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Who am I?
I am an African American Male who is on a journey of self empowerment and the empowerment of the Black Community. I am a Pan African which means (to me) that I believe in the necessity of all people of African descent to affirm their African heritage and to see themselves as connected to all other people in the African Diaspora (Africans, Afro-Europeans, African Americans, African Canadians, African Brazilians, All people of African descent in Latin America, etc). I am someone who is serious about the liberation of Black people in the United States. I am a future educator. I am an aspiring poet. I am someone who seeks political consciousness and enlightenment. I am a graduate of University of Wisconsin-La Crosse majoring in history and sociology and a masters in education. I currently am a Ph.D Student in education What do I do? I read and write poetry and play the guitar and saxophone. I also work with the United States Student Association. What do I like? Music Hip Hop: Wu Tang, Roots, OutKast, Goodie Mob, Public Enemy, Gang Starr, Paris Reggae: Sizzla, Steel Pulse, Majek Fashek, Buju Banton, Bob Marley, Ziggy Marley RnB: Jaguar Wright, DAngelo, Maxwell, SADE, Erykah, Jazzyfatnastees, Blues: Eric Gales, Robert Cray, Melvin Taylor, James "Blood" Ulmer Flamenco: Al Di Meola, Camarron De La Isla, Paco De Lucia Rock: Hendrix, Living Color, Fishbone, Rage Against the Machine, Bad Brains, Neurosis, Sepultura New Age: Loreena McKennitt, Axiom Ambient Jazz: Miles Davis, Henry Threadgill, Last Exit, David S Ware, Nicky Skopelitis, Coltrane, Regina Carter, James Carter, Cassandra Wilson, Bill Laswell World Music: Sheila Chandra, Curandero, Ali Farka Toure, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Shankar, Books: All About Love - bell hooks, Parable of the Talents-Octavia Butler, Coldest Winter Ever-Sister SoulJah, Always Outnumbered-Walter Mosely, Black Men-Haki Madhubuti, Satisfy My Soul -Colin Channer. ------------------------------ ------ Poetry exercises by Gwendolyn Brooks Every day, make notes on what you see and feel. Talk about what you know, what you think, what you feel and what you wonder. Be yourself. Do not imitate other poets. You are as important as they are. Try different ways of saying a thing. Then choose the way that seems best. Read Poetry every day. Keep a journal - your journal can inspire you to write new poems later on. Ask yourself, "are these really the words that say EXACTLY what I want to say?" Keep working on your poem until it says exactly what you want to say. Sometimes it is hard to say exactly what you want to say. Do not give up. Keep trying. Sooner or later, you will think of the words that are right for your poem. Do not be afraid to say something new. Have a poetry writing party. Start a poetry writing club. To your meetings, bring poems to read and to talk about. Read the news, stories, biography, history, science books and newsmagazines. These will help you THINK, and your thoughts will inspire more poems. In some of your poems, BE A LITTLE MYSTERIOUS! Surprise yourself and your reader. Practice reciting aloud - AND CLEARLY - your own poetry. Collect Words - Read your dictionary every day. Make a friend of your dictionary. Circle exciting words. The more words you know, the better you will be able to express yourself, your thoughts. Remember that poetry is your friend. What should you write about? ANYTHING! But always write what you really think! Write down carefully any idea that comes to you? ------------------------------ ------- Quotes *Real self destructive behavior occurs when we identify so strongly with our oppressors that we do to ourselves the worst that they could do to us. -Asa Hilliard *The generation gap is an important social tool for any repressive society. If the younger members of a community view the older members as contemptible or suspect or excess, they will never be able to join hands and examine the living memories of the community, or ask the all important `why?` This gives rise to an historical amnesia that keeps us working to invent the wheel every time we have to go to the store for bread. -Audre Lorde *The quality of light by which we scrutinize our lives has direct bearing upon the product which we live, and upon the changes which we hope to bring about through those lives. -Audre Lorde *The future of the planet depends on our ability to organize. - Seth Oberman *Our situation as a people is too critical and precarious to afford us the luxury of members who have the opportunity to serve, but feel no need to do so. -Asa Hilliard *We are the ones we have been waiting for. - June Jordan ______________________________ _________________________ Questions that we need to ask ourselves. - We need more questions toward our goal(s) - Help! Where do we need to goas a people? How can we reach that goal? What role does education play in our advancement? How do we address problems of poverty? How can we mend the rifts between Males and Females in the Black community? How can we mend rifts between the so called middle class and the rest of the Black community? How can we shape education so that it represents our issues? What can we do on a daily basis to protect the future of our children? Etc, etc..More..Please! ______________________________ _________________________ Suggestions We need. To understand the concept of racism (historic, institutionalized, etc) and how it truly affects Black people *to understand the concept of mainstream White supremacy *to increase education for liberation *to increase radical thinking and understanding of society and culture (asking `why`, going to root of problems, attempting to solve problems at the root) *to study more with each other about everything *to understand family *to analyze every aspect of American culture and critique its empowerment value for Black people (i.e. BET programs, Hip hop culture, tv, etc, more) *to challenge gender issues *to understand diversity in the Black community *to read and write more, (keep journals, read and write poetry, etc) *to develop a culture based on the defense of children and the proactive development of youth *to become politically active and aware *to figure out who we can trust with our money (Black Taxes!) *to understand struggle of our ancestors * to understand materialism *to uplift women in our history *to understand class issues and Black elitism *to beware of diversions (games, parties, prizes) *to emancipate our imaginations (just because things are the way that they are doesn t mean that they have to be that way) *to change the way we think about teacher education and recruitment and retention of Black Students *to understand the Drug war *More! Please Help! ______________________________ _______ POETRY Blood - By SP 1 that bling has frozen your blood, blood desire for ice has made you cold, blood life can`tsurvive when surrounded by ice, my blood or if ice is at the center, blood 2 my sistaz are blood they treat me like blood thank you sistablood my heart bleeds for you sistablood my blood is warm for you sistablood sometimes my blood is hot for you sistablood scalding hot scalding me i can`t let it scald you sistablood you are all my sistaz, myblood 3 youngbloods bleed youngbloods bleed youngbloods hot blooded and cold blooded at the same time aren`t we as `humans` warm blooded where is the precious dark, warm blood? where? is it here? ______________________________ ______
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