"it doesn't end with a period, it ends with a comma"

Heru: The Epic African Drama

water warriors

Continuing with the Earth Day/ water scarcity theme I thought I would share information/inspiration about an issue affecting poor people in Highland, MI. Basically water is being privitized more and more to the point that poor people living in the community sometimes can't afford it. In response, local activists are trying to assert and defend the people's right-to-water.

First is a brief documentary on the issue:


And secondly, a spoken word performance by Will Copeland (aka Namaste Brown aka the Ill Wizard). (I should also mention that Will is a member of Longhairz Collective and the author of the song 1nce in a Lifetime which I mentioned a while back in "i've seen ethiopians knocking out rome".



Both the documentary and the poem are entitled "Water Warriors"

heru: barack obama is septimius severus

I haven't posted anything from Heru in a while, so here is something new:



Planet Grenada and Heru
"i've seen ethiopians knocking out rome"
Wikipedia: Septimius Severus

I should say that I still definitely plan on voting for Obama and I think that some of Heru's criticisms are a bit misdirected. On the other hand, I often think that the United States would be better off with with a parliament so that other voices (for example, like those represented by Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente) could have a voice in the government.

At the same time, it is a bit unclear to me how things would shake out after all the political dust settled under a parliament: There would be Greens and Socialists but there would also be Libertarians. The Democratic Party might clarify its status as a center-left labor party. But then Republicans would probably break-up into an economic and a social conservative group. And you'd also see a more vocal (possibly separate) role for anti-immigrant voices, the hawks, the theocrats and others. More later?

marlon unas esguerra

I've previously mentioned Anida Yeou Esguerra on Planet Grenada (see the day after and anida esguerra. And also check out atomicshotgun.com). Here is a spoken word piece, "Morning Papers" from Marlon Unas Esguerra on Def Poetry Jam. I don't know about specific theologies but it is my understanding that both identify as Asian American and Muslim spoken word artists.



e-poets: Marlon Esguerra
www.yellowfist.com