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obamas world tour: doing what he can - within the parameters of the game

FRIDAY MORNING 4:35 am

hello world

dont have time to do more than hit at this one - clocking pages but
dont have a good grip on it yet so i cant stay long

obamas world tour a big success,

the europeans just desperate for anything other than bush, or his standin mccain
hoping america under obama will move away from unilateral posturings

the iraqi prime minister got his vote in, mccain wants a longterm strategic alliance with bases that will allow the us to project american power regionally

barack and the democrats just want to leave
focus on what they consider a valid war - afghanistan

leave a minimum maintenance force in iraq and call it a day
maliki and the iraqis rather the americans just leave too

further down the road obama basically reassured both the israelis and the palestinians
that he wouldnt make a mess, thats about all you can get out of that one

but cant help hoping he will be more engaged than bush and crew
status quo aint working

all in all, little world tour big success for obama
help him in this move to the middle

that has so appalled his left/progressive support
left gon have to come to the same zen blackfolk have come to

we understand the game and gon give him room to play it

black activists have never been able to run purely black agendas
wont get the support you need in the multiethnic arena

black activists have always had to champion policies that help everybody
barack aint running to be the black president, he running to be president

gon take positions that will break our hearts
we know that, we braced for it

cause thats what the game call for, obama the most sophisticated player
we have yet sent forth into battle and we trust his instinct for the game

we know in our hearts he trying to make a difference but he got to pick and
choose his battles and we have given him our trust in this matter

wont ever be able to satisfy the hard black left, exemplified in rev wright and black agenda report
i think glen & the bar folk wrong on this one but they coming from principled analysis & essential voice

when wright went after obama the black community disciplined him
w/the quickness - neither principled nor smart

jessie, tavis et al, do not fuck with the game
keep your little ego issues to yourself

cause o joy the game is in play and the movement has somehow moved into
the 21st century in a manner we got to understand and levarage

obama done somehow turned the page, do what you gotta do son
show me what you got

we know he got to move to the center, got to if he want to be elected, get to where he can actually make
a difference, and we also know once elected, he will make policy decisions that will break our hearts,

just break our little collective heart, and you will hear a cry so full of hurt
go up - we stood by you when nobody else would

but you dont get to be president of the united states if you not capable of hard game
dont even want to be president of the united states if you not capable of hard game

as a writer i have the space to be principled in analysis the person in the arena does not
always have and the higher the aspiration the more damning the compromise

those of us who have moved into the system do the dance it require while
doing everything we can to use the system more effectively than it is using us

when the game is who playing who, when you play the powers that be, most of the
time you expect to lose - then again sometime every once in awhile you win 1

make sure that win is worth the cost

i expect a different presidency from barack, in its essence, its heart, its soul, i expect, old community
organizer that he is, for him to actually try to be what he say he is - a new way

moving the great american middle, that require some powerful game
and in my soul i believe barack can do it, in part because he is a politician born

always gon be calling him to what i consider his greater self
as hoodoo advisor to the tribe thats my job - spiritual custodian

awaken the sleeper, protect the weak and guide the strong is what i do
do your thing strongbrother but when the crossroads come and it always do, i expect the highroad of you

thats what the hoodooman say

otherwise ima give him room to run his game, doing what he can in a rough field of play
and at the end of the day i expect the blessings to outweigh the pain

but it dont do to ever forget that he a politician, damn good one too, and
truth be told i take delight in his moves - always nice to see a master at work

got to go, had a so so work day yesterday, better than its been but not good enuf
jury still out - but if i get some strong work done today its safe to say im back in the game

pray for me

rdoc

back in the world, back in the saddle

THURSDAY MORNING: 7:58 am

clocking pages...

WEDNESDAY MORNING

hello all

 been back a couple of days, feeling backed up, need to clock
pages, got a lot of reportage on palf to get thru so i can do some

more substantive analysis, some speculation, some longgame on palf mission

then things been happening back in the world i need to comment on:

obamas move to the center - classic electoral strategy and predictable, no news, sobering but predictable
recent developments in zimbabwe - talks most likely a stall, mugabes team afraid to let him leave, have pullled a virtual coup

but im feeling pressed, got a month before schoolhouse takes it all
got about a 4th of my draft done, got to find another gear

and i got to find it quick, woodshed time for rickydoc
so let me hit my criticals, get this reportage/catchup out the way

palf: basically a success, fulfilled the mission, just a longlist of compromises, missteps
and logistical nightmares, but we fulfilled the mission, felt like a play from my theater days

everything goes wrong
but the show do go on

big problems turned out to be lodging and transportation
problems with all the places we stayed, got to find a home

nyu ghana seriously came thru for us, couldnt have done it w/o them
but we need more space, toting folk from spot to spot became prohibitive

didnt have enuf room at the afia beach and folk lodged at the niagra plus had
serious grievance, services just collapsed and some of them bailed

we switched readings from niagra to tonis jazz club at the chelsea hotel in labone
sweet african american sister doing a jazz singer thing in accra - living her dream

daily readings/panels by faculty, guests and students became a critical mass happening
interesting works, words and visions, i didnt make them all, by this time im buried

in an overflow workshop, if you conscientious it take an investment of a couple
of hours or so to break a story down for workshop purposes, it can take an investment

of many many hours if its a complex work, these workshop gigs you doing daily prep
because it was an unscheduled workshop i didnt get works beforehand so im crunching

novelwork falls by the wayside that week, bummer
still workshops are my thing, thats what i do

picked up a couple of new students in the tradition
im always in the market for new regulators

1st, the students who got in the workshop chose me to work with

some knew me, some got stuck with me, but anytime somebody choose me, i make sure
they get their moneys worth, i make sure they never regret they bet on arthur flowers

thats just part of who i am
thats how i roll

2nd, the bulk of my workshop were polished wouldbe professionals, thats the kind of folk
i like working with, folk who got a shot, who committed to the game, got a shot

us travelers always looking for students
comes with the territory

but its a scripted dance, its not like you got discretionary time to give new students
got too many as it is, but if they make the effort, if they climb the mountain and

kinda demand to work with you, insist you the one they need to reach the promiseland, get
them to the next step in their development, that always works

if you see the potential in them and detect that willingness to make the commitment
so you know you not wasting your  time/investment on this one

well then you tickled to be passing it on like it was passed on to you
that becomes part of your literary legacy

thats the way we roll
in the line of o killens

so ghana 08 i added 4, 5 maybe 10, new regulators to
my little destinic army, to the line of o killens - thats cool

out of that 2 maybe 3 will hang, maybe even 4
(i assume i get better at this as i...mature)

between workshop and lonewolf ways i missed a lot, missed
readings and panels, missed davidmills book donation runs

would liked to have made some of those

okay, move on rick, is this essential enough to justify time spent
lets hit those highnotes and get on out of here

what do i need to deal with when i do have the time (joke)

the camaraderie developed among participants, which was deep
evolving working dynamics of palf principals
gender, cultural and personal dynamics among participants
stroking sensitive ghanian literary egos
bonnie and the beadwork
kofi, helen and the afia village beach hotel
trad dinner at home of bonnies archeologist friend ben and his wife, justine
meeting folk from ghanian literary community, martina, kobina and them
hope and the nigerians and the bus from lagos
big willie and the south african contingent and experience with south african commissioners
some of the more entertaining personalities among the participants (have to be delicate there)
hanging out with new ren running buddies malaika adero and jacqui johnson
did performance with tyehimba jess on bluesharp: how brer rabbit introduce brer alligator to trouble
daily taxi expenses & oxford streets black africa, a young painter w/parables (i bought 3 of his works)

okay, i know there a lot more but let me run thru kokrobiety institute right quick

interesting place, sustainability is its thing, renee nesbitt its resident visionary, conversation w/her
exposed a performance poet and an oldschool radical (panthers, algeria, et al) in a new groove

living her sustainability institute dream (ghana seem to be fertile ground for africanamericans w/a dream)
but too many palf, we overloaded it, they spread us out, folk didnt care for the outside accommodations

main compound cramped folk in little cabanas that would have held 1 easy but held 2 sometime 3, some had communal toilets/shower and the hot water was spotty, damn near campground conditions and a little more regimented than a bunch of writers wanted (for instance that 730 am drumroll for breakfast)

but it was a very engaging little place, right on the ocean, on a rocky mini promenade, good food
very laidback kind of place with meditative nooks, wi fi and interesting sustainability projects

bonnie found herself a little slice of heaven in a homegrown beadmaking factory out back
did a little week apprenticeship with a master that she would have paid good money for

because of overflow, some of us got moved into an isolated house further on down the road but folk
really objected to that house, a big soulless vacation home with in one case 6 people to a room, and the women didnt feel secure isolated from everybody like that

after a lot of drama ended up with me, niq mhlongo and ron governor in the whole house and me w/a 2nd floor oceanfront balcony

literary heaven

woke up w/the sun and wrote sitting on that balcony
to oceanfront accompaniment

other than student conferences (they had to catch me 1st), lunch and dinner, i disappeared into the far house for the rest of the retreat and it was good,

clocking pages under under ocean front conditions -
thats when im at my best

okay, speaking of pages, only got a 4th of my new draft done and about 30 days before
schoolhouse takes it all, i got to focus and this might be all the reportage i got to give

much less more substantive commentary/
speculation on the mission of palf

martina kept asking why the pan african writers association (pawa) wasnt in the house, told her i didnt
know, wasnt privy to those negotiations, probably turf issues, been running up on those w/established

african/africanamerican literary organizations, got to show more political grace, got to establish working
relationships w/them all, allliance is after all power and pawas mission similar to our own

fellow travelers who believe in the power of literature and consider
each and every writer unto self an army

cultural nationalists trying to empower/save the blackworld
through its literary voices and visionaries - way john o taught me

empower, organize, institutionalize, provide infrastructural space for their development
help them be the cultural forces they capable of being - the forces we need them to be

if you believe in the potential of literature/writers to be historic/cultural/destinic force
then you will understand our commitment to this mission

literary influence is a very nuanced power, but with the proper
nurturance it can be one of the most powerful on the

hoodoo board of destiny

organizing writers (and hoodoos) only
thing im willing to give up writing time for

cause thats the way john killens rolled

got john o on my mind it seems, my boy keith gilyard just sent me his john killens manuscript, keith been working that book long as i been working mine and he moving into closure too, 500 pages of john killens scholarship, the story of babajohn killens, the great griot master of brooklyn, a story that has yet to be told, it was john o installed that commitment to building literary infrastructures in me, im gon read that text this weekend, im honored keith ask me to and hopefully it will inspire me for this last sprint, if keith let me ima do a post on it

when i get some time (joke) i will do a better
and more graceful job of expressing all this

but as for right now
got to get back in my groove

one point before i go, we sat down with the folk from kwani
about a joint palf/kwani conference to timbuktu in 2010

not only timbuktu but kwani too

kwani was and is the inspiration for what we do
kwani is what we want to be when we grow up

to go to timbuktu w/kwani would be a dream come true

stay tuned, if we pull that one off thats gon
be special, be there or be square

im outta here

all my love
rdoc

walking thru the door of no return: elmina and cape coast slave castles

okay, went to the slave castles yesterday, not quite sure what i should say about them
feel like if you cant come strong on the slave castles shouldnt say nothing at all

 i can honestly say they were sobering, made your flesh crawl
when you went down into the dungeons where the slaves

were kept, and through the doors of no return
elmina we went to 1st, and it was this huge maze of an edifice

steps leading nowhere and cul de sacs abound, that door with the skull over it
where they punished recalcitrant slaves by entombing them basically

the governors balcony where he would have women slaves paraded
for his nightly bed choice and the ladder from the slave pens to his bedroom

the diff between the slave dungeons and the airy church right over them
where they would be able to smell and hear them during services

and the even more airy governors bedroom over the church

the door of no return, from which the sea has retreated
and folk, incl myself, took pictures standing in front of it

god knows why

bonnie refused, considered it a sacrilege i believe, she said the castle should be
allowed to rot away, to declare its impermanence, i thought it should stay, a

never again never forget kind of thing
and then there were the hustlers

not so bad at elmina cause the town, a vibrant sprawl i would like to walk thru
was somewhat separate, i did get a new conchhorn from a guy outside

guy knocked out the end right there while i was watching and
now i know how its done, i will show you how he said

i use the conchhorn to open all my performances, like the jews w/the
shofar, i call myself purifying the air and preparing it for my words

call myself calling down the ancestors and whatever
spirits appropriate to the moment, most often the conqueror

thru legba cause in the voodoo tradition whenever you doing spiritwork you ask legba
trickster of the crossroads to open the gate between this world and the spiritworld

for a longtime legba was the only god that made the middle passage to the united states
plenty elsewhere in the americas but in the united states it was the trickster

for many years i called on legba, then i added the conqueror cause this a hoodoo thing
and thats who i serve personally, the african american trickster god, the mighty conqueroo

lord legba, open this gate, it is i rickydoc rootdoctor ask that this gate be
opened this work be done - in the name of the conqueror

sometime i name myself rickydoc trickmaster in that opening but when i do that you
best step back cause that mean im in a take no prisoners state of mind

and most likely Working w/my left hand

i use the conch cause it was used to call the slaves to work in the Caribbean
and was also used by the slaves to call each other to rebellion

and when i blow it i feel like a maroon in the mountains of jamaica or brazil calling on
the slaves to join me in palmares - for those who are enslaved there is always palmares

so i figured a conchhorn from elmina would mean something
its got a good sound too, i thanked the conch who provided it for me

then we went to cape coast, not as impressive an edifice as elmina
but somehow more chilling because the dungeons were even more

depressing holes in the ground

jeff said he read that the floors were found out to be compacted feces
from the slaves who were kept there

it was a brutal experience on many levels, at cape coast i ditched
the tourguide and the group experience and went on my own

the better to feel the moment and it was a stone cold never again downer
and the hucksterism that surrounded it was a downer too

the beggars and the aggressive vendors, calling out rastaman rastaman, respect respect
buy this from me, because you are a blackman, because you have come home

and bonnie got hustled by this guy at the restaurant next to the cape coast
who swore he made his own jewelry and a couple of days later we saw the same pieces

at the local art mart in accra for much less, and when we were in the mens dungeon at capecoast
there was this shrine built there and this guy sitting there on it and some bills on it

and when we went by it all solemn he said you must  leave money in the shrine, which i balked at
as kinda transparent but after bonnie and i left i went back because i wanted a picture of him and the

shrine and told him i would give him a dollar if i could take a picture and he said fine, kinda like
thats why he was there and i figured it was a fair deal and i try to be understanding about folk

needing to make a living and doing what they gotta do but i have since been very dismissive of the hustle

always to the call of rasta rasta, my fellow black man, do this for me because we are brothers
everywhere i go in the blackworld, my dreads are a passport and folk call out to me rasta rasta

respect respect, burning spear

often it is this pan african solidarity thing that really move me, but its just as often a hustle
somebody trying to sell me something, get something out of me, trying to make me feel obligated

i always give love back cause it move me but kinda warily until i determine the motivation
but after being huckstered at the slave castles my patience for the hucksterism short

and sometime i think these the folk that defeated us, sold us into slavery
part of what forged us into a new people, a new tribe, of which i am very proud

i love being african american and wherever i go in the world im proud of being an african american
it is a pride of place that has been accented here in ghana and walking thru the door of no return

peaking at the grave of dubois, he who lived a pan african vision
there is, corny though it be, a sense of having coming home here

and it is still fucking w/my head being in those slave dungeons and wondering what they must
have felt like entombed in those communal graveyards

and i think of all the folk who suffered there, who died there, the folk who died on
thje ships and it make me want to cry even as i sit here writing this

last thing bonnie saw was the suffocation cell, another entombment cell

for recalcitrant slaves, just a concrete box in the ground where they were entombed
and left to suffocate and it left her down

by then she had rejoined the tour and it was the last stop on the tour
but i didnt do the tour, last thing i saw was the door of no return

it was open so i stepped thru and outside there was this vibrant

scene of fishermen coming in at the end of the day
and it was somekind of market thing happening

and there were all these blackfolk and their boats and each boat had a flag flapping in the wind
and stacked high with colorful green fishing nets and it was so vibrant

and full of life and blackfolk taking care of business the beggars and hucksters out front dismissed and it was a kind of still i rise moment

and i think that scene is what im going to try to take away from the slave castles
still i rise

that and my new conchhorn, my call to the ancestors
who didnt make it out of those dungeons

on the opposite side of the door of no return was a sign
saying the door of return, a guesture i appreciated

as i reentered the castle thru it

i thought this i can live with
this i can live with

all my love

rdoc

mission in accra

hello world, let me do a quickie here while i got a computer on hand
forgive the typos, just trying to get in down, clean it up later

been fascinating on so many levels, had way more students than planned
so i took on an overflow fiction workshop

major experience teaching african american and african mix workshop, in 30 years
of workshopping it was a unique experience

had 4 big contingents, ghanians, kenyans, south africans, african americans
had a multiethnic mix of american writers from one world contest

and because conf free to any writer from continent (incl lodging) we had indi writers from
as far as uganda, benin and zimbabwe

but these were the 4 big contingents numberwise and became cultural blocks

many of the ghanians that showed up, the kenyans and the south africans were experienced professionals
but hope brought a busload of earnest beginners from nigeria, some of whom wrote their 1st stories here

so the literary sophistication range among the african contingent was quite wide
with a pretty good contingent of folk whose intiial efforts were very traditionally based

which was so very illuminating in context of the more cosmopolitan african works

it was interesting the tensions between the traditional and the cosmopolitan african works
it was interesting the tensions between the approaches of the different cultural contingents
it was interesting the tensions between the african and african american aesthetics

it was an illuminating experience on a lot of levels
most pertinent to me personally the mix of african and african american

1st off it felt good having a class full of well trained young african american writers

already thats a heady feeling, they had come from various mfa programs and were highly motivated
to have gotten to ghana for this in the 1st place

then we had these african writers coming on strong, some very cosmopolitan, very polished, some very traditional, very earnest and sincere, it was a stimulating mix and all these cultural assumptions came to light and dialogue

african characters in african american works were challened
african american characters in american works were challenged

literary aesthetics were illiminated, different approaches to endgames, use of texture, moral vs emotional resonances - o what a twisty little maze of cross cultural pollination

but i found it to be a very rewarding experience, a workshop when done well
can be a thing of wonder and beauty and illumination and subtle victories

a major literary project is a spiritual journey the writer undertakes
and at the other end of that journey is a new person a new sensibility

and a product one hopes will be a spiritual cultural literary beacon throbbing with vitality
a gift for generations upon generations of folk, something that will serve humanity forever

and if you do a workshop right, if you get that harmony going where everybody growing
aas writers and artists and human beings and yuou get that groove and put

those Works on the right track for literary transcendence and you turn them out
as stronger writers than they were when they came to you a week a semester ago

thjen its a really wonderful feeling a good workshop
is sacred ground

at one point folk were not being quite frank with a beginner, this young sister from benin, cause she was so cool folk didnt want to discourage her and i said no, we cant not say that this consciousness by syntax (dont ask) technique doesnt work when it so clearly and obvioulsy doesnt, thats not fair to her, a workshop is a sacred pact, trhat i will give you the most useful truth/read that i am capable of, got to give young writers the truth as you see it, i dont allow folk to wiggle around the truth

but that truth got to be delivered with absolute love and respect and a sincere desire to help folk get to the next level of their development - workshop you exposing your deepest fears and fantasies, your literary dreams and aspirations, your literary soul, often in an early unformed and vulnerable state

asking folk well what do you think
workshops can exalt, workshops can cripple

i dont allow egotripping, putdowns, showoffs in my workshops
got to ge strictly workshop love and im good at shaping that

got to be absolute desire to help each other be the best writers we can be, cant just tell somebody
something aint working, got to give suggestions how it can work, got to be the best you got to give

thats what i orchestrate to extract from them, i try to get a feel for where folk are as artist and what each one of them needs in terms of content, vision and production skilz and extract from them the best they got to give each other

you orchestrating it all unto growth and illumination and if you get that harmony going where everybody feeding off everybody and you the conductor making the music happen and making it sweet, there is nothing like it

and once again i have committed to helping a bunch of folk get thru cause you cant do nothning in no week, that aint no guidance, not on the real side

but you do these week two week workshop gigs and you commit to help folk get the Projects thru and they be sending you manuscripts but you under the gun like always

you got your students at the schoolhouse and you got the folk you working with in the tradition, yuou got buddys novels you have agreed to read for them, you always got a stack of manuscripts yea high to be read for folk and you kinda blow folk off when they try to stay in touch, send manuscripts, you dont mean to, you just overwhelmed with reading commitments cause you a novelist, you work with novels, big manuscripts, often bad and alwqays big, and you whimpering day and night but i dont have time to get my own work done (o but to be a poet with little bitty works little bitty manuscripts)

but when you doing a workshop and you in the i will help you get thru moment you commiting to read manuscripts left and right knowingt you not going to follow thru on all of them you just cant but once agaqin i have commited to read a bunch of manuscripts

and i told them i said if you email me and i dont get back to you just email me again cause the commitment is there and i will schedule you into the pile i swear

told them i would help them all get thru to the promiseland, which entails if you kinda conscientious about it, reading multiple drafts over the next 4 or 5 uyears, struggling to get them to understand organic paths of growth as writers and artists, helping them mature as craftsfolk, and most important, get them to the point where their novels really say somethjing important enough to break them thru the pack to the literary promiseland

thats such a struggle, you just dont know
that eternal search for significance

its a strange and delicate little commitment where you fiddling with their literary souls and you have to be very careful you dont send them off in a direction that looks right but is actually wrong for them and their best growth as writers, artists and perhaps literary visionaries, you have to step very lightly when you dealing with yuoung lityerary souls

i probably need to tell this student she is more interested in writing political thrillers than she is literary cause i keep giving her advice that leads her toward literary while she keep writing political thriller but thats a major life decision to tell a young writer susceptible to your authority and opinion and im reluctant to get that deep into her destiny

reason she susceptible to my authority, my suggestions, in the 1st place, is because she trust me to give her my best, thats a heavy responsibility

this dynamic is rough on both you and your students and if there is no true commitment there on both ends why put yourself thru it

but whent he commitment is there and the years are fruitful and you break one thru to the promiseland, there is nothing like it

at this stage in the game that means asmuch to me as getting my own Work done

then you got to help them get published, teach them promotional skilz, and hopefully point them onto the path of literary professionalism and even more serendipitous, cultural and literary forces

the ones that hung tough that is, most of them dont, over the years they just drop off by the wayside
i dont blame them, the literary life aint for the faint hearted, and even the ones you do get thru, they dont stay

by then they have grown away from you and they no longer your students and they dont bring their works to you no more and you kinda miss that cause they dont feel like they need you no more and you fear they disrespecting you like the rest of the literary world but you know thats just literary anxiety and insecurity talking and you always got to ignore that, always, and at least its fewer manuscripts to read and thats a good thing thats a very good thing and you are so pleased with them and the tracks they making in the literary world, they no longer students, they peers, forces you have helped unleash on destiny, its all good

well look at the time, where did all this come from
tomorrow elmina castle and cape coast, more magic

this has been an incredible experience,and next year will be better
i suspect jeff is feeling pretty good about it all

suffice it to say that it was a good workshop, it was a good crew and the magic was there and caught up in the magic the moment i told them i would get them all thru to the promiseland and thats what im gon do

im tired already, just thinking
about it im tired

all my love

rdoc

palf 2008

WEDNESDAY

hello world, i have not been able to keep up
the internet connections spotty, time at a premium

so far its been good, we have pulled off every move
got everybody in and settled in various hotels
around accra

got the kenyan contingent in
got the south africans in
got the nigerians in
got folk from zimbabwe and ghana

at the opening ceremony we had some 100+ young writers from all over africa
and all the african americans and american writers, it was held at the dubois center

had tonis jazz band playing, had the catering, all pieces we had to pull together
the orientation went well the next day at the nyu center

the workshops got set up, had to set up way more than planned, got 5 fiction workshops
when we had only planned two but we had so many students we had to make do

ie i had to teach one, and other folk too who hadnt planned to do so

but now that im doing it im glad i am, its so interesting having this mix of african
and african american writers workshopping in a cross cultural exchange because

its clear that african literature has different aesthetics and we are both learning from
each other, for instance african lit often ends with that moral note that western lit disdains

in favor of the emotional resonance of some sort so we kinda crossworking it
and for the african americans who have come so many are interested in africa as

literary ground and its good to see what african literary folk think about our efforts
its been a really magical dynamic

and ghana of course is ghana, we are going to elmina saturday, you know thats gon
be deep,

binyavanga of kenyan just got in the other day (hes lost so much weight i barely recognize him)
and he was talking about how hes been reluctant to do elmina but that he was looking forward to

doing it with us, and i told him you know we gon be tripping man, you probably gon have to cool us out
he said thats exactly what he was looking forward to, experiencing it as we will

man i got so much to say and so little time to say it in

i will have to catch up with you later, im on a workshop break

all my love

rdoc

SUNDAY

hello world, in accra,

1st time in ghana, 1st time in west africa
i know its corny and subject to revision but i do

feel like ive come home in some way
staying at afia village, which is an ocean front find

took care of some business friday,met the nyu ghana folk, ama and christa
they been taking real good care of us, also victor and peter

yesterday me and jp trekked osu looking for a hotel for the south africans and
found a good one in the niagra plus in osu, which has a lot of character, which

is what we like about this afia village beach operation
its got character, folk are going to enjoy this

i been crunching pages to the soundtrack
of waves on the shore - aint nothing sweeter

had the nerve to storm last night w/thunder
and lightning and high waves outside

tomorrow got a long list of things to do, follow through on the south africans
some ngo status and banking matters, some issues with the web center ceremony

and with the nyu accomodations, etc so forth

went to the dubois center/grave, you know that moved me
this been a magical moment so far, but tomorrow back to the grindstone

got to contact ama aidoo and try to make it right for her, shes unhappy w/us

jeff ask me to call her tomorrow, as you can imagine
im trepeditious about that but call her i shall

something has happened to binya and arrangements have to be made
can have no conference without binya in the house, i hope its okay

been hearing from young ghanian writers interested in being part of it

kofi sent us a list of young talent, we are looking forward to meeting all this young talent
set up some kind of palf fellows thing like cave canen do, young writers of the african world

monday me and jp got to hit the ground running

friday went by dubois home/grave, woke up
this morning to the sound of the ocean and

clocked some hardcore pages
old boy is in a good space

nothing but grace
nothing but grace

my love to you all

rdoc

THURSDAY

hello world, time to start a palf journal
pan african literary forum

a gathering of african writers from around the world
jeff allens vision, manifested on lamu

a kwani/sls seminar, me and him and all these african
writers from all over, it was a deep experience

jeff had an epiphany and here we are
asked me if i wanted a piece of it

i said damn right and it cost me my sls gig
which i really appreciated, a yearly trip to literary east africa

met the young turks of kenyan lit, binya, tony, muthoni, billy, parselo, yvonne, shalini, suhalia, muki, boke, chris, so many i cant possibly get them all

and all these writers from elsewhere, doreen from uganda, chimananda
from nigeria, hope from nigeria, ntoni from south africa, it was just too deep

so me and jeff trying to do one of our own
trying not to bump heads with kwani/sls we decided to have

it in different afroworld countries, now i say me and jeff
but i been more tagging along, its been jeff thats put the work in

that has the vision, i had this modest idea of what we were talking about
a reasonable idea, jeff had this vision of a topflight operation

before i knew it we were spending big bucks, and the ocncept kept growing
until it was the biggest baddest thing ever with a budget of 150,000

by this time mohammed n. ali had come aboard, jeff had invited him
to be the 3rd board member, mohammed was ghanian and gets good

respect in the field, major addition to the vision
pulled off the big win bringing nyu in on it

nyu offered us use of their ghanian campus
and gave us some funds to make it happen

jeff sent out a bunch of letters to successful writers asking
them to sponsor students, we got some returns on that

folk like....
but thats it, between the in kind services donated by the new school
which mostly consist of paying jp, our administrator and providing office space

again, criticals, its been money out of jeffs pocket and credit
the sponsorships which allowed us to bring over some students
and the nyu donations

we have basically made this happen for about 30,000, but it is going to
be seriously bare bones, we are going to have to ask folk to pay for everything

jeff had this huge vision, with 100s of folk invited and it broke his heart
to have to cut back on it, me and mohammed were pulling the longfaces and

saying the money is not here, we have to cut back, and jeff seriously believiing
the money would show and the money just didnt show, we were rank amateurs at

this nonprofit funding so anyway maybe three weeks before its supposed to happen
jeff finally draws back and has to get in touch wth all these folk saying sorry i just

cant make it hapen, and weve left some bad vibes behind us
we gon try to make it right next year - best we can do

between what jeff putting out, mohammed putting out in terms
of setting up the ghanian ground game and jp doing with the administration

i often feel like the weak link in this chain, i been doing the irs process mostly, im
secretary, mohammed is treasuer, jeff is exec, putting together board, etc

so thats where things stand, leaving for ghana tomorrow, its going to be
embarrassingly barebones but we expect it to be a seminal moment

in pan african literature regardless, it will be the quality of the dialouge
that makes it so, how do i orchestrate that, seminal dialogue

asked about doing a panel on a pan african literary vision in the 21st century
but it got lost in the mix - and i didnt push it cause it would just

be more work, perhaps i can do some interviews

that address that issue for myself, what are the questions
literature in the 21st century, its role, its evolution, its dynanic, its direction
pan african literature in the 21st century
what is the definition of pan africanism in the 21st century
taking into consideration the contexts of pan african literarure in the 21st century
which means what are the burning questions facing africa, facing the pan african world, facing the world

what role does literature
what role does pan african literature play in that

which means i have to catch up on my reading
most of these folk who will be there i dont know their work

and dont have the time to get on it now, cause i aint doing nothing but novelwork
(and some book of flowers when i get terminally bored with rest fo the weary

whatever,

so anyway dear regulators, for the next 3 weeks is going to be palf
observations and speculations

whenever i can guerilla up a
computer connection

all my love

rdoc

mackdaddys mackmommas of the world unite

MONDAY 4:57 am

good strong day yesterday, not as much as id like of course -  to fix my endgame entail fixing
threads deep into the novel, so i spent yesterday generating raw text all thru the manuscript

text that now got to be worked and Worked and...
x many rewrites before it will be decent manuscript

so basically the harder i work the more i fall behind
you see the problem w/that - but such is the literary life

michelle obama recently went politicing among the feminists
i think they gon find her a kindred spirit once they give her a chance

in the commentary to 1st article, one commenter responded to a clintonite threat to support mccain cause of obamas 'lack of experience':

----------------

Well, I have to agree with you. Barack Obama does not have anywhere near the "experience" of John McCain. In fact, he has NO experience in:

1. Voting to ban federal insurance plans from covering either abortion OR contraception.

2. Voting against requiring insurance companies to cover contraception AND breast reconstruction after mastectomy.

3. Voting to ban federal funding for any family planning clinic that even DISCUSSES abortion with clients (under ANY circumstances including to save the woman's life) OR that dispenses any form of contraception other than advice to use the rhythm method.

4. Voting to ban federal funds for sex education programs in schools that teach about ANY method of preventing disease or birth other than total abstinence.

5. Voting against work supports for poor women trying to get off welfare (work supports are federal subsidies for child care and insurance that can be used by poor women who enter the work force)

6. Voting against universal health care in any form.

Nope, Obama has no experience in doing any of those things. But he DOES have "experience" voting exactly the other way...which is why he has a 100% rating from Planned Parenthood Federation (and McCain has a ZERO rating.)

And you say you supported Hillary Clinton? WHY? You seem to be against everything she stood for.

------------------------------

i cant testify to the validity of the claims but it sound pretty damning
once folk focus on mccains archaic domestic policy, his militaristic foreign policy

his support of the imperial presidency

i believe they will begin to question his rep as a moderate
i can only hope mccain continue to pander his base

both him and barack gon be trying to move to the center
but i believe barack got more wiggle room,

his base love him (and michelle)
mccain base just barely tolerate him

so, im out of here, got to meet the beast  - again
two days solid work, lets go for three

all my love and a
luta continua too

rdoc

SUNDAY

hello world, old boy clocking pages
well clocking paragraphs, i take what i can get

i bow before the great god momentum
i see zimbabwes tsvangirai bowing too

withdrawing from election, mugabe has made it clear that he will not allow another defeat

my prayers are w/the people of zimbabwe, may
you be delivered from overgrown revolutionaries

tsvangarai move trying to force african leaders to step up
dont hold your breath - dont try this at home

so, boston artist yazmany arboleda set up an
exhibit in a storefront across from nytimes

called it: the assassination of hillary clinton, the assassination of barack obama

say he referring to media assassination of their characters
look to me like he doing a little character assassinating himself

set up a 2 day exhibit right across from nytimes, obviously playing for sensationalist coverage

i hate to contribute to his viral marketing program but such life on the web

nyc closed it down 30 minutes after it went up

artist say his constitutional rights to express himself through his art have been violated
some of his more provocative work i decided not to post, a little too rough for my sensibility

what do you think:

a luta continua

rdoc

SATURDAY

hello world, somebody will have to explain to me how to download songs off myspace,
i push the button and nothing happen, i suspect by download they just mean listen

i went by BAR the other day, see what glen ford saying
he getting kinda shrill about obamas fathers day game

kinda sad to see glen so out of the loop, so doctrinaire he
dont see the potential in the moment

so anyway in the commentary (always my favorite)
this mack responded with following poem

brother name onwuku

---------------------

*U* must have had yo Dad at home???
written by OnWuKU Mawulolo , June 18, 2008

Dat Boy Barack told the Truth...

It Hurt & Sounded Ugly

But It was the TRUTH

I WAS NOT INSULTED

I WAS CHEERING!!

My Father was not there & it was a terrible growing up without him...

Mr Ford, The Foundation of Civilization is the Family Unit*

Fathers Coming Home & Being Fathers is the FIRST ORDER of the DAY!!

& I love my Step children,
but it was not right that I had to raise so many...

Yes, the Right Wingnutts Will Use his statements to serve their agenda, this is true & to be expected.

But that does not change the Reality of OUR Plight
& what WE must Do to BETTER OURSELVES

As for all those hoops & barriers & obstacles & extra curricular expectations to meet your August Standards of "True & Authentic Black Electablity"...

& the rest of the Dark Devious Diabolical "Damion" Dastardly Deeds *U* assail upon Brother Barack Hussein Obama*

A lot of your overall analysis of the "Enemies" Schemes & observations of the Brotha's missteps are correct...

I simply disagree with your assigning it as a malignancy of his character. I see naivety & Political maneuvering.

If he played it your way...
WE wouldn't be having this conversation.*

Beloved;

Do yo thang Baby*

Itz gonna all come out in the wash

-----------------------

not only did i appreciate what he had to say, i like the way he said it
me and this boy on the same wavelength

political couplets and all, i recognize in him a fellow mack, a fellow traveler
in the african american griotic society

so i followed his link to his myspace site and what a struggle experience

boy stone macking and i see the multimedia potential in using myspace
to manifest your vision

but i just dont have time to learn myspace graphics right now
maybe when i get this novel finished, speaking of which

i clocked some paragraphs yesterday, a luta continua indeed

all my love

rickydoc rootdoctor

wouldbe prophet
of the hoodoo way

maintain: a luta continua

FRIDAY

hello world, foot still bad, tried walking on it yesterday, no fun
still havent gotten back into the saddle work wise, bummer

and just what is what is the deal with blackfolk and r kelly
might need to be some soul searching going on there

south africa going thru (more) soulsearch behind anc youth league leader malemas recent call at big rally to "take up arms and kill" for zuma if coming court case

does not go zumas way, zuma spoke after him and did not reject and
rebuke - south africans protesting that they live by rule of law now

zuma has been forced to denounce, that was the word i was looking for

but you get sense its not sincere, his theme song is still 'machine gun'

revolutionaries unable to make the transition to democratic
struggle are the mold from which mugabe is cut w/his

threat to go to war if he lose the election next week
how silly he say that a voters x replace the gun

a luta continua

for those who dont know, a luta continua is portuguese for
the struggle continues

it was the slogan of the angolan revolutionaries when they won their
colonial war, they said now the real struggle begins

a luta continua

it became the slogan of my political generation
back when i myself was a headstrong young turk

full of unrexamined rhetoric, probably why im kinda hard
on the hard black left now, it was a struggle breaking free

of that absolutist headset and still is, constantly trying to grow up
as a force, be more effective, more flexible

while maintaining struggle (ie not selling out) or something
along these lines, its a real fundamental understanding

all committed professionals go thru but i will
have to phrase it better

suffice it to say that being true and effective lifelong force
in the struggle is important to me

a luta continua

rdoc




THURSDAY 2:20 am

okay, another day gone, didnt do a lick of work yesterday,
palf took it all, okay, lets try it again...

i hear michelle did good on the view yesterday
say she got what fox called the 'terrorist fist bump'

from the young campaign staff, its the new
high five she say,

you can tell she dont know what she doing cause of that thumb up like that but still its kinda cute

i think of it as the rasta respect fist and i like using it cause it mean you dont have to shake hands w/folk and get germs - im funny that way

respect respect

i hear the mississippi acting up and flooding
i grew up on the banks of the mississippi

or rather on the bluff, black south memphis is high above
the miss and not subject to its whims and

sitting at the mouth of the delta like it do memphis is
like the guardian at the gate

during the war it was called the city of sanctuary
cause it got captured early and became a union garrison

slaves get to memphis and they were home free

memphis still think of itself as the guardian at the gate
city of sanctuary and defender of the delta

and when the mississippi start to acting up
the ol delta conjureman get concerned

i once wrote a flood scene in another good loving blues that
embarrass me now that ive actually lived thru a flood

nothing like what i imagined it would be
hope i dont have to intervene on the one

traveling down river now

in struggle

rdoc




WEDNESDAY  5:05 am

hello world, no work yesterday - foot getting better (thank god)
us diabetics got to be real careful w/foot wounds

but still no work

been about 4 days now, anybody know
me know thats unacceptable, check back

w/you later today, i got to crunch some pages
paragraphs, words, something, tired of being

stuck on this last 20 pages, focus rick
step by step, inch by inch, word by word

focus




TUESDAY 3:45 am

hello world, in depth analysis and commentary on BAR
regarding influence of obamas community organizing background

 in his campaign dynamics, probably a little too in depth, i ended up scanning it

a little too insular maybe but still fascinating information, as always

its the commentary that got interesting, one back and forth w/author talked about how obama is a politician in final regard and electing him is just

the first step, got to try to keep him as honest as possible once he in
though i myself wouldnt trust the hard left to be judge of that (think rev wright)

i suggest rickydoc for that task

obamas recent bit on black fatherhood not really addressed to black fathers
but to independents & clinton democrats who would like to make such statements themselves

slick move on obamas part -  see the advantages of a blackman in authority, i can say this
rickydoc approve of slick moves,

as a missing black father myself i accept the rebuke as sincere
i judge this pander to be benign

dont know about hiring patty doyle, otherways of sending that no way VP message
to the clintonites w/o riling them up (if thats possible), also i notice

clinton working her heart out for the nominee is on hold i guess
but ima give her benefit of the doubt, id need a little R&R too after that battle

bush notes:
- army supervisor of kbr in iraq says he was fired when he challenged billions in kbr billings
- senate panel says torture policies started at highest levels of administration no matter what they say
- judge says admin doesnt have to account for millions of missing emails regarding war

but all this isnt really news is it, just more bush admin governing stylee that mccain mean to maintain
probably better use of my time getting a little work done

sometime you do these posts and you feel like youve said something essential
and sometime you feel like you just spinning your wheels, today i feel like im spinning

wheels, im outta here

i miss being part of the hoodoo world, been off the hoodoo
grid since my computer crashed back in january

buried in this novel and thats
where im gon stay til its done

but i be wondering whats going on, dont
like being out of the hoodoo loop

also got this plan to organize black writers from memphis
but ima have to put that on hold too

finish this novel, get some respect, make my vision clear
it will make everything easier, folk think

community organizing is challenging
try organizing writers and hoodoos why dont you

but as a literary hoodooman thats my turf and i believe
two of the most powerful pieces on the board

get the writers and the hoodoos organized and i will
be satiified that was a nice little contribution

to have made to the struggle
speaking of which, i gotta go

gotta clock some pages before i get on
that PALF plane to ghana in 10 days

wont be able to print out so it will be all redpen
for that i want a clean manuscript, a new draft

still struggling w/that last 20 pages
can you believe that

gon lose my whole summer messing
around with 20 pages -

that aint gon fly
all my love

rdoc

MONDAY

hello world, got a taste of the blues
so ima keep this tight and right

chad and sudan have gotten into a two step, each one supporting each others rebels, both militaristic

repressive governments, both islamic, but chad seem
to be more africanist than sudan and fewer africanist issues

chad got drawn in supporting

darfurs rebels, whose activities of late have riddled their credibility

speaking of credibility mugabes repressive policies have become farce in their intensity, he has ruthlessly attacked his population

in order to intimidate them and human rights observers before election on 27th
say he defending the revolution against british colonialism - well

intensity of intimidation ensures no chance of opposition winning this election, you
got to admire their courage, their determination, and hope they prevail anyway

of course history tells us they are likely to be no different if they were
in power, but one does what one can, what is is

meanwhile back at the ranch

other day obama say if mccain bring a knife he gon bring a gun
mccains campaign jumped right on it, make sure everybody heard that

that black man said gun

(chill down big o - dont scare the whitefolk - wait till you get
in before you get to bush talking)

clinton delegate to national convention say
she is now supporting mccain, so be it

after some confusion, she was expelled from state delegation
cause we aint got time for that, you wanna go, go - rest

of us saddling up, folk who jump ship now will regret it later

mccain dismissal of supreme court decision on detainees is indicative
of that authoritarian vision of usa that bush/cheney exemplify

mccain has expressed intent to gut roe wade et al and
approved/abetted an expansion of executive authority

most of us find excessive
is that what you want

bet mugabe, mccain and bush/cheney got a lot in common
and whoever told mugabe that little hitler mustache was cool i wonder

or is that charlie chaplin, whatever, he gotta go
mcbush too  -  and so do rickydoc

aint done no pages last couple of days, stepped on a nail
and been laid up, feeling sorry for myself

look like i got the blues today, trial and
tribulation wear you down sometime

im tired im weary

sometime the hammer stun you, you get hit 3, 4 times
before you get your feet back under you

a luta continua

rdoc