 | |||||
| |||||
| Put On BLAST! c/o AKILA WORKSONGS | PO Box 250553 | Brooklyn, NY 11225 | United States |
E-NOTES: WHEN THE NEWS IS NOT ENOUGH. THE BLOG OF E. ETHELBERT MILLER
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Just back from a wonderful evening - dinner with Andy Shallal at Eatonville and then a walk across the street to Busboys to see old "pal" Bill Ayers. Bill was in the Bennington Writing Seminars when I was a member of the Core Faculty there. Many hugs. Bill gave an excellent talk about education. We took pictures together after his talk. We joked about using them if I decide to run for president.
John Oliver Killens Reading Series
“Literary Activists of the Indignant Generation”
Discussion on African American Writers Including
John Oliver Killens, Richard Wright, Claude McKay,
Dorothy West, Sterling Brown, Gwendolyn Brooks, Ann Petry, Chester Himes, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, and
Amiri Baraka among others
Professor Keith Gilyard, Penn State University
Professor Lawrence Jackson, Emory University
Moderated by Professor Shelly Eversley, Baruch College
When: Thursday, February 10, 2011
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Where: E.O. Jackson Auditorium
Academic Complex Building (AB1)
1638 Bedford Avenue
Medgar Evers College, CUNY
Brooklyn, New York 11225
“Literary Activists of the Indignant Generation”
Discussion on African American Writers Including
John Oliver Killens, Richard Wright, Claude McKay,
Dorothy West, Sterling Brown, Gwendolyn Brooks, Ann Petry, Chester Himes, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes, and
Amiri Baraka among others
Professor Keith Gilyard, Penn State University
Professor Lawrence Jackson, Emory University
Moderated by Professor Shelly Eversley, Baruch College
When: Thursday, February 10, 2011
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Where: E.O. Jackson Auditorium
Academic Complex Building (AB1)
1638 Bedford Avenue
Medgar Evers College, CUNY
Brooklyn, New York 11225
 |
| FRED JOINER |
Ethelbert,
I hope all is well. I read your blog this morning as I usually do to get my morning fix of what is going on in the world and quite honestly I was glad to see that you had responded in some fashion to all that is being said around this issue. We needed to hear your voice as the leader and mentor to so many of us in the DC poetry community and a major figure in DC literary life. I will say though that I was a bit let down, because your comments seemed to chide and chastise us, rather than address some of the questions we are trying to raise. Perhaps I may have taken it most to heart because it's possible that I have not "paid my dues" or picked up my yoke as a poet and citizen, like some of the other poets/writers/activists out there. I can say that I have made honest attempts to do so, perhaps I have not done enough long enough...i am still soul searching on that issue to make sure my moral compass is properly calibrated.
I must take a bit of issue on your suggestion that calls into question our humility and our reluctance to put our "hands to a certain type of plow". My parents always told me that they have made certain sacrifices so that my brother and I would not have endure the same or similar types of treatment and conditions as they did. How then can I honor my parents sacrifice and not speak out to treatment and images that harken us back to that period? How do we measure progress as a people if we allow the same treatment and images to be used that were used against us historically?
In my humble (perhaps entitled and privileged) opinion I am not going to hold someone else's plow to their profit without the proper remuneration, in my opinion that is akin to slavery or to Jim Crow, but more importantly, it is does not honor my parents struggle to give me opportunities that they did not have.
I am probably one of those folks who would want King to appear in a suit, he has earned it, that is not to say that coveralls mean are "less than" but we both know that the clothing one is wearing does communicate things that we cannot always control. I know you understand this, because i myself cannot recall a time i have seen you without at the very least a tie or a blazer. This is particularly important for Black men, but again you know this.
I also wanted to make a comment about your analysis of the King funeral. Perhaps I dont have the privilege of all of the history on this, but the mule drawn cart was a sign of solidarity and perhaps even a Biblical reference. The other important thing to note in the photograph is that all of them men around the cart except for 2 or 3 are wearing ties, clearly they were concerned about how they presented themselves and how they might be represented for posterity.
I do think humility is always a good value and virtue to develop, but at some point that reflection and inward journey has to have some fruit be manifested.
At the end of the day Ethelbert, I hope you know that it was not my intention to take a position that would be seen as a personal attack aimed at you or Andy. Additionally, I did not say anything that would not have said to you or to Andy given the forum to do so. I have the utmost respect for you as a literary activist/poet/mentor/friend/etc. I also respect Andy's business acumen and ability to create a space that was needed, that serves the community and shows the rest of us a model of a wildly successful business in which politics, art and commerce can co-exist. However, i do think sometimes, we as a community, have to keep each other in check where we falter, question and critique each other, otherwise we don't grow. It is that spirit in which I have said everything that I have said.
It is my hope that we can find away to talk in person (if you feel it would be fruitful) to address some of these matters. Either way I look forward to seeing you soon.
In humanity,
Fred
--
------>
Fred Joiner
poet/artist
202.251.5044 -mobile
fred.joiner@gmail.com
www.divinecipher.com
PS i am sorry if this messge seemed a bit scattered but i wanted to try to "get it all in" as Trane would say.
Breaking News Alert The New York Times Thu, February 10, 2011 -- 10:57 AM ET ----- Egypt's Army Signals Steps to Take Power Egypt's armed forces said on Thursday that they were taking "necessary measures to protect the nation and support the legitimate demands of the people," a signal that the military intends to take a commanding role in governing the country. There was no immediate confirmation that the army intended to replace the government named by President Hosni Mubarak, but protesters in Cairo roared approval at the news that the military was moving to supplant the government they have steadfastly opposed. Jubilant chants of "The Army and the people in one hand!" could be heard on broadcasts from Tahrir Square. There was no information about what role Mr. Mubarak or his new vice president, Omar Suleiman, would play in a military government. The announcement came on the 17th day of unrest in Egypt, bolstered by strikes and protests among professional groups in Cairo and workers across the country.
 |
| KEVIN POWELL |
I FOUND THIS TO BE A VERY GOOD ESSAY BY KEVIN POWELL. The Super Bowl is over but we all know certain games continue to be played.
NOTE: This blog also posted on the Daily Kos at http://tinyurl.com/684vmmb
The Super Bowl and Violence Against Females
by Kevin Powell
I have been a sports fan for as long as I can remember. As a youth I formally played baseball, ran track and boxed until I decided I really valued my brain cells more than winning a bout; and informally we boys on the block played stickball, soccer, football (sometimes even tackling each other on concrete), basketball, and anything else that required us to run, hit, catch, or fall.
In fact, I am a writer partially because of sports. When I was a boy of no more than 8 or 9, my mother began the practice of taking me to the Jersey City Public Library, the Greenville Branch, as often as she could, usually on Saturdays as that was her day off from work. My mother would sift and read through the local newspaper while my imagination and I were allowed to run wild amongst the stacks of books. And the first ones that grabbed my attention were sports books. About the history of my beloved New York Yankees. About the golden eras of baseball and football. I memorized a plethora of facts and figures because these larger-than-life characters, with names like Red Granger and Joe DiMaggio, and Jackie Robinson and Jim Brown, were utterly heroic and magical to me. Without a doubt I was so enthralled with sports that I made it a point to watch every televised baseball or football game I could, and actually learned the rules to almost every single sport, including ones I did not play, like tennis, golf, or hockey, just because.
And outside of the World Series, the Super Bowl was the spectacle to anticipate every single year. The very first one I watched, as a child, was Super Bowl X between the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers. That game is the reason why I became a Cowboys fan for over two decades (today I root strictly for New York area sports teams), although the Steelers won because of those acrobatic catches of game MVP Lynn Swann.
I have not missed a Super Bowl since, 34 years and counting. I saw Jackie Smith drop a potential game-winning touchdown for the Cowboys in the rematch with the Steelers a couple of seasons later. I saw Jim Plunkett raise from the dead his career and create a legacy for himself as a Raider. I saw Joe Montana coolly win four Super Bowl rings of his own. I saw Doug Williams become the first and only Black quarterback to lead his team (the Washington Redskins) to a Super Bowl victory. I saw the Buffalo Bills lose four consecutive Super Bowls, undermining their great Marv Levy-coached teams. And I saw my New York Giants shock the New England Patriots, and the world, via David Tyree’s supernatural “helmet catch,” crushing the Pats quest for an undefeated season. Truth be told, the Super Bowl has become as integral a part of American culture as Christmas, “I Love Lucy” reruns, Coca-Cola, Disney movies, and the music of the Gershwins. It is an unofficial holiday for us, and, in many ways, our post-modern edition of the Last Supper.
Yet something has, admittedly, been radically different for me since those heady days of being a reckless, violent man-child. Twenty years ago this year I pushed a then-girlfriend into a bathroom door in our shared apartment. And my life was altered forever, as I have written in other spaces (see my essay “Ending Violence Against Women and Girls”: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-powell/ending-violence-against-w_b_70585.html). Twenty years removed from that sort of behavior, thanks to therapy, healing, the forgiveness of many, including the woman I violated, and an activist’s life which these days includes consistent writings, speeches, and work to end violence against women and girls, I soak up sports, especially football, not just as a fan, but as someone deeply concerned with the human condition. For sports is, and has always been, a metaphor for our lives.
And because I, you, we, would be lying to ourselves if we did not confess that football, as electrifying and audacious as it is, is also a brutally violent sport. So violent, in fact, that many former players are permanently damaged physically, and a fair share emotionally, too, due to concussions or other head traumas. (No coincidence, then, that just this past season the NFL passed out numerous fines for what it deemed excessively vicious hits.) But what has particularly given me pause, as a man with an acute awareness of sexism and gender violence, is the steady convoy of NFL players being accused or arrested, year to year, season to season, for an act of aggression against a woman. These charges and allegations have ranged from domestic violence and rape to actual murder. And these are merely the incidents that have become public.
More to the point, there is the glaring state of affairs, right in our faces during these Super Bowl sweepstakes, of the game’s two-time champion quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger. I certainly give Big Ben, as he is known, his props as a clutch quarterback, and fully acknowledge that if the Steelers win on Sunday it will be because of Roethlisberger’s play and his unquestioned knack for staying in the pocket, even at risk to his own health. But Big Ben also happens to be the most high-profile player, in recent memory, accused of sexual assault on two different occasions, one claim occurring less than a year ago. The accuser, a then-20-year-old student at a Georgia college, was seen at several establishments with Roethlisberger leading up to the incident, including posing for a photograph with him. Roethlisberger spoke with police the night of the incident and stated that he did have contact with the woman that was not “consummated,” and afterward the accuser slipped and injured her head.
The woman alleged that Roethlisberger, after inviting her and her friends to the V.I.P. area of the nightclub, encouraged them to do numerous shots of alcohol before one of his bodyguards—an off-duty officer, led her down a hallway to a stool and left. Roethlisberger allegedly approached and exposed himself and, despite the woman's protests, followed her into what turned out to be a bathroom when she tried to leave through the first door she saw. The woman claims Roethlisberger then had sex with her. It is further alleged that friends of the woman attempted to intervene out of worry, but the second of Roethlisberger's bodyguards, an off-duty Pennsylvania State Trooper, avoided eye contact and said he did not know what they were talking about. The policemen later claimed to "have no memory" of meeting the woman.
The incident brought a great deal of embarrassment to the NFL and to the proud Pittsburgh Steelers franchise. Although Roethlisberger was never charged with a crime, the NFL still suspended him for the first six games of the 2010 season (it was later reduced to four games). Steelers president Art Rooney II was said to be “furious” about Roethlisberger’s situation, and Big Ben lost a number of endorsements and supporters. The accuser did not go forth with the case because she did not want to be subjected to the huge media and public spotlight, but she has also stood by her account of what happened.
At his Super Bowl media conference this week, Big Ben never directly addressed this or another instance where he was alleged to have committed sexual assault against a woman. What he did say is “You make mistakes in life and you learn from them. And I think that’s what I’m doing now.”
While I, given my own history, would be the first to say we should offer every single human being who makes a mistake a shot at redemption, the hope, perhaps naively on my part, is that Big Ben, and the NFL in general, would, once and for all, condemn violence against women, mainly because one too many pro football players have been getting into trouble with the law because of how they mistreat women. I am not trying to single out Commissioner Roger Goodell and the National Football League, but the hard fact is, according to CNN, more than 100 million people will watch the Super Bowl on any given Sunday in early February. That presents a really unique and grand opportunity for our athletes, huge influencers on the behavior of younger and older folks who idolize and worship them, to take a position. The NFL and other major sports leagues already do it on the issue of breast cancer, and this matter is just as significant. Indeed, it is one of the most important civil and human rights issues of the 21st century.
Especially given the multiple reports and news clips saying that “pimps” will traffic thousands of under-age prostitutes to Texas for Sunday's Super Bowl, hoping to do business with men arriving for the big game with money to burn. Although it is difficult to pinpoint an exact number, it is believed that thousands of underage girls have been brought to recent Super Bowls to engage male customers in sex. What we do know for sure is that up to 300,000 girls between 11 and 17 years of age are lured into the American sex industry annually, according to a 2007 report sponsored by the Department of Justice and written by the nonprofit group Shared Hope International. At the end of the day this human trafficking of these young girls is simply another version of violence against females.
The other equally critical issue is how we American males define manhood. Far too many of us think it is about violent behavior, warfare, gunplay, mindless and ego-driven competition, and the conquering of each other, or women and girls, by any available means. And this has nothing to do with the debates that have raged for years about there being a spike in domestic violence cases on Super Bowl Sundays because of the drinking and abusive behavior of male sports fans. Hard to pin down that kind of data. But it unquestionably is a day when so many different types of people come together, pause, and watch perhaps America’s bloodiest and most violent sport as if it were a video game. How incredible would it be to use the saga of Ben Roethlisberger as a teachable moment? For boys and young men: violence in any form against women and girls is completely unacceptable, including forcing yourself sexually upon a female. For girls and young women: under no circumstances whatsoever should a man or boy strike, hit, beat, or otherwise seek to bring you bodily harm. For males and females alike: How can we condemn the treatment of women and girls in foreign countries yet say little to nothing as female minors are being trafficked during Super Bowl Week for the pleasure of sexually despicable American males who could easily be these girls’ fathers or grandfathers?
Beyond what we say or do as citizens who care, star athletes and professional leagues like the NFL have got to muster the courage of a Joe Torre, the former long-time New York Yankees manager and guaranteed Hall of Famer: he has spoken eloquently, as an adult, about the domestic violence his mother suffered at the hands of his father when he was growing up. This has become a mission for Mr. Torre, and we really need a generation of athletes to combat this scourge that happens in American communities daily. That is why it is so great that Dallas Cowboy Pro Bowler Jay Ratliff, in the past few days, made a public service announcement entitled "Real men don't buy children. They don't buy sex."
And real men don’t hit beat berate sexually assault rape or seek to humiliate women either. Conceivably this is why, with regards to Big Ben, I have gotten a number of tweets and emails from women saying there is no way they will root for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, because they feel Roethlisberger was given a slap on the wrist and is once again enjoying the fruits of being a man with privilege in our still very sexist society. They are right, of course, and this will not change unless a superstar athlete with the shine and stage of a Big Ben takes a very public stand in the movement to end violence and sexual assault against women and girls with the same sort of guts that, say, Muhammad Ali displayed in his stand against the Vietnam War. In other words, we need to be able to cheer for our star athletes outside the arena as much as we do inside. And cheer for them in a way that is about so much more than the sport they play or the championships they win—
Kevin Powell is a public speaker, activist, and author or editor of 10 books, including Open Letters to America (Soft Skull). He lives in Brooklyn, New York, and can be emailed at kevin@kevinpowell.net.
THE PRICE OF THE TICKET
They paid you for that? How much did they pay you?
I'm standing in front of my father. It's the night of the only day in his life that he will hear me read poetry. I've just given a reading with Ai at the New York Public Library located in Chinatown. I look into my father's eyes and there is no way I can tell him how much money I've made from simply reading a few poems to a small audience. It's out of respect that I avoid my father's eyes. My father was a hard working man who eventually found employment in the postal service. That was the good job he had until the day he died.
Throughout my entire literary career, I was always careful not to be seen as an entertainer. I never viewed my poetry readings as a performance. I've always disliked reading in clubs and small cafes. I hated reading at fashion shows. I don't do Slams and I'm not a spoken word artist.
I'll visit a prison before I will do a television show. Back in the 1970s I defined myself as a cultural worker. When I read poetry it was usually at a cultural event held at All Soul's Church in support of what was going on in Nicaragua or Chile. I never requested any money. I wasn't trying to gain exposure. It was my politics that escorted me to the stage. It was the solidarity with people engaged in struggle that made me want to be a writer with something to say.
When I started my Ascension poetry reading series back in 1974. My friend Ahmos Zu-Bolton helped me organize a program for several young black women poets. Lucille Clifton came down from Baltimore just to read on her old college campus She didn't ask for a penny. She was our special guest. It might have been the first time she was invited back to read poetry at Howard. Lucille loved Ahmos. A few months ago I found an unpublished poem she had written to him in the back of one of her books.
Then there was June Jordan returning my rent money when she learned it was her honorarium for a reading I invited her to in DC.
So much has changed over the years. Art is seen not as a gift but as a commodity. We pay to watch television these days and all the poets want something for their pockets too. But who are these poets? What do they do when they are not writing poems? Many have jobs at colleges. Few are making a living from just their writing like Langston Hughes.
I think it's good that Langston once decided to be photographed as a Busboy. We seem to forget tradition and history. At the end of the day we want the happy meal and the smile. We want the Kool-Aid and the amnesia. We forget that King was trying to organize sanitation workers before he was killed in Memphis. I suspect that if the monument of King was unveiled this summer and he was revealed wearing coveralls - folks would complain. They would want their King in a suit. They would point to his attire when he was giving his Dream Speech. But go back to King's funeral - noticed how he was honored. There are the mules pulling his coffin. Do we replace it today with a BMW? It might be good for poets to return to being busboys again - their is a certain degree of humility they might learn. King was last seen organizing poor people. What are our poets doing today? Is that a hand on the plow - or just a hand open for some quick easy cash?
They paid you for that? How much did they pay you?
I'm standing in front of my father. It's the night of the only day in his life that he will hear me read poetry. I've just given a reading with Ai at the New York Public Library located in Chinatown. I look into my father's eyes and there is no way I can tell him how much money I've made from simply reading a few poems to a small audience. It's out of respect that I avoid my father's eyes. My father was a hard working man who eventually found employment in the postal service. That was the good job he had until the day he died.
Throughout my entire literary career, I was always careful not to be seen as an entertainer. I never viewed my poetry readings as a performance. I've always disliked reading in clubs and small cafes. I hated reading at fashion shows. I don't do Slams and I'm not a spoken word artist.
I'll visit a prison before I will do a television show. Back in the 1970s I defined myself as a cultural worker. When I read poetry it was usually at a cultural event held at All Soul's Church in support of what was going on in Nicaragua or Chile. I never requested any money. I wasn't trying to gain exposure. It was my politics that escorted me to the stage. It was the solidarity with people engaged in struggle that made me want to be a writer with something to say.
When I started my Ascension poetry reading series back in 1974. My friend Ahmos Zu-Bolton helped me organize a program for several young black women poets. Lucille Clifton came down from Baltimore just to read on her old college campus She didn't ask for a penny. She was our special guest. It might have been the first time she was invited back to read poetry at Howard. Lucille loved Ahmos. A few months ago I found an unpublished poem she had written to him in the back of one of her books.
Then there was June Jordan returning my rent money when she learned it was her honorarium for a reading I invited her to in DC.
So much has changed over the years. Art is seen not as a gift but as a commodity. We pay to watch television these days and all the poets want something for their pockets too. But who are these poets? What do they do when they are not writing poems? Many have jobs at colleges. Few are making a living from just their writing like Langston Hughes.
I think it's good that Langston once decided to be photographed as a Busboy. We seem to forget tradition and history. At the end of the day we want the happy meal and the smile. We want the Kool-Aid and the amnesia. We forget that King was trying to organize sanitation workers before he was killed in Memphis. I suspect that if the monument of King was unveiled this summer and he was revealed wearing coveralls - folks would complain. They would want their King in a suit. They would point to his attire when he was giving his Dream Speech. But go back to King's funeral - noticed how he was honored. There are the mules pulling his coffin. Do we replace it today with a BMW? It might be good for poets to return to being busboys again - their is a certain degree of humility they might learn. King was last seen organizing poor people. What are our poets doing today? Is that a hand on the plow - or just a hand open for some quick easy cash?
Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. |
 |
| Writing Workshop with Reuben Jackson!!! HOT FOR TEACHER : POEMS ABOUT TEACHING AND LEARNING Tuesday, February 15, 6:30-8:30 pm, $20/$15 students at the Arlington Artisphere, Education Lab 1101 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington VA 22209 703-785-1100 703-785-1100 begin_of_the_skype_highlightingMetro: Rosslyn, blue/orange line Almost everyone has a "turning point" moment in life involving a special teacher. Whether you're an educator or a lifelong student, this workshop will remind you of the joys of learning. We'll do guided memory exercises to trigger forgotten nuggets and jewels to use in our own writing, and we'll also read works by other writers on teaching. Lastly, we'll share our work together and build our spoken word performance skills. Reuben Jackson is an instructor at the Writer's Center in Bethesda, MD, and a regular contributor to "Metro Connection", a weekly radio news magazine heard on WAMU-FM. his poems have been published in 21 anthologies and his music reviews Click here to register for the class through Eventbrite. | SCRATCHING THE SURFACE: WHAT'S UNDERNEATH Black History Month student performance February 18, 2011 7pm @ Caplin Theater Sidwell Friends School 3825 Wisconsin Ave. NW FREE!!! Created by members of the Black Student Union at Sidwell Friends School under the direction of Holly Bass, this thought-provoking performance explores the dynamics of being a black student at a predominately white private school. Come join us for this unique window into the thoughts, opinions and politics of the next generation of Black leaders as they express themselves through original poetry, song and dialogue. |
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|
 |
Charles Johnson talks about craft and revision. Very important information for writers.
Don't miss.
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
ETHELBERT MILLER / 28 DE OCTUBRE, 1959
A Camilo Cienfuegos
Tengo ocho años
y estoy jugando con soldaditos de plomo.
Una sala en el sur del Bronx
se vuelve un campo de batalla.
Mi voz imita los disparos,
las bombas: ¡Bum! Voy gritando.
En algún sitio, desaparece un avión en el océano,
con un hombre de barba hermosa.
Me escondo detrás del sofá sin saber
que toda Cuba llora.
No conozco el nombre de Camilo
ni el del Che, ni siquiera el de Fidel. Apenas soy un niño.
Traducción de Nancy Morejón
---------------------------------------
Weather Alert: Wind advisory issued for D.C. area
February 8, 2011 8:17:14 AM
----------------------------------------
The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory for the Washington area from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Gusts of up to 50 mph are possible, particularly in the early afternoon.
Weather Alert: Wind advisory issued for D.C. area
February 8, 2011 8:17:14 AM
----------------------------------------
The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory for the Washington area from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Gusts of up to 50 mph are possible, particularly in the early afternoon.
THE GUESS
Well, I was wrong with my Super Bowl pick. But let me do better with the news. I'm going with Cuba, North Korea and Iraq again. Let's see if something happens in these countries during the next 2 weeks that makes them front page news. Bye Bye Egypt.
Or will the media return to domestic issues? Budget cuts - the fear of more unemployment?
What's an Obama to do?
Well, bring on the Oscars and those music awards for distraction. I can't wait to see Lady Gaga...
Well, I was wrong with my Super Bowl pick. But let me do better with the news. I'm going with Cuba, North Korea and Iraq again. Let's see if something happens in these countries during the next 2 weeks that makes them front page news. Bye Bye Egypt.
Or will the media return to domestic issues? Budget cuts - the fear of more unemployment?
What's an Obama to do?
Well, bring on the Oscars and those music awards for distraction. I can't wait to see Lady Gaga...
THE NEXT HUNGER
With things returning to a new normal in Egypt the media will look for the next hunger. Will it be another country? A natural disaster?
It seems we are ready for the death of a major celebrity or personality. Someone we can mourn and remember those good old days. A form of dark happy news. Everyone loves to watch a funeral, we just get tired of people dying.
With things returning to a new normal in Egypt the media will look for the next hunger. Will it be another country? A natural disaster?
It seems we are ready for the death of a major celebrity or personality. Someone we can mourn and remember those good old days. A form of dark happy news. Everyone loves to watch a funeral, we just get tired of people dying.
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
|
Monday, February 07, 2011
What's a literary activist?
Folks often want to know why I call myself a literary activist.
Well, I looked at the index in the new book Jerry Ward and Maryemma Graham just released - THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE. I found no reference to my work. Is this an oversight or just another example of African American literary scholarship?
One of the reasons why I save so many documents is that folks too often suffer dementia before they die. It's important to not only sing your song but also make sure it's recorded and distributed. One of the reasons why I spend time promoting the work of others is because so many important and talented writers are too often overlooked. There is still so much more work to do. I remember many years ago being contacted by folks at Cambridge - maybe I should have taken that job. Now it looks like somebody wrote their own history and want me to believe it's mine.
Folks often want to know why I call myself a literary activist.
Well, I looked at the index in the new book Jerry Ward and Maryemma Graham just released - THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE. I found no reference to my work. Is this an oversight or just another example of African American literary scholarship?
One of the reasons why I save so many documents is that folks too often suffer dementia before they die. It's important to not only sing your song but also make sure it's recorded and distributed. One of the reasons why I spend time promoting the work of others is because so many important and talented writers are too often overlooked. There is still so much more work to do. I remember many years ago being contacted by folks at Cambridge - maybe I should have taken that job. Now it looks like somebody wrote their own history and want me to believe it's mine.
CRAZY LIKE A FOX
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/02/06/foxs-bill-oreilly-interviews-president-obama-before-super-bowl/
This is a good interview with President Obama. But listen to how Bill O' Reilly frames a few of his questions. A statement like "off the reservation" has a certain degree of racism in it. Calling the Muslim Brotherhood "boys" won't get you into a mosque on a Friday. O'Reilly tries to use intellectual pressure but Obama has that Ali move where he can slide off the ropes. I think President Obama has become a much better boxer over the last two years. A person has to learn how to jab with the jive. When there are foxes in the area you have to let the hounds out.
http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/02/06/foxs-bill-oreilly-interviews-president-obama-before-super-bowl/
This is a good interview with President Obama. But listen to how Bill O' Reilly frames a few of his questions. A statement like "off the reservation" has a certain degree of racism in it. Calling the Muslim Brotherhood "boys" won't get you into a mosque on a Friday. O'Reilly tries to use intellectual pressure but Obama has that Ali move where he can slide off the ropes. I think President Obama has become a much better boxer over the last two years. A person has to learn how to jab with the jive. When there are foxes in the area you have to let the hounds out.
Muslim Brotherhood Join Egypt Talks as Mubarak Allies Make Concessions
David D. Kirkpatrick, Kareem Fahim and Alan Cowell, The New York Times News Service: "Members of the Muslim Brotherhood joined other opposition groups meeting with Vice President Omar Suleiman on Sunday in what seemed a significant departure in the nation's uprising and political history. The Brotherhood is an outlawed Islamist organization often depicted by the authorities as committed to the overthrow of the secular order in the heart of the Middle East.... But it has remained Egypt's biggest opposition force against the autocratic rule of President Hosni Mubarak. After the meeting had started, The Associated Press said that talks included some of the top issues for the opposition - including freedom of the press and the release of those detained since anti-government protests started - as well as agreement to begin setting up a structure to study amending the country's constitution."
Read the Article
David D. Kirkpatrick, Kareem Fahim and Alan Cowell, The New York Times News Service: "Members of the Muslim Brotherhood joined other opposition groups meeting with Vice President Omar Suleiman on Sunday in what seemed a significant departure in the nation's uprising and political history. The Brotherhood is an outlawed Islamist organization often depicted by the authorities as committed to the overthrow of the secular order in the heart of the Middle East.... But it has remained Egypt's biggest opposition force against the autocratic rule of President Hosni Mubarak. After the meeting had started, The Associated Press said that talks included some of the top issues for the opposition - including freedom of the press and the release of those detained since anti-government protests started - as well as agreement to begin setting up a structure to study amending the country's constitution."
Read the Article
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I Want to Write Workshop
Led by Marita Golden~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Come find the writer in you at my upcoming I Want to Write writing workshop. During this workshop I will help you find the writing skills you doubted that you possessed. If you need assistance getting that long awaited writing project started I will help you do that. If you started writing but ran into writers block I will teach you how to overcome that. If you have most of your project written but just need some guidance on ways to improve or complete your writing then this is the workshop for you. I have successfully written 14 works of fiction and nonfiction and have taught writing workshops and classes for the past 20 years. I am confident I can provide you with the tools and knowledge necessary to become the best writer you can be. Please join me in my upcoming workshop.  Sincerely, Marita Marita |
| I Want to Write A 2-Day Writing Retreat ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  If you are having difficulty getting your words from your head and heart onto the page then this is the workshop for you. This workshop is for writers of any genre: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, or journalism. This workshop will:~ guide you through writer's block ~ help you complete projects you beganThis popular 2-day workshop has helped hundreds of writers get unblocked and take the leap into their story and start writing. Beginning and veteran writers create a supportive community and learn techniques to write through fear, anxiety and self-censorship. Schedule ~ Saturday, February 19, 2011 ~ Sunday, February 20, 2011 Location: Maryland Tuition: $299 Alumni Tuition: $270 |
 | |||||
| CHRISTINA AGUILERA |
Just before kickoff my son and daughter both sent texts wanting to know who I was going with. I told them Steelers. This was the first Super Bowl I watched with no real emotion concern. I wanted to watch New England or Baltimore play in February.
The game was OK. I thought Troy Palamalu disappeared from the Pitt defense. No real impact.
The Packers did save us from Roethlisberger redemption stories. Somewhere a girl is feeling good about the outcome...
But what happened to the commercials this year? I thought they were all awful. I would like to know who wrote that script where the black woman hits the white girl in the head with a soda can. The E-Trade baby might need to grow-up soon. And who let the dogs out for the Beer party?
Finally, who decides on the coin toss for singers and entertainment each year? Mubarek? The Black Eyed Peas sounded like a bad side order of something. Can anyone sing in this group? This was a half-time light show. I didn't want my half. I guess if you can't sing you might as well glow in the dark and dance. I'm not going to say anything about the singing of the National Anthem. Sometimes the song if sung well can bring you to tears - sometimes you just want to cry. I guess you know what I'm talking about. Some singers mistake their voices for a gym and don't know when to stop jumping. I know someone who needs a couple of Sinatra lessons. Did I mention any names? Never let jets flying over a stadium sing back-up.
Breaking News Alert The New York Times Mon, February 07, 2011 -- 12:05 AM ET ----- AOL to Buy The Huffington Post in $315 Million Deal The Huffington Post, which began in 2005 with a meager $1 million investment and has grown into one of the most heavily visited news Web sites in the country, is being acquired by AOL in a deal that creates an unlikely pairing of two online media giants. The two companies completed the sale Sunday evening and were expected to announce the deal Monday morning. The deal will allow AOL to greatly expand its news gathering and original content creation, areas that its chief executive, Tim Armstrong, views as vital to reversing a decade-long decline. Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/07/business/media/07aol.html?emc=na
Share This:    | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| |
Sunday, February 06, 2011
BookTalk: A Community Reads to Focus on Local Author’s National Book Award-winning Novel
BETHESDA, MD (February 2, 2011)—On February 20, The Writer’s Center will host a discussion about Charming Billy, Alice McDermott’s 1998 National Book Award-winning novel. At the event, McDermott will join Round House Theatre’s producing Artistic Director, Blake Robison (who adapted and directed RHT’s world premiere version of the play). The event is part of BookTalk: A Community Reads. A new program at The Writer’s Center—one for which The Writer’s Center received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts—BookTalk brings readers and writers together in conversation on a single book, much like a reading group. McDermott and Robison will discuss their involvement with the book and field questions from the audience.
When: Sunday, February 20, 1:00-2:00 p.m.
Where: The Writer's Center, 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, MD 20815
Cost: Free
For information, call 301.654.8664 or visit Writer.org to register
Now Gaza Begins to Shake
Pam Bailey, Inter Press Service: "Ripple effects of the Egyptian uprising are now spreading to Gaza, where some groups are planning a new rally next week. Moves by some Gazans to mimic protesters in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen by taking to the streets are making the Hamas government nervous. Government officials sponsored an official rally in solidarity with the Egyptian protesters earlier, but when a small group of journalists and bloggers organized their own, six women and eight men were arrested. Two of the women, known for their outspoken criticism of the regime, were beaten up."
Read the Article
Pam Bailey, Inter Press Service: "Ripple effects of the Egyptian uprising are now spreading to Gaza, where some groups are planning a new rally next week. Moves by some Gazans to mimic protesters in Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen by taking to the streets are making the Hamas government nervous. Government officials sponsored an official rally in solidarity with the Egyptian protesters earlier, but when a small group of journalists and bloggers organized their own, six women and eight men were arrested. Two of the women, known for their outspoken criticism of the regime, were beaten up."
Read the Article
FOOD:
I plan to checkout MERZI this week. It's an Indian restaurant located at 415 7th Street, NW in Penn Quarter.
www.merzi.com
I plan to checkout MERZI this week. It's an Indian restaurant located at 415 7th Street, NW in Penn Quarter.
www.merzi.com
