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Books by Sam
Greenlee
The Spook Who Sat By the Door /
Ammunition! Poetry and Other Raps
Baghdad Blues: A Novel /
Blues for an African Princess
"Be-bop man/be-bop woman" 1968-1993: Poetry and
other raps
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Snake in the Garden of Eden
A
Negro Folktale
from Sam Greenlee's "Djarkarta
Blues"
"Go on about this dude
in Dacca."
"One night, he was
coming on stronger than usual, so I hissed; he backed
off and from that time on he left me alone."
"You hissed?" he asked,
puzzled.
"Just like the snake in
the Garden of Eden. Don't you know that folk tale?"
"No, tell me."
"Well," I said. "It was
back in the days before the good Lord had invented human
beings and only animals lived in the Garden of Eden,
along with birds, insects and plants, of course.
"Since the Lord wasn't
finished with the Creation, She would often leave the
snake in charge to keep things cool until She got back,
because She had to go about the business of carving out
the western hemisphere and stuff like that and She'd
given the power of death only to the snake."
"She?"
"Sure. Didn't you know
the Lord's a black woman?"
He laughed; then tapped
the ash from his cigarette. His hands were small and
well formed. I noticed his nails were carefully cut and
buffed to a sheen, his short sleeved white shirt
starched and ironed, sharp crease in his blue cord
slacks, rep tie carefully knotted in a small Windsor.
"What color was this
snake?" asked Chris. "As if I didn't know."
"White, of course," I
said. "One time, the Lord got back and there wasn't an
animal in sight except for the snake, sunning himself on
a rock.
"The Lord yelled out,
'All y'all come on out here!' One by one, they crept
out from holes and behind bushes, looking like they were
scared to death, so the Lord asked Brer Rabbit, 'What
the hell is goin' on 'round here?'
"Brer Rabbit told the
Lord the snake had been striking folks dead, left and
right, up, down and sideways for every little old thing,
so the Lord really chewed the snake's ass. 'Snake,' the
Lord said in Her mighty voice, ‘You better respect the
power I gave you and stop killin' and intimidatin' folks
for no reason. You can't go around upsetting the
delicate balance of nature I created. I mean, just who
do you think am the Lord around here, anyway?'
"'Now
looka here, snake,' said the Lord, 'I don't want to hear
no more shit about you terrorizin' nobody around here
while I'm gone, you hear me? Cause if I do, your white
ass belongs to me. As it does anyway,' the Lord said,
as an afterthought."
It was becoming hot in
the room. Chris had begun to sweat and took a
handkerchief from his pocket to mop his brow. I walked
over to the air conditioner and turned it on, hitting
the button for exhaust, then sat back down in the
mahogany swivel chair.
"Well, the snake was
mighty pleased to be let off so light," I continued,
"knowing full well the wrath of the Lord. So after the
snake swore up, down and sideways that he would become
the sweetest snake in all Creation, the Lord went back
to work carving out the Mississippi River, only to find
She had to dig the Gulf of Mexico for somewhere for the
water to flow, because otherwise there would not have
been no New Orleans, no Jazz and no Louis Armstrong.
“Anyway, once the Lord
finished the Western hemisphere, She got back to the
Garden of Eden later than planned and found out
everything was a mess; no law and no order; garbage
everywhere and Brer Snake nowhere to be found.
"The Lord threw back Her
head and let out a mighty roar that started the
hurricane that caused the Japanese, Philippine, and
Indonesian islands to break off from the mainland.
"'Snake, get your skinny
white ass out here!' She thundered. Well, the snake
slid out from under a big rock lookin' like forty miles
of bad road. Looked like everybody done whipped his ass
at least twice and to confirm it, Brer Rabbit kicked the
snake upside the head as he strolled by and the Lord
said, 'Snake, what the fuck is wrong with you? I leave
you here to keep things cool; and come back here to
anarchy and chaos, and you lookin' like everybody done
kicked your ass! What you got to say for yourself?'
"'Well,
Lord,' said the snake, 'you told me not to strike nobody
dead with my deadly venom'.
"The
Lord just shook her head and said. 'Yeah, dummy, but I
didn't say you couldn't hiss!'"
Source: “Djarkata Blues” unpublished novel by Sam
Greenlee
posted 6 March 2009
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Other Passages
from "Djarkarta Blues”
Nobody messes with the bankers of
the world.—Narrator Dave Burrell, “Djarkarta Blues”
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“There will always
be a threat to national security, and when there is
none, they’re easy to create” He said. First, you
demonize the threat: Napoleon, the Kaiser, Hitler,
Castro, whoever. Then you indicate that persons like me
stand between the people and the threat. It’s a
titillating morality play, right out of a western
movie. We wear the white hats, Dave. James Bond is no
more than Wyatt Earp in a tuxedo. There will always be
jobs for people like me.”—Al Nelson,
“Djarkarta Blues”
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He's a Midwestern
Methodist: work hard, obey the law, pay your taxes, and
go to church; they’re law abiding, hard working, and
basically decent."
"Singleton's a damn bigot!"
"He probably is."
"And you call him decent?"
"Chris, you miss the point."
"So what is the
point?"
I turned my head
and looked at him. "The point is that, in America, you
don't have to be a monster to be a racial bigot!"—
Dialogue between Chris Johnson and Dave
Burrell, “Djarkarta Blues”
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“I didn't grow up
in a slum or the projects, as the cookie pushers like to
think. West Woodlawn was a good place to grow up in;
skilled and unskilled workers, affluent middle class
professionals, people just gettin' by, shoulder to
shoulder, looking out for one another; tight, man,
tight. Nowadays we're sliding into class divisions;
poor folks over there, in the projects and slums and the
folks that are better off somewhere else; out in the
suburbs, if they can get there."
"Isn't that the way
things are the world over?" asked Chris. He took out
his pipe and started cleaning the bowl with a penknife,
using automatic ritualistic movements.
"It was a lot
better when we all stuck together," I said. "When we
still knew it's about who and what people are, instead
of what they own."—Dave Burrell,
“Djarkarta Blues”
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“I finally realized
there’s little similarity between novels and short
fiction. At first, I was trying to write every chapter
as a short story; rather than as components in a larger
tale.”—Dave Burrell, “Djarkarta Blues”
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Sam
Greenlee—novelist, poet, screenwriter,
journalist, teacher and talk show host—was born 13 July 1930 in Chicago.
He attended Chicago public schools. At age fifteen, Greenlee
participated in his first sit-in and walked his first picked line. His
social activism continues. In 1952, Greenlee received his B.S. in
political science from the University of Wisconsin and the following
year attended law school. He transferred to the University of Chicago to
study international relations from 1954 to 1957. In 1957, he began a
seven-year career with the U.S. Information Agency as a foreign services
officer, serving in Iraq, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Greece, and in 1958
he was awarded the Meritorious Service Award for bravery during the
Baghdad revolution.
Greenlee's novel
The Spook Who Sat By the Door, was published in 1968.
Prize-winning its fictionalization of an urban-based war for African
American liberation became an underground favorite. Greenlee co-wrote a
screenplay adaptation of the novel, and in 1973
The Spook Who Sat by
the Door was released on film. The film was an overnight success
when it was released but was unexpectedly taken out of distribution.
Greenlee has written numerous novels, stage plays, screenplays and
poems. He moved back to Chicago after several years of voluntary exile
in Spain and West Africa and is hosted a radio talk show program. He is
presently working on his autobiography.
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Sam Greenlee
(born July 13, 1930) is an African American writer,
best known for his novel The
Spook Who Sat by the Door, first published in London by Allison
& Busby in March 1969, which was made into the 1973
movie of the same name and won
The Sunday Times Book of the Year award. Other
works include
Baghdad Blues, a 1976 novel based on his
experiences traveling in
Iraq in the 1950s, Blues for an African
Princess, a 1971 collection of poems, and
Ammunition, a 1975 collection of poems. In 1990
Greenlee was the
Illinois
poet laureate.
Born in
Chicago, Greenlee attended the
University of Wisconsin (BS, political science,
1952) and the
University of Chicago (1954-7). He is a member
of
Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. He served in
the military (1952-4), earning the rank of first
lieutenant, and subsequently worked for the
United States Information Agency, serving in
Iraq (in 1958 he was awarded the
Meritorious Service Medal for bravery during the
Baghdad revolution),
Pakistan,
Indonesia, and
Greece between 1957 and 1965. He undertook
further study (1963-4) at the
University of Thessaloniki, in Greece, where he
lived for three years.—Wikipedia
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Ammunition: Poetry and Other Raps
By Sam Greenlee
Greenlee is also
known for such works as
Blues for an African Princess
(1971), a collection of poems. His novel
Baghdad Blues (1976) and
Ammunition: Poetry and Other Raps
(1975) both deal with African
Americans’ pain, anger, and fear,
particularly that of those who are
caught up in the racism and oppression
of government agencies.
Greenlee's contributions to the literary
tradition in African American literature
have caused his readers to examine
closely the racial awareness or
unawareness within agencies and
institutions that are designed to serve
all Americans. His presentation of
African Americans’ duality and
paradoxical existence in a racist
society is still providing scholars with
text to investigate the themes of
racism. Greenlee is masterful in his
presentation of characters and
community; his work is saturated with
the African American literary tradition.—Answers |
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Sam Greenlee is
relaxed. He sits lotus style on a rainbow-striped
blanket, rolling cigarettes and talking in
reflective, short streams about the rage that fueled
his 1969 underground classic The
Spook Who Sat by the Door. "I planted the seed and I'll live to
see it grow," says Greenlee. The seed was a portrait
of a black CIA agent who trains a Chicago street
gang to orchestrate a Mau Mau-style war on whitey.
Its growth was stunted, Greenlee has long contended,
by a campaign to keep the 1973 film version of the
book out of theaters. "They haven't discouraged me,"
says Greenlee, 63. "I'm old but I'm not tired. I'm
satisfied with my career, I've done the right
thing."
Growing up in
the 30s and 40s in west Woodlawn, Greenlee lived an
"idyllic" childhood filled with Sunday school, Boy
Scouts, and the rural, southern values of his
parents. He went to Englewood High and earned a
track scholarship to the University of Wisconsin in
1948. He began a graduate degree in international
relations at the University of Chicago. "I went to
two white, brainwashing institutions. But I'm the
black dog that didn't fall for Pavlov's scam," he
says with a chuckle.
Greenlee joined
the foreign service in 1957. "I wanted to see the
world," he says, stroking his silver beard. "Baghdad
was my first post; they were having a revolution. I
was in Pakistan and Greece while both countries were
having a coup. What I've lived is far more exciting
than anything I could make up."
After eight
years, he left the foreign service but stayed on the
Greek island of Mykonos, where he began writing his
first novel. "I never could write while I was
surrounded by those people," he says of his
colleagues. "I was so enraged when I came home every
night. I was watching them undermine whole cultures.
The U.S. is the biggest threat to world peace there
is."—the
relaxed rage of Sam Greenlee
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Baghdad Blues
The Revolution That Brought Saddam
Hussein to Power
By Sam Greenlee
This book is based on the real life
experience of a black man posted to
Baghdad in the late 1950s and employed
by the US Information Bureau. His white
colleagues are totally out of touch with
the emerging political unrest protesting
the corrupt royalist regime and when the
revolution erupts, the US embassy is
shocked. The king it supports is killed
and the entire city of Baghdad is
plunged into political chaos and
violence. Sam Greenlee is a most
engaging story teller...a very
interesting read! Gives insight into
Saddam Hussein's ability to rise to
power given the preceding historical
events.—amazon
customer |
On YouTube
The Spook Who Sat
by the Door /
Part 2 of 11
/
Part 3 of 11 /
Part 4 of
11 /
Part 5 of 11 /
Part 6 of
11
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Sex at the Margins
Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry
By Laura María Agustín
This book explodes several myths: that selling sex is completely different from any other kind of work, that migrants who sell sex are passive victims and that the multitude of people out to save them are without self-interest. Laura Agustín makes a passionate case against these stereotypes, arguing that the label 'trafficked' does not accurately describe migrants' lives and that the 'rescue industry' serves to disempower them. Based on extensive research amongst both migrants who sell sex and social helpers, Sex at the Margins provides a radically different analysis. Frequently, says Agustin, migrants make rational choices to travel and work in the sex industry, and although they are treated like a marginalised group they form part of the dynamic global economy. Both powerful and controversial, this book is essential reading for all those who want to understand the increasingly important relationship between sex markets, migration and the desire for social justice. "Sex at the Margins rips apart distinctions between migrants, service work and sexual labour and reveals the utter complexity of the contemporary sex industry. This book is set to be a trailblazer in the study of sexuality."—Lisa Adkins, University of London |
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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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Negro Digest /
Black World
Browse all issues
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Enjoy!
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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
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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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update 29 February 2012
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