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“Big Kev” from the Group Home

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Drawing of the author pushing shopping carts at his former job.

 

“See, I make moves and tell what’s the truth
That’s why I’m here, to be living proof…”

-Melachi the Nutcracker, “Livin’ Proof”, 1995

GROUP HOME

I first became aware of the concept of a “group home” when I bought an album by a rap group that called themselves GROUP HOME as a teenager.  The name of the album is “LIVIN’ PROOF”.  It remains one of my favorite musical albums of any genre.  Little did I know that one day I would live in a group home.

The story goes that one of the teenage members of the group was facing criminal charges, and the group’s producer, DJ Premier, begged a judge to let him work on an album, even though the young man wasn’t really a musician at the time.  The judge relented, and the young man known as Melachi the Nutcracker became a musician, as he rose to the occasion and avoided the jail time he was facing, and penned his rhymes that have captivated me ever since.

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Mutuality, Burning Houses, and Marches

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(drawing of MLK Jr by the Author)

 

“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

  • Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

LOUD VOLUME

A lot is going on these days.  Recent events in Minnesota have seemed to raise the volume on an already loud conversation.  Today is a general labor strike against these abhorrent actions of ICE officials.  Being snowed in, which usually gives us time to rest, refresh, and recalibrate, has only seemed to give us more time to ponder the injustices that have been occurring for a while now.  People are protesting, boycotting, and marching against injustICE.  Again.  In the month where typically we honor Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday and the federal holiday associated with it, things are happening.

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Ye’s Apology- Sincere or marketing ploy?

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“I hate being bi-polar, it’s awesome”

-Ye

There is a moment in the 2022 Kanye West documentary, “Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye West Trilogy” that struck me personally very hard.  Kanye, or “Ye” as he prefers to be addressed now, was surrounded by some of his close advisors and inner circle.  He was clearly in the midst of a psychotic break, a manic phase punctuated by lucid, unrestrained thoughts and rambling word salad.  I am very personally familiar with that experience, as documented in my father’s work.

The moment that stood out to me, was when he looked at his entourage and told them that none of them knew what it was like to be arrested, handcuffed, and taken from his home due to his illness.  How I wish I was there!!!  Perhaps, as I do with my peer work, I could have averted the various crises that happened since that moment!!!  I know what that experience is like, because it happened to me.  How I wish I could have normalized his experience and consoled him during this fragile time.

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“DEAR JOHN”

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“His soul goes marching on…”

-“John Brown’s Body”, American Folk Song

HI, HOW ARE YOU?

Today is the musician and artist Daniel Johnston’s birthday and the official day for the “Hi, How Are You?” Project!  My father has written about Daniel before in his blog, Daniel is a person who lived with serious mental illness and was also a huge influence on myself and my own artwork and music.  I was lucky enough to see him in person, before he died on September 11th, 2019.

I am taking over the blog on this website from my father, who wrote about our struggles with serious mental illness in his book, CRAZY, which many of you are familiar.  My name is Kevin “Earthday Earleybird” Earley, and despite living with serious mental illness, which I take medication for daily, I am a musician and artist in my own right.

During the day, I work as a peer support specialist for Arlington County, Virginia, and music is something I do in my spare time.  My story was also recently told in the Ken Burns’ produced documentary, HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT – Youth Mental Illness, for which my involvement, (In addition to personal testimony interviews, I created artwork, music and lyrics for the film) I was invited to the White House.

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