Last Day for FREE Download of Grandpa Sydney's Anancy Stories

Grandpa Sydney’s Anancy Stories is now available on the Kindle, and today is the last day that is will be FREE. You read right, folks. FREE

Grandpa Sydney’s Anancy Stories will be free until 10/6/21012.

Grandpa Sydney's Anancy Stories confronts the subject of bullying by using a well-known Caribbean folk tale, "Anancy, Snake, and Tiger," in the multicultural setting of Miami, Florida. Here's a summary of the story:

Jimmy Harrison loves school and his favorite subject is snack time! But when a new boy, Kevin, joins his class, he begins to pick on Jimmy and the rest of the children. What’s worse, he begins to take away Jimmy’s snacks. Jimmy doesn't want to be a tattletale, but he also doesn’t want to be bullied.

When Grandpa Sydney finds out that Jimmy is being bullied, he reads an Anancy story to Jimmy. Will the story help Jimmy to overcome Kevin's bullying?

And remember, you don't need a Kindle to be able to read the story. You can download any one of these apps for your Smartphone, computer, or table

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=sv_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

So, head on over to Amazon get yourself a free copy of Grandpa Sydney’s Anancy Stories: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009JYLDZO

***

Blog Disclosure Policy

Geoffrey Philp’s Blog Spot receives a percentage of the purchase price on anything you buy through links to Amazon, Shambala Books, Hay House, or any of the Google ads or Google Custom Search.

***

Disclaimer of Endorsement

The documents posted on this Web site may contain hypertext links or pointers to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. These links and pointers are provided for visitors' convenience. I do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any linked information. Further, the inclusion of links or pointers to other Web sites or agencies is not intended to assign importance to those sites and the information contained therein, nor is it intended to endorse, recommend, or favor any views expressed, or commercial products or services offered on these outside sites, or the organizations sponsoring the sites, by trade name, trademark, manufacture, or otherwise.

Reference in this Web site to any specific commercial products, processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the site's visitors, and does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by this blog.

Five Questions With...Rethabile Masilo

1. The poems in your collection re-enact various rituals. What is the connection between ritual and poetry?
   
   Ritual is an anchor. After wandering, it brings me back home to where I started, where I feel safer, and where I get re-energized. Although I recognize the benefits of leaving the nest, just about everything that has remained a deep part of me was learned at those initial rituals. Playing morabaraba with my brother taught me tactic and patience. Performing chores at home gave me a sense of responsibility. Worshipping put me firmly in a group. All these have left in me images that never tire of giving and of being my starting blocks.
   
   And so I suspect it is for other poets. The importance of getting out of one’s safe zone does not mean a whole lot if there is no safe zone to begin with.
   
   
2. "Janice's Poem" is one of my favorites. Can you explain the personal significance of this poem?
   
   The poem started as an ode to woman, a woman who loves and is loved, who works to see to the needs of her family, a woman who is good, who is sexy. But I abandoned the poem because it refused to come together, until a dear friend of mine lost his wife, who was just such a woman. I had forgotten about the poem but as soon as I heard the sad news it came roaring back and came together in a few hours, almost as it stands today.
   
   The poem is for Janice specifically; but Janice was the woman I think all women ought to be, and knowing her, however little, was enough to write over the fragments I had scribbled into that pre-poem.
   
   It is a farewell poem, to be sure, but in many ways it is also a poem of realization, of coming to terms. Woman is misrepresented in my corner of Africa and in other parts of the world, despite the fact that she does most of the work. I wanted to show her in that light: undertaking, loving, lovable, altruistic, pretty… yet undermined. I think the poem initially refused to budge because I wanted her to be African. Janice came along and took the poem and turned  it universal by representing the loss of what is dear to us all, and she did it, in her passing, in the form of woman. In her, as a result, I lost a sister and a mother and a friend and a friend’s love, all of them embodied in her person.
   
   If anyone were to ask me, I would tell them that, yes, Janice's Poem is the most complete poem I have ever written. Complete because I wouldn't move or replace one comma.
   
   When I finally stood back and looked at the poem, after finishing it in a frenzy, I phoned Janice's husband and expressed my sympathy. And knew then the power of such feelings in poetry as well as in life.
   
   
3. Originally from Lesotho, you studied at Maryville College, and you now live in Paris. How have these travels influenced your poetry?
   
   My father went to prison when I was nine, and the events of that period, the raid on our home, the sight of father hauled away, my brother later being killed, my nephew being killed, and the inevitable flight into exile, will always stay with me and nourish my thoughts.
   
   Between my father's prison stint and our exile, I learned poetry (praise poetry, essentially) as a young boy. All boys learn it in Lesotho. Traditionally, teenage boys go up into the mountains for a long stretch, a few months, to learn how to be men and husbands. Some call it initiation school. I choose to call it school or traditional school at worst. There they learn fighting skills (A Sesotho stick-fighting art called lekallo), how to be a father, a husband, a provider, a singer and a poet.
   
   I did not have that privilege because I was busy learning my ABCs, but when I was in high school we organized a mock traditional school with the help of older boys who had lived it. And suddenly I found myself learning how to sing and how to recite poetry. While at the same high school, a lady teacher introduced us to a volume of mainstream African poetry from East and West Africa, and read it to us whenever she could. Her voice and her lips have a lot to do with my poetic interests today.
   
   In Maryville, TN, at Maryville College, I encountered Frost, cummings, Whitman, Wheatley and other American poets. One of my teachers told me I had to be studying English literature instead of biology. I switched. I was hooked. Then I met my then fiancée, and proceeded to write a poem a day and slip it into her mailbox. She became my wife a few years later. There was a vibrant varsity rag and I submitted to it, poems about the plight of Africa mainly, and read other poems by fellow students. My stay at that institution served to turn me from a rhymester into an aspiring poet.
   
   Paris brought children and a new family, but also this permanent distance from Lesotho and from sibling and parent. I longed for them as I still do, and attempted to transform that longing into poetry. In essence, Paris closed the loop and took me back to Lesotho to connect with my roots and with the reasons I was in Europe in the first place. But it was also in Paris that I started "computering" and blogging, and being exposed to an even wider spectrum of poets and poems. It became much easier to find and bookmark favorite poems without the burden of having to buy books. That, to a young man looking for work in a foreign land, was a blessing.
   
   
   
4. How has living through pre- and post-Apartheid South Africa affected your life and poetry?
   
   When I was in high school we would enact a show for our year-end function. I was involved in representing a freedom fighter, which meant learning their gallows speech and reciting it in front of school mates and parents. We would wear torn jeans and rub dry grass into our hair, as if we were rubbing the struggle itself like oil into our hair. We had to look haggard. I remember my dad eyeing me proudly as I recited Mandela's trial defense speech, which I had learned by heart. Today I retain the kernel of it: “South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white. And no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people.” Or perhaps that is from the 1955 Freedom Charter. I realized early on that all people are born equal, and failed to understand why, if I was black, I was bad. That, too, was the beginning of my questioning religion, although this quest is today represented by only one poem in Things That Are Silent.
   
   Why did my father and uncles, these stern, sure, steady men, have to bow to white boys? I also went to prison in South Africa for pass laws, and learned the life lessons of being patient and subtly educational. I realized that most white folks were indeed not to blame, but truly believed they were superior, believed that I was inferior, for having been taught so. They had to be educated not through morality lectures, but by example. And greater people have died doing exactly that.
   
   When I went to the USA I immediately preferred outright racism to hidden racism. I found that the latter was more difficult to deal with, whereas in South Africa I knew that the white person approaching me thought themselves superior and an enemy. This affected me profoundly because it was to me the revelation that racism was evolving, instead of going away. I discovered that it never does go away, but instead adapts. And this was reinforced when I came to France where the practice remains, in the denial of jobs, the locking car doors when I pass, the being singled out for a pat-down in the metro, and the being systematically asked to show ID when writing a check.
   
   Experiencing pre- and post-Apartheid helped me in several ways, if only to see myself as part of a larger group, getting me to look beyond the conventional wisdom of that time to people reaching for eternal wisdom, Mandela, Sobukwe, Brutus, Fischer, Tutu, who assured me that I was OK. I have wanted to write a Mandela poem for as long as I can remember, but have so far failed. The repeated attempts, however, generate ideas and images, and I will not despair. After all, Janice's Poem is there to encourage me.
   
   
   
   
5. In the introduction, you mentioned two American poets, e.e. cummings and Robert Frost, whose work occupies the opposite ends of the poetic spectrum. What did you learn from these two poets?
   
   Frost taught me to play tennis with the net up, and cummings to play it with the net down. Both approaches are valid, as long as the absence of a net entertains the audience, too. I read so much Frost that for some time I couldn't write anything but a sonnet. Or a couplet. I am grateful. Cummings taught me imagery of tongue and eye. I still remember one of his earlier poems where he writes about a sparrow and watches its little "toe, toe, toe." That has stayed with me through the times.
   
   Robert Frost also told me that a poet should have a local voice and be proud of it. When I hear him read “The Gift Outright” at Kennedy's inauguration, with his twang and expressions, and when I hear him in The Death Of The Hired Man write:
   
   'When was I ever anything but kind to him?
   But I’ll not have the fellow back,' he said.
   'I told him so last haying, didn't I?
   If he left then, I said, that ended it.
   What good is he? Who else will harbor him
   At his age for the little he can do?'
   
   I am transformed. I discovered that there was no need to conform, but that there was instead a need to be authentic to self. All his poems opened wide this idea to me, who had grown up among imitators of everything British. Frost more than anyone showed me that the language of the people is what makes poetry good, as much as cummings showed me that if a poem is good, it is good, no matter how it is written.
   
   
   
   
6. What makes you laugh?
   
   I tend to laugh at absurd situations, especially those involving folks who before then could not have imagined themselves in such fixes. I am never amused, however, when I think people laugh at me mockingly, or at another person mockingly. I think this is a remnant of my charged childhood and adolescence, when we were ridiculed solely on account of who we were. I laugh out loud in the middle of the night when all of a sudden I get a joke, or understand something that had eluded me until then. This used to happen a lot when I was new in France, due to the then language barrier.
   
   I think we can laugh about everything as long as the joke isn’t cruel, and is funny. I laugh when I’m confronted with a silly dilemma, such as being asked an awkward question whose reply I know will hurt my interlocutor. This happens often with friends and family who do not understand my beef with religion and faith.
   
   I laugh whenever I can. Happiness tickles me, a good day or a good picnic or a sumptuous braai. I laugh when the underdog gets the upper hand. In short, I laugh when nature or a circumstance places a banana peel on the path of the unsuspecting.

About Rethabile Masilo

Rethabile Masilo was born in Lesotho and currently resides in Paris, France. He is married and has two children. Rethabile left Lesotho in 1980 and moved through South Africa and Kenya, before being admitted to Maryville College at the foothills of the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. He studied biology and English literature there, met his future wife, and followed her to France where she was from. Rethabile has been published in Canopic Jar, Orbis, Bolts of Silk, and in several personal blogs. His first collection of poems, Things That Are Silent, was published in June 2012 by Pindrop Press. He blogs at Poéfrika and co-edits Canopic Jar.

For more information, please follow this link: Pindrop Press.

Using Grandpa Sydney's Anancy Stories to Discuss Bullying

Saying "No" to a Bully: Using Stories to Discuss Bullying

Grandpa Sydney's Anancy Stories

By Geoffrey Philp

Mabrak Books, 2012

Stories are one of the most effective ways of talking about sensitive topics such as bullying because they engage the moral imagination of children. 

Through the skillful use of narrative, children are able to grasp the consequences of actions and empathize with characters. This is a key element in the conversation because bullies quite often are unable to understand the consequences of their actions. Empathy and compassion even when directed at fictional characters are first steps.

Grandpa Sydney's Anancy Stories, which uses Caribbean folklore to illustrate valuable lessons about conflict resolution, teaches children that problems can be resolved by using their wits instead of their fists.

Synopsis:
Jimmy Harrison loves school and his favorite subject is snack time! But when a new boy, Kevin, joins his class, he begins to bully Jimmy and the rest of the children. What's worse, he begins to take away Jimmy's snacks. Using the wisdom from his Grandpa Sydney's story about "Anancy, Snake, and Tiger," Jimmy overcomes the class bully. And for one Sunday, he reunites his family for dinner.

Set in the multicultural environment of South Florida, Grandpa Sydney's Anancy Stories draws on the rich oral tradition of Anancy stories that are told and re-told in Jamaica and the Caribbean. These Anancy stories, which originated in West Africa, are rich sources of wisdom that have been passed down from generation to generation.

At the end of the presentation, the students will be able to:

• Define bullying
• Recognize forms of bullying
• Seek help if they are "targets" of bullies

Geoffrey Philp is the author of the children's books, Grandpa Sydney's Anancy Stories and Marcus and the Amazons, which was a featured book on the Kart Foundation's Reading List. A critically acclaimed author of thirteen books, Geoffrey's work been published in the Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories and the Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse. He has also won many awards for his poetry and fiction, including a Florida Individual Artist Fellowship, Sauza "Stay Pure" Award, James Michener Fellowships from the University of Miami, and in 2008, he won the coveted "Outstanding Writer" prize from the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission. As a former English and drama teacher at West Miami Middle Schools, Geoffrey has conducted writing workshops such as "How to Write Your Own Caribbean Folktale" and "Love Doesn't Have to Hurt (Domestic Violence).” He now teaches English and creative writing at Miami Dade College, where he is the chairperson of the College Prep Department.

Free for the Next 3 Days!

Grandpa Sydney’s Anancy Stories is now available on the Kindle, and it's FREE for the next 3 days. You read right, folks. FREE

Starting today, Grandpa Sydney’s Anancy Stories will be free until 10/6/21012.

Here’s a summary:

Jimmy Harrison loves school and his favorite subject is snack time! But when a new boy, Kevin, joins his class, he begins to pick on Jimmy and the rest of the children. What’s worse, he begins to take away Jimmy’s snacks. Jimmy doesn't want to be a tattletale, but he also doesn’t want to be bullied.

When Grandpa Sydney finds out that Jimmy is being bullied, he reads an Anancy story to Jimmy. Will the story help Jimmy to overcome Kevin's bullying?

And remember, you don't need a Kindle to be able to read the story. You can download any one of these apps for your Smartphone, computer, or table

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=sv_kstore_1?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

So, head on over to Amazon get yourself a free copy of Grandpa Sydney’s Anancy Stories: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009JYLDZO

***

Blog Disclosure Policy

Geoffrey Philp’s Blog Spot receives a percentage of the purchase price on anything you buy through links to Amazon, Shambala Books, Hay House, or any of the Google ads or Google Custom Search.


***

Disclaimer of Endorsement

The documents posted on this Web site may contain hypertext links or pointers to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. These links and pointers are provided for visitors' convenience. I do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any linked information. Further, the inclusion of links or pointers to other Web sites or agencies is not intended to assign importance to those sites and the information contained therein, nor is it intended to endorse, recommend, or favor any views expressed, or commercial products or services offered on these outside sites, or the organizations sponsoring the sites, by trade name, trademark, manufacture, or otherwise.

Reference in this Web site to any specific commercial products, processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the site's visitors, and does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by this blog.

Repeat Performance: Marcus Garvey: (Still) The Most Dangerous Black Man in America

After a standing room only presentation on September 18, 2012, Professor Geoffrey Philp will be giving an encore performance of “Marcus Garvey: (Still) The Most Dangerous Black Man in America” on October 3, 2012 at Miami Dade College. The lecture, which is one of the events sponsored by the Institute for Civic Engagement and Democracy’s Dive into Democracy campaign, culminates in a turn out the vote drive aimed at increasing the number of student and community voters.

"The injustices committed against Marcus Garvey, including the denial of his most basic human rights will be highlighted," said Professor Philp. "The research of legal scholars and historians such as Tony Martin, Robert Hill, Colin Grant, and Justin Hansford will support the online petition to exonerate Marcus Garvey, http://bit.ly/KqUrGh, which is featured at the end of the presentation."

October 3, 2012

Time: 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Room 2151

Miami Dade College, North Campus

11380 NW 27 Avenue, Miami, FL 33167

***
Blog Disclosure Policy

Geoffrey Philp’s Blog Spot receives a percentage of the purchase price on anything you buy through links to Amazon, Shambala Books, Hay House, or any of the Google ads or Google Custom Search.

***

Disclaimer of Endorsement

The documents posted on this Web site may contain hypertext links or pointers to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. These links and pointers are provided for visitors' convenience. I do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any linked information. Further, the inclusion of links or pointers to other Web sites or agencies is not intended to assign importance to those sites and the information contained therein, nor is it intended to endorse, recommend, or favor any views expressed, or commercial products or services offered on these outside sites, or the organizations sponsoring the sites, by trade name, trademark, manufacture, or otherwise.

Reference in this Web site to any specific commercial products, processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the site's visitors, and does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by this blog.

Grandpa Sydney’s Anancy Stories on Kindle!

Grandpa Sydney’s Anancy Stories is now available on the Kindle, and for regular readers of my blog, here’s a heads up!

Starting tomorrow, Grandpa Sydney’s Anancy Stories will be free until 10/6/21012.

Here’s a summary:

Jimmy Harrison loves school and his favorite subject is snack time! But when a new boy, Kevin, joins his class, he begins to pick on Jimmy and the rest of the children. What’s worse, he begins to take away Jimmy’s snacks. Jimmy doesn't want to be a tattletale, but he also doesn’t want to be bullied.

When Grandpa Sydney finds out that Jimmy is being bullied, he reads an Anancy story to Jimmy. Will the story help Jimmy to overcome Kevin's bullying?

My advice is to get up as early as possible, say 1:00 a.m. (EST), and head on over to Amazon get yourself a free copy of Grandpa Sydney’s Anancy Stories

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009JYLDZO

***

Blog Disclosure Policy

Geoffrey Philp’s Blog Spot receives a percentage of the purchase price on anything you buy through links to Amazon, Shambala Books, Hay House, or any of the Google ads or Google Custom Search.


***

Disclaimer of Endorsement

The documents posted on this Web site may contain hypertext links or pointers to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. These links and pointers are provided for visitors' convenience. I do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any linked information. Further, the inclusion of links or pointers to other Web sites or agencies is not intended to assign importance to those sites and the information contained therein, nor is it intended to endorse, recommend, or favor any views expressed, or commercial products or services offered on these outside sites, or the organizations sponsoring the sites, by trade name, trademark, manufacture, or otherwise.

Reference in this Web site to any specific commercial products, processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the site's visitors, and does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by this blog.

20 best Caribbean book blogs | Andrew Blackman

Since moving to Barbados in December last year, I’ve been keen to discover more about Caribbean literature, and a great way to do that is by reading book blogs. It took me some time to search out the best ones, so I thought I’d share with you this list of blogs by readers and writers from the Caribbean. Happy reading!

1.  Geoffrey Philp - Jamaican author based in Florida, blogs daily on Caribbean literature

For more, please follow this link:
20 best Caribbean book blogs | Andrew Blackman:

'via Blog this'

***
Blog Disclosure Policy

Geoffrey Philp’s Blog Spot receives a percentage of the purchase price on anything you buy through links to Amazon, Shambala Books, Hay House, or any of the Google ads or Google Custom Search.

***

Disclaimer of Endorsement
The documents posted on this Web site may contain hypertext links or pointers to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. These links and pointers are provided for visitors' convenience. I do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any linked information. Further, the inclusion of links or pointers to other Web sites or agencies is not intended to assign importance to those sites and the information contained therein, nor is it intended to endorse, recommend, or favor any views expressed, or commercial products or services offered on these outside sites, or the organizations sponsoring the sites, by trade name, trademark, manufacture, or otherwise.

Reference in this Web site to any specific commercial products, processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the site's visitors, and does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by this blog.

Marcus Garvey Wordle

From The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey.

***
Blog Disclosure Policy

Geoffrey Philp’s Blog Spot receives a percentage of the purchase price on anything you buy through links to Amazon, Shambala Books, Hay House, or any of the Google ads or Google Custom Search.


***

Disclaimer of Endorsement

The documents posted on this Web site may contain hypertext links or pointers to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. These links and pointers are provided for visitors' convenience. I do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any linked information. Further, the inclusion of links or pointers to other Web sites or agencies is not intended to assign importance to those sites and the information contained therein, nor is it intended to endorse, recommend, or favor any views expressed, or commercial products or services offered on these outside sites, or the organizations sponsoring the sites, by trade name, trademark, manufacture, or otherwise.

Reference in this Web site to any specific commercial products, processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the site's visitors, and does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by this blog.

Five Questions With… Joseph McNair

Joe McNair has been a good friend for almost twenty years now, and the biography that he provided at the end of this interview does not do him any justice. Although he has retired from Miami Dade College, we still keep in touch, and when I learned about the publication of his new book, I Hear Music in the Air, I requested an interview, which he kindly granted.

1. There is a recurrent trope of the connection between jazz and spirituality, yet based on casual observations it would not seem as if many of these musicians could be regarded as spiritual people. Is there a connection?

Giving oneself over to the music is as special as a spiritual experience. This is why being overtaken by the muse is similar to getting high. What many musicians learn too late. Musicians grow into their spirituality when the music becomes as addictive as life itself. And playing good music requires a discipline as steadfast as getting high on a daily basis. One needs to develop spiritual tools to maintain their spirituality. Yes, there is a connection.

2. Many of the jazz greats did not seem to have lived "happy" lives, but the overwhelming tone of "I Hear Music in the Air" is triumphant. What am I missing?

Kicking any addiction is cause for celebration. As a recovering alcoholic, kicking alcohol is probably one of the most courageous and triumphant thugs I have ever done. and is something that I am most proud of.

3. Which musicians best embody the nexus between jazz/ water/liquid imagery in the collection?

The Neptunians such as Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins, Johnny Hodges, Ben Webster, Bennie Carter, Lester Young, Thelonius Monk, Charlie Parker, Dizzie Gillespie, John Coltrane, Milt Jackson, Jutta Hip, ART Tatum, Mile Davis, Fred Anderson, Alice Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Sonny Rollins, Doc Austin, Dorothy Ashby, Freddie Hubbard, Joanne Brackeen, McCoy Tyner, Black Arthur Blythe, Chick Correa, AVotcja, and Winton Marsalis.

4. You've used several different poetic forms in the collection such as the sonnet, villanelle, and the Kwansaba. What attracted you to the Kwansaba?

The Kwansaba was invented by the Eugene B Redmond Writers group out of East Saint Louis Illinois. I was attracted due to my close association with Redmond. I used to follow him around years ago when He was a professor of English at Sacramento State University.

5. What makes you laugh?

The aggressive or obscene idea is activated in the unconscious but disguised by the wit-work (or technique) so that the psychic energy initially aroused can be safely relieved. According to Arthur Koestler metaphoric perception is, indeed, fundamental to all science and involves bringing together previously incompatible ideas in radically new ways.

In The Act of Creation, Arthur Koestler explores a similar notion, which he refers to as bisociation. Koestler himself makes use of a metaphor between “the logic of laughter” and the creative act, which he defines as “the perceiving of a situation or idea in two self-consistent but habitually incomparable frames of reference.”


Joe also provided me with an alternate answer to the first question.
A good friend asked me the following question: "There is a recurrent trope of the connection between jazz and spirituality, yet based on casual observations it would not seem as if many of these musicians could be regarded as spiritual people. Is there a connection?"
The following was my answer.


just as all humans are spiritual
to breathe according to philosopher
dane rudyar
is the first independent act that
expresses i am.
this action of independence
is to be independent
and relatively at least
self sufficient .
complete and
alive.
to breathe is to inhale the whole
world. to open oneself to the
air that has coursed through
millions of lungs that the sun has
kissed, the earth has scented and
the stars have blessed & exalted
to stop breathing and very soon the
the song is ended.
having refused to contact
the whole living world through
the magical performance of breathing
the body loses its significance and
disintegrates, it has been rendered useless
and meaningless.
when buddy bolden opened himself
to the air that that carried
the molecules and atoms of a million cultures
with a deep breath shaped by his embouchure
and sent that blown air sound
through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound
that starts a standing wave vibration in the air
column inside the instrument.
by playing daily and pitting himself against
all players, perfected his skills and broke through
the inertia of static tradition into a new world fluidic
and scintillating with light, a world of
strange perceptions and glamorous mirages
for some and transcendental realizations for others
he opened himself up to the air and the music
took him there. this i believe is true for any
musician of note. the black musical spiritual,
over my head i hear music in the air
came out of my breathing. as such
writers and musicians are connected
 
 

About Joe McNair

Joseph D. McNair is an African American educator, poet/writer, journalist, and musician. He is currently an Associate Professor, Senior in the School of Education at Miami Dade College, North Campus in Miami-Florida. He is the founder/editor of Asili: The Journal of Multicultural Heartspeak, an on-line literary magazine ten years old this year. He is a recipient of two of Miami Dade College's endowed teaching chairs. His published works include two volumes (Earthbook in 1971 and An Odyssey 1976) and one chapbook of poetry (Juba Girl in 1973). A collection of Selected Works is scheduled for release in early 2008. He has written three books for adolescent readers published by The Child's World Journey to Freedom: The African American Library series. These are Leontyne Price (2000), Barbara Jordan: African American Politician (2000), and Ralph Bunche (2001). His latest release, O Şe Şango, a novel, will be published by The Asili Press October/November 2007. As a journalist, he is the author of sixty-five feature articles and commentary written under his own name and several pseudonyms between 1986 and 1989 for Hotline Newsmagazine, a popular and influential Northern Nigerian weekly. In 1996 he authored a college textbook entitledMulticultural Awareness/Consciousness: Toward a Process of Personal Transformation. In 1997 he coauthored Individuals In Transition with three Social Science Colleagues. In 1998 he revised his first text under a new title: Personal Transformations: The Process of Multicultural Awareness/Consciousness. He is a prolific on-line author and manages several websites.


For more information about I Hear Music in the Air, please contact josephmcnair48 [at] yahoo.com

Marcus Garvey: A New Narrative

In a recent article in The Washington Post, David McFadden while discussing the introduction of Garveyism into Jamaican schools followed the typical narrative that many other reporters have used to describe Marcus Garvey’s legacy: “Garvey was eventually convicted of mail fraud charges in connection with his steamship line and was deported to Jamaica in 1927.”

While the article was fair in reporting the challenges facing the educators, there is no mention of the judicial and prosecutorial irregularities surrounding the case that writers such as Colin Grant, Tony Martin, Robert Hill, Justin Hansford, have revealed in their studies of Marcus Garvey.

It is for this reason that the Marcus Garvey Celebrations Committee (Miami), Rootz Foundation, and the Institute for Caribbean Studies, have joined to petition President Barack Obama to exonerate the Right Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey, the first National Hero of Jamaica.

Now while some have chosen to view this request as an attack on President Obama, especially since began our petition began during the 125^th anniversary of Marcus Garvey’s birth (which coincidentally is an election year), we view it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for President Obama, an inheritor of Garvey's legacy, to set the record straight. It is also an opportunity for President Obama to honor Garvey’s memory as he had done previously in Dreams from my Father, where he quoted Garvey’s famous words, “Rise up, ye mighty race” (199).

So instead of the same old story, the new narrative about Marcus Garvey would read:

Marcus Garvey, the father of Pan-Africanism, was exonerated by President Barack Obama, who in signing the executive order noted Marcus Garvey’s role in the struggle for human rights in Africa, the Caribbean, and North America. Mr. Obama also addressed the judicial and prosecutorial irregularities surrounding the case, which as a legal scholar, he found extremely troubling.

“Marcus Garvey is a hero for all people who believe in justice,” said President Obama. “Garvey’s exoneration will clear the name of the calumnies that have tarnished this good man’s name and will restore his reputation as a leader in the struggle for human rights.”

800 million Africans at home and abroad are hoping you will do the right thing, Mr. President. Don’t let us down.

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The documents posted on this Web site may contain hypertext links or pointers to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. These links and pointers are provided for visitors' convenience. I do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any linked information. Further, the inclusion of links or pointers to other Web sites or agencies is not intended to assign importance to those sites and the information contained therein, nor is it intended to endorse, recommend, or favor any views expressed, or commercial products or services offered on these outside sites, or the organizations sponsoring the sites, by trade name, trademark, manufacture, or otherwise.

Reference in this Web site to any specific commercial products, processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the site's visitors, and does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by this blog.

Happy Birthday, Jan Carew !

Jan Rynveld Carew (born 24 September 1920 in Agricola, Guyana)  is a novelist, playwright, poet and educator. His works, diverse in form and multifaceted, make Jan Carew an important intellectual of the Caribbean world. His poetry and his first two novels, Black Midas and The Wild Coast, were significant landmarks of the West Indian literature then attempting to cope with its colonial past and assert its wish for autonomy. 

 Carew also played an important part in the Black movement gaining strength in England and North America, publishing reviews and newspapers, producing programs and plays for the radio and the television. His scholarly research drove him to question traditional historiographies and the prevailing historical models of the conquest of America. The way he reframed  Christopher Columbus as an historical character outside his mythical hagiography became a necessary path in his mind to build anew the Caribbean world on sounder foundations.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Carew

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Geoffrey Philp’s Blog Spot receives a percentage of the purchase price on anything you buy through links to Amazon, Shambala Books, Hay House, or any of the Google ads or Google Custom Search.


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Disclaimer of Endorsement

The documents posted on this Web site may contain hypertext links or pointers to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. These links and pointers are provided for visitors' convenience. I do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any linked information. Further, the inclusion of links or pointers to other Web sites or agencies is not intended to assign importance to those sites and the information contained therein, nor is it intended to endorse, recommend, or favor any views expressed, or commercial products or services offered on these outside sites, or the organizations sponsoring the sites, by trade name, trademark, manufacture, or otherwise.

Reference in this Web site to any specific commercial products, processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the site's visitors, and does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by this blog.

Program and Posters for 2012 Miami Book Fair International Unveiled

Details for this year’s Miami Book Fair International, presented by The Center for Literature and Theatre @ Miami Dade College (MDC), were announced today at the Fair’s annual poster unveiling ceremony, and patrons can once again expect an exciting line-up of authors that will please every interest, from current events to biographies, from health and wellness to fiction.

This year, fairgoers are invited to “Discover Paraguay” as the Fair celebrates Paraguay’s unique literature and culture and will present some of its most recognized authors, as well as theater, music, and crafts.

The Inauguration Ceremonies will start at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11, followed by a reception. Tom Wolfe will open the Fair at 6 p.m. with a presentation of his latest work, Back to Blood: A Novel, and will be followed by a related documentary at 8 p.m. At 7 p.m., the Fair will also present haute couture power couple, Isabel and Ruben Toledo, in conversation about their unique collaboration and Isabel’s memoir, Roots of Style: Weaving Together Life, Love, and Fashion. The talk will be followed by a tour of TOLEDO/TOLEDO: Full Circle, an exhibition of her designs and his artworks at the MDC Museum of Art + Design.

The popular Evenings With series will bring some of today’s biggest names, including Junot Diaz (This is How You Lose Her), Sandra Cisneros (Have You Seen Marie?), Robert Caro (The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson) and Adam Gopnik (The Table Comes First: Family, France, and the Meaning of Food). Other authors scheduled to attend the Fair include Bill O’Reilly (Killing Kennedy), R.L. Stein (Red Rain), (Camille Paglia (Glittering Images: A Journey Through Art From Egypt to Star Wars) and Anne Lamott (Help, Thanks, Wow: The Three Essential Prayers). 

Children’s literacy is very much at the heart of the Fair’s mission. Among the many events for the under-18’s this year, is a very special appearance by Lemony Snicket on Monday, Nov. 12 (Veteran’s Day holiday is observed by schools and others—but the Book Fair is open!). Children and parents are invited to bring lists of wrong questions to this fun event celebrating the first book in Snicket’s brand new series, All the Wrong Questions: Who Could That Be at This Hour? Snicket is best known for his series, A Series of Unfortunate Events, which was made into a movie of the same title. Fair organizers are also proud to host bestselling author James Patterson on Sunday, Nov. 18, for a rally for literacy. Families with children of all ages are invited. Mr. Patterson will speak, read and take questions before the book signing.

The 29th edition of the Book Fair, the nation’s finest and largest literary gathering, will take place November 11 – 18, 2012, at Miami Dade MDC’s Wolfson Campus, 300 NE Second Ave., in downtown Miami. The always-popular Street Fair runs Friday through Sunday, November 16 – 18, with more than 200 exhibitors from around the country selling books in a festive atmosphere.

The official posters also were unveiled. The first poster, which aims to capture the overall spirit of the Fair, was created by RosaNaday Garmendia. A native of Havana, Cuba, Naday Garmendia is a professional artist and educator. She is an artist-in-residence at the Miami Art Museum and at the ArtCenter/South Florida. She was also an artist-in-residence at the Miami Children’s Museum for two consecutive terms. Garmendia had a working studio at the Bakehouse Art Complex for several years and in the course of developing as an artist has done several residencies at Parsons School of Design and Vermont School of Design.

The second official poster is dedicated to the Center’s Generation Genius programs for children, tweens and teens at the Fair, including the beloved Children’s Alley, an area featuring pop-up venues where kids play and create, learn and read!. The poster was designed by renowned American author and artist Daniel Kirk, who has written and illustrated more than 21 bestselling books for children, including the Library Mouse series, Cat Power; Dogs Rule!, Hush, Little Alien, Lunchroom Lizard, and Snow Dude.  His more recent work includes Elf Realm, a series of young-adult fantasy. 

MIAMI BOOK FAIR INTERNATIONAL AND THE CENTER FOR LITERATURE AND THEATRE @ MIAMI DADE COLLEGE

Miami Book Fair International is the largest and finest literary gathering in America. It is the premier event of The Center for Literature and Theatre @ Miami Dade College. The Centerpromotes reading, writing and theater at locations throughout South Florida by consistently presenting activities open to all. Its Generation Genius programs for children and teens promote literacy and learning. Its creative writing program has national appeal, and courses are taught by local and visiting authors. It is also home to Prometeo Theatre, the nation's leading Spanish language, conservatory-style program offering training for actors, and featuring performances throughout the year. In 2012, the Center celebrates its tenth year with a renewed commitment to the advancement of literary and theater arts.

Miami Book Fair International is made possible through the generous support of the State of Florida and the National Endowment for the Arts; the City of Miami; Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners; Miami-Dade County Public Schools; the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau; the Miami Downtown Development; and the Friends of the Fair; as well as many corporate partners.

ABOUT MIAMI DADE COLLEGE

Miami Dade College has a long and rich history of involvement in the cultural arts, providing South Florida with a vast array of artistic and literary offerings including the Miami Book Fair International, the Center @ MDC, the Miami International Film Festival, the MDC Live Performing Arts Series, the Cuban Cinema Series, the Miami Leadership Roundtable speakers’ series, numerous renowned campus art galleries and theaters, and the nationally recognized School of Entertainment and Design Technology. With an enrollment of more than 170,000 students, MDC is the largest institution of higher education in the country and is a national model for many of its programs. The college’s eight campuses and outreach centers offer more than 300 distinct degree programs including baccalaureate, associate in arts and science degrees and numerous career training certificates leading to in-demand jobs. MDC has served nearly 2,000,000 students since it opened its doors in 1960.

A Vulgar Contradiction

David McFadden, a reporter with the Washington Post, has written an article,"Jamaica hopes introducing Marcus Garvey’s teachings to kids will transform struggling society," in which he outlines the challenges of teaching Garveyism in Jamaica. 
While the Jamaican government is to be congratulated for implementing Garvey's work into the curriculum it is also a vulgar contradiction to honor Marcus Garvey's greatness while his reputation continues to be tarnished by the US government on trumped up charges of mail fraud. 
This is why the Marcus Garvey Celebrations Committee (South Florida), Rootz Foundation, and the Institute for Caribbean Studies, have joined to petition President Barack Obama to exonerate the Right Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey, the first National Hero of Jamaica.

It is hoped that Garvey's exoneration will accomplish three goals:
1. In the name of justice, initiate the PUBLIC rehabilitation of the good name/character of Marcus Garvey:
2. Honor the legacy hero in the struggle for Black identity
3. Reintroduce Marcus Garvey's ideas of self-reliance, personal responsibility, and success into the body politic.
Here is the link to the petition: http://signon.org/sign/exonerate-marcus-garvey?source=c.url&r_by=4631897

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Geoffrey Philp’s Blog Spot receives a percentage of the purchase price on anything you buy through links to Amazon, Shambala Books, Hay House, or any of the Google ads or Google Custom Search.


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Disclaimer of Endorsement

The documents posted on this Web site may contain hypertext links or pointers to information created and maintained by other public and private organizations. These links and pointers are provided for visitors' convenience. I do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of any linked information. Further, the inclusion of links or pointers to other Web sites or agencies is not intended to assign importance to those sites and the information contained therein, nor is it intended to endorse, recommend, or favor any views expressed, or commercial products or services offered on these outside sites, or the organizations sponsoring the sites, by trade name, trademark, manufacture, or otherwise.

Reference in this Web site to any specific commercial products, processes, or services, or the use of any trade, firm or corporation name is for the information and convenience of the site's visitors, and does not constitute endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by this blog.