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DOCUMENTATION THAT I EXIST

The feeling of being invisible sometimes hurts,
Inner voices scream at the world,
Only to be blocked by walls of silence,
The feeling of being treated like garbage sometimes hurts,
I try to put out good karma in the universe,
Inner voices scream at the world,
Only to be deleted by those who crush dreams,
I just wanna feel alive,
My inner visions,
Fuel my inner vibes,
Battling the forces of evil,
Just to tell the world my name,
When my life is over,
Will they remember the song I sung for you,
Or the soulful masterpieces I painted,
The feeling of not existing sometimes hurts,
Inner voices scream at a world that isn't listening,
While my cries in the dark go unheard,
Does my life have meaning,
I am a cultural substance,
Demanding my existence be respected,
My umi says,
Shine your light on the world,
So the tattoo on my heart reads "The Mighty I Am".

("JODISM: Documentation That I Exist" opens Friday March 7th, 2009 at 6 pm as part of The Creative Arts Guild's First Friday event.)

Obama Skateboards by Visual Artist Jody L. Harris

Attention!
Get your
Obama Skateboard today!
Collectors Edition ( Only 100 will be made)
$44.00 each
Celebrate our 44th president in a special way. Visual Artist Jody L. Harris and The Mad Lab are proud to present an opportunity for you to own a part of American History and help make Black History. Purchase an Obama Skateboard and support a good cause. A portion of the proceeds go towards The Starving Artist Fund. These works of art can be mounted or hung on your wall as art. We also offer customization such as names, pictures, important dates, etc. These limited edition skateboards are great for children and adults as well.
To get your Collectors Edition President Obama Skateboard before they sell-out, contact Jody Harris on facebook, myspace or jabz83@hotmail.com

I made the paper!

Jody Harris, of Atlanta, paints an American flag behind silhouettes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Obama on Monday at the Dalton Community Center during the United Way’s “Day of Service.” Volunteers painted several desks from the Emery Center with quotes and images depicting the civil rights movement.
/ Misty Watson

This is the article that goes along with the front page picture!

Words into action

Residents volunteer to honor MLK, serve community

Jamie Jones
Most holidays off from Dalton High School give Leonardo Martinez a chance to play sports with friends.

But not the Monday set aside to celebrate the life of Martin Luther King Jr.

Martinez was among numerous volunteers who put King’s words into action Monday as part of the United Way of Northwest Georgia’s “Day of Service” at the Dalton Community Center. Students on the United Way Youth Council helped organize the event.

“I wanted to help the community out, make the world a better place,” said Martinez, a 17-year-old sophomore. “I wanted to come here because my friends talked about it, and it sounded like something cool.”

Youth volunteers set up tables representing different countries and cultures including Mexico, Morocco and Scotland. The booths had information about the countries, while volunteers helped children with art and craft projects.

One of the more popular work stations gave children and teenagers an outlet for expression. Volunteers painted 24 desks from the Emery Center with quotes and pictures depicting the U.S. civil rights movement. The Emery Center, an African-American heritage/multicultural center, is where the first public school in Dalton once stood. The desks will be displayed in schools throughout Black History Month (February). They will later be auctioned with the proceeds going to the Emery Center.

Martinez meticulously wrote a quote on a piece of drawing paper. He planned to paint the quote from King: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Martinez interpreted the words as a call for freedom and to stop judging people.

There was also a professional artist there to help. Jody Harris, a 1994 graduate of Dalton High School, painted several desks. One was an image of President-elect Barack Obama with the words “Embrace Change,” another of future first lady Michelle Obama, and the final piece (with help from his cousin, Mario Harris) featured silhouettes of Obama and King with an American flag in the background.

“It’s basically part of Dr. King’s dream coming to fruition with Obama becoming president,” Harris said of the Obama/King painting. “This is my tribute.”

Martin Luther King Day holds special meaning to Harris, who is black.

“It used to mean honoring my ancestors and forefathers and everything they went through, but now it’s about the meaning of everybody embracing change and just coming together like Obama did — and everybody has, just look around,” Harris said.

Obama will be sworn in today as the country’s first black president. At the community center, three posters of Obama are in the lobby alongside posters bearing the images of black pioneers in government, science and education. There are also photographs of two former black Major League Baseball players who were born in Dalton: David Mann and Harry “Suitcase” Simpson.

The messages of King — unity, equality and freedom — were an integral part of the day.

Rod Weaver, a member of the United Way board of directors, gave attendees a brief history on King’s fruitful life, from his birth in Atlanta on Jan. 15, 1929, to his death by assassination in Memphis on April 4, 1968. Weaver noted that King sought to overcome blacks “being treated as second class citizens” through non-violence, whether it was boycotts, sit-ins or marches.

“King fought to overcome these challenges,” Weaver said.

The education continued through the day, wrapping up with tours of The Emery Center.

Above is a article/picture from the Daily Citizen Newspaper. I also performed a spoken word piece. Those pictures were in the Chattanooga Free Times paper today. I feel like a star. I volunteered to oversee the painting of 24 desks from the Emery Center which will be used to raise money for this black history museum. It felt good to do something positive and use my creative abilites for good.

infinite JODISM

As the old folks say, feels like I need to be sendin up timber. I had breakfast this morning. My favorite, a fresh bag of barbeque pork rinds and a glass of ice cold grape kool aid. I got up this morning realizing that my birthday is Wednesday and I have alot to be thankful for. My free spirit and creative ora encourage me to move forward. The niggativity in my community and space is easier to deal with. No weapon formed against me shall prosper. In my personal life, I finally decided to put it in the Most High's hands. I was thinking back to last year at this time. I said I wanted to be in a committed relationship by my next birthday. It aint even close to happening and that is the only thing I keep beating myself up for. But yo, I do enjoy the lure of being an educated, single black man with no responsibilities except me. It is a historical year. Big moves are fixin to be made! I know for a fact that 2009 is gonna be my year. When I make it to Oprah, I'll have to keep my shout-out list short!

infinite JODISM, infinite POTENTIAL

2008 is outta here! These pictures are important to me. These people have influenced my life and helped shaped the person I am today in some way, fashion or form. I read alot and love black history & culture. I love music, art and black folks. I love us and who we are.

The top picture is from the "I want your soul" artshow that Dan The Man put on @ The Eastside Lounge. Yall can check it out at www.manoamanoartshow.com I am a visual artist and my passion for art, music and culture will never die. I have always battled other people's thoughts on what I should do with my life. I recently worked for DFACS as a social services placement worker. Some family drama and interaction with DFACS has caused a conflict of interest. My heart and mind all along was screaming go back and follow your dreams. On december 23, 2008, I was forced to make a decision and I chose to do what makes Jody Harris happy while not giving a damn anymore about what my family thinks, my so called friends and outsiders opinions. In reality, I never listened anyway and never gave a flying fuck. In relation to finding a good woman, I realized that going out looking aint gettin me nowhere. When the most high sees it fit for me to meet my soulmate, then it'll happen so I aint gon sweat that anymore. She is out there!

The people in the pictures above never cared about what people thought about them and I am fully embracing their spirits. I realized my infinite potential is limitless and I can do whatever I want. It has inspired me to move forward and focus on my life, my energy, my universal purpose and my all around well being. Walking away from certain situations sometimes can be hard but if it needs to be done, then it needs to be done. Locally, I am called the renaissance man. I am getting my guitar out and gettin back into my music. I have a blues gig lined up at the blues train cafe in downtown dalton on tuesdays. I will be doing Muddy Waters "Hoochie Coochie Man" and other classics. I am also gettin back into my art and the art scene heavy in 2009. I already got some art shows lined up. I am gonna do what makes Jody happy and let the cards fall where they may.

Yall please stay jazzy! Pray for me and I'll do the same for you! Support the arts!

Jody is gonna be Jody in 2009.

I am moving in a direction that solely focuses on what Jody wants and what makes Jody happy for the new year and the rest of my life. I wanna wish everyone a happy new year. The year of 2008 has been crazy for me. Due to family drama, my job may be in limbo. It has been a big learning experience. For a while, it sounded like a scratched record. I was working at a job I hated. My ride was bummed out. I was borderline straight broke. My family drama went up to another level. So called friends who turned snake showed both of their screwfaces. People came at me crazy, sistas dissed me, haters stepped up their hate and I made more friends than enemies. In my personal life, I came to terms and accepted the fact that I am cursed and will spend the rest of this life on earth alone banned from ever experiencing true love again. To be honest, that is some hard shit to accept as a man. On top of that, I don't have any kids and some people see me as incomplete or less of a person. I want to have kids someday but do to the fact that sistas aint feelin a cat like me, I may end up adopting. When these people said those hurtful things, it stung. Those negative people will be completely gone from my life soon as I am cleaning house. I have actually been told that to my face and that aint cool. I am a man though and I have learned to just keep stuff like this balled up. In 2009, I can't continue to do that. I gotta release it before it ends up killing me.

On a good note, I got a better job for now, I got a new ride and I am working on dealing with the loneliness. I don't hang out with my friends who have girls so I don't feel like the 3rd wheel and I stopped going to certain social events because I end up sticking out cause everyone is coupled up and I am in the kitchen alone hiding. I got over my ex-wife and our history. I got a chance to travel this year and will be traveling alot more in 2009. I got my family regardless and I am slowly regaining my faith. A part of me feels that I am gonna be alright. I am active in my community, I am talented and got alot of things going for me. Everythang is everythang! My groove is mine and my spirit can't be crushed. I am on a journey to restock my life with more positive and uplifting people. I love art and music and my life beat is soulful and jazzy mixed with eclectic. Sun Ra said space is the place. I am always thinking about exploring my space, my personal space and the infinite space around me. Realizing my infinite potential is exciting sometimes and I get hyped thinking about the journey ahead. While on that journey, I will continue to move forward, improving my life and hopefully discover my universal purpose along the way. I know the lord aint bought me this far to drop me off here!
Yall pray for me and I'll do the same for yall. Stay jazzy and support the arts!

PEACE and Blessings

Jody L. Harris( Art, Beats and The Creative Spirit)

R.I.P. JAX! Condolences to The Thorton Family and Binkis Recs Crew!

R.I.P. TO OUR GOOD FRIEND AND BROTHA JAX FROM BINKIS RECS. IF YALL BEEN IN ATLANTA AND KNOW THE UNDERGROUND MUSIC SCENE, THEN YOU KNOW WHO JAX IS. THIS BROTHA WAS COOL AND ALWAYS SPOKE EVERY TIME I SAW HIM. HE ALWAYS HAD SOMETHING GOOD TO SAY OR A GOOD CONVERSATION ABOUT MUSIC, ART, WHATEVER. JAX PUT OUT AN ALBUM YEARS AGO ENTITLED "JFK". IT STOOD FOR JAX FOREVER KING AND YOU ARE BROTHA. WE GON MISS YOU MAN!

OBAMA IS DA MAN!

WE ELECTED THE FIRST BLACK MAN AS PRESIDENT. THE ANCESTORS ARE PROUD AND WE MUST REALIZE THERE IS STILL WORK TO DO! I WOKE UP THIS MORNING FEELING STRONGER ALREADY. OUR EVERYDAY EXISTENCE MUST BE RESPECTED NOW!