The Saga of Rufus and Leona

by Darren W. Palmer

Leona:
My darling drummer man
Capable ambitious and in command
Snarling, popping and be-bopping those skins
With a passion and purpose haunting and grim.

Your passion envelops me. It speaks of pain.
Pain that cannot be controlled.
Yet your majesty intrigues my humbled soul.

Drummer man, mellow. So alive with the night.
Fill the voids in my tortured life.

Rufus:
Magnolia. Forbidden flower –
Cause of my contempt.
Yet my urge for you will not relent.

Magnolia flower - a latent prize.
The seeds of your pedals I despise.
I’m trapped like a Genie in bottle of pain
With illusions of success calling my name.


Together: (chorus)
Rufus and Leona kindred souls with desperate hearts
Helpless in a society that keeps them apart.

Leona:
Heartsick, desperate me –
Black and blue for all to see.
Angry, defeated you –
Harborer of hate, our love eschewed.

Rufus:
My tunes are all blues now, and my pride
Has hitched a ride.
My faith has found a ridge
Atop the Brooklyn Bridge.

Together: (chorus)
Rufus and Leona full of self-doubt.
Rufus and Leona turned love inside out.

Enlightened Commentary on Islam

Asalamu Aliakum.

"I think everything on this earth is being modernized; religious principles and practices, as well as politics..."

Malcolm X remains one of the best examples of the African-American's struggle for a political and cultural independence within the American milieu. His example is always valued, even in these times. Recently, none other than a top leader of Al Queda attempted to lecture President Obama about his authenticity as a black man in America. Image that! Indeed, a figure of backward humanity, female oppression, and violent insurrection would make such narrow comments about race relations in America. Why? Because (some) Arabs have the same paternalistic ideas about Africans that (some) Whites held -- here and in places like South Africa.

Sadly, too many people, of all races, including muslims, have little familiarity with the true dictates of Islam, as evidenced by the Quran. Were African Americans to be influenced by such comments from Islamic extremists, or others who think like them, our fate would have been not unlike those people of the Sudan or Tanzania - where Africans moved toward an invader's interpretation of Islam, but not toward brotherhood among our people and those around us.

Thank Allah for Malcolm's example. Allahu Akbar!

Martin Luther King's Birthday

I pride myself with being informed about things; particularly Black History. I have read, or have been made familiar with almost every notable personality in the struggle for civil rights and human dignity this country has birthed from Martin Delaney to Malcolm X, and Sojourner Truth to Rosa Parks. However, no one strikes a sentimental cord in me like Martin Luther King, Jr.

A poetic symbiosis of intellect, bombast, spirituality and human dignity, King was an American original. A man for his times and beyond. His magnificent Letter From A Birmingham Jail stands as a profound indictment of America's social order in the mid-twentieth century. His I Have A Dream Speech was a master portrayal of national hypocrisy. And the I've Been To The Mountain Top Speech was a defiant specter of things to come.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was more than just a speech maker, or a sentimental dreamer. He was a twentieth century prophet. I put him alongside Jesus of Nazareth. Yes, that's right, Christ. Because he, too died for our sins.

Information You Should Have

I found this video profoundly educational, so I posted it for the benefit of those who come to my site. Americans should be concerned with information we can use, and not just with the entertaining "conversation" that is typical on social networking sites and too many blogs. In these delicate economic times I hope those who visit my site will put aside some time each day to increase our financial acumen. Consider the video as a supplement to your financial awareness. View it a few times, as I did -- then pass it own to people you know. If you like what you have learned, and you have a mind for money matters, consider reading a very good book called Crash Proof, by Peter Schiff.

Many Ways to Pray

Somaly Mam is a true life heroine. A real super hero. What she has done, and is doing, is an utterly remarkable work of God manifesting in human beings. As a child in her native Cambodia, Mam was sold into sexual slavery and suffered the most vile cruelties. She survived, by the Grace of Allah and her own human resolve. She now operates a foundation and functions as a modern day Harriet Tubman.

Reading Mam's book, The Road of Lost Innocence, I am reminded of the truth of God: There are no chosen people. There is only triumph over evil by compassion through the universal principle of love. I will not review the book here. However, I encourage you to read it, if only as a hedge against your own complacency and self pity. I warn you, however. Although Mam writes a poignant account of her experience, free of the titillating details, her story will, literally speaking, pinch your heart.

Schooling III: Ten Reasons Why Public Schools Are Needed

I so often hear people, from all walks of life, rail against the failures of public education...Sometimes for very good reason, but often as a result of misplaced expectations. Initially, public education was to act as a bulwark against widespread ignorance over universal truths, like science and math. And as a hedge against insurrection fomented against a fledgling nation and, later, in opposition to those who would operate against a world power. It would prepare the masses to succeed as leaders of the republic, and as captains of industry.

The right to an education is not expressly mentioned in the Articles of the Constitution. Instead, it was interpreted as a right by the U.S. Supreme Court, by virtue of the 'pursuit of happiness' clause. That is about all the agreement that exists in this country over public education. As with many other laws, the Constitution leaves it to her individual States to implement its civil liberties. Most people know the history of uneven allocation of educational resources practiced by this nation manifesting from its 'separate but equal' laws. Even before that legal imposition, wealthy people, routinely pursued a private education whenever they could. That brings us to now, when after decades of miseducation, neglect and widespread criticism, and sometimes unfair mischaracterizations, public education -- particularly urban and rural education -- is seen as the least desirable option for children by many quarters of our society.

That leads me to the following list of ten reasons why public school is still an important civil right, and to why, despite its shortcomings, it remains the best proposition for the American public, especially the urban and rural poor.

1. Education is not free, or even a right, for people in many nations around the world.

2. Public schools are still a viable means of providing a basic education for the masses.

3. Schools provide a place of custody for millions of children in the country while their guardians try to access the labor market -- keeping them safe from neglect or exploitation.

4. Schools provide a free or reduced cost meal for children who might otherwise go without nutritional food.

5. Public schools provide an efficient means for rendering other essential services such as health care and information that might not otherwise reach needy families.

6. Public schooling holds possibilities for inspiring youth and families to exceed limited expectations and improve their standard of living.

7. Most schools are connected to other non-academic opportunities for youth such as athletics, music and the arts.

8. Public education encourages diversity and tolerance, directly or indirectly.

9. Schools are businesses. They provide employment and recreational opportunities for neighborhood residents that help stabilize otherwise blighted communities.

10. Public education is a means of perpetuating the best American ideals of opportunity for all.

Why doesn't this enumeration include the lofty notions of academic excellence, ingenuity, or a free range for young American minds that most educators are trained to espoused? Because that is simply not a reality for all school.

Mr. President?

Here we are two weeks after the most historic election in the history of the United States of America , and I am just now getting around to writing about it. In fact, I am primarily writing to stay current with events. The reason for delaying this installment is that so much is being printed on the election that I did not want to be redundant by restating the obvious. Nevertheless, the election of a black man to the highest office in the land warrants an opinion statement from all thinking people.

Probably the most common question people are asking themselves is "What will it mean?" The answer I have settled on is that it means whatever we will attribute to it. So many of us are justifiably proud that I will not begin to diminish the significance of this election with a sobering reflection of the race relations among ordinary everyday people, or the many known and unknown committees, commissions, groups, agencies and councils that manage and inform the direction of the presidency -- irrespective of statements made for public consumption. A black man of an African father and white mother is now the commander and chief of this country, and he lives in the Whitehouse. A place built by African laborers and, for a long time since, denied access to any Blacks other than as its servants.

Let me continue, then, with a litanty of the obvious and hoped-for meanings of President-elect Obama's magnificent achievement. Barack Obama's successful elections means that the presidency is not the exclusive province of white people. It means that he and his campaign team ran a masterful campaign in order to overcome such tremendous odds. It signals that the majority of the (voting) white people are open to change. That they can look past a man's race and evaluate him on more than such superficial criteria. It signals that Black people recognized that for the first time they had a candidate that was of the highest caliber, and they were not ashamed to rally around their race identity in order to make a statment of pride -- anymore than white Irish-Catholics did for John F. Kennedy. Barack Obama's election victory means that American people are more optimistic than cynical about their future. And, perhaps, that they know when they hear an authentic and trustworthy voice.

Ultimately, Mr. Obama's presidency will be judge by more than all the early symbolism that it presents today. However, symbolism is enduring and it can be managed for the long term betterment of a people. For at least the next four years the world, and more importantly for me, black children, will have a towering symbol to point to that will eclipse the once useful, but long since obsolete, examples of strident, often angry, protest politics. In the symbol of Mr. Obama, black children cannot help but recognize that a thoughtful, articulate, accomplished family man is not only a fine example, but one that looks like they do. A man with a family and background like their own who proved that, through a milder thoughtful temperment, an unyeilding intellect, and persistence of character, he could win out against his rivals...And do it with class.

For me, I am hopeful that President-elect Obama's tenure will be a game changer on the international stage, as well as at home. I am hoping for no more bombing of people and countries in pursuit of their natural resources which they refuse to fork over under the guise of some treaty. No more secret operations against heads state simply because they do a little sabre-rattling. I am hopeful for direct aid to long suffering African countries that will allow them to become dignified players in the global economy and aid their people. I am hopeful for an Obama presidency that will greatly improve relations with Cuba in the way we have with Viet Nam. A presidency that shows how diplomacy is not an act of weakness for our country, but of strength and confidence in or power...And that is just for starters!

Yes, there is much to hope for in a Barack Obama presidency. However, this is the man who taught the nation of the 'audacity of hope.'