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 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!

This year, halloween fell on a weekend, me and the geto boys trick r treatin

I don't get down with halloween like I use to. I remember runnin with the NY crew and we was snatchin chains/gaffling whips in buckhead(shout out BIG JUS LUNE TNS). On halloween, The freaks come out at night. It is do or die time tonight as Dalton vs. Northwest Whitfield goes down. Who ever loses, their season is over and no playoff glory. On saturday, the dawgs and dem gators do battle at 3:30. It is November and gettin cold. This is football in the south. Today is pay day and I already had my bills paid so I got some loot to blow. Magic City and Dancers Elite, watch out, I am comin thru. Shout out to Cinnamon, CoCo, Passion and Ms. Nu Booty.

Pay Day and the GA/Fla game!

I get paid tomorrow and the ga/fla game goes down on saturday. I am still in tifton finishing up another part of job training. The test is friday and I haven't studied. I been hanging out in the hood here in tifton. A woman long time ago told me that confidence is sexy on a man. I been flexin my confidence in tifton lately. It's been a testing site. I tried to holla a few times.I met this sista at the mcdonald's drive thru and she asked me to take her shopping. I ordered a cheeseburger and a large iced latte with light ice. I pulled off. I been hanging out in the hood at the pool hall and guess who I see hugged up in the corner, the mcdonald's gurl and some army dude.

Anyway, the dawgs and dem gators are gonna battle this saturday. This is a SEC showdown and this is what football is all about. We play real football here in the south and it is apart of life from birth. I bleed catamount red and remember my days of running out onto that field on friday nights back in the early 90's. Football in the south is life. When I have kids, they will have a dalton catamount jersey on after birth.

There are 2 things the woman who becomes my next wife MUST have.
1.) She HAS to be a die hard football fan.
2.)She MUST be able to make southern pecan pie from scratch just like my grandmothers.

Back to the subject. It is football season and this is around the time teams realize it is battle or go home!

After the after party on november 5, 2008!

Fixin to be honest! I aint hatin. I am keepin it real. Before black folks get happy go lucky, there are some things we need to realize. Down here in the south, we still have to deal with Mr. Charlie and his goon squad jim crow. First, Mr.Charlie aint gon bees toos happy if we be hoppin round and hoopin n hollerin on lection day. Mr.Charlie is gonna be mad when he see us doing the running man up and down the streets. Mr.Charlie is gon do everythang he can to tarnish this. He has relied on his homeboy Willie Lynch for many years and now a change may be comin. I am voting for obama cause he is black. I hope this brotha gets in the white house and finally paints it black. Aretha Franklin get ready to sang your heart out baby! Ay, Bootsie, it's chocolate city, crank up the bass guitar. In reality, I have never liked authority or any form of government. I only conform in this society cause I have to in order to survive. In reality, I hate government, religious figures and those in authoritive positions. Yes, I do have issues! The purpose of government is to keep people deaf, dumb and blind to their underhanded dealings in washington and the world. I support non racist anarchists and their belief of overthrowning government. I use to be a socialist and I realized that any form of government is worthless. I have voted over the years out of respect for my grandparents and what their generation endured for me to get to where I am at. When Obama wins, people still need to hold back on making him their savior. Black folks don't need to place him so high cause he is still a human. He will be under pressure to do things to satisfy alot of people and that is gonna be impossible. It is an exciting time and a great moment in history. I know some of the ancestors will be sangin and givin each other high fives saying we made it and others will be happy but still embracing the notion that we still got a long way to go. We should be excited at the facts surrounding this election and whats about to go down. On the wigflip, I read alot about subversive organizations and I use to listen to groups like "Screw Driver" and "Hate Breed". Under the surface, these types of people have always existed and they don't like anybody. The after party I am talking about aint the same type they got in mind. As yall seen in the news recently about the skinhead plot, they see this a a way to start their race war. I am from a mountainous region of north georgia and there are militias and various types of groups. There are some black folks like my inner circle that took steps to protect ourselves if something ever went down years ago. Anyway, go Obama. He win, We in! I am callin in sick november 5 and I am leavin kool-aid packets in the water fountains at work on Monday. Fried chicken, murray's hair grease and watermelon for everybody! It's a celebration.

Breast Cancer Day @ my job!

I will be wearing a pink ribbon on thursday for my Aunt Sammie. She lives in Chicago and has been battling this disease like a warrior for years. I pray for my aunt and all people affected by this illness. I know she gon make and she gon be just fine. I know it! We are a strong, close knit family and we got her back. I also have a co-worker who was given the all clear sign recently and she doesn't have to take chemo anymore. I always thought pink was a girlie color. For this occassion, I was gon rock a pink jumpsuit but realized that wouldn't be a good PR move with the possible future wifey prospects in this day and age. I aint tryin to go out like Cameron did with the pink land rover, the pink fur and the big ass pink earrings he use to rock. I will have my ribbon on my shirt and my Aunt Sammie in my mind and heart. Yall stay jazzy!

ART FUSION @WOODRUFF ARTS CENTER this past saturday/10-18-08

This event was put on by good brotha Jason Orr, founder of the Funk Jazz Kafe. I came out to this event and really enjoyed seeing old friends and showing off the new Jody Harris. Everybody was surprised and it felt good getting compliments about my weight loss. I got pictures with alot of good folks and got some more coming.

Art Fusion@ The woodruff arts center and my connection!

It is going down this saturday. I went to ACA from fall 1994-1999. I had a chance to meet and hang out with some good people like netifa, chaka aka I Self Devine, fahamou, eric mack, eric hudson, juan, j-dogg, angelbear, will canty, chelle, Joe wheeler, chelle #2(the one that went with will), anika, angela, stephanie, mike jones, terrence, cx, Ryan newman, caleb scott, kagan, obie, born, melanie, larry larr from jersey, andre moore, brian and napeleon, eugene byrd, Dre aka the wal-mart pimp from college park, kevin sipp, honey goode, frankie skates, ash puu(will), del, charles, leo, derek, nique, kish barrington(R.I.P.) and many more cool people. I use to let eric mack shape up my afro back then and we listened to diamond d's first album like 20 times. I also use to smoke some good weed with some of these cats over at the A.U.C. during the zulu nation meetings.

ON THIS SATURDAY, IT IS GOING DOWN AT THE WOODRUFF ARTS CENTER. IT IS ART FUSION. IT WILL HAVE A WHOLE LOT OF THINGS GOING ON SIMILAR TO THE FUNKJAZZ KAFE. DJ AND SOUL BROTHA TABONE ALONG WITH OTHERS WILL BE THERE AND THERE IS A 500 POETRY SLAM CONTEST, 6 LIVE ARTISTS CREATING ON THE SPOT, A VENDORS AREA AND MUCH MORE. THIS EVENT IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. YALL PLEASE COME OUT.
ALL ATLANTA COLLEGE OF ART MASIVE WHO ATTENDED ACA DURING THE GOLDEN AGE SHOULD COME OUT AND THINK BACK TO OUR DAYS FROM FALL 1994-1999. R.I.P. TO GOOD BROTHA "KISH BARRINGTON".
IT IS GOING DOWN THIS SATURDAY AT THE WOODRUFF ARTS CENTER FROM 8PM-2AM.
THERE WILL BE FREE HUGS FOR ALL SINGLE LADIES WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!

Active H.O.P.E./Downtown Dalton Market

H.O.P.E. stands for Helping Others Propel & Excel. We are active in our community. Part it together and you get Active H.O.P.E. I am currently the president of the organization. We will be setting up this weekend as part of the market festival selling hotdogs, chips and icees to raise money for our upcoming events such as The Feed The Hungry drive, Kids Claus Project and Barack the Vote drive to the polls event on November 4. We are a group of young folks trying to make a change in our hood and the community starting with the kids. We have had various events and gatherings to help with the cause. On this saturday, if possible, come out to downtown dalton on saturday from 10am-4pm and enjoy yo self. I will also be showcasing some new abstract work and a portion of the proceeds from my art sales goes towards Active H.O.P.E. We got some big things coming up the next 6 months. Yall stay jazzy!

Weekend events/The Happs

Today is my little sister's birthday, my grandmother's birthday and my cousin Mika's birthday. I wish them all a happy earthday and pray the most high continues to allow them to celebrate many, many more. This morning, the H.O.P.E. group set up at the downtown dalton festival. We sold corn in a cup, hotdogs,chips and icees. I also set up some of my art and sold a few pieces. Also, the Concerned Citizens Group set up and sold rib plates and they did pretty durn good. It started out cool and then the sun came out and baked us all slowly. The next Downtown Dalton Festival is Sept 27,2008 from 10am-3pm and we will be setting up again. I was amazed at the response I got from my work because Dalton is a backwards town and I don't trust anyone or depend on anyone for shit. I truly expected to get the usual bullshit. I got some but majority of the people who stopped by my booth were positive especially the people that bought art or food. While we were posted up, there were alot of honeys and big apple bottoms of all shades and races walkin around. I wanted to attend FSO(For Sistas Only) this year but had other obligations. I made some money and H.O.P.E. made some money so that is good and it was worth it. Now I am gettin ready for gametime at 8pm. My ohio state buckeyes do battle with the usc trojans. It is crazy cause I couldn't find anybody to bet with on this game. Maybe I should move to Las Vegas. On the wigflip, I have ran into a couple of gurls I went to high school with and haven't seen in 13 or 14 years. Please excuse my french for this next statement but I think like a man. They all looked great but are married with kids and one in particular has thickened out nicely with a bunch of junk in the trunk. It is crazy cause in high school, she was flat as an ironing board with absolutely nothing now she got a whole bunch of BASS. I have been working on expressing myself more verbally and this blog has been a great place to help with that. I can get it all out!

Musiq Soulchild @ The Tabernacle tonight!

Musiq SoulChild will be gettin down this evening at the Tabernacle in the A.T.L. I had a chance to see Musiq awhile back at the Roxy in buckhead. This was back around the second album when he did this particular show. It was a free show and took to long for him to get on stage. The opening act was forgettable. But some time has passed and I think Musiq is gonna throw down tonight.

H.O.P.E. GROUP/DOWNTOWN FESTIVAL/Sept.13,2008

THE H.O.P.E.(Helping Others Propel & Excel) Group
On Saturday Sept.13,2008 from 10am-4pm, the HOPE group will be setting up a booth at the downtown festival in lovely, small Dalton,GA. The HOPE GROUP is a non profit organization that puts on events to better the community. We will be selling goods to raise money for some of our upcoming events this fall. The group is made up of honest folks with good souls like Erica Pender, Tyree Goodlett, Keith Johnson and myself. We got together about a year ago and decided we wanted to do something positive for our community and surrounding areas. So far, we have had successful events and gatherings like the pre-MLK talent showcase, the kidz Claus project, the feed the hungry program, a toy drive, a back to school supply drive, a voter registration drive, a community health and job fair, a touch of jazz event and much more. We also took it upon ourselves to bring back the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Talent Show and it was a big success this past January. We packed the place out and can't wait til next year. We are 4 young people trying to make a change. It has been hard cause sometimes our own people have fronted on us but we have kept on pushin. We will continue to keep pushin forward. On september 13, 2008 at the downtown festival, we will be kicking off our fall with these booth set ups selling food and art to fund some of our upcoming events. I ask that yall come out and show some love or just join our volunteer list. We are looking for volunteers to help drive people to the polls on voting day if they need a ride. We aint in this for the fame or a pat on the back, we are doing this because somebody from our generation has to step up and take our turn at bat. In the words of a great black scholar, "knowing forces us to act". Knowing that we need to promote change in the hood has forced us to act. Yall be easy. PEACE!

A New Start

This coming monday, I will be officially starting a new job. It is a state job and the pay is alright. When I applied for the job, the pay listed was what I really wanted. I discovered that the pay grade I am starting out at is towards the bottom and I have to work my way up to top pay. It was sorta a bummer but I am thankful I got the job and working in a different field. I had been working at temp agencies and doing some teaching on the side while doing my art thang. Now I can relax alittle bit and focus on this current job and making it stable. I had made some big plans with the pay I thought I was gonna get. I was gonna move into this loft and get me a 300. I already went and picked it out. I toured the loft and went and looked at some new furniture. I figured since I am a single man with no kids I can do this since I only have me to worry about. I also went and checked out some flat screens since college football starts in 2 weeks. But, I gotta put some of that stuff on hold until I settle into this new job. My cousin opened her hair salon in union city and it is fly. She wants to get some of my salon art and sculptures to put in her salon. My cousin bought 10 pieces of art from me last November and told a bunch of her clients. The name of her salon is Naturally Gifted Hair Salon and it is located in union city across the street from Pep Boys off in the cut. Yall stop by and check her out and please support black owned businesses. Back to the subject, I am thankful for this job, the income and the stability. I am still gonna work on moving back to atlanta within the next 6-8 months. I've did my time in dalton and gotten over my divorce. Now I am recharged, reborn and ready to get back in the loop in atlanta. Oh snap, college football season is 2 weeks away. I may have to quit this job if it messes with the season. During the months of late august to bowl season in january, I am a college football junkie. I have been known to ice grill folks down who distrub me when a game is on especially if it is my OHIO STATE BUCKEYES. Yall stay tuned!

Batman

This is a picture I took of the original batman car. I was chillin at the sweet auburn festival may of 2007 and walked past this jewel. The owner wouldn't let anyone sit in the car. The latest batman movie has broken records at the box office. The sweet auburn festival is a big event that happens every year. It is cool because there is good food, entertainment and some of the world's most beautiful women on display. Yall need to check it out sometime. Shout out to the Royal Peacock and Pal's Lounge.