so i have begun. i have spent the large chunk of this weekend absorbed in a new series of books & ideas & vocab. one of my classes, understanding katrina: theology, ethics & praxis has launched with a reading of rising tide: how the 1927 flood of the missississippi changed america by john m. barry. really, a fantastic book about a natural disaster i don't think i'd even heard of before.
in reading it, i can't help but think of nina simone's mississippi goddam as i read about the emergence of the kkk, the efforts of white folks to fight for dignity of blacks for their economic interest, the role of ministers in leadership of the black community. its focus is on greenville, ms--one of the places hardest hit by the flooding. its a messy tale of fathers & sons, herbert hoover & politics, power dynamics & race relations. kind of seems to whisper of a scary post-katrina u.s.
okay, enough foreboding! here's what i'm taking this semester:
1. understanding katrina
2. justice & love
3. the catholic sixties
4. psychoanalysis & character ethics
i'm off to read more of the amazing martha nussbaum on the role of emotions in our ethical & moral lives.
peaceout, k.
oh...the lyrics to mississippi goddam:
The name of this tune is mississippi goddam
And I mean every word of it
Alabamas gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about mississippi goddam
Alabamas gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about mississippi goddam
Cant you see it
Cant you feel it
Its all in the air
I cant stand the pressure much longer
Somebody say a prayer
Alabamas gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about mississippi goddam
This is a show tune
But the show hasnt been written for it, yet
Hound dogs on my trail
School children sitting in jail
Black cat cross my path
I think every days gonna be my last
Lord have mercy on this land of mine
We all gonna get it in due time
I dont belong here
I dont belong there
Ive even stopped believing in prayer
Dont tell me
I tell you
Me and my people just about due
Ive been there so I know
They keep on saying go slow!
But thats just the trouble
Do it slow
Washing the windows
Do it slow
Picking the cotton
Do it slow
Youre just plain rotten
Do it slow
Youre too damn lazy
Do it slow
The thinkings crazy
Do it slow
Where am I going
What am I doing
I dont know
I dont know
Just try to do your very best
Stand up be counted with all the rest
For everybody knows about mississippi goddam
I made you thought I was kiddin didnt we
Picket lines
School boy cots
They try to say its a communist plot
All I want is equality
For my sister my brother my people and me
Yes you lied to me all these years
You told me to wash and clean my ears
And talk real fine just like a lady
And youd stop calling me sister sadie
Oh but this whole country is full of lies
Youre all gonna die and die like flies
I dont trust you any more
You keep on saying go slow!
Go slow!
But thats just the trouble
Do it slow
Desegregation
Do it slow
Mass participation
Do it slow
Reunification
Do it slow
Do things gradually
Do it slow
But bring more tragedy
Do it slow
Why dont you see it
Why dont you feel it
I dont know
I dont know
You dont have to live next to me
Just give me my equality
Everybody knows about mississippi
Everybody knows about alabama
Everybody knows about mississippi goddam
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
shameless promotion
i would like to draw your attention to the right-hand column over there...you see it: blogs i like. i am extremely biased, but i happened to find today's post on "barbagazie" extremely funny. if you go, click my link here and then look at the top of the page for the tap entitled "blog." i'm still laughing.
in other news, i voted in the primary election for the democratic candidate for governor & it looks like my man deval patrick will hold a spot on the ticket on nov. 7 alongside the proposal for whether or not grocery stores should be allowed to sell beer & wine (interestingly, this initiative has policiticized my local liquor store--the have a big NO out on their sidewalk already!).
shopping period continues here. have been to about 8 classes and its only day 2. this is both a nightmare and a dream come true!
to continue the tangential nature of this post, i'm also thinking about this pope and islam thing. my friends here are blasting the pope for being kind of short-sited in choosing his antecdote. i read the whole speech (posted @ bbc) & am not sure the intention was at all offensive & am kind of surprised at the extreme reaction. yes, i'm stunned myself: i feel rather sympathetic to the pope. ack! what is the world coming to:)? interestingly, i shopped a class with a guy named francis schussler fiorenza (the husband of elisabeth) who was a student of joseph ratzinger's. he said the text of the lecture is a form used often by ratzinger in the classroom--using a story from a perhaps unrelated or sometimes obscur setting to frame the conversation.
and so the vatican trudges on. sometimes i feel sorry for them & their sense of being other worldly & their lack of ability to be so.
okay, i'm waxing tired here. as with being at the mall, shopping takes it out of me!
peaceout, k.
in other news, i voted in the primary election for the democratic candidate for governor & it looks like my man deval patrick will hold a spot on the ticket on nov. 7 alongside the proposal for whether or not grocery stores should be allowed to sell beer & wine (interestingly, this initiative has policiticized my local liquor store--the have a big NO out on their sidewalk already!).
shopping period continues here. have been to about 8 classes and its only day 2. this is both a nightmare and a dream come true!
to continue the tangential nature of this post, i'm also thinking about this pope and islam thing. my friends here are blasting the pope for being kind of short-sited in choosing his antecdote. i read the whole speech (posted @ bbc) & am not sure the intention was at all offensive & am kind of surprised at the extreme reaction. yes, i'm stunned myself: i feel rather sympathetic to the pope. ack! what is the world coming to:)? interestingly, i shopped a class with a guy named francis schussler fiorenza (the husband of elisabeth) who was a student of joseph ratzinger's. he said the text of the lecture is a form used often by ratzinger in the classroom--using a story from a perhaps unrelated or sometimes obscur setting to frame the conversation.
and so the vatican trudges on. sometimes i feel sorry for them & their sense of being other worldly & their lack of ability to be so.
okay, i'm waxing tired here. as with being at the mall, shopping takes it out of me!
peaceout, k.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
and so it begins
ladies & gentlemen, faithful blogreaders...i'm back.
let me catch you up, in brief, on my life: in the past three weeks, i have:
1. dropped out of my student teaching program/commitment
2. switched back to being a student at hds
3. quit two jobs
4. gained one roommate
5. said yes to the man i love
all it all, its been a wonderful and hectic start to the 2006-07 school year!
i have recommitted myself to studying ethics this year, in hopes of further uncovering a passion for this stuff that i began to scratch the surface of last semester. i'm looking forward to a bunch of classes that i'll be "shopping" next week, so a full list will be posted next week (i know, i know...you can hardly wait!).
in the background, i've been wondering about this stage of life i'm calling "26." while i hopefully await turning 27, anxious to be done being 26, i do think this is a particularly interesting time of life...transitions abound, big decisions lurk at each corner and emotional stability encounters new and great challenges. i like being 26...its teaching me lots of things. and, heck, i'm past the halfway point, so i'll keep enjoying this crazy agestage. but if you're finding 26 to be a specially funky age, let me--i always enjoy the commiserate!
i'm happy, too, to be back at the blog. peaceout. k.
let me catch you up, in brief, on my life: in the past three weeks, i have:
1. dropped out of my student teaching program/commitment
2. switched back to being a student at hds
3. quit two jobs
4. gained one roommate
5. said yes to the man i love
all it all, its been a wonderful and hectic start to the 2006-07 school year!
i have recommitted myself to studying ethics this year, in hopes of further uncovering a passion for this stuff that i began to scratch the surface of last semester. i'm looking forward to a bunch of classes that i'll be "shopping" next week, so a full list will be posted next week (i know, i know...you can hardly wait!).
in the background, i've been wondering about this stage of life i'm calling "26." while i hopefully await turning 27, anxious to be done being 26, i do think this is a particularly interesting time of life...transitions abound, big decisions lurk at each corner and emotional stability encounters new and great challenges. i like being 26...its teaching me lots of things. and, heck, i'm past the halfway point, so i'll keep enjoying this crazy agestage. but if you're finding 26 to be a specially funky age, let me--i always enjoy the commiserate!
i'm happy, too, to be back at the blog. peaceout. k.
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