Rodney's Rambling's

  We see each other every day We walk past and sometimes say hello then we continue on our way rarely stopping. We gather in this same place We fret about how much time has past We look toward a better day We walk on into our stuff rarely seeing each other. We turn around to the sound We pass the lonely with a frown We distance ourselves from the difference We shun that which we do not understand Maybe if we were to take a moment Maybe if we were to make it to this moment Maybe if we were able to see the soul Maybe we'd declare that it's About Time --

 Hustling as a rite of passage   Hustle hus·tle    To obtain money by any legal means necessary. Instead of dealing, which is obtaining money by any illegal means available. Hustling is not only an art but a way of life. To hustle is to live in many places where the underground economy rules and the above economy denigrates. Hustling is the reality where decent jobs are denied, limited, or non-existent, hope is decried against the backwash of negativity, and dignity is found in humble abodes often bereft of other comforts. Hustling fills the void between household earnings and household needs. Hustling is where dreams meet reality, where myth meets essence, and where life meets eternity. Hustling is where my reality began at the age of 6.   Shoe-shine boy walking down the boulevard with a box filled with polish and an eye for the mark. Shoe shine boy, that’s what I was, fixin' to make all the nickels and dimes a ‘lil one could make. Shoe shine boy, standin...

  I MUST BE CRAZY Rodneyc//24 Gotta be, born under a tree Where liberty was promised But forgotten when the Clause denied humanity To those from across the sea See, I must be crazy. Not by chance but by design Did I lose my mind trapped As it were in that jungle benign Neglected absent the foundation By which, through which besides Which –it was decreed Damn, that boy must be crazy. Was it the aborted attempts to remediate Or obfuscated ruminations of promises Unintended to allude to full standing In this here republic for which we pledge My country tis of thee –sweet land Damn, I must be crazy. Insanity would be nice, cause then I’d understand That all this was not purposeful, conspiracies of denials Filtering through the lens of forgetfulness When, exactly did you come here and why the hell Are you so damn crazy? Must be, gotta be, crazy to hope in this dope Place where trouble seems to last always Strange belief in a Deity that loves regardless Of where, when, and how I came to ...

  On Rainbows and dreams – a tale of the Madman Rodney D. Coates The young man sat in a wheeled chair. His filthy clothes smelled of death, as he worked to keep his body upright. Sitting there, he had heard everything the Madman had said, and increasingly edged forward through the crowd that had formed. As the silence continued, he watched not sure if his voice would be welcomed. Hesitantly, almost in a whisper he spoke: “Mustapha, when I was but a child –it seems you were here. Even as we children would chide and ridicule you, you always had a smile, and a kind word. Even when we were rude, you were full of warmth and joy. I remember you always challenged us to sing rather than cry, play rather than complain, and run swiftly into our futures. And so we did, never looking to either side, always eager to face the new day. But then one day we were no longer children, no longer could we fill our days with fun, no longer could we be care free. As those days drained us of our joy, many ...

  Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis -what a woman   Never have I been so proud of being a Mama’s Boy than yesterday, as I watched a great woman -Fani Willis stand up, put down, and kick to the corner, not one, but four different, arrogant, self-righteous, and privileged white men.  District Attorney Fani Willis defiantly questioned the audacity, challenged the veracity, and rebuked the attempts to intimidate her while being asked to justify some of the most intimate details of her life.  One of her most poignant statements, when asked about whether she accepted extravagant vacations, cash, or dinner from her suiter, she responded that her father taught her that she had to stand on her own and “if you’re a woman and you go on a date with a man, you better have $200 dollars in your pocket.  So if that man acts up, you can go where you want to go.”  “We would have brutal arguments about the fact that ‘I am your equal,’” Willis said. “I don’t need any...

I. Introduction NAME Rodney D. Coates       Rank Professor Department Global and Intercultural Studies 2022 Annual Activity Report (Winter 2023-Fall 2023)   I am honored to be in my 30 th year at Miami University.  During this period, I have worked my way through the ranks from an untenured Assistant Professor to tenured Full Professor and from Director of Black World Studies to Coordinator of Black World Studies.  I continue to be actively engaged as a teacher and scholar, rendering service at multiple levels to include national, state/local, University, division, department, program, and students.   While these areas can be distinguished for review purposes, they are more cyclical than linear.  This means, at least for me, that all levels of engagement dynamically interact and inform each other.   Thus, my pedagogy informs my scholarship and service, as my service informs my scholarship and pedagogy, and my scholar...