Jerry Ward's Blogspot

democracy in ruins The clandestine operations of paramilitary agents is alarming, as jolting as the clock at the beginning of Native Son .   They inspire dread, the dread felt deeply by those of us who saw them face-to-face in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.   Armed to the teeth, an unidentified woman or man in black ostensibly defending the rule of American law causes one's blood pressure to rise and one's body to feel more pain than is occasioned by an advanced case of shingles.   The recent presence in Portland, Oregon of Nazi-imitating operatives reminds us of Germany in the 1930s and the free display of neo-fascism.   Is American democracy swiftly descending into ruins? Do not expect truthful answers from the Department of Defense, CIA, U.S. Air Force, Department of Energy, or NSA, government agencies that spend enormous sums of money to maintain the status quo of chaos around the world and to perform in dystopian drama.   Know that we live at this moment in

MEMORY'S ALZHEIMER Pandemic alone did not snafu affairs. Perhaps wires got crossed otherwise. Solidarity clean forgot what fidelity is supposed to be. Then, in a flash that vanished, came awareness the body next to one' s own was at once enemy and friend. The tin-drum sound of forgetting forgot it was the other way around a circle. Pandemic alone cannot explain or claim blame. July 29, 2020

KATRINA / COVID-19 As the author of THE KATRINA PAPERS (2008), I have vested interest in noting remarkable differences between the genre that emerged from Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita, and the Flood (2005) and the one currently emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic.   The agony of the COVID crisis far exceeds the anxiety sponsored by Katrina.   Why? Because the area and extent of damage is greater.   It is a reasonable guess that Katrina was responsible for   approximately   1, 833 deaths (approximately 1,000 in New Orleans ); $125 billion in property loss; the hardest hit areas were the South (Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Virginia plus Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and New York.   Tragedy was confined to the USA. By contrast,   COVID -19 is a global pandemic---649, 000 deaths to date and economic costs that defy estimation.   Tragedy in the case of COVID is globally democratic. Most Katrina narratives focused on an act of nature , which is legally defined

DEDICATION REMARKS It is appropriate that Richard Wright's contributions to the world of literature are recognized by unveiling a Mississippi Writers Trail Marker dedicated to him.   This event enables the Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration to mark the 80th publication anniversary   of Native Son (1940), Wright's first novel.   NLCC once again reminds us that literacy and critical engagement with literature are empowering activities in our daily lives, activities that reinforce the significance of Wright's legacy as we seek to discover meaning in our lives beneath the stars.   Jerry W. Ward, Jr.    July 7, 2020

OF THE BONES No reason justifies flabby angers or abundant fears for the rebirth of the bones. For the rebirth of the bones become diamond minds, amber bullets, nuclear accidents and all things sufficient to assassinate evil. DAT TOO TATTOO inside the skin a song stronger than a dream. allow no nubile harmony nor hush puppy melody to erase the vision never promised, never delivered in the issues of the night. Get woke, get right, make your song stronger than your dream.

  WHEN HISTORY HAUNTS   ORDINARY PEOPLE I am operating on CPT (crisis panic time), so tonight   I missed the first one-third of the July 14 Nuyorican   Poets Café screening of Ishmael Reed's The Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda . The two-thirds I watched was pure vintage Ishmael Reed,   an always on target, disturbing and nuanced critique of the sinister partnership of perfumed capitalism and funky systemic racism.   The Haunting forces   many of us to burn our fingers in realities.   Co-conspiracies against history as exampled by Miranda's Hamilton lock us in intellectual pain   Reed   attacks the half-truths and outhouse lies implicit in Miranda's pandering to   liberal wallets, a version of whoring for the prize.. Reed's deconstruction in the play of culture and imperialism (echoes of Edward Said) is simply powerful, but nevertheless in need of editing to reduce distracting verbosity.   Pungent monologues and tense   dialogues make the point, but editing to

NOSTALGIA "Back in the day," "the good old days," and similar clichés signal negative and positive modes of longing.   Although this temporary suspension of what's happening around and to us at present seems to be a normal human habit, its abuse can lead to extremely consequential   results: intolerance, arrogance for which a person is willing to die, ego-worship, paralysis of sympathy.   In the midst of COVID-19 crises and expanding chaos, nostalgia ought to be held in check along with   charity, hope, and faith! In many instances, virtues are vices. When we talk with friends at proper   social distance, the conversation may eventually bring up shared memories.   And quite too often, the remembering is rose-tinted.   For example, the two-hour conversation I had with my goddaughter about the death of her mother who was also one of my godchildren was spiked with bright moments, and I suspect we were jointly repressing the truth of what was less than good

OPEN (for Alice Walker) You are open. The delicate tracery of your soul is exposed. You live a year’s December. The cold eyes cast upon the patterns of your being are not often kind, not always clean. Within the heart of the heart of your being is a strong castiron stove, an eternal demon flame. How otherwise explain your warm survival? Sometimes   I watch you, time your exquisite poise. Then you are Zora or Marie Laveau or a mystery I do not presume to understand. At those times I fear you most, because I can love you for what you are.