2003
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2002
APRIL
2001
DECEMBER
DECEMBER
2, 2003 [Tuesday]
Back to Real Life with daughter, Alexa Rose here. And back to
feeling all inside-out. The past 2 1/2 weeks of solitude were
a miraculous gift; felt myself unfurl again, my creative soul stretch
out and luxuriate in ways not known since before baby; following any
and all impulses and associations, reading, thinking and most treasured
dreaming. Dreaming as in daydreams, and sleep dreams, more vivid
than they've been in years. Keeping my own hours and schedule,
up till 5 am most nights, starting the day at my own pace, in quiet
and calm. Reconnecting with a lost self. Now, shifting
gears, and I guess what I feel is crowded. Not just physically,
but psychically. Need to integrate. Alexa is so full of love
and light, and I am so blessed by her. And, as I always know,
I'm only so happy in my solitude because I have the security
and love of my family to anchor me. Victor Vargas is with us
again, taking care of Alexa, and by extension, me. We're
both extremely lucky.
On the work front—
DRED SCOTT: First of all, Dred Scott lived as a slave in HUNTSVILLE,
ALABAMA. [What are the odds?] Dred Scott, a slave, sued
for his freedom in 1846. In 1857, after moving up through the
courts, the case was decided by the Supreme Court, the decision written
by Justice Roger Brook Taney. It stated that blacks "had
no rights that the white man was bound to respect;" that
blacks were not citizens, and therefore could not sue in U.S. courts,
and that furthermore, the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which allowed
some territories to enter the Union as "free" [prohibiting
slavery], was unconstitutional in that it deprived citizens of the
rights to their own property [slaves]. The Dred Scott Decision
provided fuel, was an igniting event for the Civil war. Heartbreaking
story. Have to read the Decision.
IMAGE: Guncotton/Dred Scott Decision. Incendiary devices. Maybe
this is how the piece begins? This is the first clear idea I've
had. One little idea.
DECEMBER
3, 2003 [Wednesday]
Finished reading Vincent Harding's There is a River: The Black
Struggle for Freedom in America. Great book. Looks at antebellum
[from 17th c. slave trade beginnings], Civil War, and Reconstruction
America from the perspective of African-Americans. The relentless
struggle from freedom, the people as ACTIVE proponents of RESISTENCE,
SELF-LIBERATION, AGENTS FOR CHANGE, against all odds. The book
locates African-Americans at the center, taking matters into their
own hands throughout the centuries, and eventually forcing the most
radical change in the core of our country [unfinished though it is].
Makes the argument that this change was brought about not in one fell
sweep
of the Civil War but through the cumulative effect of individuals and
groups in every arena of life—work, society, politics, religion, culture—each
act adding to the momentum, on and on and on. Illuminating and perspective-shifting. Great
resource for additional research.
•
OUTLYERS: Runaway slaves who lived secretly in swamps, making their
own colonies, aiding rebellions. FLORIDA was frequent destination—many
independent communities of blacks. Radical disobedience. Where
in Florida? Same land as Cape Canaveral??? The Negro Fort
in Florida—black/Indian community [Seminole?]. "Down
in Florida, it was said that 'there was a praying ground
where the grass never had a chance to grow for the troubled knees
that kept it crushed down.'"
[p. 163]
• Image: Runaway slaves living in HOLES, sometimes for years, emerging
only at night. Children born in holes didn't see daylight
till emancipation.
• SOUTH AND NORTH tied together as a Constitutionally sanctioned slave
society. Nobody's hands are clean. "The revolution
for white liberty ended with black slavery carefully protected in the
basic document of the new 'free nation.'" —V.H.
[p. 46]
• The black experience of immanent emancipation is like the idea of
feeling a vision without clearly seeing it. Could be an interesting psychic
state to explore.
"It [emancipation] was a time of ironic occasions, strange marriages,
and tragic wounds." —V.H. [p. 241]
•
RISING, COMING UP, JACOB'S LADDER—relentless attempts to
defy the laws of gravity, in the case of black liberation from white
oppression, as well as sending a rocket into space.
•
Black people fill the "surreal world of [white men's] dreams…" Do
this.
