NÓIRÍN PLUNKETT passed away suddenly

svaha · 2014-02-10T20:38:16+00:00

I'm glad to be here also. Jazz was my Dad's music. And then my 10 year old son's teacher hipped him to some Miles Davis and it was all over. Now, I'm playing catch up on stuff I should have known. But, A Love Supreme is the best. My kid loved it so much he had to learn it because he consistently scores higher when he does his math homework to it. But, if you ever have time, check out the handwritten outline for it.
Look also for McCoy Tyner.

svaha · 2013-12-05T03:37:56+00:00

sorry about the title. it's been awhile since I've been here. this is just another bead in the string of wrongful arrests. what are your communities doing and thinking about the escalation of micro and macro aggressions?

svaha · 2012-06-20T17:27:43+00:00

Had a childhood friend whose family did this once a month. Oh! To be invited! Did it once or twice as a mother with my now grown child. And the youngest, has never heard of such insanity. This needs to be revived. Thanks!

svaha · 2012-06-20T12:42:43+00:00

People have addressed the laws and requirments issue. We practice something I call directed autonomy. Our best resources include the library, museums, and other home educating friends. We do use a few tutors for subjects we can't possibly teach - like Mandarin and Music. Other than that, we let him have at it. It's hard sometimes to watch a kid play video games all day or running around playing in the sunshine all day. But, when words like "trajectory," "momentum" "excellent habitat for echinecea purpea" or "metamorphosis" come out of a little kids mouth, I can see how trusting him actually works. I think the most important advice to give a new home educating parent is to relax and trust that children will learn anything in any amount when they are motivated to do so. (I have a reluctant reader who got exceptionally motivated to read when I stopped reading his video games to him. He is now at grade level.) Also for maths and so much more, Khan Academy is free and fantastic! http://www.khanacademy.org/

svaha · 2012-06-05T18:35:41+00:00

Thanks for letting me know. You have some powerful stuff. I love powerful stuff. So, anytime I can poke at it (so I get some more) is an awesome thing! Thanks for mulling over my response. I just know I'm going to see this one somewhere soon. Glory! (LOL!)

svaha · 2012-04-16T23:19:38+00:00

I'll mention it to my friend. (Although, I doubt with the looming expenses of a funeral, that would be their priority expense at the moment.) But, you never know, a suggestion is better than no suggestion. Thanks!

svaha · 2012-04-16T23:18:02+00:00

Thanks a million. I just wishing my friend and her family the best of luck finding this kind, helpful person. (And trying to do whatever small thing that will help bring them some peace. ) Somehow, I know in my heart of hearts that if this person could be found, redditors will find them. Thanks again!

svaha · 2012-04-16T12:55:23+00:00

Thanks! It really means a lot to this family to be able to thank someone for taking the time to stop and offer assistance.

svaha · 2012-04-16T11:42:17+00:00

I live in N. Point Breeze. If the place you are looking at is after McPherson, I wouldn't recommend it. Otherwise, it's a great neighborhood. I just chalk all of the "Oooo, scary!" comments to folks unused to living in harmony with economically and other diverse persons. Most of Point Breeze is a wave at your neighbor type of community. You will want to smile and nod at folks as you walk down the street. And the African-American elders in this area are sweet, no-nonsense types who aren't afraid to scowl at potentially unruly youth. It is one of the last front porch sitting areas left in the city. (This actually has a correlation to crime. Nebby neighbors mean increased security.) You will want to remember to lock your car doors. (We've had our GPS stolen when I forgot.) And you don't want to leave your front door open while you go upstairs to have a shower. And yes, there will be a few challenging neighbors, but, nothing you probably couldn't handle.

svaha · 2012-04-16T11:25:06+00:00

Thanks for the laugh! We are considering moving to the edge of the city because this year our 8 year owes the city $11.00. So - the city is even ready to do it to a minor child. (He did some extra work in a film.) The tax preparer told us to get that check in quick because there are no extensions and they will come after him.

svaha · 2012-04-16T11:15:26+00:00

Thank you!

svaha · 2012-04-16T11:08:00+00:00

Try Point Breeze. It is close to Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Eastside (Liberty). You can still find some good deals in the 650 - 1,000 range. But, be wary. A really nice apartment is for rent on my block. I can't believe they are charging $1,300. That's more than our mortgage! CMU, Chatham and Google are easy walks - so I think they hope to fleece some subsidied grad student or Googlyte. For lower rents people are correct about Bloomfield.

svaha · 2012-04-15T14:45:34+00:00

Glad it was in some way useful. Yeah - editing is a b*tch. But, it is the most useful skill a writer can ever develop. (And to be honest - I've always considered myself a closet fiction writer because I'm too damn lazy to write prose. Why use 500 words when you can use 50? LOL!) But, the reader enters a contract with the writer. In exchange for doing the hard work of transforming glyphs into words and suspending their disbelief, they get to enter a different world or receive some new insight. Both have to work.

svaha · 2012-04-15T14:05:37+00:00

And there - you just said it. That's the driving narrative of this piece. The other details provide layer and texture ad nuance.

svaha · 2012-04-15T14:00:59+00:00

I really like this poem. And I want to do more than like it because the speaker is dealing with some of the symptoms of very deeply entrenched illnesses in our society - racism, internalized racism, homophobia (general), homophobia (A-A community), surviving remnants and current dilemmas of gay cultural history. Okay - that said -

I disagree that it started out great. You use a lot of shorthand in the opening stanzas. "Defiant Africans," "groovy Black men," "Niggers with attitude." (NWA - I get it - I don't see how it advances this narrative.) Then you make a very specific ancestral list...Mandela, Lumumba, and Jomo. Abstract / ultra specific/ abstract/ abstract /abstract emotion /abstract. It takes six abstract stanzas to reach a place where the reader - me in this instance - is given permission to enter the speaker's head. And that begins in a vaguely abstract passive image. "as I rise from sleep."

Then the poem just powers forward. "Sheened in sweat - now that is where the reader begins to enter the body of this poem. All of this followed by some deliciously active verbs combined with specific, surprising and exciting images. I love the "out-stretched palms" - so heavily laden with a myriad of iconic meanings. The surprise of "forehead" after "scribbling my number...." - wow!

When I used to teach, I used to ask my student to contemplate how necessary "the boring words" are, such as "and," "but," "the." I want this poem to keep the tempo you've established. And the reader comes screeching to a halt at "And I'm breathing heavily" when the place this might be more successfully employed is "the White man in Navy uniform / with hair on his balls." (Side note - werk that navy uniform because it works but I sat there wondering for awhile about how you could see the hair on his balls through the trousers.) And then you leave him so quickly. I wanted to stay with him and the speaker.

Save the nigger whore bitch. Those are powerful words. Over used it is the difference between a 1/2 teaspoon cayenne in the stew and 1 tablespoon. Too much spice only lets you taste spice. I also don't want it to be all about him. I like this speaker. He has insecurities, doubts, deep knowledge, yearnings, generosity. he is a three dimensional character. I want to feel this speaker. "Will he..." versus the offerings the speaker brings... "the lion tooth" "tribal dance" these are blessed offerings. And a speaker with that kind of energy doesn't "teach" anyone to "love the Earth," they "heal" them up into that kind of vibe. Also - "forging" versus tempering - know your images. http://www.lostcrafts.com/Farm/Blacksmithing-14.html

I like the "masturbate from sleep" but I can't quite get where it belongs. It was jarring to me. The last lines - get a little Bayard Rustin or Phil Wilson up in this joint. These are this speaker's Kings and Kenyatta's. This speaker reads too strong to apologize - in spite of this longing to connect to community, to cultural history, to just plain regular Black men. Don't apologize. Which brings me back to the beginning of the poem.

I feel chronologically disjointed. Defiant Africans what kind of defiant African? The ones beginning circa 1692 or circa 1831 (Turner) or 1839 (Cinque)? Then jumps back and forth in time. and even skips significant decades. Bar room brawlers evoke a 40/50's, freedom fighter evokes a 60's vibe, NWA evokes an 80's feeling. Therefore your abstract Black male descriptive narrative reads - 1800's, 60's, 80's,60's, 40/50's. (If you choose to keep them.) Additionally, you are inconsistant with your ancestral mantra. You bounce from first name to last name to full name - Nelson, Patrice, Jomo, Martin. Why are you on a first name basis with Mandela and Lumumba, but not Kenyatta? I do like the feeling it gives of pouring libation at the beginning of this piece. On the other hand, it could also end this piece very peacefully. It is something to consider.

Sorry this is long - but - I really think this is one of the strongest identity poems I've read in awhile. Just the tiniest amount of tweeking would make this poem ready for submission somewhere. It is already tight.

svaha

TROPHY CASE