Aberjhani’s Comments (group member since Jun 13, 2014)

Aberjhani’s comments from the Q&A with Aberjhani group.

From GdeScholar: “Since the first edition of your Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance had its 10th anniversary last year, do you plan on releasing a special edition sometime in the next few years in observation of the 100th anniversary of the renaissance?


I like the idea of that a lot but so far, to be honest with you, it hasn’t received the kind of support you might think it would. If I don’t do something with the encyclopedia itself, then I wouldn’t mind doing a completely different book altogether but related to the Harlem Renaissance.

That’s kind of what prompted the creation of the 100th Anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance initiative. It’s about properly recognizing the centennial with new publications, staged dramatizations, films, symposiums, and other events. And instead of trying to squeeze all of that into a single year, we should probably look at planning for a decade of events just because so many seminal moments occurred over a wide period of time. You can check out more about the 100th Anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance initiative at the website: http://www.100th-anniversary-of-the-h...

From Dedicato Samuel: “What exactly is guerrilla decontextualization, why does it matter, and how did you come up with the concept?”


Guerrilla decontextualization is the practice of taking fragments of media or informational facts out of their original context and using them to misrepresent a person, an organization, or even a movement. The resulting impact for all intended purposes, or even non-intended purposes, distorts public and private perception in such a way that it basically destroys the original understanding of the subject and promotes a lesser understanding meant to diminish any power of influence exercised by the original. This can happen on a conscious or unconscious level and it can cause a lot of chaos, including the destruction of human life.

I first began developing the concept as the U.S. presidential race picked up steam in 2008. I noticed the way some media reps and individuals just beginning to discover the power of social media were taking sound bytes out of recordings, or clips out of videos, and presenting them to the American public as though these excerpts told the whole story about what had been going on. I saw this turning into a very disturbing trend with negative consequences that people practicing guerrilla decontextualization did not seem to be aware of. So, to date, I’ve written about a dozen articles that discuss the subject while also continuing to develop the concept and identify its implications as a whole for eventual publication in book form. A number of other writers and translators in the international community have started doing the same.

HomeDawg AskN: “You were born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, and there are some important books dealing with the city that have your name associated with them as an author or an editor. But you’ve never been one of the headline authors at the annual Savannah Book Festival. Is there any special reason for that?”


I’m going to have to say there are 2 answers to that question and I’m not sure which is the more applicable but it’s like this—I have not been as publicly active as I once was because I’ve had to balance some very demanding life concerns with actual literary productivity, research, and other professional pursuits. I envy those authors who seem able to juggle time- and energy-absorbing issues with the production of quality writing and then show up smiling and chatting at book festivals. It takes me a while to shift gears and modes.

But there is also the fact that I have never been invited to headline the festival you’re talking about. I don’t know too many Savannah-born authors who have been.

From RmnPoet --“You used to post poetry regularly on Creative Thinkers International, Red Room and Authors Den but for the past few years you posted more essays and journalism online than anything else. Why did you stop posting poetry and do you plan on going back to posting it any time soon?”


I don’t post as much original poetry as I once did mainly because of the reasons you just gave. I already have enough online to make 2 or 3 books. I have preferred to share newer poems as parts of articles or essays like “Sensualized Transcendence: Editorial and Poem on the Art of Jaanika Talts” or “Nuclear Snow in Japanese Springtime Editorial with Poem” because those formats helped highlight the poetry’s’ relevance to the subjects or events described. It also plays into my passion for “bending and blending genres” as some have put it.

But just because I haven’t been posting a lot of poetry doesn’t mean I haven’t been writing it. I’m working on a full-length book of sequential narrative poems that I’m pretty excited about because it’s not like anything I’ve ever done before. A couple of the poems have been tagged for publication in a forthcoming anthology but I probably shouldn’t say any more about that until the publisher gives the go-ahead.

“Why haven’t you published a second novel yet and why is it so hard to find your first one in a bookstore?” – from Neo-Fight


For me, writing a novel is a long-term process and my life has been filled with a lot of short-term and long-term obligations which make that process very challenging to complete. It took me 8 years of working off and on to write Christmas When Music Almost Killed the World. I think most serious novelists would agree that unless you’re in a financial and social position to give your writing your full attention on a daily basis, it takes a significant amount of time to get it done properly. Alice Walker once said that she allotted a time-frame of 5 years for a novel. Having said all that, this doesn’t mean I haven’t been collecting notes and working on outlines for another novel or 2.

As for the availability of Christmas When Music Almost Killed the World in bookstores, hard-copy distribution for the title was very limited so it’s mostly available for ordering online through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other outlets.

"You did an interview with author Vanessa Richardson 5 years ago where you said you planned to publish a volume of collected poems called Collected Visions of a Skylark Dressed in Black. Cover art for a book with that title has been on the internet for a couple of years but there’s no book listed for ordering anywhere. Is it still going to get published? The interview is still online. url http://thecertainones.blogspot.com/20... "
--from Vincetti M.


I hope it still gets published but so far proposals have not drawn the interest of any publisher I would like to see put it out there. It’s the kind of book that deserves the full traditional publishing process to help promote it, place it in libraries, and get it in schools. If that doesn’t happen, I may consider alternatives. I'm very glad though that we were able to publish the first U.S. edition of the original Visions of a Skylark Dressed in Black.

Thanks for reminding me about that interview with the talented Vanessa Richardson. Interesting to step back 5 years in the past to see what I was doing then and compare it to where I am now. Curiously enough, the idea of a compilation like Journey through the Power of the Rainbow Quotations from a Life Made Out of Poetry was nowhere near the radar at that time.

“Why is James Baldwin the only African-American author that you have a Pinterest board for?”--from “Pinterest Pal” through my Bright Skylark website.

If I could afford the time I would probably have dozens of boards set up for many authors, musicians, and artists––African-American and otherwise–– that I admire. The Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance board actually acknowledges many African-American authors of the period.

I requested (and also worked on) the board for James Baldwin because cultural arts organizations in New York and around the country have declared this “The Year of James Baldwin” in honor of his 90th birthday. I wanted the board to show my support for that initiative because it is extremely rare that you see an African-American male author receive that kind of recognition. In fact, I believe this is a first. The closest I’m aware of that we have come to doing so previously was the recognition in 2003 of the centennial for the publication of Souls of Black by W.E.B. Du Bois. My publication of my own book The Wisdom of W.E.B. Du Bois was part of that celebration. I can’t knock out an entire book in time for “The Year of James Baldwin” festivities but I could do the Pinterest board (yes, with a little help) and I hope to publish an essay in honor of it as well.

Those who would like to can check the board out here:
http://www.pinterest.com/aaberjhani/2...

Aberjhani

This is from the very kind Mr. & Ms. J. Wisdom, whom I refer to as J-Wise, and who have been kind enough to include me among the individuals they sometimes blog about in a manner that is not too painful:

“What do you consider yourself to be the most when it comes to writing: a poet or a fiction and nonfiction prose writer?”

I started out writing with the idea that I wanted to be a “literary artist” because that’s what I considered many of my favorite authors to be. Maya Angelou, Margaret Walker, Henry Dumas, Amiri Baraka, Jean Paul Sartre, Khalil Gibran, and quite a few others produced important works in different genres. Some of them were what I call genre-benders, or genre-blenders, because they sometimes blurred the lines between prose and poetry, or between a novel and a play. They employed specific literary formats to make specific statements and that seemed to me like a very powerful thing to do. At this point, however, I mostly think of myself as an all-around author who continues to study his craft while writing as much as I can as well as I can.

Thank you Tech Angels for helping me retrace my own steps and track these down again.

This is in response to the query from poet-author Diann Blakely in regard to my works about Michael Jackson:

I’ve been writing about the King of Pop at varying intervals since his death in 2009. Quotes from those works (and from the larger body of my writings) have just been published in Journey through the Power of the Rainbow Quotations from a Life Made Out of Poetry, and two poems on Jackson are included in The River of Winged Dreams. As much as I like the idea of publishing an entire book on Michael Jackson, I would only attempt to do so if the book contributes something meaningful to the growing body of studies about his life and musical legacy. In the meantime, the following are links in descending chronological order to what I have produced and published so far:

1. Text and Meaning in Michael Jackson’s Xscape Parts 1 – 5 (June 2014)

http://www.examiner.com/article/text-...
http://www.examiner.com/article/text-...
http://www.examiner.com/article/text-...
http://www.examiner.com/article/text-...
http://www.examiner.com/review/text-a...

2. Guerrilla Decontextualization and the King of Pop (22 Aug 2012)

http://www.guerrilla-decontextualizat...

3. Summer-Song Rhapsody for Michael Jackson: Editorial with Poem (19 Aug 2012)

http://www.examiner.com/article/summe...


4. Looking at the World Through Michael Jackson’s Left Eye Parts 1- 4 (26 August 2011)
http://www.examiner.com/african-ameri...
http://www.examiner.com/article/looki...
http://www.examiner.com/article/looki...
http://www.examiner.com/article/looki...



5. Michael Jackson and Summertime from this Point On Parts 1- 2 (29 August 2010)
http://www.examiner.com/article/micha...
http://www.examiner.com/article/micha...

6. Official Michael Jackson Opus Published Parts 1 – 2 (7 December 2009)

http://www.examiner.com/article/offic...
http://www.examiner.com/article/offic...

7. Work and Soul in Michael Jackson’s THIS IS IT Parts 1 – 4 (November 2009)
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-16...
http://www.examiner.com/x-16968-Afric...
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-16...
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-16...


8. The World Lets Go While Holding on to Michael Jackson (6 September 2009)

http://www.examiner.com/x-16968-Afric...
http://www.examiner.com/article/the-w...

9. A Moonwalking Giant Lies Down to Rest Parts 1 – 2 (4 September 2009)

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-16...
http://www.examiner.com/article/micha...

10. Michael Jackson: Legacies of a Globetrotting Moonwalking Philanthropist Parts 1 – 2 (24 August 2009)
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-16...
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-16...

11. Notes for an Elegy 1in the Key of Michael 1 & 2 (August 2009)
http://www.redroom.com/blog/aberjhani...
http://www.redroom.com/blog/aberjhani...

12. To Walk a Lifetime in Michael Jackson’s Moccasins (26 June 2009)
http://www.redroom.com/blog/aberjhani...

Aberjhani

You are welcome very much Richard. The giveaway was limited to the U.S., Hong Kong, and Argentina, so a few additional copies went out to other areas.

Hello Brilliant Friend Diann--

Thank you for asking about my writings on Michael Jackson. At present they're a bit all over the place. I keep saying I'm going to stop publishing individual pieces online and wait until I complete a book before doing anything but a weird Michael-energy compulsion seems to strike every year and I do something anyway. The only material in book form at present is the quotation chapter in Journey through the Power of the Rainbow Quotations from a Life Made Out of Poetry.

I'm currently in the middle of posting a 5-part series titled "Text and Meaning in Michael Jackson's Xscape." We're only up to part 3 but so far it seems to have already been translated into a couple of different languages. What can one say? Both the anniversary of his death and his birthday are coming up. At any rate, these are links to the three parts published thus far and I will compile an updated reference containing all my essays, articles, and poems on MJ. But these are the links to the current series:

http://www.examiner.com/article/text-...

http://www.examiner.com/article/text-...

http://www.examiner.com/article/text-...

Aberjhani

Hello Friends--
My Generation Z Tech Angels are very patiently walking me through the process of setting up the group page for the Q&A session scheduled to take place from the end of the month until July 3. Slowly but surely it's coming together.