25 March 2011

Personal Anecdote on Health-(S)care

My momma has been experiencing a few health problems lately, which has me, and I’m sure the rest of my siblings a little concerned. The health of her heart is at issue. She has had some anxious moments when her chest would hurt—my unprofessional guess is that she could be having a series of minor strokes. On the one hand, momma is a proud and capable woman for her age, 70+. She still drives her own car, she tries to be as physically active as she can, she is witty (but sometimes bitter—life can do that to a Black woman), and relatively keen on current events. There are still truly teachable moments when momma can turn me on to things I may not have considered. I love that about her and will always treasure and honor her for it. On the other, she has her physical, emotional, financial, and perhaps spiritual limitations. Since her recent health issues have evolved, I can tell that she is strained; her demeanor is deteriorating a bit because she is frustrated with the level of care and the financial burdens the health-scare system has imposed upon her.

What's Cookin'




Over the past days and weeks, I have been furtively attempting to organize my damn thoughts, which honestly have been stirring in my head like a couple of scrambled eggs. My inclination is to put them all together, side by side, if possible, then try and be as coherent and cohesive as I can to get my point across; to create something palatable. The problem is that there are so many points to make, so many ingredients to mix, and I realize this culinary exercise is bigger than at first conceived. So I have to be a little creative and try not to put too many eggs in the basket because I can’t possibly cook or consume them all at one time (and probably, neither can you).

24 March 2011

SexyRain (revised 3/26/12)


falling gently against the concrete goes the sound
a delicate melody
a splash of the erotic...thick and swollen...
nimbus. naked. naughty.
intense foreplay. vigorous vibrations.
moisture spreading wet & wild among an arid opening...
oh yes, your flower will grow.

a breath of spring.
a hint of april’s love.
a heavy sigh.
soft. sensual. mouths salivating.
delightful smells.  delicious sounds.
descend. descend. descending...

dampened memories exudes a taste for nature's nectar
tongues thrashing
rain clouds moving in climatic cadences
no need for music...
water carries its own tune.
staccato.
thunder and lightening scores.

the air is humid
so is the mind...hot and wanting as
precipitation penetrates slowly...deeply
softly pounding the surface of skin...each drop so decadent
like sweat dripping from your lover’s body...a divine luxury
and a luxury so divine...the flood inside is waiting to explode
the dam between the thighs...heavy breaths. panting. purring.
the waters have come to drench your desire
aaaahhh...there is something so sexy about the rain.

04 March 2011

Presenting on Scholarship and Activism


As a black woman/feminist, I must look about me, with trembling, and with shocked anger, at the endless waste, the endless suffocation of my sisters. . . . How is my own lifework serving to end these tyrannies, these corrosions of sacred possibility? ~ June Jordan, 1936-2002

A few years ago I was invited to give a presentation on scholarship and activism at The College Preparatory School in Oakland.   I spoke to both the school’s Black Student Union, and Ms. Tigress Osborn’s Women’s Studies class in honor of Women’s History month. As much as I thought I would be a nervous, fumbling idiot (it had been a while since I’d visited this work; the possibility that I’d forgotten much of the content and context was a fear I carried), I pleasantly surprised myself by being able to talk about my intellectual and community organizing experience with ease and confidence. I began my presentation with a little educational background, which went a little something like this: