Time Sensitive: Nhojj Free Download & From Watts To Africa Educating The World

I've been taking some personal time so this first post is very time sensitive. Download music from Nhojj that will sooth your soul!!!

Go to http://nhojj.bandcamp.com/album/life-your-life
to download, "Live Your Life" & "Let Life Flow~Meditation"

The downloads are only available through tomorrow September 12, 2012


The second post is near and dear to my heart when it comes to education and literacy. Here's a chance to make a difference at home and abroad. Please consider being a part of this!!!

Piccolo’s Books & The Gift Of Knowledge Program Presents
A FREE BOOK GIVE-AWAY Making Education Affordable Worldwide

The Gift of Knowledge Program provides free Books to any teacher, school or library in need Worldwide. in his continuous effort to promote literacy and protecting our children’s right to read, learn, and grow through free speech,

Every Week Piccolo gives away from 1,000 to 60,000 books...for FREE! Piccolo Lewis is committed to promoting literacy and getting books to the public. In the last two years, he has donated more than 450,000 books to schools in Watts, South Central, Redondo Beach, Northridge, Long Beach & Compton, California; Detroit, Africa, Haiti, Jamaica, the Philippians and Mexico. He is currently planning a trip to Ethiopia; Nigeria and Kenya to personally distribute 250,000 books to Orphanages and Schools throughout the country. His goal this year is to give-away one million books.

The Gift of Knowledge Program also helps provides an opportunity for schools and organizations to host Book Sales and earn extra funds necessary to help alleviate the extreme budget cuts of our economy.

In Kenya with the Help of “The Gift of Giving” Piccolo’s Books will open it’s 1st International Bookstore; teaching the local community how to run and operate their own business. Adjacent to the bookstore The Gift of Giving is building a local Library for the community; and Piccolo is donating 100,000 books to assure Education is Free & Available to all. http://www.giftofgivingproject.com/

In a mutual effort to enhance the education of the Children in Ethiopia, entrepreneur, Piccolo Lewis, founder of the One-Dollar Book Store aided by the Ethiopian Historic Conservation Council along with Documentary Filmmaker Rodney Conner will film the magic of “From Watts to Africa, Piccolo Lewis Educates the World.”

From Watts to Africa is Sponsored by Inner Child Press who will create a Coffee Table Book of Piccolos Adventure in Africa. www.innerchildpress.com

Piccolo’s dream is to donate One Million Books this year to children in need around the world; His goal is to make education affordable for all who have a desire to learn.

Finances Needed are Two Round trip passages to Africa $3000, 1 Storage Container to house the bookstore in Kenya $3000 and $4000 for Local Labor to build the bookshelves for the Library and Bookstore.

Your Contribution will help build a community Library and provide Free Education to several communities throughout Africa.

Over 100,000 Books will be distributed to local elementary schools and Orphanages throughout Africa.

Your Generosity will help purchase a 40 ft. shipping container that will become the 1st International Piccolo’s One-Dollar Bookstore in Kenya. Citizens in the Nairobi community will be trained to manage and operate the bookstore and benefit in the proceeds of the book sales.

Your Contribution of $2500 will provide you with Producer Credit on the Documentary, Coffee Table Book & your Name will be placed on a Plaque in the bookstore; 4 invitations to the Bon Voyage Reception at the Bookstore in Los Angeles; 4 screening tickets to and a Copy of the Documentary. Also 2500 books will be donated to your local Los Angeles County elementary school under your name. (Outside L.A. Shipping is Required)

$1000 Contribution will receive Associate Producer Credit on the Documentary; Coffee Table Book & your Name will be placed on a Plaque in the bookstore; 2 invitations to the Bon Voyage Reception at the Bookstore in Los Angeles; a Copy of the Documentary and 2 screening tickets to the Documentary. Also 1000 books will be donated to your local Los Angeles County elementary school under your name. (Outside L.A. Shipping is Required)

A $500 Contribution will receive Special Thanks Credit on Documentary; Coffee Table Book & your Name will be placed on a Plaque in the bookstore; 2 invitations to the Bon Voyage Reception at the Bookstore in Los Angeles; a Copy of the Documentary and 2 screening tickets to the Documentary. Also 500 books will be donated to your local Los Angeles County elementary school under your name. (Outside L.A. Shipping is Required)


$250 will provide you with a Copy of the Documentary, Special Thanks Credit in the Coffee Table Book & your Name will be placed on a Plaque in the bookstore; 2 invitations to the Bon Voyage Reception at the Bookstore in Los Angeles and 2 screening tickets to the Documentary. Also 250 books will be donated to your local Los Angeles County elementary school under your name. (Outside L.A. Shipping is Required)-mail Blast from Africa with Photos “From Watts to Africa, Piccolo Lewis Educates the World”

$100 will provide you with Special Thanks Credit in the Documentary & Coffee Table Book; 2 invitations to the Bon Voyage Reception at the Bookstore in Los Angeles and 2 screening tickets to the Documentary. Also 100 books will be donated to your local Los Angeles County elementary school teacher under your name. (Outside L.A. Shipping is Required) E-mail Blast from Africa with Photos “From Watts to Africa, Piccolo Lewis Educates the World”

A $50 donation will provide you with Special Thanks Credit in the Documentary; 2 invitations to the Bon Voyage Reception at the Bookstore in Los Angeles and 2 screening tickets to the Documentary. Also 50 books will be donated to your local Los Angeles County elementary school teacher under your name(Outside L.A. Shipping is Required) E-mail Blast from Africa with Photos “From Watts to Africa, Piccolo Lewis Educates the World”

A $25 donation will provide you a copy of the Documentary; 2 screening tickets and 25 books will be donated to your local Los Angeles County elementary school teacher under your name. (Outside L.A. Shipping is Required) E-mail Blast from Africa with Photos “From Watts to Africa, Piccolo Lewis Educates the World”

A $10 donation will provide you an invitation to the Bon Voyage Reception at the Bookstore in Los Angeles and E-mail Blast from Africa with Photos “From Watts to Africa, Piccolo Lewis Educates the World”

Please Share us with your Family, Co-Workers, Friends, Facebook and Twitter. Please E-mail our page to your friends to help support Free Education Worldwide.

Please Support The Gift of Knowledge Program to Educate the World.
http://www.PiccolosBooks.com/ ~ PiccolosBooks@yahoo.com ~ 310~410~0317

http://www.indiegogo.com/piccolosbookstore?a=1199256&i=emal

"Nuff Said!!!

Feel The Touch For 20% Off.... (Limited Time Offer)

From now until this Friday August 10, 2012 you can receive a 20% discount off my book,

"Touch...Poems & Other Writings of Love, Erotica, & Sensuality" by ordering directly from my on-line bookstore:

www.lulu.com/spotlight/tombombayboopublishing


At check out be sure to use the promo code: ASTOUND

Other titles on the Lulu site also qualify for this discount so be sure to browse and see if there are any other books you'd like to order.

The book is still available on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and others places on-line but the discount only applies to orders booked through my bookstore on Lulu....

Take a picture with the book and send it to me at theliterarymasturbator@gmail.com so I can post it on the Facebook fan page www.facebook.com/TouchPoemsAndOtherWritings

In the black light of Jair’s imagination and heart, punctuation marks become the sheetstaining evidence that something sexy has occurred. What is revealed in, "Touch...", is that desire is a spilling that we all must cop to and that passion and pen in the wet palm of a true poet will always lead us to that one page sticking seductive truth.-Marvin K. White, Author of "Last Rights", "Nothin’ Ugly Fly", "Our Name Be Witness", & "Status"

"Jair's poetry is the stuff of hot phone and cyber sex- funny, self-indulgent and at its best doing what this provocateur intends, to get you off."-Steven G. Fullwood author of FUNNY, Publisher-Vintage Entity Press


-Photos by Stefan Tonio stefograher@gmail.com hieroGRAPHIX-

City of Refuge "Joy In The City" Concert Series

Early Morning At A Modern Sufi Lodge (An Homage to Sufi Poetry & Mysticism)

In the waking hours

I walk a path silently conversing with my Love

We talk of the future and what we’ve come through

We make plans to connect with each other throughout the day

My Love comforts me and reminds me of the estimable worth of remaining true to Him

She joys me by helping me remember the last time I thought all hope was gone but found delight in the presence of her spirit

My Love implores me to have no fear

To stretch out on my faith and be all I can be

For my Love knows I am complete in love and therefore must experience all to know the all of my existence.....

facebook.com/jair.trice
theliterarymasturbator@gmail.com
theliterarymasturbator.blogspot.com
Twitter: @litmasturbator
Copyright ©2007 Jair Writes

Brista2Brista Call For Submissions

Call for Submissions—Brista to Brista: Letters of Affirmation
by Black Gay Men

Edited and with an Introduction by Darius Omar Williams
(Dandaluka Vanga)

Call for Submissions:

21 years after the groundbreaking anthology Brother to Brother: New Writings by Black Gay Men, edited by Essex Hemphill and originally conceived by Joseph Beam, in a bold literary-critical-political response, Dr. Darius Omar Williams (Dandaluka Vanga) seeks submissions for a new anthology in celebration of the kinships shared, abandoned and lost among black gay men: the cultural, sexual and gendered framing of both brother and sister fused together as “Brista”, a popular form of sentiment coined in contemporary same gender loving tradition. The anthology will specifically include provocative personal letters of affirmation written by and to black gay men to encourage, uplift and empower one another through their individual and collective quest for companionship and political autonomy while also highlighting the intersected identities of lovers, brothers, sisters and friends in this codified world of sexual essentialism.

Topics might include:

-Personal letters to historical black gay icons including but not limited to James Baldwin, Bayard Rustin, Joseph Beam, Essex Hemphill and E. Lynn Harris

Personal letters of affirmation from black gay men to their bristas both past and present: biological and non-biological brothers, “sisters”, colleagues and friends (ie. words of healing, loving, forgiveness and ‘water under the bridge’)

Personal letters examining, investigating and contemplating the severing/loss of bristahood

Personal autobiographical letters (from the author to himself) as a self-portrait of redemption, power and self-love

Personal letters from and to black gay men whose relationships have evolved from bristas to lovers and the liminal spaces in between (a measuring of the stakes involved insofar as the degrees of bristahood are concerned)

Personal letters to loved ones living or who have transitioned because of HIV/AIDS

Essays in the form of personal letters on the rising of Brista(s) as a term of endearment and its
linkage to the nature and politics of race, sexuality, spirituality and gender

Submission Guidelines:

Cover Letter

Brief Biography

MSWord electronic submissions 12” Times New Roman Font (11 pages maximum) to:
brista2brista@gmail.com (all documents should be saved and submitted as your last name_Brista to Brista) Your submission may include a single or series of letters to one or more different bristas, again, totaling no more than 11 pages. Also please include the date and time in which your personal letters were written.

Title Example : My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew on the 100th
Anniversary of the Emancipation by James Baldwin from The Fire Next Time (1962)

Warmest Regards,

Dr. Darius Omar Williams, editor
Brista to Brista: Letters of Affirmation by Black Gay Men

Deadline: August 7, 2012

Contact, inquiry and submission information:

brista2brista@gmail.com

Words Hurt, Words Heal....

There's a video I've seen posted on facebook and I suppose it's been circulating on the internet titled, "Children singing Ain't No Homos Gon' Make It To Heaven"

I haven't watched it and don't plan to watch but that video coupled with the one showing the Pastor talking about killing off gays by putting them behind an electric fence touched something very deep & visceral in me. In my essay, "Let The Healing Begin" included in the anthology, "Mighty Real" I talk about how I didn't receive many personal abomination messages but by their actions and the secrecy of the way things were handled, you knew being gay was something to be kept under wraps. The church back then (and today)is full of Same Gender Loving people and it's unfortunate and sometimes fatal when they hear messages that not only will they not have a place in heaven, but while they are living here on earth they should be placed behind an electric fence and left to die.

The bible and its multitude of mis-interpretation has been used for so long to explain so many things that I feel have nothing to do with a divine plan for us individually and as a society. Even ideas about heaven, hell, devil, and other things are open for questioning for a liberated believer.

About 6 weeks ago I was up late and was doing some searching on youtube and ran across about a movie called, "Prayers For Bobby". I'm not sure if I'd heard of the movie before. Full disclosure it was a movie that originally aired on the Lifetime Channel and to be honest I am biased and occasionally prejudiced about movies/shows on there. I think they are mostly cheesy, very weepy, woe is me kind of stuff. I don't mind a good drama but not something that is formulaic and intended to tug at your heartstrings. I was fully awake and ended up watching the entire movie.

It was a story of a teenager, Bobby is who just opening to the idea that he is Same Gender Loving. He lives in a suburban area small town in the Bay Area. A city named Walnut Creek. It could be anywhere USA and even though I thought I wouldn't be able to relate to it because the family was very white it turned out since the story is so well told it none of that mattered. Bobby experiences some liberation but could not turn off the messages drummed into his head from his very religious mother, which of course makes him devalue his self worth. He eventually kills himself and the latter part of the movie is the story of his mother coming to grips with not only the role she played in her son's death, but also understanding human sexuality as it relates to spirituality.

The movie is set in the early 80's when the city of Walnut Creek is considering having a Gay Liberation Day celebration. Mary attends the City Council meeting along with some other members of PFLAG and delivers this moving & very touching speech about how what we say can have an impact that we don't consider:



Thankfully there is hope. I saw another video of a young boy reading a speech on a local news station in NY that he wasn't allowed to give at his school. His words don't give me hope for the future, because tomorrow is not promised, it gives me hope for now because if he can get it, anyone can.....



He and his mother have received some negative feedback but I believe that the goodness of his intentions will far outweigh any negativity that will come his way.

Always remember Words Can Hurt but thankfully they also have the ability to heal....