Pen Pals: Respons from my Proffesor.

Bryant:

I am heartened by your sensitivity to the plight of our people.  I think partly what you are feeling is the fire that wells up in us because of the obvious injustices we experience.  Be assured that this is not a bad thing.  You can mold your sensitivities into a lifetime of service, of giving so that good can become more real.  But you must not allow your sensitivities turn into a lasting anger and hate, because this can lead you to engage in unproductive thoughts and actions.  White racial domination is an odious phenomenon that predictably drives far too many of us to an array of self-destructive behavior.  Indeed, it is one of the natural outcomes of it.  We have to rise above it, however.  Richard Hatcher, elected mayor of Gary, Indiana in the late 1960s, use to implore us to get smart and not mad.  This was a lesson his father taught him when he was in the midst of the Black revolt of the 1960s.  Like you, I am ever outraged about White injustices, especially police beatings and killings.  See my article, "The Logic of Black Urban Rebellions," in the Journal of Black Studies (January 1998), where I explain that Black uprisings are one category of political response to injustices experienced by urban Blacks.  The talents and genius you have, find a way to use for rectifying some of the problems we have.  At the heart of Fanon's observation is just that, for us to rise above self-absorption (i.e.; individualism) to make ourselves relevant to the quest for liberation and social justice.  I hope this little bit is helpful.

 

Best.

Daryl Harris

I Dream of Detroit

I dream of words unwritten;
      In a language where periods need not be dotted
      Where “t’s” need not be crossed-
I dream of dialects unspoken;
      In a voice enunciation need not to be stressed,
      Where infliction is definitions-
Sight through subconscious is unfathomed to the minds eye
Leaving dreams to be safe from
For what can one feel in the absence of a body?
The lack there of? Or the presence of obscurity?
I dream of music unplayed;
      In a sound only heard through script,
Where distance articulates quality-
I dream of things unseen and not to have happened;
      Retention is a curse, and the forgotten is blessed-
But as I rise from once was;
      I’ve lost it all-
I dream of words unsaid;
      Cursed by memory.
      Decided through ignorance.

MIA

I am from which I was created. Do not judge me on my exterior for it is made with flaws. Instead, judge the actions I accent with the words I write. But the words I write do not reflect the action I do. Just as any other human being, I make mistakes everyday. As I said before, what good is a man who contradicts his own efforts.

At that point, I was talking on the vitality of effective leadership. A more personal issue ha arisen. I fear I have lost my best friend because she is exactly what I am becoming; heartless. It is obvious that my emotions are gradually slipping out of my grasp. My walk is more stiff. My speech is lees motivating. My writings are less powerful.

I stated in an earlier blog that I am trying to get back to the man I used to be, but as a wise woman told me, "Make sure that man you are attempting to be is worth getting back to." But he is not worth it. Honestly, I have caused too many tears and see many more awaiting me as I travel down this path. The question is "Do I cause tears for others or carry on to my own emotional demise?"

I am from which I was created. My father's father's father was known as a man of great motivation. As they say in my father's hometown, these motivational tactics have only grown through the generations of Browns. As you know, I am BeMoBrown meaning exactly what it says. I follow a lineage of greatness and I am in constant strive for the highest. But in this 20th year of my life, I fear that I am becoming exactly what I demise the most. Heartless.

Defying Gravity/20 years

A wise man once told me that when we’re young we think we’re immortal but it is when we get old, we realize or mortality and become afraid. Well here it is, the day I celebrate 20 years of defying the laws of gravity and I am far from afraid. I am anxious. I have never feared death because my religious socialization has taught me that this physical body is only the beginning of something great. I am anxious because I am ready to answer my calling. My religion teaches me that God has given each of us a purpose, a calling, a dream to chase, and a dream to actualize. I do not know every religion, and I’m not here to sell you mine, but to a certain extent, everyone believes that they are on this earth for a certain reason.

As I sat in church today, I watched the preachers preach, I saw the shouters shout, I ignored the nay-sayers nay-say, and I dwelled upon my purpose. I am Moses. In my religion, God is a God of the disenchanted, the disenfranchised, the minority, and the unspoken for. In Exodus, these people are the Hebrews. In my home of America, these people consist of black people. Moses was not born of the Hebrew slaves for God wanted him to see the freedom the Hebrews, Moses’ people, could enjoy. I was not born onto the slaves for the same reason. Moses had faith that God’s word would lead him to free his people. I hope that God’s word will shine through these words to free my people. Moses realized his purpose, answered his calling, chased his dream, and actualized that dream. In case you didn’t know, this is the realization of my purpose, my preverbal phone rings and this is the answer to my calling, I ignore gravity so that I am in constant pursuit of my dreams. Moses freed his people through the word of God. The Apostles and Prophets that followed him lead his people to God. I will free my people, not from physical slavery in which we have abolished, but from the bars of this jail that are made by the slave inferiority complex complicated by the prison-industrial complex that disproportionally effects my people, the disenchanted, the disenfranchised, the minority, and the unspoken for and inspire those who follow me to lead my people to greatness.

This anxiousness comes to now avail because as in death, with age comes the exponential growth of passion. And as long as there is an atom of oxygen running through my pumping heart, I will not stop, I will not turn my back, I will not fear old Pharaoh, I will denounce the injustices of the enchanted, the franchised, the majority, and the self spoken for. With God on my side, WHOM shall I fear? So, I encourage you to realize your purpose, answer your calling, chase your dreams, and actualize those dreams regardless of differing religion, race, cultural background, social façade, age, socialization status, political party, or opinion. With 20 years behind me, who will join this defiance of gravity?

Ah

It never ceases to amaze me when I see a blank page and a keyboard awaiting my percussive strokes on the various letters.

In the essence of time, my space is insignificant. Therefore, as a man, I should not do things for personal glory. My Father and father told me a long time ago that a man is one who keeps his eyes on the the Lord, takes cares of his responsibilities to his family, and uplifts himself as a part of his community. Therefore, what am I? It is easy to SAY you are a man. As my best friend once asked me, "What are you doing?" At that time I said nothing.

As a human being there are three different types of decisions we make as individuals. There are small decisions: left or right. There are medium decisions: pants or shorts. There are hard decisions: yes or no. Honestly, there are some decisions that we as humans can not make. I believe that history is written before the books are published. What a person does is already predetermined. Life is not how breath commenced in one's infant body or the last breathe in your lungs. The goal is set. The bar has been put to its maximum height. Life is not the preface or the afterward. Life is the novel. Life is not the capital letter or the punctuation. Life is the adjective. In other words, life is the process.

In many and abundant ways, a man's actions are much more potent and concentrated than his words. So why is art so important to the survival of one's individual mind? Many people tend to conform to the rules and regulations of society. Some of these rules are vital to the survival of the individual. On the other hand there are unwritten rules of society that people don't have to follow, but choose to follow regardless. These rules are pointless and have probably been instilled into the minds of most individuals. Why? It is perfectly fine to follow these rules but ignorant to follow any rules without questioning the foundations of the institution. That's where art is the main means of survival in an ignorant world. Only through art can an individual appreciate something for what they want it to be. Only in these words can a person analyze, depict, destruct, and destroy any concept known to the mind of man.

All together.

Today I was asked, "Who are you?". In the context of the conversation, the question was supposed to be hurtful and have an underlying point of saying I have no identity in the mind of the individual. Men make mistakes and men understand the concept that life is much more than one decision. What I do in one situation can not outline nor define me. The definition of me is so complex so complicated that the essence of an adjective could not depict the nouns that surround the overall presence of the smallest atom in this shell called my body. The definition of me could not be fathomed by the descriptive adverbs that help the verbs complete actions that are pointless and yet so potent in action. The definition of me could not hold the concept of defining an article that is neither definite nor indefinite but definitely one of the above. Therefore causing an inverted and self-inflicted identity crisis in concrete words such as 'a' or 'the'. My art outreaches the nucleus of your ignorance, so I would advise you to never question or attempt to form words to define me. or you will be lost.