A Witness to History: 2011 Poet Laureate and University of Kentucky Professor Nikky Finney Talks about Indian Pencils and Blackboards

"Head Off and Split" is the book that won Nikky Finney the most prestigious prize. It is also the book that shows her great artistic skills. The poet laureate uses ordinary objects to bring out the subliminal and eternal. Jericho Brown captures the essence of her book of poetry this way, ""Again, Nikky Finney manipulates into music the words readers use to see, hear, and understand a soul's history. Head Off & Split is as Southern as it is American, as feminist as it is human, as black as it is a tide of colors knowing no bounds..."

Here is what others are saying about her and her new book. Kwame Dawes wrote, "With Head Off & Split, Nikky Finney establishes herself as one of the most eloquent, urgent, fearless and necessary poets writing in America today. What makes this book as important as anything published in the last decade is the irresistible music, the formal dexterity and the imaginative leaps she makes with metaphor and language in these simply stunning poems. This is a very, very important achievement."

Readers will be attracted by the beauty of language and the mastery with which the author treats each one of her subjects. Meena Alexander summs it up this way, "In Nikky Finney's Head Off & Split the beauty of language soars and saves us even as we skirt the raw edge of terror. And something rare and precious is restored, a light, circling movement of the spirit. This is poetry to give thanks for."

At the opening of Nikky Finney's National Book Award Acceptance speech, she says, "We beging with history..." In a historic and literal way, the poet laureate was right in acknowledging history, the most recent and past history, the history of those who had fought in the past, those whose body was abused and mistreated for the gains of men who thought they could own other men. Indeed, "We begin with history..." brings back the sacrifices of men and women like the author's parents who had to decide to invest in education, in the literary things that were forbidden to black slaves and could have them killed. "We begin with history..." was and is for ever present when her father, retired chief justice Earnest A Finney had to decide difficult cases in an era when Jim Crow and discrimination were running rampant in the country. The retired Chief Justice knew that he had to bring his contribution to pillar of civil rights movement, a potent sign of history.

History is ongoing.
Nikky likes history and anything about history..."I am incredibly drawn to history; personal history, American history, Southern history, family history,
the history of a community, the history of secrets, the history that has gone missing, the history that has
been told by the lion hunter but not the lion, the history of pencils, of loss, of tenderness, the history of
what the future just might be if we would only..."

It is that sense of history that led Nikky to pen a poem about Strom Thurmond titled "Dancing with Strom..." She prefaced the poem with this quote from Thurmond, Thurmond's quote was spoken in 1948: “I want to
tell you, ladies and gentleman, there’s not enough troops in the army to force the Southern people to break
down segregation and accept the Negro into our theatres, into our swimming pools, into our homes, and
into our churches.”

"Black people were the only people in the United States who were ever officially forbidden to be literate..." said Nikky Finney in her acceptance speech...." said Nikky Finney in her speech. "

"I am now officially speechless," concluded Nikky.


Where can you find Nikky's books: www.nikkyfinney.net and on Amazon.com

President Zuma Said Madiba (Nelson Mandela) is Fine After Checkups for Abdominal Ailment

Everyone is praying for Madiba's prompt recovery from abdominal ailments. Earlier today, he was taken to Pretoria's "1 Military" hospital for investigation of the abdominal woes of which he had been complaining. The former South African President, an icon of the Struggle, has not been seen in the speaking circuit after his recent hospitalization. He has been staying at home mostly these days.

Well wishers from all over the world want to know how he is doing. They are praying for his good health. They want him to be painless.

---

Purchase a PDF copy of this ebook now

Purchase a copy of "Nelson Mandela's Poetic Biography: How To Live Before You Die - Experience Leadership Academy, Best Business Quotes and Freedom Struggle" from Barnes and Noble now

Purchase a copy of 'Nelson Mandela's Poetic Biography: How to Live Before You Die - Experience Leadership Academy, Best Business Quotes and Freedom Struggle' from Amazon Kindle now

Top Black Women in American History and Culture: From Harriet Tubman, Oprah Winfrey to Rosa Parks and Michelle Obama...

Black Women in American History and Culture

MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE - Educator and activist mobilized thousands of black women as leader and founder of the National Association of Colored Women and National Council of Negro Women. She helped establish Bethune-Cookman College.
DR. MAE JEMISON – NASA astronaut and the first black woman to travel in space when she went into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on September 12, 1992.
ROSA PARKS – African American Civil Rights activist called the mother of the modern day civil rights movement.
SHIRLEY CHISHOLM – In 1968 she became the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress representing New York’s 12th Congressional District for seven terms from 1969 to 1983.
HARRIET TUBMAN - Escaped slavery to become a leading abolitionist. She led hun-dreds of enslaved people to freedom along the route of the Underground Railroad, and was known as the Moses of her people.
WILMA RUDOLPH – The first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field at the 1960 Olympic games. Named Associated Press Woman Athlete of the year twice.
ALTHEA GIBSON – Tennis champion and the first African-American invited to play at Wimbledon and the first to win a Grand Slam title in 1957 and again in 1958.
OPRAH WINFREY – Businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthro-pist, hailed by Life Magazine as the most influential woman of her generation. In 2005 Business Week named her the greatest black philanthropist in American history.
ELLA FITZGERALD - "The First Lady of Song," Ella Fitzgerald was arguably the finest female jazz singer of all time having sold over 40 million albums and winning 13 Grammy awards.
MAYA ANGELOU – Civil rights activist, poet, teacher and prize winning autobiograph-ical novelist. One of only two poets asked to read at a Presidential inauguration
Myrlie Evers-Williams, widow of Medgar Evers, Civil Rights Leader and Icon, shot almost 5 decades ago in Mississippi. She wants us not to forget Medgar Evers who paved the way for Martin Luther King and others to fight for equal rights
Michelle Obama, Wife of President Barack Obama, The First African-American First Lady

Inspired by Rosa Parks's Courage and Sitting on the Bus: How to Find Inspiration For Our Hard Times

Purchase this book for far less, $9.99 at Amazon /Kindle Direct Publishing

Inspired by Rosa Parks's Courage and Sitting on the Bus (v.4) is an inspirational book of poetry that compels us to look back and forward to find signs of inspiration in our lives and current difficult times. This book of poetry has 100 new and selected poems published solely for your edification and uplifting. Find more at http://poetrybusinessblog.blogspot.com

Nelson Rolihlahla Dalibhunga Mandela aka 'Madiba or Tata: Nelson Mandela's Poetry, Poems, Quotes, and Prose

Book Review

Tables of Content
1, Purest Form of Gold: A Long Journey to Freedom Day
2. What is like to be Free? Nelson Mandela’s Freedom
3, Awupatha: We Shall Not Be Dominated
4. Robben Island
5. Life Celebration
6. Tribute to all the Comrades:
Mandela Pays Tribute to the Martyrs of the Struggle
7. Rolihlahla, the “Troublemaker” for the Right Cause
8. Robben Island: Thrown into the Heart of Darkness
9. Robben Island: From Darkness to Light
10. Men Made of Gold: My Respect and Tribute
11. God Bless Africa!
12. Apartheid: The Idiocy of It All
13. Bullies’ Indignities: Down with all Bullies
14. Time to Breathe Fresh

Purchase a PDF copy of this ebook now

Purchase a copy of "Nelson Mandela's Poetic Biography: How To Live Before You Die - Experience Leadership Academy, Best Business Quotes and Freedom Struggle" from Barnes and Noble now

Purchase a copy of 'Nelson Mandela's Poetic Biography: How to Live Before You Die - Experience Leadership Academy, Best Business Quotes and Freedom Struggle' from Amazon Kindle now

Purchase a copy of this book "Nelson Mandela's Poetic Biography: How to Live Before You Die, Experience Leadership Academy, Best Business Quotes and Freedom Struggle right here


Nelson Mandela’s Poetic Biography:
Best Quotes, Leadership Academy and Freedom Struggle

Extracts and Passages of the Oprah Winfrey's Eulogy for Rosa Parks

Oprah Winfrey's Eulogy For Rosa Parks

Oprah Winfrey's Eulogy for Rosa Parks

Reverend Braxton, family, friends, admirers, and this amazing choir:

I -- I feel it an honor to be here to come and say a final goodbye. I grew up in the South, and Rosa Parks was a hero to me long before I recognized and understood the power and impact that her life embodied. I remember my father telling me about this colored woman who had refused to give up her seat. And in my child's mind, I thought, "She must be really big." I thought she must be at least a hundred feet tall. I imagined her being stalwart and strong and carrying a shield to hold back the white folks. And then I grew up and had the esteemed honor of meeting her. And wasn't that a surprise. Here was this petite, almost delicate lady who was the personification of grace and goodness. And I thanked her then. I said, "Thank you," for myself and for every colored girl, every colored boy, who didn't have heroes who were celebrated. I thanked her then.

And after our first meeting I realized that God uses good people to do great things. And I'm here today to say a final thank you, Sister Rosa, for being a great woman who used your life to serve, to serve us all. That day that you refused to give up your seat on the bus, you, Sister Rosa, changed the trajectory of my life and the lives of so many other people in the world. I would not be standing here today nor standing where I stand every day had she not chosen to sit down. I know that. I know that. I know that. I know that, and I honor that. Had she not chosen to say we shall not -- we shall not be moved.

So I thank you again, Sister Rosa, for not only confronting the one white man who[se] seat you took, not only confronting the bus driver, not only for confronting the law, but for confronting history, a history that for 400 years said that you were not even worthy of a glance, certainly no consideration. I thank you for not moving.

And in that moment when you resolved to stay in that seat, you reclaimed your humanity and you gave us all back a piece of our own. I thank you for that. I thank you for acting without concern. I often thought about what that took, knowing the climate of the times and what could have happened to you, what it took to stay seated. You acted without concern for yourself and made life better for us all. We shall not be moved. I marvel at your will. I celebrate your strength to this day. And I am forever grateful, Sister Rosa, for your courage, your conviction. I owe you to succeed. I will not be moved.

Oprah Winfrey's Eulogy For Rosa Parks

Nelson Mandela Inspired by Invictus (Unconquered) , Poem by William Ernest Henley

Here is a copy of the poem that inspired Nelson Mandela during his imprisonment at Robben Island for 18 years. It was written by William Earnest Henley from his hospital bed. Our research showed that the poem provided Nelson Mandela with the much needed hope he needed. He knew that he would be free some day the same way that William E. Henley triumphed over the amputation of his leg.

What a lot of people have not realized is that Nelson Mandela and his prison mates used their captivity to educate themselves. Many of them obtained many advanced degrees in captivity. In particular, Nelson Mandela enjoyed literature, the study of English, the classics. He was used to participating in a seasonal play. He practiced his thespian skills. In the movie Invictus, encouraging his team, Nelson Mandela hand-wrote it for the captain of the rugby team.


INVICTUS (Latin for Unconquered or Awupatha)
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.


Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

==============

---

Book Review



Tables of Content
1, Purest Form of Gold: A Long Journey to Freedom Day
2. What is like to be Free? Nelson Mandela’s Freedom
3, Awupatha: We Shall Not Be Dominated
4. Robben Island
5. Life Celebration
6. Tribute to all the Comrades:
Mandela Pays Tribute to the Martyrs of the Struggle
7. Rolihlahla, the “Troublemaker” for the Right Cause
8. Robben Island: Thrown into the Heart of Darkness
9. Robben Island: From Darkness to Light
10. Men Made of Gold: My Respect and Tribute
11. God Bless Africa!
12. Apartheid: The Idiocy of It All
13. Bullies’ Indignities: Down with all Bullies
14. Time to Breathe Fresh

Purchase a PDF copy of this ebook now

Purchase a copy of "Nelson Mandela's Poetic Biography: How To Live Before You Die - Experience Leadership Academy, Best Business Quotes and Freedom Struggle" from Barnes and Noble now

Purchase a copy of this book "Nelson Mandela's Poetic Biography: How to Live Before You Die, Experience Leadership Academy, Best Business Quotes and Freedom Struggle right here

Steve Jobs' Poetic Biography, Business Principles, Acumen and Decisions, How to Live Before You Die, and Reality Distortion Theory Field

The world has lost a great mind, a wonderful innovator, a competitor for sure, but a great pitchman!

Steve Jobs left us with some great gadgets such as the iphone, ipod, and iPad. But his life and example are full of lessons, words of wisdom for the business people and contemporary entrepreneurs.

Purchase a copy of this ebook from Amazon/Kindle: Steve Jobs'Poetic Biogrpahy, Business Principles and Decisions: How to Live before You die.

Purchase a copy of "Steve Jobs' Poetic Biography, Business Principles and Decisions: How to live before You die...."

Purchase a copy of this ebook right here now

If you like Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs, you will also like this ebook, "Steve Jobs’ Poetic Biography, Business Principles and Decisions: How to Live Before Dying, Acumen, Leadership, and Entrepreneurship"

"Steve Jobs’ Poetic Biography, Business Principles and Decisions: How to Live Before Dying, Acumen, Leadership, and Entrepreneurship" is a book based on the public life and business acumen of the Apple Co-founder and icon. Through his product design, focus, and presentations, Steve Jobs had a profound impact not only on the Tech industry but also on many other fields such as marketing, showmanship, product design, architecture, poetry, spirituality, and entrepreneurship. This book is designed to help the young entrepreneurs and students of business understand what is important to consumers and related consumer experience

A New Poem on Occupy Wall Street by Drew Dellinger

Occupy Wall Street
by Drew Dellinger


We need global
citizens for some sit-ins
again.
I say we all meet
on Wall Street
and lock down--
lock the whole block down!



I take exception to the rule
of the greedy and the cruel.

This fall, school’s in session
and the lesson is Wall Street.
It’s time for action
and your name’s on the call sheet.
It’s time we all meet
and name what it is:
the game has been rigged
to enrich corporate
business interests that sent this economy spinning.
Charlie Sheen is not the only clueless dude that thinks he’s winning.

See, the one percent done spent all the rent.
And now the rent’s due, so we’re coming to a tent near you.

We’re the like-minded ninety-nine percent
standing up to corruption with loving dissent.

We stand for justice,
and the future,
and all of humanity.
Embracing all people.
Yes, even Sean Hannity.

The message is simple:
greed, injustice, and eco-destruction have to go.
Pay attention corporate media. We’ll try to say it slow.

It’s time to
rock the nation,
rock this occupation.

It’s time for people to peacefully fight back.
Tell Congress and the media we’re taking the mic back.

Tell the jaded it’s that long-awaited revolution.
Put away the pepper spray and re-read the Constitution.
These cops are paid to go crazy, yo.
But we’re peaceful.
Don’t tase me, bro.

We came to incite insight,
unite and discuss this.
We came to hang, and to bang the drums of justice.

Let’s occupy
with our love and our light.

Let’s occupy
the earth and the sky,
and live with all beings
as a planet-wide tribe.

Occupy the divine mind residing inside.

See, I’m the type writer
that’s known to light fires
and prone to inspire
the moment’s own higher desire.

‘Cause history knows it’s the time
for resisting the team at the scene of the crime.

Tell your friends I’ll meet ‘em there at Freedom Square.
They can’t stop us, from Seattle to Chiapas.
It’s our mission to envision
what comes after the catastrophe.
How do we move past
the capitalist disaster?

Our communities need us.
We are all leaders.

How could we ask for anything less than the future?


--Drew Dellinger

LupeFiasco.com (Lupe Fiasco) Sent 50 Tents to OccupyWallStreet and Wrote Poem

Poem by Lupe Fiasco:

Hey Moneyman by Lupe Fiasco

Hey Moneyman the crowd is outside. The past, the future and the now is outside. The teachers and cooks and the drop-outs too. Word on the street is they looking for you…

Hey Moneyman they saying whats the score? And how much blood have you spilled on the butcher shop floor? Those numbers keep running but what they running into? The crowd is outside and they asking of you…

Hey Moneyman Moneyman the mayors' on the phone. He says he wants to know if all those people went home. Those momma's and poppa's and students and cooks. Those teachers and preachers, one second I'll look…

Hey Moneyman Moneyman the tents are still up, the songs are still singing and the coffee's in cups. The nights due to fall and the sun's going down but its still a whole mess of good folks hanging round...

They eyes are wide and their voices are loud. Its white and black and colorless proud. The signs are big and the smiles are bright. By heaven I reckon its gone be one hell of a night!

Hey Moneyman poor Moneyman you should slip out the back. Cuz the forces of greed are under attack. No bombs or bullets or rocks or guns. Just hashtag's and voices at the tops of their lungs!

And Moneyman Moneyman I wont need a ride. But if you need me…

You can find me outside.

By Wasalu "Lupe Fiasco" Jaco


========================

Welcome to the Poetry of Occupy Wall Street! Welcome to the financial capital of the United States of America and the World!

Purchase a PDF copy of "The Wall Street's Human Microphone Waves" Poetry and Song Lyrics Book for $5.00 now

Since Sept. 17,2011, large groups of demonstrators have been protesting against what they perceive to be the overt shameless corporate American greed. They are fed up by the rapaciousness of Wall Street, inattention and ungratefulness of the large banks that received large sums of money under the TARP that bailed them out of economic, financial crises during the early days of the recession only to turn back and hit the same tax payers with bank fees and sorts of money schemes. What is worse is that the bank presidents and higher officials are rewarded for their work with large bonuses ranging in the millions of dollars.

What is Occupy Wall Street all about?

“#OCCUPYWALLSTREET is a people powered movement for democracy that began in America on September 17 with an encampment in the financial district of New York City
Inspired by the Egyptian Tahrir Square uprising and the Spanish acampadas, we vow to end the monied corruption of our democracy.”

========

Here is a sample of this poetry book:

This poem was written by the author of "...Soaring on Wings Like Eagles..," "Freedom Rides to sweet Magnolia..,"

A Dream Deferred
Debt is slavery!
Its yoke the 99% is ready to break once for all
People not Profits! Down with Corporate Greed!
Remember the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP)!
Listen to the voice of the people on the streets
Why have you refused to help us
It is your turn to step up to the plate
Bankers, pay back your debt to the tax payers
And to the millions of families who do not want to be foreclosed on
Homelessness is inhumane
Joblessness can lead to all kinds of vices and temptations
Let us reclaim our voice and ‘hood from Wall Street to Detroit,
From the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo to India
These hill-side shantytowns are no better than the ghettos
Of Detroit, Cleveland, and Chicago
The wilderness is reclaiming the land; inhabitants are fleeing the physical degradation
They are making their last stand against economic injustice
The 99% has had enough. Main Street is asking Wall Street to repay its debts
Who is out there to listen to their cry of agony and humiliation?
We are getting on the economic freedom rides
Help us get free from debt, foreclosure. Give hope to our young and educated children
Help us! Help! Help! We are drowning in the filth on the streets!
Won’t you come down from your highrise to witness the misery we are vegetating in?
We are cold and hungry. Do not let the human voice¸ the human microphone disappear

========

Purchase a copy of Laurent Dubois Descartes's "The Wall Street's Human Microphone Waves" from Amazon Kindle right here, right now.

Purchase a copy of Laurent Dubois Descartes's The Wall Street's Human Microphone Waves from Barnes and Noble as a nook ebook

Purchase a PDF copy of "The Wall Street's Human Microphone Waves" Poetry and Song Lyrics Book for $5.00 now

Since Sept. 17,2011, large groups of demonstrators have been protesting against what they perceive to be the overt shameless corporate American greed. They are fed up by the rapaciousness of Wall Street, inattention and ungratefulness of the large banks that received large sums of money under the TARP that bailed them out of economic, financial crises during the early days of the recession only to turn back and hit the same tax payers with bank fees and sorts of money schemes. What is worse is that the bank presidents and higher officials are rewarded for their work with large bonuses ranging in the millions of dollars.

What is Occupy Wall Street all about?

“#OCCUPYWALLSTREET is a people powered movement for democracy that began in America on September 17 with an encampment in the financial district of New York City
Inspired by the Egyptian Tahrir Square uprising and the Spanish acampadas, we vow to end the monied corruption of our democracy.”

Having spent more than 23 days on the pavement of Wall Street, the protesters are organizing themselves to finally deliver a message to the financial world.

Protesters appear to come from all economic groups, religious, ethnic backgrounds. They are organizing themselves in general assemblies. Unable to use a microphone or bullhorns, they form what is called "waves of human microphone" which repeats what the speaker says to the rest of the assembled crowd.

Thus far, the movement has a website, www.occupywallstreet.org. It is seeking donations from volunteers. The donations can be in foods to feed the people who have been sleeping on the streets. Early scuffles with the police have not deterred them. Neither have the changing environmental elements. Just like the protesters of Tahrir Square and the Spanish acampadas, they are willing to brave the elements and police to effect change in the financial life of this country. In other words, they want to stop the monied corruption to repeat their own words.

Purchase a PDF copy of "The Wall Street's Human Microphone Waves" Poetry and Song Lyrics Book for $5.00 now

=================
Here is a sample of this poetry book:

This poem was written by the author of "...Soaring on Wings Like Eagles..," "Freedom Rides to sweet Magnolia..,"

A Dream Deferred
Debt is slavery!
Its yoke the 99% is ready to break once for all
People not Profits! Down with Corporate Greed!
Remember the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP)!
Listen to the voice of the people on the streets
Why have you refused to help us
It is your turn to step up to the plate
Bankers, pay back your debt to the tax payers
And to the millions of families who do not want to be foreclosed on
Homelessness is inhumane
Joblessness can lead to all kinds of vices and temptations
Let us reclaim our voice and ‘hood from Wall Street to Detroit,
From the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo to India
These hill-side shantytowns are no better than the ghettos
Of Detroit, Cleveland, and Chicago
The wilderness is reclaiming the land; inhabitants are fleeing the physical degradation
They are making their last stand against economic injustice
The 99% has had enough. Main Street is asking Wall Street to repay its debts
Who is out there to listen to their cry of agony and humiliation?
We are getting on the economic freedom rides
Help us get free from debt, foreclosure. Give hope to our young and educated children
Help us! Help! Help! We are drowning in the filth on the streets!
Won’t you come down from your highrise to witness the misery we are vegetating in?
We are cold and hungry. Do not let the human voice¸ the human microphone disappear

Waves of the Human Microphone: OWS - The Poetry@Occupy Wall Street, Songs, and Lyrics of Occupy Wall Street Movement

Welcome to the Poetry of Occupy Wall Street! Welcome to the financial capital of the United States of America and the World!

Purchase a copy of Laurent Dubois Descartes's "The Wall Street's Human Microphone Waves" from Amazon Kindle right here, right now.

Purchase a copy of Laurent Dubois Descartes's The Wall Street's Human Microphone Waves from Barnes and Noble as a nook ebook

Purchase a PDF copy of "The Wall Street's Human Microphone Waves" Poetry and Song Lyrics Book for $5.00 now

Since Sept. 17,2011, large groups of demonstrators have been protesting against what they perceive to be the overt shameless corporate American greed. They are fed up by the rapaciousness of Wall Street, inattention and ungratefulness of the large banks that received large sums of money under the TARP that bailed them out of economic, financial crises during the early days of the recession only to turn back and hit the same tax payers with bank fees and sorts of money schemes. What is worse is that the bank presidents and higher officials are rewarded for their work with large bonuses ranging in the millions of dollars.

What is Occupy Wall Street all about?

“#OCCUPYWALLSTREET is a people powered movement for democracy that began in America on September 17 with an encampment in the financial district of New York City
Inspired by the Egyptian Tahrir Square uprising and the Spanish acampadas, we vow to end the monied corruption of our democracy.”

Having spent more than 23 days on the pavement of Wall Street, the protesters are organizing themselves to finally deliver a message to the financial world.

Protesters appear to come from all economic groups, religious, ethnic backgrounds. They are organizing themselves in general assemblies. Unable to use a microphone or bullhorns, they form what is called "waves of human microphone" which repeats what the speaker says to the rest of the assembled crowd.

Thus far, the movement has a website, www.occupywallstreet.org. It is seeking donations from volunteers. The donations can be in foods to feed the people who have been sleeping on the streets. Early scuffles with the police have not deterred them. Neither have the changing environmental elements. Just like the protesters of Tahrir Square and the Spanish acampadas, they are willing to brave the elements and police to effect change in the financial life of this country. In other words, they want to stop the monied corruption to repeat their own words.

Purchase a PDF copy of "The Wall Street's Human Microphone Waves" Poetry and Song Lyrics Book for $5.00 now

=================
Here is a sample of this poetry book:

This poem was written by the author of "...Soaring on Wings Like Eagles..," "Freedom Rides to sweet Magnolia..,"

A Dream Deferred
Debt is slavery!
Its yoke the 99% is ready to break once for all
People not Profits! Down with Corporate Greed!
Remember the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP)!
Listen to the voice of the people on the streets
Why have you refused to help us
It is your turn to step up to the plate
Bankers, pay back your debt to the tax payers
And to the millions of families who do not want to be foreclosed on
Homelessness is inhumane
Joblessness can lead to all kinds of vices and temptations
Let us reclaim our voice and ‘hood from Wall Street to Detroit,
From the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo to India
These hill-side shantytowns are no better than the ghettos
Of Detroit, Cleveland, and Chicago
The wilderness is reclaiming the land; inhabitants are fleeing the physical degradation
They are making their last stand against economic injustice
The 99% has had enough. Main Street is asking Wall Street to repay its debts
Who is out there to listen to their cry of agony and humiliation?
We are getting on the economic freedom rides
Help us get free from debt, foreclosure. Give hope to our young and educated children
Help us! Help! Help! We are drowning in the filth on the streets!
Won’t you come down from your highrise to witness the misery we are vegetating in?
We are cold and hungry. Do not let the human voice¸ the human microphone disappear

New Book of Poetry, Reviews, and Essays: "Top Secret Sexual Guidance and...for Married Couples, Divorced Parents, and Singles: One Hundred Popular Sex Twists and Turns and Decoding Intense Sex Dreams"

You can buy a copy of this book 'Top Secret Sexual Guidance and Fertility Tips for Married Couples, Divorced Parents, and Singles: One Hundred Sexual Twists and Turns and Decoding Intense Sex Dreams' at Barnes and Noble as a Nook book.

This is a hot book, sort of a la Zane erotica series, but the only difference is that it is a book of poems, reviews, and short essays on important subjects and topics ranging from dating, mail brides, lonely American and Canadian men and women, falling in love after divorce, the dos and dont's of dating, the new dating scene, whether it is appropriate to hire a dating coach, where to go to meet single parents, the lows of divorce court, infidelity, dumb cheating with smartphones, fertility issues, getting caught sexting while married or in a relationship, narcissism to social media preaching and building instant gratification and a me-generation etc.

Ruth Anne Lovemore and Christopher Luis Charlemagne have done a good job addressing the above mentioned topics and much more in this new book. Using their combined fields of work, psychology, psychiatry, therapy, ABS or behavior management, these two authors got tired or listening to the stories of their close friends and family members who had to go through divorce, separation and heartache. They decide to help them decipher and come to terms with the various facts of their particular cases and move on with their shattered lives. Miss Lovemore and Mr. Charlemagne present and synthesize real stories of real people who want to seek love in the wrong places and from the wrong kind of people.

The authors write about subjects such as how to make a baby, fertility issues, natural fruits and foods that boost sexual drive and may lead to pregnancy. They also show the importance of prayers and connectedness in their quest and pregnancy adventures.

This is a great read for anybody who has ever fallen in love, gotten out of love, or is thinking about dating again or getting married some day.

You will learn things that are not taught in college, business schools and universities. The authors themselves do not rely solely on their Western or pedagogic, didactic knowledge to write this book and make their recommendations. They use the school of hard knocks too.

You can buy a copy of this book 'Top Secret Sexual Guidance and Fertility Tips for Married Couples, Divorced Parents, and Singles: One Hundred Sexual Twists and Turns and Decoding Intense Sex Dreams' at Barnes and Noble as a Nook book.

Poet Laureate Philip Levine's Sample Poems: The Poet Who Influenced and Mentored Many Central Valley Poets

The New World by Philip Levine

A man roams the streets with a basket
of freestone peaches hollering, "Peaches,
peaches, yellow freestone peaches for sale."

My grandfather in his prime could outshout
the Tigers of Wrath or the factory whistles
along the river. Hamtramck hungered

for yellow freestone peaches, downriver
wakened from a dream of work, Zug Island danced
into the bright day glad to be alive.

Full-figured women in their negligees
streamed into the streets from the dark doorways
to demand in Polish or Armenian

the ripened offerings of this new world.
Josef Prisckulnick out of Dubrovitsa
to Detroit by way of Ellis Island

raised himself regally to his full height
of five feet two and transacted until
the fruit was gone into those eager hands.

Thus would there be a letter sent across
an ocean and a continent, and thus
would Sadie waken to the news of wealth

without limit in the bright and distant land,
and thus bags were packed and she set sail
for America. Some of this is true.

The women were gaunt. All day the kids dug
in the back lots searching for anything.
The place was Russia with another name.

Joe was five feet two. Dubrovitsa burned
to gray ashes the west wind carried off,
then Rovno went, then the Dnieper turned to dust.

We sat around the table telling lies
while the late light filled an empty glass.
Bread, onions, the smell of burning butter,

small white potatoes we shared with no one
because the hour was wrong, the guest was late,
and this was Michigan in 1928.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&


Detroit Grease Shop Poem by Philip Levine

Four bright steel crosses,
universal joints, plucked
out of the burlap sack --
"the heart of the drive train,"
the book says. Stars
on Lemon's wooden palm,
stars that must be capped,
rolled, and anointed,
that have their orders
and their commands as he
has his.

Under the blue
hesitant light another day
at Automotive
in the city of dreams.
We're all here to count
and be counted, Lemon,
Rosie, Eugene, Luis,
and me, too young to know
this is for keeps, pinning
on my apron, rolling up
my sleeves.

The roof leaks
from yesterday's rain,
the waters gather above us
waiting for one mistake.
When a drop falls on Lemon's
corded arm, he looks at it
as though it were something
rare or mysterious
like a drop of water or
a single lucid meteor
fallen slowly from
nowhere and burning on
his skin like a tear.

Philip Levine, Former Fresno State Professor, Named U.S Poet Laureate

Mr. Levine, all of your former students are rejoicing with you! It is time that the country and the world find your works! All along, we have known what kind of work you have produced! Now the secret is out! Enjoy it to the fullest!

In 1995, Philip Levine earned a Pulitzer price for this poem, "The Simple Truth," which was based on his life experiences in Fresno. It includes the portrait of a Polish woman who used to sell produce at the corner of Fruit and Ashlan. It has been reported that the ex-Fresno State student started writing poetry as a teenager in Detroit.
"Levine began writing as a teenager in Detroit. He was inspired by poems about real life in cities and life on the battlefield during World War II.

Levine taught at Fresno State for years. He had many students there. He also taught at other prestigious universities all around the country. Philip Levine taught at Columbia, Brown and New York University. We are saying congratulations to him!

Who said that Fresno could not nurture somebody who would go on to impact the whole country and the world? Besides producing all kinds of fruit and being recognized as the fruit basket of the world, Fresno also grows great poetry. It inspires people to write poems. (Just take a look at the bottom of this page to see some of the Fresno-inspired poetry)

Philip Levine writes about the working class in his poetry. He writes about what he knows. Detroit. Born of Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, Levine saw men and women giving their sweat to be able to eat.

Levine's goal is to engage the mass by taking poetry to them, "I want to bring poetry to people who have no idea how relevant poetry is to their lives,"


What does Professor Levine intend to do with the prize and the attention he is getting on a global basis now?

He jokes that he is going to use his bully pulpit or the spotlight to bring attention to other poets who are not known by poetry readers and the rest of the world!

That is the sign of true altruism. He is thinking about helping others, just like he has done with so many former students at Fresno State, Columbia and anywhere else. He also wants to bring attention to the plight of the working class, the kind of people who people his books of poetry.

Keep writing poetry, Mr. Levine! The U.S. and the rest of the world need to hear from you!