what you readin, profcrispy?

i'm working on the black nationalist chapter of my next book: "political aesthetics." garvey/moorish science temple/nation of islam/five percenters/rastafarianism/reggae/hip hop etc. reading a shitload of amazing stuff.

marcus gavey (ed amy jacques garvey), the philosophy and opinions of marcus garvey
this is a collection of writings and speeches. many have dismissed garvey as an ignorant buffoon. i don't think you could read this stuff and think that. if nothing else, the man was a very good and compelling writer and speaker. a sort of funny moment is the feud with dubois, where they're straight dishing abuse in heaping helpings. dubois called mg an "ugly little black man." "This only goes to show how much hate DuBois has for the black blood in his veins. . . . this is why in 1917 he had only the lightest of colored people in his office, when one could hardly tell whether it was a white show or a colored vaudeville [minstrel show] he was running on Fifth avenue." but anyway, there is plenty here to chew on, and garvey's status as a prophet - of rastafarianism and a hundred other religious sects, comes into focus in these writings.

michael e. veal, dub: soundscapes and shattered songs in jamaican reggae
this is as good a piece of ethnomusicology as you will ever read. the technical descriptions of the music (of king tubby, lee perry, scientist) etc are expert, and the cultural analysis is at once careful and boldly speculative. veal places dub in the context of black nationalism, of postmodern art, of jamaican politics, and of its own internal progression. "Ska, rock steady and roots reggae were all, to varying extents, invested in traditional conceptions of race, nation, a linear understanding of history, and a clear distinction between good and evil. The advent of dub subverted these constructs, creating a space in Jamaican music (and later world pop) for the postsong, for linguistic, formal, and symbolic indeterminacy."

elijah muhammad (messenger of allah), the true history of master fard muhammad, allah (god) in person
can't get enough of that funky stuff. this is a little anthology of em's writings on fard, his mentor, prophet and god, if any. the introduction, by minister nasr makr hakim, is an astounding epistemology, proving fard's godhead and that the nation of islam owes nothing to garvey or the noble drew ali (moorish science temple) through a blend of numerology and faith-based initiatives. the semi-literacy and semi-sanity only make the whole thing more compelling. i believe! if dub is postsong, this is a postbook featuring postrationality."The circumference of our planet is 24,896 miles. Approximately 25,000 miles. 24 scientist write our history. 23 do the writing and it is brought to the 24th and He acts as Judge to determine what will come to pass. . . . How this will factor into Master Fard Muhammad's coming will be discussed in forthcoming chapters; however, my intent here is to show that the very books which the 'critics' don't use in the 'explaining' of Master Fard Muhammad, is the primary tool necessary for explaining!" Who could quibble with that?

anyway, more black nationalism coming, my so-called lostfound children of europe.