Quick thought:
We need to know what David Kay and the Right Honourable Lord Hutton know.

It's nuts.

Time for a reading renaissance. Here's the list of books I plan to get through one day:

Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision
by Barbara Ransby
Because the modern American civil rights movement is often reduced to MLK, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream Speech," people like Ella Baker don't get the recognition and credit they deserve. I'm glad this book exists.

Dude, Where’s My Country?
by Michael Moore
Though I'm disturbed by his endorsement of Wesley Clark, the book remains on my list. (I have no problem with his choosing to endorse per se, I just prefer him working from a critical distance.)

The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House and the Education of Paul O'Neill
by Ron Suskind
It's astonishing how much of a pass the Bush administration gets. Astonishing.

One Hundred Years of Solitude
by Gabriel Garcia Márquez
I've read it twice. Started reading it again while on vacation in Florida. Dope book.

Chronicle of a Death Foretold
by Gabriel Garcia Márquez
More Márquez. More dopeness.

EVERY SHUT EYE AIN'T ASLEEP: An Anthology of Poetry by. African-Americans Since 1945
edited by Michael S. Harper and Anthony Walton Little, Brown
I really dig this anthology. I flip through it at night and meet some wonderful poets. We have a broad and deep tradition. It's a joy to experience and contribute to it with my own works.

John Henry Days
by Colson Whitehead
Whitehead's so dope he had me fascinated with a Black woman who inspected elevators (The Intuitionist). I can't wait to see what he does with my man John Henry.

Nor can I wait to sit my butt down and write, write, write. Like now.

Peace.

If you haven't seen Howard Dean kirk out after his third place finish in the Iowa caucuses-- or haven't seen it enough-- check out the video. There's also a funny piece about it on NPR's All Things Considered.

Turns out we have a real race for the nomination, what with John Kerry and John Edwards whuppin' that (Dean) ass!

I don't completely understand the Iowa caucus process, or agree with that which I do understand, but I do take heart in the passionate exercise of the franchise.

Being a resident of the District of Columbia, though, I have to rep our own claim to "first in the nation" status for the primary we held. Big ups to my peoples at DC Vote and to the DC councilmembers who made this happen.

Speaking of makin' it happen, big ups to Amy Goodman and the Democracy Now! crew for holding down the progressive space on the public airwaves. Today's session about the State of the Union speech was cool, although Arundhati Roy's phone call from India was hard to decipher. But don't fret, it doesn't take a celebrity breaker-downer to get you up; today's lesser-known guests will make you nod, too. (Or, at least, they made me nod).

Alright, gotta go.

tonight i took some time and worked on my "pushing through" project. my man and brother-in-law, djeurok, helped me work out the soundscape for the poems. i'll keep you posted.

it's the dawn of a new era, a few weeks into 2004, and things are looking pretty good. so what if the raiders went 4-12? the stanford cardinal are doing their thing. everything is everything.

all right for now. tomorrow my wife goes in for dental surgery. no worries, except for waking up in time. we already mapped out and practiced the route!