free 'em all.

Former Political Prisoner (and my father's co-defendant) Marilyn Buck Freed!

On July 15, 2010, Marilyn Buck was released from the federal prison medical center in Carswell, Texas. She is paroled to New York. More news will be posted as it becomes available.

http://marilynbuck.com/

‎"When I think of Marilyn as a preacher's daughter, I think of her as someone who wrestled with the moral problems of our times and who was not afraid to take principled positions around those issues.

Marilyn had a choice. She could have remained silent; she could have reaped the benefits of white-skin privilege. But instead she chose the path of righteousness. She has defended the have-nots, the powerless, and as a woman she has struggled for the liberation of all women. The only reason that she remains incarcerated is because of her political activism.

She needs and deserves the support of all those who are committed to freedom and the abolition of pain and suffering on this earth. She deserves to be supported, she deserves to be respected, and she deserves to be free." -assata shakur

peace.

so what is juneteenth anyways?

juneteenth is a holiday that was started, and is mainly celebrated, in the south, and it is such a controversial subject amongst the black community!

"how could you celebrate that?"
"how could you not celebrate that?"

whether you do or don't, don't know if you want to or not, here are the facts.

in 1862 lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation which declared the freedom of all slaves.

now texas, being texas, refused to free their slaves...surprise, surprise. it wasn't until 3 years later, on june 19, 1865, that union soldiers landed in galveston, texas with the news that the enslaved were free.

so there you have it. juneteenth.

why so controversial?

well, some folks feel like, "why would i celebrate the fact that texas waited three years, after the fact, to free their slaves?", whereas others celebrate it as independence day/freedom day/emancipation day for african americans.

you decide for you.

snake in the grass...

sooooooo, i ran across my first snake of the season...YIKES!!! i figured i'm not the only one who could use some tips for dealin' with em:

get you some POWDERED SULFER

snakes can't stand the smell, as you'll find out when you open the bag :-/ now, many people will say it doesn't work, but the last year i saw a snake, i sprinkled the sulfer and i didn't see another all spring or summer. so, imma go with what i know.

what to do:
head to your nearest gardening center and buy a big bag of powdered sulfer. when you get home, sprinkle the sulfer aaaaaall along the perimeters of your yard and/or where you think they may be chillin'. and that's about it.


tip #1: snakes like to hide in cool and dark places like low shrubs, bushes and wood piles. also under houses so i'd sprinkle around the steps too, if your house is raised.

tip #2: make sure it's not going to rain the next day! (yes, you have to re-sulfer if it rains. don't be lazy, we're talkin' snakes man!)

tip #3: yeah, not a pleasant smell, but it'll go away. or you'll get used to it. whichever comes first.

tip #4: if you DO have to kill a snake, make sure you separate head from the body. if you don't, they may still be able to attack. (make sure it's a poisonous snake before you kill it! garter snakes are harmless and acutally helpful around the yard. they keep out mice, rodents, ect.)

and that's all i got. hope it helps!

peace,
z

don't assume i cook tip #51...

if you have a recipe that calls for buttermilk and have none, have no fear!

* milk (just under one cup)
* 1 tablespoon white vinegar or lemon juice

1. place a tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup.

2. add enough milk to bring the liquid up to the one-cup line.

3. let stand for five minute. Then, use as much as your recipe calls for.

cheers!

"for a good clean feeling, no matter what..."

in my ongoing pursuit to live a more simple life, i often have to take it back to the old school.

quite a few people i know, me included, are always looking for ways to brighten our teeth. we drink too much coffee, we're smokers, we like the candy just a liiiiitle too much. whatever the reason, there are about a billion different things you can buy to help, from gels to sprays, strips to mouthpieces.

my suggestion: all you need is BAKING SODA AND PEROXIDE. seriously.

baking soda is great for cleaning teeth and it kills bacteria that causes plaque; peroxide kills bacteria in the gums and on the tongue. together, they work well as a whitener.

what to do: put on your toothpaste on the brush and then dip it into a bit of baking soda. no, it's not the most pleasant taste, get over it. after that, floss, if you want to, and then, like you would a mouthwash, rinse with peroxide. no, you won't die if you accidentally swallow a bit. it happens. rinse with water or a mouthwash, and you're done!

tips #1) i bought some baking soda, put it in a mason jar by my toothpaste in the bathroom. that way it's there every time i pick up my toothbrush and i don't forget. lazy or genius, you decide. :-)

tip #2) do it EVERYDAY. you should be brushing your teeth at least once a day, twice for realz, anyway.

top five reasons you may want to try it out:
5) before they had toothpaste, what do you think they used?
4) it's cheaper. maaaaybe $2.99 for baking soda and $1.00 for peroxide.
3) you'll get more for your money.
2) my grandma knows everything.
1) i can damn near guarantee in 1 month your teeth will be whiter.


so that's that. let me know how it works out. go ahead and try. i dare ya. :-)

peace,
nzingha

disclaimer: no, just because i tagged you because your teeth look dingy. well, not all of you :-P and no, baking soda DOES NOT strip away your enamel.

"my blood is a million stories..."

sitting here thinking and wanted to share...

my dad goes before the parole board december 2nd. thinking about my family and the families of other political prisoners and freedom fighters around the world. thinking about you especially, kamel. i am SO truly blessed to come from the family i do. the hearn clan. the shakur clan.

it's a different way of life in many ways, being children of revolutionaries. our parents fought, were imprisoned, were exiled, and died fighting for basic human equality; and all the while growing us in the discipline and knowledge, love and respect for not only our people, but for all people. we think differently; we see the world differently.

i was thinking about the last time i saw mutulu. it's a harsh reminder to me when i think about the fact that i've never known my dad in any other context outside of prison, even back to my first memory. his every entrance into my life since i can remember has always been the same...coming from behind those steel bars, he stops so the officer can take of the chains. i've never seen him for more than 4-5 hours at a time. you only get so many hours of visitation. i've never seen him standing in the sunlight, never seen him standing in grass; i've never seen him in anything other than a prison uniform.

we've never had a phone conversation that wasn't recorded, written letters that weren't read before it reached his hands, or given hugs that weren't closely watched. i've shared every intimate moment with him, with someone else. he's never been able to see all of his children together at once, and now that pac has passed away he'll never be able too.

now mutulu is in florence, colorado. the #1 maximum security prison in the united states. "also known as the ADMAX, Supermax, or The Alcatraz of the Rockies, ADX houses the prisoners who are deemed the most dangerous and in need of the tightest control. it is the highest level security federal prison in the united states, and generally considered the most secure prison in the world. individuals are kept for at least 23 hours each day in solitary confinement." that means he gets 1 hour, by himself, outside his cell in a heavily guarded area. all of our visits are behind glass and he often handcuffed.

these things come to mind as his parole hearing draws near. they have and continue to do everything the possibly can to keep him in prison. his upcoming parole hearing is a fight for due process and his right to come before the parole board and fight for his freedom in 2011.

as "thanksgiving" draws near, i am humbled by those who, like mutulu, saw their difficult path before them and even still chose to stand and fight, rather than lay down and continue to be enslaved. freedom fighters ALL OVER THE WORLD. many of them will not be able to sit down and have dinner with their families, will not be able to tuck their children in at night, and will not be able to hold the ones they love as they fall asleep.

yet they are fighting for our right to do so.

this thanksgiving, i give thanks for the people who fought and are still fighting for freedom and equality.
i give honor to the indigenous people of this country who are still fighting for their basic rights on their own land.
i give remembrance to who i am and where i come from. a people who's blood runs deep in the earth of this country.

...and i pray, so very hard, that we continue to move forward as a GLOBAL community, in love.

my blood? is a million stories. FREE 'EM ALL.

peace.

karma police...

we've all heard, and probably said...karma's a bitch, what goes around comes around. but, that's not really what karma is all about.

karma is simply that we will continue to repeat the lessons, until we learn them. so, it's much like the idea of what goes around comes around, but not quite.

deep example for those of you who need it: one of my lessons is detachment. i detach and lose all sense of feeling and emotion when things get uncomfortably and highly intense. most people think i'm really calm, but i'm often just void. something i learned and has been ingrained in me from a very young age which at that point, protected me time and time again. but it has now become second nature. i don't even know i'm detached most times. and that is neither helpful nor productive. so my lesson is ever how to be present in the midst of personal turmoil. how to live in the uncomfortable as i do in the comfort.

so, i keep coming back to these moments, in many different forms/situations/experiences/people, some more intense than others, but always with same underlying theme. when something hits, i go tend to go void, thus saying and doing outwardly from a void place inwardly. and it's not like 'm always making bad or wrong decisions, which is why i often miss the connection. but, once the smoke clears and things have been set into motion, i think, why did this/that happen? why wasn't it like this/that? did i do something wrong?

side note: bad/intense/frustrating things don't just stop happening. your life isn't going to just change. shit happens, that's just life. sorry to break it to ya. what does happen, and this is where the real beauty resides, is that when we finally get the lesson, We change.

for me, through that understanding, i can then move through my life with a little more peace, a handle my intensities with a little more grace. i can't wait...

basic example for those of you who need it: let's take your average asshole. if you're always an asshole, they the universe will continue to bring you in situations where it triggers your assholeness until you learn to stop being an asshole. capish.

back to deepness: sooooo, not necessarily what goes around comes around, but more what goes around keeps going around and around and around...until you stop it. once you learn that lesson, you step out of that viscous karmic cycle (that could have been following you for many many moons and many many lives) and move to a new level of consciousness and understanding. bettering and bettering your spirit self. ever forward...

karma.

sooooo, i challenge you to think about your karma, what lessons you find that you keep repeating. how can you break the cycle?

peace and blessings / love and light