Hot Fun in the Summertime

Head on over to APOOO's Hot Fun in the Summertime for the down low of why I love urban fiction.

Click HERE

Stay peace

I've been TAGGED!!!

Here’s the idea (you can copy this paragraph to use in your post):

I am going to list three categories of books. 5 MUST Read Books, 5 Books on Your Nightstand, and 5 Look For These Soon. Keeping with the theme, I am going to tag at least 5 bloggers. They should put these same lists on their blog but SUBTRACT one book from each list and ADD one of their own. Then they should tag at least 5 more bloggers. It will be fun to see how the lists change as it goes around the blogosphere. Please come back to this post and leave a comment so I can see how the lists are changing as they go around the blogosphere. Since this is Book Buzz…please keep your lists to titles released in 2007-2009.

5 MUST Read Books:
Them by Nathan McCall
Orange Mint and Honey by Carliss Brice
Yellow Moon by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Conception by Kalisha Buckhanon

The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Soulja

5 Books on the Nightstand:
Song Yet Sung by James McBride
Pig Candy: Taking My Father South, Taking my Father Home Lise Funderburg
From Harvey River by Lorna Goodison
Trading Dreams at Midnight by Dianne McKinney Whetstone

Still Dirty by Vickie Stringer

5 Look For These Soon:
House at Sugar Beach by Helen Cooper
The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family
Midnight: A Gangster Love Story by Sister Souljah
The Hood Life: A Bentley Manor Tale by Meesha Mink and De'nesha Diamond
Red Light Special by Risque

The bloggers I’m asking to post the lists (and make one book-for-book change to each list if they wish):

Terra Little
The Moody Gemini
Gwenyth Bolton

Don't know who else I can tag!!!

As is the mother...

APOOO is hosting Every Day is Mother's Day for the month of May, and it is with much gratitude that I am allowed to present to you the most wonderful woman in my life; my mommy. I'm blessed to have a mother who makes me feel rich, empowered, and loved. She also makes some mean rice pudding (HINT! HINT!).

Thank you APOOO for honoring mothers.

Thank you mommy for being you and encouraging me to be me. I love you!

Thank you, my friends, for stopping by and please leave a comment. Tell me what the 'bestest' dish your mom (or other mother) makes or just let me know you stopped by.



Created by D.J. Frazier

Virtual Spoken Word Showcase

I participated in a Virtual Spoken Word Showcase sponsored by APOOO Books and Urban Echoes Entertainment and now it's time to vote---->APOOO<-----click there

I am in the last 3 minutes of the show, but feel free to listen to entire show. There was a lot of talent on the internet waves that night.


It Calls Me

It calls me--
Y'all don't understand, I said
it calls me,
from the back of that part of the brain that determines my sanity,
handing me illusion after illusion of
misproported distortion it calls
with legs parted like shallow waves,
days of unwashed crevices left by an unsanitary hooker.
Should I listen?
Its message unclear, its intent misunderstood--
Could this vision lack reason?
See, the mechanics of the situation make me panic like a fiend
Scheming to get that next high, I
prowl like mary jane
penetrating manure, an illegal nigga garden.
It's starting to whisper in my ear more often.
It's starting to make my decisions for me, poorly perpetrating my character,
dominating, scared of the possibility that I might contradict its demands,
And- I- Am
TOTALLY influenced by its nuisance.
WE ARE ONE
It led me to that alley where I blessed my pipe with holy sewer water, washed in my peers’ blood,
but sanctified,
no one cried when my spirit betrayed me,
when I existed as whole, yet stole on demand,
took food out my own kids’ hands, slept with man after man and pranced around like not a damn thing was wrong.
Its instruction turned to psalm,
Biblical hymnals, pew splinters in my ass,
fire at my heels ‘cause I'm going straight to hell.
Might as well hit another lick--
I'm not tired of this shit.
I'm gone lie and steal, take what in me was killed.
Fuck a Jesus, I'm the resurrected,
that nigga temptress the grief in Momma's heart, causing conflict in her psyche.
It's me,
easily identifiable, I'm liable to reek all kinds of havoc.
My paradigm is crime waves and dope sprees,
extracurricular sex and green leaves.
Please Leave Me Alone,
I did this shit on my own.
Now the mental separation that’s penetrating my being is beating me,
it's beating me
it's being me!

by Genesis

This poem is dear to me as it was initially written and performed for a group of chemically dependent women whom I'd encountered while on an internship at a chemical treatment facility. I owe all inspiration to them.


Special thanks to Yasmin Coleman and Marcus Harris for having a wonderful show!

Again, click APOOO below to vote (for Darnetta a.k.a. Genesis) and please feel free to pass along the word! You can copy the link in your browser and paste it into an email OR you can use the email feature provided by Blogger.

APOOO