by December 31. 

Be careful about what you wish for. Remember when some of us wanted Palin to simply disappear?  Now we have the "Duck" replacing her. Trump comes out of nowhere as if he was Fred Thompson.


We live in an era of media created politics. With all the very serious problems facing our country and the rest of the world, why do we let fools rush in?  Once again the Obama bashing has nothing to do with policies but about a mysterious black man who shouldn't be in the "white" house. This is nothing but low flying racism and it needs to stop. It will prevent us from having a very serious discussion about the politics of our time. What is really taking place in our nation right now?  Why is everything being privatized?  Is our government for sale? Will large corporations buy democracy and paint it a different color? Whenever you see people fighting about race or religion, you know someone is making money from the conflict. I refuse to debate issues of heaven and hell while someone is stilling the earth. Look around the world and make a list of how many places where Christians are fighting Muslims. What is this about? I get so tired of reading about conflicts in Nigeria. Is Brooklyn going to be next? I'm waiting for this "bogus" religious conflict to begin dividing the African American community in the United States. Then I'll know the cancer has spread. Meanwhile I'll follow the quacking of the Trump Duck and wait for his black friends to support him instead of Obama. It's just a matter of time before Trump makes a rap video and we get a return of the production of "Hair."

Friend --

I want to show you a quick presentation I've been giving to the first staff coming on board here in Chicago, outlining our strategy to win and our overall approach to this campaign.

In the weeks and months to come, we'll ask grassroots supporters like you to meet with one another and local organizers to take the first steps to victory on November 6th, 2012.

But before we begin meeting in living rooms and backyards across America, it's important that we communicate with each other about a set of principles for the organization and our overall strategic thinking about how the race will shape up.

The most important aspect is this: Our campaign will be grounded in President Obama's experience as a community organizer. This notion of ordinary people taking responsibility for the organization at the neighborhood level is not only the way to win, it's also the way politics ought to work. Our campaign will be an example of innovation and efficiency, but it will also be an example of civic engagement at its best and most rewarding.

Have a look at the briefing, then share it with your friends and neighbors and ask them to help build this campaign with us:

http://my.barackobama.com/2012-First-Look

This plan will evolve as we get feedback from grassroots supporters like you over the weeks and months ahead. That's already happening -- as you know, we've already started the process of having one-on-one conversations with people in every state to gather thoughts and ideas, and thousands more talks will take place over this spring and summer.

But this briefing should give you a sense of our current thinking about how we'll build an unprecedented grassroots campaign to win -- with you leading it.

Thank you,

Messina

Jim Messina
Campaign Manager
Obama for America

Higher Education Under Attack: An Interview With Henry A. Giroux
C. Cryn Johannsen of Margins of Everyday Life interviews Truthout Board of Trustees member Henry Giroux, who holds the Global TV Network chair professorship at McMaster University in the English and cultural studies department.
Read the Article

SPECIAL TO E-NOTES:   

LEONARD WEINGLASS

Saul Landau remembers Leonard Weinglass. 

I interviewed Leonard Weinglass, my candidate for Clarence Darrow prize if such 
exists. He did the least lucrative form of law: defending people for their 
politics. 

My filmed sessions with him on the Cuban Five, Cuban intelligence agents who 
infiltrated Miami’s violent exile groups to stop them from bombing tourist sites 
in Havana, led to conversations about his former clients, like the Chicago Seven 
(anti-war activists) accused of crimes around protests at the 1968 Democratic 
National Convention. "I thought then that Len was the best trial attorney I ever 
met," said Tom Hayden, one of the defendants. "We roomed together during the 
trial and he taught me to be his sort-of assistant counsel. I think everybody in 
the courtroom came to realize what an extraordinary lawyer he was."


He also defended Angela Davis and other Black Panthers and Daniel Elsberg 
(Pentagon Papers) who said he owed his life to Lenny. "He wasn't drawn to making 
money. He was drawn to defending justice," Ellsberg said. "He felt in many cases 
he was representing one person standing against the state. He was on the side of 
the underdog. He was also very shrewd in his judgment of juries." 

Gerardo Hernandez, on of the Cuban Five had several meetings with Len in the 
Maximum Security US Penitentiary in Victorville California. “A truly fine and 
good man,” he said. Len called Gerardo a sterling character with unbreakable 
will and deep inner resources. “The real crime,” Len told me, “is to keep 
sincere and dedicated men like him locked up while the corrupt and arrogant 
Cuban exile terrorists walk the streets – not strut is better than walk – of 
Miami. I am proud to have known him and to have filmed him for the documentary I 
did on the Cuban Five and fifty years of US “policy’ toward Cuba.

Len told good jokes and stories and his kindness and sincerity came through to 
juries as well. A brilliant lawyer and truly good man.

 Weinglass died in March at 77 from pancreatic cancer.

FROM THULANI DAVIS:

 

Dear All,

The efforts to have Fort Monroe become a National Park continue to move forward. Sadly, the person in the office of Congressman Scott with whom I have spoken every week died last Tues while viewing the fort with Sen. Warner and Congressman Scott. Larry Dillard was a devoted student of African American history and a friend to this project.

I have now set up a petition site through MoveOn.com to build support for the naming of a First Landing National Monument to Slavery & Freedom at the Fort. If the petition becomes popular MoveOn will send it to its millions of members. I have also posted the petition on Facebook and Twitter.

I hope you will sign and circulate it widely.

"As president, Barack Obama can designate a parcel of federal land as a national monument. Only three of the 100 national monuments in the nation address the legacy of its African American citizens--the birth homes of Booker T. Washington, and George Washington Carver, and the African Burial Ground in New York City. The site of the First Landing of Africans who would be the source of the North American slave system is far and away the most important site of the African American legacy to this country, and is sacred ground for the millions who consider themselves descendants of those brought here in chains.
Tell President Obama to ask for a parcel of land at Fort Monroe, VA to be named as the First Landing National Monument to Slavery and Freedom."

Will you sign this petition? Click here:
http://signon.org/sign/national-monument-for?source=c.em.mt&r_by=133477

Thanks!

Thulani Davis

Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	We should always live in the dark empty sky. The sky is always the sky. Even though clouds and lightning come, the sky is not disturbed. Even if the flashing of enlightenment comes, our practice forgets all about it. Then it is ready for another enlightenment. - Shunryu Suzuki, "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind"

CHARLES JOHNSON TALKS ABOUT THE MacARTHUR AWARDS

ON THE E-CHANNEL:

http://ethelbert-miller.blogspot.com/

WE ARE IN NEED OF NEW MANAGEMENT. THIS SOUNDS SO FAMILIAR... 

THE IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH IN A UNIVERSITY
Mahmood Mamdani
Makerere Institute of Social Research
‘We have no choice but to train the next generation of African
scholars at home. This means tackling the question of institutional
reform alongside that of postgraduate education. Postgraduate
education, research and institution building will have to be part of a
single effort,’ writes Mahmood Mamdani, in a paper reflecting on how a
market-driven model has affected the nature of research in African
universities.
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72782

Opinion

Op-Ed Contributors

Spring Again

Poems by Kiki Petrosino, Ellen Bryant Voight, Li-Young Lee and Billy Collins on spring fever - twig to bud to blossom to pollen - to hay fever.

F.M. ESFANDIARY

But the philosophy of an age cannot and must not be derived from daily newspaper headlines. Headlines which invariably stress our daily problems. 

An age cannot be defined by the detail of everyday events. The broader currents are what finally mark an age.

 -F.M. Esfandiary

MONDAY: WILL YOU BE THERE? 

http://www.teachingforchange.org/news/jammin4justice

ABOUTAWORD:
/http://aboutaword.org/

ICHIRO WATCH:

3 HITS LAST NIGHT
AVERAGE AT .304

 Japan Then:

The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923

The Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 shocked the nation. The magnitude of its destruction was almost beyond imagining.

A PELICAN BRIEF: 

Dissent Continues One Year After BP Disaster
Rose Aguilar, Truthout: "Gulf Coast resident Foytlin marked the one-year anniversary of the BP oil disaster by walking 1,243 miles from New Orleans to Washington, DC, to remind the country that even though the Obama administration and BP claim that life in the Gulf is back to normal, facts on the ground prove otherwise. She says people are experiencing everything from kidney damage to skin lesions, wildlife is dying, the economic devastation continues and the ecosystem has forever been damaged. Foytlin arrived in DC on April 14 after 34 days of rainstorms, heat exhaustion, tornadoes and countless blisters. She says it was worth it."
Read the Article

Discussion on Hubert Harrison 

The Studio Museum in Harlem 

Sunday April 24th  3PM 

Books & Authors: Discussion on "Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism" Tomorrow April 24, 2011 at 3 PM Studio Museum in Harlem, 144 W. 125th St. NYC -- Please share with friends

For more info see --

http://www.studiomuseum.org/event-calendar/event/books-authors-dr-jeffrey-b-perry-2011-04-24

E. ETHELBERT MILLER on Global Rhythms - wmnf.org
On this edition of Global Rhythms, a two part interview with Literary Activist . .. Author ...Editor ... and Blogger ... E. Ethelbert Miller. ...
www.wmnf.org/.../e-ethelbert-miller-on-global-rhythms-www...

Loft Mentor Series Reading: E. Ethelbert Miller - The Loft ...
Loft Mentor Series Reading: E. Ethelbert Miller at The Loft Literary Center info from City Pages. Find info about Minneapolis events, concerts, shows, ...
www.citypages.com/.../loft-mentor-series-reading-e-ethelbert-...

Looking for a good printer?

I often go to THE PRINTER located at 1803 Florida Avenue, NW
Contact person is: Wendy Melechen
Email: theprinter@verizon.net

I just had some new business cards made.

HELP ME NOW AND HELP ME AGAIN IN AUGUST:

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi809278745/

HAIKU FOR  U?

http://nc-haiku.org/meetings.htm

IT'S ALMOST EASTER. I NEED THE MEMORIES AND THE EGGS.

Today is my brother's birthday. If he was living he would be 68 years old. Richard Miller died in 1985. Growing up my brother was my best friend. He was the person in my family that I was the closest to. I wanted to be like him. When he joined the monastery in the early sixties, I wanted to follow. I wanted to join my brother monk. Call us Mertons instead of Millers. Richard was the first person to encourage me to become a writer. We spent many Saturdays walking around Greenwich Village - going to bookstores. I mailed poems to him while I was at Howard. I loved to visit his apartment not far from Grant's Tomb in Manhattan. Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms surrounded my brother. Boy, could he play the piano and organ. He once attended Julliard. He also had a deep interest in Egypt and Ethiopia. He loved animals and took the name of St. Francis...

Fire

i am ten years old
and share a room with my brother.
at seventeen he dreams of becoming
a priest or monk. i am too young
to know the difference. in our room
the small bureau is an altar covered
with white cloth. two large candles
stand on each end. my fear of fire
begins in this room.

 - E. Ethelbert Miller

from FIRST LIGHT: New and Selected Poems.
(Black Classic Press, 1994)

 

Today I'll try to make time for some serious office cleaning. A number of things to box and send over to my archives at George Washington University. I just put all my Charles Johnson books in order. This will help as I continue to work on the E-Channel. Time to move several piles of books down to the basement.

I hope this day doesn't get away from me. I have a morning meeting downtown with poet Suzanne Zweizig. Her work can be found in the last issue of Poet Lore. I might try and watch either a basketball or baseball game this afternoon.  I need a mind massage and sports is always a good outlet.

Things to also do today is send something to Ruth Ellen Kocher's blog - ABOUTAWORD. Work on some letters of recommedations, answer a couple of requests for poems.

 GLOBAL RHYTHMS 

On this edition of Global Rhythms, a two part interview with Literary Activist ... Author ...Editor ... and Blogger ... E. Ethelbert Miller.
Listen to this show at
www.wmnf.org/programs/351
(This show will be available until April 28 at 4am.)

KELLY MILLER

Yesterday afternoon I attended a book party for Ida E. Jones at the Howard University bookstore. Ida just released a biography on Kelly Miller - THE HEART OF THE RACE PROBLEM. She had been working on this book for a number of years. Good to see it out.

While in the Howard store I had a good chat with Kirk Thomas. This guy is doing excellent work and should be supported by anyone interested in black books. The second floor of the HU Bookstore is a book Eden, thanks to the vision of Kirk. Right now the store has copies of the new Malcolm X biography by Marable. It might be a good thing for all HU graduates this year to purchase a copy. The slogan I gave Kirk was - "DON'T LEAVE THE MECCA WITHOUT MALCOLM."

Sounds good to me.

RUSSELL WILLIAMS II

I came home this evening and there was a small package waiting for me. A gift from Russell Williams II. Russell is an award sound recordist who worked on such films as Field of Dreams, Glory and Training Day. Back in the early seventies he had a radio show on WAMU. He also recorded some of my very early poetry readings. In today's package was a CD featuring a reading I gave at Dingane's Den (located on 18th Street) on February 24, 1973. Russell's audio is much better than all my poetry. Boy, do I sound like "early" Don L. Lee. I was introduced by mentor Bob Stokes. The reading had me laughing, poem after poem...

----------------------------------------
Breaking News Alert: Pentagon chief: Obama approves use of armed drones in Libya
April 21, 2011 3:33:11 PM
----------------------------------------

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates says armed Predator drones will contribute to coalition military campaign in Libya.

Between Justice and History
Howard Gillette, Professor of History and Immediate Past Director of MARCH
Thursday, May 5, 5:30 p.m. with reception following
Campus Center, Rutgers-Camden

Reflecting on a 40-year career in teaching and writing, Howard Gillette will address the ways history can and should be employed as a central tool in renewing civil well-being and advancing social justice.

The Miller Lecture honors Fredric Miller, whose service to the archives profession and to public humanities created resources of enduring value for scholars and the public, especially in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.  Always an important event for the public history community, this year's lecture will be followed by a reception marking Professor Gillette's retirement from the faculty at Rutgers-Camden.

To register in advance, please visit our event page at http://miller2011.eventbrite.com .  Rutgers-Camden is easily reached by public transportation, and limited parking on campus will be available.  A group also is being organized to travel to campus via PATCO from the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 13th and Locust Streets, Philadelphia.

2010 Marfield Prize

 

R. Tripp Evans Receives the 2010 Marfield Prize, National Award for Arts Writing for Grant Wood: A Life (Alfred A. Knopf: 2010).

The $10,000 award is unique in the world of publishing, and is one of the country’s largest literary prizes given to a single author. Mr. Evans, a professor of art history at Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, will present a reading from Grant Wood: a Life at the Arts Club of Washington on Wednesday, May 11, 7:00 pm at 2017 I Street, NW, Washington, DC. Mr. Evans will also be honored on Thursday, May 12 at the formal awards dinner.

The 2010 award judges are poet and director of the African American Resource Center at Howard University, E. Ethelbert Miller, New York Times and international bestselling novelist, Katherine Neville and Michael Martone, professor of English and the director of the Creative Writing Program at the University of Alabama.

For the 2010 award, Miller, Neville, and Martone selected Grant Wood: a Life by R. Tripp Evans from finalists Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and his Rendezvous with American History by Yunte Huang (W. W. Norton & Company), Girls to the Front: the True Story of the Riot GRRRL Revolution, by Sara Marcus (Harper Perennial), The Advance Man by Jamie MacVicar (Bear Manor Media),  seventy books by  Arts Club members from various art disciplines.


ON THIS DAY...

29 years ago, I became a father. I can remember walking from George Washington University Hospital to my apartment on 14th and Rhode Island Avenue in Northwest Washington. I can remember that first telephone call to my mother and father as I started to spread the good news.  A baby girl. Love spoke her name and she became Jasmine-Simone.

Then the weight of it fell on me. How would I provide and take care of this new person? How would I teach her?  Discipline her?  Protect her?

29 years later, my daughter calls from her law office and asks - "What's wrong, daddy?"
Before I can respond, I catch myself smiling and shaking my head at how quickly a child can become a parent. I count my blessings and for a moment everything is right in the world.

Happy Birthday, Jasmine-Simone.

BIRTH THIS:

Need more? Two Honolulu newspapers ran announcements of Obama's birth on Aug.4, 1961, just days after he was born. They were placed by the state health department.

So as others have pointed out, in order to doubt that Hawaii was Obama's birthplace, you'd have to believe that in 1961, state officials and Honolulu's two newspapers conspired to fake a baby's birth, knowing that someday he might run for president.

- USA TODAY, April 21, 2011

A PELICAN BRIEF:

Video: The Sea Turtles' Plight

A year after the BP oil spill, endangered sea turtles still wash up dead on Gulf of Mexico shores in large numbers. A federal investigation suggests that the culprit is likely not oil.

Book Bind: Public Libraries Feel Strain of Budget Cuts
Tony Pugh, McClatchy Newspapers: "They're the lone source of free computer and internet access in most communities, allowing the unemployed to search for jobs, learn computer skills and spruce up their resumes. Millions use them to stay in touch with relatives, apply for government services or to seek health information. But public libraries' critical role as neighborhood information hubs hasn't shielded the nearly 17,000 of them across the country from budget scalpels."
Read the Article

A PELICAN BRIEF:

Researchers Say Oil Dispersants Still an Issue in the Gulf
Mike Ludwig, Truthout: "Scientists are still working to understand the ecological and human health impacts of the environmental disaster that followed BP's Deepwater Horizon blowout in the Gulf of Mexico one year ago. While it may too soon to identify the long-term consequences of the disaster, a growing body of evidence reveals that the massive release of oil combined with the unprecedented amount of chemical oil dispersants applied by BP is still an environmental threat a year later."
Read the Article

THE HELP

After a hard day's work
they let us take home extra food.
Sandwiches and cookies. It's one less
meal to prepare (tonight).

Maybe we will close our eyes
a little earlier and dream of a better
way of life. A world where muscles
will not ache...


A place where our children 
will not pity the sadness in our eyes
and curse their inheritance.


  - E. Ethelbert Miller

Listening to Jim Croce - I GOT A NAME

DR. HENRY LOUIS GATES

FROM GATES THE GATE KEEPER:

http://video.pbs.org/video/1877436791 

Thursday, April 21st, 6:45 PM

WITTER BYNNER FELLOWSHIP READING

Poet Laureate W. S. Merwin has chosen two seasoned voices in poetry, Forrest Gander and Robert Bringhurst, to receive the 2011 Witter Bynner Fellowships, and will introduce the poets on April 21 at the Library of Congress. A book signing and reception will follow the event.

Admission is free.

Mumford Room

Sixth Floor, James Madison Building

Library of Congress

101 Independence Ave. S.E.

For directions to the Library visit http://www.loc.gov/visit/directions.html.

News for April, 2011

Wal-Mart v. Dukes: At the Supreme Court

On March 29, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Wal-Mart v. Dukes, a sex discrimination class action against the retail giant. At issue in the case is whether a class consisting of a million or more women employed by a single employer nationwide can be certified in a class action alleging systematic gender-based pay and promotion discrimination. Outside the Supreme Court building, activists gathered to show their support for the women who have been harmed by the retail giant's discriminatory practices. Click here to watch AFJ's new video on the case, the arguments, and the rally! AFJ's Nan Aron discussed the case's implications in her Huffington Post column. Nan wrote: "What makes this case so important for all Americans is not just the injustice done to hundreds of thousands of workers, it's the desire by Wal-Mart and the corporate powers supporting their case, including the Chamber of Commerce, to restrict the ability of the women harmed by these policies to band together as a class and fight a unified battle in court. If Wal-Mart succeeds, not only will women at Wal-Mart be unable to change pay and promotion disparities, but future lawsuits related to employment discrimination, civil rights, antitrust violations, and consumer protection will be significantly hampered, discouraging cases brought by large groups of people against broad-based corporate malfeasance." Click here to read the rest. You can also learn more about the case and download the our comprehensive report by clicking here.

Justice First!

When artists venture into politics the risks to reputation and integrity are ever-present.

     - Salman Rushdie

SAD NEWS: 

I'm very sorry to pass along this news, which some of you may have already heard: Southern Review editor Jeanne Leiby was killed in a car accident yesterday in Louisiana. This is a terrible loss, and my heart goes out to her family, her many friends, and her colleagues at TSR.

Mindy Wilson

Managing Editor

The Georgia Review

ICHIRO WATCH:

Best game of the season last night. Against Detroit he had:
Four hits
Three runs scored
Two RBI
Two stolen bases

Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	If your mind becomes firm like a rock And no longer shakes In a world where everything is shaking, Your mind will be your greatest friend And suffering will not come your way. - Theragatha

 

Tricycle Daily Dharma

 

A Handful of Leaves

There aren’t that many fundamental, or root, principles of dharma. The Buddha said that his teaching is “a single handful.” A passage in the Samyutta-nikaya makes that clear. While walking through the forest, the Buddha picked up a handful of fallen leaves and asked the monks who were present to decide which was the greater amount, the leaves in his hand or all the leaves in the forest. Of course, they all said that there were more leaves in the forest, that the difference was beyond comparison. Try to imagine the truth of this scene; clearly see how huge the difference is. The Buddha then said that, similarly, those things that he had realized were a great amount, equal to all the leaves in the forest. However, that which was necessary to know, those things that should be taught and practiced, were equal to the number of leaves in his hand.

Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, "A Single Handful"

QUOTATION OF THE DAY

"I still wouldn't eat the food. It's all the same people working there, but they have hats now."

KELLY JOHNSTON, a senior at Pace University, where a cafeteria has reopened under a new manager after health violations.

Checking on my brother monks: www.portsmouthabbeymonastery.org