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E-NOTES: WHEN THE NEWS IS NOT ENOUGH. THE BLOG OF E. ETHELBERT MILLER
Monday, November 30, 2015
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I'm Not From Here or There
There is so much silence
in this room I must be married.
The wet leaves
in the yard are crying.
Down the street a new home
painted blue.
Jacob Lawrence is working on
his migration series.
The moving trucks once faced
Mecca.
I keep waiting for the Buddhist
monks to find me.
Outside the clouds are
returning home from heaven.
- E. Ethelbert Miller
There is so much silence
in this room I must be married.
The wet leaves
in the yard are crying.
Down the street a new home
painted blue.
Jacob Lawrence is working on
his migration series.
The moving trucks once faced
Mecca.
I keep waiting for the Buddhist
monks to find me.
Outside the clouds are
returning home from heaven.
- E. Ethelbert Miller
Saturday, November 28, 2015
E-Links from the Archives
Readers' Review: "Home" by Marilynne Robinson (Rebroadcast ...<http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-11-25/readers-review-home-marilynne-robinson-rebroadcast>
Nov 25, 2011 ... E. Ethelbert Miller. poet; director of the African American Resource Center at Howard University, Board Chair of the Institute for Policy Studies.
thedianerehmshow.org/.../readers-review-home-marilynne-robinson- rebroadcast
Readers' Review: "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin | The Diane ...<http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-04-18/readers-review-awakening-kate-chopin/transcript>
Apr 18, 2012 ... We're going to take a short break here and when we come back, more of your calls for Jane Holmes Dixon, Judith Warner, E. Ethelbert Miller, ...
thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-04-18/readers.../transcript
Readers' Review: "One Writer's Beginnings" by Eudora Welty | The ...<http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2008-06-25/readers-review-one-writers-beginnings-eudora-welty>
Jun 25, 2008 ... E. Ethelbert Miller. poet; director of the African American Resource Center at Howard University, Board Chair of the Institute for Policy Study.
thedianerehmshow.org/.../readers-review-one-writers-beginnings-eudora- welty
Readers Review: "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett | The Diane Rehm ...<http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-02-25/readers-review-help-kathryn-stockett>
Feb 25, 2010 ... E. Ethelbert Miller. poet; director of the African American Resource Center at Howard University, Board Chair of the Institute for Policy Study.
thedianerehmshow.org/shows/.../readers-review-help-kathryn-stockett
Readers' Review: Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" | The Diane ...<http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/1999-05-21/readers-review-chinua-achebes-things-fall-apart>
May 21, 1999 ... E. Ethelbert Miller. poet; director of the African American Resource Center at Howard University, Board Chair of the Institute for Policy Study.
thedianerehmshow.org/.../readers-review-chinua-achebes-things-fall-apart
Readers' Review: J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's ...<http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2001-12-21/readers-review-jk-rowlings-harry-potter-and-sorcerers-stone>
Dec 21, 2001 ... E. Ethelbert Miller. poet; director of the African American Resource Center at Howard University, Board Chair of the Institute for Policy Study.
thedianerehmshow.org/.../readers-review-jk-rowlings-harry-potter-and- sorcerers-stone
Readers' Review: Edna Ferber's "So Big" | The Diane Rehm Show ...<http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2004-07-21/readers-review-edna-ferbers-so-big>
Jul 21, 2004 ... E. Ethelbert Miller. poet; director of the African American Resource Center at Howard University, Board Chair of the Institute for Policy Study.
thedianerehmshow.org/shows/.../readers-review-edna-ferbers-so-big
Readers Review: "Your Blues Ain't Like Mine" by Bebe Moore ...<http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2007-02-21/readers-review-your-blues-aint-mine-bebe-moore-campbell>
Feb 21, 2007 ... E. Ethelbert Miller. poet; director of the African American Resource Center at Howard University, Board Chair of the Institute for Policy Study.
thedianerehmshow.org/.../readers-review-your-blues-aint-mine-bebe-moore- campbell
Readers' Review: James Baldwin's "Go Tell It on the Mountain" | The ...<http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2003-02-19/readers-review-james-baldwins-go-tell-it-mountain>
Feb 19, 2003 ... E. Ethelbert Miller. poet; director of the African American Resource Center at Howard University, Board Chair of the Institute for Policy Study.
thedianerehmshow.org/.../readers-review-james-baldwins-go-tell-it-mountain
Readers' Review: "Middle Passage" by Charles Johnson | The ...<http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2004-02-18/readers-review-middle-passage-charles-johnson>
Feb 18, 2004 ... E. Ethelbert Miller. poet; director of the African American Resource Center at Howard University, Board Chair of the Institute for Policy Study.
thedianerehmshow.org/.../readers-review-middle-passage-charles-johnson
2000 | The Diane Rehm Show from WAMU and NPR<http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2000>
Tuesday Aug 8. Invasive Species · E. Ethelbert Miller: "Fathering Words: The Making of an African American Writer" (St. Martins) ...
thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2000
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Friday, November 27, 2015
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A MICHON NOTE
To be honest -- history just repeats. Same monkey, different outfit. Is this the planet of the apes? One man's ideology is another man's religion. One man's greed is another man's necessity.
We became cynical about King's dream. People say it was co-opted to suit another agenda and they may be missing the point all together, or abandoning possibilities. Why replace names on buildings that were not built for you in the first place. Build new buildings. Build new dreams. Just build.
No body dreams anymore. We forget reality begins with a vision or a word. Langston said as much -- "I dream a world."
Looking at the footage of the 60s, I wonder how we got out of that one alive. My mom doesn't even remember the violence with the exception of the assassinations. Even then, her only thought was getting home to her kids.
Michon
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Too many people accept the ordinary life. I find it to be suffocating. The most restrictive things are family and marriage. Ordinary people need structure and order in their lives. It's time for me to draw outside the lines. Why do we think about the past so much? Only bold thinking and action will make yesterday different from tomorrow. All problems exist in the present.
THE LAST MONTH
For my birthday my friend Grace gave me a Singing Bowl from Tibet. This morning I placed it on the altar in my office. It's good to remind myself now and then of the path I need to be on. Next year I hope to reach the bend in the road; the place where you can no longer see what is behind you. 2015 has been a time of transformation. The best thing to happen was my forced departure from Howard University. The separation has encouraged me to grow and think "open mind." How long could I remain in a place talking about DuBois for the rest of my life? I don't want my cell phone to change more than I do.
It's time to put my house in order. What this means is the separation from things I once held dear.
It's also a time for silence and contemplation. The last few months I've spent too much time in cafes. I need to be reading and letting go of clutter and those things responsible for personal chaos. My life is out of order on a number of levels. Time to fix things.
The last month will be here in a few days. I need to live it as if it was my last.
Time to say good-bye to many things. The first thing to go is what I see in the mirror.
It's time to put my house in order. What this means is the separation from things I once held dear.
It's also a time for silence and contemplation. The last few months I've spent too much time in cafes. I need to be reading and letting go of clutter and those things responsible for personal chaos. My life is out of order on a number of levels. Time to fix things.
The last month will be here in a few days. I need to live it as if it was my last.
Time to say good-bye to many things. The first thing to go is what I see in the mirror.
Thursday, November 26, 2015
I got a nice note this week from Linton Kwesi Johnson. So good to be back in touch with this brother.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGnJjQqtfYk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGnJjQqtfYk
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
THE HESITATION BLUES
History is becoming memoir. This might be an outgrowth of our love for storytelling. When I discuss memoir writing I often mention the need to write about what one has been a witness to, as well as deciding what events one feels a need to reinterpret. I also ask the question - can one speak for the dead?
Lately there has been a desire to tell history "straight" as if it was a line in a poem. History too often contains lint which clings to one's new clothes. History like knowledge disappoints. If I'm told George Washington once owned slaves might I not believe he crossed the Delaware? When I was a child I was taught he threw a coin across a river. Did he never tell a lie? What if I now compare George Washington to Bill Cosby?
If we name our computers after apples it's just a matter of time before we are all Syrians crossing a border out of Eden.
There is a danger of trying to correct the past especially if one has the ability to time travel. Is there a connection between the theory of racism and the theory of relativity? Do we all have to be Einstein in order to live together or do we just have to get the numbers right?
Each generation writes its story but struggles with revision. It's easy to mistake someone like Pope Francis as a workshop leader. The man makes sense standing in front of the room. Should our desire to save the planet be linked to the challenge to walk on water? Who will teach us? If we are to survive we will need miracles. Right now we've become Houdini holding his breath underneath another war. The problem with becoming an escape artist is believing one can always escape.
Everyday we seem to be standing at the edge of a cliff. The problem of the 21st century is religion.
Yes, one man's fast is another man's slow. Tell me a story I can believe. Tell me the story of the world before it was born. Let me know what it was like before earth, water or air? Tell me a myth I can use as a mirror. There is too much darkness in the world. People keep bumping into one another like stars afraid of the night.
I want to believe in sun and moon before I close my eyes. My ears have long departed. I no longer hear the screaming or the moans - every neighbor is now a stranger. I am alone as naked as the first curse placed on man. I suffer the heavy blues - the weight of generations and failed nations. How long has my soul been gone? How long must I wait for its return? Dear God, I thought it was the fire next time. Why do you hesitate? The eyes of the living are now filled with a flood of tears. Drown us now or let us walk free. You've given us the hesitation blues.
Lately there has been a desire to tell history "straight" as if it was a line in a poem. History too often contains lint which clings to one's new clothes. History like knowledge disappoints. If I'm told George Washington once owned slaves might I not believe he crossed the Delaware? When I was a child I was taught he threw a coin across a river. Did he never tell a lie? What if I now compare George Washington to Bill Cosby?
If we name our computers after apples it's just a matter of time before we are all Syrians crossing a border out of Eden.
There is a danger of trying to correct the past especially if one has the ability to time travel. Is there a connection between the theory of racism and the theory of relativity? Do we all have to be Einstein in order to live together or do we just have to get the numbers right?
Each generation writes its story but struggles with revision. It's easy to mistake someone like Pope Francis as a workshop leader. The man makes sense standing in front of the room. Should our desire to save the planet be linked to the challenge to walk on water? Who will teach us? If we are to survive we will need miracles. Right now we've become Houdini holding his breath underneath another war. The problem with becoming an escape artist is believing one can always escape.
Everyday we seem to be standing at the edge of a cliff. The problem of the 21st century is religion.
Yes, one man's fast is another man's slow. Tell me a story I can believe. Tell me the story of the world before it was born. Let me know what it was like before earth, water or air? Tell me a myth I can use as a mirror. There is too much darkness in the world. People keep bumping into one another like stars afraid of the night.
I want to believe in sun and moon before I close my eyes. My ears have long departed. I no longer hear the screaming or the moans - every neighbor is now a stranger. I am alone as naked as the first curse placed on man. I suffer the heavy blues - the weight of generations and failed nations. How long has my soul been gone? How long must I wait for its return? Dear God, I thought it was the fire next time. Why do you hesitate? The eyes of the living are now filled with a flood of tears. Drown us now or let us walk free. You've given us the hesitation blues.