Next week I will be speaking at THE COURAGE TO FIGHT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN conference on the campus of American University. Events will be held at the Katzen Arts Center.
I will be reading poems at 11:50 AM on Saturday, March 5, 2016.

I'm reading THE POETRY OF HEALING by Rafael Campo.  It pulls one back into the AIDS crisis.

Yesterday I interviewed Dean Bernard Richardson (HU Dean of Rankin Chapel) for The Scholars.
It went very well. We had a chance to talk about Howard Thurman and various faith issues.
I think this might be a very popular interview to place on the social media outlet.

I have a meeting at the LOC today. Glad to see Obama nominated Carla Hayden for the head position.  It will be interesting to see what the Republicans do with her nomination.
So much politics...

This morning I wrote to Quincy Troupe and told him to pull the June Jordan essay I submitted.
I decided not to add all the personal stuff about a previous relationships. Let our biographers do that...

Well, the next few weeks will be very busy.  New book, new radio show to begin hosting, travel to LA.  Then a hectic April with book events for the Collected Poems.

So much going on.  Time to get back to my E-Notes. This morning I read the preface (again) of Charles Johnson's THE WAY OF THE WRITING LIFE: NOTES ON CRAFT AND STORYTELLING.  It will be published by Scribner in December 2016. I see this book as being very popular and essential to people who pursue the writing path. Johnson offers good practical advice. Hopefully folks teaching creative writing will recommend this title.

Next week I'll be interviewing Dean Bernard Richardson (Dean of the Rankin Chapel at Howard) for The Scholars (UDC-TV)

A number upcoming readings I need to post and promote.

Hopefully I should have the galleys to my Collected Poems next week.

Soon it will be time to pack for LA.  Yes, I'll be at the AWP Conference.  More later...

Right now reading  OFF THE WALL - Interviews with Philip Whalen.

Just received the latest issue of Sojourners - March 2016.
They published my essay on The Beatitudes.
"The Nakedness of the Open Soul."

Did some FaceTime with Matthew my grandson yesterday. He is one
week old today. The little guy was sleeping when I first saw him. Fun to see
someone checking out the world for the first time.

There is that tendency and desire to unplug from the political
outlet. Listening to the various presidential campaigns it's easy
to understand why it was so difficult to end slavery and so easy to place
Japanese Americans in camps. We tend to be fear/silly during
election time. I fear the pundits are clowns in search of a circus.

While reading the latest issue of The New York Review of Books
I came across this incredible statement:

Once out of bed, we check our phones
221 times a day - an average of every 4.3
minutes - according to a UK study.

THE SAD AND AWFUL NEWS

There is no doubt that thousands of Flint residents will need monitoring,
medical supervision and educational support for many years to come.
Some 8,000 or more children under the age of 6, whose developing 
brains can suffer irreversible damage from exposure to lead, drank
the poisoned water, and some are already showing symptoms.

EDITORIAL 
THE NEW YORK TIMES
FEBRUARY 6, 2016

Too much going on. I need to pace myself.
Looking forward to flying west to pickup a literary award.
More about this next month.

March is also when I become the new host for the radio program - ON THE MARGIN - WPFW.
I've been thinking about radio format and show structure the last few days.

COLLECTED POEMS should be out by late March.
Several readings in the DC area.
The big event will probably be at Marymount University.
Thanks once again to Kirsten Porter for making so many things possible.


T

THE QUOTE

If the SuperBowl is the ultimate game, how
come there is another one next year?

    - Duane Thomas, Dallas Cowboy Running Back.

1972

G

Yesterday I had a fun conversation with the poet and teacher giovanni singleton.
We are always laughing about literary politics. g is responsible for editing 4 issues
of "Nocturnes" magazine. A journal ahead of it's time. It would be nice for a small college
or a large university to house her publication. If only I were a rich man.
Love you g.

THE E-GROUP

Yesterday I pulled together another E-Group meeting. This one was held at my house. A wonderful meeting of good minds sitting around a table. I hope to have 2 more in 2016. When I come across an interesting essay I reach out to a few friends and invite them to meet. It's like Ellington putting a small band together. Intellectual conversation is the foundation on which we build citizenship. This week the E-Group discussed "Who Benefits From A Post-Paris "Clash of Civilizations "? by Tom Englehardt.

The first and second E-Group looked at:
"The Death of the Artist-and the Birth of the Creative Entrepreneur " by William Deresiewicz.
" A World Without Work" by Derek Thompson.

In Search of Malcolm Little

Every life wears its crown. I find it interesting that the names of the departed black men we cherish and remember are not choir boys. Some have been hardheads and hoodlums. History is changed by those who stumble and those who march. Leadership however should never be a lottery. If we find ourselves following gangsters and hustlers then we need to check our moral compass. We all have the capacity to lead but only after personal transformation.  The idea that every young person has better ideas is as foolish as thinking every gray hair represents wisdom. I see many black boys being Malcolm Littles - not an X in their head about their history or plight. All they possess is a new black rage - anger against the police and everything white. This is Clockwork Orange and the new black. Violence is now a quickie for everything in the way. Never has there been such collective despair in our cities. When the next Malcolm Little is caught and sent to jail - let's hope someone finds him sleeping with the dictionary.

Looking for Mr. Oscar.

Every year I sit in theaters and watch trailers for black movies I know I will pray to forget. I cringe when black talent is forced back into coonery. I've also seen movies every year where a black actor should be given two Oscars and receive not even a nomination. Then there are the black movies I'm suppose to like and praise and the NAACP gives a jackass stamp image award for race pride. I know in the back of my mind DuBois is talking to Booker and neither could return to explain this commercial nonsense. Still we survive. We want to win Oscars the way we once wanted black quarterbacks to never throw an interception and setback the race. It's 2016 and we continue to measure progress by movies and not by an end to poverty and other ills. One goes to movies for escape and entertainment or maybe to just feel good in the dark. We need to reject the terrible habits that come from being a "popcorn" race lacking at times butter and the salt of genius.

Quote of the Day

I've got scars that can't be seen.

        - David Bowie

New work by E. Ethelbert Miller

My new work can be found in the lastest issues of these publications:

American Book Review, March/April 2015, Volume 36, Number 3. Here one will find my review of Gabriel Fried's HEART OF THE ORDER: BASEBALL POEMS.

CLA JOURNAL. Volume 58/Numbers 3-4/March/June 2015.

My poem "Is This The History of Air?" is included in a special section focusing 

on violence towards black bodies in the 21st Century.

Is America heading into "Cruz" control?  The fact that Ted Cruz is from Texas might be enough
to get him on the Republican ticket. VP Cruz?
How conservative will America become in the next 4 years?
Any act of terrorism on US soil places a right-wing foot on American democracy.

Next month I will begin hosting "On The Margin" a weekly radio program on WPFW.
This is the show my friend Jo Reed hosted for many years. I've invited her to be my first
guest. Much to do...

Well it's 2016 and my Collected Poems will be out. I plan to ignore all reviews. I doubt if the book will be nominated for any awards. Hopefully my work will find an audience with hearts that care about the path humans are on. So much of African American culture is being destroyed from within.
The Talented Tenth no longer live in the neighborhood. We have fallen victim to want Eady once described as the latest dance craze.We continue to kiss the fool's butt. Why do we follow people who have loss their moral compass?  How long will black culture be held hostage by gangsters? I fear only the renegade ghosts can save us now.

A New Year outside my window. Can I ignore it by staying indoors?
2016 will be a year of transformation without any great expectations.
Back to basics and little things.
No lists or dreams this time- only simple pleasures.