A New Day

To Mac's cherished readers and fellow bloggers:

While living life to it's fullest, Mac always had an optimistic view for tomorrow. "Tomorrow is a new day" he said so often. Since his passing, we've come to the blog from time to time to re-read a post or two and share a bit more about Mac. You kindred bloggers and fans have provided wonderful encouragement and support to continue his blog. Individually and here on the blog, you've often expressed your wishes to read more of Mac's works.

You've also loved how Mac wove those nuggets of truth in his sidebar: "Change to Believe in"..."Good Lookin' Out"..."Speaking Truth to Power"...and "A Change is Gonna Come" These little gems underscore his overarching theme of truth and justice as reflected in his body of work both as a blogger/author and community activist. Here's a song that sums up his mission and legacy for me -- and one of his favorites: Solomon Burke's "None of us are free".

And now here's the good news ~

Mac's family has enthusiastically decided to carry his legacy forward with this blog. Together they will continue daddyBstrong's themes which were "not about the Daddy" but rather "About you: your boos, your fam, your hood, your country...your hopes and dreams of a better tomorrow." And of course they'll add their own unique voices -- building on Mac's legacy and doing him proud. I know you'll be back to welcome them to the blogosphere and spread the good word.

In the meantime, I'll say goodbye and express my deep gratitude and affection for all of you who have held Mac's Minneapolis family in your hearts and offered your love, prayers and support as this gentle and brilliant man passed on to his eternal reward. Here's my favorite poem from Mac. It captures how very ALIVE this dear man was to his bones and soul cells -don't you agree?

We do sing with you, Mac. Forever in our hearts.

Sing with me

I am one with the earth,

wind and sky.

I'm a towering, thunderous waterfall.

I roar when hurling through mist

and diving down to complete myself below,

smiling while flowing

in and out of liquid semi-circles

naturally. Free.

Sing with me.

Rest in Peace, Macarthur Walton

It is with profound sadness we inform MacDaddy's cherished fellow bloggers and followers, that the Daddy has passed on in the most peaceful manner at home surrounded by family and friends. We'll be adding more about our dear Mac but for now, leave you with a poem he wrote that summed up exactly how he lived and embraced his life fully since his cancer diagnosis five years ago.

JUST ONE MORE DAY

Tomorrow morn

Lord,
Let me live and know life for one more day
Just one more day

Let me wake to hurried neighbors revving cars
Racing to a closed-in office, chasing a rising sun
And sip smoking hot, black. fresh-brewed
from a Mickey's Diner cup
Reading the Star-Tribune, tasting buttered toast still warm

Tomorrow noon

Let me lunch on green salad, fresh fruit, green tea
with knowing companions
Plucking seedless, blue grapes from thick vines
Swapping warm smiles, tall tales and a joke or two

Tomorrow eve,

Let me dine on french bread, beef brisket, chilled wine
and a soft face
Nurturing hopes and dreams of a sweeter tomorrow
Grateful for your warm love and generosity in hearing me pray

Lord,
Let me life and know life for one more day
Just one more day

HAVE YOU HEARD OF BROWNSUGATOO?

Listen up. The Daddy got a question for you: Have you heard

Brownsugatoo? She's a black woman and spoken word poet with a lot to say and a bitter-sweet way of saying it. Sometimes harsh, at other times gentle, she still sometimes express in voice so tough it makes you want to sing the Black Panther anthem, "The revolution has come, it's time to pick up the gun." At other times, it makes you want to cry, in the powerful yet gentle voice of Nina Simone:

"I love you, Porgy.
Don't let him take me.
Don't let him handle me with his hot hands.
If you can keep me, I want to stay here.
Safe and forever. I got my man."

INHUMANE: STOP THE VIOLENCE AGAINST GIRLS, AGAINST WOMEN

INHUMANE

Today, Inhumane tugged at me,
Spoke to me,
And tore me to the core:
“Teenage girl gang raped outside
A Richmond high school ‘door’.”

The tears stung
My face was numb.
Emotions just clawed at each other.
‘Cause what I physically WANTED to do -
Was dumb.

So I wrote “release”…

“Dumb bastards!”
I screamed.
“That was somebody’s daughter!”

Guess it was a day too late,
For y’all to be taught
That she is a Queen.

“Dumb bastards!”
I screamed.
“You were SOMEBODY'S son!”

You could have been-

NO, it IS too late.

A throne for you?

There is none.

Copyright 2009
C. Thomas
a.k.a. brownsugatou

SUPERBOWL WINNING COACH CALLS THE NCAA OUT FOR ITS DISCRIMINATION

“We talked about him growing up and having that side – that Christian background – but really getting to the NFL and feeling like he was his own person...“When he kind of described that to me and the fact that he needed to get back closer to the Lord, that’s when I said, ‘I’m going to stay involved in this. I’m

“We talked about him growing up and having that side – that Christian background – but really getting to the NFL and feeling like he was his own person...“When he kind of described that to me and the fact that he needed to get back closer to the Lord, that’s when I said, ‘I’m going to stay involved in this. I’m going to help you."
--Tony Dungy

listen up. Tony Dungy, one of the Daddy's heroes, works to keep men out of prison. The work of one of clients on Sunday shows that the may be on the way with helping another one. On Sunday, Michael Vick, with whom Dungy is working personally, scored a running touchdown and passed for another one before retiring with a bruised hand. You may recall that, while playing for the Atlanta Falcons, Vick was engaged in dogfighting and was convicted and served his term for two years. This was the first time Vick had been back to Atlanta to play. Here's a good story about it.

Super Bowl-Winning Coach Called the Small Number of Head Coaches
in Major College Football "Disgraceful."

Super Bowl-winning coach Tony Dungy called the dearth of
minority head coaches in major college football "disgraceful."

Dungy became the first black coach to win a Super Bowl in 2007 with the
Indianapolis Colts. Now an analyst with NBC's pregame show, Dungy said
on the program Sunday night that minority coaches believe they have
more opportunity for advancement in the pros than in college.

Of the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision coaches this season, just nine are
minorities – and only Miami's Randy Shannon is at a BCS school. Seven
of the 32 coaches in the NFL are black, including Bills interim coach
Perry Fewell.

Asked whether the situation in the college game represents
institutionalized racism, Dungy said, "The numbers would tell you that
it is."

After the 2006 season, Dungy recommended then-Vikings defensive
coordinator Mike Tomlin for the head coaching position at a BCS school.
Tomlin didn't get an interview. A month later, the Steelers hired him
as their head coach, and within two years he led them to a Super Bowl
win.

"That's the difference between the NCAA and the NFL right now," Dungy
said.

Dungy met last month with NCAA officials and has offered his help on
the issue. He called on school presidents to reverse the trend.

"They've got to step up and say, 'We're going to do the right thing.
We're going to hire qualified people. We're going to hire the best man
for the job regardless of what boosters or anyone else has to say.'"

Do you think the NCAA discriminates against black coaches?

NINA SIMONE: "I LOVE YOU, PORGY"

Listen up: A friend emailed a brotha saying Luther Vanddross's song to his father was his favorite and asked "Who is your favorite?" I told him mine was Nina Simone's rendition of " I love you, Porgy."

Here are the words to the song:

I loves you, Porgy,
Don' let him take me,
Don' let him handle me an' drive me mad.
If you kin keep me,
I wants to stay here wid you forever,
An' I'd be glad.

I loves you, Porgy,
Don' let him take me
Don' let him handle me
With his hot han'
If you kin keep me
I wants to stay here wid you forever.
I got my man.

What's your favorite song?

"I AIN'T GON STUDY WAR NO MO'"

Listen up. In keeping with some of my
reader's wishes, who say they're suffering from "post-election fatigue," I'm not writing about the election or the sorry state of the American economy. But I'm writing about American society, especially about the unnecessary and painful violence in our communities.

So the daddy is thinking...I'm just thinking... just thinking... about Malcolm x, who said that on this day, from this day forward, on this earth, we declare that we have a right to fight for our freedom "by any means necessary." Minister Malcolm died from a hail of bullets from members of the Nation of Islam, the organization he helped create, leaving behind a wife and two children and the hopes of millions of African Americans.

I'm just thinking...just thinking...about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who died from a violent gunshot as he stood out on the balcony of a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. King said we must meet the power of violence as an organized people of love, as a nonviolent people, as a non-violent nation. He said we must have "the strength to love." And though the corporate media won't acknowledge it, he spent the last year of his life not talking about little white girls and little black boys holding hands and singing we shall overcome but focusing on war and poverty, reminding us that our government's preoccupation with war not only killed people abroad; it diverted much-needed resources to end poverty at home.

Dr. King, an activist/intellectual, perhaps the most eloquent orator of any generation, a minister who could quote Shakespeare as easily as a passage from the bible, made it plain when he paraphrased an old religious hymn and said, "I don't know about you, but I ain't gon study war no mo."

I'm just thinking...just thinking... about the millions of lesser-known Americans
in cities like Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Memphis and Atlanta who die every day from a hail of gunfire from gangbangers who are famous for missing their targets and killing innocent citizens, including children.

Okay, African Americans, I want to ask you something:

As a people who were enslaved and brutalized for centuries by others, shouldn't you be peaceful toward each other? Whether inside the home or out on the street, shouldn't another brother or sister be the last person you raise a hand or squeeze a trigger finger to harm? And if you must raise a hand or pull a trigger, shouldn't the only possible justification for doing so be to defend yourself as an individual or to defend your country against attacks?

Okay, Americans of all ethnic, political or religious persuasions, I want to ask you something: As members of a nation that took this country by committing genocide against nations of Indians (the first Americans), as members of a nation that enslaved an entire group of people (Africans), as members of nation that spends much of its budget on either fighting wars or preparing for wars, as members of a nation with 47 million people without healthcare, with infrastructure so bad that you're afraid to drive across some bridges, shouldn't you be so angry, so... obsessed with forcing your elected officials to turn away from bloody wars and turn to the righteous quest of supporting you that you're willing to organize other Americans to march on Washington D.C. this summer and camp out there until your elected officials-- yes, Barack Obama-- pass laws to bail out working people, to insure them, to employ them, to rebuild America?

I'm just thinking...just thinking...about rising each morning with the sun, sipping a cup of java, paraphrasing an old spiritual and saying like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I don't know about you, but I ain't gon study war no mo."

Can you say "I ain't gon study VIOLENCE no mo." Can you live it?

LETTER #3: PREZ:" REMEMBER THE WORDS OF GENERAL PATTON?

Yo, Prez!

Can a brotha from another mother undercover from a former lover still call you Prez"

Listen Prez: The Daddy knows you're from Chicago. He knows you probably remember it, when Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, two leaders of the militant Black Panther Party, were killed-- no, assassinated-- as they lay at home in their sleep.

On September 8, 2008, I wrote you (Did you get it? Let's call it letter number, yesterday's letter as letter about your decision on Afghanistan as letter #3, and this one as letter #3} about leadership and General Patton's thoughts on it. The similarity between General Patton and Fred Hampton is that both fought unapologetically for what they believed in.In case you didn't get letter #1, I'm posting it again. I believe it is more appropriate for you now than at any other time.

Dear Prez Obama: Remember the words of General Patton

"The test of success is not what you do when you are on top. Success is high you bounce when you hit bottom."
--General S. Patton Jr.
"Moral courage is the most valuable and usually the most absent characteristic in men."
-- George S. Patton Jr.

Dear Prez Obama:

Can a brotha call you Prez?

Listen, Prez, a brotha knows you are busy; so he'll keep it short and sweet. Yes, he knows you have big challenges ahead: the worst economy since the depression; two wars, one of which is getting worse by the minute (Afghanistan); high unemployment; over 47 million without healthcare. But guess what else a brotha knows? He knows:

1. Big challenges create an opportunity to be a great president; and you don't want to be a good president but a great president, not for your ego but for the American people;
2. You will be a president of tremendous courage, intellect and leadership;
3. You will have the support of not only the American people but the world;
4. Given your humble upbringing and experience as a community organizer, you will continue to possess the right instincts and mindset in approaching all pressing issues: Thinking first and foremost, how will your decision affect the majority of Americans; and

Yo, Prez, you will lead us out of this economic crisis, get the economy on the right track, bring us closer to universal healthca re, return our brave daughters and sons home from Iraq and improve the care once they get here. And history will record that you were one of our more successful presidents. Just remember the immortal words of General Patton:

"In planning any operation, it is vital to remember and constantly repeat to oneself two things:

1. In war, nothing is impossible provided you use audacity.

2. Do not take counsel of your fears.’"
--------------------------------------------------

Prez, did you make WHAT YOU BELIEVE is the right decision on Afghanistan? Did you make this decision calculating that it would give you the best chance of re-elected in 2012? Was it political decision made to appease some on in the Republican party or was it a decision based in your heart about what's best for the American people, the ones who are against this war? Are you truly listening to the generals in the armed forces today or learning wisdom from those in the past. The Daddy's suggestion? Read his most famous speech (Somewhere in Europe, June 5th, 1944) and a few books of General Patton.

With audacity,

The Daddy