Aberjhani's Blog: Notes of a 21st Century Digital Scribe, page 34

The Christmas Tree that Blossomed

Christmas and memories thereof are always a mixture of inspired joy and lingering sorrow for me. There are many reasons why both responses fit unyieldingly into the holiday equation but the following is one I will have to honor and meditate upon for the rest of my life:  If they, my niece April and her son Justin, had been victims of terrorism or the casualty of a war fought in the name of ...

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Author Toni Morrison's Passion for Historical Truth Revealed

One of only a few living African-American authors whose Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning novels are studied regularly on a high school and university level, Toni Morrison has also written and edited influential nonfiction works, like The Black Book, by Middleton A. Harris. Originally published in January 1974, Random House released a 35th Anniversary Edition of The Black Book just last month ...

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A Mink-warm Distance between Decades

          winter is a mink-warm distance      between decades...  quantum snowflakes     of space and time zones... ...flutter on a breeze... of random thoughts...  there is your candle-lit laughterstitching the gashes in my heart...  and your brandy-colored eyesbalancing the axisof planets whirling through my soul...  as ice ...

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New Michael Jackson Opus Published: The Different Sides of a Global Icon

The new Official Michael Jackson Opus, a 404-page 26-pound masterwork which generated tons of buzz after Kraken Opus announced its planned publication following news of the iconic singer's death, was published December 7, 2009. However, Jackson enthusiasts rushing to make a quick purchase of the title on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Target.com, will discover that only Amazon currently shows ...

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Artist Michele Wood Delivers Inspired Christmas Offerings

Celebrated for visual works that have documented African-American cultural traditions and expanded the recognized styles of fine art in major exhibitions, Red Room member Michele Wood is also an award-winning book illustrator whose work adorns the pages of the modern holiday classic, Christmas Soul, and the recently published My Holy Bible for African-American Children. The Before Columbus ...

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Gratitudes of a Dozen Roses

I. This rose of spiritual gratitude placed at the feet of a Rasta Warrior Woman showers the earth with sweetfire and hosannas and early morning glory.     II. Beneath an African moon shining silver poems and a river of orchards singing purple praises a black rose bows her head like a black swan humbled by her crown of jade.     III. Birdsongs weave grace in ...

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Letters from the Soul Numbers 7 and 8

The holidays are a good time to recall shared journeys in one's life and therefore also a good time to resume the presentation of Visionary Vibes, Letters from the Soul here at Red Room. If you missed the last installment of Letters from the Soul Number 6 please click this link or to start at the beginning click here .  Also, I perhaps should point out that the language gets a bit rough in ...

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If Peace Comes and Nobody Wants It

Once, while still in the U.S. Air Force, I discussed the issue of the need for world peace with someone very close to me. At one point, she very sincerely asked a question I had never considered: "What if peace comes and nobody wants it?" I answered that if peace came and nobody wanted it, then the world would see to its immediate destruction. Sometimes I think peace is constantly ...

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Work and Soul in Michael Jackson's This Is It

It says a lot that even while its principle star struggled to conserve creative energy and was simply "warming up" for the actual live performance scheduled to follow, Michael Jackson's This Is It snagged the October 30 weekend box office in the United States with $21,3000,000. It says even more that just two weeks after its opening, as of November 12, 2009, the movie has played in ...

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National Bookstore Day: A Great Day for a Signing

National Bookstore Day, November 7, 2009, has to be one of the best ideas anybody has come up with to help celebrate and preserve literary culture in our digitally-revolutionized age in a very long time. It gives me a perfect excuse to scrape up a few bucks and splurge on books other than those needed for research. But now that I think about it a bit more, it also should have been a good excuse ...

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