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Books by Arthur Flowers
De Mojo Blues
/ Another Good Loving Blues
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Arthur
Flowers Responds
to
Black IT Uses & Cyberspace
Flowers Responds on Rootsblog
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Rootsblog
is still alive after about a couple of years, though
Flowers initially was not getting the kind of traffic he
desired. He was in despair, I encouraged him to stick it
out. Flower tries to exhibit the daily uses of hoodoo
through his social, political, and cultural commentary,
it’s a literary hoodism. I am not sure what measure
Flowers uses to judge his success, for he is not selling
anything, really. And I’m not sure how responsive his
blog is. The most important thing is that he has stuck
with it. He has added some images to the blog to break
up the white space. In creative IT appeals we
are all in the dark and learn as we go. In some sense we
are all pioneers, adapting to the wilderness.—Rudolph Lewis, Making Use of IT for Black Liberation
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hey man
thanks for the props in your piece
though i can fill in some of the blanks on what flowers is
selling
i consider the web to be a literary genre as a writer
and though rootsblog began as an instrument to sell mojo rising
i soon saw that it had more ideological potential than my
regular webside rootwork.com
because it current event driven
but i consider them both ideological instruments, as i consider
the web a very 21st century ideological instrument that we are
only just beginning ot understand
and what im selling is an ideology, a vision, a hoodoo based
vision of african american destiny
and my criteria of success is putting that vision into the
african american ideological dialogue
disseminating the value of an afrospiritual vision of our
destiny as a people
conjuring a hoodoo reality for future generations
now right now folk dont know what im talking about
i figure through the kind of daily presentation of a hoodoo
worldview i do in rootsblog
folk will gradually come to appreciate the value of it
thats what im selling man,
i see the web as a literary instrument, an ideological
instrument
and what im selling is the value of a hoodoo worldview
in particular a 21st century vision of hoodoo rather than that
slaverytime
version of hoodoo that most people relate to
and right now that seems to be just me valuing that
and folk not appreciate that now but for every year that i hang
in there
that many more folk, in particular blackfolk, will understand
the value
of 21st century hoodoo, of an afrospiritual worldview
in shaping the destiny of the blackrace
and all humanity
and sometimes i feel kinda lonely out here with that particular
mission/vision
but i accept the incremental nature of it (in spite of
occasional blues)
and im not quite sure what you mean by responsive
when you conjuring and thats what i consider myself doing
you basically demanding that reality adjust itself to your will
so i tend to stake out ground and hold it until the world aligns
itself w/me
which may result in what you refer to as lack of responsiveness
i keep flaying around trying to find the best voice for this
thing and right now
im kinda determined to stand my ground until my vision gradually
becomes accepted as a valued and valuable one
basically i consider the web one big instrument of my magic
a literary instrument, an ideological instrument, an instrument
of magic and conjuration
again thanks for the props
been in the woodshed lately trying to finish
off this novel, i see you been busy though
so i assume you in a good space
dont know that i could add more to what you saying about IT
beyond the fact that i think its part of 21st century struggle
and probably the strongest instrument on the board, its just
that its so new that we are still figuring out how to best use
it
but i really admire folk who are trying to use it for more than
selling products
also you might want to consider the black commentator
and promethus 6
and you might want to put links in to the sites mentioned
in spirit and struggle
arf
Arthur
Flowers, a Memphis native, is the author of two novels, De Mojo
Blues and Another Good Loving Blues (Ballantine Books), and a children's story, Cleveland Lee's Beale Street Band. He is a
Vietnam veteran, blues singer, co-founder of the New Renaissance
Writer's Guild. In addition, he is the webmaster of Rootsblog:
A Cyberhoodoo Webspace and a performance artist whose presentation, Delta Oracle: A Griot
Speaks in Tongues, keeps him busy and Professor of MFA Fiction at Syracuse University.*
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Super Rich: A Guide to Having it All
By Russell Simmons
Russell Simmons knows firsthand that
wealth is rooted in much more than the
stock
market. True wealth has more to do with
what's in your heart than what's in your
wallet. Using this knowledge, Simmons
became one of America's shrewdest
entrepreneurs, achieving a level of
success that most investors only dream
about. No matter how much material gain
he accumulated, he never stopped lending
a hand to those less fortunate. In
Super Rich, Simmons uses his rare
blend of spiritual savvy and
street-smart wisdom to offer a new
definition of wealth-and share timeless
principles for developing an unshakable
sense of self that can weather any
financial storm. As Simmons says, "Happy
can make you money, but money can't make
you happy." |
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Hopes and Prospects
By Noam Chomsky
In this urgent new book, Noam Chomsky
surveys the dangers and prospects of our
early twenty-first century. Exploring
challenges such as the growing gap
between North and South, American
exceptionalism (including under
President Barack Obama), the fiascos of
Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S.-Israeli
assault on Gaza, and the recent
financial bailouts, he also sees hope
for the future and a way to move
forward—in the democratic wave in Latin
America and in the global solidarity
movements that suggest "real progress
toward freedom and justice." Hopes and
Prospects is essential reading for
anyone who is concerned about the
primary challenges still facing the
human race. "This is a classic Chomsky
work: a bonfire of myths and lies,
sophistries and delusions. Noam Chomsky
is an enduring inspiration all over the
world—to millions, I suspect—for the
simple reason that he is a truth-teller
on an epic scale. I salute him." —John
Pilger
In dissecting the rhetoric and logic of
American empire and class domination, at
home and abroad, Chomsky continues a
longstanding and crucial work of
elucidation and activism . . .the
writing remains unswervingly rational
and principled throughout, and lends
bracing impetus to the real alternatives
before us.—Publisher's
Weekly
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The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
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The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
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Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery /
George Jackson /
Hurricane Carter
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
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January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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posted 7/11/05 /
update 5 January 2012
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