Friday, January 05, 2007

Read About Oprah's New School in Africa


Ninth Radical Progressive Carnival--Hosted by VeganKid

Vegankid has done an incredible job with the new edition of the Radical Progressive Carnival. Everyone should take a look.

Not Ready to Make Nice

The Dixie Chicks

Forgive, sounds good.
Forget, I'm not sure I could.
They say time heals everything,But I'm still waiting
I'm through, with doubt,There's nothing left for me to figure out,
I've paid a price, and i'll keep paying
I'm not ready to make nice,I'm not ready to back down,
I'm still mad as hell
And I don't have time
To go round and round and round
It's too late to make it right
I probably wouldn't if I could
Cause I'm mad as hell
Can't bring myself to do what it is
You think I shouldI know you said
Why can't you just get over it,It turned my whole world around
and i kind of like it
I made by bed, and I sleep like a baby,With no regrets and I don't mind saying,It's a sad sad story
That a mother will teach her daughter
that she ought to hate a perfect stranger.And how in the world
Can the words that I said
Send somebody so over the edge
That they'd write me a letter
Saying that I better shut up and sing
Or my life will be over
I'm not ready to make nice,I'm not ready to back down,
I'm still mad as hell
And I don't have time
To go round and round and round
It's too late to make it right
I probably wouldn't if I could
Cause I'm mad as hell
Can't bring myself to do what it is
You think I should
I'm not ready to make nice,I'm not ready to back down,
I'm still mad as hell
And I don't have time
To go round and round and round
It's too late to make it right
I probably wouldn't if I could
Cause I'm mad as hell
Can't bring myself to do what it is
You think I should
Forgive, sounds good.
Forget, I'm not sure I could.
They say time heals everything,
But I'm still waiting

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Fess Goodson

Macaulay Ware Goodson in an intriguing character.He died in the early 70s before I was born. He was one of the middle children of Morgan Goodson and Mattie Roper, born right before my great grandmother Sadie Mae. An educated man, he was served as a principal in Autauga County for more than fifty years. He, Fess MacDavid, my Aunt Earnestine, and Cousin Madeira were the Black principals present in Autauga county. Fess never married and it is said that he was a homosexual. However, my mother disputes this. I would definitely like to learn more and find out more about him. He sounds quite intriguing. He gave himself the middle name Ware and lived in the home of his parents for most of his life as I am told. He ran the Goodson estate until his death at which point the responsibility was given to Uncle Lawrence.

I am SOO In Love with the French!!

The French are about to pass a measure that gives everyone a right to housing!! God Bless the French!!

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

I just watched a very touching film called The Winter Guest with Emma Thompson.
I want to write a post, and I am not sure if I will complete it now, about my uncle Fess Goodson. Something that was just recently told to me which came as a revelation was the nature of his relationship with Aunt Pauline. Pauline, my grandmother's first cousin, was the daughter of Ethel Goodson, Macaulay's sister(Fess Goodson= Macaulay Ware Goodson). I often wondered why it was that he sent her to school and left her most of his estate--in terms of singling her out as opposed to his other host of nieces and nephews. The reason, which came as a revelation lies in this explanation. Fess never married and stayed in the home of his parents for most of his life. Ethel, divorced her husband soon after Aunt Pauline was born and moved back into Morgan and Mattie Goodson's home. Aunt Pauline grew up in the household with Aunt Ethel and Fess. He made it his reponsibility to send her to school(he paid for both her undergraduate and for her master's degree) and then left provisions for her in his will. I also reckon that the fact that he was present is also the reason why he ran the Goodson estate as opposed to any of the other brothers and sisters. After his death, Uncle Lawrence took over the estate.
The other day, the day before New Years actually, I found myself thinking about Cousin Maderia for some reason. Cousin Maderia was always good to me, at Christmas time she would give each of us a very pretty bank envelope with five dollars in it. It was a sweet gesture. She and Aunt Earnestine were the two Black female principles in Autauga County. It is something to think about the dynamics of their presence in the Autauga County at the time.