tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79897891260931919832024-03-13T10:50:05.750-07:00Writing in Real LifeTales from a struggling writer, Detroit chick, and mother.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.comBlogger258125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-9098396922353537512013-02-23T15:21:00.000-08:002013-02-23T15:21:11.305-08:00The Next Big ThingI was tagged by poet, novelist, and Harlem Renaissance scholar Hans Ostrom to participate in a self interview / game called "The Next Big Thing." It's designed to get you to share information about your current writing project. <a href="http://poetsmusings-muser.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-next-big-thing-interview.html" target="_blank">Hans's answers are especially great</a>. Here are mine:<br />
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QUESTIONS:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What is the working title of the book?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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"How to Leave the Midwest"</div>
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<b>Where did the idea come from for the book?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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The idea came several years ago as I thought about the father of a childhood friend. He was a backup singer with Motown who remained in Detroit after the company relocated to Los Angeles. I started thinking about that transition for him and for our community in general. As I started revising the first draft, other themes emerged like migration, escape, and what it means to move within a black body.</div>
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<b>What genre does your book fall under?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Literary. Possibly thriller. Literary thriller- is that a genre?</div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>What actors would you choose to play the part of your
characters in a movie rendition?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Jimmy: Don Cheadle</div>
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Igrid: Tracey Heggins</div>
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Rome: Laz Alonso</div>
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<b>What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Fearful of the changes happening in their neighborhood in 1979-1981, three residents of a Detroit suburb conspire to bring Motown back at any cost.</div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>How long did it take you to write the first draft of the
manuscript?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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The first draft was completed within months, and I'm happy that very few people have suffered through that reading! The revisions have taken years and have coincided with the birth of my children and my own relocation to various cities.</div>
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<b>Who or what inspired you to write this book?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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I'm inspired by black women writers who have gotten their stories down over the years. Those women are my inspiration.</div>
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<b>What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Harry Houdini makes an appearance. Also Prince and former Detroit Mayor, Coleman A.Young. </div>
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<b>Will your book be self-published or represented by an
agency?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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I plan to send out queries to literary agents.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-8145793729599628362013-01-29T14:45:00.000-08:002013-01-29T14:45:20.281-08:00Wole Soyinka at University of Puget Sound<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BkAZD7culXI/UQhQTd2HVxI/AAAAAAAAAiM/WS50WK-4Rm4/s1600/Soyinka,_Wole_(1934).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BkAZD7culXI/UQhQTd2HVxI/AAAAAAAAAiM/WS50WK-4Rm4/s1600/Soyinka,_Wole_(1934).jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
I am extremely upset that I'm going to miss <a href="http://www.pugetsound.edu/news-and-events/campus-news/details/1108/" target="_blank">this lecture by Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka</a> on February 7th at University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. I mean....Soyinka?!?! I'm such a fan but my nephew is getting married that day and I cannot miss that. I think I will make my students go and record the lecture (insert evil laughter here).....Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-87452936033389754252013-01-28T10:07:00.002-08:002013-01-28T10:07:57.591-08:00Monday Links<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SxkAgwUZb-M/UQa9OANglQI/AAAAAAAAAh8/NWTk3NTBfVY/s1600/octavia-spencer-michael-b-jordan-fruitvale-at-sundance-05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SxkAgwUZb-M/UQa9OANglQI/AAAAAAAAAh8/NWTk3NTBfVY/s320/octavia-spencer-michael-b-jordan-fruitvale-at-sundance-05.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Congratulations to Ryan Coogler and<i> Fruitvale</i> for <a href="http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/fruitvale-is-4th-film-in-sundance-history-to-win-both-audience-grand-jury-dramatic-prizes" target="_blank">winning top awards at the Sundance Film Festival!</a> This is the type of film I love to see get attention. Keep it coming!<br />
<br />
And here's a link to one of the <a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/01/26/my_fake_college_syllabus/" target="_blank">funniest and most true rants about teaching English</a> at a university that I've read. It's by Adam Mansbach who is the author of the children's book,<i> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CseO1XRYs9I" target="_blank">Go the Fuck to Sleep</a></i>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-58296448316993135342013-01-14T15:42:00.000-08:002013-01-14T15:42:52.339-08:00MLK Event<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qyE-xS7JWXw/UPSTUHpzD1I/AAAAAAAAAhs/GGmK0ZMkvq0/s1600/Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qyE-xS7JWXw/UPSTUHpzD1I/AAAAAAAAAhs/GGmK0ZMkvq0/s320/Poster.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
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<br />
Next Monday is the national Martin Luther King, Jr.holiday, but this Sunday in Tacoma, The Conversation hosts its annual MLK event. The Conversation is a community organization that meets each Sunday to focus on social justice issues. Their interfaith service this Sunday will feature a keynote speech by <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk-Xn-PYDDA" target="_blank">Dr. Dexter Gordon</a>, spoken word, musical performances by Annie Jones Barnes and a creative dramatization by <a href="http://rosalindbell.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">C. Rosalind Bell</a>. I will be there. I hope to see you there, too!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-52023932766374265302013-01-14T15:19:00.000-08:002013-01-14T15:19:17.385-08:00Real Life Stories into Art <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uLDSeiW0vXw/UPSN3yVG3uI/AAAAAAAAAhM/lJca5N_xlV8/s1600/UndocuNationBerkeley_CALL+for+ARTISTS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uLDSeiW0vXw/UPSN3yVG3uI/AAAAAAAAAhM/lJca5N_xlV8/s320/UndocuNationBerkeley_CALL+for+ARTISTS.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
Please consider this call for artists on migrant stories. The deadline for proposals is January 20th and they are looking for art written or performed from a pro-migrant perspective.<br />
<br />
For a real life story about the effects of aggressive anti-immigration legislation on families,<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-erika-andiola-immigrant-activist-family-detained-by-immigration-officials-20130111,0,7411461.story" target="_blank"> read this story</a> about Arizona immigration rights activist Erika Andiola.<br />
<br />
And from the "Unbelievably Bizarre Real-Life Stories Made into Documentaries" category: I recently watched "Crazy Love" about Burt and Linda Pugach from New York. It came out in 2009 and is available of DVD. That's all I will say because I don't want to spoil the storyline. Let me just say that I would never have predicted the ending.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ps_4krRvoj8/UPSSBm5xTEI/AAAAAAAAAhc/WHPQ5ZYxlfc/s1600/Crazy+Love.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ps_4krRvoj8/UPSSBm5xTEI/AAAAAAAAAhc/WHPQ5ZYxlfc/s1600/Crazy+Love.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-10648907656730695642013-01-09T10:48:00.000-08:002013-01-09T10:48:46.323-08:00Writers I Admire: Edwidge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gnSBaFogDTw/UO27Da2BCqI/AAAAAAAAAgo/qna9xv3XX4A/s1600/Edwidge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gnSBaFogDTw/UO27Da2BCqI/AAAAAAAAAgo/qna9xv3XX4A/s320/Edwidge.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />
My sketch of Edwidge Danticat. I did it sometime last year.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-71022279111318924922013-01-08T10:57:00.003-08:002013-01-08T10:57:53.634-08:00Princesses and Writing in Second Grade<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8u-EuGzt65M/UOxp0DPLAqI/AAAAAAAAAfk/tp7WQFYiAL0/s1600/Ava's+princess.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8u-EuGzt65M/UOxp0DPLAqI/AAAAAAAAAfk/tp7WQFYiAL0/s320/Ava's+princess.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
When I met with my seven-year old's teacher last fall, she told me that it was common for second graders to misspell words that they actually know how to spell. She said that this was a common phenomenon, and that it straightens itself out through repetition. In other words, little people have to write the same words over and over again in sentences before they remember the correct spelling. I found this interesting because Ava gets 100% on all of her spelling tests and she reads constantly, but when she writes a longer piece, like a paragraph, there are usually a couple of misspellings. Interesting to think about how the mind works when we are writing.<br />
<br />
More frustrating for me is this princess thing she's been on for a couple years. I suppose she'll outgrow this as well. I'll try not to be a grouch until then.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-84064079648056443952013-01-08T10:37:00.000-08:002013-01-08T10:37:10.705-08:00Remembering Jayne Cortez<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_p9SKO18rTY/UOxi9D1T0mI/AAAAAAAAAfU/78R94ixyUUc/s1600/Jayne+Cortez.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_p9SKO18rTY/UOxi9D1T0mI/AAAAAAAAAfU/78R94ixyUUc/s320/Jayne+Cortez.jpg" width="228" /></a></div>
<br />
I was very sad to read that poet Jayne Cortez passed away on December 28th, which just happens to be my birthday. Cortez was a poet who I read extensively to understand how to write poetry that was lyrical and culturally-referenced. I tried to imitate her style. When I read her as a young person, I knew from her references that she read an expansive knowledge base and I knew that if I wanted to write I had to read a lot. I was also intrigued that she was from the west, from Arizona, and that she had changed her name. Here is a <a href="http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20635" target="_blank">link to one of her poems</a>. R.I.P. Jayne and thank you.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-91008289608964870732013-01-04T10:46:00.000-08:002013-01-05T08:04:03.208-08:00Django Unchained Forces Me to My Blog Left for Dead<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ta0CA7gmx3c/UOcjRaXkJtI/AAAAAAAAAe0/BtrU4xpgN2E/s1600/django.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ta0CA7gmx3c/UOcjRaXkJtI/AAAAAAAAAe0/BtrU4xpgN2E/s320/django.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">I said I wasn’t going to write about <i>Django
Unchained</i>. For over a year I’ve been teaching a course on the imaging of
blackness in Hollywood films, and because of this, analyzing <i>Django</i> felt like
work and during my semester break, no less.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">But a response to the movie was writing
itself in my head anyway, waking me up in the middle of the night. I’ve read a
lot of the criticism about <i>Django</i>, but I haven’t read exactly what I was
thinking after I’d seen the film, so here I am, writing about<i> Django </i>when I promised
myself I would not. Maybe this exercise will silence the voices so that I can enjoy the rest of my break.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Here’s what I’ve read that I agree with:
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">1.) </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>The film features
one exceptional black man (Django) at the expense of all the other black slaves</b>. <a href="http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/25/opinion-quentin-tarantino-creates-an-exceptional-slave/">http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/25/opinion-quentin-tarantino-creates-an-exceptional-slave/</a>. I kept waiting for one of the uncredited actors, who plays a slave in the movie, to
team up with Django. This character seemed somewhat important because there were so many close-ups
of his face as he observed the fearless, exceptional Django in action. I kept
thinking that they would eventually collaborate. As others have said, there are plenty of historical slave revolts in the Americas, including Nat
Turner’s, to use as inspiration for a film about a collective rebellioin led by a
fearless leader. <a href="http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/ive_read_tarantinos_django_unchained_script_and_well_its_certainly_not_nat_" target="_blank">http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/ive_read_tarantinos_django_unchained_script_and_well_its_certainly_not_nat_</a> Instead, Django is only concerned about rescuing his wife and
is not portrayed as giving a damn about the other people held captive at the
Candie Land plantation.</span><br />
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2.) <span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>The women characters are weak</b>. More about
this below, but in response to remarks that we should cheer this film because a
black man rescues a black woman, I say this: I have not been sitting around
twiddling my thumbs and waiting for a film about a black woman being rescued by
her man. I don’t consider that a revolutionary plot line. A love story? Yes. And
a narrative as old as patriarchy itself. Besides, I don’t need nor desire a
Tarantino depiction of black-on-black love in the Age of Obama, when we have a
real-life Brother President with a real-life black wife who is the president’s
equal in intelligence and charisma.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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3.) <span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>Christoph Waltz’s
character serves as the archetypal white savior</b>. The fact that he dies towards
the end doesn’t change that fact.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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4.) <span style="font-size: 7pt;"> <b> </b></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>Sam Jackson’s
character, Stephen, is the archetypal Tom</b>. <a href="http://cityarts.info/2012/12/28/still-not-a-brother/" target="_blank">http://cityarts.info/2012/12/28/still-not-a-brother/</a>. The funniest criticism, and signifying moment, that I have
read about Stephen was by Ishmael Reed in the Washington Post blogs. <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/12/28/black-audiences-white-stars-and-django-unchained/" target="_blank">http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/12/28/black-audiences-white-stars-and-django-unchained/</a>. Reed wrote, “Samuel L. Jackson, who starred in Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction,' plays himself.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Here are a few more thoughts I’ve had about this film:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">1.) <b>The problems listed
above could have been solved with better writing and editing</b>. In the end, I take
issue with all of Tarantino’s movies (see #4 below) because of their “cool
cynicism” and nihilism as bell hooks calls it. But I have also seen evidence
that Tarantino can create cinematic moments that disrupt our accepted
mythologies. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> The writing
and editing for this latest movie doesn’t do that so much, not compared to moments we’ve seen in earlier Tarantino flicks, like <i>Inglourious Basterds</i> or <i>Kill Bill</i>.
Take the fight scene between Vivica Fox
and Uma Thurman in the first <i>Kill Bill</i> movie. That scene is an image of
modern womanhood that challenges our ideas about women as victims. In it, you
have two assassins, one black, one white, and both equally bad-ass, engaged in
a bloody death fight inside a Pasadena bungalow. The house has pastel colored walls and
kid toys scattered on the lawn. The fact that the women take a brief break from their bloody knife fight when
Vivica’s daughter comes home from school simply highlights the incongruity between
the characters’ violent capabilities and the placid environment and nurturing
roles that they must play in their community.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">In fact, all of the women in <i>Kill Bill</i> are strong and
have a lot of agency as characters. QT messes this up by portraying Bill as the boss in
charge of the women assassins. And he includes gratuitous violence that lacks
any enlightened purpose. This is what bell hooks means when she writes that
Tarantino seduces you with subversive potential and then fails to deliver,
choosing instead to affirm the status quo. But for the sake of argument, let’s
acknowledge what<i> is</i> radical in <i>Kill Bill</i>: that the focus is on women and
not Bill who you never see in Volume I. Bill is always off stage, a disembodied
voice, like Charlie in <i>Charlie’s Angels</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Tarantino could have started that movie with Bill
since he’s the main target of Uma Thurman’s revenge, but he doesn’t. Tarantino
could have included one continuous and gratuitously violent scene of the failed
assassination of Thurman. Instead he spliced up the failed assassination
and went back to it throughout the movie. It served as backstory for the revenge that
Thurman’s character seeks. The mentoring that Thurman receives from a master swordsman is a short scene in the middle. The main focus in <i>Kill Bill</i> is always the big
payback. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The problem in <i>Django</i> is that it takes too long to get
to the payback. More than half of that movie is mentoring and build-up to the revenge. And
the revenge is not personal because Django was never a slave on the Candie Land
plantation and was never directly harmed by those in charge of that plantation.
By comparison, the revenge is extremely personal in <i>Kill Bill</i>. Uma Thurman is
trying to kill women who tried to kill her. And the first scene is the fight
between Vivica and Uma. In other words, that movie starts with violent female
wrath which felt more radical than Jamie Foxx’s brief shoot-out at the end of a
nearly 3 hour movie. In <i>Kill Bill</i> I knew I was watching a strong and fearless
character from the beginning. In <i>Django</i>, Foxx seemed restrained throughout the
whole movie. Where was his anger and cunning? Why should I believe that he was
going to be capable of unmerciful killing?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">And where were the bad-ass women in <i>Django</i>, characters
with strength equal to a Harriet Tubman or Sojourner Truth? Why couldn’t Kerry
Washington have held a gun sometime before the final seconds as she rode off
with her man? Why couldn’t she have blown off one or two heads in the course of
the movie? In <i>Inglourious Basterds</i>, Tarantino revises the history of WWII so
that the war is ended by two Jewish men, one Jewish woman, and a black
Frenchman. And they kill hundreds of people, including Hitler, with explosives
and gunfire. That felt more subversive
than Jamie Foxx riding off on a horse with his wife.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><i>Django Unchained</i> also missed opportunities for metafictional
commentary (a staple in Tarantino movies) that could have solved his imaging
problems. What if he’d allowed some “meta” moments regarding black archetypes
in Hollywood films? I believe this is
what Sam Jackson was going for with his over-the-top portrayal of the house
negro, Stephen. But the portrayal fails in the end because it’s too cartoonish and we end
up laughing at him instead of with him. Yes, Stephen is despicable, but
where’s the ironic reference that this archetype, the Uncle Tom, is despicable?
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">How might the film have been changed if Django had
repeatedly interrupted the long monologues of his mentor, Christoph Waltz, during
the first half? Hushed him, in fact? What if Django had said “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2CAz9uaJ5k" target="_blank">Ssh,don’t speak, don’t speak</a>” to his mentor a la Diane Wiest in <i>Bullets Over Broadway</i>, stealing the spotlight from Waltz? How might this upending of
Waltz’s archetypal savior have added to the film?</span><br />
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">2.) </span><span style="font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>For a truly riveting,
page-turning portrayal of a slave rebellion I’d recommend <u><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/books/review/Glover-t.html?_r=0" target="_blank">The Book of Night Women</a></u> by Marlon James</b>. This novel has descriptions of violence
and torture on a Jamaican slave plantation that still haunt
me years after reading it. In James's fictional account, the slave rebellion is planned
and led by women.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> 3.) </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b><i>Django Unchained</i>
reminds me of why we need more stories by black women writers and filmmakers</b>. I
would never think to write a black female slave as a damsel-in-distress, and
certainly not without a transgressive twist that was obvious. If QT’s purpose is to get us to
think in new ways about history or movie genres, why not use Kerry
Washington’s character to challenge accepted conventions? </span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">4.) </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>Years after she
wrote it, bell hooks still provides the most insightful explanation of
Tarantino’s shortcomings as a filmmaker</b>. I’ll end with a quote from <u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Reel-Real-Movies-Routledge-Classics/dp/0415964806/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357324971&sr=8-1&keywords=reel+to+real" target="_blank">Reel to Real: Race Class and Sex at the Movies</a></u>:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"> "Tarantino has the real nihilism of our times down. He represents the ultimate in 'white cool': a hard-core cynical vision that would have everyone see racism, sexism, homophobia but behave as though none of that shit really matters, or if it does it means nothing, 'cause none of it's gonna change, 'cause the real deal is that domination is here to stay--going nowhere and, everybody is in on the act..... Tarantino's films are the ultimate in sexy cover-ups of very unsexy mind-fuck. They titillate with subversive possibility (scenes that are so fine you are just blown away--like that wonderful moment when Vincent and Mia do the twist in <i>Pulp Fiction</i>), but then everything kinda comes right back to normal. And normal is finally a multicultural world where white supremacy is intact."</span> </blockquote>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-7566645974628110212011-12-24T12:15:00.000-08:002011-12-24T12:15:40.556-08:00Christmas Letters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-13vJhB7Eq_E/TvYyW3L592I/AAAAAAAAAYk/8WnwEs5DbUs/s1600/Amir%2527s+Christmas+Letter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-13vJhB7Eq_E/TvYyW3L592I/AAAAAAAAAYk/8WnwEs5DbUs/s320/Amir%2527s+Christmas+Letter.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YvDy9Vfa7lc/TvYye9HH-zI/AAAAAAAAAYw/7foONxO5Rp0/s1600/Ava%2527s+Letter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YvDy9Vfa7lc/TvYye9HH-zI/AAAAAAAAAYw/7foONxO5Rp0/s320/Ava%2527s+Letter.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t3u4j0uPWbc/TvYyrkTWJlI/AAAAAAAAAY8/7v4GNRlHyaA/s1600/Christmas+Tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t3u4j0uPWbc/TvYyrkTWJlI/AAAAAAAAAY8/7v4GNRlHyaA/s320/Christmas+Tree.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-3075608905683036082011-12-06T10:23:00.000-08:002011-12-06T10:23:05.330-08:00Jesmyn Ward's 2011 National Book Award in Fiction acceptance speech<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/myVjJKeqNSs?fs=1" allowfullscreen="" width="480" frameborder="0" height="270"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-43113372392640325952011-12-06T09:48:00.000-08:002011-12-06T09:48:46.314-08:00Nikky Finney's 2011 National Book Award in Poetry acceptance speech<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/BFSiKx-hzks?fs=1" allowfullscreen="" width="480" frameborder="0" height="270"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-84985499766735801192011-12-05T10:30:00.001-08:002011-12-06T09:57:24.378-08:00When Images are better than Words<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8vjUjguMu6g/Tt0OPEN3oVI/AAAAAAAAAXs/Z2aHeheMgr0/s1600/2011-12-04+07.34.41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8vjUjguMu6g/Tt0OPEN3oVI/AAAAAAAAAXs/Z2aHeheMgr0/s320/2011-12-04+07.34.41.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LAMXI9rw1q8/Tt0OSjwqPjI/AAAAAAAAAX0/U3qKdK6jqS0/s1600/2011-11-27+19.25.47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LAMXI9rw1q8/Tt0OSjwqPjI/AAAAAAAAAX0/U3qKdK6jqS0/s320/2011-11-27+19.25.47.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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When I started this blog, I included posts of cartoons I drew about my writing life. As I spend this school year away from my little ones, I've indulged my interest in drawing a bit more. The second picture is one I drew this semester and that I'll give to my son for Christmas. I looked at an old picture of him, tried to draw it and although it doesn't really look like him, I like the result anyway. <br />
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The top picture was drawn by my daughter and I've framed it for her as a Christmas present. I'm her mom but let me be the first to say that I think she's brilliant.<br />
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I realize that I'm becoming more interested in visual images as a form of expression which may explain the ridiculous amount of movies I've watched since July. I also had to teach a course that studies film as text so that's part of it, too. While I'll never stop loving words or needing to read eloquent writing like that found in James Baldwin's essays, I'm really digging this experimentation with visual technique. I think my technique will eventually fall somewhere between graphic/animation and realism. The process of drawing feels less exhausting than writing, and more rewarding as the image slowly emerges from the page.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-15576764708510295752011-12-03T15:13:00.001-08:002011-12-03T15:38:54.255-08:00Carlos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U6gSt4aCX3U/TtquF9qtKxI/AAAAAAAAAXc/NcDCkFBAr7Q/s1600/Carlos-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U6gSt4aCX3U/TtquF9qtKxI/AAAAAAAAAXc/NcDCkFBAr7Q/s320/Carlos-poster.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U0oB2eJNFPs/TtqxLdXfApI/AAAAAAAAAXk/A8uQ3u4OnYQ/s1600/edgar-carlos-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U0oB2eJNFPs/TtqxLdXfApI/AAAAAAAAAXk/A8uQ3u4OnYQ/s320/edgar-carlos-2.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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So, I've been watching a LOT of movies lately. I won't embarrass myself by giving a count (although I know what it is. I need a life. For real.) I've seen some really great dramas, documentaries, and comedies. But nothing compares to this 5 hour movie about renowned Venezuelan terrorist, Ilich Ramirez Santos a.k.a. Carlos the Jackal. The movie is based on a French documentary of Carlos which aired in 1995 and is included (in French, no subtitles) as the fourth disc in the collection.<br />
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I have not been this amazed by a dramatic narrative since <i>The Wire</i>. I could not stop watching. It was also interesting to view this story of terrorism-in-the-name-of-fighting-imperialism given the current nonviolent liberation movements happening here and abroad. <br />
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And, oh my god, Edgar Ramirez, the actor who plays Carlos is unbelievably, unforgettably sexy. An interview with Edgar Ramirez about the film can be found <a href="http://www.flicksandbits.com/2010/10/20/edgar-ramirez-interview-for-the-fantastic-carlos-part-1/4221/">here</a>.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-45738889993997697822011-12-03T14:38:00.001-08:002011-12-03T15:09:06.772-08:00Patriarchy is a Helluva Drug<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zjkIegC6-M4/TtqpyRwwtUI/AAAAAAAAAXM/fExdqcHS8wA/s1600/Herman-Cain-007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zjkIegC6-M4/TtqpyRwwtUI/AAAAAAAAAXM/fExdqcHS8wA/s320/Herman-Cain-007.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4DyTdtnNcww/Ttqp41VV0hI/AAAAAAAAAXU/B3tX5VTcCEg/s1600/bishop-long-addresses-church.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4DyTdtnNcww/Ttqp41VV0hI/AAAAAAAAAXU/B3tX5VTcCEg/s320/bishop-long-addresses-church.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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What is up with Gloria Cain and Vanessa Long "standing by their men"?!? Long has decided to go ahead with her divorce after first telling the press that she was filing, and then hours later saying that, No, she wasn't filing. <a href="http://www.ajc.com/news/dekalb/bishop-eddie-longs-wife-1248978.html">Now she's filing again</a>. But her flip-flop is disheartening to watch because it suggests that she's negotiating with her husband's camp which is only concerned with Bishop Long's reputation, wealth, and power. Gloria Cain, too, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/03/herman-cain-suspending-presidential-campaign_n_1126331.html">had to stand, disgraced,</a> on a dais with her husband in order to save his pecuniary interests post-campaign.<br />
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Yeah, I know that both women may have their own financial interests in not destroying their husbands' careers, but THAT makes me even sadder because of what it says about the imbalance of power in their relationships.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo of Herman Cain courtesy of The Guardian</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo of Eddie Long courtesy of EURWEB</span><br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-45812858300633482552011-09-27T13:47:00.000-07:002011-09-27T15:31:29.421-07:00Unbowed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3BG1J48eGmE/ToI05jXDcxI/AAAAAAAAAWo/BZsi_ieS8g8/s1600/Unbowed_Maathai.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3BG1J48eGmE/ToI05jXDcxI/AAAAAAAAAWo/BZsi_ieS8g8/s1600/Unbowed_Maathai.jpg" /></a></div>
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Unbelievably sad news that <a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/09/201192652855267632.html">Wangari Maathai has passed on</a>. I read her memoir earlier this year and was moved by her activism which included imprisonment, but also by her stories of being a mother, an academic, and someone who survived a rather ugly divorce. There is no way to talk about her strength and vision without resorting to hyperbole. May she rest in peace, and may we never forget her.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-66997342473258761802011-09-23T11:47:00.000-07:002011-09-23T11:48:54.866-07:00Reading at Antigone Books<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7HP2YLoa67M/TnzUF-CxRjI/AAAAAAAAAWk/Z_jTxLkamzU/s1600/Black+Women+Writers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7HP2YLoa67M/TnzUF-CxRjI/AAAAAAAAAWk/Z_jTxLkamzU/s320/Black+Women+Writers.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I will be reading on Friday, October 14th at 7 pm at Antigone Bookstore in Tucson. I'm reading with Meikil Berry as part of the<a href="http://www.antigonebooks.com/event/other-voices-womens-reading-series-1"> Other Voices Women's Reading Series</a>. Come and check us out.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-65848258796080871982011-09-19T17:43:00.000-07:002011-09-19T17:43:40.866-07:00A lovely little film: George Washington<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hsN6Iz3iE8w/TnfhHEmBOXI/AAAAAAAAAWg/538qmaedSGA/s1600/George+Washington.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hsN6Iz3iE8w/TnfhHEmBOXI/AAAAAAAAAWg/538qmaedSGA/s320/George+Washington.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I came across this gorgeous movie by chance. Look for a post about the film this week.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-7443066874009464362011-09-11T15:49:00.000-07:002011-09-11T15:49:24.181-07:009-11<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5y_c9mPBZeM/Tm05jWc-bvI/AAAAAAAAAWY/k2zXz7eM4YE/s1600/Remembrance+Wall+with+Visitor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5y_c9mPBZeM/Tm05jWc-bvI/AAAAAAAAAWY/k2zXz7eM4YE/s320/Remembrance+Wall+with+Visitor.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vgas_r0dSCI/Tm05nWFcN1I/AAAAAAAAAWc/yBDS9SXtS1M/s1600/911+Remembrance+Wall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vgas_r0dSCI/Tm05nWFcN1I/AAAAAAAAAWc/yBDS9SXtS1M/s320/911+Remembrance+Wall.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here is a remembrance wall that I passed today near 15th St. and Union Ave. It was a moveable wall covered with black cloth that was placed in an empty parking lot. A simple but moving tribute.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-87428453510162677382011-09-11T15:41:00.000-07:002011-09-11T15:41:01.517-07:00Pacific Northwest-ing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4XODZRqHORY/Tm02QtchLjI/AAAAAAAAAWM/Vkt3oKAEH10/s1600/Mt.+Rainier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4XODZRqHORY/Tm02QtchLjI/AAAAAAAAAWM/Vkt3oKAEH10/s320/Mt.+Rainier.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IT9NTR8jFSM/Tm02btZOLZI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/HOf_X5GGfWM/s1600/Pier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IT9NTR8jFSM/Tm02btZOLZI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/HOf_X5GGfWM/s320/Pier.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zh2Ozb1MUSA/Tm03QgtndII/AAAAAAAAAWU/Tkp0bQqWVqs/s1600/Sidewalk+on+Union-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Zh2Ozb1MUSA/Tm03QgtndII/AAAAAAAAAWU/Tkp0bQqWVqs/s320/Sidewalk+on+Union-2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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I am in Tacoma, Washington for two years, teaching at the University of Puget Sound. In addition to living in a new location, I am without family for the first year and it will be interesting to see how this affects my writing. No more excuses! I'm hoping that I will write a lot and be inspired by the landscape, the ocean and new colleagues. These are pictures of Mt. Rainier taken from a Target parking lot, a pier on the sound, and the sidewalk on Union where I like to take morning walks.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-23434715176237105262011-09-10T10:17:00.000-07:002011-09-10T10:30:00.764-07:00Remembering Velma<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9Ci47yxf0xo/TmucYrSBRYI/AAAAAAAAAWI/4SJVMwz0gmk/s1600/Aunt%2BVelma%2BPic.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 175px; height: 221px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9Ci47yxf0xo/TmucYrSBRYI/AAAAAAAAAWI/4SJVMwz0gmk/s320/Aunt%2BVelma%2BPic.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5650782105215518082" border="0" /></a><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> 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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >I am at the age where the death of friends and relatives is not shocking, but that doesn’t make the loss any easier. Today is my godmother’s funeral at Mayflower Congregational Church in Detroit. As I try to make peace with this reality, here is what I want you to know about her:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >Her name is Velma Lewis Ward.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She was born December 27, 1929 in Salem, Michigan.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She was not raised by and did not know her parents.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She was raised on a farm by a black man, born in 1892, who was a gentle spirit and deaf later in his life. Everyone called him "Gramps."</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >Aunt Velma milked cows as a girl.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She attended the University of Michigan and Wayne State University.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She had freckles, wore glasses, and had thick, beautiful hair.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She is survived by one child, a son, whom she raised alone.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >As a girl she wanted to be a doctor.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >A counselor at her high school, Northville High, suggested a career in cosmetology instead.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >Aunt Velma was one of the first black women to get a PhD in biochemistry from Wayne State University School of Medicine.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She thought that the failure to use black people in medical trials had negative effects on our health and the diagnosis of illness in our community.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She said “molecules don’t give you the whole picture” of a person.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She became a Medical Anthropologist.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She did research on coronary disease in older African Americans and contributed greatly to understanding the role of ethnicity in the health care experience.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She never talked about her accomplishments.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She had friends from all walks of life.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She believed in astrology.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" > </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She didn’t really care for the shape of her nose.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She was a feminist.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She authored or assisted in numerous scientific publications.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She told me as Capricorns we were susceptible to problems with our joints.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >Upon seeing my oldest child as a baby, she remarked, “He’s perfect. Keep that formula!”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She researched the cultural impact of the Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill hearings.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She was the first African American to address the Society of Biological Psychiatry.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She had an uncanny ability to remember many facts, data, details, and dates from the recent past and decades before. Her son has this ability also.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She was a member of The Royal Society of Chemistry as a Chartered Chemist.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She lived for decades in a house on Littlefield in Detroit.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She loved music.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She said in a 2004 interview, “Whatever talents you have, you need to use to the best of your ability for humanity.”</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She mentored and influenced many younger people. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >Her voice was soft and you had to lean in to hear her when she spoke.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height: 115%;font-family:";font-size:180%;" >She left this earth on September 2, 2011.</span></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-50415627965856231172011-04-04T11:19:00.000-07:002011-04-04T11:30:55.949-07:00It's National Poetry Month!<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-unzhxAa4Gf8/TZoNT7MzvII/AAAAAAAAAS4/92niDj9Asgk/s1600/SP11_poetryreading.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 130px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-unzhxAa4Gf8/TZoNT7MzvII/AAAAAAAAAS4/92niDj9Asgk/s200/SP11_poetryreading.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591796523293981826" /></a>I'll be reading this Thursday at Chandler-Gilbert Community College with Jimmy Berlin and Jacquelyne Kibler as part of the college's celebration of National Poetry Month. Come if you can. Pecos campus, 7:00 p.m. Let's celebrate the word!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-72963814491057065462011-03-28T12:56:00.000-07:002011-03-28T14:09:06.423-07:00On Privacy + Annoying Little DogsA friend posted this status update a few weeks ago: Is it weird to be on someone's Facebook page when they walk up??<br /><br />The answers she received were overwhelmingly "yes," but I expect that soon, the majority of responses to that question will soon be "no" or "meh. who cares." This is the age that we're in, we inhabit both real and virtual worlds, all of us celebrities with our own fans, followers, and headshots. Why shouldn't we expect people to read about us online, to see what we're up to and who we've posed with in pictures? In fact, shouldn't we be flattered that they're thinking of us at all?<br /><br />Thinking of someone is one thing. Looking for all their info is stalking them from afar.<br /><br />Not that I don't do it, too, but it does concern me. I don't worry about my own privacy--I'm grown--but I do worry about my tween who is on XBox Kinect with people he's never met, people who live in different countries all over the world. My kid knows enough not to play video games with adults (and adult XBoxers don't like playing with kids anyway) but he doesn't understand yet how this anonymous interaction could come back to bite him in the butt.<br /><br />For example, I've witnessed him engage in heated competitions, including smack-talk, with other game players. I've overheard he and his friends sit in front of the tv screen and lie to the other players about their names and ages. What happens when an insult is taken personally and someone hacks into your XBox account (is this possible?) or finds out who you are and starts to harass you? Stalking from afar (what we do when we google others) is one thin line from harassing from afar.<br /><br />Not that old school bullying can't happen. (I received a typed letter in the mail the other day. No return address. It read: "Dog Owner, Put a lid on that little dog of yours. Please. And welcome to the hood.")<br /><br />The difference is that I probably know the idiot who sent that letter. The letter writer is someone who lives in my neighborhood.<br /><br />But who are the cranks and weirdos who are watching us unseen? This is one of the real dangers, I think, of so much of our information being accessible to the public at large.<br /><br /><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704912004575252723109845974.html">Not that Facebook cares about our privacy.<br /></a><br />So much of who we are today is how we present ourselves through different media. You can ask any real celebrity what the price is for that kind of access.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-24716361063363864542011-02-11T05:47:00.001-08:002011-02-11T05:56:46.741-08:00Pictures from Egypt<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3cd3VKZtWJM/TVU-wq_BLUI/AAAAAAAAASU/phEdOeFJrIU/s1600/Egypt-NYT-Emilio%2BMeorenatti%2BAssociated%2BPress.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 157px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3cd3VKZtWJM/TVU-wq_BLUI/AAAAAAAAASU/phEdOeFJrIU/s320/Egypt-NYT-Emilio%2BMeorenatti%2BAssociated%2BPress.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5572429119834107202" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-size:85%;">Credit: Emilio Meorenatti/Associated Press</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HKESmgxO-ys/TVU-U0N11SI/AAAAAAAAASM/fKEGe23BS2I/s1600/Egypt-NYT-Dylan%2BMartinez%2BReuters.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 157px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HKESmgxO-ys/TVU-U0N11SI/AAAAAAAAASM/fKEGe23BS2I/s320/Egypt-NYT-Dylan%2BMartinez%2BReuters.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5572428641275860258" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-size:85%;">Credit: Dylan Martinez/Reuters</span><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3cd3VKZtWJM/TVU-CzJN9WI/AAAAAAAAASE/ZwqPcbUX3AU/s1600/11egypt_511_ch-custom3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 157px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3cd3VKZtWJM/TVU-CzJN9WI/AAAAAAAAASE/ZwqPcbUX3AU/s320/11egypt_511_ch-custom3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5572428331750389090" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-size:85%;">Credit: Chris Hondros/Getty Images<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">These photos are taken from the front page of today's New York Times online. My students are writing ekphrastic poetry based on war images. These pictures of a people's revolution surely inspire words.<br /></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7989789126093191983.post-16249958284606474672011-02-02T05:51:00.001-08:002011-02-02T05:54:01.794-08:00Tumbleweed<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3cd3VKZtWJM/TUlhgp3HH6I/AAAAAAAAAR8/HA8DIxLUEss/s1600/Tumbleweed.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3cd3VKZtWJM/TUlhgp3HH6I/AAAAAAAAAR8/HA8DIxLUEss/s320/Tumbleweed.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569089627841044386" border="0" /></a>As the rest of the nation freezes under snow and ice, Arizona has cold winds and these things blowing all around.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00720139943534862401noreply@blogger.com1