Barack, Hillary, and Mixed Me

My Brown and Black family and friends want me to vote for Obama. My feminist friends, white, black, yellow, and otherwise want me to vote for Clinton. One of my Black feminist colleagues stopped to accost me the other day with the opening line, "You're voting for Obama arent you? Or am I gonna have to write you off as a friend?"

I am not answering any queries regarding my voting decisions this year because as a mixed race, multiply-positioned, radical, anti-racist feminist poet, I know better. There is no right answer. Barack could be my black daddy, Hilary could be my white mama and I still wouldnt be able to choose the best candidate for the job. Why? Because as mixed me I am always lurking in the shadows-- I am always running back and forth across the battle lines with plates of food and flowers. I like them both. But I know neither side represents me.

I have one fist raised in the air in a Black Power salute and my other hand is holding the latest draft of the ERA. I don't think I am alone but there is no guarantee I won't be taken out by those who perceive me as a singular trecherous crazy zebra lady. I think I will keep moving.

I want a candidate who will withdraw the troops yesterday. I want a candidate who will pass gay marriage legislation the day s/he gets into office. I want a candidate who is not afraid to talk about race- someone who is ready and able to begin writing anti-racist legislation designed to pick up the slack where affrimative action failed. I want a president who will make a formal and unabashed apology for slavery, and hold nationwide conferences on reparations.

I want a presdient who will pass a bill for universal healthcare. I want a president who is not afraid to call him or herself a feminist and to confront anyone who calls a woman of stature, whether it is Dr. Rice or Senator Clinton, out of her name. I want an openly pro-choice, pro-emergency pill, pro-birth control president. I want a woman or man in office who considers the rape and murder of thousands of women yearly by their boyfriends and husbands a crisis worthy of being declared a state of emergency.

I want a president who is going to destroy all the nuclear plants, nuclear weapons, and coal-burning plants in the US and begin a government-sponsored green energy, solar power retrofitting project for the nation. I want a president who is going to end poverty during my lifetime, abolish the debt of all the third world countries, and make it his or her goal to bring world peace during his/her administration.

I want a president who is going to take medicine making out of the hands of pharmaceuticals and put it in the hands of people who care about healing the planet.

I want a woman of color in the Oval Office. A gay woman of color preferably. Lets get one who grew up poor while we are at it. She should be radical, a feminist, a womanist, a woman who speaks more than one langauge- a kick-ass woman. She should be angry. She should be passionate and loving- unafraid to cry or laugh or yell in public. She should be a woman-dientified woman. Someone who can appeal to as many of the disadvantaged, oppressed, and marginalized Americans as possible. Someone who believes justice is the greatest goal.

I think my sister should run for office. I think she is the only one qualified to address all the issues that matter to me.

My woman is not running for office....yet

In the meantime, I wish both Clinton and Obama the best.
ABB

10 reasons why you should never ask a mixed person the question, "What are you?"

1. It is customary to use the pronoun "who" when talking of persons and to use the word "what" when talking about things. While it is appropriate to ask a mixed person who she is, it is not appropriate to ask her what she or he is. What we are is human.

2. If you feel compelled to ask someone what they are it is probably because you have never seen someone who looks like them before. This means you are ignorant. Asking your question will make your ignorance public. Is that what you want?

3. The compulsion to racially categorize every person you meet is one you should resist. The desire to put people in boxes is rooted in a fear of the unknown. Indulging one's fears is never good.

4. Without racial categories racism cannot persist. Do your part to be a part of the solution not a part of the problem.

5. Knowing the exact ethnic or "racial" ancestry of a person will not tell you WHO they are.

6. Most mixed people find this question very annoying. Some find it offensive. No one finds it sexy.

7. Many mixed people (like myself) are fond of giving false answers to the question just to mess with monoracials stupid enough to ask. Is being made a fool of a risk you are willing to take?

8. You are more likely to get laid if you ask better questions like: How did you get such cool hair? Do you taste as good as you look?

9. If you are only asking what racial components a person is composed of so you can then reduce him or her to one race (i.e black +any race= black, white+Mexican= Mexican) why bother asking? Go ahead and jump to your own conclusions and spare the mixed person the pain of witnessing you do your "monoracial math".

10. You might get an answer you can't handle.

All I want for Christmas Hannukah Kwanzaa, the New Year

1. More national holidays (Sri Lanka has about 30, lets catch up people!)

and in particular more holidays that are not dedicated to the celebration of war or the memory of dead white men who owned slaves (Washington) or recommended the extinction of Indigenous peoples (Lincoln) or lead a campaign of extinction (Jackson).

1b. Is it too much to ask that ONE holiday be dedicated to a woman? Just One?

1c. The national recognition of non-Christian religious holidays (Hindu, Judaic,
Islamic, Indigenous, Vodun. Santeria, Native American Church,Latin/Catholic
(think Day of the Dead)

2. To become the first poet to earn a million dollars as a result of poetry CD
revenue.

3. World Peace (overdone, I know but its elusiveness compels me....)

4. Invitations to perform my poetry in Tahiti, Ghana, Italy, Peru, London, South
Africa, Ireland, and Brazil.

5. The legalization of Gay Marriage and Gay adoption worldwide (straight people, get
over yourselves already!)

6.Reparations for the descendants of African slaves in the Americas ("white" people, get over your guilt already)

7. National Subsidy for any and all "feminine" products (tampons, pads, instead, sponges, etc.) making them all free for all women for all time.

8. National Public recognition, acknowledgement and gratitude paid to all women for
the pain and inconvenience they endure each month for their pivotal role in ensuring the survival of the species (men need to recognize!)

9. A Teddy bear for every child in the world (shout out to Joan Piper for organizing
the teddy bear drive in Volusia County! Way to Go!)

10. More rap music/hip hop dedicated to positive social change (shout out to Cornel
West! Way to go, brother!)

11. An international campaign to educate little boys and little girls (it may be too
late for us older folks) about the female body, female sexuality and in particular to educate them on the existence of the clitoris, its ability to produce pleasure in the absence of penises, or any risky sexual behaviors (numerous benefits of this campaign include bit are not limited to: empowerment of girls, reduction in STDs, and aids rates, reduction in date rapes, unwanted pregnancies, and orphans; overall increase in joy levels worldwide)

12. The overthrow of the Bush dynasty (Can I get a witness?)

13. Universal Free Health care (yes, that includes abortions)

14. Free university educations for all Americans and residents (Can a sister get a degree without starving?)


15. The organization of a federally-funded Task Force Against Misogynistic Terrorism
to end the epidemic of rape/woman beating/homicide rates in the United States


16. Free cake

Dozing Off in the Academy

In my dreams I am a poet who travels the world armed with inspiring words that eradicate suffering and induce bliss.

In my waking life I have a job where I am expected to act serious, do serious things and take myself and my co-workers seriously. More and more I find it hard to remember who I really am. It seems I have lost track of that silly justice-loving artsy woman I used to be. I waste countless hours ironing shirts, gelling my hair, collecting toll money, buying gas, grading papers, sitting in meetings, filling out forms, and consulting calendars. Why?

Will my students go out in the world and do amazing things? And if they don't does my day job matter? Does the time I do in the "Academy" mean anything in the larger scheme of things? Or is it just a "day job" -a way to pay the bills while I write the next great American poem? A respectful way to make a living if not to live?

When I was a student (13 years of my life, not counting k-12) I imagined that becoming a professor would allow me entry into a wonderful intellectual community, a Beloved Community full of people with high ideals and brains to match them. Nobody told me the truth about the Academy.

Dr. King’s "Beloved Community"
was "a global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth of the earth. In the Beloved Community, poverty, hunger and homelessness will not be tolerated because international standards of human decency will not allow it. Racism and all forms of discrimination, bigotry and prejudice will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood... international disputes will be resolved by peaceful conflict-resolution and reconciliation of adversaries, instead of military power. Love and trust will triumph over fear and hatred. Peace with justice will prevail over war and military conflict." (King Center literature)

Is there some way to create such a community? I would like to think so, even if the Academy might be unable to host such a place. Or maybe King's ideas are too old and we need to come up with new ones? After all, King was a very serious fellow. How do we inject joy into the equation? I think we need a community for people like me. Maybe we should call it the Blissful Community.

In the Blissful Community beauty, joy, wisdom, and love will be the goal of all activities. Dialogue and Creative Productions will be the vehicle and silliness and foolishness will be required. Hmmmm. Will have to work on this idea......

Poems To Write: A List

Poems To Write

1. a poem to end all wars
2. a poem to end all rape
3. a poem to make people realize how foolish white supremacy is
4. a poem that can be recycled
5. a poem that doubles as a fractal of all other poems
6. a poem that makes bitter and lonely old people laugh
7. a poem that turns love into hate, pain into joy, and grey into purple
8. a poem to bring the endangered animals back from the brink of extinction
9. a poem that tastes like chocolate, smells like roses, and feels like good sex
10. a poem that everyone thinks is about them

Mixed race Indian feminist on TV

Yesterday I got to tape a TV show down in Cocoa Beach, FL- my old stomping grounds. The host was this wonderfully impressive woman, Charna (Charna Davis Wiese) who was charming and asked all the right questions.

Interviews can be difficult, annoying sometimes. You never know what questions you will be asked. Sometimes the reporter seems hellbent on exposing your dirty laundry, digging up your darkest secrets, making you look foolish or arrogant or shallow. I have had my share of bad press and I admit I have developed a bit of cynicism with regard to the media.

But hey, it had been awhile since I had gotten any press at all so I figured what the heck. Sitting in the green room watching TV with the make-up artist, I got into a conversation with an interesting man of unknown position who wanted to know if I was an Indian. Yes, Seminole I said. He got to talking about his own Cherokee past and then asked me later if I was fullblood. No, I said. Oh, really? He seemed genuinely shocked. Well, nobody would know, he said. You look like a fullblood. I think he meant this as a compliment. It might have been taken as one if he wasn't talking to mixcentric mama herself. Yeah? I replied. And then my usual reply: well different people see me differently.

I think its odd that everyone thinks they know exactly what I am and feel so certain that I look exactly like that and nothing else. People are funny.

I was wearing my Tibetan jacket which looks a bit Seminole to me. But I would be lying to myself if I thought I could figure out what aspects of my appearance lead to particular racial ascriptions. I never know and my efforts to unravel the mystery is usually fruitless and if I am lucky, also humorous.

I read two poems on the show, "Names", and "We are the Women." I brought a whole binder of options but 30 minutes was over fast. We talked about my being a mixed race person, an Indian,a poet, a philosopher. I said a lot of things I wasn't expecting to: I called myself a troublemaker, talked about learning to love people who across differences (being careful not to mention that Florida had taught me how to love white racists. That might not have gone over well), compared African and Native American philosophies, reminisced about my graduate school days when I was outraged by the claims of a certain Native American professor that southeastern Indians had no culture, and told stories about one of the early women's writing groups I founded.

Then I pulled out the poem about sexual abuse. Just to spice things up or make people uncomfortable, I am not sure which. Never a dull moment. She asked me how I was able to read such an emotional piece over and over again. Good question. One best not dwelt on for too long!

We talked some about the feminist issue of silence and shame before the show was over. It was fast-paced and exciting. The host said she might invite me back. I don't know if that is just showbizease or if she meant it but it sure sounded nice.

Where can you see this show? WBBC. Also some PBS affiliates throughout the country, I was told. Not a network show. I will have to hunt down the airings so I can list them on the website. Will keep people posted. Once Charna's show sweeps the nation, I am sure I will be gettign some invites to be on some bigtime talk shows

Oprah, here I come!

Q-tip, Women runnin' things, being big-time

Yesterday my sister breezed into town like she usually does- with little warning, staying for only a few hours, landing somewhere that required a map and a long drive, and accompanied by a crowd. My sister, Jilchristina, is a production person. She tours the country and the world with famous musicians like Naughty by Nature, Missy Eliot, Queen Latifa working as a production manager in her spare time. Spare time because, yes, she he has a day job too- some big whig position in one of the largest mixed race organizations in the country, I-Pride. That's right, my sister is BIG-TIME.

Being an artsy, nerdy type who doesn't drink, smoke, or sleep with men (even famous ones), I have never craved the rock star, rap music limelight my sister lives in. So it was with some reluctance that I made my way to the House of Blues last night to hang with little sis. I wanted to see her but was not particularly interested in seeing her stars or the entourages that accompany them. Being only vaguely familiar with the headliner she was the tour manager for- QTIP- I knew who Tribe Called Quest was at any rate- and having become somewhat rap-cynical after witnessing the steady decline of defeat of rap and hiphop by commercialized misogynistic, internally racist, downputting (instead of uplifting) rap in recent years, my expectations were not high.

I am after all old-school. Or maybe I am just old. Whatever you call me, I remember when Run-DMC came out. I remember listening to KRS-1, NWA, and other positive voices and feeling hopeful. I remember discovering MCLyte, Queen Latifah, Monie Love, Salt N' Pepa and thinking yeah! some women droppin knowlege.

In recent years, I have come to distance myself from rap despite my previous admiration for the art. I just have no time for men who objectify women, have videos full of half naked ladies thrusting their hips and butts into the camera. I have no time for lyrics about men's sex drives, sexual desires, and the fantasies they have about women who act like sex-slaves satisfying their every erotic whim. I am sick of hearing men call women hoes and bitches and talking about them exclusively in terms of their reproductive organs. Brotha, PLeeease!

There are so few women rap artists out there these days. There is so much rap that is degrading to women. Black people are the most musically inventive, original, inspired artists in the United States, if not the world. So why are men hogging the mike? And why are men dogging women? And why isn't there more music and rap about changing the world?

Don't get me started!

But Qtip and Common are old school and also conscious. Their music is not misogynistic. They don't define their manhood through the oppression of women. While standing off stage in the wings with my sister listening to his show last night, I heard him spout out some positive lines about women. Refreshing.

Though I am no performer in the way that musicians and spoken word artists of his fame are, I can recognize the flow when I see and feel it. I know what it is like to get into your audience and to get caught up in the energy exchange. I know what it is like to take strings of energy and use them to pull your audience toward you, with you, along for the ride. I miss that. I am reminded in going to hang out with my sister of my need to get back out there- perform more. Get more gigs! Here I go!