Mumble Herder

Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
Books 41-50.
Books 51-60.
Books 61-70.
Books 71-80.
Books 81-90.
91. The Non-Adventures of Wonderella: Everybody Ever Forever by Justin Pierce.
92. Hide and Seek by Ian Rankin.
93. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach.
94. Strip Jack by Ian Rankin.
95. Wizard of the Crow by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o.
96. Gingerbread by Rachel Cohn.

97. Seize the Time: The Story of the Black Panther Party and Huey P. Newton by Bobby Seale. As some of you have likely realized by now, the political far left of the late 1960s and early 1970s is sort of an obsession of mine. (The reason for this is not something I can pinpoint easily. If anyone cares enough to ask about it I'll try to articulate it in another post.) In most of my reading about the period to date, though, the Black Panthers have been peripheral--they seem to have been figures of awe to members of other movements like the Weather Underground, and figures of terror to law enforcement and mainstream politics. This inside account is best and most detailed when talking about the genesis of the party, though filtered through Seale's obvious hero-worship of Huey Newton. (The two later had a falling out.) As the life-cycle of the party accelerates Seale tends to leave out some details of their activities, but manages to give vivid accounts of certain episodes. For example, he barely mentions the many speaking engagements he had in 1967-9, and omits almost entirely any account of the events surrounding the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago; and yet his account of his arrest and extradition for the trial of the Chicago 8, and his subsequent mistreatment at the behest of Judge Julius Hoffman, are vivid enough that I was moved to tears of rage. I was also struck by the Panthers' stand against what they perceived as the black racism of other groups, and how much of their early activities were centered around their insistence upon their right to peaceably bear arms, and how skillfully they were able to, for a time, stave off police harassment by adhering to the letter of the law. (Also apparently the universe is trying to tell me to read Frantz Fanon, whom I don't think I'd even heard of before I read Wizard of the Crow.)

Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
Books 41-50.
Books 51-60.
Books 61-70.
71. The Elephant's Secret Sense by Caitlin O'Connell.
72. Bloom County Babylon: Five Years of Basic Naughtiness by Berke Breathed.
73. Moon Called by Patricia Briggs.
74. The End of the Story: The Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith, Volume 1 by Clark Ashton Smith.
75. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg.
76. Hmong Means Free: Life in Laos and America by Sucheng Chan.
77. Dungeon: Zenith Volume 3: Back In Style by Joann Sfar, Lewis Trondheim, and Boulet.
78. Watchmen: Absolute Edition by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

79. Assata: An Autobiography by Assata Shakur. Shakur's own account of her life, from growing up in New York City to her politicization and involvement with sixties radicalism, to life underground and her incarceration after being charged with multiple crimes--for most of which she was never convicted. A member of the Black Panter Party and the Black Liberation Army, Shakur talks passionately about the class and race oppression she witnessed and experiences, but she does omit certain incidents and details; her marriage is covered in a single paragraph, and the 1973 shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike where she was captured is never covered in any detail. Similarly, her life underground and her escape are little discussed. These lacunae are understandable, at least in part, as an effort to avoid incriminating others who may have been aiding her; at a couple of points, though, I wished for her to address the charges against her, at least, with a bit more directness. Still, this is a well-written memoir, chronicling some truly appalling treatment by the justice system. Currently Shakur is classified as a domestic terrorist, with a $1 million reward for her capture. Given the evidence (Assata sustained a gunshot wound during the Turnpike shootout--the medical evidence is such that she could only have been sitting, with her hands raised, when that happened), that's simply ridiculous. To learn more about Assata check out her Wikipedia entry or her website.

This video is a couple of days old, but it's a great encapsulation of what has been happening for years now.



And another video on the current state of abortion services--remember, this is a legal procedure (and as Dr. Wicklund notes in the video, one of the most commonly done)--across the country. (This video is rather crappy, sorry; I can't seem to embed the MSNBC code.)



As Rachel says, what's most maddening about the intimidation and violence is that it seems to be working.

. . . you might think about Iowa.

Yes, Iowa.

Film at 11.

Kenya, one year later:

The tensions that were laid bare during one of the darkest moments in Kenya's history are still festering, a year after its election on Dec. 27, 2007 unleashed weeks of ethnic violence that killed more than 1,000 people.

The evidence is everywhere: in the displacement camps where tens of thousands of people still live; in the divided towns where ethnic groups had lived side-by-side since independence from Britain in 1963; and in growing disillusionment with a coalition government accused of ignoring the roots of the crisis.

I also found this article about activists in Miami moving homeless families into foreclosed homes interesting:

Rameau is an activist who has been executing a bailout plan of his own around Miami's empty streets: He is helping homeless people illegally move into foreclosed homes.

“We're matching homeless people with peopleless homes,” he said with a grin.

Bush's approval rating has finally dropped below Nixon's; his disapproval rating is the highest ever. Amazing that it took this long.

BTW, if you're tired of me posting about politics all the time, believe me, so am I. I'm supposed to be working with my head down, polishing up a novel, but my anxiety over the election is riding pretty high, and I doubt I'm going to be able to concentrate much on other things until after this is all over.

Palin campaign discovers that Palin did nothing wrong.

In related news, election officials in five states assure everyone that removing tens of thousands of voters from the registration rolls was a totally legit move.