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The Battered Woman’s Defense

Constance Camus — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 22:05:35 +0000

Disclaimer: Do Not Try This at Home.

The great jazz singer Dinah Washington sings “Send Me to the Electric Chair” from her Bessie Smith album
c.1958

Dinah Washington

And by the Dixie Chicks, Goodbye Earl:

Knock Knock, Father … I’m forgetting who you are

Constance Camus — Tue, 24 May 2011 13:39:01 +0000

A powerful poet delivers a flawless message. One of the best parts in this phenomenal piece is when Mr. Beaty says: “Yes, we are our fathers’ sons and daughters, But we are not their choices.” So many young men and women need to hear and understand this truth. The truth is that children in dysfunctional families have a choice whether they will fall victim to their upbringing. Although a toxic household can crush their self-esteem, cloud their vision, and thwart normal loving relationships, the distortion of their natural instincts can be reversed. They must see the problems of their elders as an example of how not to conduct one’s self. By so doing, they are empowered and can set themselves free to become the person they were created to be. Healed and whole.

As a boy, I shared a game with my father—
Played it every morning till I was three.
He would knock knock on my door,
And I’d pretend to be asleep till he got right next to the bed.
Then I would get up and jump into his arms.
“Good morning, Papa.”
And my Papa, he would tell me that he loved me.
We shared a game,
Knock knock,
Until that day when the knock never came,
And my Mama takes me on a ride past cornfields
on this never-ending highway
Till we reach a place of high rusty gates.
A confused little boy,
I enter the building carried in my Mama’s arms.
Knock knock.
We reach a room of windows and brown faces.
Behind one of the windows sits my father.
I jump out of my Mama’s arms and run joyously towards my Papa’s,
Only to be confronted by this window.
I knock knock trying to break through the glass,
Trying to get to my father.
I knock knock as my Mama pulls me away
Before my Papa even says a word.
And for years, he has never said a word.
And so, 25 years later, I write these words
For the little boy in me who still awaits his Papa’s knock.
“Papa, come home, ‘cause I miss you.
I miss you waking me up in the morning and telling me you love me.
Papa, come home, ‘cause there’s things I don’t know,
And I thought maybe you could teach me
How to shave,
How to dribble a ball,
How to talk to a lady,
How to walk like a man.
Papa, come home, ‘cause I decided awhile back
I want to be just like you, but I’m forgetting who you are.”
And 25 years later, a little boy cries.
And so I write these words and try to heal
And try to father myself.
And I dream up a father
Who says the words my father did not.
“Dear son, I’m sorry I never came home.
For ever lesson I failed to teach, hear these words:
‘Shave in one direction with strong deliberate strokes
To avoid irritation.
Dribble the page with the brilliance of your ballpoint pen.
Walk like a God, and your Goddess will come to you.
No longer will I be there to knock on your door,
So you must learn to knock for yourself.
Knock knock down doors of racism and poverty that I could not.
Knock knock on doors of opportunity
For the lost brilliance of the black men who crowd these cells.
Knock knock with diligence for the sake of your children.
Knock knock for me.
For as long as you are free,
These prison gates cannot contain my spirit.
The best of me still lives in you.
Knock knock with the knowledge that you are my son,
But you are not my choices.”
Yes, we are our fathers’ sons and daughters,
But we are not their choices.
For despite their absences,
We are still here,
Still alive,
Still breathing,
With the power to change this world
One little boy and girl at a time.
Knock knock,
Who’s there?
We are.

Daniel Beaty

Poet, writer, performer

Civility located in the animal kingdom

Constance Camus — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 14:16:23 +0000

Has anyone else noticed that the animal kingdom now behaves better than the human race?


	Extraordinary Love between the Species

“Love is All You Need” sung in 156 Countries

Constance Camus — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:29:34 +0000

Redemption. An absolute total global redemption song, as it were, for Starbucks. Simply brilliant.

In one fell swoop, we all feel a bit better about the countless $4 coffees purchased from Starbucks. The company created their Love Project when on December 7, 2009, citizens of 156 countries united and sang “All You Need is Love” by the Beatles to spread AIDS awareness.

On December 3, 2009, Starbucks posted this notice on their YouTube channel:

In one amazing moment, the world will come together to sing about the one thing we all have in common love. People from around the world will sing the legendary hit “All You Need is Love” in a single voice on December 7, 2009 at 8:30 am EST. The global sing-along is part of our continuing efforts to help fight AIDS in Africa. In just one year in partnership with (RED)™, Starbucks has generated money equivalent to more than 7 million days of medicine to help those living with HIV in Africa.

You can watch the event, and lend your own voice, when you visit [StarbucksLoveProject.com]. Watch streaming video from countries around the world and then join in by singing “All You Need is Love” yourself. For each video submitted, Starbucks will make a contribution to the Global Fund to help fight against AIDS in Africa. You can also help increase the Starbucks contribution to the Global Fund by submitting a drawing to the Love Gallery.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama once said: “Among the many forms in which the human spirit has tried to express its innermost yearnings and perceptions, music is perhaps the most universal. It symbolizes the yearnings for harmony, with oneself and with others, with nature and with the spiritual and sacred within us and around us. There is something in music that transcends and unites. This is evident in the sacred music of every community – music that expresses the universal yearning that is shared by people all over the globe.”

Love is truly all there is…