To a blogger gone… MacDaddy

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MacDaddy enchanted us with his wisdom

Although MacDaddy left us almost two years ago, his words and wisdom did not

I just stopped over at daddyBstrong to say hi to MacDaddy. This brilliant, inspired blogger had an enormous impact on not only my life, but many people who followed his blog. He was a great voice in our community. I had been out of the blogging world for quite some time, so as I linked to his site, I sat motionless reading, Rest in Peace, Macarthur Walton.

Prescient blogger MacDaddy passed away on December 22, 2009, from cancer. I clearly remember his kind words and keen intellect; we discussed great writers and shared words on civility and kindness. “Why,” I thought, “didn’t I visit his blog more often”? Sometimes, we come to a sad realization too late that we lost more positive inspiration than we knew. And are all the poorer in spirit for that loss.

Since the news of MacDaddy’s passing is fresh to me, I’d like to pause a moment and think about those who we met only in cyberspace. Some touched our lives profoundly… and yet live on… Here’s a remembrance of profound blogger MacDaddy, whose words touched many deeply.

Can you please visit his site again?

Stop a while. Read his words. Let’s remember the courage of his convictions. If you can take a moment to remember the profound craft of this blogger, you will have an opportunity to question your preconceptions and, perhaps, think just a little deeper about life. As he suffered the ravages of cancer treatment, he found time to share his wisdom and kindness with us all.

Lives slip away as lives go on.

MacDaddy did a lot of thinking. We might want to take a moment to think about bloggers who touched our lives through their words and are no longer with us. We bloggers may know about each others’ lives more than our family and friends.

Whether we believe in an afterlife or not, it doesn’t matter. When we leave this earth and follow the paths we chose long ago, our words will remain. In honor of MacDaddy’s passing, I propose a long, overdue tribute. Sorry, MacDaddy, that I didn’t get to say good bye sooner.

MacDaddy’s blog: daddyBstrong

When visiting MacDaddy’s site, visitors were immediately welcomed with a kind, gentle salutation:

Hello. Come on in. The daddy writes about current events, literature, music and, once in a while, drops something on you from back in the day to make you pause and ponder, stop and stare, and begin to wonder. Who knows? You may start to pace the floor, shake your head from side to side, then fall down on bended knees in a praying position and cry, “Lawd, have mercy! What is this world coming to?” Check yourself! But this blog is NOT about the daddy. It’s about you: your boos, your fam, your hood, your country…our hopes and dreams of a better tomorrow. So let’s make a pact: the daddy will put it on the track if you’ll chase it down and hit him back. Together, we can definitely take it to another level. Shall we?”

His blog, daddyBstrong is about everyone who stopped by to read his wise words. This blog was an amalgam of poetry, social issues, civil rights, self-reflection, and optimism. I always left MacDaddy’s blog a little more optimistic and a lot more educated in spirit. His poetic voice had a singular beauty and his keen knowledge of history profound.

As of September 10, 2011, daddy’s family posted that they would continue his legacy. Sadly, that was the last entry. The family noted that MacDaddy was inspired to Solomon Burke’s song, None of us are free, which they feel sums up his mission and legacy. Here is that song.

MacDaddy was always thinking. On December 5, 2009, just 17 days before he passed away, he was still thinking…

Listen up. In keeping with some of my reader’s wishes, who say they’re suffering from “post-election fatigue,” I’m not writing about the election or the sorry state of the American economy. But I’m writing about American society, especially about the unnecessary and painful violence in our communities.

So the daddy is thinking…I’m just thinking… just thinking… about Malcolm x, who said that on this day, from this day forward, on this earth, we declare that we have a right to fight for our freedom “by any means necessary.” Minister Malcolm died from a hail of bullets from members of the Nation of Islam, the organization he helped create, leaving behind a wife and two children and the hopes of millions of African Americans.

I’m just thinking…just thinking…about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who died from a violent gunshot as he stood out on the balcony of a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. King said we must meet the power of violence as an organized people of love, as a nonviolent people, as a non-violent nation. He said we must have “the strength to love.” And though the corporate media won’t acknowledge it, he spent the last year of his life not talking about little white girls and little black boys holding hands and singing we shall overcome but focusing on war and poverty, reminding us that our government’s preoccupation with war not only killed people abroad; it diverted much-needed resources to end poverty at home.

Dr. King, an activist/intellectual, perhaps the most eloquent orator of any generation, a minister who could quote Shakespeare as easily as a passage from the bible, made it plain when he paraphrased an old religious hymn and said, “I don’t know about you, but I ain’t gon study war no mo.”

I’m just thinking…just thinking… about the millions of lesser-known Americans.

in cities like Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Memphis and Atlanta who die every day from a hail of gunfire from gangbangers who are famous for missing their targets and killing innocent citizens, including children.

Okay, African Americans, I want to ask you something:

As a people who were enslaved and brutalized for centuries by others, shouldn’t you be peaceful toward each other? Whether inside the home or out on the street, shouldn’t another brother or sister be the last person you raise a hand or squeeze a trigger finger to harm? And if you must raise a hand or pull a trigger, shouldn’t the only possible justification for doing so be to defend yourself as an individual or to defend your country against attacks?

Okay, Americans of all ethnic, political or religious persuasions, I want to ask you something: As members of a nation that took this country by committing genocide against nations of Indians (the first Americans), as members of a nation that enslaved an entire group of people (Africans), as members of nation that spends much of its budget on either fighting wars or preparing for wars, as members of a nation with 47 million people without healthcare, with infrastructure so bad that you’re afraid to drive across some bridges, shouldn’t you be so angry, so… obsessed with forcing your elected officials to turn away from bloody wars and turn to the righteous quest of supporting you that you’re willing to organize other Americans to march on Washington D.C. this summer and camp out there until your elected officials—yes, Barack Obama—pass laws to bail out working people, to insure them, to employ them, to rebuild America?

I’m just thinking…just thinking…about rising each morning with the sun, sipping a cup of java, paraphrasing an old spiritual and saying like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I don’t know about you, but I ain’t gon study war no mo.”

I’m just thinking…just thinking…about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who died from a violent gunshot as he stood out on the balcony of a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. King said we must meet the power of violence as an organized people of love, as a nonviolent people, as a non-violent nation. He said we must have “the strength to love.” And though the corporate media won’t acknowledge it, he spent the last year of his life not talking about little white girls and little black boys holding hands and singing we shall overcome but focusing on war and poverty, reminding us that our government’s preoccupation with war not only killed people abroad; it diverted much-needed resources to end poverty at home.

MacDaddy wove his tremendous sadness over the human condition written with such power and beauty, that only a truly cold soul could click to another site unmoved. Here is one of his many poems of sorrow, compassion, hope and strength. MacDaddy wrote this poem when he was diagnosed with cancer in 2004:

JUST ONE MORE DAY

Tomorrow morn

Lord,
Let me live and know life for one more day
Just one more day

Let me wake to hurried neighbors revving cars
Racing to a closed-in office, chasing a rising sun
And sip smoking hot, black. fresh-brewed
from a Mickey’s Diner cup
Reading the Star-Tribune, tasting buttered toast still warm

Tomorrow noon

Let me lunch on green salad, fresh fruit, green tea
with knowing companions
Plucking seedless, blue grapes from thick vines
Swapping warm smiles, tall tales and a joke or two

Tomorrow eve,

Let me dine on french bread, beef brisket, chilled wine
and a soft face
Nurturing hopes and dreams of a sweeter tomorrow
Grateful for your warm love and generosity in hearing me pray

Lord,
Let me life and know life for one more day
Just one more day

You may find your name among many of the beautiful tributes to daddyBstrong from those who hang around in this corner of cyberspace here.

The family requested friends visit MacDaddy’s sidebar: “Change to Believe in”…”Good Lookin’ Out”…”Speaking Truth to Power”…and “A Change is Gonna Come” These little gems underscore his overarching theme of truth and justice as reflected in his body of work both as a blogger/author and community activist. His “sidebar” time line weaves current events with personal anecdotes as he connected people’s personal stories to America at large.

One of his observations is as relevant today as when he wrote it:

“I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man. I live in the South, and I’ve seen the South come a long way, and I’ve seen the rest of the country that share the South’s attitude toward minority groups at that time, particularly African Americans.” And that racism inclination still exists. And I think it’s bubbled up to the surface because of the belief among many white people, not just in the South but around the country, that African-Americans are not qualified to lead this great country. It’s an abominable circumstance, and it grieves me and concerns me very deeply.”

In the last two or three days, prior to learning of MacDaddy’s sad passing, I visited a blogger with whom I’d lost touch. I think I’m going to spend a few days looking up other bloggers whose sites I used to frequent. If you decide to look up some old cyber buddies, won’t you stop by and let us know how it goes?

Do you have any final words for MacDaddy that you didn’t write in 2009?