Hurricane Sandy

“A rushing mighty wind”[i] blew threw

Whipping up walls of waves

Sweeping amusement away

Filling cracks

Crevices

With swirling debris

Announcing for all to see

Majesty in its raw power

“A rushing mighty wind” blew threw

Trees bending…bowing…dancing…

Sporadically swaying and cracking

As limbs break away

Flying into space

Crashing and smashing

The reality of what was

Pulling down wires

Igniting fires…exploding in time

“A rushing mighty wind” blew threw

Flood waters submerging cars

Roared into homes

Engulfing victims snuffing out lives

The death toll rises

 As tremendous trees

Fall to the earth 

Announcing more fatalities…

“A rushing mighty wind” blew threw

As darkness spread across the land

Broken humming bird sounds

Eerily peeped between whooshes

Of the wind song

Howling obliteration and destruction...

Airborne roofs shed shingles

That mingled with agony and tears of loss.

We shall rebuild shout voices intensifying from devastation and desolation

We shall succeed sing voices together in harmony and unity

We shall prevail…for this is our destiny.

---

[i] Acts 2:2

Heart of Light

“Home again

Home again

Jiggedy"

Home is where the heart of light lives!

Home is a place

Where people related through history

From a blood line

And a love line

Pass together through time.

Home is a place

Where people are spiritually joined

In a unified hope

That circumstance and chance

Will not destroy the thread

Upon which solidarity is fed.

Home is a place

Where memories from past moments

Are embedded in space

And come face to face

With what is and what was.

Home is a place

Where the storms in life sometimes

Rain sadness from clouds of pain

Yet compassion is there

Just the same.

Home is a place

Where people share

Care

And nurture the sapling of youth

Encouraging it to grow and bear fruit

That will reach across

The boundaries of th

 Home is a place

Where people rest

When the harvest is gathered

And winter comes

Along with the weariness and satisfaction

From a job well done!

"Home again 

Home again 

Jigeddy jig"

 Home is where the heart of light lives!

The Beat of the Street

The beat of the street

The beat of the street

Street beat

Street beat

Feet running in the street to the beat

Of marathon miles piled high on a heap

Of life’s choices...voices rejoice

For the goal setters whose better turns to best

When concentration and determination

Fly together on the wings of the wind

Feet running in the street to the beat

Of the joy of life riding in the light

Through the night whispering of hope

In spite of darkness and desolation

And drug highs that mimic

A pseudo escape into a state of elation

Feet running in the street to the beat

Of the evasive dollar...concerned voices holler

Don’t be fooled by illusive jewels

Or the bling bling of a counterfeit reality

Filled with the superficiality

Of a laughter that hides pain and shame

Feet running in the street to the beat

Dreaming dreams that may fade

Yet at the dawn of another day

determined to leap over hurdles

In order to grasp that golden ring

And in triumph be able to sing success!

Then concentration and determination

Fly together on the wings of the wind

And direct the beat of the street...

Street beat

Street beat

Environment Rap

Garbage…filth everywhere
Sure is hard to breathe this air
Fumes from pollution contribute to disease
Choking the lungs…making people wheeze
Rats…roaches…waste …spit
Broken down buildings where living ain’t fit 

What a mess!
What a mess!
Made in the name of progress

Contaminated water running through the drains
Vaporizing into acid rain
Chemicals dumped in rivers and streams
Ground water poisoned and it can’t be seen
Food we eat sprayed with bug killer
Chickens given hormones making them bigger 

What a mess
What a mess
Made in the name of progress!

Trees in the forest chopped down
This is not environmentally sound
Ozone layer full of holes
So each person now is exposed
To the harmful rays of the sun
Cancer has become a risk for everyone

What a mess
What a mess
Made in the name of progress!

Global warming is now a threat
Carbon dioxide in the air changed the climate
Record heat, storms, fires, drought
All these changes brought about
By man in his quest for financial gain
Sacrificing earth and that’s a shame!

What a mess
What a mess
Made in the name of progress!

Racism of the New Millennium

Incarceration… imprisonment...captivity…physically no longer free to come and go as one pleases. Cement walls…clanking doors…body scanners…pat downs…a sea of men dressed in khaki colored uniforms…young…middle age…old…more blacks than Hispanics…more Hispanics than white… all suffering from a malaise…a social sickness…a condition of continual malcontent underscored by a desperateness …forever plotting and planning the next scheme…the next scam…pursuing a delusion…never seeing beyond the fantasy and the illusion of the American dream. Children idolizing daddies in jail grow up assimilating prison into psyches of limited understanding consequently glorifying the new reality. Loved ones caught up in a cycle of hope and disillusionment stretch out hands of comfort that continually get burned in the fire of social injustice. The United States has more people in prison than anywhere else in the world, There are over 2,000,000 people incarcerated of which over one third are black and yet black people represent only about 13 % of the USA population. Many men and women with prison records are disenfranchised, and lose their right to vote due to felony convictions; jobs for ex- cons returning to the outside world are almost non-existent; the path to GED programs is overgrown with weeds of erosion which eat away at the roots of education …attrition has scored again… programs have been forced to close, and decent housing of course is always restricted by income. Fists are raised in rage against discrimination and economic conditions … against incarceration…against the new plantation for people of color…voices cry out against the racism of the new millennium…tears fall for the shattered dreams of children bruised by poverty. The war on drugs waged primarily in the inner cities, coupled with racial profiling, and the school to prison pipeline account for a lot of the disparity in the racial configuration of the prison system in the United States. One out of fifteen African-American males are incarcerated, one in thirty-six Hispanic males, this compared to one out of one hundred and six white males who are currently in jail. The Bureau of Justice statistics states that one out of three black men will be arrested in their lifetime. According to the Human Rights Watch African Americans make up roughly 14% of the drug using population yet 37% of those arrested for using drugs are black. Why? Because the battle against drugs is fought mainly in the respective hoods of America; because racial profiling is a reality; and because more blacks get harassed, stopped, and searched by the police than do their white counterparts. “Where’s my Daddy?” cry out youthful voices in the impending night…”I want my Mommy!” sob lonely spirits alienated from nurturing reassuring arms that then grow up always seeking to satisfy their need to fit in…to belong…to define themselves… mean while cultivating friendships with anger, defiance, and violence. Then off to school they go, and the school to prison pipeline becomes an actuality for many. According to data from the Department of Education, African American students are referred to the criminal justice system by schools more than their white peers. Of the 96,000 students arrested in the school year 2009-2010, and the 242,000 students referred to law enforcement over 70% were black and Hispanic. African-American youth represent 40% of incarcerated youth and yet they make up only 16% of the youth population today. A sea of disenfranchised humanity awaits the eradication of the racism of the new millennium. Children cry out for the restoration of loving bonds that bind the heart of a people into an affirmative identity. Hope marches through the hood illuminating a path to a new reality for those who have lost their way in the midst of dollar signs, in the midst of bling-bling, and in the midst of the illusive American dream.

A Celebration of Education

On Tuesday, August 28th, there was a Celebration of Education at the House of Love Soup Kitchen. Education is not only learning to read, write, and do math. Education is the nurturing, the guidance, and the expansion of the mind, cognitive abilities, and thoughts. Education is the path to self –determination. Education is the vehicle with which to learn about oneself, to discover one’s natural talents and abilities, and then to begin to make wise choices based on wisdom and knowledge. Education is the edification of mind, body, and spirit growing together in the beauty of harmony, coupled with unity. Education is hearts reaching out to give back positively to the global community. The celebration turned out quite nicely thanks to our partner the NJ Community Foodbank, and all the other volunteers that assisted with the event. The children were excited, the parents enjoyed themselves, and there was plenty of fun marking the end to another summer soon to be done. Math worksheets had to be completed, pizza, iced tea, and ice cream were handed out along with plenty of school supplies…tote bags, pencil sharpeners, composition notebooks, one subject notebooks, five subject notebooks, pencils, pens, erasers, glue sticks, loose leaf paper, rulers, pencil cases, markers, and reading books…all necessary tools with which to be successful in school. Every young person got prizes and awards for completing worksheets. The worksheets consisted of basic math facts. The grade levels of the participants ranged from pre-school to high school. Some of the parents and other volunteers assisted the children. Everyone was enthusiastic. Certain students though struggled with concepts that should have been mastered by them already according to their grade level. We found out that many after school programs, and tutoring programs have been cut. It’s amazing that the educational hierarchy will scream about test scores yet cut programs that would help achieve desired outcomes. Math test scores right now are in the basement for many inner city school districts. Education is the means to break the cycle of poverty yet many students start failing math and reading at an early age hence that progression of destitution continues for many. Blacks have fought long and hard for the right to an equal education only to be thwarted in this day age by a different type of racism that camouflages itself in the cloak of the dollar sign. America worships the dollar and will sacrifice lives at the altar of privileged circumstance and filthy riches. It’s more expedient to build new prisons than new schools. Jails and prisons are now the new plantation in which to house excess humanity. The House of Love Soup Kitchen will continue to search for ways to assist the community in these socially difficult times.

Death by Train

July 30, 2012 A woman so distraught with life jumped in front of the train that my granddaughters and I were traveling on and committed suicide. We were totally oblivious to this tragedy. The train was moving relatively slowly and then it just stopped. A short time later the conductors came to the club car and shared with us what had happened. This tragic event occurred between Kissimmee and Orlando in broad daylight. As the clock relentlessly ticked away what last minute tortuous thoughts poisoned this woman’s resistance in her demonic struggle as she made her way to her chosen death destiny? Destructive forces swirling twirling in a whirlpool of negative energy suck hope into a void of nothingness replacing it with overwhelming depression drowning her soul in a sea of injurious thoughts…whispering voices murmur generating perplexing suggestions of destruction. I wonder about the circumstances that pitched her in to into such an irreversible despair. Gray and black clouds shroud the light that attempts to pierce the heart wanting to infuse positive expectation into veins running cold. Listening ears disappear while loneliness creeps in and kind words percolate in a cesspool of impediments. The heart grows heavy inundated by cruel callous insensitive behavior. Where were the people in her life that would push her to fight through the cobwebs of pessimism and melancholy and not succumb to the agony of defeat? Judgments shot from oozies of insanity traveling faster than the speed of light pierce faith killing it instantly. Children cry in the night for missing mothers. Trauma and abuse her constant companions accompanied her as they wandered together along winding paths overgrown with chaos and madness. Catastrophic energies explode into a cacophony of sound clashing, clanging, banging, humming, buzzing dissonance riding on clatter swish into brain matter destroying the will to survive in the midst of allusion and confusion. Pins and needles shoot through the body numbing senses as the finality of the moment sets in. Die, die, die disembodied voices chant in atonal discord crushing the need to be sane. Die, die, die ,just say good bye command gravelly distant voices… die, die, die, just say goodbye yell strident shrill tones …die, die, die, just say good bye growl raucous guttural urgings … Die…die…die…and say goodbye forever to groveling…to misery…to melancholy…to gloom…to shame. The demonic eye in the center of the emotional storm fixates on impulsivity and the need to act without thought pushes the suffering soul into an abyss of no return. Crushing bones splinter splitting ligaments tearing nerve endings from the root of life ending existence in this plain of poignant pain. When we feel so hopeless thinking that no one cares…try believing in God! God is love God is compassion. God embodies all that is good in this life. God will cradle us in the midst of our darkest thoughts. He will speak peace to our souls through his sunsets brilliantly colored in beauty and excellence; his sunrises herald new beginnings each day; his stars in the night sky twinkle of goodness and mercy. All we have to do is look up and live! I pray for the soul of this woman. If she has family and children I pray for them as well. Look up and live!

Black Boy Mothers Blues

Insensitive racist minds sabotage
The existence of humanity calling for insanity
In a time of black shrines in the hand of the Devine
Whose dreams were shattered hopes scattered
But to most people it never really mattered
Because in the midst of poverty there is no equality
Only eyes filled with tears knowing heartache is near
Because police brutality has become the reality
How do we scream for Louima and Faison?
What can we do for Crew and Amadu?
I’m talking about the black boy mother’s blues
The black boy mother’s blues…

What are the odds that in this lifetime
You can walk the streets and count the shrines
Dedicated to those whose lives have ceased
Caught up in the war of these mean streets
A mother’s son shot dead by the police
Will she ever find relief from the beast in the streets? Nah!
Only through the hand of God above
Is her spirit and soul restored
From the devastating blow that you and I both know
Is a harsh reality to a violent mentality
R.I.P. may they rest in peace
To be raised in power in these darkest of hours

One man shot forty one times
A mural on the wall has become his shrine
What can we do for Amadu gunned down by the men in blue?
Why? Because he took out a wallet
And in their racist haste one more life has gone to waste…
As have so many others like Stanton Crew
Earl Faison maced in the face of
Racial profiling corruption and greed
All signs in a time when the police must be
Losing their minds while inflicting pain
It’s a wonder more black mothers haven’t gone insane…

It’s the black boy mother’s blues…

R.I.P. may they rest in peace…
Her son’s access to opportunity denied
Swallowed up in lies
And in retaliation to a racist nation
Drugs are now king in this ring
And minds are doomed to be tuned
Into self annihilation and obliteration
Her son trapped like a slave
In a way of existence
That requires little resistance
And where police brutality has become their reality
How do we scream for Louima and Faison?
What can we do for Crew and Amadu?

Latinos, Arabs, Muslims, South Asians
Minorities are treated brutally by the police of this nation
Anthony Baez 1994
Died from a chokehold outside his door
Anthony Rosario shot in the back
It’s open season on minorities and blacks
Jerome Johnson sixteen died from mistaken identity
And it seems that many of the police
In spite of the tragedy of 9/11
Continue to brutalize minorities 24/7
What about Johnny Gammage killed
In the still of a Pittsburg night?

Voices from the dead seek release
No justice no peace…no justice no peace
Is the rallying cry to incite recognition
Of the plight of minority males and their condition
For in the scales of justice there is an imbalance
And consequently never an assurance
For those living in urban environments
Nicholas Heyward age thirteen gunned down
in 1993 in New York City
And in 1997 a young man named Patrick Bailey
murdered at the hands of one of the police gestapo
who later went on to gun down Amadu Diallo

Over 2000 lives have been lost
And in some cases reparation has been sought
Yet the attitudes of the police remain impenitent
And their approach to blacks and minorities quite combatant
Yet the invincible people with raised voices cry
No justice no peace…no justice no peace
How do we scream for Louima and Faison?
What can we do for Crew and Amadu?
We can take up the cry against injustice
We can pray for a country embroiled in hypocrisy
That the Spirit of Truth will set us all free
From a violent mentality that is our reality!

R.I.P. may they rest in peace
Amadou Diallo…Earl Faison…Johnny Gammage
Stanton Crew…Anthony Baez…
Anthony Rosario…Jerome Johnson…
Gideon Busch…Nicholas Heyward…
Patrick Bailey…and the thousands of other men
and women who for lack of time cannot be named
Yet are victims to the reality of police brutality…
And a special prayer for Abner Louima and all the others
who lived to tell about the hell
at the hands of those police who bring shame to the name
of those who are dedicated to upholding justice and doing what’s right….

R.I.P. may they rest in peace
To be raised in power in these darkest of hours
It’s the black boy bother’s blues….
I’m talking about the black boy mother’s blues…