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