KonWomyn said...
...There is a part of me that hopes that after writing this article I shall never be considered as a Poet Laureate or an OBE sucker again. Let this put an end to it.This may lose me some of my writing friends; some people may never want to work with me again, but the truth is I think OBEs compromise writers and poets, and laureates suddenly go soft - in the past I've even written a poem, Bought and Sold, saying that.
There are many black writers who love OBEs, it makes them feel like they have made it. When it suits them, they embrace the struggle against the ruling class and the oppression they visit upon us, but then they join the oppressors' club. They are so easily seduced into the great house of Babylon known as the palace. For them, a wonderful time is meeting the Queen and bowing before her presence.I was shocked to see how many of my fellow writers jumped at the opportunity to go to Buckingham Palace when the Queen had her "meet the writers day" on July 9 2002, and I laughed at the pathetic excuses writers gave for going. "I did it for my mum"; "I did it for my kids"; "I did it for the school"; "I did it for the people", etc. I have even heard black writers who have collected OBEs saying that it is "symbolic of how far we have come". Oh yes, I say, we've struggled so hard just to get a minute with the Queen and we are so very grateful -not.
I've never heard of a holder of the OBE openly criticising the monarchy. They are officially friends, and that's what this cool Britannia project is about. It gives OBEs to cool rock stars, successful businesswomen and blacks who would be militant in order to give the impression that it is inclusive.
Then these rock stars, successful women, and ex-militants write to me with the OBE after their name as if I should be impressed. I'm not. Quite the opposite - you've been had.
11 comments:
Li'l Man's a beast! The other kid never had a chance after round 1.
lol! Thanks Kay Dub. I'll tell him you said that.
Just a little vegetarian vaccine free ass whuppin to remind the factory meat & monkey virus juice enthusiasts that we aint got to argue.
The truth speaks for itself.
LOL, that's some veg. truth in action. Hope the wins re-assure your boys they're good fighters & they don't feel intimidated when they face bigger meateating opponents. No doubt, they will get big too.
Do you hip your kids to veg writers, like Benamin Zephaniah the Ras. I'm sure Snack wld like his poetry, but he's also into martial arts and running.
Some years ago the Brutish (British) tried to award him an OBE for literature (Order of the Brutish Empire) and he refused.
This is part of what he said:
Me? I thought, OBE me? Up yours, I thought. I get angry when I hear that word "empire"; it reminds me of slavery, it reminds of thousands of years of brutality, it reminds me of how my foremothers were raped and my forefathers brutalised.
It is because of this concept of empire that my British education led me to believe that the history of black people started with slavery and that we were born slaves, and should therefore be grateful that we were given freedom by our caring white masters.
It is because of this idea of empire that black people like myself don't even know our true names or our true historical culture. I am not one of those who are obsessed with their roots, and I'm certainly not suffering from a crisis of identity; my obsession is about the future and the political rights of all people. Benjamin Zephaniah OBE - no way Mr Blair, no way Mrs Queen. I am profoundly anti-empire.
...There is a part of me that hopes that after writing this article I shall never be considered as a Poet Laureate or an OBE sucker again. Let this put an end to it.
This may lose me some of my writing friends; some people may never want to work with me again, but the truth is I think OBEs compromise writers and poets, and laureates suddenly go soft - in the past I've even written a poem, Bought and Sold, saying that.
There are many black writers who love OBEs, it makes them feel like they have made it. When it suits them, they embrace the struggle against the ruling class and the oppression they visit upon us, but then they join the oppressors' club. They are so easily seduced into the great house of Babylon known as the palace. For them, a wonderful time is meeting the Queen and bowing before her presence.
I was shocked to see how many of my fellow writers jumped at the opportunity to go to Buckingham Palace when the Queen had her "meet the writers day" on July 9 2002, and I laughed at the pathetic excuses writers gave for going. "I did it for my mum"; "I did it for my kids"; "I did it for the school"; "I did it for the people", etc. I have even heard black writers who have collected OBEs saying that it is "symbolic of how far we have come". Oh yes, I say, we've struggled so hard just to get a minute with the Queen and we are so very grateful -not.
I've never heard of a holder of the OBE openly criticising the monarchy. They are officially friends, and that's what this cool Britannia project is about. It gives OBEs to cool rock stars, successful businesswomen and blacks who would be militant in order to give the impression that it is inclusive.
Then these rock stars, successful women, and ex-militants write to me with the OBE after their name as if I should be impressed. I'm not. Quite the opposite - you've been had.
Lil DV is coming along. I love his patience, his discipline, his composure in close quarters, he's technically sound for his age but what I love the most is you sense that he's a thinker.
The velocity on his 1-2 is above avg.
Gotta work on his defense next.
He's a joy to watch bro. Thanks for keeping us in the loop.
Is your other son still boxing?
KP
Thanx Sistah Kon, Benjamin Zephaniah, I'm gonna check him out, too.
Kaaaaay P!
Thanks my man. I appreciate that. You were one of the first cats to pull my coat on the poise. You got a great eye. You box? You train fighters?
Little man and his brother were arguing whether the first line of defense should be blocking with the arms like Mayweather or moving out of the way with the feet like a young Ali. Little brother is partial to the Mayweather style. Big brother wants to dance like Ali. Hopefully they'll be like Ray Robinson and do both.
You are right about the defense. His trainers think his hands are too low and that he isn't moving out of the way after he sticks.
Big Brother still boxing too. Except he broke his arm last year and missed a few months, and then both of his opponents pulled out of the Golden Gloves. They gave him the trophy by default. He didn't want it. I think it's in the trunk of the car. He's disappointed he hasn't had a fight. But I've got to give him credit. He's training better. More organized than he used to be. (forget his mouthpiece. forget his gloves. not rap his hands). He seems to be more dedicated. He hasn't shown the work ethic of his little brother. But he has flashed much more talent. He's going through some middle school dude stuff now and seems harder to rap to than he used to be. I hope he sticks with it.
I was around a gym a bit as a kid and just kept a high interest in the sport. Never fought or trained. I keep getting knudges to join a camp and take a stab at training so I'll see what I can find.
If lil man learns to take pride in his defense, and to use angles, look out.
I wish your older son the best. Looks like he's got the genes for it.
KP
You being funny DV, but you know good and well "LaRo knows boxing."
If they ever accuse your lil' man of "juicing" in the future I can only imagine a classic DV pun retort.
Muhammad Ali vs. James Brown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLVkvNA6u4c
Dock Ellis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vUhSYLRw14
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