Lateef's thoughts

New poem

2012-01-06T14:54:00.000-08:00

Here is a new poem I just wrote:

NDAA

Don’t get it twisted
I’m a terrorist
I am someone to be feared
to be avoided
flee from me
when you face me
in the dark alleyways
at midnight
 Yes please run from this crippled terrorist
Who puts thoughts in your head
Too awful to pronounce
like “What if I got around in a wheelchair like he does?”
or “What if I relied on an iPad to speak?”
“Heavens forbid if I drooled a little in public”

How dare I terrorize you
tonight in this club
you see me gig in the club
but this sight makes you uneasy
because I could get hurt
from the massing bodies around me

because really
isn’t there a place for me
in some nursing home
where I will be supervised 24/7
being fed industrial lime green jello
until I die

isn’t this what all terrorist deserved
to be locked away from public view
where we cannot harm or interact with
the innocent populace
so what if a prisoner from Guantanamo Bay gets water boarded
so what if a person in a nursing home gets to shower once a month
it is what we deserve

we should be locked away forever
without charge or trial
we with broken and proud bodies
that hold our heads high
so you can be safe
in the dark alleyways
at midnight
Lock us up
the other boogiemen
the black criminal
the illegal immigrant
the Muslim extremist
fill your jails and institutions
with our brown and black bodies
and force feed us that industrial jello
until we puke up that green sloppy mess

Even in our peaceful protest
you see danger
because if we prop up a tent in a park
in defiance
of our
stolen homes
stolen jobs
stolen wages
you send in the cops
to beat our heads with billy clubs
spray our eyes with mace
strangle our wrists with cuffs
because behind bars
you can’t hear our cries

You have to feel safe
from us
because see if we started to converse
you might not see me as a terrorist
you might just see me as a man
who is a son
a brother
a friend
a lover
and that’s dangerous
because our society
counts on locking up
our sons
brothers
friends
lovers
to survive

So the next time
you see me
think is your patriotic duty
to clutch your purse
to walk the other way
when walking down the dark alleyway
at midnight
because I told you
I’m a terrorist

Occupy Oakland

2011-10-26T17:50:00.000-07:00

On September 29th there was the demonstration of the Occupy Wall Street in San Francisco (http://my.calendars.net/occupyfdsf), which is solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street in New York (https://occupywallst.org/) that has been going on for thirty-for days now, where a mass of people are in the financial district to protest financial injustices that are going on in this country. The Occupy Wall Street Protests in New York City has inspired similar protests all over this country and all over the world. You can read more about the protest on the 29th here: (http://huff.to/sfwall). This demonstration is a vehicle for people to vent their frustrations about their communities and their own financial plight. I was able to interview one of my friends who stated that the crowd was a mixed group in terms of all kinds of ethnicities and an age range from twenty to seventy. The protesters had similar goals of raising awareness in this country of the inequality of our tax system and the unchecked political and economical power of this country’s financial institutions. Now is the time for the disability community to get on board with this protest, especially since the policies that these financial institutions are promoting has the potential to drastically harm people with disabilities. My friend said she did not see people with visible disabilities at the protest so we have to change that. The protests at San Francisco and Oakland are easily accessible by BART.
I had the opportunity to visit the Occupy Wall Street site (when it was still there) next to City Hall in Oakland when it was first constructed on Monday, October 10th, 2011. When I got there hundreds of people were milling around the Oscar Grant Plaza conversing with each other. Many people had signs that expressed the dissatisfaction they had with the financial institutions and the bank bailouts. There were no tents set up at the site yet, but there was a feeling that the people had reclaimed that ground for real public use. I was also able to visit the site on Monday, October 24th, a day before the horrendous police crackdown, and they constructed an intricate community on the site. Even though police have now dismantled the site, supporters of Occupy Oakland will meet at Oscar Grant Plaza 6 p.m. every day.
Everyone knows that financial institutions, banks and stock brokerage companies that are the main cause behind the economic recession we are now in. It should also be clear that low-income people with disabilities are taken the brunt of the governmental policies that are in reaction to this global recession. As a result, we as people with disabilities have a vested interest in participating in these protests going around the country. We can choose to divest our money from big banks and then invest in small banks and credit unions. We can also boycott corporations that unduly take advantage of us. To find out more information on investing in small banks and credit unions go to www.moveyourmoneyproject.org. Also for more information about Occupy Wall Street go to occupysf.com, michaelmoore.com, democracynow.org, or kpfa.org. We should be supporting these protestors in their cause because it is ultimately our cause as well.

My book is on Kindle

2011-10-04T17:11:00.000-07:00

I just want to let people know that my poetry book is on Kindle. You can purchase a copy at this link: http://amzn.to/bodylovekindle. Also here is a poem I recently wrote. Comment back on what you think about it.

A Smile for Strange Fruit

What about his lifeless body
that made you smile
Was it his big, dark head
that drooped on his prison garbed chest
that gave you comfort
or was it his once firm, dark hands
swaying weightlessly
attached to arms dangling from the metal table
that put a grin on your face
Or was it the way he apologized
For the loss your father, brother, son
But still proclaimed his innocence
Still looked you in your eye and said
“I am not the one”
but still you smiled
as they strapped him on the table
and stuck that lethal injection in his vein

Or was it the fact that other people believed him
like those pesky protesters outside the prison
and the Pope
and the NAACP President
and thousand of people world wide
that wanted to halt this process
make sure you had the right guy

Or was it the fact that this process had been halted
three or four times before
with most of the witnesses recanting their story
and the two who didn’t, well...
One is dead
and the other
is suspected as the one who shot your family member
but this does not phrase you
you know you got the right guy

So what if all the evidence against him is shaky as best
you got the whole Georgian police force behind you
this will set precedent
you cannot one of them shoot of police
it will set an example
much like when one of them
stole a hen seventy years ago
a tree will soon have a strange hanging fruit

People will cry out for injustice
especially his family
because they too lost
a father, brother, son
but you will still smile
for you know
justice will be like always
in the good old South

BORP Bike Revolution this weekend.

2011-09-22T11:40:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends and Family,

In less than two days I am bike riding ten miles to support my favorite disabled sports program, Bay Area Outreach and Recreational Program (BORP). Through this program I was able to play power soccer for the last two decades. You can sponsor my bike ride by going to the link below and donating money under my name. Every bit helps, thank you.

http://www.regathon.com/cgi-bin/regathon.cgi?projectid=revolution&action=pp1sponsorbuild

Best,
Lateef

My UCPGG Blog Address

2010-11-02T17:54:00.000-07:00

In my last post I didn't give the blog address for my United Cerebral Palsy of the Golden Gate blog. Here it is: http://ucpgg.org/home/lateefs-view-of-the-bay/. Read it and tell me what you think.

Sponsor me for the BORP Rev

2010-10-11T17:29:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

This Saturday I am going on a bike ride fundraiser to benefit the Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program (BORP) which provides disabled sports programs to the community like my beloved power soccer program, which I have been involved in for two decades. BORP has other programs like wheelchair basketball, track and field, and Goalball (a sport for people with visual impairments. So I encourage all of you that are on Facebook and or reading this blog to sponsor me on this ride. If all of you on Facebook give $1 I will exceed my goal of raising $350. Here is the link where you can find my name and sponsor me: http://www.regathon.com/revolution/sponsor-participant.htm. Thank you for your support!

New position as UCPGG blogger

2010-10-05T22:22:00.000-07:00

Most of you know already that I am the new blogger for United Cerebral Palsy for the Golden Gate. It is a cool job, I get to write about cool stuff going on in the bay affecting people with disabilities for a living. Now I will use this blog for controversial stuff I would get fired for talking about at work.

Speaking of controversy, did you hear about American doctors did in Guatemala in the 1940's? Well in a prelude to the Tuskegee experiments these "good old boy" were involved in infecting Guatemalan prison and insane asylum inmates were intentionally infected with syphilis. Apparently these doctors had these men have sex with a prostitute already infected with the disease. As disgusting as this sounds there is more detail I will spare you on how these doctors went about ensuring that these men contracted the disease. You can read on how our president apologized for this heinous act here: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/10/01/us.guatemala.apology/index.html

What I can't get over is that these Guatemalan men didn't have any say on whether there was going to contract the disease or not. I keep thinking about maybe there was men with CP in that asylum. Now I need a shower. Well I leave you with that image of American doctors giving poor Guatemalan men with disabilities syphilis. Sweet dreams.

My poetry book is out!

2010-03-25T15:27:00.000-07:00

The moment you all have been waiting for. Finally after a long delay my poetry book A Declaration Of A Body Of Love is out and available for people to buy. Now everyone can have this timely treasure of my poetic vision.
Now people can get a copy of this book in one of two ways. You can purchase a copy on Amazon.com by going to this link (http://www.amazon.com/Declaration-Body-Love-Poetry/dp/097264833X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269226935&sr=8-1Edit) or contact me at (510) 282-1233 and buy a copy directly from me. A copy is $15 and if you buy directly I can sign your copy.
So don't wait to buy a copy of A Declaration Of A Body Of Love. I guarantee you will enjoy the poetic journey you will go on in these pages.

Dealing with staring and noisy people.

2009-12-09T15:04:00.003-08:00

For me, living with cerebral palsy has its challenges and difficulties. I have physical limitations that make it difficult for me to do certain things like feed or dress myself. Even with the limitations of my disability, I live a really full and interactive life. I think of my life as being normal and mostly uneventful. I am really just a regular dude actually.
That is why sometimes I don't understand why random people come up to me and ask a whole bunch of questions about my life and how I go through my day. I called it the adult version of when a child openly stares at you like you are the bogeyman incarnate. But with the kid you can use the excuse that he or she does not know any better. With adults this attitude that people are freakish comes out in a few amusing ways.
Some people react by ignoring me, like when I go to talk to people and they walk away. I mean PEOPLE?!!... I know I was talking to you and you know I was talking to you. The least you can do to show you have sense is to address me with acknowledgment. Especially if you are in the service industry and it is your JOB to address my needs. It is not a good look to just talk to my attendant. It is not like it is a joy to talk to you neither.
Other people have the bright idea of treating me like a child or buffoon. This reaction is also hilarious for me and yes I am actually laughing at you. I should wear a shirt that says "Yes I understand everything you say and no you don't have to use a loud voice or talk slowly when speaking to me" and on the back I would have the word "IDIOT!" in bold letters. Few people will see the back of the shirt since most of the time I am in my wheelchair but, I like the concept anyway. I mean come on PEOPLE! I went to college and graduate school and can get what you are saying. I will now give you free license to talk to me normally. Especially the TSA and flight attendants, just saying though.
My favorite adult reaction has to be the over interested bystander. I mean come on y'all my life cannot be that foreign and exotic. I grew up in Lafayette in the heart of California suburbia. I went to school, got a job, and have a social life. Yes interested bystander I have a social life. One woman asked who I called on and I said my mom and she dropped the subject believing I didn't know what I was talking about. Yes, I did know exactly what she was talking about, but the other people I call on my phone is really none of her business. I like the random women that are that interested in me to be physically attractive and be willing to give me their number to arrange a future date. It is a double standard but it is what it is.

This blog was originally posted at the Dynavox Mayer-Johnson Blog (www.dynavoxtech.com)

A chapter of my novel

2009-12-09T14:58:00.000-08:00

Here is a chapter of my novel for you enjoy. If it is a horrid piece of literature please e-mail me and tell me about it:

Chapter 6

It was a rainy day for Jamil’s first day at kindergarten, but he was a ray of sunshine. He was very excited to be finally be going to regular school. Before this he went to a preschool for disabled children, but he really didn’t like it. He felt that his teacher Mrs. Gargimesh treated him as if he was stupid and she disciplined him far to often when he was in her class. She would lock him in the class room closet every time he drooled too much and made his shirt wet, had an accident and urinated on himself, had too much extraneous movement caused by his CP, or when he babbled too loudly when the class was singing songs to Mrs. Gargimesh’s out of tune piano. It was an understatement to say Jamil didn’t like her. He finally conveyed to his mother that Mrs. Gargimesh was no good by pointed to the words “bad” and “teacher” on his communication board.
Pamela was shocked to find out that her son harbored so much bad feelings toward his teacher. She quickly went into action and contacted the school district about mainstreaming her son. The school district planned to put Jamil in another special day class when he entered elementary school, however his mother was not having it and planned to sue if they barred her son from a regular class. Finally the school relented and said Jamil could be mainstreamed if he could pass a skills test that quiz him on his knowledge of shapes, colors, the alphabet, and counting numbers. Since Pamela had been reviewing all that stuff with him since he was two, he easily passed with flying colors.
Jamil being allowed to attend kindergarten coincided with Pamela getting accepted to nursing school at Laney College. She was ecstatic that she got into the program and even more excited that she could fit her class schedule around her work as a janitor for Kaiser. She usually worked in the mornings and took classes in the evenings so that she would be home when her son came home in the afternoon. Pamela had a good feeling that since both she and her son were in school that both of their futures would be bright and full of possibilities.
Now both Pamela and Jamil were waiting for the school bus to arrive to take Jamil to his new school. Jamil was stretching his neck as far as he could to see if he could see the bus coming down the road. Pamela was also looking for her watch and nervously tapping her toes, not wanting to be late for class. Finally they could see the bus coming around the bend. Jamil’s sight of the bus made him ecstatic and he wiggled around frantically around in his wheelchair. Pamela was pleased her son was so excited about going to school because she had worked extra hard to get him that opportunity.
When the bus finally pulled up to the curb next to their apartment complex Jamil was so excited that Pamela had to whack his wrist a few times to get him to behave. When the bus driver, Sam, finally popped out of the bus to Jamil on board he found him starting to cry.
“What’s wrong with him?” Sam inquired. He looked liked a black Santa Clus in a track suit to Jamil. Sam still rocked the short jerry curl like Michael Jackson in the “Billie Jean” video with horn-rimmed glasses and a thick croft mustached. Pamela thought he would be handsome if he weren’t so much overweight. “Does he usually cry like this.”
“No of course not” Pamela remarked while quickly drying Jamil’s tears. “You know how boys get when they get mischievous.” She turned to Jamil, “Shhhh, you want to scare off your new bus driver before he is able to take you to school for the first time. Shape up boy.” Jamil nodded in compliance and tried to stop crying, but started whimpering instead.
Ignoring Jamil Sam introduced himself to Pamela, “Hi I am Sam and I will be Jamil’s bus driver for the school year.”
“Please to meet you. Jamil is really excited for you to take him to school.”
“Yeah I bet.” Sam brought down the wheelchair lift that will lift him with Jamil and his wheelchair to the back entrance of the bus. When it was lowered to the ground, Sam directed Jamil’s wheelchair on to the lift as Pamela kissed Jamil good-bye.
“Bye sweetheart, see you this evening. Margaret will be here this afternoon to look after you while Mommy is at work.” Jamil nodded in reply. “Say something on your talker before you go.
Jamil quickly typed in his Touch Talker one his preprogrammed phrases, “I love you Mom,” which resulted in his mother giving him a great big hug.
Asd Sam pulled the bus away from Jamil’s apartment, Jamil waved bye to his mother. He wondered what his life at school would bring him. He heard only good things about school from his mother, pastor, and Margaret and was excited to experience it himself. The bus couldn’t go fast enough for his liking.

Jamil looked around the room at his new kindergarten class with a lot of nervousness and apprehension, especially since his new teacher had him in front of the class to introduce him to everyone. His new teacher, Mrs. Rhineheart, kept saying his name wrong, but he thought it was funny rather than being annoying. She kept elongating the last syllable of his name so it came out “Jamile” producing giggles from Jamil. “Class Jamile will be with us in our class this year with his aide Ingrid. As you can see he uses a mini computer to talk and he is in this snazzy wheelchair. You each can take turns pushing him around and talking to him during recess. Jamile has prepared a little speech that will introduce himself. Go ahead Jamile.”
Jamile took a huge swallow then push the buttons in his Touch Talker to speak his speech. The machine blurted it out in a mechanical voice. “My name is Jamil. I am five years old. My favorite TV show is Sesame Street. My favorite Sesame Street character is Snuffaluffagus. I like to be friends with all of you.” Jamil gave a gigantic smile after his speech had ended. He just new he was going to have a lot of new friends when recess came.
“Very good Jamile. You did a splendid job introducing yourself.” Mrs. Rhineheart commended him as Ingrid rolled him back to his desk. “Class do you have any questions for me or Jamile?”
A girl with two fat black pink tales with pink bubble hair ties and in pink oshbigosh overalls quickly raised her hand. “Mrs. Rhinehart, is Ingrid another teacher like you?”
“No Latoya, Ingrid is mostly going to be helping out Jamile, but maybe she can help out in class if we ask nicely.” Mrs. Rhinehart said with a quick knowing nod to Ingrid.
“Hi kids, Jamil and I are very much excited to spend this school year with you all.” Ingrid stood up briefly and waved her hand to the class.
Anymore questions?”
A puggy kid with slick back hair shot up his hand. “Mrs. Rhinehart, why does that kid uses that machine to talk. Is it because he’s too stupid to talk normally.”
“Ernesto that is not a nice thing to say to Jamile. Apologize to him this instant!”
“I am sorry Jamil.” Ernesto said with his head down in shame.”
“That is totally on called for. Today you will be on time out from now until the end of lunch.”
“But Mrs. Rhinehart…”
“But nothing. Be quiet before I make your time out longer.”
Ernesto sat back in his chair sulking on the verge of tears. He gave a menacing look at Jamil before he took his chair to the corner of the room where he was to spend his time out.
“Now class it is about ready for recess. Now as I said before, you can all take turns pushing Jamil on the blacktop, but don’t push him too fast and make sure Ingrid is with you.”
“Ok Mrs. Rhinehart, we will” the class said in unison. All at once Mrs. Rhinehart’s class ran out to the blacktop with Ingrid pushing Jamil to go with the kids. Ingrid pushed Jamil’s chair to one side of the playground where he could see all kids, swinging on the monkey bars, playing four square, knocking on the thither ball, playing hop scotch and jump rope, and he got excited and wanted to join them. He quickly typed in his talker “Can anyone play with me?” and kept on repeating it in hopes that some of his classmates would hear him and come over to play some games and push him around in his chair. Unfortunately now one came. Jamil began to wonder if all the five-year olds in his class were partially deaf. Eventually Ingrid, who was reading a cheesy romance novel with a picture of Fabio on the front on the bench next to Jamil, got truly annoyed with hearing his talker repeat the same thing over and over again exclaimed, “Kid if you make that thing repeat that one more time I will tell your teacher to put you on time out. Do you hear me?”
Jamil turned off his talker and began to pout. He didn’t want to get in trouble he just wanted to play with the other kids. He wanted to experience all the fun things he heard school was and make life long friends like his mother said he would. However, now he found himself getting in trouble for just trying to engage with his classmates. Tears started to come out his eyes and he began to whimper.
“If you start to cry I will bring you right to Mrs. Rhinehart she can put you on time out. Do you want that? I don’t have time or patience for this.” That made Jamil start bawling, which made the kids on the playground stop what they were doing and come over and find out what was the matter with him. Ingrid having enough of the growing spectacle on the playground quickly took off the brakes on Jamil’s wheelchair and pushed him back to Mrs. Rhinehart’s classroom and parked him in the corner of the room. When Mrs. Rhinehart came back in the classroom Ingrid told her all that had happened.
“Sallly, this boy is full of trouble. Just because he cannot play with the other kids he is starting up such a ruckus. You need to talk to him and calm him down.”
“Ok Ingrid, I will handle it.” Turning to Jamil she gave a stern look and said, “Listen young man, I don’t tolerate students crying in my class so you better ship up or else I will kick you out of this class.
When he heard this Jamil attempted to stop crying, but he had a hard time completely stop his whimpering. He was convinced that Mrs. Rhinehart with her blanched white hair, wrinkle leather skin, frumpy clothes, and her spectacles with the attached around her neck Jamil convinced himself she was a real life witch. Jamil finally calmed down and Mrs. Rhinehart went back to teaching the class. When he went home he told his mother all that had happened.
“Don’t worry hun, you will make friends soon and you will only have this mean old Mrs. Rhinehart as a teacher for this school year. Next year you will have an entirely new teacher for the first grade. Don’t worry my son, before you know it you will have so much fun at school you won’t want to come home” Pamela exclaimed throwing her arms around him.
Unfortunately Jamil didn’t think it will be that easy for him at school at all.

Introduction to SF AIDS Walk

2009-12-02T22:41:00.000-08:00

Snipet of AIDS Walk

2009-12-02T21:30:00.000-08:00

Here is a snippet of my AIDS Walk Video:

Getting ready for Indiana

2009-06-12T18:13:00.000-07:00

I am excitingly getting prepared to go to Indianapolis, Indiana next week Thursday to go to the USPSA National tournament. Actually it is in a town called Fishers, but same difference. My team the BORP Bay Earthquakes should do very well and I honestly believe if we try hard enough we can take the national title next week. I also want to make sure we qualify for the October Americas Cup in Atlanta. Let's just say I have people to meet up in Atlanta and I will be very happy if we go. So wish us luck in Indiana.

Update on poetry book.

2009-03-19T15:45:00.000-07:00

I just found out that my poetry book will be off the printing press and ready to be purchased in a couple weeks. I will have more information about it soon so look for it.

Available for speaking engagements

2009-01-27T15:09:00.000-08:00

Just to reiterate I am available for speaking engagements as a consumer consultant for Dynavox Mayer-Johnson. I do presentations at schools, workshops, and conferences mostly about what it is like to live independently as a disabled man. If you want me to speak at your event just contact me at lmcleod1337@yahoo.com. Thank you.

Poetry book

2009-01-26T12:47:00.000-08:00

Just to let you know that I am selling my poetry book at www.cafepress.com/lateefsbook for a little longer. I am republishing it professionally and it will be in book stores later this year.

At work.

2008-12-01T17:36:00.000-08:00

I am at work and I decided to blog. Yep I am really bord today. Anyway had a good Thanksgiving holiday. I ate a lot and hung out with the dam. Good times, good times. For an added bonus I bought a PS3. The graphics on that are off the hinges. The Moeertal kombat x men game Is dope.

Things to think about.

2008-09-11T16:53:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was 9/11. We should remember this day for the atrocities and lost of life seven years ago, but also for the political direction that this country has headed in since that day. Now as I hear Governor Palin saying that war with Russia should be on the table if it invades NATO countries I feel that we are going in a direction that is frightening indeed. Now what if we go to war with Russia and China comes to the aide of of Russia. Even with our NATO allies we will be in a pickle. Now do you really think anyone would want to see that happen?

My World Wind Tour

2008-07-20T22:14:00.000-07:00

Traveling to South Africa last month was really tight and a real humbling experience. I went with the young adult ministry at my church and had an engaging interaction with South African culture. As well as looking at the tourist site of three cities: Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town we also had opportunities to interact with young adult South African Christians. We did a balance of being both tourists and ministers of God's word having the opportunity to both feed and council refugees from Mozambique and also have time to buy souvenirs at a flea market.
I also had the opportunity to travel to Montreal a few weeks ago for the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication biannual conference. I was able to do a presentation with fellow members of the AAC-RERC Writers Brigade, which went well and I am now Co-Vice President of the United States Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication, which is pretty cool. Also the company that I worked for, Dynavox Technologies INC., paid for my whole trip, which was also cool. I also got upgraded to business class on the way back, which was a bonus! Check out my pictures of my trip.

Watch the Power of Nightmares

2008-05-29T18:44:00.000-07:00

Watch the documentary The Power of Nightmares: The Politics of Fear. It really challenges what they say in the news.

A blessing

2008-04-18T18:52:00.000-07:00

I had a early dinner a couple weeks ago with a friend from the first and second grade. Even though we didn't see each other for a long time we still talked as people with a strong bond. I influenced her when we were kids to start working with disabled people and now she is in Peru helping disabled people out there. I am proud of her and send many prayers and blessings to her. i hope readers will do the same. Her name is Christen.

Craziness

2008-03-19T22:42:00.000-07:00

In the last few days I watched the idiot circus that we call the news media lampoon Senator Obama and his pastor for the comments that the pastor said. Let me make this clear Pastor Jeremiah Wright was criticizing the American power structure that has hegemony over everything in this country and most of the world. This criticism is in accordance with the criticism Jesus Christ had for the Roman Empire. It is criticism that the US needs to deal with to come to realize its continuing neglect of those who fall victim to the policies of our capitalist system. Granted his words were strong, but I think they came from a place of frustration in seeing that America is slow to change. As I watch the fall out from his comments I am continually saddened that the American public took offense to comments that were not about them but those who have too much control on their life. The more I think about it I realize that the American public was directed to react this way so they wouldn't challenge the real corporate power structure in this country. That is a real scary thought.

my book

2007-12-21T15:24:00.000-08:00

Just to let y'all know I am selling copies of my book online It is called A Declaration of A Body of Love. You can buy it online at www.cafepress.com/lateefsbook.

Things are good.

2007-11-19T14:22:00.000-08:00

Sins Invalid was a huge success and I really enjoyed being apart of that production. I definately will be in the production next year. I have a picture of my production, but I haven't decided to post it yet, might be too sexy for some of my readers. I also got my application to ISAAC. My book is also coming out soon so be on the lookout for that.

I have been busy

2007-10-16T16:17:00.000-07:00

Yes my plenary speech at the "AAC Conference By The Bay" went very well. I got a standing ovation at the end. I didn't know there was going to be so many people but I think I came off as professional. After all that they gave me the whole Arista Recordings of Ray Charles which I thought was really cool. The dinner boat cruise was spectactular since we had good weather over the bay and the food was surprisingly good. This month of October I have been working to get my poetry book published, getting ready for my performance in Sins Invalid, preparing a lecture for the ISAAC Conference, and practicing vigorously power soccer to be a vital asset to my team. Pray that I will accomplish all of it.

Mi back a yard

2007-08-31T12:58:00.000-07:00

Yes I'm back in the bay after a full week in Jamaica. My cousin's wedding was wonderful and it was great to see all my cousins, aunts, and uncles there. The weather was really nice most of the time and it only rained a couple of times while we were there. I especially liked that I stayed out until 2 or 3 A.M. in the morning. Big up to O'Brian for rolling with me and being my bomb ass attendent for the week. Yo I will definately post up pictures of the trip as soon as my cousin and my sister post them up on facebook. My camera is temporaly broken so hence the dependence on relatives. Anyway I have some performances and presentations coming up. On September 28th at 1 in Burlingame I am giving this presentation for this conference called "AAC By the Bay" put on by the Bridge School. I am also doing a performance piece in a show called Sins Invalid that will takes place on November 3rd. I am also thinking about submitting a piece on the biannual international ISAAC Conference being held in Toronto, Canada next year. So that is what's up with me. I will be free this weekend so hit me up.

These are some good riddims.

2007-08-03T23:32:00.001-07:00

I love this music. Cannot get enough.

On yesterdays tragedy

2007-08-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

My heart goes out to those who were affected by the brige collapse in Minneapolis. I was there just a couple weeks ago and I am shocked that this happened and I hope for a quick of a recovery as possible for the city.

What You Deserve

2007-07-31T22:17:00.000-07:00

America has always profess itself to be the great land of opportunity. Immigrants from all over the world come to this country because they firmly believe that they can lead a better life here then their country of origin. This image of the country was purposedly constructed to enforce the social strata that we now experience. This social strata ironically is what keeps most of these immigrants near the bottom rung of America's social hierarchy. This myth that anyone can make it in this country if he or she works hard enough fuels this narrow minded view that a person must constantly prove their worthiness to receive that they deserve the benefits that this country offer.
I call this view of people constantly having to prove their worth in this country narrow minded and borderline barbaric because the people that cannot prove their worthiness of America's benefits are systematically disregarded. This group includes this country's poor and documented and undocumented immigrants. A prime example of this is in the health care system. I recently watched President Bush give a speech where he promised health care to every child in proverty, but he continued to say giving health care to poor adults as inappropiate. To Bush giving free health care to poor adults is wrong because they do not do anything to deserve it. This nonsensical way of thinking leads to ambulances dropping homeless people in the alley.
The poor eventivably becomes on no consequence to the American consience.
Immigrants also have to prove their worth to be in this country. Coming here in tself can be an ordeal whether one has proper documents or not. On top of this ordeal they have to work their way to gain acceptance for the Americam public. It is my belief that if they are only here to work to better our society that you will be allowed to work. Especially since such trade agreements like NAFTA made a lot of potential immigrants from Mexico and other Latin American country lose their jobs. That is my take on the subject, what is yours?

More dedication to this blog.

2007-07-18T16:05:00.000-07:00

I will be posting more on this blog very soon. I just got back from Minnesota and got a lot to tell about my fraternity's conclave. It was surprisingly very exciting and we had a step show this time. (That was the first time in a long time). So stay tuned for upcoming posts.

Indianapolis, Indiana

2007-06-13T19:02:00.000-07:00

I just got back for Indianapolis, Indiana on Sunday. I was there for four days playing in the power soccer US National tournament. Actually my coach had me listening on the sidelines for most of the tournament, which was kind of shady but what can you do. I still had fun hanging out with my teammates and helping them practice. Also the banquet at the end was in a impressive convention center with really good food for once. The highlight of the trip was that I flew first class on the way back to San Francisco and I met ?uestlove, the drummer for The Roots Crew, outside SFO. Yadada!

Another poem, yeah!!!

2007-05-29T17:55:00.001-07:00

Here is a poem that compliments my previous blog:

Wall

This sharp clawing at the back of the neck
loneliness clutching my throat
I suffocate from the emptiness I feel alone and invisible
my friends and family
say they want to hang around me
I hear whispers of them in the breeze

I can't use my 3000 dollar lightwriter as a paperweight
a tortoise tries to crawl a race with a bullet train
the word-prediction capabilities
don't shield me from the impatient faces that tap their toes
their eyes always wander looking for the next novelty
they need patience
but my cell phone goes deathly for hours in the day
can't we just find a fiber optic way
to hook my brain to the machine
so my thoughts can be electronically voiced
over twelve-inch speakers

So we left with a clear wall
made of shards of ice and glass
I can see this barrier everyday
the sun glinting off its clear reflection
everyone acts as if it were not there
and does not see me cut my hand and feet
as I try to knock this wall down
I kick and punch until my feet and hands
are oozing with blood
I yell myself hoarse like a bullfrog
but I cannot get my family and friends to get close to me
so they really know
my dreams, thoughts, desires, and feelings
I shiver behind this clear wall
and wait for someone to notice me
wait for a chance to speak

By Lateef McLeod

As I see it now.

2007-05-22T18:03:00.000-07:00

Basically I see my disability as a hinderance to my social standing with my family and friends. As I see it now I have a disconnect between my loved ones and I because I use a speech generative device to communicate. This disconnection is why sometimes I feel isolated because I feel few people truely understand what it is like to have your disability impede your communication. Communication is essentially the basis of how we engage in society and how we as humans stay connected to each other. So since it is a struggle for me to communicate because I have more of a challenge to build a relationship with other people. I think the most important thing a human does is to build strong loving relationships with God and other people. Since it's more of a challenge for me to do that I realise how much of a gift it is to have these relationships.

By popular demand

2007-05-16T22:56:00.000-07:00

Some of you wanted me to post more poetry. So I decided to hit you with a revised version of a poem I already posted. Enjoy.

Strange encounters with the stupid kind

I just want to ask you a question
just one simple question
“What frat is that on your jacket?”
but when I roll up to you
and asked the question with my talker
you exclaim "get away from me" and apruptly walk away
now I know I don't look like an idiot
with my designer jeans and expensive nike sneakers
and the talker I speak eloquently with
and create art out of syntax grammar structure
that your closed mind would not even fathom
and yet you walk away from a free lesson
of how to shatter your assumptions
a lesson I would freely teach you
and from the looks of it
your are in desperate need for the abridged course
but I understand if you have to go
nobody probably taught you
You stop and listen
when a wise man
decides to drop some knowledge in your lap

By Lateef H. McLeod

We Lost!

2007-05-16T22:32:00.000-07:00

So the Warriors lost! Ain't no thing though because we are coming back next seasonn. Mark my words, Davis, Jackson, Richardson, Ellis, Harriton, Bieritous, and Barnes will be back better than ever. We taking the '08 NBA Finals please believe.

They better win Friday

2007-05-09T22:57:00.000-07:00

Utah had their fun, now it is the Warriors time to win four straight. We don't wear those big, loud, yellow "WE BELIEVE" T-shirts for nothing.

They better win!

2007-05-03T16:18:00.000-07:00

All I know is the Warriors better win tonight! We have Dallas on the ropes and we should finish the job.
Go WARRIORS!!!!!!!!!!

Oh happy day

2007-04-20T16:02:00.000-07:00

After thirteen years of long waiting the Golden State Warriors are finally in the playoffs. Baron Davis, Jason Richardson, and company really did the darn thing making it to the post season. I am really proud to be a Warrior fan right now. I am predicting we beat Dallas in four, mark my words.

One of my poems

2007-04-14T14:23:00.000-07:00

This is one of my poems I recently wrote. It corresponds with the Ablism post I did:

Strange encounters with the stupid kind

I just want to ask you a question
you see your crossing jacket
reminded me of my own crossing jacket
the Red Greek letters of Nu Alpha Kappa
on your white jacket
reminds me of the Krimson Greek letters of Kappa Alpha Psi
that was originally Kappa Alpha Nu
on my kreme crossing jacket
so I just wanted to ask you about your organization
just one simple question
but when I rolled up to you
and asked the question with my talker
you exclaim "get away from me" and apruply walked away
now I know I don't look homeless with my designer jeans and expensive nike sneakers
and the talker I speak with cost much more then what you make at your summer job
so actually the only charity that would go on between us
is me to teach you how to act and from the looks of it your are in desperate need
it is all for the best though
I looked you up on your fraternity's website and got your name
and you still don't have mine

By Lateef H. McLeod

CSUN Trip

2007-04-13T22:56:00.000-07:00

Yeah for those who don't know I was ballin' in L.A. a couple weeks ago at the CSUN Conference. For those who don't know CSUN (Cal State Northridge) puts on a really big conference in downtown L.A. every year. Yours truly was a speaker for the seminar my job (AAC-RERC Writers Brigade, ACI) put on and I delivered a speech at the USAAC's Bubbly Ball that tore downn the house. However my highlight was meeting Stevie Wonder and taking the picture with him. I always keep it first class remember that.

well that was easy

2007-04-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

I did it! I combinded my old old blogger account with my new blogger account. Now I can post pictures and be more creative with my blogs. I am very excited so be on the look out for new blogs from me in the near future.

Ablism

2007-01-04T18:00:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I was at the movies in Emeryvile and I saw a young man with a Greek letter fraternity crossing jacket outside the theater. The letters on the jacket were almost the letters of my fraterinty in reverse. So I approach this man and said something in my talker along the lines of "What frat is that?" This young man immediately became replused and abrubtly walking away from me saying "Get away from me." I found his actions extremely insulting but I couldn't do anything about it because he already left.
Instances like these have happened to me more than a few times because of my disability. More than a few times I had to comfront the discrimination that comes from having cerebral palsy. When I first meet people they have the notion that since I do not talk normally that I have some sort of mental retardation. I have to show them that I can engage them in intelligent discussion to prove my self worth. However I find it frustrating that I always have to prove that I am not retarded to every person I meet.
What upsets me more is when parents pass their ignorant ablist views to their children. A prime example of this was when I was at the Warriors game with my dad having a good time. At one part of the game they were passing out shirts to the audience and I was waving to get one but the people handing out the shirts ignored me. Then a boy came up to me trying to give me a shirt. Initially I for a second thought that he was one of the original ones who were passing out shirts and was going to take the shirt. However my dad quickly dismissed the boy and told me that his dad told him to give me the shirt. This angered me because I knew it was a pity gesture and the man thought he was teaching his son to be generous to the less fortunate. However I have a Master's degree and don't need his pity.

Why do we black people devalue their culture?

2006-12-17T17:00:00.000-08:00

I as a young black man love the cartoon, The Boondocks. I was an avid reader of the comic strip and I own the DVD of the first season of the cartoon TV series. I am enamored with all the characters from intellectual Huey, rambuxious Riley, horney Grandad Freeman, adorable Jasmine Dubois, white washed Mr. Dubois, and self hating Uncle Ruckus. Each of these characters show the ingenuity of the creator Aaron McGrudor and show a different facet of the African American culture. The character that I am most interested in, Uncle Ruckus, shows the secret that many African Americans try to keep from the public view, that they devalue aspects of their own culture. I think that we as African Americans give less value to our language, our way of dress, our mannerisms, our way of dress, our history, and our place of origin.
If Uncle Ruckus was white he would be an classic racist. He is the anthesis of Huey Freeman's radical pride and love for black people. For Uncle Ruckus everything that white people are and do is good and everything that black people are and do is bad. He has a mentality of a house slave who identities with his white masters rather then his own people. Unfortunately I fear that the majority of African Americans have some of the same mentality as Uncle Ruckus. We teach our children to not sound black for fear of ridicule. We turn up our nose when a man or woman wear African garb to church or a formal outing. We know almost nothing of African culture and history and where we come from as a people. We believe the misconceptions that the media portrary to us that Africa is a uncivilized continet. These self devaulating view of ourselves has no doubt contributed to the nilistic view of our young people and the growing homocide rate in our community. I think we as African Americans need to confront our negative view of our culture and take the time to study and accept the depth to which African culture influenced our own.

Here we go again.

2006-12-17T16:41:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my new blog. I did have another blog on blogger before but I guess the people at blogger.com erased it because I posted one blog on it. Since this is the case I promise to post something on this blog at least every other day. We see how it goes. I hope you enjoy reading my thoughts and I enjoy hearing your comments as well.