Haiku #21
A great feat to write;
even greater to live and
write to tell it all.
5.29.2006
A Great Feat Indeed
We all have certian goals we leave unsaid. Here, not in so many words, is one I hold dear.
Haiku #21
A great feat to write;
even greater to live and
write to tell it all.
Haiku #21
A great feat to write;
even greater to live and
write to tell it all.
5.21.2006
Lucky Day
I woke up this morning feeling like absolute and utter crap. I've been on a rollercoaster of emotions this week and it has left me exhausted. The silver lining is that I've reconnected with a person who is extremely dear to me. Each morning, or anytime I've felt myself falling into a slump these past few days, this friend has completely turned my day around and made it lovely, regardless of the distance that is separating us right now (thank goodness for text messaging and email!).
I've been doing mental cartwheels through fields of gold because of you and thought I'd let you know, even though I think you know that already. I dedicate this to you (I know it's corny and sounds silly cuz I'm bad at rhyming poetry, but it's the thought that counts--I hope!)
I've been doing mental cartwheels through fields of gold because of you and thought I'd let you know, even though I think you know that already. I dedicate this to you (I know it's corny and sounds silly cuz I'm bad at rhyming poetry, but it's the thought that counts--I hope!)
Lucky Day
Looked at the sky, it was crystalline blue,
with pink cotton clouds that looked so sweet.
A stray black cat crossed over my feet,
but when I looked up I saw you.
I almost bought the whole rack.
When I got outside I stepped on a crack,
so I called my mom who laughed with unruffled sails.
A stranger bought me some lovely flowers.
I picked each of its petals for fun.
“Loves me not,” they said; you smiled like the sun.
That night, we star gazed and held each other for hours.
Before bed I looked in the mirror;
It shattered and my face turned bland.
But you entered the scene and took my hand;
now I see myself much clearer.
Hope you like it and that it conveys what I feel. Thanks for being in my life.
5.18.2006
5.17.2006
A Little Ditty
This was sent to me from a poetry magazine that is interested in publishing a piece of mine. I thought it was thought provoking and cute.
Triolet on a Line Apocryphally Attributed to Martin Luther
A.E. Stallings
Why should the Devil get all the good tunes,
The booze and the neon and Saturday night,
The swaying in darkness, the lovers like spoons?
Why should the Devil get all the good tunes?
Does he hum them to while away sad afternoons
And the long, lonesome Sundays? Or sing them for spite?
Why should the Devil get all the good tunes,
The booze and the neon and Saturday night?
Do you believe in the Devil...?
Triolet on a Line Apocryphally Attributed to Martin Luther
A.E. Stallings
Why should the Devil get all the good tunes,
The booze and the neon and Saturday night,
The swaying in darkness, the lovers like spoons?
Why should the Devil get all the good tunes?
Does he hum them to while away sad afternoons
And the long, lonesome Sundays? Or sing them for spite?
Why should the Devil get all the good tunes,
The booze and the neon and Saturday night?
Do you believe in the Devil...?
5.09.2006
New Shoe Is a Racial Misstep
A a lover of gym shoes both common and rare, and as avid follower of race relations, I found the following article of great interest, seeing as how both are discussed on this rare occasion. Thanks for this one, Miykie!
New Shoe is a Racial Misstep
By Jabari Asim
Monday, April 17, 2006; 12:01 AM
WASHINGTON -- During the 1980s, in the black neighborhood where I spent much of my time, a pair of rumors became as familiar as Jheri curls and that hideous red jacket Michael Jackson wore in his "Beat It" video. Both tales involved a couple of clothing lines that included sneakers among their products. One brand was said to have a logo that served as an acronym for "to rule over oppressed people." The other was widely believed to conceal a racial slur in the insole of each shoe. Both clothing lines have faded from prominence, and since the rumors were untrue, I won't name the manufacturers here.
I mention them merely to show that minority groups have occasionally voiced suspicions that clothes, sneakers and other commercial products can function as agents of racism. Asian-Americans expressed such sentiments in 2002, when Abercrombie & Fitch stocked their shelves with T-shirts bearing contemptible images of Asians and such infuriating slogans as "Wong Brothers Laundry Service -- Two Wongs Can Make It White."
A year later, the Urban Outfitters chain ticked off African-Americans by selling Ghettopoly, a racist board game created by David Chang.
Several readers wrote to me at that time, asking if I would have opposed the game if it had been created by an African-American. I responded that I would, and that I was just as disgusted by equally brainless products introduced by blacks, such as Pimp Juice, the brainchild of the rap star Nelly, and Rilniga jeans, sold by a black-owned company in Cincinnati.
I am no less disturbed by a new sneaker that Adidas has introduced as a limited-edition product in its "Yellow Series." A black shoe adorned by three gold stripes, its tongue is festooned with the face of a cartoon character with buck teeth and slanted eyes. Nearly as over-the-top as the Cleveland Indians' grinning logo, the image is lurid and confrontational. According to news reports and Internet chatter, the face on the $250 shoes has upset some Asian-Americans. Other Asian-Americans, however, have defended the footwear. The mixed response can be traced in part to the racial identity of the man who designed the shoe: Barry McGee, a San Francisco-based artist, happens to be half-Chinese. He says the image is based on his own appearance as a child.
Conventional wisdom suggests that some group behavior -- and other alleged characteristics, such as facial features -- can only be ridiculed from within the group. Therefore, a joke told by Dave Chappelle may be considered brilliant, while the same joke told by David Letterman would be deemed offensive. In a similar vein, African-Americans often seem reluctant to criticize racist language used by black performers, citing their ironic intent and attempts -- however feeble -- to remove the power from such words.
The irony is often lost on many blacks when others invoke similar arguments. David Chang tried to defend his Ghettopoly game in such terms. "I'm not trying to single a race out," he explained. "The whole point of me doing this is not so much stereotyping people, it's poking fun at stereotyping. It's meant to be satirical." Some of the same African-Americans who timidly tolerate black performers' obnoxious lyrics roundly denounced Chang's rationalizations. No doubt Asian-Americans confront similar dilemmas when they encounter creations like McGee's.
In a statement issued by Adidas, McGee said he never thought the image was racist and that he is "sorry to those people who perceive it that way. All I remember is having Stan Smith's face on my Adidas when I was young, and was elated to put a caricature of myself on a shoe when presented the opportunity this year." His motives may indeed be pure, although his defense of them is somewhat shaky. Unlike McGee's provocative design, the tennis champion's screen-printed visage on his namesake shoes couldn't possibly be described as satirical or stereotypical.
Nor did Smith's portrait carry as much potential to harm. Images such as McGee's are complicated by the wider, whiter world and its population, whose knowledge of racial minorities often remains inexplicably limited. Perhaps Adidas' puzzling decision to market the shoe -- and even more puzzling, to include it in its "Yellow Series" -- derives from its own circumscribed intelligence. Or perhaps the company was focused so intensely on profit that it was blind to everything but green.
2006 Washingtonpost. Newsweek Interactive
New Shoe is a Racial Misstep
By Jabari Asim
Monday, April 17, 2006; 12:01 AM
WASHINGTON -- During the 1980s, in the black neighborhood where I spent much of my time, a pair of rumors became as familiar as Jheri curls and that hideous red jacket Michael Jackson wore in his "Beat It" video. Both tales involved a couple of clothing lines that included sneakers among their products. One brand was said to have a logo that served as an acronym for "to rule over oppressed people." The other was widely believed to conceal a racial slur in the insole of each shoe. Both clothing lines have faded from prominence, and since the rumors were untrue, I won't name the manufacturers here.
I mention them merely to show that minority groups have occasionally voiced suspicions that clothes, sneakers and other commercial products can function as agents of racism. Asian-Americans expressed such sentiments in 2002, when Abercrombie & Fitch stocked their shelves with T-shirts bearing contemptible images of Asians and such infuriating slogans as "Wong Brothers Laundry Service -- Two Wongs Can Make It White."
A year later, the Urban Outfitters chain ticked off African-Americans by selling Ghettopoly, a racist board game created by David Chang.
Several readers wrote to me at that time, asking if I would have opposed the game if it had been created by an African-American. I responded that I would, and that I was just as disgusted by equally brainless products introduced by blacks, such as Pimp Juice, the brainchild of the rap star Nelly, and Rilniga jeans, sold by a black-owned company in Cincinnati.
I am no less disturbed by a new sneaker that Adidas has introduced as a limited-edition product in its "Yellow Series." A black shoe adorned by three gold stripes, its tongue is festooned with the face of a cartoon character with buck teeth and slanted eyes. Nearly as over-the-top as the Cleveland Indians' grinning logo, the image is lurid and confrontational. According to news reports and Internet chatter, the face on the $250 shoes has upset some Asian-Americans. Other Asian-Americans, however, have defended the footwear. The mixed response can be traced in part to the racial identity of the man who designed the shoe: Barry McGee, a San Francisco-based artist, happens to be half-Chinese. He says the image is based on his own appearance as a child.
Conventional wisdom suggests that some group behavior -- and other alleged characteristics, such as facial features -- can only be ridiculed from within the group. Therefore, a joke told by Dave Chappelle may be considered brilliant, while the same joke told by David Letterman would be deemed offensive. In a similar vein, African-Americans often seem reluctant to criticize racist language used by black performers, citing their ironic intent and attempts -- however feeble -- to remove the power from such words.
The irony is often lost on many blacks when others invoke similar arguments. David Chang tried to defend his Ghettopoly game in such terms. "I'm not trying to single a race out," he explained. "The whole point of me doing this is not so much stereotyping people, it's poking fun at stereotyping. It's meant to be satirical." Some of the same African-Americans who timidly tolerate black performers' obnoxious lyrics roundly denounced Chang's rationalizations. No doubt Asian-Americans confront similar dilemmas when they encounter creations like McGee's.
In a statement issued by Adidas, McGee said he never thought the image was racist and that he is "sorry to those people who perceive it that way. All I remember is having Stan Smith's face on my Adidas when I was young, and was elated to put a caricature of myself on a shoe when presented the opportunity this year." His motives may indeed be pure, although his defense of them is somewhat shaky. Unlike McGee's provocative design, the tennis champion's screen-printed visage on his namesake shoes couldn't possibly be described as satirical or stereotypical.
Nor did Smith's portrait carry as much potential to harm. Images such as McGee's are complicated by the wider, whiter world and its population, whose knowledge of racial minorities often remains inexplicably limited. Perhaps Adidas' puzzling decision to market the shoe -- and even more puzzling, to include it in its "Yellow Series" -- derives from its own circumscribed intelligence. Or perhaps the company was focused so intensely on profit that it was blind to everything but green.
2006 Washingtonpost. Newsweek Interactive
5.04.2006
Quote
My quote for the past month or two is really plain, simple, and quite narcissitic. It makes me laugh every time I think about and puts a little swagger in my step. Although many people (including me) have said it, thought it, and/or lived believing it, I read it in What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship, and Love, by Carole Radziwill.
"Remember, it's all about me." - Carolyn Bissett Kennedy
Nothing wrong wit being a little self-absorbed every once in a while...right?
"Remember, it's all about me." - Carolyn Bissett Kennedy
Nothing wrong wit being a little self-absorbed every once in a while...right?
5.02.2006
Trace Your Roots
Trace Your Roots to Africa and Go There for Free or on a Shoestring Budget
A friend of mine sent this to me the other day, and it made me want to search for my African roots. A girlfriend of mine did this for her father as a Christmas present last year and I thought it was a great idea.
Ewing, NJ - April 2006 -- As concerns over the downturn spiral of the economy continues to grow nationwide, many people are trying to find innovative ways of cutting costs without cutting corners. Out of this need, emerges the Roots Recovered Website (www.rootsrecovered.com), the only site on the Internet devoted to African Heritage Travel. Everything you need for African DNA Tracing, Genealogy and African Heritage Travel is at this website. It is devoted to helping Africans in the Diaspora find their way back to Africa.The author, James White, of “Roots Recovered” was very pleased with the airing of the brilliant PBS documentary “African American Lives” by Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates. White said while he was very pleased with the show he wants the opportunity to explore one’s African heritage to be accessible to the “not so rich and famous”. He said, “the website and book makes African travel and using DNA to trace your roots accessible to the working person.” “Oprah Winfrey, Chris Tucker and Whoopi Goldberg have the wealth and resources to easily explore their African roots.” The website and the book helps the everyday not so rich and famous do what they did on the documentary on a shoestring budget.”
White said the book and website are intended to educate the reader about Africa; to dispel misconceptions about the continent; and to encourage the people to think critically about his or her perception of self in relation to Africa. It also demystifies African travel to encourage people to travel there to experience Africa for himself or herself. “Roots Recovered” contains information that ranges from African history, psychology, obtaining passports and visas to very specific country information. “However, unlike other African travel books or travel websites, the purpose of ‘Roots Recovered’ is to use African travel as a vehicle to open the door for understanding our psychology, history and to develop a positive Black self-concept for future growth,” said White, who holds a bachelor’s degree from Howard University and a law degree from New York Law School.White, who is married to a Senegalese woman, has used DNA technology and traced his roots to the Mende people of Sierra Leone and the Fulani people of Guinea. He is an African art enthusiast and has a penchant and knowledge of African history and culture and regularly travels there. He was inspired to write the book after a trip to Africa in 2003.The book, which was published in January 2004, has been featured by some prominent critics; and has been enthusiastically received by such people as Tavis Smiley on National Public Radio; The Africa meets Africa radio broadcast on Pacifica Radio with Angelique Shofar and CN-8 News plus numerous radio interviews and lectures. The author most recently appeared in Columbus Ohio with Dr. Rick Kittles of African Ancestry at an event sponsored by the Young Professionals Association of the Columbus Urban League.“This book, ‘Roots Recovered’ is the guide for anyone of African descent who wants to travel to Africa,” White added. “I’ll eliminate all your excuses for not going back to the Motherland.”To learn more about Roots Recovered, visit the author's website at www.rootsrecovered.com ()The book can also be purchased at the author's website or at www.barnesandnoble.com, www.cushcity.com, www.amazon.com, or ordered directly from the publisher at www.booklocker.com. It also can be ordered at any bookstore.
CONTACT: James WhiteADROIT DIVERSIFIEDEmail: rootsrecovered@aol.com (mailto:rootsrecovered@aol.com)Website: www.rootsrecovered.comTelephone: 609-638-5383
A friend of mine sent this to me the other day, and it made me want to search for my African roots. A girlfriend of mine did this for her father as a Christmas present last year and I thought it was a great idea.
Ewing, NJ - April 2006 -- As concerns over the downturn spiral of the economy continues to grow nationwide, many people are trying to find innovative ways of cutting costs without cutting corners. Out of this need, emerges the Roots Recovered Website (www.rootsrecovered.com), the only site on the Internet devoted to African Heritage Travel. Everything you need for African DNA Tracing, Genealogy and African Heritage Travel is at this website. It is devoted to helping Africans in the Diaspora find their way back to Africa.The author, James White, of “Roots Recovered” was very pleased with the airing of the brilliant PBS documentary “African American Lives” by Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates. White said while he was very pleased with the show he wants the opportunity to explore one’s African heritage to be accessible to the “not so rich and famous”. He said, “the website and book makes African travel and using DNA to trace your roots accessible to the working person.” “Oprah Winfrey, Chris Tucker and Whoopi Goldberg have the wealth and resources to easily explore their African roots.” The website and the book helps the everyday not so rich and famous do what they did on the documentary on a shoestring budget.”
White said the book and website are intended to educate the reader about Africa; to dispel misconceptions about the continent; and to encourage the people to think critically about his or her perception of self in relation to Africa. It also demystifies African travel to encourage people to travel there to experience Africa for himself or herself. “Roots Recovered” contains information that ranges from African history, psychology, obtaining passports and visas to very specific country information. “However, unlike other African travel books or travel websites, the purpose of ‘Roots Recovered’ is to use African travel as a vehicle to open the door for understanding our psychology, history and to develop a positive Black self-concept for future growth,” said White, who holds a bachelor’s degree from Howard University and a law degree from New York Law School.White, who is married to a Senegalese woman, has used DNA technology and traced his roots to the Mende people of Sierra Leone and the Fulani people of Guinea. He is an African art enthusiast and has a penchant and knowledge of African history and culture and regularly travels there. He was inspired to write the book after a trip to Africa in 2003.The book, which was published in January 2004, has been featured by some prominent critics; and has been enthusiastically received by such people as Tavis Smiley on National Public Radio; The Africa meets Africa radio broadcast on Pacifica Radio with Angelique Shofar and CN-8 News plus numerous radio interviews and lectures. The author most recently appeared in Columbus Ohio with Dr. Rick Kittles of African Ancestry at an event sponsored by the Young Professionals Association of the Columbus Urban League.“This book, ‘Roots Recovered’ is the guide for anyone of African descent who wants to travel to Africa,” White added. “I’ll eliminate all your excuses for not going back to the Motherland.”To learn more about Roots Recovered, visit the author's website at www.rootsrecovered.com ()The book can also be purchased at the author's website or at www.barnesandnoble.com, www.cushcity.com, www.amazon.com, or ordered directly from the publisher at www.booklocker.com. It also can be ordered at any bookstore.
CONTACT: James WhiteADROIT DIVERSIFIEDEmail: rootsrecovered@aol.com (mailto:rootsrecovered@aol.com)Website: www.rootsrecovered.comTelephone: 609-638-5383
4.26.2006
Sucked into the Matrix Even Further...
I hate to say it, but I officially have given into the Matrix yet again: I set up a myspace page. Trust me, I'm not proud. So deep am I already that I forgot I had a blog! Pathetic, I know, but it won't consume me like that anymore. I will post something more substantial after I detox.
In the meantime, check out my myspace page here.
I'm getting better at putting stuff on it.
In the meantime, check out my myspace page here.
I'm getting better at putting stuff on it.
4.23.2006
To Do List
We all have goals, whether they be secret or well known to others, that we want to accomplish before we kick the bucket. It helps to verbalize them or write them down in a visible place, so that you won't keep pushing them to the back of your mind while dealing with the banality of everyday living. Or, you can go to this cool new website 43things.com and post them there and/or read zillions of other people's wishes. Some are so interesting that I realize I need to revise mine and think even broader than I thought I [already] was. It's easy to forget that when you really want to do something, it can and will be done, no matter how long it takes you to accomplish it all.
Here are just a few of the things on my list (not in any particular order):
1. Climb/Visit every pyramid in the world (almost finished with this one)
2. Raise competent children
3. Finish writing my book (1/4 of the way completed)
4. Actually publish it
5. Love what I see in the mirror, no matter what's staring me back in the face
6. Make more money
7. Learn to speak at least 2 languages fluently
8. Finish reading all the "must read" books on my list
9. Physically volunteer in
10. Like my poetry, no matter how corny it seems to me (and maybe get it published, too!).
4.20.2006
Healthy Insanity
My girlfriend sent me this too-funny email that I just had to post here. It actually had me laughing out loud, and I usually don't even read mass emails. This one had me going, though. (We already know I like corny jokes, mind you...!)
Ways To Maintain a Healthy Level Of Insanity
1. At lunch time, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point hair dryer at passing cars. See if they slow down.
2. Page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice.
3. Every time people ask you to do something, ask if they want fries with that.
4. Put your trash can on your desk and label it "In."
5. Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has gotten over their caffeine addictions, switch to espresso.
6. In the memo field of all your checks, write "For Sexual Favors"
7 Finish all your sentences with "In accordance with the prophecy."
8. Dont use any punctuation
9. As Often as possible, skip rather than walk.
10. Order a diet water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.
11. Specify that your drive-through order is "To Go"...several times
12. Sing along at the opera
13. Go to a poetry recital and ask why the poems don't rhyme
14. Put mosquito netting around your work area and play tropical sounds all day.
15. Five days in advance, tell your friends you can't attend their party because you're not in the mood.
16. Have your co-workers address you by your wrestling name ... Rock Bottom.
17. When the money comes out of the ATM, scream "I won!, I won!"
18. When leaving the zoo, start running towards the parking lot, yelling, "Run for your lives! They're loose!!"
19. Tell your children over dinner: "Due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go."
I know, it's corny and you all have probably gotten this and deleted from your mail--as you should have!
Ways To Maintain a Healthy Level Of Insanity
1. At lunch time, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point hair dryer at passing cars. See if they slow down.
2. Page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice.
3. Every time people ask you to do something, ask if they want fries with that.
4. Put your trash can on your desk and label it "In."
5. Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has gotten over their caffeine addictions, switch to espresso.
6. In the memo field of all your checks, write "For Sexual Favors"
7 Finish all your sentences with "In accordance with the prophecy."
8. Dont use any punctuation
9. As Often as possible, skip rather than walk.
10. Order a diet water whenever you go out to eat, with a serious face.
11. Specify that your drive-through order is "To Go"...several times
12. Sing along at the opera
13. Go to a poetry recital and ask why the poems don't rhyme
14. Put mosquito netting around your work area and play tropical sounds all day.
15. Five days in advance, tell your friends you can't attend their party because you're not in the mood.
16. Have your co-workers address you by your wrestling name ... Rock Bottom.
17. When the money comes out of the ATM, scream "I won!, I won!"
18. When leaving the zoo, start running towards the parking lot, yelling, "Run for your lives! They're loose!!"
19. Tell your children over dinner: "Due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go."
I know, it's corny and you all have probably gotten this and deleted from your mail--as you should have!
4.18.2006
Spring Cleaning
Today I'm going to share a little something not for those that are weak of heart: I just started a 3 month colon cleanse! Talk about cleaning the pipes!!! I am just so excited and scared about what's going to happen that I couldn't contain it and had to document this day in history. An extremely good friend of mine recommended it and has already been taking it for a couple of weeks, which is what kept me from being too hesitant about taking it myself. I also enlisted a crazy girlfriend of mine to experience this bliss with me and she is starting it today also. Don't worry, you won't see any crazy pictures or anything--I won't be taking you that deep into the process. However, if you would like to take the plunge with me (and see pictures that will change your life), just go to the Dr. Natura website and see everything for yourself. I dare you...
4.17.2006
Interesting Tidbit
I remember my teacher in Speech class always telling us not to use our hands so much, that making hand gestures while talking was ineffective and distracting. I agree, to a certain extent; sometimes a gesture or two is OK when something needs to be further emphasized. Moving hands for no reason (nervous hand movements because you don't know what to do with yourself when you're talking) is just like white noise. Then, just recently, while flipping through a magazine, I found an interesting little bit of information:
*Gesturing as you speak may actually boost your communication skills. In a University of Alberta study in which people were asked to watch a cartoon and then describe it, those who used their hands to help express themselves recalled more than those who didn't. Notes lead study researcher Elena Nicoladis, Ph.D., "Gesturing can help you find the words you need."
So now I guess I can be a little less annoyed with people who use their hands all the time when talking...
*Research reported by Kimberly Tranell in October 2005 Glamour Magazine -- I told you I read gloss!
*Gesturing as you speak may actually boost your communication skills. In a University of Alberta study in which people were asked to watch a cartoon and then describe it, those who used their hands to help express themselves recalled more than those who didn't. Notes lead study researcher Elena Nicoladis, Ph.D., "Gesturing can help you find the words you need."
So now I guess I can be a little less annoyed with people who use their hands all the time when talking...
*Research reported by Kimberly Tranell in October 2005 Glamour Magazine -- I told you I read gloss!
4.12.2006
Viva Las Vegas!
On my way to Vegas to gamble on the religious holiday! Before I left, I just wantedto impart my thanks to all of the people who support this blog by posting comments, emailing, and calling me. I haven't had such interesting conversations since I started this thing. I appreciate the time taken to read this silly little blog-- it makes me feel like this isn't a waste of time.
I love you, all my fans!!!
(OK, I'm done acting like I'm famous...watch out, though, I'll be famous before you know it...!)
I love you, all my fans!!!
(OK, I'm done acting like I'm famous...watch out, though, I'll be famous before you know it...!)
4.07.2006
The Scent...
Since I've been getting some good feedback from the previous post on racism and its resurgence, I thought I'd follow up with a controversial poem I wrote last year after reading Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marques, last year. This poem sparked great conversation with several associates of mine and continues to whenever someone asks me to read it. So let's keep the wheels turning and the discourse flowing!
And before people start persecuting me, remember: this was inspired by a story. It's not my personal opinion!!!
And before people start persecuting me, remember: this was inspired by a story. It's not my personal opinion!!!
Scent of a Black Woman
She thought she knew him so well.
Having shared a life, nothing could be left out…
She thought.
I know his favorite foods, cook them
just right and even know when
they are craved. I know his taste in women:
No Black, no Yellow, no Red, no Brown:
strictly Porcelain.
He would never entertain thoughts so sacrilege,
so entirely impure.
I speak his thoughts before he can
think them himself;
I am his conscience.
I know his scent and what he’s done
when I smell his clothes before I clean them.
I know everything.
What is this smell emanating from his pants?
This scent with which his shirt is infused?
It comes not from him or any routine activity.
Never have I smelled it;
surely there is no need for alarm…
Things will be normal again on the morrow.
Now she smells this foreign scent everyday.
Routine, indeed!
It has been months, yet the scent remains unaddressed.
What can it be? She casually sets his clothes
in a heap before him and makes not a sound.
He looks up from his paper and begins to cry.
Almost relieved, he repents his affaire d’amour.
She stares through him with eyes of blue ice.
She’s forgiven him many transgressions,
one night stands and more, but he knows she will never
forgive him for bringing this evil into their home:
the scent of a Black woman.
©2005 Vicky T. Davis
4.04.2006
The Rebound of Racism
I came across an interesting article last week about racism and whether or not it ever went away (on iZania.com). I thought immediately that it was a truly silly question. Of course racism never went away; it got swept under the rug like so many other controversial issues that lack remedies. If anything, racism has gotten progressively worse and one has to be blind or oblivious to not recognize it when it sits perched on our shoulders everyday.
I have yet to do background research on the author of the following piece, but I thought I'd post his article anyway just to get some responses on this topic. So, here goes; let me know what you think! (Any grammatical errors in this piece are not mine, although I did a little cleaning... :) Also, not all of his views are necessarily mine. Keep that in mind; I only want to start discussion and raise awareness. This is not an issue that is going away any time soon.)
I have yet to do background research on the author of the following piece, but I thought I'd post his article anyway just to get some responses on this topic. So, here goes; let me know what you think! (Any grammatical errors in this piece are not mine, although I did a little cleaning... :) Also, not all of his views are necessarily mine. Keep that in mind; I only want to start discussion and raise awareness. This is not an issue that is going away any time soon.)
Race Dialogue Is Back, But. . . Did Racism Go Away?
Race dialogue took a decade long hiatus (since President Bill Clinton’s attempt to raise a national dialogue on race almost ten years ago) as America came up with race “fatigue” after the Soon Ja Du, Rodney King, and O.J. Simpson racial episodes of the early 1990s. Of course,
. . . Colorblindness was a ploy that refused to acknowledge race, but racism is as plain as it’s ever been. Thanks to the arts, we again smell the stench of racism. Now it’s time to take out the trash.
Anthony Asadullah Samad is a national columnist, managing director of the Urban Issues Forum and author of 50 Years After Brown: The State of
3.26.2006
Cornball
For some stupid reason, this one joke never fails to make me laugh. My girlfriend sent it to me in a mass email ages ago, and somehow it just stuck with me. I hardly ever read mass emails! I was reminded of the following joke in a conversation having to do with what a stickler I am for grammar and pronunciation. Enjoy the most cornball joke ever!!!
Two dogs are sitting in a bar: one is an English sheepdog and the other is a Mexican Chihuahua. They’re having a drink when a gorgeous Collie walks in. The two dogs turn back to each other and continue drinking. Knowing they don’t have a chance with her, they resume conversation with the bartender. The bartender says, “I know her and I can probably score a date with her for one you guys.”
“Yeah,” says the bartender. “But she likes a clever dog, one who can hold her interest. Tell ya what. Whoever can use these two words most creatively in a sentence gets a chance.”
“What are the words?” the sheepdog asks, tongue out.
“Liver and cheese,” the bartender replies.
The two dogs contemplate for a moment, and then the English sheepdog says, “I like liver and
“No dice,” the bartended decides and looks at the
The Mexican Chihuahua then says, “Liver alone, cheese mine.”
3.24.2006
Cherchez la Femme
I haven't written any poetry in a while and was looking at some of my abandoned works. I came across this one piece that a friend of mine told me I should post for womankind. This is for you, friend.
Cherchez la Femme
Hiding in the sinews of repressed emotions,
ducking from the pain they bring her,
she blends into the jungle, chameleon-like,
to protect herself from Lust’s bullets and
Ego’s derogatory arrows.
Under the guise of inflated machismo
is the only way she knows how to advance,
to surpass Life’s glass ceiling.
How else can she survive in a sex-crazed world
without numbing her mind to the
prostitution of her womanhood?
Pretending so long to be impassive,
apathetic to her own situation that is being
a woman,
like a pocketbook left on a bus seat,
she has forgotten her Femininity.
How can a woman, one of Creation’s most
complex and powerful beings,
disregard such an innate treasure?
Hmmm…
If man is defined as a human being and
woman simply as female, and whenever she
“behaves” as a human,
she is said to be emulating the male
(as writ by him),
then this male society that has made her
feel inferior from the first dawn has
caused the female to suppress aspects of her
Femininity in all its splendor, making her an
endangered species like the elephant
stripped of its tusks
Neither can survive.
©2005 Vicky Therese Davis
3.11.2006
Clash of the Civilizations
A good friend of my mine sent me a link for the televised interview of a very brave and intelligent Arab woman. She spoke at length on the topic of a "primitive" Muslim culture clashing with encroaching westernization. Everyone can stand to watch her interview. I have a lot of respect for this woman. To come out on public tv in the middle east where her beliefs could do her harm in some circles, this woman has balls!
http://www.switch5.castup.net/frames/20041020_memritv_popup/video_480x360.asp?ai=214&ar=1050wmv&ak=null
http://www.switch5.castup.net/frames/20041020_memritv_popup/video_480x360.asp?ai=214&ar=1050wmv&ak=null
3.03.2006
Solipsism
While reading my latest literary conquest, The Catastrophist, by Ronan Bennett, I came across a passage that struck me as quite an interesting insight and one that pertained to me and the way I read novels.
"...I stayed in my room and read novels. With one eye I watched the characters rise from the page, with the other I watched my own life. It sounds solipsistic, but reading about imaginary others made me intensely curious about my real self. Before then I had sent few queries in my own direction*. Once I started reading I entered a period of introspection and self-examination; fiction referred to me questions I had not even known how to formulate. It was like being forced to stand naked in front of the mirror in a harsh and unflattering light."
*This one sentence does not pertain to me, as I often question myself and my motives.
I always find it refreshing to find a passage that so eloquently puts in words what I feel and am unable to properly express to others. It has also come across my mind whether or not others read in this fashion, comparing themselves to characters and posing the questions the author has seemingly tried to answer him- or herself. As a very wise woman once said to me (and she knows who she is), "It's easier to look out the window than it is to look in the mirror." This is what books and their authors help me to do: look in the mirror and face the facts about myself, the good and ugly.
The character who wrote this passage is a writer, and he delves into this topic even further:
"I did not like the reflection cast back at me. I saw vanity, arrogance, self-importance, cowardice, I saw the meanness of my own motives. I started writing, I think, because I saw in words a way to cover myself up. In fairness, I did not try to use writing as reinvention, or as an advertisement, a sign behind which I could hide and say I was better than I was. Instead I rendered everything as a kind of sly joke, including the characters in which I breathed. That way I was only one more joke among many, my failings were invisible..."
As a writer, I found this admission so endearing, so brave, that the author of those words has looked that deep inside himself to understand and reveal his intentions, no matter how bad it might sound to the reader. To know oneself so fully is truly a blessing, one that is extremely hard to pull out from the layers of false pretenses we use to fool others.
I have asked the question to myself and other writers: Why do you write? I wonder if any of them know the true reason, and if they do, are they willing to admit it to themselves. I know the reason I write; I just don't know if I'm as brave as Ronan Bennett to admit it to other people!
"...I stayed in my room and read novels. With one eye I watched the characters rise from the page, with the other I watched my own life. It sounds solipsistic, but reading about imaginary others made me intensely curious about my real self. Before then I had sent few queries in my own direction*. Once I started reading I entered a period of introspection and self-examination; fiction referred to me questions I had not even known how to formulate. It was like being forced to stand naked in front of the mirror in a harsh and unflattering light."
*This one sentence does not pertain to me, as I often question myself and my motives.
I always find it refreshing to find a passage that so eloquently puts in words what I feel and am unable to properly express to others. It has also come across my mind whether or not others read in this fashion, comparing themselves to characters and posing the questions the author has seemingly tried to answer him- or herself. As a very wise woman once said to me (and she knows who she is), "It's easier to look out the window than it is to look in the mirror." This is what books and their authors help me to do: look in the mirror and face the facts about myself, the good and ugly.
The character who wrote this passage is a writer, and he delves into this topic even further:
"I did not like the reflection cast back at me. I saw vanity, arrogance, self-importance, cowardice, I saw the meanness of my own motives. I started writing, I think, because I saw in words a way to cover myself up. In fairness, I did not try to use writing as reinvention, or as an advertisement, a sign behind which I could hide and say I was better than I was. Instead I rendered everything as a kind of sly joke, including the characters in which I breathed. That way I was only one more joke among many, my failings were invisible..."
As a writer, I found this admission so endearing, so brave, that the author of those words has looked that deep inside himself to understand and reveal his intentions, no matter how bad it might sound to the reader. To know oneself so fully is truly a blessing, one that is extremely hard to pull out from the layers of false pretenses we use to fool others.
I have asked the question to myself and other writers: Why do you write? I wonder if any of them know the true reason, and if they do, are they willing to admit it to themselves. I know the reason I write; I just don't know if I'm as brave as Ronan Bennett to admit it to other people!
2.07.2006
Mannie, Minor, and Me
This past weekend my dad and uncle celebrated their 50th birthdays (they're twins). I went to Chicago to partake in the festivities and had a lovely time. More importantly though, was the epiphany I had while listening to my uncle share something personal about himself to the family and friends that were present: I am my father and uncle rolled up in one person. My uncle Minor expressed that with twins, there is always a strong one and a weaker one; a more confident one and one who has more insecurities; one twin who feels more emotion than the other. I am not denying or forgetting that half of my genes come from my wonderful mother -- I can always recognize the traits I have inherited from her quite clearly. As I was listening to my uncle bear his soul, I couldn't help but look within myself to see the very same things in me that were in him.
I was able, over the course of the weekend, to dissect aspects of my personality to see where they came from. I am not an exact reproduction of anyone, in the same way my dad and uncle, although identical in physical characteristics, aren't replicas of each other. The more time I spend with my uncle, the more I see myself in his body language, his thought patterns, the issues that concern him, and I am able to understand him more, as well as my father. The older I get, the older and the more settled in their ways the twins get, I can appreciate them and love them all the more, and in turn, understand and love myself and all the raging contradictions that make me who I am.
In a way, this was a birth day for me, too...
I was able, over the course of the weekend, to dissect aspects of my personality to see where they came from. I am not an exact reproduction of anyone, in the same way my dad and uncle, although identical in physical characteristics, aren't replicas of each other. The more time I spend with my uncle, the more I see myself in his body language, his thought patterns, the issues that concern him, and I am able to understand him more, as well as my father. The older I get, the older and the more settled in their ways the twins get, I can appreciate them and love them all the more, and in turn, understand and love myself and all the raging contradictions that make me who I am.
In a way, this was a birth day for me, too...
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