Radical movement on Wall Street

September 25, 2011 – 6:04 pm

Whether we think this kind of action is useful or pointless in the fight against corporate dominance in society, I think it is our duty to stay abreast of this occupation of Wall Street by passionate American youth and their allies. Watch the video below and visit the website for the Occupy Wall Street movement. I’ve been aware of their intention for a while now but it was only yesterday that I caught wind of it actually happening. The lack of coverage on mainstream media is proof enough for me to know that the corporate giants, and the media giants that they tend to control, clearly consider this kind of action a major obstruction to the fulfillment of their intentions. Either way this situation is looked at, it is big news and deserves more attention. I am playing my part by spreading the word. Will you?

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By Dutty Bookman | Posted in all isms | Comments (0)

A plea from Dudus

September 23, 2011 – 7:17 am

I am very interested to see  how the current case against Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke will be handled following his recent letter submitted to the judge.

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Troy Davis, the sacrifice

September 21, 2011 – 5:15 pm

A man is scheduled to die in approximately 45 minutes after the time of this post (which is the current time in Jamaica). I call that premeditated murder.

The state of Georgia is the state of the United States… is the state of humanity.

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By Dutty Bookman | Posted in all isms, all isms [Phase 4] | Comments (0)

God as humanity’s ideal

September 19, 2011 – 12:11 am

Reason or intellectual discourse can be viewed as the devil’s advocate of human nature. Being a human myself, I like exercising my reasonability. I enjoy questioning things that I consider set in stone or that I habitually believed all my life. This is a partial explanation for why I have been known to “disappear” into the crowd and then “reappear” somewhere before people’s eyes. It’s not that I was invisible at any point in time but that I didn’t add anything to the confusing realm of information that has become the emerging order of things. When I do resume injecting my own energy into the public sphere, I do so on the basis that I have improved my own character and would like to share a related lesson or few. In the process, I consciously try not to exude preachiness – the result of a life lesson, no doubt – but the fact is that I take some time to re-examine myself before taking another step.

I just want to be my best Self before I leave this Earth. At times, I consider it perfectionism, an obsessive compulsive disorder, a possibly narcissistic and undesirable personal trait. Other times, I think that it is exactly what I need to be to move along my spiritual path. The journey contains the bliss. I don’t expect to be perfect now or ever, but I expect and relish the gradual growth.

With abundant exceptions in plain view, I think that humans generally want to be their best selves. With that in mind, I want to summarize a part of a Philosophy Now article that I recently read, and paraphrase the author, Van Harvey, in the process.

The article, titled Feuerbach: Love & Atheism, touches on a difference in assertions between Hegel and Feuerbach.

Hegel’s assertion: GOD establishes itself on Earth through the culture(s) of HUMANITY.

Feuerbach’s assertion: HUMANITY establishes its collective self-consciousness through projecting ideals and referring to the totality as GOD.

Hegel’s view has been my preferred outlook for some time now. The Universe acts through me and you, no? What if, though, Feuerbach was onto something? What if, deeply and innately desiring to develop as a species, our ancestors projected a shortlist of ideals onto an unknown, extrasensory object and called it God? I can see that as a real possibility, that and subsequent generations being drawn into the lure of God. As consciousness grows, we turn to God to provide the compass so that, at the end of the day – or our lives – we can arrive at our best selves.

Anyway, I don’t know how to pronounce “Feuerbach” so what do I know?

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By Dutty Bookman | Posted in all isms, all isms [Phase 4] | Comments (0)

That thing called God

September 13, 2011 – 1:34 pm

I’ve read somewhere, sometime, that the closer one gets to a goal, the harder it becomes to get there. I relate and I am adding this: perfectionism is tiring! Considering the process of advancing my upcoming book, Tried & True, from conception to execution, I can summarize my thoughts as follows.

Step 1: When the idea first came to me, I thought, “I should definitely write a memoir about these exciting events of my life journey. It will be fun.”

Step 2: When I could visualize the general flow of the story in my head, I thought, “I can’t wait until my mind and body synchronize to start writing my story. It’s going to be fun.”

Step 3: When I started writing, I thought, “This is fun! It’s happening!”

Step 4: When I finished the first draft, I thought, “That was such a great experience and I haven’t even got down into the editing process yet. That might not be as much fun as the writing phase but I cannot wait to get it done.”

Step 5: When I edited it the first three or four or five times, I thought, “That actually wasn’t too bad. I stuck to the task at hand, my edits look good, I’m still breathing, my book is one step closer to actualization. Great!”

Step 6: After not looking at the book for a few weeks and deciding to read it again, I thought, “I have some more work to do. This is not one hundred percent.”

Step 7: After editing it a half dozen more times, I thought, “Alright, it’s finally ready. It’s time to start the publishing process.”

Step 8: After receiving the first proof copy from the printer, I thought, “Christ, I want to make more changes.”

Step 9: After making more changes and realizing that I still wanted to make more changes, I thought, “I am the problem here.”

Perfectionism. I was a perfectionist. People often take it as a compliment, to be called a perfectionist. I tend to feel good about that label at times too, but I also cannot tolerate the ambiguity of it. How dare I presume that I can achieve perfection. Am I trying to be that thing called God? How many times did God edit Earth and its features so that people would live without food, shelter, clothing, peace?

And so, I decided to find my own peace and edit no more; and let it go. What will be will be.

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By Dutty Bookman | Posted in all isms, all isms [Phase 4] | Comments (2)

A story to tell…

July 28, 2011 – 9:13 am

Tried & True: Revelations of a Rebellious Youth is my upcoming book, a memoir that recounts four years of my existence lived in Jamaica. It shares my innermost thoughts and mentality during some important and intertwined phases of my growth, such as:

  • managing my website, IdlerzLounge.com, and what led me to shut it down;
  • producing and hosting the radio talk show, Reasoning, and the real reason why we went off air;
  • working at the Bob Marley Museum and Tuff Gong International;
  • launching the non-profit organization, Manifesto|Jamaica, to empower the Jamaican youth.

Tried & True documents my goals and aspirations, my accomplishments and setbacks, my positive and negative traits, and, the whole time, my internal violence and evolving spirituality. From cover to cover, it is the most honest and objective self psychoanalysis that I have performed to date.

I chose not to pitch my story to any publishers and, instead, started my own publishing company called Bookman Express. Most things are in good position to make the book a reality as well as a moderate success at the very least, but I could use some additional funds to get things off the ground exactly the way I envision. That being the case, I have launched a campaign for crowd funding so that people can donate to the cause. As we say in Jamaica, “every mickle mek a muckle.”

There is also a Tried & True Facebook page as well as the official Tried & True webpage here on Duttyism.com, which will be updated with a list of the names of people who contribute to this mission of mine.

Blessings.

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Claim the LOVE

July 15, 2011 – 5:00 pm

For a while now – maybe more than 2 years – I’ve been making it a point of duty to write or type the word, “LOVE” with all capital letters. In doing so, I am making an effort to constantly remind myself that LOVE is much more than a simple word. The act of capitalizing all four letters is medicinal to me. I have known negativity for a long time, and very well, so that I am able to recognize it even under cloaks of artificial positivity. Until this day, I am yet to achieve a state of being completely LOVE-ing. Is that an achievable state? Who’s to tell. I persist anyway.

Jah9 recently released a single called ‘Intentions‘ as a part of the build up to her much anticipated debut album, Rebellion. I LOVE all her music to date but the song that excites me most is one called ‘Legitimate.’ The beat alone is an instantaneous classic in my mind but, more so, it is Jah9′s lyrical content that is blowing my mind. Overall, it is such a great tune that I have declared it my favourite piece of music since the turn of the 21st century.  Below is a video that was recorded on the night of Sunday, July 10, 2011 at the first of the Iration Ites Recovery Series, benefit events for the Uprising Roots Band. (The home studio where the band members all lived and worked together was destroyed by fire.) Jah9 performed a joint set with Protoje and I was happy to see her sing ‘Legitimate’ for the occasion (not to mention the surprise verse by Protoje on the riddim). Everytime I hear her line, “you just have to claim the LOVE,” I hear the LOVE in all caps just like that.

As far as claiming LOVE is concerned, I may be far advanced in comparison to where I used to be but I am still a work in progress.

Give thanks.

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By Dutty Bookman | Posted in all isms, all isms [Phase 4], Message Music | Comments (0)

Slave traders’ maps of the African continent

June 14, 2011 – 10:42 am

Excerpts from The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill are directly quoted below.

———–

After my babble about how Africa is often belittled on world maps (see: Mercator projection), I think it’s a natural next step to examine the mindset of the makers of these maps that are widely used today, namely, the Europeans and their diaspora. Interestingly, one window into their mentality and general attitude towards Africa is by grasping how they historically drew maps of the place. The following is one example meant to stimulate further research.

I recently read a great novel called The Book of Negroes, which is largely based on historical facts. The author, Lawrence Hill, gives a breakdown of his sources and inspirations at the end of the book, providing some suggestions for further reading. In it, there is a telling exchange between the protagonist, Aminata, and Mr. Lindo, one of the persons who bought her throughout her life in North America. He was a very kind “owner” if the 18th century setting is taken into account; he taught her things that the law of the time forbade slaves to know, such as mathematics. On one occasion, he took her inside a library (at great risk) so that she could see a map of the world because she wanted to know where her homeland was and, possibly, identify the position of her village in relation to the coast. This is the conversation that ensued:

“I have never seen so many books,” I said, looking around and wishing that women and Negroes were allowed in the library.

“They have a thousand books,” Mr. Lindo muttered, “and I paid for half of them.”

“Where are we?” I asked, pointing at the map.

“This is British North America,” he said, indicating a mass of land.

On the edge of the land, right up against a huge swath of blue named the Atlantic Ocean, Lindo put his finger by a dot, beside which was the name Charles Town.

“And here,” he said, “is Africa.” Across the blue sea, I saw a strangely shaped mass, wider at the top, curving in at the middle and narrowing at the bottom.

“How do you know?”

“You can make out the letters if you look carefully. See here? A-F-R-I-C-A.”

“That is my land? Who says it has that strange shape?”

“The cartographers who make the maps. The traders who sail the worlds. The British and the French and the Dutch and the others who go to Africa, sailing up and down the coast, mapping the shape of the continent.”

On the map I paused over some squiggles in the form of baseless triangles. Lindo said they were meant to indicate mountains. I saw a lion and an elephant sketched in the middle of the land called Africa. I saw that it was mostly surrounded by the seas. But the map told me nothing of where I came from. Nothing of Bayo, Segu, of the Joliba. Not a single thing that I recognized from my homeland.

“Here on this side of the water, in British North America,” I said, pointing, “it says Charles Town. I can see where we are. But there are no towns written on Africa. Only these places along the water. Cape Verde. Cape Mesurado. Cape Palmas. How are we to know where the villages are?”

“The villages are unknown,” Lindo said.

“I have walked through them. There are people everywhere.”

“They are unknown to the people who made this map. Look here in the corner. It says 1690. This is a copy of a map first made seventy-three years ago. They knew even less back then.”

Although there was no visual aid to accompany this significant moment in the story, I think that the dialogue speaks for itself. Aminata later checked a map dated 1729 and saw that the interior of the continent was still labelled with “elephants, lions and bare-breasted women.” She also noticed a depiction of “an African child lying beside a lion under a tree,” noting that “no child would be foolish enough to sleep with a lion.” She later described the map as “a white man’s fantasy.” Regardless, that was the prevailing map of the day. The Europeans were seafaring and enterprising; they knew the coastal towns of use to their agenda and knew how to barter with corrupt Africans who could go into the continent’s interior and bring a lot of human beings like Aminata to the coast. They had little need to know the reality of the terrain so many miles inland… for the time being.

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By Dutty Bookman | Posted in all isms, all isms [Phase 4], Timely Books | Comments (1)

Africa on world maps

June 13, 2011 – 1:39 am

I have recently taken an interest in the way Africa is portrayed. Like many people I know, I have always been mindful about the stereotypes seen on television: the naked children with their ribcages making an impression through their skin; the old women unfazed by the x-amount of flesh flies crawling freely on their faces; the war torn regions of the continent. The list goes on and, taken altogether, serves as a causal factor of the greatest psychosis of Africans who have never set foot on the continent. We are sometimes hesitant to even believe that progress occurs there. Anyway, my newfound curiosity was not triggered by any of the usual exaggerations but by something much less obvious.

I happened upon an unassuming little book (if I can relocate the book or otherwise remember its name, I will be sure to edit this post). In it was an explanation about a method of drawing maps whereby the scale increases outward from the equator to the poles. What it essentially meant was that the African continent typically appeared to be closer to the size of the USA or China in these maps than it is in reality. After a small amount of research online, I located this useful webpage, which shows how the USA, China, India, Japan and all of Europe are collectively eclipsed in land area by Africa.

As inconsequential as this information may seem to some, I think it is an important revelation that can boost the self-perception of Africans, especially those who were born and raised in the West Indies (Caribbean), the USA and Europe.

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Releasing and absorbing in Washington, Dutty’s City

June 6, 2011 – 12:04 am

I haven’t had much to share in recent weeks or, rather, months. Much of my creative energy has been spent on what is to become my first book. As a result, I am wearing prescription glasses now. Given my family history, it was inevitable and I fought it for years but those sleepless nights working on the book proved to be the deciding factor in the matter. Satisfaction is still the prevalent emotion though, as I am happy to inform that the book is practically finished; I am now out of creative mode and quite immersed in the relatively unexciting business mode. I look forward to publishing and promoting it this summer… or maybe in the fall. As I work towards that goal, I rely on the Universe to make things align accordingly. Overall, the experience has been therapeutic as I took advantage of the opportunity to release a lot of fermenting thoughts into one sustained literary project.

Meanwhile, I have been steadily claiming Washington, DC as Washington, Dutty’s City. My new home is a very comfortable apartment in what is considered a rough neighbourhood. Having a Kingston state of mind, I am quite fine here despite the ominous police presence. What bothers me more is the high rate of unemployment that persists here. A recent report informed me that the little section of the city that is my adopted home happens to have the highest unemployment rate in the entire United States of America. Unsurprisingly, only persons of African ancestry live here. (Related fact: Washington has historically been known as the “Chocolate City” because of its high Black population.) Even holders of university degrees are finding the job market to be an unforgiving beast these days. I was fortunate enough to be hired for a decent job within two months of moving here. Then I was unfortunate enough to lose the job one month later because the non-profit organization could not sustain itself and its staff much longer. Thankfully, after another three months of searching, I have another part-time job, this time selling books at a small, independent, progressive bookstore, which might be as close to heaven as it gets for me on Earth. I thoroughly enjoy being in the presence of so many great books, helping people discover good titles for their own personalities, reading some myself when customer traffic is low and buying a couple with my useful employee discount. My only regret is that I don’t work enough hours there.

While I lack the financial stability that I want at this time, I fully appreciate the position in which I find myself at this moment. I managed to write a book, an act that served as a great release for my soul, and now I am absorbing new energy and new, varied information. The only result will be growth and I presume that I soon will be sharing my thoughts again at a more usual rate.

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