Wounds of Passion: A Writing Life by Bell Hooks
RATING:
(Four quills)Greetings,
I would like to take a moment to welcome you to the new millennium!
This "information age" as it is called is still in its
infancy stages, but already has a seemingly unavoidable influence
on the evolution of society. These are great days brothers and
sisters. There is more knowledge available now than ever before,
and it is available to us at our fingertips! So now the choice
is ourswe are no longer subject to the limited availability or
antiquity of print media. We now have up to the minute coverage
of any topic instantly. I read somewhere when I was first introduced
to the internet that "for everything that has been written
about in a book, somebody put it on the web" and to date
those wise words have held truth. If ever there was a cure for
a curious or inquiring mind, the internet is certainly a copper
bracelet for all ages.
So my friends, knowing what you know now, the stage is set and
the game is afoot! In the continuum of time and space the stakes
get perpetually higher, but now that we are afforded the ally
of information of our past and present, in your quest of living
you must ask yourself how big is your game and what is your gambit?
Happy Reading!
Peace and Blessings,
John A.
Riddick, Jr.
Chief Editor
In Search of Oneness
Matrimony. A joining. A union. And, some
say, a becoming of One.
A beautiful creation when it is handled with spiritual, emotional,
and physical maturity. A nightmare on wheels when it is not.
So many of us go into marriage with unrealistic expectations.
We go into it expecting perfection, forgetting that we ourselves
are not perfect beings. We come into marriage with personalities
and pasts and memories and secrets, all of the components of our
experiences that has shaped us and molded us into who we are today.
Complex beings
Now multiply that by Two.
As young marrieds, many feel that the
becoming of One is of paramount importance to the survival of
marriage. But so often, as we pursue that Oneness, we abandon
ourselves. We put away our interests and our preferences in response
to those of our mates, we abandon our friends, our old hobbies.
Piece by piece and over time, we willingly give up portions of
ourselves...and then wonder why we no longer feel whole and fulfilled
in our marital relationship. We can't. We have become less than
ourselves.
Now, I am not saying that nothing should change when two people
decide to marry. There are changes that should occur, indeed changes
that must occur in order for the marriage to succeed. But know
that, no matter what, you are not now merely half a person. You
are a Whole, a magnificent being, who is now loved and cherished
by another whole.
A marriage can only be successful when we recognize that we are individuals, whole and complete by ourselves. Only then will we have the maturity, strength, and insight necessary in order to share ourselves with another equally whole individual.
Notice that I say share ourselves.
A sharing of self does not mean that we give ourselves to another; to say that would imply that we are not left with ourselves. A sharing of self acknowledges that you are who you always were, enhanced by the presence of another individual in your life. A Better Person. The New and Improved version. A person able to be open and committed...spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and yes, physically.
It takes a lot of courage to go there. Courage and conviction and commitment. The times sometimes get hard and rough and painful. But the rewards of being in a marriage between two mature adults that cherish, respect, love, honor and communicate with each other can be phenomenal.
That is the Oneness.
That is the New Creation.
"You ain't never gonna be cute enough to be a model like those women on television," I remember my stepfather saying to me when I was just seven years old.
The reality was I never wanted to be a model like the women on
television, but I wanted to believe that I was a beautiful little
girl who possessed a lot of potential and inner power. When a
child is surrounded by such negative energy she can't help but
believe the words from her parental role models. "She can
be anything she want to be when she grow up!" I remember
my mother saying in response to my stepfather's rude comments.
My mother's strength and positive energy kept me sane and surpassed
all of his negative com-ments, yet I couldn't help but carry those
negative thoughts deep inside.
Negative comments, negative energy, and negative people in my
life broke down the very essence of my own self-image, self-esteem,
and self-confidence. I started to think to myself, "Well,
maybe I'm not beautiful. Maybe I'm not smart. Maybe I'm not strong."
These negative thoughts and many others repetitiously presented
themselves in my mind and my spirit well into my adult years.
It wasn't until 1999 that I started to do much soul searching
about my life, my purpose, and my persona. During the past year
I've realized that I am a beautiful individual. I've realized
that I am an intelligent adult woman who has much to offer friends,
family, lovers, and the world, if I only apply myself and believe
that which is spiritually true about myself. And the spiritual
truth is that I'm a child of God. We all are God's children. This
truth confirms that I am made in a divine image. The divine image
of God is beautiful, powerful, and worthy of all praise. Also,
one must understand that the divine image is all about the spirit.
Which simply means that self-image, self-esteem, and self-confidence
starts within and will show on the outside to all who come in
contact with us.
I had to learn these simple truths the hard way realizing I couldn't
base my own self-perception according to what others thought of
me. It seems like these things are common sense, but there are
a lot of women including myself that have dealt with these issues
for a long time. It's not just society that creates false images
and unfair standards on the shoulders of young, impressionable
females in this country. It's a problem that can be traced to
the home as well. Whether it's skin tone, weight, height, facial
features, etc. We are given false images to follow and revolve
our lives around in the one place we seek security, safety, and
truth...our homes.
However, I prefer to look to the butterfly. As butterflies lie
in their cocoons they are developing into an image that is all
their own. Once they break free from their shells, they fly above
everything in all their beauty and splendor. Whether they're accepted
or not doesn't matter, they just continue to fly high. Ascending
into a greatness that leaving others dumfounded. Shouldn't we
do the same?
The Key
My mother is dead. I have to keep reminding myself this, all the time. I'm still numb, months after her funeral. There are a lot of things that I need to do, take care of business type of things, that I just haven't been able to bring myself to do. It's hard and it's costly. And time doesn't seem to be making it any easier.
My parents divorced when I was young; my father died a violent
death years ago. Growing up, it had always been just me and Mom.
The two of us, going to plays and concerts and jazz clubs, hosting
card parties, sneaking midnight snacks on school nights. I could
go to her with any problem or thought, at anytime. She was my
best friend.
She died of an illness that was progressive but she chose not
to tell me that she was sick until ten days before her passing.
I look back on it now and know that she chose the course that
reflected her own sense of dignity and power, never wanting to
be a burden, never wanting to be pitied. She didn't want to prolong
the suffering, for me or for herself. She wanted to go like a
Woman, to go in the same manner in which she lived.
A day before she died, I was standing at the foot of her bed,
asking myself what I needed to say to her. What was there in my
heart that had remained unsaid through the years? Had I told her
of my love for her? Yes, I had. Had I told her that I forgave
her for the mistakes she had made in her life? Yes, I had. Had
I asked for her to forgive me mine? Yes, I had. If this were my
last chance to say anything, what was it that I needed to say?
I simply told her that I loved her and I asked her if she were
ready. She said she was, and told me she loved me too.
I don't know if I'll ever have that same closeness again with
another human being. The thought frightens me, saddens me. I look
at my children and wonder if they can ever feel that depth of
love for me, a woman who is fallible and sometimes very weak.
I cannot recreate the bond with them that I had with my mother
because it is a different time and we are different people; the
circumstances are different in our lives. But I strive to be open.
I strive to be honest. And I strive to let them see me in my entirety,
painful though it may sometimes be.
I go on. Day by day, doing little things. Thankful for the life
that I had with my Mom, thankful for every day hence. I think
that is The Key, to make every day of our lives count. To make
it right when it is not, and to never regret the lessons learned.
The Key, to make every day of our lives count. To make it right when it is not, and to never regret the lessons learned.
Wounds of Passion: A
Writing Life by Bell
Hooks
RATING: (Four quills)
"Writing is my passion. Language is a body of language of suffering and when you take up language you take up the suffering too." (208)
Wounds of Passion: A Writing Life is Bell Hook's autobiographical account of her evolution as a writer. The reader bears witness to a decade long relationship that contradictingly inhibits and nourishes her growth as a writer. In first and third person observations she recalls experiences that play pertinent roles in her continual evolution. Her journey begins as an undergraduate student. In a new and strange environment, she isolates herself with poetry as a boundary between her mind and the world.
It is in her first women studies course that she discovers the
need to create a book that thoroughly explains her perspective
as a black feminist thinker and writer. She explains her experience."they
are all white and they are all here to celebrate being female.
They do not want to hear that the shared reality of femaleness
does not mean an equal share in powerlessness. Race makes the
difference.(98)" This thought is inevitably the seed that
grows into her first book Ain't I a Women: Black Women and Feminism.
Bell Hooks expresses the feeling of failure experienced when Ain't
I a Women is initially rejected by publisher after publisher.
She allows the reader to bear witness to her very human emotion
of vulnerability experienced by many published and unpublished
writers. Bell puts her book away in the closet. A decade will
pass before she takes it under wing again and applies knowledge
acquired as a graduate student and a PhD candidate. She struggles
to bring forth her art of writing while balancing a delicate relationship
with a man who at times condemns her for not "playing by
the rules" of the academic world, her academic studies as
well as a job for financial sustenance.
Bell Hooks is dedicated to telling the truth, being true to herself
as well as her reader. She also explains the origin of her pseudonym
Bell Hooks and its necessity to separate her ego from her art.
Wounds of Passion plays homage to the authors that play a continuing
role in her writing life: Virginia Woolf, Emily Dickinson, Gary
Snyder, Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde and Rainer Maria Rilke's Letters
to a Young Poet.
Wounds of Passion will play a definitive role in any writer's
life as it has in mine. It is a journey filled with experiences
that writers will identify with. Her passion for words is all
encompassing. It has at times saved her from drowning and separated
her from pains of the past and present.
This review was furnished by Guest Contributor Kenya Nyota Lee
One Must Wait by Penny Mickelbury
RATING: (Five
quills)
What happens when you lose the love of your life? Do you believe you will die when that happens? What if you find out that the love of your life was killed and the murderer might get away scott-free? Would you try to track the killer down to avenge that loved one's death or would you let the pain kill you slowly?
Mickelbury explores these issues in her mystery One Must Wait.
The main character Carole Ann Gibson-Crandell fights to find out
the truth behind the death of her beloved husband. In the process
she encounters many issues that would keep even the most quick
minded person on their toes and guessing. Not only does she spin
a good tail but she covers issues like passing and family secrets
and how and where they are buried.
If you love a good mystery, then you will love this book. It is
just what a good murder mystery should be. I rate this book 5
quills.
Passing: A Novel by Patricia Jones
RATING: (Four quills)
The theme of not being able to choose your family is shattered in this story, sort of. You may not be able to choose where you are born into, but you can marry into a family if you don't like the one you are born into. But is that always a safe move?
Okay, when you think of passing-the act of living a life that
is really not yours to live be that a color thing or something
else, do you think of a southern town, maybe in Louisiana some
Creole beauty looking for a new way of life? Or maybe some person
faking the funk of where they came from saying they had a rich
history when they are the only ones in their family that might
have made it as far as they have. Passing is all around and it
didn't just happen in the early part of the 20th Century.
Patricia Jones illustrates this beautifully in her book. Initially,
you are reading along and believing that this is happening in
the 50's or 60's. You wouldn't allow yourself to believe that
attitudes like this still exist in the black community today,
but it happens in the 90's and those attitudes still do exist.
By looking at the way a family of haves treats someone who they
perceive to not be worthy of their way of living, you would not
believe that this could be happening. Jones' knack for irony helps
to make this book a fascinating read.
It starts a little slow, but stick with it, Jones' end will have
you wishing for more.
When Chickenheads Come Home
to Roost: My Life as a Hip Hop Feminist by Joan Morgan
RATING: (Five quills)
"Where do I fit in?" A question
that almost everyone has asked themselves at one point or another
in their lives. Trying hard to fit in, black women have this push
and pull feeling when it comes to feminism and how it fits into
our lives. Joan Morgan's When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost:
My Life as a Hip Hop Feminist addresses this duality that so many
women in our generation face.
The "F" word had become a dirty word in our generation
because we were made to believe that being black and the issue
of racism takes precedence over sexism and gender. Morgan addresses
this issue when she is confronted about whether or not she's a
lesbian because she supports feminism. She eloquently demonstrates
that just because you are for women's rights that you are abandoning
black men and their struggle. On the contrary she speaks for many
when she says that "just because I want equal pay doesn't
mean I want to wear the pants in the family"
Chickenheads touched a lot of places in my heart when I was reading
and many times I felt she'd taken a recorder and transcribed many
of my own thoughts. Like when she spoke of paying for your own
meal or movie on a date. I, like she, had been raised to have
my own "just in case". Her breakdown of the situation
made me re-think my position but it didn't make me any less prepared
for "just in case."
This book is an extraordinary read and will spark a much needed
discussion among our sister circles on the issue of feminism and
it's role in the Black community. Sistahs need to buy a copy for
their personal libraries and a copy for a friend.
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As 1999 came to a close, many of us witnessed the demise of several of our most treasured artists in the world of music. Two artists who come to mind are Grover Washington Jr. and Curtis Mayfield. In this quarter's edition of Rhythm In Retrospect, I pay homage to these two musical heroes.
Grover Washington
Jr.
Born December 12, 1943
Before there was a Najee, Gerald Albright or the late George Howard, there was Grover Washington Jr. born straight outta Buffalo, NY. Son of a saxophone player, New York native Grover Washington Jr. began playing the sax at 10. In 1960, Grover moved to Philadelphia, which became his home for life. He tapped in on his growing "saxabilities" playing in clubs until being discovered by organist Charles Earland.
Washington's big break came in 1970, when Johnny "Hammond"
Smith featured him on the song "Breakout." Since that
time, he had been known for attaining a middle ground between
jazz and rhythm-and-blues. Washington's first solo recording,
"Inner City Blues" was actually intended for saxophonist
Hank Crawford, who unable to make the studio date at the last
minute. "Winelight" brought about his most successful
single, "Just the Two Of Us" which featured vocals of
Bill Withers.
In 1972, singles "All the King's Horses" and 1974's
"Mister Magic," won Washington critical acclaim and
landed him as a headliner in concert halls across the nation.
But even with these vast accomplishments under his belt, many
people considered his work watered down. Nonetheless this jazz
great has performed across the globe, and right here at home with
President Clinton (in 1996) with several other modern jazz greats.
Washington described his style as being short stories without
words, impressions turned into sound. "There's a record player
playing in here all the time" said Washington, pointing to
his head in a 1989 interview. "I'm listening to everything.
The screech of brakes. Three or four people walking and you can
hear their heels clicking."
On Friday December 17th, 1999, Grover Washington, 56, collapsed
after taping a performance for CBS' "The Saturday Early Show."
and later died from a heart attack at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital.
Grover Washington Jr. - Ultimate
Collection
Hip-O Records
RATING: 
(3
spades)
If you don't have any of Grover's original albums, this one is a nice compilation of Grover's most favored "mellowdies". Eleven songs which include "Mr. Magic" (Track 1), Inner City Blues (Track 4), Ain't No Sunshine (Track 10) to the infamous "Just The Two Of Us" (Track 2). Grover's sound takes you on a relaxing trip, allowing your mind to melt in the mystifying notes.
Curtis Mayfield
Born June 3, 1942
Born in the "Windy City" of Chicago, Curtis Mayfield literally marinated in music--blues, gospel and soul. He began his musical career at 8 on the 'rowdy rowdy' West side of Chicago at his grandmother's church. Lifelong friend and former musical collaborator Jerry Butler said "Mayfield was the little kid who wanted to get in, and we kept pushing him aside," said Butler, a 12-year-old member of the gospel group at Travelling Soul Spiritualist Church at the time he met Mayfield. "So he learned to play the guitar, and we had to let him in. He was just one of those prodigy types. He picked up a guitar and tuned it the way they were playing boogie-woogie songs" Curtis dropped out of high school to join the band "The Impressions", said Jerry Butler. "His mother begged him not to do it. Mayfield cried 'I may never get this chance again.'"
Mayfield became known and respected as a civil rights hero as
well as an entertainer. "Keep On Pushing" has been credited
with broadening black music to include a political perspective.
This was during a time when music was dominated by love songs
and dance records. Sound familiar? Curtis was best known for the
soundtrack to the film Superfly (1972), which earned him four
Grammy nominations. Curtis also appeared on the big screen in
Short Eyes (1977), which he also wrote the soundtrack for. Some
of his other soundtrack credits include I'm Gonna Git You Sucka
(1988), and The Return of Superfly
In 1990, tragedy struck while he performed at an outdoor concert
in Brooklyn, a lighting rig fell on him, paralyzing him from the
neck down.
He was unable to perform until 1997, when he then released his
last recording, "New World Order" album. Grammy-nominated
Organized Noize was among several Atlanta producers involved in
Mr. Mayfield's "New World Order." Mayfield ended up
doing most of vocals lying down, using gravity to put pressure
on his chest and lungs. "Nothing inside has stopped working."
a cheerful Mr. Mayfield said in 1996. "I'd like to think
I've still got something left."
''Black music as we hear it today simply wouldn't exist without
him,'' said Rolling Stone magazine, citing a Mayfield anthology
to its list of 200 essential albums in 1997. In Aretha Franklin's
recent autobiography, the Queen of Soul says of "The Black
Bach(his) music is down, the grooves tight, the attitude real
and the overall feeling is loving and warm." Curtis Mayfield
left this earth December 26th, 1999 at the age of 57.
The Ultimate Curtis Mayfield
Snapper Music
RATING:
(5 spades)
This 2-disc set contains the most black
conscious, true "lovey dovey" ballads, uplift "my
brothas & sistas", soulful songs I've EVER encountered.
Many of these Curtis Mayfield cuts are the original songs we jam
to today. When you hear these songs you'll immediately recognize
them...from Mary J. Blige [Disc 1 - #12 (Give Me Your Love)],
Total f/Mase [Disc 1 - #15 (On For Darkness)] to the beloved sounds
of West Coast rap [Disc 2 # 1 - (Kung Fu)].
Disc one offers the best of the best from Mayfield's days with
The Impressions. Hypnotic percussions, dope bass and guitar riffs...aaahhhh
what happened to the days of the good bands...times have truly
changed, for better or worse.
Others songs on these discs represent the love for one another
[Disc 1- #8 We People Who Are Darker Than Blue)]; they brought
home the impact of the emotional and political intensity that
are synonymous with the 60's and 70's. The Ultimate Curtis Mayfield
2 disc set was the reason many called my "Chi-Town brotha"
a true MUSICAL genius.
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