Left for Dead?

Still considering revival. Revival pending........

Mother's Day

The foundation that Mother's Day was built on keeps rising to the surface:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtzAwo1HU2w

Peace

Back in Stride Again

I'm inspired by the actor/singer who played the role of "Jeramy" in "Madea Goes to Jail," the play by Tyler Perry. I watched the video yesterday and laughed and laughed and at the same time marveled at the talent of the cast and playwright. The inspiration came from this young man singing a Frankie Beverly and Maze song that I know by heart despite having no idea what the title is. So, now I've got their song "Back in Stride Again" roaming around in my head and a strong urge to scour the bins at Amoeba to find one of those $7.00 compilation CD's made by some company nobody's heard of. I could care less about branding. Frankie's voice will sound just as sweet as it ever has coming out of the speakers as I drive to and from work.

Too, Too Fast

Much of the time, these days, I think that the world and my walking in it, are moving much too fast. Opportunities to stand back and take stock of myself and the world I live and move in are precious. These gifts, no matter how long they last are vital to my keep on keepin' on.

I've spent the past week with 3rd and 4th graders as a substitute teacher. I learn many things from being with young people. Yesterday was a particularly difficult one for several of them. There were little skirmishes that broke out intermittently during small or large group activities. Usually, when folks were focused on the task in front of them, they were fine. When it was time to work with a partner or in a larger group, we'd have to stop what we were doing and I'd have to ask the people who were pushing or pulling one another, talking when they needed to be listening, or jumping around when they needed to be in their seat, to turn their behavior around. Eventually they'd work it out, and we'd all move on.

I wonder what would happen if I applied my classroom management strategies to adults. I'd ask them, "Can you two step out into the hall and work this out?" I wonder how often people would really work things out and how often they'd choose to walk away, harboring hurt feelings and resentment.

Yesterday, I saw three 3rd graders work things out in a matter of minutes, at the request of their regular classroom teacher. Their disagreement involved misunderstandings, hurt feelings, hearsay and words that needed to be further explained, taken back and apologized for. They got through it, got over it, and moved on. The disagreement was forgotten in a matter of minutes.

What's up with the adults?

Good Listening Skills

Apparently, Scholastic, Inc. has had second thoughts about their relationship with ABC's "The Path to 9/11" (to be aired on Sunday 9/10 and Monday 9/11). There have been some changes made to the so-called curriculum materials that had originally been posted on the Scholastic website for high school teachers to use in conjunction with their students' viewing and discussion of the program and the events of 9/11.

PowellsBooks.Blog reports:

"In the aftermath of the furor over ABC's controversial TV movie, The Path to 9/11, publisher Scholastic is removing its tie-in materials from its website and replacing them with new materials that "focuses more specifically on media literacy, critical thinking, and historical background."

Powell's continues:

"They're also taking out the photo of Saddam Hussein marrying Osama bin Laden, despite the fact that bin Laden looks resplendent in his white gown. Close inspection has revealed the photograph to have been doctored."

At this point, I don't think anyone would be surprised about a doctored photograph being freely disseminated to the masses.

Tell the Media to Do the Right Thing

Yet another "documentary" about 9/11 will be aired by ABC on 9/10 and 9/11. Here's some background information from http://thinkprogress.org/tellabc

"On September 10 and 11, ABC Television is planning to run an inaccurate film depicting the events leading up to the 9/11 attacks. The film was written by an avowed conservative and it largely places the blame for failing to prevent the attacks on the Clinton administration while whitewashing the failures of the Bush administration.

Our review of the film shows it to be full of such inaccuracies. Its distorted version of history is inconsistent with the 9/11 Commission Report, upon which it claims to be based. The events leading up to September 11, 2001 are too important and too tragic to play politics with the facts."

You can go to http://thinkprogress.org and easily e-mail a message to the decision makers at ABC, expressing your opinion about their (non)truth-telling. It takes about a minute to do this.

Looking for Poetry

This poem has been published online at www.voicesinwartime.org and in the Berkeley Daily Planet, a fine, lively local newspaper. I wrote the original version in April 2003 during Spring Break. Since I'm a a poet and writer as well as a creative writing teacher in schools and community programs (4-5 programs every school year), I use my Spring Breaks to write and catch up on my sleep. This poem is 3 years old and it's still news.

I've been working to tighten it up, and this is the most recent version:

Looking for Poetry

Last night, Sekou Sundiata said it was
an honor to be an artist at this time.
He talked about the imagination, and its power.
Things could be different, if we could imagine them so.
I can’t remember his exact words and I’m wanting
to hear more powerful words than the ones
I’ve been hearing on the street, on the radio, in the classroom.

I turn on the TV, flip past tanks, smoke, sand, helmets,
and balding, gray-haired men with mouths moving.
I blink at maps with no words; with dots, and
magic lines that multiply to show routes
from one place to another. I can’t imagine those places.

I can’t imagine those places because of my ignorance.
I’ve never been to the part of the world
someone lazily named “The Middle East,”
and I live in a land where many believe
it’s not important for me to ever imagine anything;
a place where far too many people have forgotten
that they have an imagination.

I can feel how far away I am from things that
might be important for me to remember.
This frustrates me and makes me look for poetry;
sends me off to write instead of dust,
worry, or stand still in the muck.

Instead of thinking about whether any of us
have a future as coral reefs die, ancestors’ graves
are pushed to the surface, the polar ice cap melts,
and yet another country is leveled through war;
I wonder how we stay human.

Aren’t we all diminished every time homes, governments,
land, and monetary systems are thrown into upheaval?
Are our drums, songs, poems, dances, rituals, prayers,
dreams, wishes, and stories losing their power?

Maybe what I’m really asking is: will
enough of us turn from hollow words
and images to something that will sustain us?
Maybe what I really want to know is whether
dancing, writing, and singing words will sustain me.

Joyce E. Young
©April 2003, August 2006, Reprint or Copy with Permission Only

Love , Passion, War

I'm still hearing the words "Who owns the sky," and the words about the younger cousin who thinks there are monsters under his/her bed, the mother holding the hours-old baby who's skin has turned to ash, mothers, fathers, wives, images electrifying, horrifying, real. Images and words from messages of people in Lebanon and Palestine and here were woven together this evening with voices and instruments singing. In the face of denial and amnesia, these words, voices, and music rose and made heat. Heat radiating from energy transformed through creativity. The best kind of heat to be warmed by. This was "Cease Fire: An evening of poetry and music against the siege of Lebanon and Palestine" at La Pena Cultural Center, an evening organized by Elmaz Abindader and Nadine Ghammache. They are women of community and heart and we are fortunate to have them here in the Bay Area. We are fortunate to have them in the world. These times are not easy and as was said, putting the rage, grief, sadness, frustration into art is what artists do. Amen