In Memorium

This past weekend was my family reunion. It was a very important one for us because my grandmother's death last year was quite tragic. She was such a lovely woman for all of us tolook up to; anyone who could say they knew her were touched by her. I wasn't able to attend this year's family reunion, although I wish this were not so, and I have decided to post the poem I wrote for her funeral. I still miss her dearly.

Goodbye: A Requiem

Only for a short while have you loaned us to each other.
Because we take form in your act of drawing us together,
We breathe in your songs to us and give them life for
The brief spans we are here. But only for so
Short a while have you loaned us to each other.
We must make the most of our times together.

Grandmother, I will miss you more than our language has
The vocabulary to help me articulate.
The only comfort I find in your absence is knowing
You are home where you belong.
I thank Him for blessing us with you, and the
Sacred memories that have been ingrained in me.

You will forever be loved, missed, and a nearby thought.
I will not, however, mourn your death,
But I will indeed, celebrate your life.

© 2004 by Vicky Therese Davis

This doesn't even begin to describe how I truly feel, but suffice it to say, she was very special to me, and I will carry all my memories of her with me till my death.

Minority Report

A few months ago someone told me that blacks could lose their right to vote. At first I didn't believe them until I researched it. In 1965 the 15th Amendment guaranteed us the right to vote, but it has been manipulated in subsections/acts. Surprise, surprise; nothing for minorities is ever so cut-and-dry, or should I insert the pun: “Nothing is ever so black and white.”

In section 5 of the 15th amendment there is something called the "Pre-clearance Act," which basically states that all voting districts have to be cleared by the Attorney General. The "Pre-clearance Act" is not a permanent addition to the Amendment, but it needs to be. In 1982 Ronald Regan gave it a 25 year extension. Now if we sit back and do the math, we have until 2007. We need to write our congressman and bring this issue into the open. This just doesn't affect blacks but all other minorities and poor communities. Look up the 15th Amendment on the internet and find information on this topic. I will put what I’ve found so far below. This issue is still a little sketchy to me, so I will continue to research this topic further to see how alarmed I need to be. We all need to stay informed, no matter what!

The 1982 Amendments
Congress decided in 1982 that Section 5 should be renewed for twenty-five years. Congress also adopted a new standard, which went into effect in 1985, providing how jurisdictions could terminate (or "bail out" from) coverage under the special provisions of Section 4. Furthermore, after extensive hearings, Congress decided that Section 2 should be amended to prohibit vote dilution, according to essentially the same objective factors employed in White v. Register, but without a requirement of proof of discriminatory purpose.

VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965
Section 2:
A nationwide provision that prohibits the use of voting laws, practices or procedures that discriminate in either purpose or effect on the basis of race, color, or membership in a minority language group. All types of voting practices and procedures are covered by Section 2, including those relating to registration, voting, candidacy qualification, and types of election systems.

Section 4:
This portion sets forth the formula under which a political jurisdiction is "covered" by and, therefore, subject to the pre-clearance provisions of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

Section 4 has various dates that trigger coverage. For example: if a jurisdiction used a "test or device" such as a literacy test as of November 1, 1964 and less than 50% of the age-eligible citizens were registered or voted in 1964, it became a covered jurisdiction. Section 4 further notes that if the jurisdiction provided English-Only voter registration/election materials, contained a registered voting age citizenry (or citizens actually voting) of less than 50%, and contained a single language minority group of greater than 5% of its citizens.

Covered jurisdictions include the entire States of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia and counties and towns in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Section 5 was designed to prevent states and other government entities with a history of voting discrimination from continuing to devise new ways to discriminate after the abolishment of prior discriminatory practices. Section 5 requires certain covered jurisdictions to submit any proposed voting changes in their election law or practices, prior to implementation, for federal approval by either the Attorney General of the United States or the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia. Covered jurisdictions must demonstrate that the proposed voting changes do not have the purpose or the effect of discriminating against protected racial or language minorities. This process is referred to as the pre-clearance process.

Minority Language Groups: The minority language groups covered by the Voting Rights Act are Native Americans, Asian Americans, Alaska Natives, and persons of Spanish heritage.

Minority Language Provisions: The Voting Rights Act was amended in 1975 and 1992 to include political jurisdictions with language minority groups and requires such jurisdictions to furnish bi-lingual assistance to language minority citizens at all stages of the voting process and in all elections.

Beautiful Day

Ever since Hurricane Dennis swept through, the weather here has been glorious and so have people's moods. It seems like there is no "off season" in Miami anymore and, although it is quite hot, no one seems to care. I love it!

Beautiful Day
palm trees against a clear blue sky
the soundtrack of gently lapping ocean waves
sun-kissed skin cooling in an unhurried breeze
hibiscus flower from someone’s garden
tucked behind my ear
hair spread like a fan on my lawn chair
sinful libation wetting my insides
reading the last page of a good book
no concept of time

©2005 Vicky Therese Davis

Wouldn't it be wonderful if all our days could be like this...?

Cutting Funds

I am a big fan of NPR and PBS. So it upsets me to find out that the rumors that have been spreading around about the government cutting their funding, is true. I recently signed the petition to help stop this madness. Below is some information about the idiocy of cutting public funding and what you can do to help.

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

You know that email petition that keeps circulating about how Congress is slashing funding for NPR and PBS? Well, now it's actually true.

Sign the petition telling Congress to save NPR and PBS:

The House of Representatives is about to vote on whether to slash funding for NPR and PBS, starting with "Sesame Street," "Reading Rainbow" and other commercial-free children's shows. If approved, this would be the most severe cut in the history of public broadcasting, threatening to pull the plug on Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and Oscar the Grouch.

The cuts would eliminate more than $200 million for NPR, PBS and local stations immediately, with more cuts likely in the future. The loss could kill beloved children's shows like "Clifford the Big Red Dog," "Arthur," and "Postcards from Buster." Rural stations and those serving low-income communities might not survive. Other stations would have to increase corporate sponsorships.

The House will vote on the cuts as soon as Tuesday. Can you help us reach 1 million signatures calling on Congress to save NPR and PBS?

www.moveon.org/publicbroadcasting/

Read the New York Times story on the threat to NPR and PBS at
www.moveon.org/r?r=753


I'm calling on anyone and everyone to PLEASE sign the petition and if you can, make sure this gets around!!!

Stale

In a bit of a melancholic mood today from all the bad weather that Hurrican Dennis is giving us. So I thought I'd post a little poem I wrote inspired by Nikki Giovanni a while back (since I still haven't finished my little memoir of my recent trip).

Stale

Looking at all these tired faces
That I’ve been seeing all these years
Makes my shoulders sink.

Going to this dead-end job
That I’ve been working all these years
Makes my head droop.

Making the same small talk
That I’ve been mindlessly gabbing all these years
Makes my back slump.

Living this inconsequential life
That I’ve been making for myself all these years
Makes my eyes tear.

Thinking about this banality
That I’ve allowed to settle
Gives my mouth a bad taste.

©2005 Vicky Therese Davis

Poetic Injustice

Greetings, everyone!

My apologies for staying away from the keyboard so long--I was traveling and seeing the world with my wonderful mother. I will post a little thing or two from my trip in upcoming entries. While I write them, though, I would like to bring something else to your attention: the injustices being brought upon people like Amir Sulaiman, an artist, poet, and activist, who try to enlighten and inspire us to action via their art about social issues that affect us all.

The New COINTELPRO
Def Poetry Jam Artist Under Fire

Since debuting on Def Poetry Jam, Taliy'ah member Amir Sulaiman has been heavily targeted by the Federal Government in an effort to intimidate and threaten him into abandoning his efforts to spread Islam and Social Justice through the medium of poetry and Hip Hop. Other Taliy'ah members were harassed who knew him and had family members harassed and intimidated at their places of employment by Federal Agents.

Some Taliy'ah members agreed to come in and talk to the Federal investigators provided they bring an attorney with them. This was strongly discouraged by the Agents who claimed that the attorney would not allow them to ask the questions they wished to ask. In other words, their questions were designed to incriminate the individuals involved when no wrong doing was apparent in the least.

Brother Amir has gained a strong following of his music, poetry and writings wherever they are made manifest. In turn, the FBI has expressed deep concern saying "Is Amir trying to spread Islam through Hip Hop?" Obviously THIS is their true concern, not whether or not he has done anything illegal; for if he had, they would not be asking questions, they would show the evidence of this and would have put out a warrant for his arrest. Clearly his only crime is that of spreading "Islam through Hip Hop."
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Date: October 17th, 2004.

My name is Amir Sulaiman; I am Muslim of African decent born in America. I am a 26 year old, poet, writer, teacher, husband and father. I taped as a featured poet on HBO Def Poetry Jam in February of 2004. My episode aired August 8th through August 14th. Within six days of my performance airing, four FBI agents came to my mother-in-law's home in San Francisco. Although I have lived in Atlanta, GA since 2001 and was only visiting my in-laws in California, these agents came looking for me there. They asked for me but my brother-in-law informed them that I was not there. They waited hours for my return. As they were waiting, they questioned my brother-in-law about my background and asked about my “anti-American” poetry.

When I arrived, I told the agents I didn't want to talk to them without legal representation. In the last two months since then, they have called me on my cell phone. They have gone to the high school at which I taught and questioned the principal about me. Later they issued a grand jury subpoena for the names, addresses, phone numbers of all my students, the classes I taught, and my personal file. In addition, I learned at the Atlanta’s Hartsfiled International Airport’s ticket counter that my name has been added to the FBI’s “no-fly” list. The agents did not return my lawyers phone calls for nearly two months but continued to question my friends and associates.

This experience made me wonder, what is freedom of speech? The reality is that speech has never been free. There have been many poets, writers, and speakers who blazed the trail upon which I walk whose free speech cost them their livelihood, their families and in some cases even their lives. Whether they were inspiring the powerless or chastising the powerful, people like Amiri Baraka, Sojourner Truth and Peter Tosh paid the cost for this “free” speech we talk about.

In a new world, wrought nearly insane with paranoia, I, simply by being Muslim, have become a threat. In an old world, still stuck in the muck of racism, I, as a young Black man, am still a threat. This fear is further compounded by my refusal to remain silent in the face of such blatant hypocrisy, thievery, and tyranny. As a Muslim, as a man, as a member of the Human Family, I must speak the Truth with the loudest, most effective voice I can muster, especially when the virtue of justice has been so casually ignored. It is my sacred obligation.

Islam, my way of life, does not allow me to remain still and quiet while a war is being waged not only against Islam and Muslims, but against the Human Family and Life itself. As the hadith of prophet Muhammad (pbuh&f) states, “Whoever among you sees wrongdoing should change it with his hand. If he is unable, then with his speech. If he is unable, then with his heart, and that is the weakest level of faith.”

I was born and raised in America. My mother and father were born and raised in America and their parents were born and raised in America. I consider America my country. This is beyond the sentiments of patriotism or pride. It is a matter of fact. My people have deep roots and a long history in this land. They have invested their blood in the soil of the South, in the factories of the North and the frontiers of the West. Upon the backs of my foreparents, this nation was built. My family’s history in this country precedes the White House, the Pentagon even the Constitution. America is my country.

Although I do not agree with the policies of the leaders of this nation, their fate and my fate are irresistibly tied together. The decisions of our leaders affect my three little daughters, my parents, my home. This is what impassions my voice and intensifies my warning.

When I present poetry, it is not that I am speaking as Amir Sulaiman. Many people recognize my voice as their own. I have traveled the country presenting my poetry before audiences of many different racial, ethnic, religious, economic, and political backgrounds. They have encouraged me. They have implored me, even commanded me to continue using my poetry to broadcast their voices in ways and in places that they cannot. The people have found their sentiments in my heart and their voice in my words. This is a great blessing and an equally great responsibility. I must warn for fear that we, the people, be assigned to the same fate as our leaders who have created enemies then created wars in order to create revenue.

The artist is to be a warner for society at large. Often the artist is like Cassandra, the character is Greek mythology that was blessed with the ability to see the future but cursed with the promise that no one would ever believe her. Jesus, Muhammad, Ghandi and Malik Shabazz (Malcolm X) were all warners. All of them had loved ones in a society being led down a road towards destruction. All of them also had enemies trying to extinguish their message. Many governments and empires have made the error of silencing the warner. To silence the warner, in a strategy to prevent what is being warned against, is to unplug the fire alarm hoping that will prevent the house from burning down.

The vicious are only kindling a fire about their ankles. In fact, their habit of repression only fuels the brewing discontent and adds fire to the flames. They are dousing the fire with gasoline wondering why the flames only grow more intense and the hatred grows more severe. Both History and prophecy promise a day of awful reckoning for a society that has grown repressive, gluttonous and tyrannical.

My poetry is a sacred obligation that does not require the approval of the FBI or any other government department or agency. I will not ask for my right to speak, as that right has been given to me by the Most High. I only ask for more voices to come forward in the name of justice for the sake of all of us and our families. In truth, coming forward in the name of justice is a sacred obligation upon us all. We must give hope to the hopeless souls, warning to the obstinate tyrants and try to contribute to a more livable life for the Human Family.

Peace
Amir Sulaiman