April 01, 2006
National Poetry Month 2006
I, too sing America.I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen.
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.Langston Hughes
from "I, Too, Sing America"
I'll post more info on "Poem On Your Blog 2006" early next week. Trying to create a graphic this year. We'll see.
Today marks the beginning of National Poetry Month. The Academy of American Poets gives a brief history of the event:
Inaugurated by the Academy in April 1996, National Poetry Month (NPM) brings together publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools, and poets around the country to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. Thousands of businesses and non-profit organizations participate through readings, festivals, book displays, workshops, and other events.
National Poetry Month 2006 Poster
The Academy of American Poets sponsors the National Poetry Month every April.
While I hope bloggers will celebrate "Poem On Your Blog Weekend" (FRI) April 28th thru (SUN) April 30th, I encourage everyone to participate in Poem In Your Pocket Day 2006 on April 28th.
April 02, 2006
Dine In Brooklyn, 3 April - 11 April
Dine In Brooklyn, 3 April - 11 April, originally uploaded by ronntaylor I highly recommend Bogota Latin Bistro for fantastic Pan-Latin food in a very welcoming, pleasant atmosphere. It'll be a fantastic dining experience.
Monday begins Restaurant Week, or in my beloved Boro: Dine-In Brooklyn.
April 03, 2006
Books: The Poetry of Wang Wei
As part of my celebration of National Poetry Month, I'll highlight some recent poetry finds. Today is:
The Selected Poems of Wang Wei by Wang Wei translated by David Hinton
David Hinton, whose much-acclaimed translations of Li Po and Tu Fu have become classics, now completes the triumvirate of China's greatest poets with The Selected Poems of Wang Wei.
Wang Wei (701-761 C.E.) is often spoken of, with his contemporaries Li Po and Tu Fu, as one of the three greatest poets in China's 3,000-year poetic tradition. Of the three, Wang was the consummate master of the short imagistic landscape poem that came to typify classical Chinese poetry. He developed a nature poetry of resounding tranquillity wherein deep understanding goes far beyond the words on the page -a poetics that can be traced to his assiduous practice of Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism.
Farewell to Yang, Who's Leaving for Kuo-chou by Wang WeiThose canyons are too narrow to travel.
How will you make your way there, whenit's a mere bird-path—a thousand miles
and gibbons howling all day and night?We offer travel-spirits wine, then you're
gone: Nü-lang Shrine, mountain forestsand beyond. But we still share a radiant
moon. And do you hear a nightjar there?
Recommendations: Wang Wei & Chinese Poetry
Amazon
Laughing Lost in the Mountains: Poems of Wang Wei
The poetry of Wang Wei: New translations and commentary
Barnes & Noble
Three Chinese Poets: Translations of Poems by Wang Wei, Li Bai, and Du Fu Translation by Vikram Seth (a fine author as well).
Nineteen Ways of Looking at Wang Wei: How a Chinese Poem Is Translated by Eliot Weinberger & Octavio Paz
The Anchor Book of Chinese Poetry: From Ancient to Contemporary, The Full 3000-Year Tradition, Tony Barnstone & Chou Ping, Eds.
A Naturally Occurring Phenomenon
An FYI from Bernie:
On Wednesday of this week at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06.
NYTimes.com Gets A Smart Redesign
Alert and not-so-alert readers of NYTimes.com will notice a little something different this morning: a major redesign of the site's look and feel, from top to bottom (almost). In a Sorkin-esque, marathon session of exhausting and exhilarating proportions, our team spent all weekend implementing this new design, pushing it live in progressive stages starting Sunday afternoon. The home page, that hugely symbolic focal point of any site, went live at 11:33p Eastern Standard Time.
So goes Khoi Vinh's description of the New York Times fantastic redesign. I visited Sunday and thought something was a bit... different. It wasn't until I read John Gruber this morning that I realized there had been a total redesign. Overall, I love it. I have a few piddling remarks — the visited link color seems off, I would love a better top navigation look for the buttons at the top of pages, and a bit more color would be nice — but it's not intrusive, and that's what makes this design so good. Vinh explains:
“The new design looks just like the old design." That would suit me fine, because it would signal a continuity that I think is completely appropriate for such a closely watched site like 'The New York Times', and besides, I know for a fact that it’s more elegant and more useful than it was before.
I couldn't agree more with him. It's nice to see personal sites with a major, awe-inspiring change. Business sites, however, should make you feel confident that the business at hand is the most important aspect of the site. Not the look and feel of the site. Of course, those two factors aid in the enjoyment and usage of sites, but they should not overwhelm the experience.
It almost makes me want to contract out a redesign of my stale site.
April 05, 2006
Dual Booting On A MacIntel Official! Is This Real?!
I thought this was a joke after reading The Unofficial Mac Blog (TUAW) while checking my email.
More and more people are buying and loving Macs. To make this choice simply irresistible, Apple will include technology in the next major release of Mac OS X, Leopard, that lets you install and run the Windows XP operating system on your Mac. Called Boot Camp (for now), you can download a public beta today.
I'm gonna need a report from a certain someone inorder to sort this out. This creates a certain Wow Factor. And I guess I mos def will be getting a new Mac in a couple of weeks.
April 09, 2006
Poem On Your Blog Weekend 2006: Image
I'm no designer, so if anyone wants to take a crack at it.
April 10, 2006
An Open Letter to the LGBT Community
This is from a listserv I belong to (sorry, no corresponding link was forwarded):
An Open Letter to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community:
We are a group of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people of color who work in the LGBT movement. We are writing to you in response to Jasmyne Cannick's article "Gays First, Then Illegals", which ran in The Advocate, in which she, a black lesbian, argues that she cannot support the current battle for immigrant rights because LGBT people have not yet won the right to marry. We are writing to express our profound disagreement with her, and to offer alternative LGBT perspectives to the current immigration battles happening across the country.
To begin with, Cannick fails to realize an obvious fact - the LGBT community and the immigrant community are not mutually exclusive. There are thousands of LGBT immigrants in this country. There are thousands of black immigrants. And there are thousands of black LGBT immigrants.
To put forward an argument that says "we should get ours first" makes us question who exactly is the "we" in that analysis. In addition, we recognize the historically interconnected nature of the immigrant and LGBT struggles - such as the ban on "homosexual immigrants" that extended into the 1990's, and the present HIV ban, which disproportionately impacts LGBT people - and we believe that only by understanding these connections and building coalition can we ensure real social change for all.
And we ask those who share the destructive views of this article to remember the immortal words of Audre Lorde when she said that "There is no hierarchy of oppression". We reject any attempts to pit the struggle of multiple communities against each other and firmly believe that "Rights" are not in limited supply. We condemn the "scarcity of rights" perspective espoused by Cannick and other members of the LGBT movement, and are surprised to see members of our community trafficking in such ugliness. But then, one reason why it has always been so hard to shift power in this country is because the ruling class has successfully made us believe that there are only a few deserving groups to whom rights can be given. This strategy has always been used to divide oppressed groups from coming together to work in coalition.
We are painfully aware that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities still lack many basic protections under the law in this country, including the right to care for and support all of our families, in the various ways in which we construct family and kinship. Nevertheless, supporting immigrant rights, while we continue to work for LGBT liberation, does nothing to hurt our cause. In fact, we believe the opposite to be true, and want to work towards building powerful coalitions between immigrant and LGBT movements to work together for social justice.
We are also aware that many immigrant right advocates have (intentionally or not) used anti-black rhetoric to move their agenda forward. Arguments such as "Don't treat us like 'criminals'" or "We are doing work that 'other' Americans won't do" have the effect of positioning immigrant narratives as subtly juxtaposed with American stereotypes of non-immigrant black communities. They leave native-born black Americans as among the only people who do not have access to the immigrant narrative, and so are in a permanent position of subordination, as the state consistently negotiates and redefines citizenship and "American-ness" for almost everyone but blacks. Nevertheless, the solution to this problem is not to abandon support for the struggle of immigrant communities. Rather, we call on immigrant movements and (non-immigrant) black organizations to work together for real racial and economic justice in this country. Together these movements can work to end the exploitation and targeting of both communities, and to ensure that black folks and immigrants do not end up having to choose between competing for low-paying jobs, or being targeted for detainment or imprisonment.
As lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people of color, we support the current immigrant rights marches and rallies happening across the country this month, and we march too. We march because immigrants are among the most politically vulnerable, underpaid and exploited communities in the country, and are asking for basic human rights, including the right to live free from torture and exploitation, and the right to work. We march because we recognize the connections between the state attacks on immigrant and LGBT communities, and that LGBT immigrants in particular are disproportionately affected by much anti-immigrant legislation. We march because we oppose the heightened policing and criminalization of immigrant communities, including the increased militarization of the border, as mandated by HR 4437 and Senate bills. We march because we oppose indefinite and mandatory detention of non-citizens — as well as the mass incarceration of People of color - communities in the U.S. more broadly — and envision a society that ensures the safety and self-determination of all people, regardless of national origin, race, class, gender or sexuality. We march because we oppose the guest worker proposals, which would continue the exploitation of many low-wage workers. We march because we demand the repeal of the HIV ban. We march because our sexualities have been historically criminalized by this country and we understand that "law" and "justice" are not the same thing.
It is our understanding that Jasmyne Cannick was writing as an individual, and not as a representative of either the National Black Justice Coalition (on whose Board of Directors she serves) or The Stonewall Democrats (for whose Black Caucus she serves as Co-Chair). As LGBT people of color, we call upon both of those organizations to publicly clarify their own positions in this ongoing civil rights discussion.
We also call upon our community to imagine how much more progress we could make if we all stopped thinking of social justice as a zero-sum game.
Sincerely,
Katherine Acey
Executive Director, the Astraea Lesbian Action Fund
Faisal Alam
Founder & Former Director, Al-Fatiha Foundation for LGBTIQ Muslims
Samiya Bashir
Board Member, National Black Justice Coalition
Communications Director, Freedom to Marry
Board Member, Fire & Ink
Noemi Calonje
Immigration Project Director, National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR)
Noran J. Camp
Office Administrator, Freedom to Marry
Chris Chen
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Immigrant from Taiwan 1997
Alain Dang
Policy Analyst, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Debanuj Dasgupta
Board of Directors, Queer Immigrant Rights Project
Carlos Ulises Decena, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey
Joseph N. DeFilippis
Executive Director, Queers for Economic Justice
Marta Donayre
Co-Founder, Love Sees No Borders
Andres Duque
Coordinator, Mano A Mano
Monroe France
Educational Training Manager, Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network
Board of Directors, Queers for Economic Justice
Eddie Gutierrez
Rep. for Christine Chavez, granddaughter of labor and Civil Rights leader Cesar Chavez
Priscilla A. Hale, LMSW
Executive Director, ALLGO
Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano
Director of Arts and Community Building, ALLGO
Kemi Ilesanmi
Surina Khan
Interim Vice President of Programs, The Women's Foundation of California
former Executive Director, International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission
Lee Che Leong
Director of Teen Health Initiative, New York Civil Liberties Union
Elizabeth Lorde-Rollins
Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center
Board of Directors, Queers for Economic Justice
Yoseñio Vicente Lewis
Board Member, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Latino, Trans Social Justice Activist, first generation U.S. Citizen
Glenn Magpantay
Steering Committee Member, Gay Asian & Pacific Islander Men of New York
Rickke Mananzala
Campaign Coordinator, FIERCE!
Gloria Nieto
National Latino Justice Coalition
Doyin Ola
Welfare Organizer, Queers for Economic Justice
Jesús Ortega-Weffe
Director of Community Organizing, ALLGO
Emiko Otsubo
former Board member, Queers for Economic Justice
Clarence Patton
Executive Director, NYC Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project
Donna Payne
Senior Diversity Organizer, Human Rights Campaign
Earl L. Plante
Development Director, National Minority AIDS Council
President-Elect, Board of Directors, National Black Justice Coalition
Achebe Powell
Betty Powell Associates
Lorraine Ramirez
Public Policy Committee, Queers for Economic Justice
Lisbeth Meléndez Rivera
Convener, the National Latino Coalition for Justice
Ignacio Gilberto Rivera
Founder, Poly Patao Productions
Board of Directors, Queers for Economic Justice
Russell D. Roybal
Director of Movement Building, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Shay Sellars
Major Gifts and Events Administrator, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Pedro Julio Serrano
Communications Associate, Freedom to Marry
President, Puerto Rico Para Tod@s
Sarah Sohn
New Voices Legal Fellow, Immigration Equality
Board of Directors, Queers for Economic Justice
Lisa Thomas-Adeyemo
Co-Coordinator, National People of Color Organizing Institute, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Director of Counseling, San Francisco Women Against Rape
Carmen Vazquez
Deputy Executive Director, Empire State Pride Agenda
Robert Vazquez-Pacheco
former Program Manager, Funders for Gay and Lesbian Issues
Lisa Weiner-Mahfuz
Capacity Building Project Director, The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Andy Shie Kee Wong,
Coalition Manager, Asian Equality
Lancy Woo and Cristy Chung
lead Plaintiffs in the Woo vs Lockyer, marriage rights case
Miriam Yeung
Director of Public Policy and Government Relations, the LGBT Community Center
Loose Change = New Songs
Via The iPod Observer & observed at Not Formica by Cecily Walker Kidd (AKA The BlogMother)
Coinstar Adds iTunes Gift Cards/eCertificatesCoinstar announced Monday that iTunes gift cards or eCertificates have been added as options at Coinstar Centers. Coinstar operates kiosks at grocery stores and other retail outlets across the U.S. that convert loose coins to cash for an 8.9% fee. The company also offers several gift card options, now including iTunes, that make the conversion into a fee-free transaction.
In the company's announcement, Coinstar noted that there is an estimated US$10.5 billion in spare change hoarded in the U.S. As the company put is, "that's 10 billion iTunes downloads to be had, which is enough to fill nearly 44 million1GB iPod Shuffles!"
Two points: 1. Go to Commerce bank and you can convert your change for free. (Of course, you may have to stand in line with a less than pleasant smelling homeless person, so 8.9% may be worth it!) 2. Shows you how ingrained the iPod is in today's society when it's mentioned so matter-of-factly.
April 12, 2006
Yo Kite Operations, See Y'all Next Year
Damm! Damm! Damm!
Just found out that this coming Saturday Kite Operations will be playing their last show of 2006:
Who: Kite Operations
When: Friday, April 14, 2006, 9:00pm
Where: Sin-é, 150 Attorney St @ Stanton, New York, NY ( 212.388.0077 )
How...much: $10
Who...again: 21
What: Chicken butt
* via several Xanga sites, including band member Dave Yang's. Can't remember who I stole copied the above info from tho.
April 13, 2006
Google Calendar Goes Live
I rarely use Yahoo's Calendar feature, so I doubt I'll use this:
"Google Calendar" is a free service similar to existing efforts by Yahoo and others that allows users to make entries and remind themselves of upcoming events, in a Web-based format. The service is available online now.
"Using Google Calendar, you can add events and invitations effortlessly, share with friends and family (or keep things to yourself), and search across the web for events you might enjoy. It's organising made easy," the landing page for the new application states.
Users will need an account with the software vendor to be able to use the new calendar application. Supported Web browsers include Microsoft's Internet Explorer (version six or higher) and Mozilla Firefox (1.0.7 or higher).
via ZDNet
My Flickr Favorites So Far
1. A CeBraTIOn Of SPrINg, 2. Let's ShaRE, 3. 1 Corinthians 13:12, 4. SolarEclipseMarch2006AccraGhana, 5. george & james, 6. Mawulised, 7. Lynne d Motto: "U Ain't Fresh AZIMIZ", 8. Liza Sabater, 9. kungfu fighting, 10. Untitled, 11. Ready for Carnival! Alaaf!, 12. HOW DO U STOP?, 13. Mirror In The Bathroom, 14. vivid, 15. bey-avedon-jordan, 16. bus wait remix
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.
April 14, 2006
Celebrating Rashawn
I already mentioned a march to demand action for Rashawn Brazell. Larry Lyons informs us that later that night, there will be a fundraising event for the Rashawn Brazell Memorial Fund:
The Larry Lyons Experience: Justice for Rashawn: SATURDAYA PARTY CELEBRATING RASHAWN'S LIFE!
April 15th marks what would have been Rashawn's 21st birthday. Join us as we gather to celebrate his life and his legacy. Restless Produxns will host one of their legendary "Sweet Sessions" fundraisers to benefit the Rashawn Brazell Memorial Fund.
We would love it if you came out.
Venue: Nightingales (2nd Avenue at 13th Street)
Time: 9pm-2am
While the cover is a mere $5, attendees are encouraged to give as generously as they can. All proceeds will support the college education of NYC high school student committed to the fight against racism, sexism and homophobia.
Note: This is a 21 event. Please bring proper identification.
For more information about the party, follow this link.
April 15, 2006
iTunes Random Ten
Load up ye ole iPod. List the next ten songs on random play (Song -- Artist | Album):
1. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To -- Andy Bey | Ballads, Blues & Bey
2. Sigur 9B -- Sigur Ros | Sigur1 / Sigur9
3. Harlem -- Bill Withers | Lean On Me: The Best of Bill Withers
4. Pirate Jenny -- Nina Simone | Reflections
5. What Are They Doing In Heaven -- Marion Williams | Through Many Dangers
6. Cold Air -- Natalie Imbruglia | Y Tu Mama Tambien
7. So In Love -- Ella Fitzgerald | The Cole Porter Songbook
8. The Chicago Strut -- Gregory Hines, et al | Jelly's Last Jam (Original Cast)
9. You Never Miss The Water -- Jimmy Scott | Dream
10. Greenbacks -- Ray Charles | The Birth of Soul
April 18, 2006
LomoKikuyu: It's Good To See Again!
I've mentioned Lomo cams on this site before. Here's a good cause through the Lomographic Society International:
LomoKikuyu – It's good to see (again) Every Lomographer and their friends and acquaintances the world over is being appealed to donate 30 Euros or 30 American dollars and so save somebody's eyesight. This is roughly how much it costs our internationally active partner organisation Light for the World to carry out cataract surgery, to restore the eyesight of somebody who has gone blind. We immediately pass on the full 100% of all donations to Light for the World, and in the bat of an eyelid it'll be used to finance an operation in Kenya so a person can see (again). Everybody who saves somebody's eyesight will also receive a copy of a wonderful Lomographic book describing the special story of LomoKikuyu in words and about a thousand Lomographic images.
Additional information can be found at-
LIGHT FOR THE WORLD - Christoffel Development Cooperation is an Austrian, non-governmental development organisation committed to helping people who have eye diseases, are blind or otherwise disabled in underprivileged regions of our world, irrespective of gender, origin, ethnicity or religion.
We focus our work on prevention and cure of blindness and rehabilitation of blind and otherwise disabled persons.
April 20, 2006
Kevin So News: Tonight & "Special" Sets at Teabag In Chinatown
I won't be able to make tonight:
Dear Family, Friends, and Fans alike !KEVIN SO performs TONIGHT!!!
THURSDAY - APRIL 20 - 8:00pm Showtime
ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL New York, NY
196 Allen Street (btw E. Houston & Stanton)
(212) 477-4155 - Never a cover/Pass the hat
But it looks like I can do this:
And Introducing...KEVIN'S SHOW!!!THIS SUNDAY 4/23, 3:00PM - 5:00PM
Silk Road Place, 30 Mott Street, Chinatown, NYC a.k.a "TEABAG"
Admission: $5 + one drink minimumAcclaimed singer/songwriter KEVIN SO will perform a special acoustic
set featuring his classics and new songs from his forthcoming studio
album, A BRIGHTER DAY. He will also share funny stories and personal
anecdotes about life on the road and devoting himself to music.
But wait, there's more:
MORE GOOD NEWS !!!
Kevin's very first music video "A BRIGHTER DAY" has recently premiered on MTV CHI !!! Check out this link for more info:
http://www.mtvchi.com/news/story.jhtml?id=1528395
Kevin's 3 CDs INDIVIDUAL (1997), LEAVING THE LIGHTS ON (2003), and THE SO MUST GO ON (2005) are available NOW on iTUNES!
April 25, 2006
Pirate Emperor George I
Via Terrance of Republic of T. fame:
A nice little history on pirates and emperors, applied to contemporary America. Well at least to Dubya/BushCo and their actions in Iraq and the world:
I'm loving YouTube more and more each and every day!
April 27, 2006
Art In Harlem: Star Struck, The Commercial
Steven ups the ante with a commercial for his art gathering, Art In Harlem: Star Struck:
I'm so there!
April 28, 2006
Celebrate Poem On Your Blog Weekend -- April 28th through 30th, 2006
Celebrate Poem On Your Blog Weekend -- April 28th through 30th, 2006, originally uploaded by ronntaylor
For the first day of "Poem On Your Blog Weekend," I've chosen a poem by one of my favorite Poets, Rita Dove. I plan to print out several copies and also Participate in "Poem In Your Pocket Day."
Adolescence II
by Rita Dove
Although it is night, I sit in the bathroom, waiting.
Sweat prickles behind my knees, the baby-breasts are alert.
Venetian blinds slice up the moon; the tiles quiver in pale strips.
Then they come, the three seal men with eyes as round
As dinner plates and eyelashes like sharpened tines.
They bring the scent of licorice. One sits in the washbowl,
One on the bathtub edge; one leans against the door.
"Can you feel it yet?" they whisper.
I don't know what to say, again. They chuckle,
Patting their sleek bodies with their hands.
"Well, maybe next time." And they rise,
Glittering like pools of ink under moonlight,
And vanish. I clutch at the ragged holes
They leave behind, here at the edge of darkness.
Night rests like a ball of fur on my tongue.
From Selected Poems by Rita Dove (Random House. © 1993 by Rita Dove)
April 29, 2006
Poem On Your Blog Weekend - Saturday
Today, a celebrated poet, Yusef Komunyakaa.
Ode To The MaggotBrother of the blowfly
And godhead, you work magic
Over battlefields,
In slabs of bad porkAnd flophouses. Yes, you
Go to the root of all things.
You are sound & mathematical.
Jesus, Christ, you're mercilessWith the truth. Ontological & lustrous,
You cast spells on beggars & kings
Behind the stone door of Caesar's tomb
Or split trench in a field of ragweed.No decree or creed can outlaw you
As you take every living thing apart. Little
Master of earth, no one gets to heaven
Without going through you first.
listen to the above
Find other works by Yusef Komunyakaa
More BS From 'Brokeback High'
Brandon Flyte, the Oregon student director of "Brokeback High," has a sad update: His HS is still pilin' on the BS. Now, just a day before the prom, he's been denied entry and suspended.
Today, the day before Prom, the school is telling me that I can not attend Prom, even though for the past couple weeks I've been checking in with the Dean of Students to make sure it was cool that I still attend.
The agreement for me to attend Prom and graduate was that I have perfect attendance, which I've had. I have attended every class since I've been back in school after Brokeback High. About a week ago, I was marked tardy in my guitar class. Today, I talked to the guitar teacher and he admitted that it was probably just an oversight. He wrote me a note to show to the administration saying that I've been consistently on-time to class and he probably just made a mistake when taking attendance.
He should have sued. I knew something like this was coming. More details:
The other tardy that's in question is from yesterday morning. I arrived to school a few minutes late because of an unrelenting nose bleed I had. My mom called in yesterday morning and excused that with the office.I am slightly late to my early bird credit recovery class; there is no school bus that early in the morning so I have to get a ride to school with my dad on his way to work, whose own schedule prevents me from arriving precisely on time. Part of the agreement when I came back to school a month ago was that it was okay for me to be a few minutes late to that early morning class.
What really irks me is that just a couple of days ago, I was told by the administration that I could attend Prom. Why the day before do they decide to exclude me? The first tardy that came into question today was on April 21st, yet I met with the administration earlier this week and they said I was clear to go to Prom. Why did they suddenly change their tune?
On top of not being able to go to Prom, they also suspended me today. I wanted to talk to my counselor about this whole mess but they refused to allow me to discuss it, forcing policy on me without a parent or lawyer present just like last time. When they demanded I go back to class, I refused, telling them I wanted to talk to my counselor. I was then suspended for 'disobedience' and escorted off-campus by school security.
Had I been notified two weeks ago that I could not go to Prom, I would not have paid for tickets, rented a tux, or allowed my girlfriend to pay for her dress. If the administration gets their way, she'll miss her senior prom because of a grudge the school has against me.
I don't know what I'm going to do about the suspension, but I do know I'm going to Prom. If I have to do it with my lawyer in tow, then so be it.
April 30, 2006
Poem On Your Blog Weekend - Sunday
Today's poem comes from Poet Extraodinaire Emanuel Xavier (and it's quite appropriate given the anti-Immigrant and anti-Latino political landscape of our times):
AmericanoI look at myself in the mirror
trying to figure out what makes me an American
I see Ecuador and Puerto RicoI see brujo spirits moving across the backs of Santeros
splattered with the red blood of sacrificed chickens
on their virgin white clothes and blue beads for Yemaya
practicing religions without a roofI see my own blood
reddening the white sheets of a stranger
proud American blue jean labels on the side of the bedI see Don Rosario in his guayabera
sitting outside the bodega
with his Puerto Rican flag
reading time in the eyes of alley catsI see my mother trying to be more like Marilyn Monroe than Julia De Burgos
I see myself trying to be more like James Dean than Federico Garcia LorcaI see Carlos Santana, Gloria Estefan,
Ricky Martin and Jennifer Lopez
More than just sporadic Latin explosions
More like fireworks on el Cuatro de Julio
as American as Bruce Springsteen, Janis Joplin,
Elvis Presley and Aretha FranklinI see Taco Bell's and chicken fajita's at McDonald's
I see purple, blue, green, yellow and orange
I see Chita Rivera on BroadwayI am as American as lemon merengue pie
as American as Wonder Woman's panties
as American as Madonna's bra
as American as the Quinteñero's, the Abdul's, the Lee's,
the Jackson's, the Kennedy's
all immigrants to this soil since none sound American Indian to me
as American as television snow after the anthem is played
and I am not ashamedJose, can you see . . .
I pledge allegiance
to this country 'tis of me
land of dreams and opportunity
land of proud detergent names and commercialism
land of corporationsIf I can win gold medals at the Olympics
sign my life away to die for the United States
No Small-town hick is gonna tell me I ain't an American
because I can spic in two languages
coño carajo y fuck youThis is my country too
where those who do not believe in freedom and diversity
are the ones who need to get the hell out
. .