(June Jordan at home in Berkeley, 2001; photo by Jill Posener)
Six years ago today, poet for the people June Jordan died in Berkeley, California after a battle with breast cancer. She published 28 books of poetry, essays, and fiction. She was a regular columnist for The Progressive and a prolific writer whose articles appeared in The Village Voice, The New York Times, Ms., Essence, the American Poetry Review, The Nation, and many other periodicals. She was one of the most widely published African-American authors, with her emergence in the 1960's and her homecoming among lesbian-feminists. She was founder and director of Poetry For The People, which to my direct knowledge has produced many other stunning poets and voices.
Poets all over the country still mark her passing on this day with deep loss.
"Jordan makes us think of Akhmatova, of Neruda. She is among the bravest of us, the most outraged. She feels for all. She is the universal poet." — Alice Walker
To hear a clip of her reading her poem "A Poem about Intelligence for My Brothers and Sisters", go to Poets.org.
"In political journalism that cuts like razors, in essays that blast the darkness of confusion with relentless light; in poetry that looks as closely into lilac buds as into death’s mouth….she has comforted, explained, described, wrestled with, taught and made us laugh out loud before we wept…I am talking about a span of forty years of tireless activism coupled with and fueled by flawless art." — Toni Morrison
Read some of her poetry after the fold.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
JUNE JORDAN: WORK THAT LIVES ON
Friday, June 13, 2008
LOLMAGGIES
Well, I succumbed.
I went to the LOLBuilder at I Can Has Cheezburger and went through the torrent of photos being submitted, captioning as dementedness and snark came to me.
Below is the rest of my efforts. Somebody stop me....
OAKLAND FIRE CONTAINED IN TIME; MCCLELLAN'S ESCAPE FIRE SEEMS TO BE WORKING
(A helicopter drops buckets of water on a grass fire that broke out in the East Bay Hills in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, June 12, 2008. Photo by Alison Yin for The Oakland Tribune.)
I woke up this evening to an e-mail from Kat in Berkeley reading "Maggie, the Oakland Hills are on fire again. I'm really freaked out. No evacuations so far, and it doesn't look like it's moving as fast as in '91, but it's the same place (Hiller Highlands/Tunnel Road)."
I immediately searched for the story, and found it covered by the breaking news section of the San Jose Mercury, which stated:
"A brush fire broke out Thursday morning across 3 acres of steep hillside above Old Tunnel Road — eerily close to where the devastating 1991 Oakland Hills fire swept out of control — prompting a fast response from firefighters, who contained it in about one hour, and evoking fear among residents."
The article went on to comment "For the residents living on Charing Cross Road and surrounding streets, the wildfire was a terrifying reminder of the fire of 1991." Kat wasn't the only one.
The neighborhood where I lived in Oakland, moving away in 1989, escaped being leveled by the 1991 fire by only blocks. I went back on a visit shortly afterward, when tendrils of smoke could still be seen among the ashes, and toured the devastation with a former neighbor. I've written about the Oakland Firestorm before at this blog in my post Escape Fires.
To see some excellent footage of today's fire suppression, especially the physical effort involved in dealing with these extreme slopes, check out two videos from the Contra Costa Times:
Video Part One and Video Part Two
Last night I watched extended coverage of the flooding in Iowa and the Wisconsin Dells, as well as the devastating tornado who killed four boys at a leadership gathering for Boy Scouts. The same system destroying lives, homes, and crops in the Midwest has us here in Central Texas entering our 12th day of 100 degree heat and 23rd day of temperatures over 90 -- before summer even starts. We're already hurting for rain, as is huge swaths of the West.
We (human beings) have altered the weather patterns and balance for the entire globe.
I notice that no evangelical hatemonger has suggested that the people of Middle America have brought on the flooding and wrath of god by their insistence on liberty and human compassion. I guess some acts of god are not a toddler version of vengeance.
Scott McClellan was on Letterman last night, and by most who've reported on it, Dave conducted the best interview with him to date about the revelations in his book What Happened. The tone was set by Paul Schaffer leading the band in a rendition of "Turn, Turn, Turn" as Scotty walked on stage. You can watch the whole thing below, and should -- Scotty is opening windows and doors, however late.
Some of my favorite lines:
Dave (referring to Bush): "If I was doing the job he's doing, or that I think he's doing, I wouldn't go to work."
Scott (on Cheney): "He has a very dark view of the world, and he certainly believes some of the means justify the ends. And this President showed him way too much deference, I think, in terms of carrying out policies, whether it was detainee policies or energy policy, or policies relating to the war itself."
Dave: "My feeling about Cheney, and also Bush, but especially Cheney is that he just couldn't care less about Americans, and the same is true of George Bush. And all they really want to do is somehow kiss up to the oil people so they can get some great annuity when they're out of office (applause starts -- Dave counts out money as he continues) -- There you go, Dick, nice job, there's a couple of billion for your troubles. (Applause strengthens.) He pretty much put Halliburton in business, and the outsourcing of military resources to private mercenary groups and so forth. Is there any humanity in either of these guys?"
The bottom line is: Corporate values are not American values. The decisions about our environment, our food, our foreign policy, our military, our social services, our justice system, and all other rights which we accede to community control must be returned to elected government, not corporations. As Dave said, "We're screwed" until we do so.
PLEASE SUPPORT MY ATTENDANCE AT NETROOTS NATION!
(Click on image to enlarge and read the graffiti on the railroad trestle)
UPDATE: The number of Netroot Nation scholarships available has been increased from 9 to 20, and the deadline for applying/voting extended to June 13th. I've been deeply moved by the response so far -- more than I can express. But I'm hoping any of you who missed this the first time around will be motivated go here and voice your vote for my getting one of these precious windows to community contact and influence.
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My readers, I have applied for a scholarship to attend the upcoming Netroots Nation Conference (progressive bloggers from everywhere), which is going to be in Austin on July 17-20. The application is through Democracy for America, and will pay admission (several hundred dollars) and lodging (which I may not need if I can get transportation to and from the site).
The nine scholarships will be awarded to "The applicant with the highest amount of support voiced on their application page by members of the DFA community will earn a scholarship. All other scholarships will be chosen at the discretion of DFA senior staff." Thus, I need your support!
Please go here to read my profile and register your support for me as a candidate. Spread the word, every vote will count. Click on the nomination box at the bottom.
The deadline for the contest is June 10 at 11:59pm Eastern.
Thanks for your help. I'll make great use of attending, you can count on that.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
FIFTEENTH CARNIVAL OF RADICAL FEMINISTS IS UP
(Sleeping Goddess at Heligan, England)
The Fifteenth Carnival of Radical Feminists is now up over at Rage Against The Man-chine, and NineDeuce did a SPECTACULAR job. (Honestly, I'd say that even if three of my posts had not been selected.) I feel like I can see a noticeable improvement in the breadth and quality of submissions each month -- I am learning and stretching from each installment. I had already read a lot of the posts included, but it's so handy to refer you over there -- scan the offerings and go partake. Like creme brulee, it is.
I don't want to distract you from reading ALL of the Carnival. However, I'll give you some free samples here:
"If giving information about the killing of babies (meaning fertilized eggs) is so important and these people want to ensure that potential parents know that their actions will lead to killing babies, why isn’t this group working to inform men that having sex with a fertile woman who is on birth control is a murder attempt?" (GREAT logic!) -- by Marcella Chester at Abyss2Hope in her post Protest The Pill To Protect Life Or To Mock It?
"There is a hidden code to exploit women in the whole cultural and social scheme of romantic love, mostly because the concept of romantic love has been authored by men, and is based on men’s fractured understanding of women as primarily sexual objects. The patriarchal concept always denies the individuality of a woman as a human being." -- by Sarojini Sahoo at Sense & Sensuality, in her post It Is Risky for a Woman to Deal with Female Sexuality in India
"Consent and sexual readiness has been presented to us, through marketing and media, to be a look-a set of features-embodied by women/girls. Thus creating a situation wherein, if the “look” is present, the sexual meaning is implied. When sexual meaning is implied the first layer of consideration for the women’s interest in being considered sexual by another, as well as her legal ability to even be so, is removed. A layer of 'no' is gone." -- by Pisaquari at Buried Alive, in her post entitled No More No(Sexual Stigma p.2).
"Since black women were brought on this continent in chains we have never been given the luxury of being 'soft'. We have been the ultimate un-woman. We lead because that is how we have been able to survive in a world that has proven to be predatory." -- by Renee at Womanist Musings, in Men Troubles.
Regarding that last excerpt, Womanist Musings is one of my daily reads, a hot new voice. I want to take this chance to promote the new WOC Blog Carnival being started by Renee at Womanist Musings. Go to the link above for read about it, PASS IT ON TO YOUR SISTERS, and if you want to submit to that Carnival, go here.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
SHARON BRIDGFORTH AT AFTER ELLEN
(Sharon Bridgforth at Resistencia Books, Austin, Texas)
Hey, ya'll! Austin's bestest (now, sadly, moved to New Yawk) and the writer who helped me Find My Voice, Sharon Bridgforth, is the focus of a great story over at After Ellen. Go read all about her, buy her books, do WHATEVER you can to hear her read -- and look for Allie or Myra in the audience!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
GINNY BATES: PROTECT YOUR QUEEN
(The Chess Game, by sixteenth century Italian painter Sofonisba Anguissola)
Here's the next (a little shorter) segment of my novel-in-progress, Ginny Bates. This will follow my post of June 6.
If you are already a familiar reader, begin below. If you need background, check the links in the sidebar on the right, fifth item down, to get caught up.
July-August 2012
The first Saturday in July, Myra more or less scandalized Ginny by arranging for delivery from an organic farm of two gutted and headless carcasses, one pork, one beef. When Ginny found out Gillam and Carly were in on it, she stomped outside to work in the garden. Myra had bought a galvanized tub from the hardware store and filled it with ice to hold the pig, while she spread out every chopping board they had on the counter to hold the beeve. Gillam and Carly had already sharpened all the kitchen knives. The three of them propped open The Joy of Cooking on the breakfast bar and began carving, amid intense discussion about technique and what constituted a particular cut.
Two hours later, the freezer was filled with newly-wrapped roasts, ribs, and steaks, except for those Myra meant to take for the Fourth at Allie's and a huge bowl of "trim" they intended to grind into hamburger. Myra's giant stock pot was already simmering on the back burner. Ginny came back in and said immediately "It smells like an abattoir in here" with disgust. She noticed a sledgehammer and a shiny new saw had been added to the array of dismembering equipment.
"Yeah" Myra admitted. She pointed her cleaver toward Beebo, who had parked himself on the dining table in line of sight of all action and over the heady updraft from the pig on ice. "He hasn't budged once. He thinks if we're going to start bringing home kill, he needs to get bigger to help with the hunt itself."
"I want lunch, but I'm not cooking a goddamned thing in here until you scrub down every surface with disinfectant" said Ginny.
"I'm hungry, too" said Gillam, a little guiltily.
LOLCATS WEEKLY ROUNDUP, 10 JUNE 2008
Here's the weekly best of what I've gleaned from I Can Has Cheezburger efforts. There are some really creative folks out there. As usual, those from little gator lead the pack.
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