Poet, editor, and activist Essex Hemphill was born April 16, 1957, in Chicago, Illinois. He was raised in Southeast Washington, DC, and began to write poems at the age of fourteen. He was educated at the University of Maryland.
Hemphill's first books were the self-published chapbooks Earth Life (1985) and Conditions (1986). He first gained national attention when his work appeared in the anthology In the Life (1986), a seminal collection of writings by Black gay men. In 1989, his poems were featured in the award-winning documentaries Tongues Untied and Looking for Langston.
In 1991, Hemphill edited Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men, which won a Lambda Literary Award. In 1992, he released Ceremonies: Prose and Poetry, which won the National Library Association's Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual New Author Award. His poems appeared in Obsidian, Black Scholar, Callaloo, Painted Bride Quarterly, Essence, and numerous other newspapers and journals. His work also appeared in numerous anthologies including Gay and Lesbian Poetry in Our Time (1986) and Life Sentences: Writers, Artists and AIDS (1993). He was a visiting scholar at The Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities in 1993. On November 4, 1995, Hempill died from complications relating to AIDS.
From Poetry.org
Conditions XIV
Essex Hemphill
You left me begging for things
most men thought they had below their belts.
I was reaching higher.
I could throw my legs up like satellites
but I knew I was fucking fallen angels.
I made them feel like demigods.
I believed my mission
to be a war zone duty:
don't create casualties,
heal them.
But I was the wounded
almost dead.
Helping the uninjured.
Men whose lusty hearts
weakened in the middle of the night
and brought them to tears, to their knees
for their former lovers.
They could look at me and tell
they did not want to endure
what beauty love scars give me.
So touch me now --
Hannibal, Toussaint.
I am a revolution without bloodshed.
I change the order of things
to suit my desperations.
You can raise your legs,
almost touch heaven.
I can be an angel,
falling.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Godself
If I can say to somebody else, I love you, I must be able to say, I love in you everybody, I love through you, the world, I love in you, also myself. - Erich Fromm
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Ubuntu
Archbishop Desmond Tutu (1999):
| “ | A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed. From Wikipedia | ” |
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
God is the infinite ALL. Man is only a finite manifestation of Him.
Or better yet:
God is that infinite All of which man knows himself to be a finite part.
God alone exists truly. Man manifests Him in time, space and matter. The more God's manifestation in man (life) unites with the manifestations (lives) of other beings, the more man exists. This union with the lives of other beings is accomplished through love. God is not love, but the more there is of love, the more man manifests God, and the more he truly exists...
We acknowledge God only when we are conscious of His manifestation in us. All conclusions and guidelines based on this consciousness should fully satisfy both our desire to know God as such as well as our desire to live a life based on this recognition.
* Entry in Tolstoy's Diary (1 November 1910)
Or better yet:
God is that infinite All of which man knows himself to be a finite part.
God alone exists truly. Man manifests Him in time, space and matter. The more God's manifestation in man (life) unites with the manifestations (lives) of other beings, the more man exists. This union with the lives of other beings is accomplished through love. God is not love, but the more there is of love, the more man manifests God, and the more he truly exists...
We acknowledge God only when we are conscious of His manifestation in us. All conclusions and guidelines based on this consciousness should fully satisfy both our desire to know God as such as well as our desire to live a life based on this recognition.
* Entry in Tolstoy's Diary (1 November 1910)
Monday, November 26, 2007
Substance Dependence: Common Myths
Substance Abuse Add comments
Drug dependence is simply a failure of will or of strength of character.
Dependence is a brain disorder and people with drug dependence have altered brain structure and function. It is true that dependence is expressed in the form of compulsive behavior, but this behavior is strongly related to brain changes occurring over time, with repeated use of drugs. In recent years genetics was found to be associated with the predisposition of individuals to be more or less susceptible to develop drug dependence.
People who have drug dependence can easily move back to occasional use.
Drug dependence is difficult to control due to compulsive drug use and craving, leading to drug seeking and repetitive use, even in the face of negative health and social consequences. Once dependent, the individual often fails in his or her attempts to quit.
It’s not worthwhile to invest in treatment for individuals who have drug dependence - it is a waste of time and money.
Investing in evidence-based treatment for substance dependence decreases negative health consequences and social effects (e.g. crime, economic burden and HIV infection). For every dollar spent on treatment 7 dollars are returned in cost-savings. Treatment is proven to be cost-effective in both developed and developing countries. It costs less than imprisonment.
Adapted from What Do People Think They Know About Substance Dependence (World Health Organization, 2001).
Substance Abuse Add comments
Drug dependence is simply a failure of will or of strength of character.
Dependence is a brain disorder and people with drug dependence have altered brain structure and function. It is true that dependence is expressed in the form of compulsive behavior, but this behavior is strongly related to brain changes occurring over time, with repeated use of drugs. In recent years genetics was found to be associated with the predisposition of individuals to be more or less susceptible to develop drug dependence.
People who have drug dependence can easily move back to occasional use.
Drug dependence is difficult to control due to compulsive drug use and craving, leading to drug seeking and repetitive use, even in the face of negative health and social consequences. Once dependent, the individual often fails in his or her attempts to quit.
It’s not worthwhile to invest in treatment for individuals who have drug dependence - it is a waste of time and money.
Investing in evidence-based treatment for substance dependence decreases negative health consequences and social effects (e.g. crime, economic burden and HIV infection). For every dollar spent on treatment 7 dollars are returned in cost-savings. Treatment is proven to be cost-effective in both developed and developing countries. It costs less than imprisonment.
Adapted from What Do People Think They Know About Substance Dependence (World Health Organization, 2001).
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Hello
The Invitation
Oriah Mountain Dreamer
"It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for,
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love,
for your dreams,
for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow,
if you have been opened by life's betrayals
or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.
I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own,
without moving to hide or fade it or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own:
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic,
or to remember the limitations of being a human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you're telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself;
if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.
I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see the beauty even when it is not pretty everyday,
and if you can source your life from ITS presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine,
and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"
It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair,
weary and bruised to the bone,
and do what needs to be done for the children.
It doesn't interest me who you are, or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself,
and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments."
Oriah Mountain Dreamer
"It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for,
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.
It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love,
for your dreams,
for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow,
if you have been opened by life's betrayals
or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.
I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own,
without moving to hide or fade it or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own:
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic,
or to remember the limitations of being a human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you're telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself;
if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.
I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see the beauty even when it is not pretty everyday,
and if you can source your life from ITS presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine,
and still stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"
It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair,
weary and bruised to the bone,
and do what needs to be done for the children.
It doesn't interest me who you are, or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself,
and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments."
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