Black History Month - February 2013

  From http://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov/about.html:

February is African American History Month

The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of African Americans who struggled with adversity to achieve full citizenship in American society.

As a Harvard-trained historian, Carter G. Woodson, like W. E. B. Du Bois before him, believed that truth could not be denied and that reason would prevail over prejudice. His hopes to raise awareness of African American's contributions to civilization was realized when he and the organization he founded, the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH), conceived and announced Negro History Week in 1925. The event was first celebrated during a week in February 1926 that encompassed the birthdays of both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. The response was overwhelming: Black history clubs sprang up; teachers demanded materials to instruct their pupils; and progressive whites, not simply white scholars and philanthropists, stepped forward to endorse the effort.

By the time of Woodson's death in 1950, Negro History Week had become a central part of African American life and substantial progress had been made in bringing more Americans to appreciate the celebration. At mid–century, mayors of cities nationwide issued proclamations noting Negro History Week. The Black Awakening of the 1960s dramatically expanded the consciousness of African Americans about the importance of black history, and the Civil Rights movement focused Americans of all color on the subject of the contributions of African Americans to our history and culture.

The celebration was expanded to a month in 1976, the nation's bicentennial. President Gerald R. Ford urged Americans to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.” That year, fifty years after the first celebration, the association held the first African American History Month. By this time, the entire nation had come to recognize the importance of Black history in the drama of the American story. Since then each American president has issued African American History Month proclamations. And the association—now the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH)—continues to promote the study of Black history all year.

(Excerpt from an essay by Daryl Michael Scott, Howard University, for the Association for the Study of African American Life and History)   


   I've watched a number of videos related to Black history month.  One of the most impressive of them, for me, was the enactment of Martin Luther King's letter from Birmingham Jail - a response to a letter from white ministers in the Birmingham area urging an end to public protests, calling instead for the "common sense" approach of fighting segregation solely through the Court system.

The video attached below is 57 minutes long.  However, it is very well enacted and King's words are
eloquently stated.  I enjoyed it so much that I attach it here for anyone else motivated to watch it.

Moment By Moment

   I think we (I) try to do the best we can moment by moment.  Sometimes we (I) disappoint ourselves and/or others.  And though we might be chastised for not behaving optimally, I still feel one of the most  valuable responses we can seek in dealing with ourselves or others is forgiveness.  It isn't judgment because none of us is really better than anyone else......more experienced, more knowledgable, more generous, perhaps wiser.....but if that is the case, perhaps, one of the best offerings we can make to the world, in general, is compassion.  There never seems to be enough of that to go around.

Ceremony for Ann

   I chickened out of going at the last moment.  It felt overwhelming to think of Ann and all the others who've gone ahead:

     Robert (ALS) - who spoke through a box
     Hilda- who made me feel so welcomed into the group, who asked for so little but gave so much
     Mary Kate - who was so tired of waiting
     Parvathy - SO young
     Ernie - who loved surfing as I love skiing
     Deborah - who was scared, then angry, then ready
     Mary - who was SO prepared
     Dick- who in his 80s was teaching Critical Thinking
     Phyllis (Rob's wife) - who fought all the way
     now Ann - our beloved Ann- our poet, here, not here, yet always trying to give.

Mick read a poem Ann had written for the group.

"Ceremony"

 

There are more things in this world

than tears: Wednesday 2010.

we stand before flowers and candles,

caring for those who have passed

before. I feel a trifle dizzy

saying each name-- Robert and Hilda,

Mary, Parvarthy , MaryKate, Deborah, .Ernie, Dick

(and now Phyllis and Ann)

I am sad remembering the rest

of us are ill, swept up

in that wave of storm.

There are few remaining

in the small rubber boat--

yellow slickers buttoned up to our chins--

yet we remain in good spirits.

Beyond the clouds stars

are shining, our six friends.

This is a good day

to be content, they say:

the difference between

crying and laughter isn't much.

Wednesday afternoon: soon

we'll be on our way, stopping

for groceries on the way home.

Supper by 7:00, it will be low tide.

The waves gentle again,

the stars breathing fresh air.

It is good to be alive.  But I can't help feeling that all who started with me will be gone by the time I go.

Still, I feel that Ann is smiling from somewhere not so far away.  In the meantime, I'll keep my yellow slicker

buttoned up to my chin.

Excerpted from another blog, "The Poet By Day," written by Jamie Dedes.

HUNGER FOR BONE

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Jamie Dedes

we’ll scatter her relics, charred bone
blithe spirit, to be rocked by waves
to be rocked into herself, the rhythm
enchanting her with sapphire spume
sighs merging her poetry with the ether
rending hearts with shivered memory
shattering the ocean floor with dreams
lost in lapping lazuli tides, dependable ~
relief perhaps after pain-swollen years of
suckle on the shards of a capricious grace

these last weeks …
her restless sleeps disrupted by
medical monitors, metallic ping, not
unlike meditation bells calling her to
presence and contemplation, bags
hung as prayer flags on a zephyr,
fusing blood, salt, potassium chloride
into collapsing veins, bleeding-out
under skin, yellowing and puce-stained
fetid air filled, not with chant, but with
the tears of friends, come to love

when death arrived
it arrived in sound, not in stealth
broadcasting its jaundiced entrance
i am here, death bellowed on morphine
in slow drip, i am here death shouted,
offering tape to secure tubing, handing
her a standard-issue gown, oversized
in washed-out blue, this for her journey
under the cold pale of fluorescent light

eager and greedy, death snatched
her jazzy PJs, her bling and pedicures,
her journals and pens, her computer and
cat, death tried her dignity and identity
not quickly, no … in a tedious hospital bed,
extending torment, its rough tongue salting
her wounds, death’s hungering, a hunger
for bones, her white bones, but she in her
last exercise of will, thwarted death …
bequeathing her bones to the living sea

© 2013, poem, Jamie Dedes, All rights reserved
Photo credit ~ Big Sur via Wikipedia and in the public domain.

A Poem f'or Ann Emerson

For Ann
from Marlene

Of light a shade I  had not seen,

the dream of past forgotten

the door to frozen lakes closed

and left behind,

to swing instead

untethered words wide open,

embracing rasp with smile,

 horizons rising from arms stretched wide

magenta gold crossing sky.

Beloved Ann.

Ann Emerson's Death

Ann Emerson was a friend, a poet I admired, a member of my Buddhist support group for seriously ill people. Last Saturday morning, she passed away. She had been ill for all of the time that I knew her, about 6 years.

 The leader of our support group, Mick Bennett, wrote the following in a message to members:

 "Ann's life was a model of compassion in action. Extended volunteer work at the Peninsula Humane Society, working beside Mother Teresa in Calcutta, India, and adopting numerous sightless kittens were only a few of the channels through which she expressed her compassion. In addition, and as you are all aware, Ann was a recognized poet, having just last month seen four of her works published in the American Poetry Review, one of America's premier poetry publications.

 Ann was an original member of our group when it began in 2006, and we will recognize her during the course of the group's regular Wednesday afternoon meeting this coming Wednesday: An empty chair will stand in our circle containing a photograph(s) of Ann, and those who wish will be invited to share feelings they may have toward Ann, reflections on what Ann meant to them, and the like. Then, on a week-end afternoon at IMC sometime in March, Gil (Fronsdal) will lead a ceremony celebrating Ann's life for the wider IMC community. The exact date and time will be announced soon.

 At the end, Ann's body was covered with bruises and abrasions where needles and other probes had punctured her skin endlessly for one purpose or another. But underneath the distress of those surface wounds, some of which resulted in long periods of intense pain, Ann remained the same person we all knew, loved, and greatly respected—ongoing bright and peaceful demeanor, immense concern for the welfare of people and other beings around her, brilliance in poetic expression, devotion to Metta, her last cat, and that remarkably compassionate, uplifting spirit that she exuded constantly. May the rest of your journey be peaceful, Ann.

 May we all become more available to the peace available to us,"

 I loved Ann and I will miss her but somehow I feel that she is still somewhere close by. Travel lightly, Ann. We hold you close, within the ebb and flow of each sacred breath.




 
Monolation from Jess Dunlap on Vimeo.

Motion

SKYDIVE DUBAI 2012 from Skydive Dubai on Vimeo.

The Beat Of New York

THE BEAT OF NEW YORK from tim hahne on Vimeo.

Three More TED Ads Worth Sharing

     The first one is titled "Day 1 - Linda".

ABOUT THIS AD

       A chapter in a documentary-style series created by Prudential about Americans' first day of retirement, this spot captures Linda Gutherie's first thoughts on retiring early. Linda’s touching story shares how she confronts and learns from loss, in order to embrace every moment of retirement in happiness.
(http://www.ted.com/initiatives/aws/day_one_linda.html)

     The second one is titled "Your Man Reminder."

ABOUT THIS AD

       A brilliantly funny approach to a serious issue -- Rethink Breast Cancer uses hot guys to remind women to check their breasts. The campaign encourages women to download the mobile app and choose their favorite man, receiving a pleasant monthly reminder of a possibly life-saving exercise.
(http://www.ted.com/initiatives/aws/your_man_reminder.html)

The third one is titled, "The Bear."

ABOUT THIS AD

In this offbeat witty ad, a bear plays the part of a passionate director -- complete with tantrums, moods and drama. A delightfully clever ending twist reveals the source of his passion and illustrates the brand tagline: The more you watch CANAL+ the more you love cinema.

(http://www.ted.com/initiatives/aws/the_bear.html)

Other TED Ads Worth Sharing

    Only about 60,000 viewers on YouTube have seen the following ad.  It deals with one of the major causes of climate change - land degradation (the transition of grasslands, etc into desserts).  This is a straight narrative video - no gimmicks so its entertainment value is low....but it certainly has a very high value message.  The second video is a follow-on version with feedback from those who have implemented changes recommended by the Savory Institute.

The Girl Effect

The Super Bowl is almost upon us.  My favorite aspect of the game (sorry Guys!) are the creative and innovative commercials.  TED highlights "Ads Worth Spreading," which is how I was able to find this ad.  It is for the Girl Effect Organization, sponsored by the Nike Foundation.  It carries special meaning for me as I was once a 12 year old year old girl from a poverty-level family (though not facing these kind of risks).

Just By Being Alive, We Are Connected.

The Most Astounding Fact from Max Schlickenmeyer on Vimeo.

Light Rinsed of Impurities

STAR BLOCK

by Kay Ryan


There is no such thing
as star block.
We do not think of
locking out the light
of other galaxies.
It is light
so rinsed of impurities
(heat, for instance)
that it excites
no antibodies in us.
Yet people are
curiously soluble
in starlight.
Bathed in its
absence of insistence
their substance
loosens willingly,
their bright
designs dissolve.
Not proximity
but distance

burns us with love.

http://www.quora.com/What-are-Kay-Ryans-best-poems

The Space We Live In from Matthias Müller on Vimeo.

Silly FUN!

A Silly Poem

Said Hamlet to Ophelia,
I'll draw a sketch of thee,
What kind of pencil shall I use?
2B or not 2B? 

Spike Milligan
(http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-silly-poem

Where Babies Come From:

Spectacular Footage

"....artists, athletes, the line between the two is gone......"

CASCADA from NRS Films on Vimeo.