Artists (L-R) Ron Wimberly, Kevin Earley, Leon Reid IV, Brian Polite, Reggie Ross, Ollie Seeley and Patrick Seeley at the Opening of Leon Reid IV’s show in Greenpoint, Brooklyn

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of attending my friend Leon Reid IV’s solo show in Brooklyn, New York.  I met Leon at Pratt Institute that I attended around the turn of the century.  Unfortunately, Leon’s show was only scheduled to run for two days, and is now over.

I had to opportunity to not only meet with Leon, but several of my comrades from my days at Pratt, whom I have been friends with for almost thirty years!  I think about all the things that happen in thirty years, from relationships, to children, to wars, political administrations, social movements, et cetera…

To see an artist not only continue their craft, but excel and make a living off of it was a wonderful delight.

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This past Wednesday, I was lucky enough to be able to catch an advance screening of NO ONE CARES ABOUT CRAZY PEOPLE, a new documentary film based on the book by the same name by Ron Powers.

This movie is not for the faint of heart.  It depicts several people living with some of the most severe mental illnesses, people like Mark Rippee, who lived on the streets with schizophrenia and was legally blind after a traumatic brain injury; Miles Hall, a young man who was shot to death by police while undergoing a psychotic episode; and Kevin Powers, who ended up killing himself after his bouts with depression: as well as a slew of other people affected by SMI.

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Jesus Christ Crucifixion on Good Friday Silhouette

Today is Good Friday.

It is a day Christians traditionally commemorate the crucifixion of Christ.  A most violent way to kill someone, it is brutal and the root of the word “excruciating”.  I am releasing a new single from an album today, and that single is about the history of lynching in America.  It was a cosmic coincidence that I released the single today, I didn’t realize the connection to Good Friday with the song until I saw that April 3^rd was actually Good Friday earlier this week.

So I want to talk about lynching today, because I draw a direct connection to lynching and crucifixion.  I have a voice, I am going to use it.  This is a really heavy song, I am not going to lie.

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My grandfather was a proud Irish man.  He had two framed pictures in his office, one said, “If the majority were right, the majority would be rich” and the other said “Irish need not apply”.  The latter one was from a bygone time, when Irish people were discriminated against after first coming to this country.

My first memories of my grandfather were when he visited when I was a child, and he gave me a coat.  Every day he was visiting, he told me to check my pocket.  I checked and magically, every day there was a quarter in the pocket.  My father kept up the charade for two weeks after my grandfather had left before he finally told me the coat wasn’t magical.  I must have been bleeding him dry, one quarter at a time!  Quarters add up!

I remember visiting him when he got older and went to live in my father’s house.  I would visit him every weekend and go to church with him and my grandmother.  A man of deep faith, he was a preacher, and it’s probably where my father and I’s public speaking skills originate.  The one heirloom I have of his is his bible, a weathered, old, earmarked and highlighted bible that has been meticulously poured over.  I keep it with my own bible given to me when I was 16, and a bible from my mother’s confirmation, right by my bedside.  Now my bible isn’t poured over, highlighted or earmarked, in fact it still looks new, depsite being 30 years old.  Everyday though, the first thing I do when I exit my bed, is put my right hand on the three bibles and thank God for another day.

I am writing all of this on St. Patrick’s Day, not only to honor my grandfather, but to tell the tale of the yearly email I used to get from him.  Now, he wasn’t the most proficient with computers, I recall several times having to assist him with his, but every year, around 6 or 7 am, I would, without fail, receive the same email from my grandfather, the yearly email reminding me to wear green.  So of course I put my green on today, and I hope you are wearing some too, in honor of an Irish person you know and cherish.  I miss you, Elmer.

Look down on us and bless us.

Happy St, Patrick’s Day!!!~~~

2026, “The Year of the Flaming Horse”, by author

“War is over, if you want it”

-John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Recent news has been shocking. The current administration has launched a war that is very unpopular, killing innocent women and children (and men).  Even more unsettling, apparently the justification for this war is steeped in wild religious ideas about ushering in an Apocalypse, for the eventual return of Jesus, a man who supposedly was killed over two thousand years ago, but a large segment of people believe will return, to usher in 1,000 years of peace.  But first, according to the legend, we must kill huge populations of innocent civilians before he will come back.  Peace, achieved not by turning the other cheek, but through war.

No, this isn’t the plot of a sci-fi film, this is national news!!!  I don’t mean to offend those who are religious, I just don’t want your ideas anywhere near my government, please, keep them in your church!!!

This is insane rhetoric!!!  I know because I was hospitalized, rightfully so, for having similar delusions about the end times when I was psychotic.  I thought I was a prophet, I broke into a stranger’s house and destroyed some property because I thought the Apocalypse was about to happen.  My experience is written about in my father’s book.  The difference is, I was arrested, held accountable and brought to justice for my behavior.

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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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