ISSUES NO. 15 - Jan 18, 1999 - moni's top 10 minus 4

GREETINGS EVERYONE!

* Death is a constant reminder of how much I want to live. *
moni (c) 1999

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1) Happy Birthday Martin Luther King
by Saleem Abdal-Khaaliq (c) 1999
nsa@vgernet.net

Prologue:

Prologue: Just thought you should know that we haven't forgotten about you or what you stood for. But we have gotten a little bit confused since you've been gone. Somehow, I think the people thought a sit-in meant that you were supposed to sit down and wait for your prayers to be answered. They took equal opportunity and gave it a new name, something to do with diversity. Really wish you were here ’cause maybe you could figure this thing out.

Martin you would have really been proud because the people really liked your non-violent protest movement. I mean, women used it, to get their white husbands to hire them and let them go out of the house. Gays used it to not only come out of the closet, but to declare and pass legislation saying, “we’re queen and we’re here…” Oh, and black people — again, we got a little mixed up — we got the violence part ‘down’ though. We can kill ourselves better and faster than anybody else. Now was that part about “Non?”

And Job opportunities, oh well, we couldn’t quite ‘tune in’ on that one. So rather than waste our time we just don’t have jobs anymore. That solved it. Companies have something called “affirmative action” where they go out and collect employment applications and they go back and count how many they have collected. Of course, nobody gets hired but they are practicing how to be fair in case we ever decide we want to go back and get jobs again.

********

A Myth/Saga/Legend of Mankind — MLK (or Men Like Kings?)

Dear Doctor King:

In the 90’s you would have had been a Doctor &a King, to heal the sickness and rule over the lawlessness. For Martin your old adversary never left us. You know who I’m talkin’ ‘bout: “Jim Crow.” His son is alive and doing very well -- thank you! Mr. James E. Crow III. You see, James E., realized that there is a PRO and a CON to everything. This enabled him to bring the politics of racial hatred to its logical con/clusion:

~ Hi-Tech Genocide ~

He understood that in life you are either for or against. You are either part of the problem or part of the solution. And that half of the solution is how you look at “the problem.” Armed with this he could turn the problem into a solution by turning it against itself. Simply by turning pro/tests into con/tests -- game shows, talk shows and you wouldn’t believe it Martin, “American Gladiators” which the President of the United States said was one of his favorite television programs. It was a con of cunning designed to co-op those who were uncooperative.

He turned us from inte/gration to intra/gration a body that stays to itself; grows and sustains itself by imbibing from without a menticide from within … he turned pro/creation into con/traception. We went from being Beasts of Burden to becoming Beasts of Barren. Infertility can come in a bottle, a can, a pretty labeled box, an injection, a compact or a pill. We ate it, we wore it, we adored it. We shot it and then we got it:

~ H.I.V.~

Then he took Pro/Life and turned it into Con/Dom … dumb, dumb … dumb motherf - - kers.

He turned pro/fession into con/fession. We could no longer profess who we are. We could only plead guilty; confess our sins; confess to the Crime — plea bargain or cop a plea. But the real crime was against ourselves.

He took the Brothers among us that were pro/found and made them con/founded — “Our-Black-Men-Fire-Lords-of-the-Future,” that were once pro/fuse in our neighborhood and turned them into the con/fused in our “hoods”. The so-called Pro/mised Land has now become Con/vict Land with one out of every four Brothers in court, in jail or in custody and Out of LUCK!

Like I said, “Happy Birthday, Martin!”

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2) THIS IS A SPECIAL POEMS OF THE WEEK 21! - As a result of my interview last week, a mother of a 10 year girl called and wanted to share her daughter's poem with me. Therefore, our SPECIAL GUEST POET is 10 year old ERYN M. HEWITT. Also joining Eryn this week are FEATURED POETS:

SLAVES FOREVER by (10 year old Eryn M. Hewitt) - galina@mail.peds.LSUMC.edu
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARTIN LUTHER KING by Saleem Abdal-Khaaliq - nsa@vgernet.net
CAN NO LONGER HOLD OUR PEACE by David L. Weeks - conqlion@hotmail.com
COULD IT BE ME? by Jerod D. Frazier jerodf@clemson.edu
a millennium protest chant by Rose "bambam" Cooper - cooper@acm.cse.msu.edu

Please check out the Poets Niche website at (www.nichemarket.com) and read Eryn's poem, along with our other featured poets. THANK YOU POETS!!!

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3) SLAMMING PERFORMANCE - On January 16, 1999, I attended the performance and book signing of one of our new members, MONIQUE NICHOLE FRADIEU (definitivediva@ yahoo.com). Monique is (as she puts it) a "spiritual performance poet," because of her love for God. She had the audience in the palm of her hand as she read poems from her newly released book "divine". I practically jumped out of my seat when she performed, "ON HAVING BIG THIGHS," and "WHEN ALL SISATHS WAKE UP". Keep your eyes open for more details on how you can purchase her specially autographed book "divine" through the Poets Niche Bookshelf.

Monique, thanks for the invitation, and we look forward to reading more of your inspirational poems.

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4) PART 1 (MORE LIKE A TEASE) OF MY INTERVIEW WITH ROSE COOPER -

Everyone is dying to know, how did get the nickname(s) bams, bambam or bammer?

     Once upon a time, a long time ago, in the majical land known as Deetwoit, 
     there lived a Maiden Faire who loved a Boy with a love so pure, it
     cleansed all that came before and e're after.  In her eyes, the Boy was
     the sun, the moon, and the stars, and he nourished Faire Maiden's heart
     and soul.  In time, the Boy grew, and the Maiden grew with him--but all
     too soon, 'twere time for Faire Maiden to be off to yonder University
     (which some calleth Oakland) to tackle small dragons and wrest beautiful
     Bears' hearts from beyond heavily fortified brick walls and such.  But
     before the Maiden went off on her merry trek, she took sticks to skins
     and cymbals, and played a cacophony to some ears that, ne'ertheless, was
     intriguing to the young sir.  So intriguing, indeed, that he clapped and
     laughed, crying out, "BAM!BAM!".

STAY TUNED for the conclusion of my interview with bams in next weeks, moni's top 10!

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5) REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE - Nikki Graves, a Ph.D candidate and Delta with the Baltimore Alumni Chapter, is conducting a survey of Deltas for her doctorial dissertation. If you are a delta, can you complete her survey and spread the word to your sorors? If you are not a delta, please send it to people who are. You can access the survey by going to the following website (http://www2. cyber.vt.edu/nikkig/Nikki.htm). Since participation is important for this project, I ask you to take the time to complete the survey, if you can, as soon as possible. If you need to reach Nikki, please contact her via e-mail at nikkig@wam.umd.edu.

Talib I. Karim, Esq.
Karim & Judd, PLLC
(202) 331-5552

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6) Below is moni's poem of the week. Comments always welcomed and greatly appreciated.

much love
moni

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     NO LONGER AFRAID TO DREAM IN THE DARK


Sometimes . . . dreams are realized while we sleep.

Sometimes . . . when we still hear the voice of an old 
friend saying he had a Dream, it continues to empower 
us to live it.

When those of us who didn't participate in sit-ins 
can now proudly sit-in wherever we please.

When passing the torch of "I Am Somebody" to another 
generation makes us worthy foot-soldiers for the next 
generation.

When there is no room to display outward anger to get 
things done, when quiet and non-violent conduct moved 
mountains and parted the Red Sea.  

When we can love one another for who we are and not 
expect our fears to build walls that separate us and 
put us on opposite sides of the tracks.  

No, we're not afraid to dream in the dark because the 
morning light makes everything brighter.

You see, we kept things presidents couldn't emancipate.

We kept our smile to deceive them into believing we 
were working "this" land for them.

We kept them close to us because as long as we're 
not free, there is no peace.

We kept our pride because they didn't expect us to
continue to strive.

And, we kept the one thing they couldn't shackle or 
sell - Hope.  

Hope that we don't become bitter, because we are so 
much better than that.

Hope that we continue to remain restrained the next time 
we are asked to turn the other cheek after they slap it.

Oh no, we don't intend to forget what they did to us, 
because there are constant reminders that things haven't 
changed. 

We overcame because Kings and Queens don't accept failure.

The only question we have is why should we be reliant or
compliant, when there is no ALLIANCE?

Hell yeah . . . the Dream is alive and well.  

My Country 'Tis of Thee.

YOU DAMN RIGHT!

Monica D. Blache (c) 1999