i'm stripping away all the lies before the next millennium:
lies that my father loved me more than his masonic brethren,
lies that he married my mother while she was still a virgin,
lies about blackness, about whiteness, about who i am.
for the lies are like dead weights that pull me down
into the undertow of money, class, culture, race, and class,
distorting my features--the true reflection of my face--
so i've become something subtle and submarine;
but what will happen to me after i've stripped away
all the forms that clothe my mind with order
old ways of thinking about myself--the thusness of reality.
what will i have but this naked, scarred body
that i have so despised, regarded always as other?
facing myself in the silence of unanswerable joy.
© Geoffrey Philp
[source...]
27 February 2010
15 February 2010
Clifton, honored poet from Buffalo, dies
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: February 14, 2010, 12:14
Lucille Clifton, born and raised in the Buffalo area before going on to achieve some of the literary world's highest honors as a major American poet, died Saturday morning at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore at age 73, her sister told The Buffalo News.
Clifton had been ill for some time with some type of infection, and had undergone surgery to remove her colon Friday, but her exact cause of death is still uncertain, Clifton's sister, Elaine Philip said today.
"We really don't know," Philip said, "she had an infection throughout her body, and we don't know yet where it was coming from."
Clifton, who lived in Columbia, Md., and was the former poet laureate of the state, was a two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee.
She won the National Book Award in 2001 for "Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems, 1988-2000," and in 2007, she became the first African-American woman to be awarded one of the literary world's highest honors — the Ruth Lilly Prize for lifetime achievement by the Poetry Foundation.
"She is, in my opinion, the greatest poet to have been born and raised in Buffalo in the 20th Century," said R.D. Pohl, longtime literary contributor to The Buffalo News.
[continue there...]
----------
“oh antic God”
oh antic God
return to me
my mother in her thirties
leaned across the front porch
the huge pillow of her breasts
pressing against the rail
summoning me in for bed.
I am almost the dead woman’s age times two.
I can barely recall her song
the scent of her hands
though her wild hair scratches my dreams
at night. return to me, oh Lord of then
and now, my mother’s calling,
her young voice humming my name.
© Lucille Clifton
[source...]
13 February 2010
Comments: Why Africa is poor.
24 Comments http://sotho.blogsome.com/2006/06/20/why-is-africa-poor/trackback/ (This link leads to the original blog post generating the buzz below)
source...]
source...]
12 February 2010
11 February 2010
9 February 2010
Howls of protest at Dennis Brutus concert
Written by John Chimunhu, Monday, 08 February 2010 10:53
HARARE - A memorial concert for the late Zimbabwe-born South African poet, academic and social activist, Dennis Brutus, turned into a howl of protest against President Robert Mugabe's social policies.The event on January 29 was organised by Zimcodd, Magamba Cultural Activist Network and SAPSN at the Book Cafe included screening of a documentary on Brutus entitled 'I am a rebel', speakers, poets and musicians 'to celebrate the life of a great global social justice activist'. Brutus died on December 26, 2009 in South Africa, marking the end of nearly half a decade of protest against various forms of oppression, from apartheid in South Africa to Mugabe's tyranny in Zimbabwe, among other causes.
One of the speakers at the function, Jonah Gokova, attacked what he called the 'pillars of capitalism', including the World Bank and the IMF, traditional targets of Brutus in his later years.
"These institutions are creating increasing numbers of poor people in the world," said Gokova, who met Brutus at several anti-capitalism protests around the world. "Capitalism is not an option." Added Gokova, "Brutus shared those ideals that one day we would live in a just world in which profit should not determine how we should live."
Readings from Brutus's massive collection of poetry were followed by tributes and a performance by the ever-popular Comrade Fatso and Chabvondoka, whose protest song MaStreets got people on their feet. Brutus was born in Harare in 1924 but soon moved to Port Elizabeth with his family. He was shot and jailed by apartheid authorities for his activism, which resulted in South Africa being banned from the Olympics in 1972.
Brutus published more than a dozen volumes of poetry. Among his most evocative works are 'Sirens Knuckles and Boots' and 'Letters to Martha', an epic protest note which was smuggled out of prison disguised as a love letter.
[source...]
6 February 2010
Pam Mordecai reading...
Author Pam Mordecai Reads at the Diaspora Vibe Gallery
MIAMI - Pam Mordecai, a pioneer in the movement to expose the writing of Caribbean women, will be reading at Diaspora Vibe Gallery, 3938 North Miami Ave, Miami, on March 23, 2006 at 6:30pm.
Dr. Mordecai will read poems and short stories, including work from her most recent collection, The True Blue of Islands.
[source...]
MIAMI - Pam Mordecai, a pioneer in the movement to expose the writing of Caribbean women, will be reading at Diaspora Vibe Gallery, 3938 North Miami Ave, Miami, on March 23, 2006 at 6:30pm.
Dr. Mordecai will read poems and short stories, including work from her most recent collection, The True Blue of Islands.
[source...]
4 February 2010
1 February 2010
Hope
Through a blue window
I am letting it go, light
having washed its feathers.
The sky is a flat sheet
of water reflecting itself,
and when I face
its immeasurable underside,
there's nothing behind it.
Only a darkening space
for me to curl under. Snug
in the spell of a cradle
rocking, I remember
the first time I floated
on my back as a child,
the unflappable calm,
as if I were slipping into
the future where the light
was waiting to come back,
and where I would find
my lost breath again
after I drowned.
© Shirley Kaufman
Shirley Kaufman
"Ezekiel's Wheels": Copper Canyon Press
I am letting it go, light
having washed its feathers.
The sky is a flat sheet
of water reflecting itself,
and when I face
its immeasurable underside,
there's nothing behind it.
Only a darkening space
for me to curl under. Snug
in the spell of a cradle
rocking, I remember
the first time I floated
on my back as a child,
the unflappable calm,
as if I were slipping into
the future where the light
was waiting to come back,
and where I would find
my lost breath again
after I drowned.
© Shirley Kaufman
Shirley Kaufman
"Ezekiel's Wheels": Copper Canyon Press
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I tend to think that integration into loose federations with efficient (but not overly interfering) central governments would be the right way; I mean, if Zimbabwe were a state in some huge Southern Africa federation, the government would be able to deal with it. Indeed de facto this is what RSA tries to do with Mbeki shuttling from peace talks to peace talks, and with the relative success of RSA, Botswana and Namibia (plus, hopefully, a revamp of Angola) the SADC could turn into something useful, and this could help smaller countries, indeed like Lesotho.
Comment by Pavel Iosad — 20 June 2006 @ 7:01 pm
It is happening, though.
I agree with all you have to say. I would really like to see Africa establish a trade pact, possibly including Latin America and parts of Asia. I think that, if targeted the right way, it could be very helpful. Also, it seems to me, the foreign aid money invested in Africa should be allocated more and more toward maintenance. The story appears to me to be all too often the same: plenty of money to build, no money to maintain. What’s the point? Good comments.
Comment by Matthew — 20 June 2006 @ 11:19 pm
it did help in my assessment.
thank you ~@
Comment by haein — 7 August 2007 @ 6:22 am
Comment by sf — 5 November 2007 @ 5:57 am
Comment by Rethabile Masilo — 5 November 2007 @ 7:08 am
Comment by JK — 29 December 2007 @ 11:11 am
My response was too long, so I decided to turn it into a post: http://sotho.blogsome.com/2007/12/30/melanocytes-are-why-africa-is-poor/
Comment by Rethabile — 30 December 2007 @ 8:27 am
Comment by Jo — 30 December 2007 @ 4:13 pm
Comment by Caroline Sullivan — 9 January 2008 @ 9:05 pm
Comment by Johan de Lange — 6 February 2008 @ 2:17 pm
Comment by Rethabile Masilo — 6 February 2008 @ 3:05 pm
Comment by Reid — 28 March 2008 @ 10:53 pm
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Thanks for all the information, and also the guys who have commented. I have an assigment and this has been of help. Thanks once again.
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I GUESS WE SHOULD HELP AFRICA WITH THE ECONOMY
BECAUSE THERE IS ALOT OF POOR PEOPLE WITHOUT HOUSES,SCHOOLS FOOD,CLOTHES AND THEY ARE SOME THAT ARE VERY SICK THATS MY OPINION.:)
Comment by Rethabile (saved from the spammer) — 8 November 2008 @ 2:04 am
Comment by G.P Nthoiwa — 19 December 2009 @ 10:21 pm
I do this for several reasons. While I agree with you that Africans differ from one another vastly, we as a people (Africans) have been lumped together and exploited as such. I believe that is why in France where I live, blacks greet each other without necessarily knowing each other. It was the same in the US when I lived there.
Another reason is practical. I cannot possibly list poor African countries, or keep saying “some Africans” over and over. It is true that Botswana is a relatively rich country, in comparison with its sister nation, Lesotho. But...
If China and India had been lumped together and sucked dry because of some feature that links them, say skin colour, then they would feel the kinship that I feel toward all blacks. Next year in South Africa (World Cup) I’ll be rooting for Bafana Bafana. If they lose, I will switch to Ghana or Cameroon or another African country.
This is something that many Africans do, but that you won’t find in Europe or America or Asia or Oceania.
I’ll even root for Jamaica or Trinidad and Tobago before I Brazil or France.
Comment by Rethabile Masilo — 20 December 2009 @ 7:19 am
Comment by Ogada Jarateng — 27 December 2009 @ 7:34 am
Comment by ALLEN JAMES — 14 January 2010 @ 1:43 am
Do you even know the history of Haiti?
BTW, America was “in the shitter”, wasn’t it, before the guy arrived in power?
Comment by Rethabile Masilo — 14 January 2010 @ 1:58 am
I don’t think allen was referring to Pres Obama. He was probably referring to the fact that we have so many black people on welfare living off of other people’s money not contributing to society in the US. That is the way I took it anyway. I agree with him to an extent, but it doesn’t stop there. That’s all I’m gonna say about it though.
Comment by Michael Smith — 17 January 2010 @ 3:15 pm
You say that “we have so many black people on welfare living off of other people’s money not contributing to society in the US.”
1. Black people have built America, despite being chained and denied basic rights like education. Remind me to tell you the things they have done, I mean beside the physical carrying, digging, constructing, planting, harvesting, singing, praying, sporting, enduring, buying, selling they have done.
2. White people are the ones with the money: heard of white priviledge? From the time slaves landed on American soil, everything was MORE for the massa and his family, NOTHING for the slave and his family. Not only blacks, by the way, slaves, including the American Indian. The white man did it again in Australia and in South Africa. I live in France. Despite being qualified, can’t get a job. Had to start my own business. Since white people have the money, and the power, where in Heaven’s name do you want poor black people to get it from?
3. If black people have not contributed to society (A group of humans broadly distinguished from other groups by mutual interests, participation in characteristic relationships, shared institutions, and a common culture), who has?
Comment by Rethabile Masilo — 17 January 2010 @ 4:16 pm
Something interesting to think about.
Comment by Anonymous — 9 February 2010 @ 6:34 pm
Part One:
I like the way you say, “Could this be a cultural difference between asia and africa - or something deeper?” That’s funny.
No, I think you’re wrong. Asia, China in particular, is enormous culturally and physically and economically. It’s a giant. China sits permanently on the security council, is one of the most visited countries in the world, is a low-cost producer due to cheap labour and high productivity, and has an undervalued exchange rate; I could go on.
Apart from Chinese girls sold into slavery/prostitution in California during The Gold Rush, when have the Chinese undergone slavery and dehumanisation and colonisation on a scale as deep as many countries in Africa?
Asia is larger than Africa and has 47 countries. Africa is smaller than Asia and has 53 countries. The 53 countries of Africa were determined by colonisers, while Asian frontiers are “natural” in that Indians live in India and Malays in Malaysia and the Japanese in Japan.
Comment by Rethabile Masilo — 13 February 2010 @ 9:30 am
Part Two:
How many peoples in Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa? And what has this done to the stabilities of those “countries”?
If anything is related to something “deeper”, how come Yemen is poor and not Saudi Arabia? Lesotho, and not Botswana (same culture, same language)? Why is Bangladesh much poorer than Pakistan and India?
And more telling, why is Romania poorer than France? They’re both in Europe and they’re both “white” countries. Why is Greece needing an economic boost right now, in 2010? They’re white, and will probably get their boost from the 26 other European countries.
Comment by Rethabile Masilo — 13 February 2010 @ 9:31 am
Part Three and last:
What country in Africa got a boost, from who? Marshall Plan? What country in Europe or North America trades fairly with what country in Africa?
What country in Africa enslaved and colonised what country in Europe or North America, in order to fill its coffers and obtain cheap labour for its industries and rape the reaches of the enslaved and colonised peoples (as well as their women)?
Do you really still think there is something "deeper" than pure greed and malice and evil at work here? Do you read any history objectively?
Why don't you spend your time wondering instead what needs to be done to the rich white folks who are rich because they destroyed other people through force? Because they pillaged whole communities through force? Because they continue to keep an iron-hand on other communities , through force and the help of permanency on the Security Council and the G6, G7, G8 and G20?
In Spain, people who speak Basque conduct guerilla activities against the central power. That's one language, imagine there were twenty different languages and cultures in Spain. What would have happened then? Corsica has been occupied continuously since the Middle Stone Ages. Could this have anything to do with the fact that they're setting up bombs, too, against the French government? Or do you think there's something "deeper"?
If Africans or anybody else, for that matter, came and occupied your territory, shipped its most able and its strongest people away from home to go work in forced labour camps and fields in South Carolina and Virginia, shipped the raw materials of your territory away (stole it) without paying for it, did a host of other unthinkable things to you and your people, continue to do some of them into the 21st Century (white priviledge, job denial, unfair trading policies, etc), then say you're poor because there's something "deeper" that's keeping you so, what would be your reaction to that?
Comment by Rethabile Masilo — 13 February 2010 @ 9:35 am