Renewal: "I was a child again, eager to be taught"

RENEWAL…

My pyre was swept by winds from the heavens,

they blasted my corporeal features to naught,

my spirit meandered within infinite oceans,

I was a child again, eager to be taught…

FIN

BIGDADDY BLUES

A MATURE MAN'S RESOLUTION OF MORTALITY: AN INEVITABLE END TO LIFE'S INESTIMABLE PLEASURES

                

                   DEATH  

Prologue:

“I DO NOT WELCOME DEATH… LIFE IS WHAT I KNOW…

IT’S WHAT I CELEBRAE…  A HOME FROM WHICH,

I WILL NOT WILLINGLY GO…”

           

Sermon:

If I could die reveling midst a farewell speech,

occasioned to free my soul,

i would submit…,

but  in that un-promised hour,

rolling with the unpractised script of earthly dalliances,

i would be loath to quit,

if life became a hardship so torturous to abide,

that only death could comfort me,

i should not submit,

owing that choice to death,

I’d render my goodbyes in the last gleam of brilliance,

my life could get…

if death were a well-planned ceremony,

populated by earnest friends,

i’d  almost take it’s hand,

and if deaths advancing footfall granted power,

to outlast all remembrance,

I’d be a legendary man,

  

this life bade me follow every passion in my soul,

with a mind too free for guilt or regret,

to stay my hand,

therefore, every nuance of my being is defined,

not by death,

but by the testament of living as a man…

                            FIN

               BIGDADDY BLUES

REMINDERS OF OUR MORTALITY...

AN OLDER MAN'S SEARCH IN A DWINDLING POOL OF ROLE MODELS AND FRIENDS

ROLE MODELS AND MATURE MEN…

I am aware of no universal law which dictates that role models for mature men are limited to their contemporaries or to that hallowed class of  lightly nimbused yet remarkably agile gentlemen many years their senior.  Driven by my intuition I’ve opined that no such law exists nor, should exist.  For the more mature I become the more aware I am of natures’ fateful thinning-out process and by this I reference not only the gradual denuding and silvering of my hoary beard but more poignantly the untimely physical transition of those esteemed mortals whom I have ever so faithfully held in high esteem; my idols.  The bitter trial of growing older and maturing is held against the sharp edge of loss.  A man must develop effective strategies to manage the death or circumstantial loss through relocation or other factors of those whom he has always looked to for inspiration and support.  A man matures when he is forced to replace the loss of mentorship and in many ways for many reasons a maturing man eventually becomes his own mentor.  By the time we reach our fifties our essential pool of external wisdom may have decreased by 50 percent or more.    This is not to say that older men should fear they will become passengers in a driverless car but they should be aware that they will be increasingly compelled to draw from their own strength and wisdom as time moves along. 

Where do older gentlemen look to establish new mentorships and role models and can it be assumed that after a fashion, a man who has successfully matured no longer needs this kind of external support?  If the process of maturity is a continual evolution then a 55 or 65 or even 95 year old man can still benefit from some form of male mentorship, perhaps not as much or the same kind as an 18 or 25 year old man but relative to their worldliness.  Many automatically assume that an older man no longer needs social and emotional guidance as if he has reached the pinnacle of wisdom through the crucible of his life but we should reexamine this phenomenon quite closely.  Mature men can and should be encouraged to remain open to mentorship after the first half-century of their lives, they should not retreat from the world simply because it is no longer familiar to them.

An older gentleman of 85 shared a very personal story with me.  He noted that nearly all of his childhood buddies had died and the star-studded cache of men that would have been the icons of his heyday had deceased long before his friends and family  began to pass away.   Remarkably this gentleman was deeply inspired by many icons of twenty-first century popular culture including President Obama.  His mentors and role models had completely shifted to a contingent of more youthful men whose gallantry spanned the last and first quarters of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. 

To this gentleman, Obama personified something close to a messianic reality but rooted in a more practical context arrayed in normal trappings.  For a black man of 85 Obama’s rise to the oval office was an unexpected and redeeming surprise.  This old gentleman was born on the eve of the great depression, at the tail of the First World War and at the head of the second, existing as a black man shrouded by the overlay of racism some 40 years before The Civil Rights Era. Witnessing the election of America’s first Black American president was an experience of unimaginable power and significance because his contemporaries and he contemporaries were born only 60 years after the Emancipation of slaves, one generation removed from that tragic birthmark that will forever be emblazoned on Americas forehead and conscience written in a sanguine hue like billions of scarlet letters proclaiming every injustice dealt to millions of innocent lives.  He certainly had heard the stories of slaves that would have been his own relatives and elders of his community and wondered that with the oppression of black men what had been oathed as freedom on paper was of little worth at face value.  Like so many gracious and princely black men who had rinsed the muck of Jim Crow from their boots forgiving the white man for the evils he had set upon him this lordly gentleman took the election of Obama as a sign that black and white men were healed and willing to put race behind them for the good of all.  For this man the mere image of Obama proclaimed as a leader and champion of freedom, an intellectual and father meant ever so much more than the sting of the past; the past was closed and forgiven and a glorious future of peace and tolerance would ensue!

Using this example we mature men can certainly identify many younger men who represent role models and even mentors in our lives.  It is like being a teacher and yet remaining open to learn life’s lessons by watching the young.  An older man who can temper his need for growth through mentorship to accept guidance from the examples of remarkable younger men as well as those his age and older can draw from a wealth of wisdom that might otherwise go untapped.  I do not believe that we grow older to become islands of wisdom.  In order to grow and remain wise even an island must remain connected to the mainland and to other islands or suffer the fate of becoming culturally obsolete.  For a maturing man an hermetic withdrawal from a changing, dwindling world is tantamount to a self-induced cultural obsolescence and should be avoided at all costs.  We must continue to seek positive inspiration in that which is new, vibrant, accessible and alive!  We must continue to challenge ourselves to balance the ever shrinking landscape populated by role models and mature men…

FIN

FATHER'S DAY AFFIRMATION 2014

FREDERICK DOUGLASS SITTING WITH ONE OF HIS TWO SONS

FATHERS DAY: SERVING AS AN EFFECTIVE AFFIRMATION AND ASPIRATION FOR THE BLACK COMMUNITY

Because the image of the Black American male is far too often portrayed as a negative rather than a positive in mainstream American culture the celebration of “Father’s Day” has always served to affirm the existence of what we affectionately call a, “Good Black Man” and the existence of a standard for traditional family values.   On father’s day we affirm that in spite of the odds cohesive and loving nuclear families including a strong patriarchal figure have survived.  Similar in theory to the “Black Power” and “Black Is Beautiful” campaigns of the 1960’s and 1970’s civil rights movement, father’s day, within the context of the Black American community, has always served as a time when Black American families can celebrate the amazing contribution of the black men who play an important role in their lives and say “We Are Not That Negative Stereotype; We Are The Exception!”.  What we are really saying is that we are just the same, we are all the same, we too are blessed to have wonderful fathers whom we love and revere too the same as every other human being! 

SAMMY DAVIS JR. ENJOYING FAMILY LIFE WITH HIS SON

The sobering reality for all black men that everything ultimately comes down to race in America is certainly not a problem of their choosing.  All black people are similarly frustrated in America whenever they are forced to take the position that everything is subject to a different set of variables when it comes to them due to a racial climate they did not create but must incessantly defend against.  Ultimately father’s day is no different across races because it shares a universal reverence for manhood blessed by fatherhood.  Because the image of Black American men is embattled on all fronts however, father’s day necessarily takes on a more sociopolitical nuance in the black community because American society’s view of black fatherhood has always been portrayed as an essay in systemic failure.  This is why Black Americans who speak consciously of their oppression often include in their celebrations of accomplishment their gratitude at having overcome these omnipresent racial barriers.  To those who are not black it must certainly appear that most socially conscious Black Americans are obsessed with race.  This is a myth which is able to take shape in the mind of those considered to be mainstream because they are not challenged to defend themselves on every front solely on the basis of skin color.  Honest and ethically sound people who react defensibly to racism are not militants or racists themselves but in a country so deeply in denial about race those who openly defend their rights against racial bias are portrayed as malcontents and dissidents because they challenge the established state of universally targeted forgetfulness.  Everyone appears to agree not to deal with race unless forced in  spite of the fact that it exists all around them. The simple solution to end racism is to just be honest and deal with the darned thing! Therefore I am unapologetic about my choice to represent what might otherwise be viewed as universal issues from the perspective of a man of color since color has never ceased to be a discriminating factor for the world in which I live…  When race ceases to be a negative issue in this world then I will happily let it die but alas that is not anywhere close to the reality of contemporary human civilization...  To make the equation that more difficult it is incontrovertibly true that in order for one to ever imagine themselves capable of erasing the scar of racism from the world one must themselves be free from the potent ideological curse of racism...  Ideological battles are so very different yet similar in nature from physical ones.  In hand to hand combat opponents might be equally matched with physical weaponry but their mental skill as warriors and even a bit of divinely inspired luck might decidedly turn the tide.  Because racism is so keenly an ideological manner of warfare those who fight against it must always be certain they do not employ the same racist tactics as their adversaries!  The successful battle against racism is fought with clever blows of non-racist rationale, keener, broader and more subtle in their application poised to win the war with strategic battles rather than expend itself in vain, myopic skirmishes...

W. E. B. DUBOIS AND HIS EARLY FAMILY

Those within the black community who do celebrate father’s day as a family event effectively help to erase the stigma of “the missing patriarch” establishing that there is a clear and essential relationship between the male-identified element of fatherhood and the establishment of a healthy, gender balance in the nuclear family structure.  Statistically there are some profoundly troubling issues regarding the effective presence of the patriarch of the black family a reality that has inspired numerous grass roots organizations such as the Fatherhood Initiative.  This does not mean that women have not been able to administer effective parenting in the absence of a patriarch but affirms the importance and effectiveness of gender-specific parenting as a shared role between father and mother as an essential variable in the development of a child's self and world view. It would be impossible to intelligently discuss this topic without honestly examining the many factors deterring black men from assuming a positive role in the parenting of the children they propagate.  As is often the default the way our media generates images and expectations of black men for consumption in popular culture plays a huge role in the way black men are ultimately socialized and view themselves as potential fathers.  However the lion’s share of the responsibility must fall upon the negligent shoulders of the perversely ethically and morally corrupt black community itself.  Black Americans cannot blame non-black controlled media for the ruination of their family values because it promotes the almighty dollar before sound sociocultural standards.  

MARCUS GARVEY AND HIS WIFE AND THE FIRST OF TWO SONS

Black Americans cannot blame racism for the streaming of black males into careers of crime, drugs, illiteracy and apathy such that they are unable to assume their patriarchal responsibilities.  If the Black American community cannot see that the solution will ultimately be realized by targeting itself as the main problem and understand that it must galvanize itself to become an effective infrastructure against internal deterioration then all the efforts of every civil rights leader is wasted.  No one but the black community can reverse the substantial early-loss of its potential patriarchs, (black male children), to the vices of this world; we alone hold the key to a working solution? It is long overdue for the remnant of the once strong black community to take a look at itself and thereby recognize that it has become its own worst enemy…  Gone are the days of the Knights of the white camellia! Remove the white robes from the heads of our worst adversaries and beneath them lay cloaked men and women “black as Cain” to quote Phillis Wheatley. Invoking the saying, “Begin from the beginning”, I suggest that even if it is for one day out the year, the celebration of fatherhood in the fractured community of Black America is a positive step in the right direction and the challenge is to discover how to expand this homage to fatherhood to the remaining 364 days of the year…  “Let the congregation say Amen”!

BOOKER T. WASHINGTON AND HIS TWO SONS

On this father’s day, even if the father does not represent a text-book, mythically proportioned, dad; paying homage to his contribution to the lives of his children and immediate family serves to affirm that good black fathers do exist and are doing the difficult work of fathering in a complex and erratic world that is more often pitted against their success than not.  Family values are important core elements of a cohesive, vibrant and dynamic culture and while in the twenty-first century we have a host of viable alternatives to the classic patriarchal family structure there is no denying that having an effective, loving father in the lives of his children, their mother, family and friends plays an enormous role in the establishment of a positive cultural image for black men and especially those who are fathers.  Because the black community has thrived through times of far greater external oppression we know that it is possible for an internal redirection to fix missing father syndrome without the assistance of mainstream media.  That puts the entire responsibility on the black community to overcome this adversity as it has in the past by doing the darned thing all by itself.  Therefore I say that it is not truly as great and hopeless an issue as may seem…   When I see happy families enjoying the blessings of father’s day it means that there still exist many good fathers; yes indeed there is much work to be done but far less than if I were to see no affirmations of fatherhood at all…  I bow low to these esteemed men who have joined the ranks of countless fathers before them spanning from the advent of humanity itself!  Through fatherhood the critical and primordial instructions for manhood are passed from one generation to the next.  The fathers of all humanity have passed on mankind’s ethical and moral code-book enabling our species to survive on this planet and in the name of all that is good and humane in this life I pray that this continuum will never be broken and that the Black American community will awaken and resume its global responsibility to pass down to each new generation the glorious torch of humanity…

FIN

PRESIDENT OBAMA WITH HIS  WIFE AND TWO DAUGHTERS 

Written By Bigdaddy Blues

WWW.THESTORIESOFBLACKMEN.BLOGSPOT.COM


SUGGESTED LINKS:

1.  Julius Garvey comments on the lagacy of his father Marcus Garvey:  http://www.televisionjamaica.com/Programmes/PrimeTimeNews.aspx/Videos/20220  

"BLUE 52" 

BIGDADDY BLUES BIRTHDAY GIFT OF BLUES ON HIS 52ND BIRTHDAY

To Celebrate My 52nd Birthday I Have Composed Two Blues Songs/Lyrics

I.  "YOUR CHEAT'N GAME"

II.  "SALLY-MAE"

YOUR CHEAT’N GAME

I remember why I left you,

And the reason’s still the same,

I remember why I left you,

And the reason’s still the same,

Cause You ain’t never had no intentions,

To give up your cheat’n game,

While you was sipp’n honey,

I was drink’n boot-ley with my beau,

While you was sipp’n honey,

I was drinik’n boot-lay with my beau,

I always kept my goings tidy,

Just so you didn’t have to know,

Now it don’t matter baby,

Which one of us cheated first,

Now it don’t really matter baby,

Which one of us had cheated first,

Cause we was both stepp’n round the corner,

Ain’t no tell’n which of us was worse,

Can’t say revenge is why I cheated,

Cause I got somethi’n that I shuddah had,

Can’t say revenge is why I cheated,

Cause I got somethi’n that I shouddah had,

T’uh make up for all the time I’d wasted,

Being fooled by a no good, cheat’n man!

I remember why I left you,

Yes, the reason’s still the same,

I remember why I left you,

Yes, the reason’s still the same,

I’m happy now that I put you down,

I think I’ve evened up the game…

Written By Bigdaddy Blues

SALLY-MAE

Sally-Mae, I’m gonna miss you,

Sally-Mae, I’m gonna miss you,

Every time I go to kiss you girl,

Sally-Mae, every time I shut the door,

Sally-Mae, every time I shut the door,

Reminds me i won’t be see’n you no more,

Sally-Mae, when they took you out the room,

Sally-Mae, when they took you out the room,

This house was emptied of everything but gloom,

Sally-Mae, to see you layi’n in that bed,

Sally-Mae, to see you layi’n in that bed,

White satin pillow underneath your head,

Sally-Mae, I’ll see you on the other side,

Sally-Mae, I’ll see you on the other side,

Walking here beside you on your last carriage ride,

Love ain’t never been an easy thing to find,

And it’s a harder thing to lose,

To keep me from lose’n my mind,

I have to cry out singing these low down blues,

Sally-Mae, when I get home and shut the door,

Sally-Mae, when I get home and shut the door,

Gonna close it softly case I won’t see you no more…

Written by Bigdaddy Blues

BLUES 52

The tradition of Blues has decorated American culture for over 200 years but only during the turn of the century during the late 1800's did it begin to gain recognition and momentum of its own.  This is probably because by that time Black Americans had established their own businesses and entertainment venues to accommodate traveling musicians and for the first time in history sound could be recorded.

However, many of the earliest works of what 

we would recognize as Blues today 

were never recorded, their lyrics and composition were passed down in the tradition of folk music.  Blues is essentially country/folk music that has become citified over the years but its lyrical form suggests a linguistic structure reminiscent of 

that spoken by Black American slaves.

The purpose of Blues is to tell a story about the human experience.

From the foundation of Blues in black spiritual and work music comes its ability to not only convey a story but to uplift, reflect and to mourn in a fashion designed to help the human psyche overcome adversity. 

Perhaps the best way to describe the medicinal quality of Blues was coined by my father who I quote,

"TURN A STUMBLING BLOCK INTO A STEPPING STONE"

I hope that you have enjoyed these two Blues poems I composed afresh on my birthday. I cannot imagine anything more suitable and enjoyable for me to do on my day of birth than to contemplate and write in the Blues medium.

FIN

BIGDADDY BLUES   

SOLILOQUY IN BLUE…

SOLILOQUY IN BLUE…

He made every secret that desire could construe,

A temple built of memories that had once been true,

On a time blessed, but plainly no longer new,

An old man’s song, a soliloquy in blue,

He loved and loneliness left him what remained,

Of a conflagration no other man could tame,

Life had branded other journeys with his name,

Somber and yet brilliant soliloquies in blue,

He lived the unbridled passions of his lust,

With an unpretentious piety honest men could trust,

Venerated by the ensanguined draught he drew

Whispered from his veins bled a soliloquy in blue…

FIN

Written by Bigdaddy Blues

A GALLERY OF ANTIQUE STEREOSCOPES

HOMAGE TO THE SLAVE MEN WHO DIED BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR: MEN WITH DREAMS

MEN WITH DREAMS 



I've raked this fossil-soil time and again
enriched by fathers of fathers
of laboring black men
who’s dreams grew, died and went fallow upon these southern hills
and now seem less substantial than a still…summer wind…

a minstrel sang the diaries of aging slaves
selling them wherever interest could be bought…
with a blue currency dyed in homage to captive thought
flowing from the veins of genius… but wasted on the plough

but those kernels of prodigy have been lost…and now…
unkept headstones mark the terminus of hope
scattered bones fossilize the reliquary of their fate
a queer trophy for men with dreams…

so I took and raised a fist-full of soil
clenching it’s unfulfilled pledge to my chest
its legacy shall see the dead avenged…through me…
as peaceful affirmations of their humanity...
and so slaves will be redeemed as men with dreams…

FIN

Written By David Vollin

GALLERY