A place for Huey

I wrote a story about a week ago, posted it, then deleted it. I am posting it again with some minor edits, and providing a bit more context. I have come to a few realizations I think are important to share with the story. I was initially excited about the story for many reasons. I had thought about writing short fiction for some time but never got to it and more importantly, didn't know how to tell a "fake story". But on my way home after a pretty difficult night out in the town, I decided to just do it. Underground, I began writing the story in the notepad of my phone on the train ride home. I made it home and in one sitting, put my thoughts together and finished the story. As I have written before, writing to me feels like purging. I literally felt sick until I got it out. So finally in note form on the blog, I did not read it over (as with most of my other posts) because I knew I would not share it if I did and clicked publish. I was immediately in awe with the l

"I am getting a couple of people to write letters to their older selves. I recently read Gabrielle Union's letter to her younger self in Essence and thought that there might be value in writing something to our older selves. While we learn a lot with age, some things get lost as well - ie. spontaneity, love, empathy, persistence, etc (from what I've seen... :)). So perhaps you can add your writing to this - something you cherish now that you don't want to lose sight of as you get older or something you had/knew when you were younger and want to incorporate back into your life." Stay the Course (To be Opened 03/13/XXXX) Soundtrack: Is that all there Is? (Whichever cover suits you out of the ones available at your respective points in time) Lukewarm feelings for your umpteenth anniversary of existence. Another year older, another year out of the way… as they, no- wait, I say. "Tu Fui, Ego Eris," as the artfully morphologically mutilated latin adag

Well, there you have it. Everyone has probably seen this already; I just stumbled upon it 5 minutes ago.

Joshua Bennett. "Balaenoptera" "What's in a Man" "" https://www.facebook.com/poetjoshuabennett?ref=ts&fref=ts http://joshuabrandonbennett.tumblr.com/

Happy Holidays all! I am applying for graduate programs this winter and one of the people I have fallen in love with in the process is Tricia Rose, a faculty member in Africana Studies at Brown University. In addition to her work on feminism, African-American history, and social justice, she is most known for her work on/in Hip Hop. I think it is pretty clear on this blog that I love rap and listen to it incessantly. Therefore, to find an individual doing honest critical work about hip hop among other things in a program I am interested in is really exciting. I have decided that hip hop/Afro/African contemporary music (specifically, rap - including Drakesque rap/rnb sub-genre, reggae, Ghanaian hip life, among others) is going to be, beyond a doubt, a chunk of my intellectual work in graduate school and beyond. In many ways, I believe I bring some different understandings to this rap/hip hop/Afro/African contemporary music discourse than those I have come across. I am in the middle

I just came across an article published in the Guardian in October 2012 which reads, " Haiti to join the African Union: Why not...? ". In it, Afua Hirsch discusses Haiti's historical and emotional ties to the African continent and the case for its membership in the Union. I am more excited than surprised by Haiti's observer status in the AU (which I did not know of prior to the read) and case for membership. Pan-Africanist philosophy and just my understanding of the African Diaspora/migration story always espoused, at least for me, the notion that Africa/being African is indefinitely beyond Africa's land mass. The union between Haiti and the AU is deeply symbolic of this tale. These were some particular highlights of the piece for me : "More than any other Caribbean nation, Haiti occupies a special place in the affection of many Africans and members of the African diaspora. The country endured decades of still prescient punishment for daring to overt

"Blessed is she who's confirmed that they are good for the rest of their life."

I really don't tend to or like to "preach" on this blog but please take 23:33 minutes to watch this Junot Diaz speech. Just came across it about 30 minutes ago and this is probably the most eloquent responses given to some of the questions and ideas I ask myself and others, and a lot of what I explore in my poetry. Perhaps someone will want to discuss this...definitely open to that. *The conversation starts of slow. Be patient. It is worth it.*

In a moment of restlessness at 3 this morning, I picked up my memorabilia box. The box is a timberland shoe box I have had since high school. In it, are my journals from middle school, birthday cards, keepsakes, awards, and notes to and from my friends. It seems like very early in life, at 10 or 11 years old, I knew that I wanted to be a writer. My journals from 6th grade read, "I can't wait to write my first book this year. People may say it is impossible but you can do it". I never knew I had such intentions. Until this past summer, I thought that I had always wanted to be a lawyer. Since maybe time eternity. I think what is dawning on me is how magically things fall into place; how we already know who we are meant to be. And really part of this experience is discovering and rediscovering this again and again. When I graduated college, I left spiritually and emotionally drained. In retrospect, my college career dimmed my light...but then forced me to kindle it ane

I reached out to a couple of people with the following prompt: "I am getting a couple of people to write letters to their older selves. I recently read Gabrielle Union's letter to her younger self in Essence and thought that there might be value in writing something to our older selves. While we learn a lot with age, some things get lost as well - ie. spontaneity, love, empathy, persistence, etc (from what I've seen... :)). So perhaps you can add your writing to this - something you cherish now that you don't want to lose sight of as you get older or something you had/knew when you were younger and want to incorporate back into your life." And a few people have accepted the challenged - some different types of people. So as the year 2012 ends, I am going to post a couple of these responses. I think it will be great way to end the year on this blog - to culminate with different voices on what matters to people. Moreover, I think these letters will be in

I go through phases. Some days I feel like the person I'm supposed to be, And then somedays, I turn into no one at all. There is both me and my silhouette I hope that the days you find me and all I am are darkened lines You still are willing to be near me. http://marykateteske.tumblr.com/

For Chandler  On unlearning love and the things we carry  I once proposed a man's womb and you have given it to me A birthing of a new understanding of love and place And power And power On power you say that asking me who I am with besides you is asking for too much power Seeking to be with me all the time is too much power To ask for all my engagements is too much power Too much concern We do no definitions, no boundaries No promises of forever, no curfews on truth To do trust deeply and not superficially So no phones seized, no requests to follow, our relationship does not trend You want to be together fluidly It's imperfect and difficult, we know But we believe that it's stronger where running. Our experiences have not yet caught up with our innocence My flower ideals do not align with the life we know I ask for change seeking to note failure, Cashing out fear, imitating cinema We script who we want to be still living in dogma Cautionary tales I

After Hurricane Sandy hit the Tri-State area, I wrote a post I never shared about some of the things I learned in and after the disaster. It was in part a post about how eerily reminiscent the events in New York City during that time were to the story Octavia Butler wrote in  Parable of the Sower. It was also about dealing with disasters and mass tragedies. It seems becoming to return to and reflect on that post in light of the shooting that took place in Newtown, Connecticut today. My condolences are with all of those who have been personally affected by this tragedy and may those who died rest in peace. It is hard to write this post because I feel so many things and have so many thoughts at this moment. I just hope that this makes sense. There is a lot of talk today about what ought to be important in the national political agenda. From gun control and metal illness to journalism or media discretion and discrimination, a host of concerns already in play in the public discourse re

good kid, mad city, mad world  I was recently at a meeting where an important person advised another important person that "is easier to build peace than to prevent conflict". I nodded in earnest agreement, even murmuring to myself that this man is deep. But today, after watching the video below, of a woman talking about the election results in Ghana, I am wondering if that man's assertion is true, if it even makes sense. What do we really mean by peacebuilding? Can you build peace? When are we ever not in conflict? What is conflict prevention? I guess at heart, I am wondering if I am or can ever be a true pacifist like civil rights activist Bayard Rustin. Can I revere Che, Malcolm, Toussaint, and Yaa Asantewaa and be a pacifist? Aren't these individuals defined by and great because of their militancy and relentless struggle "by all means necessary" in an unjust world? To be clear, I am not necessarily concerned with the election and post electio

I'm a sucker for Love And this is no simple trite notion, This is my reality. I'm a sucker for  hands held lips kissed shoulders caressed I-love-you's whispered. I am at her mercy, And seduced by her warmth. I'm a follower of Denial, And my shepherd leads me well, Straight into relationships that were never right, But somehow meant to be. I follow her from  This-will-never-work to We-are-perfect-for-eachother. From Maybe-I-should-give-him-a- chance to I'm-staying-at-his-place-this- week. From complicated loneliness to complicated bliss.  I'm a child of Hope, And I have my mother's eyes.  I see a man who may not be the one, But who will do his best not to hurt me, Until, of course, he can't do his best anymore. I see a future filled with grace and marked by certainty. Forever drawn in by the prospect, Held by the sweetness, And let go by the enlightened heart of a man who pro

Palmwine music or highlife is one of my favorite genres of music. It is traditional folk music with intoxicating instrumentals. I am especially reminded of this genre of music because I am reviewing a paper I wrote on Palmwine music around this time last year for my Twi class. I want to add a little here about what this music is, especially its role in traditional storytelling and in capturing the Ghana's spirit during its independence. The paper I wrote with this information, however, was handwritten in Twi so I will need some time to translate and transcribe it but when I do, I will definitely post it. After all, it is my blog, I post 'em as they come :).

http://aplaceforhuey.tumblr.com/ <----- Just created a tumblr page. Always been a fan, finally have the time.

A couple of videos I have randomly come across and watched (and at least found interesting) in the past 24 hours:

For a generation* so enthralled with the idea of (intimate) love, are we completely lost or conflicted on what it means? Please share your opinions. I want to see where others stand on this question. By now, almost anyone who follows mass media/popular culture has read or at least heard of Chris Brown's self-penned article No More Apologies in the hip hop magazine XXL. In it, Brown reveals that "love is something he is still learning". "It's just an obstacle I have not mastered yet", he says. Love is Brown's Achilles heel. Firstly, it is hard and almost impossible to talk about Chris Brown without reference to the domestic violence incident which occurred between him and Rihanna in 2009 (and his recent twitter feud with comedian Jenny Johnson). In fact, that incident substantiates my argument that a good deal of us, millennials, do not know what love is or what it means. But this post is not about domestic violence ( this is a good read on domestic

Just lots of questions and ideas. As a Black woman in America, I have said at least a dozen thousand times during these past four years that I want a man like Obama. I know that I am not the only one. There have been many articles published about women and the Obama/Michelle paradigm/effect. There is even a web series called Finding my Obama . As much as or even more than his political views, policies, and decisions, the endearing nature of Obama's relationship with Michele and his children has captivated the world, especially the world of women. This post is about my honest curiosity about how the Obamas' relationship and the narrative about this relationship that was sold to us played a role in Obama's election and reelection and how this relationship speaks to a generation, specifically my generation, about sex, love, specifically intimate love, and politics. A conversation with my male cousin this past Saturday is especially pertinent to this post. Him and I had a v

James Baldwin on education in America: "For a black person to get an education in this country, he's got to have a lot of guts. And to endure this institution, meaning that it's a racist institution...all American institutions are racist...and to get an education under those circumstances is a tremendous act of the will. And also you risk schizophrenia. " "You have to pick up the tools with your own intention. That is the trick."

*The cult of smartness stunts independent thinking* I have watched this video of Chris Hayes in conversation with Katrina vanden Heuvel about his book, The Twilight of the Elites three times already. I am especially moved by how nuanced Chris Hayes' critiques are and how deliberate he is in considering the paradoxes and contradictions which we all deal with. That's key for me - how to contextualize and give voice to your social criticisms in a way in which you are compelled towards a vision, however obscured, and not towards disillusionment. Given some of my recent sentiments about things, this is gold. I needed this. Hayes really hits it on the nail with his commentary on the fetishization of smartness, elitism, entitlement, meritocracy, self interest, solidarity, structures of inequality, institutions, compassion, empathy, judgement, ...

If I fell in love today, I would give it all up. We would go into the wild. I know that you are supposed to go on those kinds of journeys alone, to have those revelations by yourself, but I want to go with someone. I want someone to share and keep those memories with. Nothing else matters. The only one thing I'm sure about is love. Intimate love. Because I felt it once a long time ago and everything was alright; the emotional pull of things did not compare in gravity to that feeling and that experience. But apart from love, I'm truly ambivalent about everything. Everything. I have contradictory and conflicting feelings about almost everything else. I am writing this because I know I have quite a voice; at least in writing, I sound convicted about most things. So people call me a feminist, womanist, marxist, socialist, intellectual, etc. I don't care about those labels. Call it whatever. More so than any other motivation, I want this blog to be a space where people who l

For too long in the history of Africa, Africa has spoken through the voice of others who are microscopic. Africa, like other continents, is always in transition cum transmogrification. Its map, fortunes and history have changed overtime. It must be noted that African history reveals both continuity and change. Many traditions and institutions have always been carried forward, but changes and new ideas are constant. Africa is the second largest continent, is the most central with most of its land mass in the tropics. Today, it is divided into more than fifty countries with a population of over 660 million. Environment influenced the people's modus vivendi as they struggled to adapt. The survival of the communities and individuals were tied to the apron string of the land, as the majority of the population worked as farmers and herders. The fauna coexisted with humans. Where there was a need for space, food and other animal product, people encroached upon the fauna.