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Summer Hill
Seven.
Hang Time!: A Poetic Memoir. Bloomington, IN:
AuthorHouse, 2006
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Hang Time!: A
Poetic Memoir
By Summer Hill Seven
Summer
Hill Seven created poemedy - a lyrically poetic
storytelling form where the past meets the present to
create poignant, passionate theater for today and
tomorrow. Hang Time! is for tomorrow.—David
Lamb,Writer/Producer Platanos & Collard Greens
This
is a profound work of art by a very talented and gifted
poet. I highly recommend it to all who appreciate the
spoken and written word.—Sekou Molefi
Baako, Executive Director, Langston Hughes Community
Library and Cultural Center-Queens Public
LibraryPresident, Black Caucus of the American Library
Association
Summer
Hill Seven’s ebullient “neo-beat-hip-hop” verse explodes
from the page to the stage with a powerful multicultural
message! Delightful!—Phil
Hubbard,Chair of Performance Studies Department
University of Nevada Las Vegas
Summer
Hill Seven is an exceptionally gifted writer and
performer whose work is both entertaining and thought
provoking.—Sanford
Robbins,Director, Professional Theatre Training Program,
University of Delaware
Fiercely powerful! —Jennifer Weaver,
Daily News of Southern Utah
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Obama to approve
indefinite detention and torture of Americans—15
December, 2011—Less than a month after he threatened
to veto terrifying legislation that would cease
constitutional rights as we know it, Obama has revoked
his warning and plans to authorize a bill allowing
indefinite detention and torture of Americans.
After passing in
the House of Representatives earlier this year, the
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012
went before the US Senate last week, where it was
met with
overwhelming approval. In the days before, the Obama
administration issued a policy statement on November 17
saying explicitly that the president would veto the
bill, as it would challenge “the president’s critical
authorities to collect intelligence incapacitate
dangerous terrorists and protect the nation.” . . .Under
the legislation, a literal police state will be
installed over the United States. Republican Congressman
Ron Paul said
earlier this week that “this should be the biggest
news going right now,” as the legislation would allow
for “literally legalizing martial law.”—RT
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Indefinite
Military Detention Of U.S. Citizens Is A Win For
Terrorists, Former Admiral Says—WASHINGTON -- A
measure that Congress will likely pass this week
allowing indefinite detentions of Americans by the U.S.
military will mark a significant loss in the war on
terrorism, says a retired admiral who ran the Navy legal
system.
The National
Defense Authorization Act, passed by the Senate just
over a week ago after
a heated debate, includes a provision that requires
the military to hold foreign-born terrorism suspects,
and also lets the military grab U.S. citizens for
indefinite detention. The House and Senate are expected
to release the final legislation as soon as late Monday,
and in spite of a personal lobbying effort by President
Obama, it is expected to include the controversial
language.—HuffingtonPost
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Would You Wear my
Eyes?
Dear Friends, in my continual update
of the pages of ChickenBones: A Journal, I am in a mode
of rediscovery. Some pages I remember and some I don't.
One I did not recall is a poem by New Orleans born poet
Bob Kaufman, "Would You Wear my Eyes?"—WouldYouWearMyEyes
It reminded me of a story by New Orleans born
poet Kalamu ya Salaam, "Could you Wear My Eyes?"—CouldYouWearMyEyes?
I have no idea whether Kalamu was aware of
the poem when he wrote the story. Possibly, he did.
Kalamu is so hip and aware.
In my politically imaginative brain,
unexpected things come to the hopper. I made some
critical comments about participants of the campaign for
the presidency. One friend accused me of being a
Republican, maybe it's a brand for a dirty rag. The
other friend said I was putting out "anti-Obama
bologna." Of course, one with a thin skin should not be
a journalist. But writers are not without resources,
especially of the literary kind. And so as fortune would
have it, I came across the above two literary pieces.
One may liken them to manna from heaven. Or for the less
religiously inclined, as a pure chance occurrence. I
share them nevertheless as a plea for understanding.
Of course, I do my best to be
even-handed and objective in my scribblings and
reports in response to the unhealthy political climate.
I welcome editorials and opinions and papers from those
who support Mr. Obama and the uniqueness of his
presidency. I can think of only one benefit of Mr.
Obama's government that has accrued to me, though
distant, and that is: My step-daughter who has a son
over 21 can keep him on her insurance policy. I do not
belittle that in the least.
I do have larger concerns than the
$1,000 here and the $1,000 there that has come down from
on high. There is the continual war-mongering that is
on-going. And then there is the matter of "preventive
detention." Now I have never been a great proponent of
our undemocratic Constitution, nor has my ancestors felt
deeply, unlike those of Mr. Obama's, of America as
"exceptional." Yet I do appreciate the segregated
education I have enjoyed and I appreciate greatly being
allowed to receive several degrees from the University
of Maryland, College Park: ChickenBones: A Journal would
not have existed, otherwise. A popular instrument
against tyranny.
But I fear we are not headed toward
making that imperfect Constitution more perfect, as Mr.
Obama has promised. I fear rather that we are determined
to make it a billy club of oppression, and a pepper
spray repression of political dissent, with worse to
come. Now, of course, these fears may be the results of
the political climate of domestic intrigue and overseas
undermining of governments. Drones and the dropping of
bombs on civilians. They may be just paranoia of one
too-filled with self-importance. In any case, it is
difficult for me to ignore the reports of Huffington
Post, that "preventive detention" will be coming online
this week with the signature of Mr. Obama to a piece of
legislation, the "National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2012."
To some I know when George Bush signs
a piece of reactionary legislation it is one thing. He
is a fascist. Because he is a Republican and Republicans
have not done anything that can be spoken of without
reservations, since Teddy Roosevelt, Mr. Obama assured
us in his Kansas speech. But then when a Democrat signs
a piece of reactionary legislation, well, he is just
doing what he has to do. Well, so be it. (The news
reports and a video link is above.) We will all stew in
the same pot. There is much to be said about
togetherness, whatever the condition!—Rudy
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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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The New Jim Crow
Mass Incarceration in the Age of
Colorblindness
By Michele Alexander
Contrary to the
rosy picture of race embodied in Barack
Obama's political success and Oprah
Winfrey's financial success, legal
scholar Alexander argues vigorously and
persuasively that [w]e have not ended
racial caste in America; we have merely
redesigned it. Jim Crow and legal racial
segregation has been replaced by mass
incarceration as a system of social
control (More African Americans are
under correctional control today... than
were enslaved in 1850). Alexander
reviews American racial history from the
colonies to the Clinton administration,
delineating its transformation into the
war on drugs. She offers an acute
analysis of the effect of this mass
incarceration upon former inmates who
will be discriminated against, legally,
for the rest of their lives, denied
employment, housing, education, and
public benefits. Most provocatively, she
reveals how both the move toward
colorblindness and affirmative action
may blur our vision of injustice: most
Americans know and don't know the truth
about mass incarceration—but her
carefully researched, deeply engaging,
and thoroughly readable book should
change that.—Publishers
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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If you like this page consider making a donation
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Negro Digest /
Black World
Browse all issues
1950
1960
1965
1970
1975
1980
1985
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____ 2005
Enjoy!
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
/
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
/
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
/
January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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update
15 December 2011
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