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 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!

R.I.P. Rudy Ray Moore aka DOLEMITE

If you don't know who this man is then you are a sucka! And I will tell yo mama to her face that you are a sucka! Rudy Ray Moore is the human tornado aka petey wheatstraw the devil's son-in-law. He is one of the greats and his contributions will not be forgotten. Thank you Rudy Ray Moore for making us laugh and feel good.

NORMAN WHITFEILD(R.I.P. Brotha)

If you have heard of the Motown Sound, then you know who this brotha is. We have lost another great black contributor to the world. If you seen the movie about the Temptations then you know who this soul brotha is. Norman Whitfield, songwriter and producer who co-wrote a string of Motown classics including "War," "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," died. He was 67.
A spokeswoman at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center said Whitfield died there Tuesday. He suffered from complications of diabetes and had recently emerged from a coma, The Detroit Free Press reported.
The New York-born Whitfield was a longtime Motown producer who during the 1960s and '70s injected rock and psychedelic touches into the label's soul music.
Many of his biggest hits were co-written with Barrett Strong, with whom he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2004. He and Strong won the Grammy in 1972 for best R&B song for the Temptations' "Papa Was a Rolling Stone."
Many of Whitfield's songs from late '60s and early '70s have a strong political tone, including the Temptations' 1970 "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)," and Edwin Starr's 1970 "War."
In his only No. 1 hit, Starr sings in an anguished voice that war is "a heartbreaker, friend only to the undertaker. ... What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!" Whitfield produced as well as co-wrote the song.
Among Whitfield's other songs were "Cloud Nine," "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep" and "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)," all hits for the Temptations; and "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby," a 1969 hit for Marvin Gaye.
The group Undisputed Truth had a top five hit in 1971 with Whitfield and Strong's "Smiling Faces Sometimes."
Whitfield "was able to go beyond R&B cliches with punchy melodies and arrangements and topical lyrics," Joe McEwen and Jim Miller wrote in "The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll."
Whitfield won another Grammy in 1976 for best original TV or motion picture score for "Car Wash." The movie's theme song was a No. 1 hit for Rose Royce and a Golden Globe nominee for best original song.
In a statement, Motown great Smokey Robinson hailed Whitfield as "one of the most prolific songwriters and record producers of our time. He will live forever through his great music."
Just last week, Gaye's version of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," from 1968, was ranked at No. 65 in Billboard magazine's compilation of the top singles of the past 50 years.

THANK YOU NORMAN WHITFIELD AND WE WILL MISS YOU BROTHA!