Bucket Of Love
by Kenneth James
Title
Bucket Of Love
Artist
Kenneth James
Medium
Photograph - Rip - Art
Description
why would a Marine Corporal - 0311 focus on love?
death, that is why.
near death, that is why
the mass death of his brothers, that is why
the death of his countryMen&Women
i am a proponent of Black Lives Matter
i am a proponent of Blue Lives Matter
though i have been victimized in my life AFTER serving in the USMC
i learned early on - how our country had gained it's wealth, and how many got rich ON SLAVERY, the atrocious effects of SLAVERY and the racism THAT STILL EXISTS - SINCE SLAVERY,
am i radicalized, not really, not as much as i need to be - wish to be, ought to be. i can only be me though.
when i was a kid, my whole family - we had t.v. time sometimes nightly and especially on the weekends. one show we watched as a family was ROOTS - book - BY ALEX HALEY, turned into a t.v. series.
i was appalled ever since - and have been into civil rights ever since. Mainly, my being into civil rights is primarily being the best person of love and civility to all who i meet. well, i have been on skid row for over 10 years now and homeless many years before that.
That said, even though i am civil - i am worn out a lot and depressed when i am trying to save to get out of here... and for all these years - though i am walking in skid row... it is just depressing, we can talk about it another time.
the thing is - eventing i see against a Black People that still echo from the racism predating the civil war. i am a Brother, or a Brutha - hey, i know that we all evolved from Africa - that is what this baldilocs Polish person says often - especially when asked by racists if i am one of them... i also answer - i hate stupidity, sometimes i say i hate stupid people.
the thing is - i love civility, i love and would love to see all people living the most wonderful life they/we could live. that best life - is in civility, fairness, equality, life being precious, opportunity... etc. ...
this in part is why i became a UNITED STATES MARINE, for the equality of all, even though, when i was a boy - i was immersed and started to buy into the cultural norm about gay and fat people. i never learned anything of how to interact with people of these differences until a decade after joining the Corps.
what i did learn from childhood, living in the projects, was a lesson from my dad, after being beat up by a tall Black girl after being slammed to the ground by her racist big brother.
i was at my friends house - Bill Ridley - at that time he was a best friend. we hung out and a few times, we would go to his house where he introduced me to a real cool game. we tied one of our hands together, and a boxing glove on the other hand, and beat the shit out of each other, all i remember is that it was pretty fun.
one time, after hanging out at Bill's house, i had to go home, and ran home. i am just a little boy, did not really pay attention to staying out of other peoples yards, and never perceived threats from anybody. Also, after just having some fun boxing... i was elated and was not thinking about anything. So, i ran across a yard, in the projects of toledo ohio - around the streets of chase, N. Erie and Suder. We were by the Maumee.
Running from Bills house, i crossed across the grass where several people were talking. i ran past one person, then another, and another, and as i was running past the fourth person, i looked up at these eyes in the sky, and these long hands attached to long arms being held up by long legs of this tall man, reached down and snatched my little kid small body, picked me up over his head which seemed as high as the two-story apartments, and slammed me to the the ground, with a, stay outa my yard honkee! Amazingly, i sprung up from his attack and assault on me, got up, started running again, looked back and said something i had never said before... which was, f#^& U N... (first time i ever said the n-word, that n-word that is. i almost made it home, and was jumped cowgirl style. not that cowgirl style, i was only a child - maybe 8 or 9 ?
it was one of my childhood crushes, though she never knew, what little boy knows how to tell a girl he thinks she's cute. So, it was one of my boyhood crushes, Katie Holmes, is it not amazing how one can just go back decades and pull names out of memory like that. She was riding her girl bike, without that middle bar that used to be on boy bikes..., that's right, you remember, the ball buster (i have a story about that too-4later).
So Katie is almost on me, i was still running in the street, i was by the Goodman's house which was across to the Pratts house which was next to the Ball's house which was next to where i lived. i got up on the curb and grass before the sidewalk when Katie, my crush, jumped off her bike, tackled me, and beat my ass. Hey, not only where we kids, she may have been a bit older, certainly much taller and bigger than me, and got me with that bike speed forcing me to the ground, with a great tackle i may add.
So, my Dad, he asked me about it, because the Goodman's called him and told him what happened. My Dad, he took me to the front yard, and had a talk with me... in this beautiful garden front yard which was written up in the newspaper one time. He told me, i know you were attacked, and told me that i have to remember something. We were leaning on the Wood's fence, who lived next to us and the Harmillo's, he told me, Kenny, when someone does something to you, remember, it is not a People who do it to you, it is individuals. So don't hate a people, if you hate anybody, hate the person or persons who do you wrong.
This too, has been a saying that wrung true with my soul, and so has been my soul ever since.
so, i have to say, my soul is disturbed, and has been way before our Brother George Floyd. i have been understanding this world i live in since i was a child, and i have love for my Black Brothers and Sisters, for my family who is Brown, and Native Americans, and Asians, and Eastern Indians and the Eastern Countries, Muslims, Buddhists, Atheists & Agnostics, Christians and Gay & Straight ... any people being more civil on their spiritual journey.
i call - understanding and embracing the diversified culturally & ethnic peoples of the world - graduating... from unacceptable disdain of something one don't know anything about to graduating to loving all people (who are civil) and even being lovable to those who are not (when possible).
i will tell you more when i write a book - oh, and more about the art piece later
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June 1st, 2020
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