Say Word

Word Life
By J. Grant

It’s only a word
Words can’t hurt you
Words have no power
Words are just that, words.

If words have no power, no one would care about Shakespeare or Giovanni
No one would care about Angelou or Baraka,
Frost or Fitzgerald
Who would need a Richard Wright or James Baldwin…?
Sonia Sanchez or Langston Hughes…
Zora Neale or Gwendolyn Brooks
Because poets would be unnecessary
And poems couldn’t be used as weapons to the armless
And songs would not be used as soundtracks to rebellion
No one would sit down and listen to a song and say,
“I can feel that”
I can feel Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith
I can feel Marvin and Stevie and Smokey
And Aretha and Ella…
Sing about the highs and lows of love and life
But no one would feel that because words are just that, words.

But words have life, and love doesn’t come from your words

How you gonna say that? You know I got love for you, nigga…
I love you so much, I call you my nigga.

Love, Black man? Love?
Then love me, Black man
Love me like your brother
Your blood
Your twin
Your son
Your cousin
Your nephew
Your heart
Your friend

Show me that love you speak of
That love, that great love my brother has for his brother

Love, Black man, love!
Understand it and breathe life into it.

2006 J.A.G. Productions (c)

Scorpio: An autobiography of my first 25 years as a poet

On October 30, 1980, I was born in the crazy borough of The Bronx, New York.
This past Sunday, I turned 25 years old. I named this post after a collection of essays by Nikki Giovanni when she turned 25, called "Gemini..."; I think it is fitting for a title of my own 25-year life.

If I was to tell a story about my life it would have to start with the interesting life of a black-sheep grandfather who separated himself from the rest of his siblings. It would then turn to a hard working mother who gave a lot so her only son could have an easier life.

My life has never been the smoothest of rides. Growing up without a father was never really a problem because I never had any problems with feeling unloved by the family and friends around me. However, when you don't have a lot of financial resources in your life, you're always wondering if you'll be able to achieve all the things you dream about. Therefore, most of the time I only think about the lack of a father when I'm broke. I understand that over the obstacles I've come a very long way... much longer than what was expected of me and much longer than most people who come from where I'm from. For this, I'm blessed.

This past year, my 25th year, has been an up and down year. I have probably never experienced so much loss and gain at any time in my life - Death came in threes
- A classmate of mine who I went to law school with was killed.
- A college classmate of mine was killed a month later.
- A distant cousin of mine was killed, execution style, in Jamaica.
At the same time, there were great things that happened - My best friend became a father and named me the godfather, I graduated from law school, I passed the bar exam, my cousin is going to college and he likes it!

But even with all that, trying to find work became a very stressful time to the point where I am starting to suspect that my eyebrow hair is falling out (I know that sounds weird, but I think it's true). Also, I think that I lost a friend, which is weird because she wasn't the friend I thought I was going to lose in the first place. And now I have these flashbacks of better times, smiling, laughing, and crying together.

Life is always a mix of comedy and tragedy; this past year I have experienced many emotions that fit into both categories. For goodness sake, I could have an emmy award winning tv show based on this past year. Not to mention that I have no love life to speak of, my bedroom apartment is in desperate need of repair, and I have shamefully become addicted to "America's Next Top Model."

I wanted to have a theme for my birthday weekend... I was going to go out, have fun, make a whole bunch of noise... But I realized that I'm too broke to do any of that stuff. But I still wanted a theme - "They didn't think we'd make it past 25, jokes on them we still alive-weekend" But the joke was on me - all I did was watch football and cook a boat load of pancakes for my Sunday breakfast. But I realize that I still enjoyed myself. I enjoyed myself because I appreciate everyday, and I appreciate all the good, the bad, and the ugly that I have had the ability to experience in this life. So I figure that as long as I don't catch the bird flu, I have a lot to be happy about... I have a lot to live for.

Million More Movement (Continued)...

Yes, I was there. I was at the Million More March.
It was beautiful to see so many of my people at one place, at one time, for one purpose - Liberation for the African, poor, and indigenous people of the earth.

These are my Thoughts:

The speakers seemed to have a focus on building on this event in a way where we would put together strategies to bring progress to people of African decent. I do think that there were some problems with the event.

For one, there really wasn't a true statement on what the focus of this movement is going to be. For example, we know that the issue of reparations is something we need to discuss and create a battle plan for attaining, but there was no one saying that reparations is a part of list of issues we need to address as a people. The speeches were great and they did mention our issues, but I don't think we got a direct list to work from.

I did appreciate Minister Louis Farrakhan discussing the various "Ministries" that the Black community need to address our issues (Ministry of Education, Agriculture, Defense, Spirituality, Health and Human Services etc.), and an independent political party. I think his speech was one of the most focused speeches.

On another note, I thought the ramblings of Erykah Badu left much to be desired. Erykah made some good points, she even knew how to speak slowly so her voice would not be garbled by her echo. But she then became repetitive and started to wander.

I also thought that having Jim Jones (?) of the Diplomats perform made no real sense. Not that his song wasn't good (even though it was cut short due to technical difficulties), he is not a guy who I would say represents an image in Hip Hop that should be represented at the MMM. Where was Kanye West? Where was Talib Qweli? Where was Mos Def?!!! On the other hand, Wyclef Jean was very good, and he got the crowd going with his carnival inspired tribute to New Orleans.

I also had some problems with the way certain people were rushed, while others were given all day to speak. Dorothy Height, bless her little heart and her trademark hat, was able to take her time. On the other hand, when the coalition of representatives from youth groups came to the stage, they had to beg for time to give their message. I see this as a problem. No movement can be successful without our young people.... No movement can work if young people are not at the forefront! Thus, it would make sense that young people are able to participate in discussing their plans and concerns without being rushed off because grown folk have to talk. Erykah Badu should have been rushed off (I really do love Erykah, but she could have been two minutes shorter).

Then there were problems with who did not get to speak. Apparently, someone representing the gay and lesbian community was not able to speak. It has also been said that Mumia Abu Jamal had recorded a taped message that was due to be played at the event. This is crazy. The gay and lesbian thing is predictable since Black folks have yet to truly deal with issues of homosexuality in our communities. We can't marginalize our gay and lesbian siblings; it is self-destructive. The Mumia thing is ridiculous! Mumia is one of our most important political prisoners. And though many speakers gave lip service to the freedom of our political prisoners, having a message from Mumia would have been so poignant and powerful for all those in the audience who have yet to hear this amazing man's voice. In addition, no one from the various reparations organizations spoke. This also makes no sense since that topic came up so many times during the day, why not have someone who has actually been on the forefront of fighting for this issue speak to the people.

Given all the criticisms that I have and that others that I read have, this was still a momentous occasion. I enjoyed my day so much and felt filled with so much pride that so many people from all over came out to celebrate each other and to hopefully build with each other.

It's funny, a lot of people have come away saying that they wished that we came up with a detailed strategy of how we are going to achieve all the things we need. I don't know why people are saying this... it is not possible to come up with a detailed plan in such an atmosphere. An event like this is not the place to come up with a detailed plan. Detailed plans need to happen where you get a whole bunch of like-minded people together, where we can brainstorm, suggest ideas, suggest changes, come up with critiques, actually organize and assign jobs for everybody to do individually and in groups in and around our communities.

October 15, 2005 was an event. The reason I'm glad they called it the Millions More MOVEMENT, is because we can't stop at October 15, 2005. We have to keep moving, keep coming up with ideas, plans, strategies, organizations, coalitions etc. to progress. Right now, if we're going to be too focused on the event, we have already failed. It's like a marriage - sometimes we get too focused on the event (the wedding) and we don't think about the process of staying in a marriage, staying a family, staying in love. A lot of people plan the dress and tuxedo they will wear, how many people they will invite, what will be the first song they'll dance to, what the flavor of the cake will be etc. However, people do not put as much energy in the marriage relationship itself.

Similarly, we need to think beyond the event of MMM on 10/15/05. It is done, but our movement is not. The movement needs to continue. We need to focus our energy and the energy we received on that day and put it into building this movement. So in the words of Wyclef Jean, "we buiding more than a march, we're building a movement, a million more movement." So, let's build!

The Millions More Movement

October 15, 2005

I don't know if there were actually a million people there, but it seemed close.

Boondocks by Aaron McGruder

This is my idea of dealing with what's really going on these days.

So....

I'm working now... sort of. The temp agency did take me on, but I haven't gotten a gig that lasts for an extended period. Last week I got a gig that lasted two days. I'm hoping to get a 4 week gig soon; the bills are starting to pile up and I need to eat every once in a while.

Indigenous peoples urge action on Arctic thaw

OSLO (Reuters) - Indigenous peoples urged tougher action to slow global warming on Thursday after a U.S. report showed the Arctic icecap had shrunk to its smallest in at least 100 years.

The U.N. Environment Program also said the shrinking ice was yet more alarming evidence of an Arctic thaw that could portend worldwide disruptions including stronger hurricanes, desertification and rising sea levels.

"This is a another reminder" of the fast melt in the Arctic, said Alona Yefimenko, acting head of the Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples' Secretariat in Copenhagen.
"All the indigenous political leaders are trying to bring this message to reduce (greenhouse gas) emissions, not only in the United States but also in Europe," she said.
Scientists at
NASA' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> NASA and the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) said on Wednesday the Arctic ice shrank this year for the fourth year in a row to the smallest area since measurements started 100 years ago.
Yefimenko said shrinking ice was threatening traditional lifestyles. Hunters of polar bears or seals risk falling through thinning ice. Reindeer herders often find reindeer struggling in mud on what was once permafrost.

And Arctic leaders especially want the United States, the world's biggest polluter, to cap emissions of heat-trapping gases from power plants, factories and cars blamed by most scientists for global warming.

Almost all other rich nations have agreed to curbs under the
United Nations' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> United Nations's
Kyoto protocol' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> Kyoto protocol.

BUSH PULLOUT
NASA and NSIDC said the rising temperatures seemed linked to a buildup of gases from human sources.
President George W. Bush' name=c1> SEARCHNews News Photos Images Web' name=c3> President George W. Bush pulled out of Kyoto in 2001, saying it would be too costly and wrongly excluded developing nations.
Indigenous leaders dismiss Bush's view that more research is needed, saying climate change is already happening.
"In Alaska, for instance, you can't take snowmobiles across lakes and be sure of reaching the other side," said Yefimenko, who is from the Russian far east.
"Around the Arctic, water flows in rivers are unpredictable. It's very difficult for reindeer herders to cross rivers."

The U.S. findings backed a report by 250 experts last year that forecast that the Arctic ice could disappear in summers by 2100, driving polar bears toward extinction.
The impact would be largely negative but could open the Arctic to exploration for oil and gas, mining, logging or trans-polar shipping routes between the Atlantic and Pacific.
"The documentation is getting stronger," said Paal Prestrud, a vice-chair of last year's Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) and head of the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research in Oslo.

According to the ACIA report, the Arctic melts faster than the rest of the globe because darker water and ground, once exposed, traps heat far more than ice and snow.
The U.S. report "is yet further evidence that climate change is not a prediction for the future but a phenomenon that is happening now," said Nick Nuttall, spokesman of the U.N. Environment Program.

And he said the world might risk catastrophic, abrupt changes unless it acted quickly.
"An already very bad trend seems to be getting worse," said Steve Sawyer, head of climate and energy policy at environmental group Greenpeace.
Apart from the Arctic sea ice, he said there were worrying signs of a melting of the Greenland icecap. If all the Greenland icecap melted, the world's oceans could rise by 7 meters.

Random Question...

If there are any meteorologists out there in blogger world, is it usual for two category 5 hurricanes to go through the same area within three weeks of each other, or is global warming a reality despite Dubya's ignorance?

Malcolm X quote of the day #2

"Is white America really sorry for her crimes against the black people? Does white America have the capacity to repent - and to atone? Does the capacity to repent, to atone, exist in a majority, in one-half, in even one-third of American white society?
"Many black men, the victims - in fact most black men - would like to be able to forgive, to forget, the crimes.
"But most American white people seem not to have it in them to make any serious atonement - to do justice to the black man.
"Indeed, how can white society atone for enslaving, for raping, for unmanning, for otherwise brutalizing millions of human beings, for centuries? What atonement would the God of Justice demand for the robbery of the black people's labor, their lives, their true identities, their culture, their history - and even their human dignity?
"A desegregated cup of coffee, a theater, public toilets - the whole range of hypocritical 'integration' - these are not atonement."

New days, new things

I finished reading Malcolm X on Tuesday. It always astounds me how no matter how many times you read a book or see a movie, you always see something you didn't see before. Like I said in my last post, I think Malcolm's autobiography is the most significant work I have ever read. I also think it is one of the most important books in Africana literature; not because of the person who it is about, but because it represents what we should aim for - standing and working for the betterment of our people with no apologies.
-----

I have another interview with a legal temp agency next Tuesday. I'm hopeful that I might be working soon. I'm just so incredibly broke that I don't know how much more patient I can be....

Reading and Meditating on...

I'm reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley. I'm almost finish (I have one more chapter and the epilogue left). This is the second time I've read this book; the last time was six years ago. It is amazing how relevant this work is. I still think that every person of African descent in this world should read this book. Malcolm is so deep that I don't think a lot of people, even now, are ready for the knowledge he was spitting. This book is the most significant book I have ever read. It is my favorite, and I believe it is the book that has made me the person I am today.

Malcolm X quote of the day

"I'm not anti-American, and I didn't come here to condemn America... I came here to tell the truth - and if the truth condemns America, then she stands condemned!"

Hurricane Katrina and racism

Hurricane Katrina has pulled away the curtains on some of america's dirty big secrets. One of them being racism. It is very true that classism has also been revealed in all of this, but that is a given in a capitalist society.

Lately, there has been a lot of "controversy" over Kanye West's remarks saying that George Bush doesn't care about Black people. Now, some people are saying that this is not a race issue, but a poverty issue. NO! This is a race issue. It is an issue of how, in this country and in this world, race and class continue to intermingle.

Whether Bush cares or doesn't care about Black folks means nothing to me. However, it needs to be said that race is part of the reason that the people of New Orleans were not helped out faster. Sure, many of us, including so-called people of color, would like to believe that if eighty percent of the people trapped in the dark dome, the filthy convention center, sleeping under highway underpasses, and waiving "help us" signs on roofs were white, it would take the government five days plus to evacuate people from the city. But can we really look at ourselves and the history of this country and actually believe that. And if this was just a poverty issue, is that something we should be celebrating? - Yay, poor white people are treated just as badly as poor Black people... glory, glory hallelujah!

It doesn't make any damn sense. We live in a white supremacist and classist society, but these things are not separated from each other. Classism feeds off of racism. Racism empowers classism. And when I say racist I am not talking about any person calling me nigger, or not being able to sit in the front of the bus, or being able to go to a majority white school, or live in a majority white neighborhood. When I speak of racism, I am talking about institutional racism. Institutional racism is much more powerful than the racism battled against by the so-called civil rights leaders of the '60's.

Institutional racism is the disproportionate amount of Black people who live way below the poverty line; the disproportionate amount of Black men and Black women who are in the prison industrial complex and on death row; Black people being less likely to have proper healthcare and access to healthcare; Black people being less likely to be in adequate public schools; Black people being in neighborhoods where toxic dump sites are present (environmental racism). I could go on and on, but I would just get a hand-cramp from all of the writing. And yes, many of the policies of George Bush and the Republican party has had a detrimental effect on Black folks and other "people of color." And that's not to say that the Democrats have been that much better, because they really haven't, but that is another story for another post.

What bothers me is that it has become "chic" for people to say that something is about "class" and poverty rather than "race." This is problematic. It's problematic because it takes away from the reality that racism (white supremacy) is still one of the biggest problems that this country has yet to deal with. And it is about time that people, my beautiful Black people in particular, stop letting the white establishment off the hook by saying everything is about class. Let us stop these games with the truth. Too often Black people have dealt unintelligently with the truth; we have been walking around it like it is a game of "ring-around-the-rosy" (I think that is the name of the game). And I don't know if we do this so that we don't hurt white people's feelings or because we don't want to endanger our earning potential, or because as the Last Poets said, "Niggers are Scared of Revolution." See, the truth is revolutionary, and a lot of us are too scared to start a revolution.

Malcolm X said that he had made the decision to tell the white man the truth about himself or die. It is time that we decide to live with the truth and live for the truth. Black people, we need to speak the truth when necessary, as necessary, because it is necessary!

Beauty and Music

I just wanted to dedicate this blog post to a few of the women in music who I really have mild crushes on:

Les Nubians - I think these two are so beautiful, and what makes them even more sexy... they speak French. Their songs are so smooth and dynamic.

Vivian Green - I like her music, she makes music that is honest about love and life. She is also absolutely stunning. Her new album sounds pretty good.

Lauryn Hill - I have loved this woman since 1998. I appreciate her talent as an artist. Her lyrical abilities have always been amazing. She has a great voice and is an underestimated emcee. Most interesting about Lauryn, she was one of the first mainstream Hip Hop/R&B female artist to wear her hair naturally - this was before india.arie and Jill Scott and Erykah Badu still had her head wrapped. Even though it became the "in-thing" to wear hair naturally, Lauryn represented to the fullest, and was stunning with every loc'd strand of hair. Beautiful.

La Cucaracha by Lalo Alvarado

Que funny!

Kanye West speaking from the heart

- "George Bush doesn't care about black people." -

It seems that there has been a lot of "controversy" over what Kanye West said about George Bush last week. First of all, he is absolutely RIGHT!!! Bush doesn't care about Black peeople... unless they agree with everything he says and does. For example, Condoleezza Rice. Notice that Dr. Rice is one of Dubya's favorite so-called Negroes. But I must admit, Bush is "fair."
See, he allows people to have one disagreement with him - Dr. Rice disagreed with him about affirmative action; Alberto Gonzales is not totally against abortion. But if you disagree with him more than once, you're done - Colin Powell disagreed with him on affirmative action and he admitted that the administration misled the world about weapons of mass destruction. Thus, Colin Powell no longer has a job.

The Hurricane Katrina aftermath has proved a lot of things. Poor people are always on the bottom of the list of people to be cared about. Second, Black poor people are in even worse regard. It has pained me the last couple of weeks to see all my people sleeping under highway underpasses or being stuck in convention centers and football domes that have now become waist stations for the dead.

All George Bush has done is tried to get in some photo opportunities, but he has been so slow to react. This country's government has been so slow to react. It doesn't matter who is responsible (we know who is responsible Mr Commander-in-Thief); what matters is how are they going to fix this... for the hundreds of thousands of people who are now homeless and in ill condition. And to think, they were considering cutting funds for medicaid today....

I finally have an interview

My goodness,
It has been such a long time since I have been able to be excited about something. Tomorrow I have an interview with the Coalition for Nonprofit Housing and Economic Development. Hopefully, everything will go well and I will have somewhere to go in the mornings. Idleness has its qualities, but damn, I'm getting tired of all the damn tv courtroom shows.

Hurricane Katrina

I have to say that I have no words that can describe the devestation of Hurricane Katrina. I really am so sad for the people who lost their homes in the hurricane. Even worse, those people who lost family members in those areas. It is one of the saddest things I had ever seen.

Another thing that struck me about the whole hurricane thing is the reporting. Not necessarily the reports themselves, but the reporters who were down there in Mississippi and Louisiana. I don't know how to feel about these people. On one hand, they were pretty brave to be in the middle of a hurricane and still do their job of reporting. On the other hand, what the hell were they trying to prove? One of the greatest storms in United States history, and there the reporters are, in the middle of the streets, in the middle of 150 mph winds and heavy rainfall. What the hell?!!! I do have to say that if they weren't there, viewers would not have the true understanding of what a hurricane feels like. But still...

My thoughts and prayers are with the people who live in those areas and their families everywhere.

Butterscotch and Now-and-Laters

Butterscotch & Now-and-Laters
by J. Grant

Butterscotch and Now-and-Laters for 25 cents at the corner candy store
Six years old without a care in the world
Planning our strategy in freeze-tag
Because we were too cool for dodge-ball
And too fly for hide-and-seek
Our claim to fame was being masters of the open fire hydrant
Champions of “Connect Four”
This was our little world…
Our little universe…
Of handball and “suicide”
While the big kids played “craps” and blackjack
We survived on “Uno” and “I declare war”
Three o’clock meant more than the end of the school day
It signified the afternoon main event
“Which heavyweight bully would challenge the unsuspecting lightweight nerd in the battle for elementary school supremacy?!!!”
Butterscotch and Now-and-Laters were our candy of choice
Jolly ranchers and jawbreakers not too far behind
As we sat, reciting the words to “Beat it” and “Billie Jean”
Moonwalking on concrete
Spinning on the pavement
Watching the big kids play football in between traffic and parked cars
While we took turns trying to outrun every car that sped down the block
Waiting for the unforgettable tune of the Mister Softee Ice Cream truck to pass through
Begging our less than pleased parents for one dollar to buy an ice cream cone
I never liked sprinkles, but most kids did…
Not too far behind Mister Softee was the Italian Ices man
Just in case you couldn’t get the dollar from your mom fast enough to catch Mister Softee, the Italian Ices man was there to fulfill your craving
This was our world…
Watching it all from the front of our six floor apartment building…
Or the better view from our third floor fire escape…
Six years old without a care in the world…
This was our universe…
We didn’t have pool parties at the neighbors
We had block parties and “party at Janet’s crib”
While the latest hot records blasted from Tony’s boombox…
Or from every other car that rolled through the avenue…
And all we could do is smile and laugh
Because… we had it all

Dumb-ass Pat Robertson

Televangelist Calls for Chaves' Death Source: Associated Press 08/23/2005

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson suggested on-air that American operatives assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to stop his country from becoming "a launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism."
"We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability," Robertson said Monday on the Christian Broadcast Network's "The 700 Club.""We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator," he continued. "It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."Chavez has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of President Bush, accusing the United States of conspiring to topple his government and possibly backing plots to assassinate him.

U.S. officials have called the
accusations ridiculous."You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it," Robertson said. "It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war ... and I don't think any oil shipments will stop."

Robertson, 75, founder of the Christian Coalition of America and a former presidential candidate, accused the United States of failing to act when Chavez was briefly overthrown in 2002.Electronic pages and a message to a Robertson spokeswoman were not immediately returned Monday evening.Venezuela is the fifth largest oil exporter and a major supplier of oil to the United States. The CIA estimates that U.S. markets absorb almost 59 percent of Venezuela's total exports.Venezuela's government has demanded in the past that the United States crack down on Cuban and Venezuelan "terrorists" in Florida who they say are conspiring against Chavez.Robertson has made controversial statements in the past.

In October 2003, he suggested that the State Department be blown up with a nuclear device. He has also said that feminism encourages women to "kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians."
==========

Okay, I already knew that Pat Robertson was crazy fanatic who uses Christianity to make everyone on earth who isn't a "Jesus freak" like him miserable.
But calling for the assassination of the president of Venezuela? Diablo!!!

Pat Robertson and Jerry Farwell are both jack-asses who say stupid stuff in the name of evangelism. It's pitiful that these people actually have faithful followers of their rhetoric... At the same time, it is necessary to have those in opposition of these fools to gather their strength to battle the ignorance that Farwell and Robertson preach.