WHAT REPARATION IS AND IS NOT

SHARING THOUGHTS ABOUT REPARATION – my thoughts are limited to the United States only I first give what I think reparation is and what it is not. Reparation is a debt owed to African people and their descendants for the irreparable harm imposed by a sovereign state to gain wealth and power. Reparation (money or equivalent) is intended to bring healing to a people who have been harmed – it is a restorative process. Reparation is not a bank-check mailed to every citizen of African descent because the people and government of America feel bad about what happened and is happening to black people. Forgive a little sarcasm here – most Americans with a measure of wealth and power don’t give a fuck about slavery or what has followed. So, if you’re waiting for a reparation check you’re wasting time. Reparations should first be directed toward removing those systemic barriers legally erected and enforced to thwart the development of black people. Secondly, reparation should be directed to excising systemic race bias. Thirdly, reparation should be directed to retrofitting institutions to handle such reparation-remedies as Affirmative Action. The structures to oversee, administer, and perform reparation activities could be limited to: United States Senate Budget Committee – set reparations as a budget item. United States Attorney General – oversee reparations. NAACP – Legal Defense Fund – control and disperse reparations. http://www.adolphusward.net http://www.amazon.com/Adolphus-A.-Ward/e/B00OSDSSRC

HISTORICAL BLACK FAMILY FICTION

HARVEST THE DUST is Book 1 of historical black family fiction and is set in Arkansas – 1934. It is the time when Jim Crow Laws governed the lives of black people – what they could and could not do; where, when and how they could do it. The Great Depression was devastating the nation’s economy; cotton was the staple crop; and Arkansas’ fertile land had turned to dust. Go to www.audible.com, www.amamazon.com, www.adolphusward.net for more information.

KIND OF WITHOUT JOHN BUCHAK

JUST TALKING WITH JOHN BUCHAK There he is Hey John Adolphus, Dottie sends love Take mine back to her That’s a big hug you giving me Yours ain’t small Love makes it happen that way Kinda natural, ain’t even trying Up all night writing, not much sleep You got six in print, get some rest Wanna get’em all out there You’ll get there, take it easy Why do I need to sit down Dottie? John’s resting Oh shit!

RESPONSE TO ATHOL FUGARD'S PAINTED ROCKS...

RESPONSE TO ATHOL FUGARD’S PAINTED ROCKS... I was in my Fountain Theatre home 7 December a week before the 14 December closing of Athol Fugard’s Painted Rocks…. As I do August Wilson I do love Athol Fugard’s story telling. Athol often bends his white characters to give them more humanity than they might deserved in real situations – just as August bends his white characters to leave them with less; this clearly indicates to me that there is politics in all art: it’s inherent in the creator and the creative process. Director Simon Levy painted his vision, designers set the canvas, and the actors used their rich palette of colors to paint the story and give it life. Thomas Silcott (Nukain Mabuza) Nukain, a poor black South African, found expression and acceptance painting rocks into flowers – but he is rejected when he dares to paint himself. Suanne Spoke (Elmarie Keynhens) Elmarie, a white South African land owner, enjoys the beauty of Nukain flowers but is repulsed by his self-image and chides him for it. Gilbert Glenn Brown (Jonathan Sejake) Jonathan, a black South African Boy then Man, leaves the flower rocks and rejected image of Nukain but returns as a man to reconnect with his roots and paint new life into the image of Nukain. Philip Soloman (Bokkie) Bokkie is Jonathan as a boy and helps Nukain to paint the rocks – an aside note: Theatre and Film Makers should keep a close eye on this extraordinary talent.

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION AND THE COURTS

MY THOUGHTS ON AFFIRMATIVE ACTION AND THE COURTS I start by making it clear just what affirmative action is and what it is not. Affirmative Action is the preferential treatment given to those who have been harmed by the social political and economic systems of a sovereign state – in this case the United States of America. The enslavement of Africans in America, the continued enslavement of African Americans, the continued denial of access to and participation in the social political and economic systems of this country have all contributed to the monstrous harm done to black people. Affirmative Action is but one means for the US to begin paying Reparations on a debt long overdue. Affirmative Action is not a process by which unqualified black people received opportunities that qualified white people are denied – that’s flat out bullshit. That’s a negative spin on Affirmative Action that obstructionist have used since before its inception. The laws, the law-enforcers, the courts of these United States are seeded with the prevailing mood of the white majority; that mood is racist. I encourage all black people and whites who seek justice to speak out against and condemn the prevailing lie that Affirmative Action is to help black people who could not otherwise help themselves. To assume that Intelligence Justice and Sound-Thinking only reside in white people and in the institutions they populate is not only wrong but delusional. http://www.adolphusward.net http://www.amazon.com/Adolphus-A.-Ward/e/B00OSDSSRC

THOUGHTS ABOUT HOLIDAYS...

MY THOUGHTS ON HOLIDAYS AND OTHER STUFF Those who know me well know that I don’t celebrate holidays. I’m not religious about it I just don’t anticipate and join in festivities when the calendar tells me I should. However, if someone greets me with a happy…marry…love…or other such wishes I will return the greeting in kind. I just refuse to dance when someone, whoever the fuck that is, tells me to. As an actor I refuse to let a director tell me how to do something – just tell me what you want done then get the hell out of the way and let me decide the how; I’m open to he or she telling me yes of no. I love America not because someone told me to in song or verse. I love it because my parents worked their asses off to make it our home – as did my grandparents and ancestors before them: ancestors slaved bled and died making America my home. I have preserved my right to be here by citizenship – ain’t going no-where else. I’m patriotic but not religious about it. I have no driving ambition to convert anyone else to loving America. I’m an atheist but have no ambition to persuade or kill anyone who’s not. I won’t allow a woman to tell me how to please her sexually or otherwise – just tell me what pleases you then close your talk-hole and let me take care of the how. http://www.adolphusward.net http://www.amazon.com/Adolphus-A.-Ward/e/B00OSDSSRC

MY THOUGHTS ON RACE CONFLICT

MY THOUGHTS ON RACE CONFLICT I’m editing my second audio book but was out yester-midday to do an audition for a role in a film – no word yet on got it or no. I have this habit of stopping for coffee and snack after an audition to assess my performance, I did well. Running low on orange juice in my frige I first picked some up at Costco in Westfield Topanga Mall then settled into a seat at Coffee Bean a short drive away – with my double espresso egg-white kale and cheese sandwich. I was seated where I could see people-traffic moving to and from the length of the second level. I had made the observation many times but this time it really captured my senses and infused a holographic image into my psyche. If you’re a people watcher you’ll see this coming before I finish. People are really beautiful animals. We come in all shapes colors and sizes; we walk differently talk differently smell differently show affection differently dress differently and like different stuff. We were all different there yet using the same space at the same time. A mall is a virtual microcosm of our cities our country and our world. Whether we like it or not we will see smell taste touch hear and live with or near each other – even more than today. No one of us is leaving; because there is no place one can go that will not soon have everyone else follow. We’re stuck with each other so let’s relax and enjoy our differences. http://www.adolphusward.net http://www.amazon.com/Adolphus-A.-Ward/e/B00OSDSSRC

MY THOUGHTS ON TERRORISM AND RELIGION

MY THOUGHTS ON TERRORISM AND RELIGION Terrorism is literally a political act; religion is often used to disguise terrorism’s true intent. Its true intent is to subjugate and control a group of people. As a political act, terrorism can be both physically and psychologically imposed. Some of us have been conditioned to only see the physical and are literally blind to terrorism’s psychological destruction. For example we don’t really pay much attention to deprivation of education, jobs, health care, personal safety, or equal representation under the law. We tend not to see these things until they directly impact us. The fact that we don’t see or feel these deprivations doesn’t mean they don’t exist. When a government deprives a group of its citizens of education, jobs, health care, personal safety, or equal representation under the law that government is a terrorist – when religion allows itself to be complicit in the deprivation it too is a terrorist. http://www.adolphusward.net http://www.amazon.com/Adolphus-A.-Ward/e/B00OSDSSRC

GO TO MY BOOK TRAILER

TRILOGY BOOK TRAILER https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCxMdAa3JqU

MY THOUGHTS ON RELIGION AND GOD

MY THOUGHTS ON RELIGION AND SUBJUGATION All forms of religion, ancient and present day, have one thing in common – it seeks to bring everything and everyone under its influence – to subjugate all. The more civil forms of religion seek to do that by persuasion; the less civil forms do it by force. All religions were born in mythology; ancient human attempts at understanding the awesome wonder of their existence and the world around them. Human wonder developed stories to give wonder some meaning; ancients created gods, moderns created a God as central to their stories. These stories progressed into beliefs – beliefs progressed into rituals which reinforced the beliefs. And so, all humans who practice a religion are following a mythology, a wonder, a story, a belief, a God and rituals which they and their ancestors created. Religion is an extremely powerful force because it is at the core of human psyche – all humans are influenced by the awesomeness of existence whether or not they practice a religion. Religion, though a powerful force, has no volition of its own. That is, it cannot move and direct its own action: that makes it vulnerable and easily exploited by those who have wealth and political power. GOD is not in control of anything- HUMANS are. http://www.adolphusward.net http://www.amazon.com/Adolphus-A.-Ward/e/B00OSDSSRC

TRILOGY BOOK TRAILER

ADOLPHUS A WARD MY BOOK TRAILER https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCxMdAa3JqU

MY THOUGHTS AND LITERACY AND BLACK PEOPLE

MY THOUGHTS ON LITERACY AND BLACK CHILD DEVELOPMENT In these thoughts I’m talking about black people here in America; I’m talking about the development of black people as a whole not just a few. I’m talking about our young children in public schools; I’m talking about the behavior of our children that block teachers from teaching and students from learning; I’m talking about one principal cause of disruptive student behavior. I have a master degree in education with a focus in adult education; but I have experience in public school class rooms where the behavior of black students disrupted any possibility of teaching or learning. These experiences were in the Milwaukee public school system. I have educators in my family, and friends who are educators. I have traveled around the country and have found the behavior of disruptive black students to be essentially the same. With disruptive student behavior now becoming physically violent I’m here sharing the thoughts about the why of it. What is the principal, or at least a major contributing, cause of disruptive/violent student behavior in a class room? Frist, I think the behavior is intentional and not just a spontaneous occurrence. Disruptive students get out of bed and come to school prepared to disrupt. But why do student expend all that energy disrupting when it could be used learning? Disruptive/violent behavior is a blocking technique – as used by students the technique is to block teaching from occurring. The consequence of that act is of no concern to disruptive students – their ultimate goal is to stop the teaching process. But why, damn it, why? Here some parents, adult community members, and some educators think the answer is in what is being taught – what’s taught is not about black people so it’s not interesting to black students so they disrupt: there’s some truth to that but not the whole truth. Disruptive black students are afraid they will fail in a learning process – a learning situation scares the shit out of them: a class room makes black students feel they are standing in the middle of a busy street totally naked. I think this is true of many adult black people – they too are scared shitless of having to learn anything new. If this is true, why is it so; it is so because the prerequisite to learning is the ability to read. When one cannot read or read well that person is scared to death of having to read anything. Most disruptive students cannot read well if at all, their parents cannot read well, their grandparents cannot read. Many black adults are functionally illiterate. Many black homes have no books, none. Children never see parents read anything. Some ignorant black adults will boast of not wanting to read anything; others claim with pride they only read the Bible – as thought that makes them less illiterate. If you don’t read and proud of it don’t tell anyone, especially young children – just shut up; don’t tell another living soul. And for black people and your own sake learn to read. Reading is a skill that has to be learned and then practiced; the more you read the better you can use the skill; the better you use the skill the less fear you have of reading; the less fear you have the better you can learn new things. Reading will open new worlds to you. READ damn it READ! http://www.adolphusward.net http://www.amazon.com/Adolphus-A.-Ward/e/B00DSSRC

MY THOUGHTS ON WHITE RACISM AND ENFORCEMENT

THOUGHTS ABOUT WHITE RACISM AND ENFORCEMENT I know it’s a little difficult for some to explore the causes leading up to a violent brutal act by anyone – especially when the act is committed by a person in a position of trust. I’m the kind of person who likes to explore the whys of things; I don’t ignore what happened but my focus is on why; discovering that information I might find a way to prevent it happening again. White racism has conditioned white men to consider them self to be potent. White racism has conditioned black men to consider them self to be impotent. White racism has conditioned both men to see each other in the way they’ve been conditioned. White racism imbues all institutions with white potency and black impotency – black men and women have been lynched, burned alive, torn to pieces, and castigated when and where ever they attempted to demonstrate black potency. Black men have been forged into fearing the potency of white men. White men have been forged into believing they have the power to do whatever they want to a black person – without retribution. Black men and boys fear the potency of white men so much that we remain frozen in fear while our women and children are brutally assaulted and murdered. What is so insidious about white racism is that it encourages black men and boys to kill each other – black men and boys do that without any fear at all. In fact we enjoy demonstrating our potency against one another. http://www.adolphusward.net http://www.amazon.com/Adolphus-A.-Ward/e/B00OSDSSRC

THOUGHTS ON POWERLESS POOR PEOPLE

MY THOUGHTS ON PEOPLE WITHOUT POWER Below I share some dark thoughts about poor people who totally depend on others for their health and wellbeing. These powerless people are usually herded into communities without adequate infrastructure – living spaces, roads, sidewalks, street-signs, communications transportation water or sanitation systems; poor people are usually without jobs that pay a livable wage, without schools that prepare their children for life, without adequate police protection. Powerless people are preyed upon by individuals in and outside their communities. I’m reading a book titled Medical Apartheid by Harriet A. Washington – she exposes the medical experimentation done on black people during and after slavery: unethical experiments performed without the consent of powerless victims. Most of the surgical explorations were performed without pain inhibitors – death rate among these victims was unimaginably high. There is no power in numbers when the numbers are all poor. Powerless people are in constant pain: poor means powerless means pain. I have found that where you have a community of powerless poor people you will also find an abundance of alcohols drugs and churches – all offering relief to the endless pain being endured there. Predators too are present in poor communities and delude themselves into thinking they are in control of their own lives and that of the victims they stalk; they believe themselves to be providing victims with some measure of pain relief; instead they, like the medical experimenters are adding to the existing pain while providing no lasting pain relief. The only people in poor communities who enjoy some relief from pain are the predators – but they too are victims: they just don’t know it. http://www.adolphusward.net http://www.amazon.com/Adolphus-A.-Ward/e/B00OSDSSRC

MILWAUKEE COMMUNITY HEMORRHAGING

MY THOUGHTS ON MILWAUKEE’S VIOLENT DEATHS I start by repeating something everyone knows or should know – where ever you find a community locked in by poverty and the absence of education and jobs to alleviate that poverty, violence will be present and become a way of life. When people are starving and can’t feed their minds and bodies they will feed on each other; some among those people will become cannibals – no matter the color of their skin. Don’t conclude that I’m saying the problem is systemic and nothing can be done to solve it. Human choices create social problems and human choices can solve them. Since Milwaukee, that’s all of us, has a community that’s bleeding-out, logic tells me we have to first stop the bleeding. This means stopping the persons who are killing us. There are those among us who don’t give a damn about human life – they place no value in it. We can’t continue to hide and protect them while they continue to kill us. I’ve long considered the phrase ‘killed in a drive-by’ an understatement – one is led to believe that a killer fires into a crowd or house indiscriminately and an innocent life is taken. That’s not true. A killer more often than not has a specific target. When we make the effort to determine who the target was a killer can be more easily identified. There has to be collaboration between law enforcers and residents in impoverished communities to remove killers from among us. Some law enforcers must get rid of the notion that all residents in a community are to be treated as criminals. That attitude provokes law abiding residents to withhold information that could lead to removing killers from the community. WE MUST STOP THE BLEEDING! http://www.adolphusward.net http://www.amazon.com/Adolphus-A.-Ward/e/B00OSDSSRC

THOUGHTS ON WASHINGTON JUSTICE OR ELSE

MY THOUGHTS ON WASHINGTON 10/10/15 – JUSTICE OR ELSE I was not in Washington DC on that day. I thank C-Span for covering the event live – I witnessed all of its coverage. There were volumes spoken about Justice but only a few vague lines about Or-Else. If in fact Or-Else really does exist it was not given during C-Span’s coverage. The sad thing about it is that’s what the MARCHERS came to hear. The MARCHERs came for something they could take home and employ that would help change their lives. They did not come to be told that the vengeance of God is the only Or-Else black folk can ever rely on. They came to be given something they could do and not something they could pray for – they did not come again to wait for God’s vengeance. I’m an atheist. I don’t say that boastfully – my atheism is more about what I don’t believe than what I do. I don’t believe in a Supreme Being; I don’t believe in a Devil – a Heaven, a Hell, a Christ (here, gone, coming, or coming back.) I do believe the destiny of the human race is in our hands. No one is coming to save us from ourselves – NO ONE! All institutions: religions, nations, political parties, economic systems, social systems, and others have at least one fatal flaw – all institutions define themselves by exclusion. They tend to see the world as Us and Them. When one adds that institutional flaw to the mission that all institutions seek to perpetuate themselves by propagating and enforcing their beliefs it’s easy to see that conflict is inevitable. I think we humans have a shot at being somewhere in this awesome and growing universe a billion years from now provided we do not define ourselves to the exclusion of others. Like it or not we’re all humans; like it or not we’re all in these United States (the world) and none of us are leaving. So we damn well better find a way to make that reality work for the better for all. http://www.adolphusward.net http://www.amazon.com/Adolphus-A.-Ward/e/B00OSDSSRC

TRILOGY OF FAMILY FICTION

I have written a trilogy of Historical Family Fiction. Each book is set in a specific time and place; the stories are made up but the time, place, and historical events are true. HARVEST THE DUST is Book 1 of the trilogy and is set in Arkansas – 1934. It is a time when Jim Crow Laws governed the lives of black people – what they could and could not do; where, when and how they could do it. The Great Depression is devastating the nation’s economy; cotton is the staple crop; and Arkansas’ fertile land has turned to dust. Go to www.audible.com, www.amamazon.com, www.adolphusward.net for more information.

JUSTICE OR ELSE

MY THOUGHTS ON ‘JUSTICE OR ELSE’ Tomorrow the 10th of October is the day Minister Farrakhan has called peoples of color to a gathering at our nation’s capital. The gathering is expected to attract more than a million men who are dissatisfied with the social, political, and economic status of themselves and their families. The men see themselves and their family as being locked-up and locked-out of education, jobs, housing, healthcare and the sense of well-being enjoyed by others; particularly middle class white people. The dissatisfied of color see the affluence of middle class whites and those at the top and rightly conclude they are outside the means to share in that affluence. Not only are they outside but they are systematically kept there by federal and state laws, policies, and practices. The gathering, then, is to say to our federal government, ‘We demand justice or else.’ I don’t believe justice will ever be freely provided to those who are without a strong political and economic voice. Justice for all is not a reality in America. The gathering on 10/10/2015 will speak for many people who cannot be there. http://www.adolphusward.net http://www.amazon.com/Adolphus-A.-Ward/e/B00OSDSSRC

HISTORICAL FAMILY FICTION

I have written a trilogy of Historical Family Fiction. Each book is set in a specific time and place; the stories are made up but the time, place, and historical events are true. HARVEST THE DUST is Book 1 of the trilogy and is set in Arkansas – 1934. It is a time when Jim Crow Laws governed the lives of black people – what they could and could not do; where, when and how they could do it. The Great Depression is devastating the nation’s economy; cotton is the staple crop; and Arkansas’ fertile land has turned to dust. Go to www.audible.com, www.amamazon.com, www.adolphusward.net for more information.

PLANNED PARENTHOOD

Again PLANNED PARENTHOOD – my view I have and will continue to support Planned Parenthood – even in the face of fetal-tissue, abortion, and black genocide propaganda. At the core of my position is the fact that it is a woman’s soul right to make those decisions vital to her health and wellbeing. My contributions and tax dollar are well place in the services provided by Planned Parenthood. Many women are able to choose services that would otherwise be out of their financial reach. Whether or not PPH should continue to receive federal funding is not a debatable issue with me. All women are infinitely better off with Planned Parenthood. http://www.adolphusward.net http://www.amazon.com/Adolphus-A.-Ward/e/B00OSDSSRC

PLANNED PARENTHOOD

PLANNED PARENTHOOD – my view I have and will continue to support Planned Parenthood – even in the face of fetal-tissue, abortion, and black genocide propaganda. At the core of my position is the fact that it is a woman’s soul right to make those decisions vital to her health and wellbeing. My contributions and tax dollar are well place in the services provided by Planned Parenthood. Many women are able to choose services that would otherwise be out of their financial reach. Whether or not PPH should continue to receive federal funding is not a debatable issue with me. All women are infinitely better off with Planned Parenthood. http://www.adolphusward.net http://www.amazon.com/Adolphus-A.-Ward/e/B00OSDSSRC

Reading by Listening

Harvest The Dust is now an Audio Book. Copies are available at www.audible.com, www.amazon.com, and www.itunes.com. If you or someone you know would rather HEAR than READ a book, Harvest…may be a good choice. Click a link and place HARVEST THE DUST in the Search Window, click it; and you know what else to do to get your book. THANKS!

THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS - Ebony Repertory Theatre

EBONY REPS’ COLONUS Last evening I was in the theatre and witnessed an adaptation of Sophocles’ tragic figure, Oedipus, get baptized by black hands in an ocean of black gospel music – some of the strongest voices I’ve heard in a long time. Roger Robinson, the preacher, claimed my attention as he gave his text and told of the man, repulsed by his own life, who had torn out his eye balls to avoid ever seeing his reflection again. Kim Staunton, Oedipus’ daughter, had been his eyes and often his voice as they roamed the land seeking and pleading for mercy and redemption. Andi Chapman, the visionary, remains invisible as she allows the cast to move without restraint to fill in all those spaces that needed filling and to empty those that needed emptying. Chapman’s way allowed a synergy to emerge that flowed into a seamless vision of gospel and story. I suggest you witness it for yourself.

THOUGHTS ON THEATRE AND REVELATION

THOUGHTS ON THEATRE AND REVELATION I took time last night to be at the Fountain Theatre. The symphony in words is titled CITIZEN by Claudia Rankine, adapted for stage by Stephen Sachs, and conducted by the skilled craft-woman Shirley Jo Finney. The synergistic energy of the cast gave CITIZEN its life’s blood – its pulse and rhythms. To say I love theatre is an understatement. When I’m in a theatre witnessing first hand the living of life I feel privileged and inspired. Sometimes, not always but, sometimes before the musicians take their bows I have a revelation – I have a tangible something I did not have when I came in. I have, for some time now, been trying to give racism a name and body that plainly states its nature. CITIZEN provided the impetus for this revelation. The revelation came slow and in pieces, not all at once. I started with, RA CI SM IS, then added A, then decide I had to give racism an owner, so I added WHITE. I put that together and had, WHITE RACISM IS A, a what? This part was revealed slowly: SE RI AL KIL LER. This killer is pampered and protected by rich powerful white men; he is a celebrity in every American institution – bar none. He does his blood work honestly and with impunity. He is American as any of us; but he is also a racist – WHITE RACISM IS A SERIAL KILLER!!! http://www.amazon.com/author/adolphusward http://www.adolphusward.net

THOUGHTS ON MY FAMILY FICTION

I’m doing this again THOUGHTS ON WHY I WRITE FAMILY FICTION The motivation for my writing is not born in the cruelties African peoples have suffered, are suffering, at the hands of white racist powers, but by what those cruelties did, and are doing, to their progeny. Unrestrained power has never been humane. Human life has meant no more to powerful white racist than its value as a product. When black life ceased to be of value white racist powers set the agenda to dominate and control that life – stifle its proliferation and development by force when necessary. Understanding this, I’m not overwhelmed by laws which function to accommodate the agenda of unrestrained power. I’m not in awe of the increased number of black men and women filling private prisons; or the veritable tsunami of young black boys and girls inundating mental health professionals and facilities. I’m not surprised by the unwillingness of our government to impose the necessary dollars for a quality education to all citizens. I see our government as complicit to the racist agenda when instead of being directly involved in the education of its citizens it chooses to sell that obligation to private (often racist) for profit companies. It is little wonder that some law enforcers too function within a racist agenda. What I show in my trilogy of stories is how the Racist Power Agenda, RPA, helps shape the behavior of the children and grandchildren of our fore parents and ancestors. http://www.amazon.com/author/adolphusward http://www.adolphusward.net

THOUGHTS ON WRITING FAMILY FICTION

THOUGHTS ABOUT WHY I WRITE FAMILY FICTION The motivation for my writing in not born in the cruelties African peoples have suffered, are suffering, by white racist powers, but by what those cruelties did, and is doing, to their progeny. Unrestrained power has never been humane. Human life has never meant more to the powerful than its value as a product. When black life ceased to be of value then racist powers set the agenda to dominate and control that life – stifle its proliferation and development by force, when necessary. So I’m not overwhelmed by laws which function to accommodate the agenda of unrestrained power. I’m not in awe of the increasing number of black men and women filling private prisons; or the veritable tsunami of young black boys and girls inundating mental health professionals and facilities. I’m not surprised by the unwillingness of our government to impose the necessary dollars for a quality education to all citizens. I see our government as complicit to the racist power’s agenda when instead of being directly involved in the education of its citizens it chooses to sell that obligation to private for profit companies. It is little wonder that law enforcers too act within a racist power agenda. What I show in my trilogy of stories is how the Racist Power Agenda, RPA, helps shape the behavior of the children and grandchildren of our fore parents and ancestors. http://www.amazon.com/author/adolphusward http://www.adolphusward.net

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS COMMUNICATE WITH OTHER INTELLIGENT LIFE

THOUGHTS – HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS COMMUNICATE WITH OTHER INTELLIGENT LIFE The physicist Stephen Hawkins is putting $100 MILLION Dollars in the game of finding other intelligent life in our universe. Universities are sure to get in the game; but WHY NOT HIGH SCHOOLS IN URBAN AREAS. High school SCIENCE TEACHERS could join hands with other high schools and take up the challenge. Middle Schoolers could start now - when they're seniors they will be expert hunters. By urban public school administrators, teachers, and students taking up this challenge other benefits would awaken a science vocabulary and interest far beyond that that ever existed in public schools anywhere in the country. Students would come to know what it takes for humans to live and thrive on earth – what other intelligent life forms might need to live and thrive: personal energy consumption (example, water, food, oxygen); collective energy consumption (example, fuel, habitats, social systems, and methods of communication). It is not only possible but likely that a high school student will develop a unique and effective method of communicating with other intelligent life. Public school boards and administrators and teachers and students, don’t just think about it; DO IT! http://www.amazon.com/author/adolphusward http://www.adolphusward.net

THOUGHTS ABOUT THE POLITICS AND BLOOD OF WAR

Once more THOUGHTS ABOUT WAR POLITICS and BLOOD Just sharing a thought I’ve had about the politics and blood of war. Although I served just over 4 years in the Marine Corp during the Korean conflict I didn’t have to kill anyone and my writing these thoughts ought to tell you no one killed me; the truce was signed shortly after my enlistment. I met combat hardened marines who had reuped just to go back to the killing fields. They were angry when the truce was signed and cursed the coming peace. These were professional soldiers – professional killers. Whether one likes or despises professional killers we need them. There are people and governments around our beautiful globe who don’t like Americans – any kind of American – and will send professional killers to do us harm. So for bad people we need our own bad people to stop them. The politics of war is what a war is really about – the real reason we (any country) goes to war. Wars are fought for control and dominance of resources; that can be power, land, wealth, natural resources, and even people. Our country won’t just come right out and tell us that so the politics allows leaders to give us a palatable reason; one that we can accept. We’re going to war to defend DEMOCRACY – that word has a good sound to it; it’s full of all short of good feelings like saving other people and spreading God’s will. The Blood of war is something quite different from the Politics of war. The blood of war is more about taking more lives than we give; it’s about winning at all cost. In the heat of battle, a fighting soldier (killer) isn’t thinking about democracy, he’s too busy taking blood and trying to keep his own. So, I’ve learned to separate the politics of war from the blood of war – I often condemn the politics but always honor the blood. http://www.amazon.com/author/adolphusward http://www.adolphusward.net

THOUGHTS ABOUT THE POLITICS AND BLOOD OF WAR

THOUGHTS ABOUT WAR POLITICS and BLOOD Just sharing a thought I’ve had about the politics and blood of war. Although I served just over 4 years in the Marine Corp during the Korean conflict I didn’t have to kill anyone and my writing these thoughts ought to tell you no one killed me; the truce was signed shortly after my enlistment. I met combat hardened marines who had reuped just to go back to the killing fields. They were angry when the truce was signed and cursed the coming peace. These were professional soldiers – professional killers. Whether one likes or despises professional killers we need them. There are people and governments around our beautiful globe who don’t like Americans – any kind of American – and will send professional killers to do us harm. So for bad people we need our own bad people to stop them. The politics of war is what a war is really about – the real reason we (any country) goes to war. Wars are fought for control and dominance of resources; that can be power, land, wealth, natural resources, and even people. Our country won’t just come right out and tell us that so the politics allows leaders to give us a palatable reason; one that we can accept. We’re going to war to defend DEMOCRACY – that word has a good sound to it; it’s full of all short of good feelings like saving other people and spreading God’s will. The Blood of war is something quite different from the Politics of war. The blood of war is more about taken more lives than we give; it’s about winning at all cost. In the heat of battle, a fighting soldier (killer) isn’t thinking about democracy, he’s too busy taking blood and trying to keep his own. So, I’ve learned to separate the politics of war from the blood of war. http://www.amazon.com/author/adolphusward http://www.adolphusward.net

THOUGHTS ON BOOKS AND OLD LOVE

THOUGHTS ABOUT BOOKS AND OLD LOVE I was one of many authors selling and promoting their books at the Leimert Park Village Book Fair Saturday 1 August 2015. The venue was the Crenshaw Plaza in Baldwin Hills. Authors were located in a spacious inside mall area well suited for walking traffic. I’m a self-published author; most of the authors attending also published their own works. It’s a good time for anyone with a story they’ve wanted to share to do just that. It’s also a good time for readers. If you like reading there’s more for you to choose from – not only the subject but story format: print, ebook, audio book. If you don’t like to read, read anyway. You don’t need to have a hard book in your hands; you can download ebooks to your smart phone, tablet, or computed; or you can download audio books in the same way. If you don’t read your world is very small. I sold and gave away more than a few books at the fair. I gave books to students and people who serve students or groups of people. I’m truly an agent for literacy. READ READ READ – for a better view and a better you. The climatic occurrence of my day was meeting the sons of an unforgettable love in my life. One of her sons stopped by my table and listened to my summary of each book – hearing my second book is set in Milwaukee he said he was born there. I asked his family name, he gave it – it was the same as my unforgettable love; I ask if he knew (my love’s first name), and he replied she was his mother who died of cancer in 1989. I could feel her sprit wash over me and had to pause before telling him I knew his mother, him and his brothers – she had four young boys when we met. One of his brothers also lives here in California and just happened to be in the mall. He found my table and spent a little time with me. After 30 years, the grown men, now, and I will stay in contact. http://www.amazon.com/author/adolphusward http://www.adolphusward.net

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FIND OTHER INTELLIGENT LIFE

THOUGHTS ON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS FINDING INTELLIGENT LIFE The physicist Stephen Hawkins is putting $100,000,000 Dollars in the game of finding other intelligent life in our universe. Universities are sure to get in the game; but WHY NOT HIGH SCHOOLS IN URBAN AREAS. High school SCIENCE TEACHERS should join hands to form clusters with other high schools and take up the challenge. Middle Schoolers could start now - when they're seniors they will be expert hunters. Science Teachers, High School Students, just think of the BOOTS FOR SCIENCE in urban high schools, the PRESTIGE, and all that MONEY!!!

JUST THOUGHTS ON DESIRE PRAYER OUTCOME

THOUGHTS ON DESIRE PRAYER AND OUTCOME I should be recording and editing more chapters of my first audio book. BUT I’ve been avoiding doing that for more than two weeks. I admit that some of my avoiding is procrastination – I tend to be very creative at it. I don’t just come up with silly reasons for not doing the work; I create very important ideas that only my immediate attention could possibly save me and the world from oblivion. I know I’m full of shit, but it gives my ego a chance to test itself. So, let me get to what I want to say about DESIRE, PRAYER and OUTCOME. I suppose that very early in my life I had some measure of belief in Santa Clause the Tooth Fairy, Heaven, Hell, Wishing Wells, and I suppose Fate – I’m sure fate came later, and seemed even stranger than other beliefs. Fate, as I understand it, is an outcome controlled by something, or someone other than one’s self. Fate suggests shit just happens – and has nothing to do with what one does or doesn’t do. And that brings me to the heart of my very important idea. I don’t think there’s some unseen force randomly assigning shit or sugar to the lives of people. I think where ever one happens to be in life they’ve done more than anyone else to get there – fate does not rob one of all personal choices. What one desires or prays for only identifies an outcome – but desire or prayer alone doesn’t create the outcome; thinking must produce options, choices must be made, and the work must be done to achieve an outcome. We must Do Something to reach an Outcome. Now excuse me while I get back to doing the work. http://www.amazon.com/author/adolphusward http://www.adolphusward.net

SHARING MY THOUGHTS ON FLAGS AND GUNS

JUST SHARING THOUGHTS ON FLAGS AND GUNS Racism finds sanctuary in all areas of our democracy – a democracy still struggling to fulfill its ideals. There is legal racism, political racism, social racism, religious racism, economic racism; virtually every aspect of the American culture is polluted by racism. The nature of racism is discriminatory and ubiquitous. It has the qualities often attributed to God by believers: omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. I am grateful to Bree Newsome and her spotter James Tyson for their courageous act of removing the Confederate symbol of racism. The lowering and removal of the flag was done In The Name of God. I assume we are all aware that the Confederate symbol was raised In The Name of the same God – the Confederate and Union flags flew over the battlefield of a great war; they flew over rivers of South and North-Blood: both were raised In The Name of the same God. For some time this was a dilemma to me; but I worked it out. I became an atheist. The ordinary racists have and will continue to carry out their ambitions to dominate and control the lives of all black people. Racist-terrorists, however, are a different kind of animal – their ambition is to annihilate, to kill, all black people. No amount of forgiveness or prayer or persuasion will deter racists from achieving their ultimate ambitions. If America is ever to live and not just talk about its ideals, Black people along with Other Americans must sabotage the ambitions of racists by any and all means necessary. http://www.amazon.com/author/adolphusward http://www.adolphusward.net

JUST SHARING THOUGHTS ON RELIGION AND MORALITY

SHARING THOUGHTS ON RELIGION AND MORALITY Had a phone conversation with, Lisa, my youngest daughter this morning. I called to wish her Happy Birthday and too catch up on things – actually I’m a day late with my B-day wish; got deeply involved in a film debate on Religion and Morality. It was well past 3 am when I shut down my computer; after a few hours of sleep I called my daughter to sing short versions of the birthday song. Although I’m the son of a Baptist preacher and at one time considered study in the Christian ministry, I have long stopped believing those things a Christian must believe to support his faith – I stopped believing the Virgin Birth, Deity of Jesus Christ, Resurrection, Heaven, Hell, Life after Death. God, as defined by most religions, became more a question than a fact. For obvious reasons I don’t participate in any religion. I’ve always resisted labels; for a long time I reluctantly accepted Agnostic when contemplating the existence of God and morality. Now the Atheist label seems to be a better fit for how I live my life. I neither believe in nor appeal (pray) to a supernatural power to direct my life. I chose the course my life will take and make the necessary adjustment when I fail at something. My morality doesn’t come from the fear of a God or Hell’s fires – it comes from my sincere desire to add to the quality of human existence by the choices I make. http://www.amazon.com/author/adolphusward http://www.adolphusward.net

JUST SHARING THOUGHTS ON RACE IN AMERICA

SHARING THOUGHTS ON RACE IN AMERICA The lives taken in the terrorist tactic at the South Carolina church provoked me to share my thoughts on whether black-white race relations is moving toward peaceful coexistence or mutual inhalation. History, and the current behavior of our government, seems to suggest that conflict is better resolved by bloodshed. The bigger the entrenched conflict the greater the required amount of bloodshed to resolve it. White on Black racism was in the inception and birth of this country we call America and has matured since it was born. The ocean of blood that was shed in the great-war was not enough to resolve the white on black racism still existing in America. If the history of conflict resolution is to be followed, white on black racism must continue until all blacks have been murdered – an American race genocide. Early in my development I thought that race-related bloodshed, to the point of inhalation, was inevitable. As I matured I came to know that I, we – all Americans - could conceive and develop my, our own future; I came to know that I, we – all American, am, are not slaves to the past. What racist whites better get is that blacks are here to stay; and that we will play active roles in all aspects of the American culture. http://www.amazon.com/author/adolphusward http://www.adolphusward.net

ET ADOLPHUS ON UNIVERSE EXPANSION

JUST ET ADOLPHUS THINKING ALOUD Although my physical body is earth bound, my consciousness and spirit often take trips into the heavens exploring the wonder of solar systems, galaxies and the other stuff that makes up our universe. A friend of mine gets very excited when my Ego starts to talk about his experiences. She thinks I’m flipping out again and implores me to stop talking about leaving the earth. I do admit that I am a little crazy; but it’s the kind of crazy that gives me the freedom to do to be to think of all sorts of things - no subject is off limits to me. I don’t seek any ones permission to think and talk about shit I know little or nothing about - which brings me to my notion about our expanding universe. Yes, my ET Ego has a notion about why the universe is expanding. Why should scientist be the only ones to have fun thinking about such things. Everyone knows there are eight planets in our solar system – there was nine but scientist decided one didn’t measure up to what a planet’s supposed to be so out it went; it’s still there but we’re told to pretend it ain’t. Now to my notion; with our sun producing energy way beyond my comprehension and with all the planets producing energy by their rotations and orbits around the sun - and don’t forget that each planet, like the sun, has its own magnetic field - there’s a lot of energy being produced. My ET thinks that that energy has form and dynamic of its own; and I think ET’s right. If we think of all the suns all the solar systems all the galaxies in our universe, that’s a whole biggalotta energy being produced. ET Adolphus thinks it’s the effects of all that expelled energy that’s driving the expansion of our universe. http://www.amazon.com/author/adolphusward http://www.adolphusward.net

SOME THOUGHTS ON POLICE TRAINING/TACTICS

MY THOUGHTS ON POLICE TRAINING/TACTICS – INVOLVING NON-CRIMINAL YOUTH CONFLICT When a police officer brutally restrains a young person in the same manner as he would a terrorist or adult criminal it’s an insult to my sense of justice and angers me. By posting these thoughts I’m urging Parents, Police Officials, Police Officers, Police Trainers and others in youth development to change the way officers are trained and ordered to carry out their duties. Our cities are not war zones and our youth are not enemy soldiers. I noted in an earlier post that police training continues to adopt military tactics when stopping and arresting civilians. Police dress and weaponry reflect that trend. I don’t think military tactics ought to be used in non-criminal civilian conflict: particularly non-criminal youth conflict. Where an enemy soldier or adult-criminal understands the rules of conflict and yielding to an authorized force, a non-criminal youth, and many adults, is totally unable to understand or comply with the rules of conflict – particularly in a spontaneous situation. The command to shut-up and get face down on the ground requires an individual to instantly abandon any sense of autonomy - the natural instinct of self- preservation. Soldiers and criminals often find it extremely difficult to assume such a vulnerable position. When I see non-criminal youth physically handled like an enemy soldier or adult-criminal something inside me screams NO!!! POLICE TRAINING AND TACTICS must be changed when stopping youth conflict – we must make the change before the gulf of trust between police and communities is unbridgeable.

SHARING THOUGHTS ON STINK DAY

JUST SHARING MY THOUGHTS ON STINK DAY Sunday is my stink dad. I don’t take off my sleeping clothes or foldup my sofa bed. I sometimes lie back down to daydream about something I’m working on or whatever comes into my head. Outside of my pleasure and research reading I try to avoid doing any work. Tomorrow I’ll resume recording and editing the first of my three novels. It has taken some time to understand and effectively uses the software. But I’m the kind of learners who keep trying, making mistakes, until I get it right. I now know how to record and edit audio files. My eighty years of living and exploring life has taught me think, to reason, and not to simply accept what is given as truth about race, religion, war, politics, love, friendship, kindness, ruthlessness, eternity, etc.. I’ve come to know that the differences we, humans, allow to separate and weaken us are often the very attributes which could make us, humans, stronger. Whether we chose to accept it or not we, all humans, occupy this planet and share its limited resources. If those with political/economic power chose to dominate and destroy – like any parasite their ultimate destruction is inevitable. Our lives and destiny is in our hands. No one is coming to save us from ourselves. http://www.amazon.com/author/adolphusward http://www.adolphusward.net

THOUGHTS ON REPARTATIONS

MY THOUGHTS ON REPARATIONS African peoples were deprived of their homes their lands their cultures their freedom and their lives. Their labor and that of their descendants was forcefully taken and used in the development of this country and its wealth. For years the descendants of African slaves have been and continue to be denied access to the benefits of their stolen and freely given labor, their loyalty, their taxes, their blood, and their lives in service to this country. Reparation is not just a nice or just thing for this country to pay – it is an unavoidable and undeniable obligation. http://www.amazon.com/author/adolphusward http://www.adolphusward.net

THOUGHTS ON VIOLENCE

JUST SHARING THOUGHTS ON VIOLENCE Like most writers I read a lot – much of it is done for character and story research; but I also love visiting the worlds writers create – I read across many genres, in fiction and non-fiction. I enjoy examining character behavior – why a character does what they do; why she/he makes the choice to do one thing instead of another. I often ask myself why I select one choice over another. Through the years I've learned to think critically about behavior. I awoke in the middle of last night thinking, again, about the young black lives recently taken by police and the peaceful and violent protests that followed; my thoughts centered on the violent protest. Why did some people choose violence in response to police violence; and why did that violent behavior, more often than not, result in property damage and not the loss of life? I have taken a critical look at black on black violence and the violent destruction of one’s own neighborhood. I think there’s an identical root-cause inherent in both forms of violent behavior: when a person fails to see any connection between his/her life and the life of another human being it becomes relatively easy to take that life; when one has no investment, no sense of ownership, in the physical property around them it becomes relatively easy to destroy it. What if the violence inflicted on a neighbor or the damage done to physical property is only a conscious or unconscious substitute for the intended target or targets of that violence - is it possible that one’s neighbor or property just happens to be closer and therefore easier to reach? If that is the case, then in military terms both would be considered collateral damage. http://www.amazon.com/author/adolphusward http://www.adolphusward.net

ACTORS' EQUITY MENDING NOT BUSTING

AEA COUNCIL MENDING NOT BUSTING ITSELF As usual I make no pretense about speaking for anyone other than myself. Where I respect opposing views and viewers I am not easily moved from my position. Let me set out the bases for my YES VOTE. The apparent division among Equity members is created by circumstances that have had thirty years to mature. Many Equity members have strong and binding relationships with Producers – some producers are Equity members. I see Producers as the business part of theatre. It should be understandable that a producer’s primary interest is not the same as Equity’s primary interest. What Equity Council’s position has done is fracture the relationship between its members and the producers of theatre. Members who are bound to Producers feel the same pain producers feel and respond by siding with the NO VOTES of producers – it’s an understandable reaction; but one that will not benefit Equity members in the long run. As an actor I think 99 Seat Producers must and will continue to play their important role in the life of theatre here in the LA area. As an Equity member I will always support my union when it moves to protect my wellbeing as a professional actor.

ACTORS' EQUITY COUNCIL ON 99 ALTERNATIVES

EQUITY COUNCIL ON 99 ALTERNATIVES I have the capacity to reel out a lot of rhetoric about why I voted YES on the referendum and why I fully support the Council’s decision now. I prefer, however, to cut through the hyperbole and get to the heart of the matter as I’m experiencing it. The reality of LA’s 99 Seat Theatre is that actors are its life blood – many of the actors are Equity Members; that reality presently compensates Equity Actors by allowing them to work just for the love of doing the work; that reality would have continued to exclude actors from any money consideration if it were not for Equity Council entering that reality with a process for 99 Seaters to Pay Equity members. Like many union actors, I do not get enough work to pay for all of my living expenses. So for me, receiving some money for all the work I do is vitally important – I don’t just work for the love of doing it.

ACTORS’ EQUITY REFERENDUM VOTE – “NO” VOTES WON BIG

ACTORS’ EQUITY REFERENDUM VOTE – “NO” VOTES WON BIG Conflicting opinions don’t get me too excited even when I’m on the losing side of the vote. If Equity Council Members fail to establish the means by which Equity Actors and Stage Managers share in the benefits of their labor then all Equity members will lose and Equity Association will fail to achieve its long standing mission. Adolphus A Ward Equity Actor

ABOUT BOOKS AND READING

SHARING THOUGHTS ON BOOKS AND READING I use this space to thank Dr. Rosie Milligan for the opportunity to show and make my work available to the reading public. All day Saturday 18 April I will have a table at BLACK WRITERS ON TOUR. My trilogy of books is Historical Family Fiction – 3 books about three generations of the same family. I have long been an advocate for literacy. Reading is a skill; a skill that has to be acquired and developed. If you don’t like to read, it’s probably because you don’t read well – in order to read well you must READ READ READ and READ SOME MORE. On Saturday 18 April I will give a limited number of FREE BOOKS to High School – junior senior – and College Students. Click the link below for more information: http://www.blackwritersontour.com/

IT MAKES ME SAY SOMETHING - 11

IT MAKES ME SAY SOMETHING – 11 Accidents caused by older drivers stepping on the accelerator instead of the brake seem to be increasing – this makes me say something. To begin with I will be 80 next month so I qualify as an older driver. My mind body and spirit are in good health. If you’re an older driver or know someone who is, consider what my experience has taught me. About eight years ago I was in a rush and making a left turn into a shopping center lot; an oncoming car changed lane and appeared to be making a right turn into the same lot – in a split second I concluded the driver would have to slow down to make the turn; just enough time for me to make my left turn and be out of his way: BIG MISTAKE! No one hurt but it crippled my income for a while. OLDER PEOPLE SHOULD GIVE THEMSELVES A FEW SECONDS BEFORE ACTING ON AN IMPULSE – our reflexes don’t readjust as quickly as a younger person’s. When convinced we’re on the brake we keep pushing that accelerator to the floor trying to stop the car. Another less hazardous senior moment may cause us and others some frustration. We open the fridge and forget What we wanted, go into another room and forget Why. I don’t beat myself up because of these moments – and I don’t let others get me upset. When you consider the number of times you open the fridge or enter another room it’s little wonder why our brain gets confused sometimes as to What or Why. You will usually find the answer to What or Why where you just came from. www.adolphusward.net, www.amazon.com/author/adolphus

JUST SHARING MY THOUGHTS - 4

JUST SHARING MY THOUGHTS – 4 I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t curious about a number of things – many of them at the same time. It’s part of the reason I wasn’t a very good young student. When the rest of the class was focused on what the teacher was talking about my mind was focused on the voices and activities inside my head. Sometimes I’d be just outside the classroom window – with the squirrel leaping from one limb to another, with the leaves being stirred, with the tree swaying to the rhythm of the wind. More often than not I’d be far away – riding on the back of a fast moving train, at the helm of a sailing ship bucking the angry waves of a storm. Where was I going? I didn’t care – as long as it was away from where I was. Mine was a running towards not a running from – I was always moving to discover what was on the other side of a hill, moving to discover another body of water, another continent, another planet. I was and still am on a quest to know more about me about this earth and all whom I share it with. I want to know more about our solar system, our galaxy, our universe – both the universe inside of me (that I cannot see) and universe outside of me (that I can see a portion of) but know so little about. Science tells me that each cell of my body inevitably dies and is continually replaced by another cell; and that this process has been going on since my inception. The cells I now have are not the cells I had – my body does not contain a single cell I had at my inception. This renewal process is also true in the outer universe – no planet, no solar system, no galaxy existing in the universe now is the same as those existing at the inception of our known universe. The cells – whether they’re in our brain, heart, lungs, liver, reproductive organs… – that make up our internal universe are interdependent. The inhabitants of earth are all interdependent. The claim of one group to be superior to other groups is nothing more than a vain attempt to deny interdependency. When a powerful group dominates and or annihilates other groups the interdependency of the groups is corrupted. That corruption will negatively affect the health and wellbeing of all groups – the power group will not escape the negative effects. www.adolphusward.net, www.amazon.com/author/adolphusward