Comments on: Backwater Blues 2009: A Nitwit’s Notes on Safety, Destruction and Charity — part 1 of 3

By: Dispatch from the English Dept: Kiese Laymon Blogs About Cuts « S.A.V.E. Creative Writing

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:54:07 +0000

[...] Kiese Laymon reflects upon the mood in the halls of the English department in his most recent blog posts. [...]

By: Jessie

Jessie — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 00:05:26 +0000

backwater blues is amazing.

“What would it mean to write like Bessie Smith?that is?fantastically, where one faces the blues ?Facts of Life? and moves beyond the lucid limits and expectations imposed by them? Under such a rubric, the line, ‘And I can?t live there no mo,’ is hopeful because although it recognizes loss, the realization allows for the possibility that after the storm, after the loss of her home, Smith will move onward.”

we both know what to say to sucka’s that dont recognize ya genius. “phuck ‘em/ phuck ‘em gude/ phuck ‘em long/ phuck ‘em hard/ phuck who?/ phuck ‘em all” okay maybe dats jus me. but u (and probably these other more than qualified POCs) can offer more to a schwanky liberal arts college than they could ever offer u my friend. i wish a nika would fire u. nice piece tho. we dnt need to live in no burnin/flooding houses. when pple would kill fa ya light elsewhere.

By: Kiese

Kiese — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:38:37 +0000

KEF, what’s up?

I don’t know. I think that’s a good question though. Though his house is WHITE, I don’t think WHITE folk own the house or the country. If it was up to white folks, McCain would be in that house, right, since he got most of the white vote?

With all that said, I’m sure Obama knows that if you got a black woman, a chicano or a darker skin black man(?) with the same credentials, same team and same work ethic, that person probably wouldn’t be in that house right now. What do you think?

I’m glad he’s in there, though. And I’m glad he’s fucking up and making wonderful decisions, too.

By: KEF

KEF — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 18:47:16 +0000

Kiese,

I wonder whether Obama has EARNED his presidency! Why was he let in that house?? Why did he enter?
KEF

By: ed

ed — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:04:17 +0000

S., you beat me to it, but i’d like to add that charity feels a lot better to white people than affirmative action because they are “giving” not “loosing” something.

By: Mark5

Mark5 — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:01:23 +0000

wheres the other parts? glad you back. im not sure i get the difference between what youre saying and affirmative action. isn’t affirmative action giving people something they dont really deserve because of race? i keep thinking the rest of the essay will explain this part more. you made me think. keep it coming.

By: Raynard

Raynard — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 18:25:55 +0000

i see what you are doing in this. i just don’t think you should worry about if people give you something you might not earn. that is life. people give people things everyday that they don’t earn. i love this essay. i do love it. i think times are too tough to be worrying about people giving you something for free. take it. if you do not want it you can give it to me. i got laid off 4 months ago.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 13:54:54 +0000

“’Why would they keep you out the house,” Grandma asked, “then turn around try to give you everything in the house that ain’t nailed down?’”
this is the question of the nation, of the century. more than that, it’s the question of my life and i never thought of it before. thank you grandmother for me! rather than take it as doom, however, it inspires me to work at not being charity, which is really hard if you’re not white. not just because white people want to give it to you to make themselves feel better, but because white people are always getting it…only it’s not charity for them, it’s promotion/raises/etc. how do we, black people especially, not let the weight of charity keep us down? This question is deeper than “how do I deal with people thinking i’m only here cuz of Affirmative Action”…so much deeper.

And what I’ve asked above doesn’t even touch on all the other questions I have about the places one might also be charity: relationships, baths, casinos, etc.