Ordinary Joe

Inspirational words on a funky, dismal Monday from the underrated singer-songwriter Terry Callier:

For my openin’ line
I might try to indicate my state of mind
Or turn you on- or tell you that I’m laughin’
Just to keep from cryin’
Pretty music, when you hear it,
keep on tryin’ to get near it
A little rhythm for your spirit
But that’s what it’s for- c’mon in here’s the door

I’ve seen a sparrow get high
and waste his time in the sky
He thinks it’s easy to fly,
he’s a little bit freer than I

Now here’s a mystery,
maybe you can help to make it clear to me
When you’re fast asleep,
What is it that’s lightin’ up the dreams you see
All your tears can’t conceal it,
all your prayers may not reveal it
You got soul so you can feel it
And when you make the scene,
then you’ll know what I mean

I’ve seen a sparrow get high
and waste his time in the sky
He thinks it’s easy to fly,
he’s a little bit freer than I

Down here on the ground,
when you find folks are givin’ you the run-around
Keep your game up-tight- and if you must just take your secrets underground
Politicians try to speech you-
mad color watchers try to teach you
Very few will really try to reach you
If you’re lost in the stack-
that’s O.K. come on back

I’ve seen a sparrow get high
and waste his time in the sky
He thinks it’s easy to fly,
he’s a little bit freer than I

Ordinary Joe,
although they say you’re just a lazy so and so
What they think is real,
is nothing but an animated puppet show
So don’t let time and space confuse you
Don’t let name and form abuse you
let Big Joe Williams blues you
In the light of the sun you can see how they run

I’ve seen a sparrow get high
and waste his time in the sky
Don't you know, he thinks it’s easy to fly,
he’s a little bit freer than I

Goodbye Jason

The Washington Redskins traded quarterback Jason Campbell to the Oakland Raiders for a 4th round draft choice in 2012. Campbell, who became expendable when the Redskins acquired Donovan McNabb, gets a fresh start albeit in the Siberia of the National Football League. Selected as a number 1 draft choice by then coach Joe Gibbs, Campbell's statistics showed steady improvement throughout his five year tenure with the organization and whatever the team's failings and shortcomings, they cannot be fairly laid solely on him. In his last two years with the Redskins, Campbell was saddled with an incompetent head coach in Jim Zorn and a porous offensive line that yielded the third most sacks in the 2009 season. A quarterback's effectiveness is somewhat nullified when he spends an inordinate time on his back.

Africans and the Slave Trade

Henry Louis Gates, in the oped Ending the Slavery Blame-Game, discusses an issue that advocates for black reparations overlook, namely, Africans' involvement in the slave trade:

While we are all familiar with the role played by the United States and the European colonial powers like Britain, France, Holland, Portugal and Spain, there is very little discussion of the role Africans themselves played. And that role, it turns out, was a considerable one, especially for the slave-trading kingdoms of western and central Africa. These included the Akan of the kingdom of Asante in what is now Ghana, the Fon of Dahomey (now Benin), the Mbundu of Ndongo in modern Angola and the Kongo of today’s Congo, among several others.

Silence on Ben

National Football Commissioner Roger Goodell rightly suspended Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for six games for violation of the league's good conduct policy. But one of the curiouser aspects of this matter is the relative silence of women's rights groups over Roethlisberger's transgressions. When Michael Vick was merely accused of dogfighting and torturing dogs, animal rights groups were front and center in expressing their outrage and galvanizing public opinion to their cause. In contrast, women's group have been conspicuously silent over Roethlisberger's predatory behavior and it is difficult to understand the reasons why.

Dorothy Height 1912 - 2010

Dorothy Height, who died earlier today, was an icon and tireless fighter in the struggles of African Americans and women.

Women, Promiscuity and Earthquakes

According to Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi, a senior Iranian cleric, said in Friday prayers that promiscuous women are responsible for earthquakes:

Many women who do not dress modestly . . . lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes.

What can we do to avoid being buried under the rubble? There is no other solution but to take refuge in religion and to adapt our lives to Islam's moral codes.

This is one of the nuttier pronouncements from a religious leader, here a Muslim, supposedly with direct communication to God, not unlike the equally silly Christian Pat Robertson's declaration that the earthquake that ravaged Haiti resulted from the nation's pact with Satan.

Strange Bedfellows

Among those Americans who count themselves part of the Tea Party Movement, 52% of respondents to The New York Times/CBS News Poll said that in recent years far too much attention has been made of the problems confronting black folks. In contrast, Tavis Smiley, the irrepressible bloviator and self-appointed black leader, has been severely critical of the Obama administration for not paying sufficient attention to what Smiley terms the black agenda.

40/40

In the first few weeks of the 2010 baseball season, the once reliable Boston Red Sox hitter David Ortiz has been struggling at the plate, so much so that he lashed out verbally a those who dare criticize him for his lack of productivity. Now Mr. Ortiz finds himself on the wrong end of a civil lawsuit brought by rapper and hip hop mogul Jay Z for trademark infringement. Specifically, Jay Z claims that Mr. Ortiz unlawfully appropriated his registered trademark 40/40 and used it in connection with a nightclub in the Dominican Republic.

Mickelson's Achievement

Phil Mickelson's impressive victory in the 2010 Masters deserves to appreciated on its merits without resorting to the moronic and intellectually lazy moralizing by some in sports media who seek to frame the performance as the struggle between good and evil: good, Mickelson the solid family man whose victory comes in a year where his wife and mother-in-law are battling cancer; and evil, the philandering Tiger Woods whose pursuit of Jack Nicklaus's majors record was rivaled only the bevy of whores that he bedded. As the Woods scandal so vividly illustrates, the general public does not really know these people and should be wary of conflating athletic achievement with character.

Weird Tiger Commercial

Don't know what to make of this Nike commercial that features an emotionless Tiger Woods staring at the camera and the voice of his late father Earl except to say that it's strange and bizarre. Nike, having invested heavily in Woods and one of the few sponsors to stay with him, would be expected to do what it could to salvage his image. But I am not sure this is the way to go.

Johnny Reb Rides Again

Now Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) apologizes for the omission of the little matter of slavery from his proclamation of April as Confederate History Month in the Old Dominion. Call me cynical but I believe the governor knew exactly what he was doing when he issued the proclamation and his sudden apology was prompted not by a change of heart but rather by the condemnation that he apparently didn't see coming.

Don Pullen's Ode to Life

The late Don Pullen playing his beautiful composition Ode to Life in a 1992 concert.

Malcolm Speaks

From a Malcom X recording I purchased back in the sixties Malcolm X Talks to Young People and has stayed with me all these many years:

"One of the first things I think young people, especially nowadays, should learn is how to see for yourself and listen for yourself and think for yourself. Then you can come to an intelligent decision for yourself.

"If you form the habit of going by what you hear others say about someone, or going by what others think about someone, instead of searching that thing out for yourself and seeing for yourself, you will be walking west when you think you're going east, and you will be walking east when you think you're going west. This generation, especially of our people, has a burden, more so than any other time in history. The most important thing we can learn to do today is think for ourselves."

Fine and Mellow

Lady Day with the stellar triumvirate of tenor saxophonists - Ben Webster, Lester Young, and Coleman Hawkins - it doesn't get it better than this.

Hopkins-Jones 2

In what can only be termed professional boxing's version of the seniors tour, tonight Bernard Hopkins, 45, squares off against Roy Jones, Jr., 41, in a rematch 17 years in the making in Las Vegas, Nevada. Both fighters are clearly past their prime but I expect Hopkins to dispatch Jones in one of the early rounds because of the two aging combatants, Jones is clearly on the decline having suffering devastating knockout losses in recent bouts. Needless to say, I will refrain from the $50 pay-per-view and await the result on ESPN's Sports Center and perhaps see entire bout later on HBO's telecast.

Happy Birthday, Marvin

Marvin Gaye was born April 2, 1939 in Washington, D.C.