HORISCOPE OF A BLUESMAN...

HORISOCPE OF A BLUESMAN:

The three planets that oscillate around your groove; love, knowledge and regret, play a contemplative composition weaving hues of softness into the worn fabric of earthly cares...

bass tones thrust through the far reaches of the cosmos... quasars throb in hoarse tenor sax... tacheons traverse the firmament as stacatto piano tones... sprinkles of multidimensional sound...

pulsars sing in the medium of a lugubrious lyric iconography... time skips or tap dances an ancient routine... hallowed of all interstellar rituals... three planets fuse... love and pain unite in a cool-hot blue mantle of delight...

delight...

EMANCIPATION DAY: TWO PLACES IN WASHINGTON, D.C. WHERE HISTORY WAS MADE

Although what we know today as the city of Washington, D.C. was little more than a rural and hilly region populated mostly around the waterfront in S.W. D.C. and Georgetown during the Revolutionary War, it was the focal point of America and the great struggle of the Civil War during the mid ninteenth century.



 The Civil War literally put D.C. on the map in ways that L'Enfant could never have imagined.  To be embroiled in a bitter debaucle over slavery threatening to rend the Union nearly 100 years after its birth.  Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass were to reshaping the way Blacks and Whites viewed each other amidst the shellfire and smoke.  Black and White men were laying their lives down for an ideal of racial unity.

 Washington, D.C. was a modest and quiet town as compared to Baltimore, Philidelphia, New York and Boston which began to look much like great european metropolis'.  Washington, D.C. was closer to a small southern town with few grand buildings to grace its ambitious Parisian plan.  The city was replete with modest rowdwellings, warehouses and had a more pastoral feel with livestock grazing on the mall.  With the Civil War came more and more people, tenemants and barracks to house them, taverns, brothels and other retail establishments.  D.C may have been more like a frontier town at this time than a true metropolis... but it was a start.  It had been difficult selling parcels in a region plagued with a multitude of streams, ponds and swamps at a time when malaria and other maladies bourne by mosquitos and unclean were a common cause of mortality.  The modernization of Washington, D.C. was largely the work of Alexander Robey Shepherd better known as "Boss Shepherd" who paved the streets added gas street lights, horese drawn street cars and planted over 60,000 trees along Washington's many streets.  Boss Shephered is buried in Rock Creek Cemetery just across the street from the Lincoln Cottage.  Below is a picture of him when he was Governor of the Nations Capitol from 1873 to 1874.

Two edifices in mid ninteenth century Washington D.C. became the cradles both of Emancipation and it's legacy.  the first was what is called the Lincoln Cottage located in the Old Soldiers Home in N.W. Washington, D.C. just a few minutes from Howard university and The Catholic University of America, as the eagle flies...

The house is a victorian gothic revival domicile constructed in 1842 and shown below is the formal facade. It was purchased by the government to be an Eleemosynary institution for veteran soldiers.  It became the "Camp David" of the ninteenth century with its pastoral and exuberantly landscaped parterres.  During the Civil War it was virtually a country estate.  Howard University would grow up nearby around the late 1860's and Catholic University would open later in 1888.  The site was actually close to Ft. Stevens, the only site physically within the District that actual combat was seen. 

Lincolns summer cottage at the Old Soldiers Home

The second edifice of note is Frederick Douglass' second home in Washington, D.C. at Cedar Hill.  The house, originally built in 1855 was purchased by Frederick Douglas and financed through a bank of which he was then president called, "Freedom Savings and Trust".  The domicile is built in a victorian style that appears to be a fusion of neoclassical and gothic revival and charactaristic of many contemporary Maryland homes of the period especially on the eastern shore.  Frederick Douglas and his wife Anna Mary originally lived in a red brick and brownstone rowhouse on A. Street until the home was consumed in fire.  Frederick Douglass purchased the home called Cedar Hill when the developer and associated properties fell into in foreclosure.  The ill fated development of which Cedar Hill was the crowning glory exculded virtually all races and creeds a flaw no doubt integrally linked to it's financial failure. 

During the roughly 23 years of his life in Washington, D.C. Frederick Douglass was a constant agitator for civil rights.  The close network of abolitionists, sufferagists and temperance lobbyists he had galvanized during his long years of lecturing accross the country and in Europe were a testament to his universality.  Frederick Douglas had sought to work with whites as friends and allies in spite of the obvious prejudices he must have encountered.  Although he was close friends with John Brown he refused support of his violent insurrection at Harpers Ferry.  Long before Martin Luther King Jr., Frederick Douglas preached racial unity, equality and peaceful but tenacious struggle for civil and other human rights from fields, courtyards, lecture halls, athenaem's, churches, synagogues and other places of public and private assembly from England to Maine.  Among some of Douglass' dearest associates were Soujourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Coffin Mott and a brilliant host of other mid ninteenth century luminaries who all held him in the highest of esteem. 

The two buildings, Lincolns Emancipation cottage and Douglasses were ironically built on two hills which are among the highest elevations in the city.  The next time I have the pleasure of looking out from the Portico of Cedar Hill or Lincolnn's cottage I will be sure to see if there is a clear sight line between the two...

Upper Left: A young and dapper Frederick Douglass around 1860      UpperRright: Abraham Lincoln with a smile so rarely seen.  this is believed to be the last living photograph of the president.    Upper Middle: John Brown renown abolitionist and father of the Harpers Ferry insurrection.   Lower Right: a wonderfully gentle picture of Lincoln dressed splendidly and seated in gentlemanly pose.

ON THE ISSUE OF "FIDELITY" WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF A "RELATIONSHIP"

The issue of fidelity within the context of a relaionship far predates the classical models, Clytemnestra and Agamemnon or Helen and Paris but its ramifications still beguile the modern 21st century human psyche. Whether it is a high profile event such as that of former President Clinton, Rev. Eddie Long or an average
situation that affects the lkes of you and me it all measures up to the same thing in my opinion... "PUSSY MANAGEMENT"!  I personally coined the term, Pussy Management about 10 years ago when experiencing a difficult relationship and I have liberally used it to describe the considerable effort exhasted, typically within a relationship, in verifying sexual fidelity or measuring the degree to which it remains intact.  To be honest, the task is better suited to a geologist who must determine the extent of damage incurred by soil erosion.  But alas... there it is...

If there is a working definition for the concept of "RELATIONSHIP" then it is too lengthy for this discussion because it would have to encompass every facet of human interaction.  There are literally as many differnt types of relationships as there are people... each one unique.  So there is no "standard" definition for relationship... as the cliche goes; "It is what it is".

Fidelity however, is another story with respect to generality. Fidelity can be and ustually is assessed in very specific quantifiable terms.  Depending on the degree of formality of any relationship, fidelity may or may not ever come up as a manageable variable.  However, when it does become an issue fidelity is a contract, verbal or nonverbal, that has definable boundaries agreed upon by two or more parties. 

Well, back then to Pussy Management... or for the more sensitive, select the more victorian euphemism: "Fidelity within the context of a relationship".  Only one thing seems to have changed from the classical models of infidelity: that is the duty and integrity of the man who violates his, "sacred" vows to be a man and openly disclose, even celebrate his departure from them.  This is a regrettable and cowardly stance for a real man and a true gentleman.  The proper, gentlemanly and heroic thing for a man to do when he no longer wishes to abide by any of the terms in the covenant of his relationship is to advise the other stakeholder(s), (I say this because some modern relationships may not be monogamous), of his desire to alter or withdraw from some or all of the agreed terms of the covenant.  In short, if you are man enough to promise another person that you will abide by certain rules within a relationship and you change your mind be mature enough to let them know so that they can make the necessary changes to their life.  A simple enough rule to understand but all so complicated to live by it seems.

For myself, I have chosen not to ever engage in Pussy Management.  A mature adult fully understands choices they have made as well as the ramifications.  An adult certainly does not need me to inform them of what they already know.  As an adult I trust my intuition but that takes me into a grey space where I have no footing.  So if I have an intuition and I trust it and ask my partner if they have cheated that shows that I am uncertain.  So I ask them to tell me about the affair I know they are having so we can discuss changes in our relationship.  Let me repeat this, I say simply, "Darling please tell me about the affair you are having so we can discuss changes in our relationship"! Simple and effective, can be tailored to any particular style or language.  Try it sometime if you have to.  Now if your partner decides to play dumb or refuses to communicate you are pretty much on your own.  Will you end a 25 year relationship just because of sexual infidelity?

The moral of this story is that a mature relationship should be based on genuine companionship rather than sexual fidelity.  Pussy Management doesnt stop human libido it merely pushes the male instict to the sub-surface until it has a chance to manifest itself, if it is going to be an issue at all.   The other Moral is that a mature man faces his issues and finds integrity to deal with them choosing to share his ever changing emotions with the partner he has invested both time and compassion.  There is no majical solution to any relationship and most times partners are too immature to rise to the occasion so more than likely you will be faced with a very difficult decision so with that in mind please act both humanely and wisely.  Do what you need to do in order to bring yourslef to peace and remember if you truly love someone be man or woman enough to truly set them, and yourself free!

Meet the Author of FORTHEBROTHAS

Hello, I am the author of FORTHEBROTHAS and I wanted to share a few words with you and I hope that you will  enjoy the content of this blog.  I created FORTHEBROTHAS for you!  I have initiated subject matter merely to get you started, it is you who will give each topic it's unique flavor and nuance with your comments.  If you wish to discuss any topic that you do not see here please email me at darkdoubleentendre@yahoo.com and I will develop a seed blog.  Remember that we are all intellectuals by virtue of the things we have experienced and learned  in our lives.  Every man has a voice... So let your voice be heard!

THE HISTORIC KANSAS-NEBRASKA ACT ALLOWED NEW STATES AND TERRETORIES TO DETERMINE IF THEY WOULD BE FREE OR SLAVE STATES... THIS EVENT WAS SO IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT MEANT THAT THE "SLAVERY" QUESTION WAS BEING HOTLY DEBATED...