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richardmurray

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  1. richardmurray
    MY CREATIVE TABLE
     2023 art summary ,  December 2023 secret santa, Richard Murray Centos 2023, Princess Candace New Year, Jiausiku 1-2-3 Shadow 1 , weird fashion, Dark Soul photomanipulation,  Dark Academia, Valentine's Nostalgia, Jiausiku 4-5-6  Shadow 2-3 ,  Biden state of the union reply, Jiausiku shadow 4, sign on a signpost,  Mandala Sphere,  ? 
     
    THE BLACK TABLE
    Black party of governance called on again, salvador bahia festival dates 2024, shirley chisholm biopic, ruffin and black cop relatives, movies that move we 2024 begins, viola plummer, Jeffrey wright nod, mlk jr said 02012024, Black reparations discussion on Black history month, black details in the populace, continental black american unity, The truth of voting, black cuteness, proof the war on crime was never honest, babel usa, elvert barnes, matawana first black female owned in brooklyn and settlements,  kiratheartist coloring pages, Children of the Quicksands from Efua Traore , dorie ann ladner old, dorie ann ladner new,  national black writers conference day to day reviews, marcia williams,  ?
     
    AALBC TABLE
    erotic couples classes fantasyfitnessmd , you want to know why you shouldn't feel sad for artist, black bookstore in florida, tim scott and the future black elephants, Google text to video,  good books, carnaval ile aye, Learn screenwriting from Tananarive due + steven barnes, a comment on 16 books missing from the bible, Mace Windu movie - you want?,  ayesha kazim, film festivals, sarah vaughan sammy davis jr + eartha kitt,  Troy covers the internet- my thoughts , the obsolete site,  ai modeling and pop up stamps, Movies That Move We: Rustin 2024, American Fiction 2023, The Color Purple 2023 , favorite black poetry, questions of supermen, google docs ,  questions to writing and things written, just so blacks know, tiktok unity, art of illegal tender from musashden, Posse from movies that move we, ? 
     
    ARTISTS LIST
      GEMGFX , GDBEE , Deidre Smith Buck , Shawn Alleyne, RaySeb , Coco Michelle , chriss choreo, yeahbouyee , Collective poem side dee miller- in comments , clarence bateman , Ronald Reed, K-Hermann, El Carna , djdonttouchthetrim, Kiratheartist, briana lawrence  , odie1049, Nettrice Gaskins, Dada Koita ,  Paul Lewin,  Lisa Tillman Pritchard, Chevelin Pierre,   , Zak Anderson, ? 
     
    Response and Article series : 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , ?
     
    Richard Murray Creative Table 3 https://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/entry/345-richard-murray-creative-table-3/
     
    Richard Murray Creative Table 2 https://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/entry/281-richard-murray-creative-table-2/
     
    Richard Murray Creative Table 1 https://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/entry/194-richard-murray-creative-table/
     
    My Newsletter https://rmnewsletter.over-blog.com/
  2. richardmurray
    In a speech before the Scottish Anti-Slavery Society in Glasgow, Scotland on March 26, 1860, Frederick Douglass outlines his views on the American Constitution.
     
    I proceed to the discussion. And first a word about the question. Much will be gained at the outset if we fully and clearly understand the real question under discussion. Indeed, nothing is or can be understood. This are often confounded and treated as the same, for no better reason than that they resemble each other, even while they are in their nature and character totally distinct and even directly opposed to each other. This jumbling up things is a sort of dust-throwing which is often indulged in by small men who argue for victory rather than for truth.
    Thus, for instance, the American Government and the American Constitution are spoken of in a manner which would naturally lead the hearer to believe that one is identical with the other; when the truth is, they are distinct in character as is a ship and a compass. The one may point right and the other steer wrong. A chart is one thing, the course of the vessel is another. The Constitution may be right, the Government is wrong. If the Government has been governed by mean, sordid, and wicked passions, it does not follow that the Constitution is mean, sordid, and wicked.
    What, then, is the question? I will state it. But first let me state what is not the question. It is not whether slavery existed in the United States at the time of the adoption of the Constitution; it is not whether slaveholders took part in the framing of the Constitution; it is not whether those slaveholders, in their hearts, intended to secure certain advantages in that instrument for slavery; it is not whether the American Government has been wielded during seventy-two years in favour of the propagation and permanence of slavery; it is not whether a pro-slavery interpretation has been put upon the Constitution by the American Courts — all these points may be true or they may be false, they may be accepted or they may be rejected, without in any wise affecting the real question in debate.
    The real and exact question between myself and the class of persons represented by the speech at the City Hall may be fairly stated thus: — 1st, Does the United States Constitution guarantee to any class or description of people in that country the right to enslave, or hold as property, any other class or description of people in that country? 2nd, Is the dissolution of the union between the slave and free States required by fidelity to the slaves, or by the just demands of conscience? Or, in other words, is the refusal to exercise the elective franchise, and to hold office in America, the surest, wisest, and best way to abolish slavery in America?
    To these questions the Garrisonians say Yes. They hold the Constitution to be a slaveholding instrument, and will not cast a vote or hold office, and denounce all who vote or hold office, no matter how faithfully such persons labour to promote the abolition of slavery. I, on the other hand, deny that the Constitution guarantees the right to hold property in man, and believe that the way to abolish slavery in America is to vote such men into power as well use their powers for the abolition of slavery. This is the issue plainly stated, and you shall judge between us. Before we examine into the disposition, tendency, and character of the Constitution, I think we had better ascertain what the Constitution itself is. Before looking for what it means, let us see what it is. Here, too, there is much dust to be cleared away. What, then, is the Constitution? I will tell you. It is not even like the British Constitution, which is made up of enactments of Parliament, decisions of Courts, and the established usages of the Government. The American Constitution is a written instrument full and complete in itself. No Court in America, no Congress, no President, can add a single word thereto, or take a single word threreto. It is a great national enactment done by the people, and can only be altered, amended, or added to by the people. I am careful to make this statement here; in America it would not be necessary. It would not be necessary here if my assailant had shown the same desire to be set before you the simple truth, which he manifested to make out a good case for himself and friends. Again, it should be borne in mind that the mere text, and only the text, and not any commentaries or creeds written by those who wished to give the text a meaning apart from its plain reading, was adopted as the Constitution of the United States. It should also be borne in mind that the intentions of those who framed the Constitution, be they good or bad, for slavery or against slavery, are so respected so far, and so far only, as we find those intentions plainly stated in the Constitution. It would be the wildest of absurdities, and lead to endless confusion and mischiefs, if, instead of looking to the written paper itself, for its meaning, it were attempted to make us search it out, in the secret motives, and dishonest intentions, of some of the men who took part in writing it. It was what they said that was adopted by the people, not what they were ashamed or afraid to say, and really omitted to say. Bear in mind, also, and the fact is an important one, that the framers of the Constitution sat with doors closed, and that this was done purposely, that nothing but the result of their labours should be seen, and that that result should be judged of by the people free from any of the bias shown in the debates. It should also be borne in mind, and the fact is still more important, that the debates in the convention that framed the Constitution, and by means of which a pro-slavery interpretation is now attempted to be forced upon that instrument, were not published till more than a quarter of a century after the presentation and the adoption of the Constitution.
    These debates were purposely kept out of view, in order that the people should adopt, not the secret motives or unexpressed intentions of any body, but the simple text of the paper itself. Those debates form no part of the original agreement. I repeat, the paper itself, and only the paper itself, with its own plainly written purposes, is the Constitution. It must stand or fall, flourish or fade, on its own individual and self-declared character and objects. Again, where would be the advantage of a written Constitution, if, instead of seeking its meaning in its words, we had to seek them in the secret intentions of individuals who may have had something to do with writing the paper? What will the people of America a hundred years hence care about the intentions of the scriveners who wrote the Constitution? These men are already gone from us, and in the course of nature were expected to go from us. They were for a generation, but the Constitution is for ages. Whatever we may owe to them, we certainly owe it to ourselves, and to mankind, and to God, to maintain the truth of our own language, and to allow no villainy, not even the villainy of holding men as slaves — which Wesley says is the sum of all villainies — to shelter itself under a fair-seeming and virtuous language. We owe it to ourselves to compel the devil to wear his own garments, and to make wicked laws speak out their wicked intentions. Common sense, and common justice, and sound rules of interpretation all drive us to the words of the law for the meaning of the law. The practice of the Government is dwelt upon with much fervour and eloquence as conclusive as to the slaveholding character of the Constitution. This is really the strong point and the only strong point, made in the speech in the City Hall. But good as this argument is, it is not conclusive. A wise man has said that few people have been found better than their laws, but many have been found worse. To this last rule America is no exception. Her laws are one thing, her practice is another thing. We read that the Jews made void the law by their tradition, that Moses permitted men to put away their wives because of the hardness of their hearts, but that this was not so at the beginning. While good laws will always be found where good practice prevails, the reverse does not always hold true. Far from it. The very opposite is often the case. What then? Shall we condemn the righteous law because wicked men twist it to the support of wickedness? Is that the way to deal with good and evil? Shall we blot out all distinction between them, and hand over to slavery all that slavery may claim on the score of long practice? Such is the course commended to us in the City Hall speech. After all, the fact that men go out of the Constitution to prove it pro-slavery, whether that going out is to the practice of the Government, or to the secret intentions of the writers of the paper, the fact that they do go out is very significant. It is a powerful argument on my side. It is an admission that the thing for which they are looking is not to be found where only it ought to be found, and that is in the Constitution itself. If it is not there, it is nothing to the purpose, be it wheresoever else it may be. But I shall have no more to say on this point hereafter.
    The very eloquent lecturer at the City Hall doubtless felt some embarrassment from the fact that he had literally to give the Constitution a pro-slavery interpretation; because upon its face it of itself conveys no such meaning, but a very opposite meaning. He thus sums up what he calls the slaveholding provisions of the Constitution. I quote his own words: — “Article 1, section 9, provides for the continuance of the African slave trade for the 20 years, after the adoption of the Constitution. Art. 4, section 9, provides for the recovery from the other States of fugitive slaves. Art. 1, section 2, gives the slave States a representation of the three-fifths of all the slave population; and Art. 1, section 8, requires the President to use the military, naval, ordnance, and militia resources of the entire country for the suppression of slave insurrection, in the same manner as he would employ them to repel invasion.” Now any man reading this statement, or hearing it made with such a show of exactness, would unquestionably suppose that he speaker or writer had given the plain written text of the Constitution itself. I can hardly believe that the intended to make any such impression. It would be a scandalous imputation to say he did. Any yet what are we to make of it? How can we regard it? How can he be screened from the charge of having perpetrated a deliberate and point-blank misrepresentation? That individual has seen fit to place himself before the public as my opponent, and yet I would gladly find some excuse for him. I do not wish to think as badly of him as this trick of his would naturally lead me to think. Why did he not read the Constitution? Why did he read that which was not the Constitution? He pretended to be giving chapter and verse, section and clause, paragraph and provision. The words of the Constitution were before him. Why then did he not give you the plain words of the Constitution? Oh, sir, I fear that the gentleman knows too well why he did not. It so happens that no such words as “African slave trade,” no such words as “slave insurrections,” are anywhere used in that instrument. These are the words of that orator, and not the words of the Constitution of the United States. Now you shall see a slight difference between my manner of treating this subject and what which my opponent has seen fit, for reasons satisfactory to himself, to pursue. What he withheld, that I will spread before you: what he suppressed, I will bring to light: and what he passed over in silence, I will proclaim: that you may have the whole case before you, and not be left to depend upon either his, or upon my inferences or testimony. Here then are several provisions of the Constitution to which reference has been made. I read them word for word just as they stand in the paper, called the United States Constitution, Art. I, sec. 2. “Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included in this Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons; Art. I, sec. 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now existing shall think fit to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding tend dollars for each person; Art. 4, sec. 2. No person held to service or labour in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from service or labour; but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labour may be due; Art. I, sec. 8. To provide for calling for the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions.” Here then, are those provisions of the Constitution, which the most extravagant defenders of slavery can claim to guarantee a right of property in man. These are the provisions which have been pressed into the service of the human fleshmongers of America. Let us look at them just as they stand, one by one. Let us grant, for the sake of the argument, that the first of these provisions, referring to the basis of representation and taxation, does refer to slaves. We are not compelled to make that admission, for it might fairly apply to aliens — persons living in the country, but not naturalized. But giving the provisions the very worse construction, what does it amount to? I answer — It is a downright disability laid upon the slaveholding States; one which deprives those States of two-fifths of their natural basis of representation. A black man in a free State is worth just two-fifths more than a black man in a slave State, as a basis of political power under the Constitution. Therefore, instead of encouraging slavery, the Constitution encourages freedom by giving an increase of “two-fifths” of political power to free over slave States. So much for the three-fifths clause; taking it at is worst, it still leans to freedom, not slavery; for, be it remembered that the Constitution nowhere forbids a coloured man to vote. I come to the next, that which it is said guaranteed the continuance of the African slave trade for twenty years. I will also take that for just what my opponent alleges it to have been, although the Constitution does not warrant any such conclusion. But, to be liberal, let us suppose it did, and what follows? Why, this — that this part of the Constitution, so far as the slave trade is concerned, became a dead letter more than 50 years ago, and now binds no man’s conscience for the continuance of any slave trade whatsoever. Mr. Thompson is just 52 years too late in dissolving the Union on account of this clause. He might as well dissolve the British Government, because Queen Elizabeth granted to Sir John Hawkins to import Africans into the West Indies 300 years ago! But there is still more to be said about this abolition of the slave trade. Men, at that time, both in England and in America, looked upon the slave trade as the life of slavery. The abolition of the slave trade was supposed to be the certain death of slavery. Cut off the stream, and the pond will dry up, was the common notion at the time.
    Wilberforce and Clarkson, clear-sighted as they were, took this view; and the American statesmen, in providing for the abolition of the slave trade, thought they were providing for the abolition of the slavery. This view is quite consistent with the history of the times. All regarded slavery as an expiring and doomed system, destined to speedily disappear from the country. But, again, it should be remembered that this very provision, if made to refer to the African slave trade at all, makes the Constitution anti-slavery rather than for slavery; for it says to the slave States, the price you will have to pay for coming into the American Union is, that the slave trade, which you would carry on indefinitely out of the Union, shall be put an end to in twenty years if you come into the Union. Secondly, if it does apply, it expired by its own limitation more than fifty years ago. Thirdly, it is anti-slavery, because it looked to the abolition of slavery rather than to its perpetuity. Fourthly, it showed that the intentions of the framers of the Constitution were good, not bad. I think this is quite enough for this point.
    I go to the “slave insurrection” clause, though, in truth, there is no such clause. The one which is called so has nothing whatever to do with slaves or slaveholders any more than your laws for suppression of popular outbreaks has to do with making slaves of you and your children. It is only a law for suppression of riots or insurrections. But I will be generous here, as well as elsewhere, and grant that it applies to slave insurrections. Let us suppose that an anti-slavery man is President of the United States (and the day that shall see this the case is not distant) and this very power of suppressing slave insurrections would put an end to slavery. The right to put down an insurrection carries with it the right to determine the means by which it shall be put down. If it should turn out that slavery is a source of insurrection, that there is no security from insurrection while slavery lasts, why, the Constitution would be best obeyed by putting an end to slavery, and an anti-slavery Congress would do the very same thing. Thus, you see, the so-called slave-holding provisions of the American Constitution, which a little while ago looked so formidable, are, after all, no defence or guarantee for slavery whatever. But there is one other provision. This is called the “Fugitive Slave Provision.” It is called so by those who wish to make it subserve the interest of slavery in America, and the same by those who wish to uphold the views of a party in this country. It is put thus in the speech at the City Hall: — “Let us go back to 1787, and enter Liberty Hall, Philadelphia, where sat in convention the illustrious men who framed the Constitution — with George Washington in the chair. On the 27th of September, Mr. Butler and Mr. Pinckney, two delegates from the State of South Carolina, moved that the Constitution should require that fugitive slaves and servants should be delivered up like criminals, and after a discussion on the subject, the clause, as it stands in the Constitution, was adopted. After this, in the conventions held in the several States to ratify the Constitution, the same meaning was attached to the words. For example, Mr. Madison (afterwards President), when recommending the Constitution to his constituents, told them that the clause would secure them their property in slaves.” I must ask you to look well to this statement. Upon its face, it would seem a full and fair statement of the history of the transaction it professes to describe and yet I declare unto you, knowing as I do the facts in the case, my utter amazement at the downright untruth conveyed under the fair seeming words now quoted. The man who could make such a statement may have all the craftiness of a lawyer, but who can accord to him the candour of an honest debater? What could more completely destroy all confidence in his statements? Mark you, the orator had not allowed his audience to hear read the provision of the Constitution to which he referred. He merely characterized it as one to “deliver up fugitive slaves and servants like criminals,” and tells you that this was done “after discussion.” But he took good care not to tell you what was the nature of that discussion. He have would have spoiled the whole effect of his statement had he told you the whole truth. Now, what are the facts connected with this provision of the Constitution? You shall have them. It seems to take two men to tell the truth. It is quite true that Mr. Butler and Mr. Pinckney introduced a provision expressly with a view to the recapture of fugitive slaves: it is quite true also that there was some discussion on the subject — and just here the truth shall come out. These illustrious kidnappers were told promptly in that discussion that no such idea as property in man should be admitted into the Constitution. The speaker in question might have told you, and he would have told you but the simple truth, if he had told you that he proposition of Mr. Butler and Mr. Pinckney — which he leads you to infer was adopted by the convention that from the Constitution — was, in fact, promptly and indignantly rejected by that convention. He might have told you, had it suited his purpose to do so, that the words employed in the first draft of the fugitive slave clause were such as applied to the condition of slaves, and expressly declared that persons held to “servitude” should be given up; but that the word “servitude” was struck from the provision, for the very reason that it applied to slaves. He might have told you that the same Mr. Madison declared that the word was struck out because the convention would not consent that the idea of property in men should be admitted into the Constitution. The fact that Mr. Madison can be cited on both sides of this question is another evidence of the folly and absurdity of making the secret intentions of the framers the criterion by which the Constitution is to be construed. But it may be asked — if this clause does not apply to slaves, to whom does it apply?
    I answer, that when adopted, it applies to a very large class of persons — namely, redemptioners — persons who had come to America from Holland, from Ireland, and other quarters of the globe — like the Coolies to the West Indies — and had, for a consideration duly paid, become bound to “serve and labour” for the parties two whom their service and labour was due. It applies to indentured apprentices and others who have become bound for a consideration, under contract duly made, to serve and labour, to such persons this provision applies, and only to such persons. The plain reading of this provision shows that it applies, and that it can only properly and legally apply, to persons “bound to service.” Its object plainly is, to secure the fulfillment of contracts for “service and labour.” It applies to indentured apprentices, and any other persons from whom service and labour may be due. The legal condition of the slave puts him beyond the operation of this provision. He is not described in it. He is a simple article of property. He does not owe and cannot owe service. He cannot even make a contract. It is impossible for him to do so. He can no more make such a contract than a horse or an ox can make one. This provision, then, only respects persons who owe service, and they only can owe service who can receive an equivalent and make a bargain. The slave cannot do that, and is therefore exempted from the operation of this fugitive provision. In all matters where laws are taught to be made the means of oppression, cruelty, and wickedness, I am for strict construction. I will concede nothing. It must be shown that it is so nominated in the bond. The pound of flesh, but not one drop of blood. The very nature of law is opposed to all such wickedness, and makes it difficult to accomplish such objects under the forms of law. Law is not merely an arbitrary enactment with regard to justice, reason, or humanity. Blackstone defines it to be a rule prescribed by the supreme power of the State commanding what is right and forbidding what is wrong. The speaker at the City Hall laid down some rules of legal interpretation. These rules send us to the history of the law for its meaning. I have no objection to such a course in ordinary cases of doubt. But where human liberty and justice are at stake, the case falls under an entirely different class of rules. There must be something more than history — something more than tradition. The Supreme Court of the United States lays down this rule, and it meets the case exactly — “Where rights are infringed — where the fundamental principles of the law are overthrown — where the general system of the law is departed from, the legislative intention must be expressed with irresistible clearness.” The same court says that the language of the law must be construed strictly in favour of justice and liberty. Again, there is another rule of law. It is — Where a law is susceptible of two meanings, the one making it accomplish an innocent purpose, and the other making it accomplish a wicked purpose, we must in all cases adopt that which makes it accomplish an innocent purpose. Again, the details of a law are to be interpreted in the light of the declared objects sought by the law. I set these rules down against those employed at the City Hall. To me they seem just and rational. I only ask you to look at the American Constitution in the light of them, and you will see with me that no man is guaranteed a right of property in man, under the provisions of that instrument. If there are two ideas more distinct in their character and essence than another, those ideas are “persons” and “property,” “men” and “things.” Now, when it is proposed to transform persons into “property” and men into beasts of burden, I demand that the law that completes such a purpose shall be expressed with irresistible clearness. The thing must not be left to inference, but must be done in plain English. I know how this view of the subject is treated by the class represented at the City Hall. They are in the habit of treating the Negro as an exception to general rules. When their own liberty is in question they will avail themselves of all rules of law which protect and defend their freedom; but when the black man’s rights are in question they concede everything, admit everything for slavery, and put liberty to the proof. They reserve the common law usage, and presume the Negro a slave unless he can prove himself free. I, on the other hand, presume him free unless he is proved to be otherwise. Let us look at the objects for which the Constitution was framed and adopted, and see if slavery is one of them. Here are its own objects as set forth by itself: — “We, the people of these United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America.” The objects here set forth are six in number: union, defence, welfare, tranquility, justice, and liberty. These are all good objects, and slavery, so far from being among them, is a foe of them all. But it has been said that Negroes are not included within the benefits sought under this declaration. This is said by the slaveholders in America — it is said by the City Hall orator — but it is not said by the Constitution itself. Its language is “we the people;” not we the white people, not even we the citizens, not we the privileged class, not we the high, not we the low, but we the people; not we the horses, sheep, and swine, and wheel-barrows, but we the people, we the human inhabitants; and, if Negroes are people, they are included in the benefits for which the Constitution of America was ordained and established. But how dare any man who pretends to be a friend to the Negro thus gratuitously concede away what the Negro has a right to claim under the Constitution? Why should such friends invent new arguments to increase the hopelessness of his bondage? This, I undertake to say, as the conclusion of the whole matter, that the constitutionality of slavery can be made out only by disregarding the plain and common-sense reading of the Constitution itself; by discrediting and casting away as worthless the most beneficent rules of legal interpretation; by ruling the Negro outside of these beneficent rules; by claiming that the Constitution does not mean what it says, and that it says what it does not mean; by disregarding the written Constitution, and interpreting it in the light of a secret understanding. It is in this mean, contemptible, and underhand method that the American Constitution is pressed into the service of slavery. They go everywhere else for proof that the Constitution declares that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; it secures to every man the right of trial by jury, the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus — the great writ that put an end to slavery and slave-hunting in England — and it secures to every State a republican form of government. Anyone of these provisions in the hands of abolition statesmen, and backed up by a right moral sentiment, would put an end to slavery in America. The Constitution forbids the passing of a bill of attainder: that is, a law entailing upon the child the disabilities and hardships imposed upon the parent. Every slave law in America might be repealed on this very ground. The slave is made a slave because his mother is a slave. But to all this it is said that the practice of the American people is against my view. I admit it. They have given the Constitution a slaveholding interpretation. I admit it. Thy have committed innumerable wrongs against the Negro in the name of the Constitution. Yes, I admit it all; and I go with him who goes farthest in denouncing these wrongs. But it does not follow that the Constitution is in favour of these wrongs because the slaveholders have given it that interpretation. To be consistent in his logic, the City Hall speaker must follow the example of some of his brothers in America — he must not only fling away the Constitution, but the Bible. The Bible must follow the Constitution, for that, too, has been interpreted for slavery by American divines. Nay, more, he must not stop with the Constitution of America, but make war with the British Constitution, for, if I mistake not, the gentleman is opposed to the union of Church and State. In America he called himself a Republican. Yet he does not go for breaking down the British Constitution, although you have a Queen on the throne, and bishops in the House of Lords.
    My argument against the dissolution of the American Union is this: It would place the slave system more exclusively under the control of the slaveholding States, and withdraw it from the power in the Northern States which is opposed to slavery. Slavery is essentially barbarous in its character. It, above all things else, dreads the presence of an advanced civilization. It flourishes best where it meets no reproving frowns, and hears no condemning voices. While in the Union it will meet with both. Its hope of life, in the last resort, is to get out of the Union. I am, therefore, for drawing the bond of the Union more completely under the power of the Free States. What they most dread, that I most desire. I have much confidence in the instincts of the slaveholders. They see that the Constitution will afford slavery no protection when it shall cease to be administered by slaveholders. They see, moreover, that if there is once a will in the people of America to abolish slavery, this is no word, no syllable in the Constitution to forbid that result. They see that the Constitution has not saved slavery in Rhode Island, in Connecticut, in New York, or Pennsylvania; that the Free States have only added three to their original number. There were twelve Slave States at the beginning of the Government: there are fifteen now. They dissolution of the Union would not give the North a single advantage over slavery, but would take from it many. Within the Union we have a firm basis of opposition to slavery. It is opposed to all the great objects of the Constitution. The dissolution of the Union is not only an unwise but a cowardly measure — 15 millions running away from three hundred and fifty thousand slaveholders. Mr. Garrison and his friends tell us that while in the Union we are responsible for slavery. He and they sing out “No Union with slaveholders,” and refuse to vote. I admit our responsibility for slavery while in the Union but I deny that going out of the Union would free us from that responsibility. There now clearly is no freedom from responsibility for slavery to any American citizen short to the abolition of slavery. The American people have gone quite too far in this slaveholding business now to sum up their whole business of slavery by singing out the cant phrase, “No union with slaveholders.” To desert the family hearth may place the recreant husband out of the presence of his starving children, but this does not free him from responsibility. If a man were on board of a pirate ship, and in company with others had robbed and plundered, his whole duty would not be preformed simply by taking the longboat and singing out, “No union with pirates.” His duty would be to restore the stolen property. The American people in the Northern States have helped to enslave the black people. Their duty will not have been done till they give them back their plundered rights. Reference was made at the City Hall to my having once held other opinions, and very different opinions to those I have now expressed. An old speech of mine delivered fourteen years ago was read to show — I know not what. Perhaps it was to show that I am not infallible. If so, I have to say in defence, that I never pretended to be. Although I cannot accuse myself of being remarkably unstable, I do not pretend that I have never altered my opinion both in respect to men and things. Indeed, I have been very much modified both in feeling and opinion within the last fourteen years. When I escaped from slavery, and was introduced to the Garrisonians, I adopted very many of their opinions, and defended them just as long as I deemed them true. I was young, had read but little, and naturally took some things on trust. Subsequent experience and reading have led me to examine for myself. This had brought me to other conclusions. When I was a child, I thought and spoke as a child. But the question is not as to what were my opinions fourteen years ago, but what they are now. If I am right now, it really does not matter what I was fourteen years ago. My position now is one of reform, not of revolution. I would act for the abolition of slavery through the Government — not over its ruins. If slaveholders have ruled the American Government for the last fifty years, let the anti-slavery men rule the nation for the next fifty years. If the South has made the Constitution bend to the purposes of slavery, let the North now make that instrument bend to the cause of freedom and justice. If 350,000 slaveholders have, by devoting their energies to that single end, been able to make slavery the vital and animating spirit of the American Confederacy for the last 72 years, now let the freemen of the North, who have the power in their own hands, and who can make the American Government just what they think fit, resolve to blot out for ever the foul and haggard crime, which is the blight and mildew, the curse and the disgrace of the whole United States.
     
    REFERRAL
    https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/1860-frederick-douglass-constitution-united-states-it-pro-slavery-or-anti-slavery/
     
    Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787
    from James MAdison 
    https://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/debcont.asp
  3. richardmurray

    creatve list
    MY CREATIVE TABLE
    Moments In a Day of Mumu : first rohonamo story, Art Summary 2022 , Sudowoodo plushie, Promoting positivity, Valentines day 2023 question and answer, Black history month 2023 q&a, my first stageplay , Messages at the end of a rainbow letter 1 , Joys of one north or somewhere -wabi sabi, , Fun Ninjago, Pubg submission <The Spacescraper>, Death by Example storyboardfilm, Shani and the shadow, phillipe my imaginary spirit animal , Commission Aevemor, I.S.D. Cup ,Faefarm , The Ancestral Tree + Brah Soul Sun for Juneteenth 2023 and more,  witches pendant 3d, Violet Pantheress, The Incomplete Labors Of Judasa, Photomanipulation for Xena , Love That Pass Ships In The Night, Innocent Little Margaret, The Spider and the &nbsp;Chuki+ Sarah's Part Times,  Around the Moon in 80 risings, adoptables august 2023, 3d art summer 2023, princess candace in the kingdom of glass, Old man and the sea for set sailt , Week 3 bettfic , Bayonetta -super smash bros collab, left hand tutorials first of 2023, honoring francois artblog, Pokemon random colors, &nbsp;Pokemon Rainforest, MA'am and week 4 of Bettsfic, For Supertiti09 as a participation price , Dedenne rainforest, The Swim ACross the Colby Elv, Autumn art + drawtober phase 1,  supertiti09 variant and promptpot day 11/12 of october, cursed costumes day 1 -best baddies , dtiys poetry-sikarengo+mswisp+namwiki, fright-ing month complete includes dtiys sikarengo+mswisp+namwiki+goblin+scare &nbsp;set poems with stories++ fall festival+spookarama, king of dead horses ring, Photomanipulation storybook, far west photomanipulation, Dark horse ring, the 16th iq'o ch'en , harvest eternal complete, pa bones hustlers dice complete, la muerta barbie + myth of the manhattan mourner+what's love got to do with it lyric, winter wonderland, commission jadadsnowleopard2023,  , 2023 art summary
    THE BLACK TABLE
    Benin bronze return , Omeleto+marvn gaye+kindred octavia tried , Shelby and the lesson Black elected officials need to learn, the directors of wakanda forever side kindred the tv show , vanessa guillen-rape in military- metrofocus ,  minority business development capital readiness grant competition, district judge candice alcaraz, Norwell roberts first black law enforcer of london, Dreadriver whiskey or spirits from Eboni MAjor, Bruce family of california, India and the beginning of post european ,  Tunisia and the reality of democracy, The Wishing Pool by Tananarive Due, A Black Woman leading in real estate or financial access to health or sickle cell hair care, San francisco and reparations for reconstruction and post reconstruction , Fiyah Magazine Carnival edition 2023, The woman king- movies that move we , Thistle and Verse 2022 review and more, Crooklyn movies that move we, 133 publishing , Odoya Iemanja 2023,  Black people attacked by the internal revenue service or the new york police department or white european descent plans , Flickr celebrate black photographers 2023 , saint Bob MArley &nbsp;2023 birthday ,post birthday 2023 bob marley,  Civilian complaint review board to NYPD 2020, minorities in the black community, Star Chasers of Senegal , The woman in the iron coffin + dogs in the wild , al jarreau bday , celebrating black speculative fiction, carnaval 2023 day 3 4 6 , carmen jones on moviesthatmovewe , Miishe Addy jetstream black investment, Courtney wade and the black pages index, Blacklit bookstore of dallas  , black millenial debt, Black Girl Ventures Shelly Bell art of the pitch and why you need to own , Creative Soul Photography side Disney make pan black dolls, scholarship opportunity early 2023, TSU Marching Band, grammy winners,  south side home movie project february webinar , off time jive by az louise book reveal by chloe of thistle and verse, rihanna on vogue,  romance writers advice, Celebrating black joy, afro cuban artist with others , the magic of negro spirituals , coloring pages from gdbee for black history month 2023 , Stephanie Mills interview, chris rock slap response, the truth of tulsa, immigration nonviolence, is slavery over, lance reddick, jasmine marie black girls breathing, al harrington nba player turned financially successful pharmaceutical business owner , black farmers in the usa march 2023, preserving memories s.s.h.m.p. south side home movie project , Till from Movies That Move We, Thistle and Verse 2023 goals, Cleopatra and modern media, The reality of NYC, has the Black DOS choices been worth it for Black DOS in the USA, What style of black leadership is dominant, the Nigerwife, thistle and verse 05212023,  Juneteenth uniqueness 2023, Medgar Evers Center for Black Literature Reading List, Juneteenth 2023 uniqueness, pbb in michigan, reparations + juneteenth,  the war between the states 2023, Cornell West People's party 2023,  juneteenth 2023 ,  DOSers and being african, Black grief thistle and verse, The USA has always had two collection of states, Disney and Blackness, We must accept we are not a we, Sammy davis jr on life or leadership as an entertainer , uptight, tyler the creator on creating, Supa Team 4, ,  What next after so much abuse  , Black leadership 2023 preaching, a cure for incel from steven barnes, stretching with zohameanslight , what will it take for most Black people to reject what the usa can be?,  the problem is the race of how we use words, Gecko speech, The Intruder 1962 and the beautiful people, writing horror- from tananarive due side steven barnes,  education part nth, black female photographers, Steven Barnes + Charles Johnson+ray bradbury, firedance 09162023 from lifewriting,  the fall that saved us from tamara jeree on thistle and verse , black brides last name,  Jazz merged with European orchestral , progression from black statian leadership,  Brown Girls Books- shades of brilliance, vi &nbsp;redd jazz instrumentalist...female, angelique &nbsp;noire interview, Movies That Move We - Grey Matter of project greenlight, Black Rose from Milton Davis, criblore, american fiction with issa rae + jeffrey wright, gdbee hovergirls publishing, Black political leaders today,  Black federalism , Black federalism part 2, Black prosylitizers, Angela Bassett at Ile Aye, the preacher's wife from movies that move we, international sweethearts of rhythm, black woman photographers grant, Will you produce color purplr + why did i get marrieds? , december holiday gift 2024 , nia dacosta, glass abyss by steven barnes, mlk jr house fire, the time it takes to merge tribes, the black south needs a black party of governance+if palestineans learn from the native american they will+black ownership has greater value than black merit+magical negroes vs magical negroes for a white woman+where are the hbcu+mandela said it, kwanzaa 2023, ?
     
    AALBC TABLE
    A False Claim , AALBC content after death, biggest mistake writers make , reparations a question from troy, Booker T Washington and self reliance and the failure of the late 1800s black movements in the USA, 31 trillion in debt, the great fornication industry, Tyre Nichols,  , 2023Booktag with thistle and verse and reviewing Mindy Kaling's Scooby Doo with Kat Blaque, NYC funding for law enforcement as opposed to community centers, spike lee film rankings, Joyce Williams question to africans about africa , polygamy openpulpit, Bill Russell, valentine's day 2023,  how celebrate black history month, madison calley harp- lauryn hill , nina simone- malcolm x- dwayne mcduffie  , the value of being followed , is slavery abolished,  walter russell III, new cold war , womens history month 2023 , wayne shorter spirit flew, the woman king multilog of 2023, what is luck, silicon valley bank , age of easy money,  michelle yeoh, silicon valley bank, tiktok, maternity deaths, londonium, the streaming official, san francisco reparations part 2, s.f. reparations part 3, fuzzy haskins , why did racism change, negative self bias by a black individual, haitian independence all year round from Chevelin pierre , 191st street invitational, Styles black women like and punditry , skettel by moon ferguson, China 2023,  jasmine marie of black girls breathing answer questions and salem, vietnam war late truth, talk like a white girl,  trump jail, privilege in the usa,  ebony mag 1963, leo sullivan, who doesn't want advantage, Robert Twonsend on Sidney Poitier, schomburg comic book festival, lil nas x, ugly, what should black people in louisiana do, Creed3 from movies that move we , Black leadership in NYC want crime in the Black community to be eradicated only, the kissed feet of the black hebrew israelites, Tituba of Salem, Cooley high from movies that move we, Polaroid week 2023 , Simone Biles is married, Five Heartbeats on Movies That Move we, Claudine from movies that move we, sudan of africa, actiona jackson, homelessness,  black people treat the black community as the usa, how black people define themselves, black crypto, news media, a black world one day, banana republic, italy and ethiopia, schomburg book festival, the war between whites and blacks in the south,  skettel+criblore, impossible proof of pythagoras, janelle monae,  aalbc in the modern internet, a thing in germany plus japan and one in the black, blood of jesus - richardmurray's corner of movies that move we,  Kristin Richardson Jordan and NYC government,  new solutions,  JEt magazine article on phentoype, Black education never achieved so little compared to yeshiva's, should blacks celebrate the 4th of july, clarence thomas the honest black individualist, which subgroup is worse for the negro, met'a threads, Chevalier from movies that move we,  NATO,  The man from earth ,  where white media is taking black , Hollywood kaput, moviesthatmovewe little mermaid, earliest africanfuturism, everyone is complaigning like the blacks in the usa, Ben's benjamins and the Dinosaurs, NY is the 11th and black womens therapy, the making of the modern black america, barbie brands and business  , black unity in the usa , the business of media history from tcm, aalbc membership,  genetic basis for phenotype , muons of particle physics plus the race for nuclear powered space engines, computer corporate published vs self human published, self publishing podcast kwl, speaking delicately in race, accessbility online,  indigenous suffering, finding an artist, Africa's worth to the &nbsp;USA empire , Noir Bar how to make cocktails, ahsoka tnao and the future of female superheroines, book contracts with jane friedman, 5 minute yoga, jann wenner and the art of the interview,  under pressure climate week with whitney mcguire, lifewriting screenwriting,is schrumpft a leader, about internet design from tumblr through mozilla, the clitoris of the snake, Not saying where you want to live, getting older for women, halloween films, grammatical freedom , 40 find ems halloween, the lesson of palestine, disney 100, dark academia, the truth about ukraine, review to miles of style from lee and low , natural disruptions in the usa, art fro m diamondz1021 , the upside from movies that move we, gates on e- assistances and the murdochs content being turned into e-learning books, poverty in the usa , vibrator's skill, october 2023, mlkjr and fiscal truth, stories through various philosophies, americanbaby, rearing matters, is the wiz a multiverse, taraji p henson tears, noir city end of 2023,   ?  
     
    ARTISTS LIST
      GEMGFX , GDBEE , Deidre Smith Buck , Shawn Alleyne, RaySeb , Coco Michelle , chriss choreo, yeahbouyee , Collective poem side dee miller- in comments , clarence bateman , Ronald Reed, K-Hermann, El Carna , djdonttouchthetrim, Kiratheartist, briana lawrence  , odie1049, Nettrice Gaskins, Dada Koita ,  Paul Lewin,  Lisa Tillman Pritchard, Chevelin Pierre,   , Zak Anderson, ? 
     
    Response and Article series : 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ,
     
    Richard Murray Creative Table 2 https://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/entry/281-richard-murray-creative-table-2/
     
    Richard Murray Creative Table 1 https://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/entry/194-richard-murray-creative-table/
     
    My Newsletter https://rmnewsletter.over-blog.com/
     
  4. richardmurray
    I played the game, here are some shots. I enjoyed the trailer. Couldn't embed, so you have to use the link below. 
     

     


    Official site
    https://www.blacklionandcubs.com/
    Video game
    http://valleyofthekings.blacklionandcubs.com/
    On the blackeducationstation
    https://www.blackeducationstation.com/black-lion-and-cubs-cartoon
    Season 2 trailer
    https://www.blackeducationstation.com/black-lion-and-cubs-cartoon/videos/blc-season-2-intro
    more information
     info@blacklionandcubs.com
     
  5. richardmurray

    Gaming Craft
    When the secrets of the military combat suit known as WEAPON are exposed to the public, before long they flood the streets and it seems every civilian is using a power suit for crime, chaos or their own selfish ends. To avert the possibility of civil war, General Patricia James, amid dissent from both superiors and subordinates, sponsors a tournament to encourage the "WEAPON-wielders" to compete for fame and fortune, and to inspire the populace. But just as the world begins to embrace the WEAPON as the wave of the future, a dark secret about the origin of the technology emerges, threatening to destroy everything Patricia sought to build.
    WEAPON Combat League; an action-packed tale in a world of fantastic technology, with stories of action and conflict, of drama and heartbreak, of love and loss, of rivalry, of haves against have-nots, of the balance of power, of the ripple effects of past sins thought buried.
     

     



     
    Weapons Combat League
    Book1
    https://www.am*zon.com/dp/B005LIMMWK
    Book2
    https://www.am*zon.com/dp/B00HRZCGO4

    This project is a prototype ‘battle’ game based on my WEAPON Combat League concept, initially planned as a multimedia project with comics and prose novels. (If you are interested in reading the stories of WEAPON Combat League, you can find links to them here: https://jonathanpriceart.net/products/  )
    I do not consider it a ‘fighting’ game because it’s not strictly about martial arts or weapon-based duels (despite the name). This project was meant to mimic the versus modes in classic games such as X-Kaliber 2097, Guardian Heroes and Streets of Rage 2; allowing the core game’s playable characters to duke it out in a versus mode for fun. It’s not a game designed to be in the same genre as a Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat, as that was never my intent.
    The original design philosophy of the project is "King of Fighters meets Mega Man". More on the Mega Man side. Characters control in platformer style, rather than fighting game style. Some characters have melee attacks, others use projectiles.
    It has two functioning modes: Team Versus and Team Edit Versus. Both function similarly, but the difference is one focuses on the story’s default team lineups while the other lets players choose their own team members.
    There is also a database of information about the game and the characters within.
    However, the versus mode got the lion’s share of my development efforts as I became obsessed with making all the characters ‘feel’ the way I envisioned them. Time passed and I realized that the project’s large number of characters and underdeveloped single player concept made it far too ambitious for me to complete. I realized that I was never going to finish the game under the circumstances, and thus halted development.
    I’m uploading it here as-is for no required charge, to allow anyone who’s interested to play what I made. Some important notes:
    There are likely to be glitches as I haven’t balanced or bug-tested all that thoroughly.
    Much of the art assets are placeholders (such as the arena background and HUD).
    The game can ONLY be played in two player versus mode. There is no AI single player mode at all. The first player can control with either keyboard or gamepad. Player 2 can only use a second gamepad. However, if one player just wants to mess around, Player 2’s team or characters can be chosen and selected with the Numpad on the keyboard.
    Inputs can’t be changed, but the controls should be simple enough to understand.
    The middle segments on the Team Edit screen were for planned characters that were never finished. There is no way to unlock them.
    Same characters cannot be chosen by either the same player or the opponent.
    I intend to resurrect WEAPON Combat League with a different approach in the future as I learn new tools for game development. However, this project as it stands is at an end. That said, feedback is fine and welcome, as I'm always eager to learn how to improve my craft.
    Thanks!
     
    url
    https://dualmask.itch.io/weapon-combat-league-demo

     
  6. richardmurray

    Interactives
    I was unable to get all the links to various work. I searched the group and early posts to see as many as possible.
    If you are an owner of a pokemon and want a link , merely comment with the U.R.L. to your work and I will add it.
     
     
     

     
    The official post
    https://www.deviantart.com/charityguildmaster/art/Rainforest-Charity-Collab-115-CLOSED-979751392
     
    I used https://www.image-map.net/
     to construct the image map. 
     
    Prior post concerning the rainforest collab
     
  7. richardmurray

    industrial review
    How a Pricing Change Led to a Revolt by Unity’s Video Game Developers
    In an industry where customers are slow to trust and quick to criticize, a new fee from Unity infuriated studios that use its platform.

    Mike IsaacKellen Browning
    By Mike Isaac and Kellen Browning
    Reporting from San Francisco
    Oct. 2, 2023
    John Riccitiello probably should have seen the outrage coming.
    A video game industry veteran, Mr. Riccitiello is the chief executive of Unity Technologies, a company that isn’t a household name but is a fixture for more than two million game developers who use its software to power their games.
    For most of the company’s 19-year history, Unity’s software business was relatively straightforward: Every developer who used Unity’s professional tools to build software paid a fixed, annual licensing fee. The software acts like an engine. It is the underlying technology that developers use to build and run their apps.
    In mid-September, Mr. Riccitiello proposed an abrupt change. Instead of an annual fee, he wanted to charge developers a fee every time someone installed a copy of their games, meaning they would pay more as their titles grew in popularity. The about-face would make a significant difference for Unity, which has never turned a profit.
    But in an industry where gamers and small game development studios are reluctant to trust big corporations and quick to take umbrage at perceived attempts to nickel-and-dime them, the proposed fee change has snowballed into a crisis.
    Developers around the world who use Unity — including those behind hit games like Among Us and Slay the Spire — have threatened to leave the platform, saying the new pricing model could effectively kill their businesses if their games grow too popular.
    There was talk of a class-action lawsuit. Someone even called in a threat that required Unity to inform federal law enforcement officials and evacuate its San Francisco headquarters and its office in Austin, Texas, a person familiar with the decision said.
    Developers said they felt betrayed. Many spent years learning and coding in a particular programming language used by Unity called C# — pronounced “C-sharp” — making it hard for them to switch to a competitor. Executives at Unity were using that leverage, the developers complained, to engage in digital rent-seeking behavior.
    “They completely abandoned the creative, punk software developer community that was a big part of their ongoing success,” said Tomas Sala, an independent developer in Amsterdam whose game, The Falconeer, was built in Unity.
    The episode highlights the precarious position that companies can find themselves in when trying to keep a community happy at the same time that executives want to find ways to make more money.
    Trip Hawkins, the founder of the video game giant Electronic Arts and an adviser to some game developers who use Unity, said he understood the outrage. He likened it to a hardware store’s selling a carpenter a hammer and nails and then suddenly charging a fee for every nail the carpenter has ever pounded into a wall.
    “It gets at what feels right versus what feels wrong in people’s gut,” said Mr. Hawkins, who left EA in 1994.
    Now, Mr. Riccitiello and his executive team are scrambling to contain the fallout. Unity has rolled back some of the changes in a series of concessions aimed at placating developers.
    Among other changes, it raised the revenue threshold for games that will be charged the per-install fee — so larger developers, primarily, will be charged — and allowed developers to pay either the fee or 2.5 percent of their company’s monthly revenue, whichever is lower. But the company still plans to go ahead with the new fee model.
    In an interview with The New York Times, Mr. Riccitiello said he was “truly humbled” by the response, and had spent the past two weeks talking with partners and indie developers. “It reminded me just how foundational Unity is to the developer community,” Mr. Riccitiello said.
    Unity’s engine is one of a handful of software development tool sets in the video game industry. Developers can use the tools to create 3-D character models that can run, jump and shoot enemies in games. They can also use the software to design rich landscapes and textured environments. Every time a game is booted up, the software engine from Unity or another company is running underneath.
    Most of these engines have charged companies using the software a fixed annual amount for every one of their developers. Unity’s new fees turned this predictability on its head. Many developers felt that they were being punished if their game turned out to be a hit, and that Unity had the potential to take a much larger cut of revenues.
    “The new business model just doesn’t work for the rest of us,” Mr. Sala, the game developer, said. “A lot of people feel like we just got played.”
    Unity was founded in 2004 in Copenhagen as a project of three developers who collaborated on an internet forum dedicated to coding. The premise was to “democratize” game coding tools so that anyone — from high school hobbyists to professionals — could build games from scratch.
    “The key for me was the community and resources around it,” said Will Todd, a 28-year-old developer. “You can hop on a forum and quickly get an answer to any questions you might have.” He and his partner at the London indie studio Coal Supper, James Carbutt, used Unity to build their hit game, The Good Time Garden, in 2019.
    Under fire for poor financial results, Mr. Riccitiello left his job as chief executive at Electronic Arts in 2013. He joined Unity the next year, when the company was relatively small. He brought with him a reputation for squeezing cash out of games in ways that sometimes angered developers and players.
    Mr. Riccitiello led Unity to a successful initial public offering in 2020, and Unity’s shares hit a high of around $200 by the end of 2021. But they have since fallen to about $30. In its most recent quarterly financial results, Unity reported $533 million in revenue — up 80 percent from a year earlier — but $193 million in net losses. It also laid off about 8 percent of its employees in May.
    Unity has an advertising business that allows developers who use its platform to insert ads into their mobile games. It’s the part of the business responsible for about two-thirds of the company’s revenue. But it is under pressure from changes on Apple’s software for mobile devices that limit the data that Unity’s system can collect from the developers who use it to serve ads inside their mobile games.
    Mr. Riccitiello told The Times that Unity’s software pricing changes had “absolutely nothing to do with” challenges to its ads business, which he described as healthy. He said the new model was “designed to be a fair and appropriate exchange of value” between Unity and its customers. In other words, Unity thinks it can make a lot more money from its engine business than it does now.
    Behind the scenes, many employees were furious. Numerous Unity workers told management that it was a bad idea that would betray the small developers who used Unity’s tools, three current and former employees said. A handful of employees left or are in the process of leaving the company as a result, two people said.
    Mr. Riccitiello acknowledged in the interview that the new pricing model had been communicated poorly and needed some changes. And Marc Whitten, one of the company’s top executives, wrote an apologetic blog post.
    But the company is not rolling back the pricing change.
    It will be some time before Unity knows if there is permanent damage to its business. Mr. Sala, the developer of The Falconeer, said that his upcoming game was also built on Unity, and that he would still need to support it with software updates and expansions of more in-game content for at least two years. But after Unity made some concessions, Mr. Sala said they were welcome changes. He added that if he decided to switch to another engine, learning that software could take him months, if not years, to get to the comfort level he had with Unity.
    Mr. Carbutt, the Coal Supper studio developer, said sticking with Unity felt like “an operational risk.”
    “They broke trust with devs over all of this,” he said. “Irreparable damage has already been done.”
    A correction was made on Oct. 2, 2023: An earlier version of this article misstated how much Unity would charge video game developers. Unity will charge developers who qualify a percentage of their company’s monthly revenue, not annual revenue.
    When we learn of a mistake, we acknowledge it with a correction. If you spot an error, please let us know at nytnews@nytimes.com.Learn more
    Mike Isaac is a technology correspondent for The Times based in San Francisco. He regularly covers Facebook and Silicon Valley. More about Mike Isaac
    Kellen Browning writes about technology, the gig economy and the video game industry. He has been reporting for The Times since 2020. More about Kellen Browning
    A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 4, 2023, Section B, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: ‘We Just Got Played’. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
    READ 29 COMMENTS
    Share full article
    URL
    https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/technology/how-a-pricing-change-led-to-a-revolt-by-unitys-video-game-developers.html
     
    MY THOUGHTS
    The underlying problem here is engineering. Like many crafts, its most optimal form isn't financially fast. The reason firms need unity isn't because programmers can't develop all the tools they need on their own, it is because doing that will  take longer than all the accountants or lawyers who own firms are willing to wait. Using tools to speed up business is a pillar of the usa led global fiscal capitalism and in engineering , that is the path to lower quality or financial management. Remember, building a program is like making a table.Artist can make the same table, but the process of making the table, makes each woodworker actually better. 
    To the fiscal reality of unity, they are a firm that is usually unprofitable overall. It is that simple. This situation reflects Google/Facebook/NEtflix/Tesla motors/ and many others firms who spent years , sometimes over a decade not being able to cover their cost of existence, but stayed afloat by stocks and investments and various financial mechanism which in my view are all anti fiscal capitalistic. 
     
  8. richardmurray

    Game Art
    Check out some art inspired by the game
     

    https://www.deviantart.com/rayseb/art/Neon-934411845

    https://www.deviantart.com/roseberriidotart/art/Night-Owl-888026638
     
    The following is a set of art based on the game
     
    https://www.deviantart.com/search/deviations?q=Cyberpunk2077
     
  9. richardmurray
    What was it like re-releasing work that you did 20+ years ago? Was there anything surprising to you about returning to these classic games from an earlier part of your career?
    Honne: Although I am only supervising the Remaster version, to be honest I really want to remake the whole thing since the original version was released 20 years ago. But unfortunately, I don't think any gamers out there have the same thoughts as mine, haha.
    I feel relieved and happy to look back at how well the game was made, in terms of playability and length.
    Kojima: We are genuinely happy that more people will have the opportunity to experience Baten Kaitos. I would like to thank all the fans for their continued support and everyone involved in the Remaster's production.
    One thing that amazed me once again was the background art, which is still beautiful after 20 years, probably because it is 2D art. It is also surprising that Mr. Honne drew all these almost by himself at the time.
    Higurashi: It is a very strange feeling, and to tell the truth, it feels surreal. I have enjoyed playing the remastered titles of respected seniors in the industry, but I never had the thought of having the opportunity to be a part of a remaster project based on a title I was involved on.
    When creating the key art for the remastered version, I faced the illustrations I drew in the past. Looking at Kalas in the drawings, I could vividly recall what I was thinking in the past when creating, the feeling of the tools I used, and the faces of the people who supported me. It really made me want to talk about each of my memories during development in the past, recall how much fun I had and how fortunate I was to have the opportunity to work on such a good title.
    These games have stood the test of time and the fanbase enjoys various aspects of the games. What do you personally enjoy most about them?
    Honne: While I am very confident and proud of the background artwork since I take the worldview and the use of colors very seriously in the game, at the same time Baten Kaitos is a game where all development staff worked hard; hand-and-hand together like an orchestra, skillfully piling up their own rich and dignified notes. For my favorite, I personally would choose Mira, the City of Illusion that goes its own ways.
    Kojima: The charming character designs, the uplifting music, and everything apart of those are lovely, but if I had to pick only one thing, it would be the fact that the player can become a spirit and participate in the story. This wonderful world setting is what I love about Baten Kaitos.
    Higurashi: Hmm, will it sound like I am lying if I say I love all of them? I’m a big fan of Baten Kaitos so I can list out a lot of different elements, but if I need to choose just one, I will say I love the story of the characters the best. Every character has their own desires and emotions, and I feel like all characters and the universe of Baten Kaitos have their own souls.
    Do you have any special message to fans who are experiencing these games for the very first time?
    Honne: Although the original games were released 20 years ago, I hope you can enjoy going on a relaxing journey in the world of Baten Kaitos I and II. I am sure that wonderful memories will be made.
    Kojima: Baten Kaitos is a fantasy RPG in which you and your companion explore a wide variety of landscapes. It is such a classic RPG, yet it is filled with various innovations, including an innovative battle system. We hope you will enjoy this journey away from your daily lives.
    Higurashi: We are very happy to bring to you the remastered version for Baten Kaitos. Although the original titles were released 20 years ago, they are still such masterpieces that even me as a creator is very eager to share from a fan's perspective! I am confident that those who are playing the games for the first time will enjoy this remaster.
    The Music of Baten Kaitos with Motoi Sakuraba
    What was it like revisiting your work on Baten Kaitos? Is there anything surprising about relistening to compositions you made in the past?
    Sakuraba: The orchestra pieces sounded beautiful. The arrangement is simple and the melody is easy to enjoy. I was surprised when listening to the rock pieces and other tracks with synthesizer because I remembered I had a lot of creative freedom when composing them.
    Is there a piece of music in the games that you are particularly proud of?
    Sakuraba: I’m proud of all the battle songs from Baten Kaitos I & II. I like them because they show my true side the most. The other one is "Le ali del principio" from Baten Kaitos II. My daughter, who was a small child at the time, sang it. She did her best to sing it in Italian until the end of the song.
    The Baten Kaitos soundtracks incorporate many different elements from grand symphonic orchestration to synthesizers/prog rock. Can you describe your creative process a little bit?
    Sakuraba: Many of the songs in the Baten Kaitos soundtrack were not created with a specific musical genre in mind but rather came naturally as a result of trying to bring out my feeling. So, I didn't have any idea of what elements I wanted to include in these songs.
    To create these songs, I needed to understand the emotions for the scene, and if possible, I referred to the visual. Then I tried to adjust or rethink the piece I made by discussing with the producers.
    What I tried to achieve with the Baten Kaitos I & II soundtrack, and this goes for other titles as well, is to make the music blend perfectly with the gameplay so people are fully immersed when playing the game.
    Did your creative approach change between the first and second game?
    Sakuraba: In Baten Kaitos I, battle songs usually emphasized hardness. In Baten Kaitos II, acoustic instruments such as piano and violin were also used, adding a light atmosphere to the songs. In addition, one thing that I incorporated into Baten Kaitos II that I couldn’t in Baten Kaitos I was putting actual vocal sounds into the main songs.
    Do you have a message for new players who will experience these games for the first time?
    Sakuraba: We hope you will enjoy this work with its unique atmosphere and music! It would be great if you would listen to the music because it is very easy to understand.
     
     
  10. richardmurray
    Video


    TRANSCRIPT - my thoughts in the comments
    0:28
    all right good evening my name is Dr Jason ockerman
    0:34
    I'm a faculty member at the uh in the IUPUI School of liberal arts
    0:40
    and I'm the director of the Ray Bradbury Center what is the Ray Bradbury Center it is a
    0:47
    one of the larger single author archives in the United States it's also a small Museum we have
    0:53
    recreated Ray Bradbury's basement office with entirely original artifacts and we do offer tours to the public on
    1:00
    occasion so please follow us on social media if you'd ever like to come and see the collection
    1:06
    on behalf of the Bradbury Center and the school of liberal arts I want to welcome you to our literary Festival Festival
    1:13
    451 Indy we have events throughout the month of September to celebrate our literary
    1:20
    Heroes two of mine are going to be taking the stage uh in in just a moment to encourage people the festival
    1:27
    encourages people to cultivate an active reading life and to celebrate the humanities our
    1:33
    Festival references Ray Bradbury's most famous work Fahrenheit 451.
    1:38
    a cautionary tale about the consequences of the cultural devaluation of literacy
    1:45
    his words you don't have to burn books to destroy a culture just get people to
    1:51
    stop reading have only become more poignant and relevant today
    1:56
    that's why we felt that a festival like Festival four or five when Indy was necessary so thank you so much for for being here
    2:04
    tonight and being part of it hopefully you picked up some note cards
    2:10
    as you're listening to the speakers today please write down your questions and I think these two aisles here if I'm
    2:18
    wrong somebody will correct me okay I got the thumbs up from the boss so these
    2:23
    two aisles here you'll be able to approach a microphone and address your questions so please stick around for the Q a sometimes that's the best part
    2:30
    although I think everything about tonight's going to be great we also want to thank the aw Clues foundation for sponsoring tonight's
    2:36
    event and for sponsoring the entire Festival um that lasts the entire month of
    2:41
    September their generosity made this Festival possible uh in your programs
    2:47
    tonight there's a short survey if you could fill that out and turn it into one of our team members at our information
    2:53
    table uh in the lobby that would be super helpful for us we do have to do a grant report for Clues and your your
    3:01
    response to the event tonight would go a long way in helping us craft that report we definitely appreciate it
    3:08
    before introducing our speakers I want to share a brief land acknowledgment
    3:13
    IUPUI acknowledges our location on the traditional on the traditional and
    3:18
    ancestral territory of the Miami padawatami and Shawnee people
    3:24
    we honor the heritage of native peoples what they teach us about the stewardship of the earth and their continuing
    3:31
    efforts today to protect the planet founded in 1969 IUPUI stands on the
    3:39
    historic homelands of native peoples and more recently that of a vibrant a vibrant black community also unjustly
    3:47
    displaced where we sit tonight Madame Walker theater is one of the last vestiges of
    3:53
    that Vibrant Community as the present stewards of the land we honor them all as we live work and study
    4:01
    at IUPUI today people in this state who teach about the
    4:07
    injustices of the past are under attack and I want to affirm tonight that we
    4:13
    stand with our public Educators our public libraries and librarians
    4:18
    we honor their expertise we will never correct the injustices of
    4:24
    the present if we fail to acknowledge our past especially the parts that make us uncomfortable
    4:30
    if there are Educators and Librarians in the art in our audience tonight would
    4:35
    you please raise your hand so we can honor you [Applause]
    4:46
    thank you thank you for what you do um you know tonight in part we honor Ray
    4:53
    Bradbury a great author who spent his life standing up for public libraries because knowledge
    4:59
    should be free and accessible to everyone no matter what
    5:06
    we stand against any attempt to whitewash our history the old adage that
    5:12
    those who refuse to learn history are doomed to repeat it rings true but I would add it seems clear that
    5:18
    those who actively try to prevent history from being taught intend to
    5:23
    repeat it we will not let that happen so tonight the red Bradbury Center is
    5:29
    thrilled to partner with our friends at the center for Africana studies and culture and presenting a night with two
    5:35
    legendary authors Dr Charles Johnson and Stephen Barnes
    5:41
    tonight's event will be moderated by my dear friend and colleague Dr lasatien
    5:47
    executive director of the center for Africana studies and culture Dr Les the stage is yours my friend
    6:02
    good evening good evening good evening everyone thank you for coming out um a little little housekeeping before
    6:08
    we get started because we are breathing rarified air here tonight so I want to
    6:14
    acknowledge uh in in right in the front here to also legendary writers uh Ms
    6:21
    Sharon Skeeter and also miss Tanner nariev do right here in the front
    6:29
    and big thanks to to Jason uh and the the staff and and Folks at the Bradbury
    6:36
    Center for putting this on and also giving us an opportunity to play a role in it um some colleagues from Liberal
    6:43
    Arts are sitting right there shout out to y'all hello um and also our Dean
    6:49
    um let me say oh and look Rob Robbin uh our other colleague but our Dean is also
    6:55
    in the house here tonight as well uh Tammy Idol so I'd like to bring up uh Mr Barnes and Dr Johnson if they could hear
    7:02
    me to come on up and we'll get started let's give a round of applause
    7:17
    you wanted the right I'm gonna go to the right thank you
    7:24
    all right welcome welcome welcome thank you thank you both for being here greatly appreciated I think it's um it's
    7:33
    always good uh to introduce uh folks uh to who we have this August panel that
    7:40
    we're in here tonight so if you wouldn't mind if we just get started Jump Right In but also I think there might be
    7:48
    people in the house that would want to know uh about uh who we are are sitting
    7:54
    with tonight no I'm always curious about who I'm sitting with especially when I'm sitting
    8:00
    alone in a room exactly okay there we go so you know what I forgot to say what
    8:05
    did you forget to say we have Mr Maurice Broadus in the house tonight as well yay
    8:10
    foreign yes that's right yes yes so if you don't
    8:17
    mind I will start with uh the youngest of us um
    8:23
    [Music] okay if you don't mind um because uh you know uh I think it's
    8:29
    it it's it's very important for us to understand um the value uh in in the work you've
    8:35
    done uh in the literary World um but also you know in Academia and and
    8:42
    it's you know and some of these other other places if you don't mind just giving us giving a brief brief bio a
    8:48
    little bit about yourself okay uh you got 30 minutes
    8:54
    um first I want to say this is a joyful occasion for me to be on the stage with
    8:59
    this gentleman but especially that gentleman on the end we have collaborated on any number of projects in the past
    9:07
    most recently the Eightfold Path yeah uh which is uh award-winning as it turns
    9:13
    out uh graphic novel all of it all the credit goes to Steve they're all of his
    9:18
    stories okay I came on and I I you know I took
    9:24
    the ride with you and it was like anything we do together um a great pleasure we have a lot of
    9:30
    overlap you know I did a book in 1988 called
    9:36
    um being in race black writing since 1970. and in the last chapter it's a
    9:43
    survey of black writers uh up to 1970 in the last chapter I I mentioned this guy
    9:50
    I keep running across um his you know he's a martial artist and he writes science fiction
    9:58
    um he's a black dude too I'm thinking that's me that's me but then I really no
    10:04
    it's this character over here Stephen Barnes who um has been my hero for a
    10:09
    very long very long time um my history my journey
    10:15
    and to creativity had it was truly influenced by the man who did this book
    10:20
    he was in and the Art of writing uh brave adverry but I come to this
    10:28
    from being a journalist and a cartoonist that
    10:33
    was my first love my first Passion was drawing in high school I became a
    10:39
    professional illustrator when I was 17 I did some illustrations for a magic Company catalog in Chicago and
    10:47
    um I saved that dollar by the way too that I got paid it's framed and there were times I was I was gonna
    10:54
    use it because I was so broke in grad school but I started out as a as a Cartoonist and a journalist
    11:02
    and along the way read you know voraciously of course you know cartoons
    11:08
    do read a lot so we can get ideas from all kinds of different you know sources and it was around the time when I was 18
    11:15
    I got exposed to philosophy and decided one of these days I I have to get a
    11:20
    doctorate in philosophy I just have to and one of the lights I discovered is
    11:25
    how much Bradberry admired Socrates and Marcus Aurelius you know among the uh
    11:32
    the stoics right so so my journey took me from drawing to to scholarship and
    11:40
    then to writing at a certain point uh you know novels and short stories and
    11:46
    essays and and other things uh one of the things I want to emphasize which I'm sure most of you know already but I have
    11:53
    to remind myself of it repeatedly is all of the the liberal arts in the
    11:58
    humanities are interconnected one thing will lead you to another thing
    12:04
    you know if you might want to get up one day and draw but then the next day you
    12:10
    might want to get up and start a short story and the third day you might want to get up and write an essay on a
    12:17
    question that's been troubling you about the mind-body relationship there is no reason why any of us should have to
    12:25
    allow anybody to put us in a little box and say this is all that you do you know
    12:31
    if you see my name crop up with something it'll be Charles Johnson novelist but that's not the only thing I do so all of these Arts feed each other
    12:39
    you know create creatively and I when I was young looking at Bradbury's movies reading his short stories I felt that
    12:47
    Spirit you know of openness and the excitement that just comes from doing
    12:52
    something not as Bradbury said for money or fame first is for the love of doing
    12:59
    it you get money in Fame later if you get it well that's fine but that's not your motivation your motivation is the
    13:06
    fact that when you create you're creating yourself
    13:11
    with every canvas with every novel with every story with every poem you're
    13:18
    realizing your own individual inherent potential as a human being who can
    13:24
    through craft give a gift to the world of beauty goodness and Truth goodness and beauty
    13:31
    that may enrich the lives of others that's why I think we create and why we
    13:36
    honor this guy now shut up [Applause]
    13:45
    goodbyes if you wouldn't mind just no I was uh relatively poor kid grew up in a broken
    13:52
    home in South Central Los Angeles and I knew that the world that was presented to me was not the real world I knew that
    13:59
    there were some things that were said to me about who I was and what my potential was and what my people were that was not
    14:04
    accurate so I as many people did I think a large number of people in the science fiction fantasy fanish Community are
    14:11
    people who grew up feeling like the world was not the world inside them that they connected with was not the same as
    14:17
    the world that they saw and that they looked to the Stars they looked to the past they looked to other worlds and
    14:23
    other winds to get a sense of in some ways what might be truer that science
    14:29
    fiction is a fiction of ideas and Concepts that you know what if if only
    14:35
    if this goes on often anchored to physics but sometimes about
    14:40
    the human heart but usually if there are two questions that are Central to philosophy those questions are probably
    14:46
    who am I and what is true what is it to be human and what is the world that human beings perceive and science fiction approached it in one way fantasy
    14:54
    approaches it in another fantasy is not about the world of physics it's about the world of symbols and the human heart
    15:01
    and the way these things interact it's about the Poetry what's happening kind of between the atoms kind of between the
    15:09
    events so whereas science fiction has to be both internally and externally consistent connected to physics as I
    15:16
    said fantasy has to only be internally consistent that within this we're
    15:21
    talking about human heart human perception and what are we and how do we feel this
    15:30
    Bradbury Drew my attention I was reading voraciously at that time because I was
    15:35
    looking for you know that question who am I and what is true so am I slept in a
    15:41
    bedroom with the walls aligned with books and Ray Bradbury was interesting because he
    15:47
    wrote he was published in science fiction magazines but he was not writing about what if in that way it wasn't
    15:53
    interested in the physics of the situation he was interested in the Poetics of it as if he were a fantasy
    15:58
    writer he was about where is the human heart in all of this so the Martian Chronicles were not it was not what
    16:05
    Voyager landed on or whatever it was that were our first Rovers I forget what the name of was he was interested in
    16:12
    Edgar Rice Burroughs Mars he was interested in barsum you
    16:19
    know he was not he was interested in the Poetics of Science and because of that
    16:24
    he touched my heart he was a poet writing science fiction stories being published in science fiction magazines but you weren't going to learn anything
    16:30
    about science by reading Ray Bradbury which you were going to learn about was what is it to be human what is it to see
    16:36
    the stars what is it to yearn for a meaning to our lives you know what what
    16:42
    are we in the vastness of the universe and that really touched this young kid
    16:48
    trying to figure out who he was that the vision of the universe in that sense was so large the individual political or
    16:56
    philosophical differences that that deviled us on Earth are meaningless once
    17:01
    you start backing up you know when astronauts talk about how when they were in orbit they looked down at the world
    17:07
    and there were no divisions of Nations and they had a spiritual experience where they said the first day everybody
    17:12
    was pointing out the city they came from you know the next day when they were talking about the the the the
    17:18
    International Space Station they were talking about what nations they came from the next day after that they were
    17:24
    talking about the continent and then by the fourth day they're just looking at the world and those individual
    17:30
    differences dissolved when you look at the world in terms of a sound of thunder
    17:36
    going back 100 million years or forward into the future the problems that we
    17:41
    have right now politically or in terms of nations in the in the the the joining
    17:47
    together of just different groups of people who've been separated by large amounts of geography
    17:52
    all that stuff disappears the question of what is the difference between this civilization and that Civilization
    17:58
    it might be a thousand years of development but a thousand years of development is
    18:04
    nothing in terms of the 13.7 billion years that this universe has existed
    18:09
    it's nothing at all those differences dissolve and when that was the world
    18:14
    that I wanted to live in a world in which those differences that were necessary because the human mind works
    18:20
    in terms of what is similar as opposed to what is different we're very that dualism created a lot of our science and
    18:27
    so forth and so on but ultimately getting caught in the middle of that you are not this because of that you are
    18:34
    this because of this if you feel caught in that then taking that larger perspective can feel like taking a
    18:40
    breath of fresh air for the first time of stepping outside anything anyone ever said about who you were or what your
    18:46
    potential was and being lost in the Poetry of experience so my connection to
    18:53
    Bradberry was that I sought The Poetry in the mundane the the unusual in the in
    19:00
    the daily and he went went there every time he went there from his earliest
    19:06
    stories which were often what are called biter bit stories where somebody does a
    19:11
    bad thing and they are destroyed by the consequences of their action in these old you know uh pulp magazines you know
    19:19
    and stories of ghastlys and murderers and ghosts and goblins I just ate that
    19:25
    up because I I would read him and I would read other people wrote the same thing but Bradbury was always about
    19:31
    something more than the events and the actions there we go absolutely absolutely so you know who I am growing
    19:40
    up in the shadow of giants one of whom was the man that we come here to honor today
    19:45
    is a kid who grew up in South Central Los Angeles wanted to be a science fiction writer found a great mentor in
    19:52
    Larry Niven who's one of the great science fiction writers of the 20th century took me under his wing showed me how to do it gave me opportunities I was
    19:59
    able to build a life I published over three million words and you know the New York Times bestseller list in this award
    20:04
    and that one that's all fine but the important thing is I got to spend my life doing the thing I dreamed of as a
    20:11
    kid that was the reward just to be able to do that to be able to every day talk
    20:17
    to the little kid inside me and say I've kept the faith and for him to look at me and say Dad you sure did that is worth
    20:24
    you there is nothing I would exchange that for and and Ray Bradbury was one of
    20:30
    The Shining lights that said it was possible to get all the way there and never sell yourself out yeah can I add
    20:37
    something to that of course um one of the things Bradbury gives us it
    20:43
    gave me as a young person I hear you saying Brad baby gave it to you too as a
    20:49
    sense of mystery and wonder about this existence in which we find ourselves the whole thing with the view
    20:56
    from The Sciences right from the solar system moving all the way out to galaxies as our problems seem so
    21:04
    infinitesimally small and trivial and race so small and trivial when we you
    21:10
    know take that perspective um so science fiction has an intellectual discipline
    21:18
    um allows us to dream you know one of my colleagues um the late Joanna Russ
    21:24
    once pointed out that the female man yeah yeah
    21:30
    um and at UW University of Washington she she once wrote that a woman wrote to
    21:35
    her um about why she loved science fiction she lived in a in a kind of ordinary
    21:42
    town you know very very boring and conformist but science fiction what she
    21:47
    really found appealing were the Landscapes the
    21:53
    landscape's so different from the ones that she was living in right it opened up the imagination science fiction has
    22:01
    always served that purpose I think well you know Ray Bradbury if I if I may add to what you're saying is that he might
    22:09
    quibble with something that you said there it isn't about developing your ability to dream it's about remembering it that we we go we all go quietly
    22:17
    insane every night but we forget that and that creativity
    22:22
    to a certain degree is simply opening up a pore between our unconscious minds that dream every night in the conscious
    22:29
    mind that that performs it does the performative part of our mind the part of us that says I am uh and the child
    22:36
    has that and life keeps telling the child be practical right stay here and
    22:43
    we'll start shutting that down Ray Bradbury never lost that thing he never
    22:48
    lost that connection with the child and their people will say that all there is of Genius is maintaining the creativity
    22:54
    of a child with the disciplined knowledge of an adult that if you can do that if you can maintain a connection
    23:00
    there you are going to be performing at the highest level that you are capable of performing it isn't it isn't
    23:06
    gaining something that you don't have it's remembering how you started it's
    23:11
    remembering the creativity and the aliveness and the sense of wonder that sense of Engagement that every child has
    23:18
    that gets squeezed out of us by the adult world yeah I know I know and
    23:24
    that's what we want to keep alive yes that child um Bradbury also put a lot of emphasis on
    23:31
    the importance of the subconscious too so I'm glad I'm glad you pointed that out
    23:37
    um you know we we always have to I think of you know think how do we get back to to
    23:43
    that innocence that that openness that we had as children before the world beat
    23:49
    it out of us or before critics you know beat it out of us um and and so what's that's one of the
    23:56
    reasons that uh Sharon skies are there and I are both practicing Buddhists
    24:01
    um our my practice at least gets rid of an awful lot of that conditioning
    24:07
    from childhood on from parents and field teachers so that I can experience the
    24:13
    world where that sense of newness and wonder and mystery you do have that I've
    24:18
    I've commented to people that one of the things I love about you is how easily you are astonished
    24:25
    that it's like you're constantly rediscovering yeah so you just you see it right there
    24:32
    oh the world is here still have that you're not numb it
    24:39
    hasn't been it hasn't been scabbed over your nerves are alive you're strong enough that you're not afraid to feel
    24:46
    okay and I think that when we lose courage you know fatigue makes cowards of us all often as we age or as we get
    24:52
    tired or as we shape our egos to fit into the different molds that people want us to shape into we start
    24:58
    forgetting who we are and and that we started this life to enjoy it that that
    25:04
    we want that sense of joy and instead of that we sack we settle for not being afraid if at best
    25:11
    yeah we can't lose that you cannot yeah a human being cannot lose that and still be fully Alive one of the things I would
    25:17
    like to think is my capacity one of the things at least in my work as a
    25:22
    philosophical novel is I think that literature should liberate our perceptions liberate our perception you say
    25:29
    astonishment I would like to be able to look at some look at you know look at
    25:34
    something as if I've never seen it before it's often been said or very creative people they look at something
    25:40
    strange as if it's familiar and the familiar is if it's strange right so we're constantly working with
    25:47
    Consciousness and our perception and here every moment that we're alive is new
    25:54
    every single moment is alive the past I've written a lot of historical fictions and so forth but the past has
    26:00
    passed in the future I'm not going to worry about it because it ain't come and it never will because that's a horizon the
    26:06
    future that we can never reach the only moment we have right here with each other is right here right now
    26:15
    before I came over here I sat for a little bit of meditation I always do that I would not meet a group or a crowd
    26:21
    or do anything in public and so I had that chance to sit if only for 10 or 15 minutes so that I can be
    26:28
    here right here with all of you right now and the only moment that exists in
    26:34
    time not worrying about what am I going to do when we're done with this or what what was the flight light getting us
    26:40
    here with no sleep you know from Seattle right here right now new never like this
    26:46
    moment before you get up in the morning why wash your face you got the soap you know okay that has never happened before
    26:54
    you might think I'm doing a routine thing no not that soap not that water
    26:59
    not that moment and not that version of you and not that version of me you're
    27:04
    right you can't step in the same piece of water twice because your foot is never the same and the water has changed
    27:09
    that's right so it's it's that awareness that the sacred is in the mundane that
    27:15
    it is in this moment it that what I try to do is to Center myself and then ask
    27:21
    myself what is the task to do next it task may be to get out of bed and have breakfast it may be to embrace my wife
    27:28
    it may be to counsel my son it may be to play with the cat it might be to answer an email it might be to write a story
    27:34
    but all those I'm not different people when I do those things I'm the same person playing different roles so let me
    27:40
    be appropriate the question is can I be appropriate in this moment can I be here with this moment and the demands of this
    27:47
    moment with the story that I'm writing or the person that I'm speaking to or the task that I have to do be here
    27:53
    totally right now yes 30 of yourself isn't trapped in the past remembering
    27:58
    regretting 30 is not projecting into the future what you're going to do you bring back all of yourself 100 to this moment
    28:06
    right now whether it's writing whether it's talking to your your son or me
    28:12
    talking to my grandson uh you're here totally right at this moment so one of
    28:18
    the reasons why the martial arts have are such a great tool for learning
    28:25
    that because one second of not thinking about right here and you get hit in the head that's right you know so there's
    28:31
    nothing like a smack upside the head to wake you up no I better be here now you know you better forget about the
    28:37
    hamburger I had yesterday or what my wife's gonna say when I get home this guy's Gonna Knock my head off right here
    28:42
    right now in this instant there is no more other moment in time there is no other moment that that's it and that
    28:49
    that sense of being there is consistent across all arts and so this conversation
    28:55
    concerning getting hit in the head it's like an athlete in the zone yes in the
    29:00
    zone right yes so go on well no it's the dissolution of the subject object relationship there is not a you and it
    29:08
    there is there is a there's something that is happening here and you're not observing yourself doing it because when
    29:15
    you're observing yourself some of the energy that you would have put into that moment is put into creating a self to
    29:20
    observe and what's even worse is when people observe themselves observing themselves now you're two steps removed
    29:28
    yes and you've lost all the energy you need to liberate your true self so in
    29:34
    one sense Society will try to keep you in the place of observing yourself and judging yourself because that way you
    29:40
    become dependent upon Society to say that you're okay because if you're in the moment you you know you're okay
    29:46
    you're always okay when you're in the moment you're you're not okay once you observe yourself and start judging
    29:52
    yourself but when you're there and it's just happening that's when you're totally alive and that's what we look
    29:59
    for in sexuality in driving on the freeway in in heavy traffic in the rain
    30:05
    in fighting in in writing in Reading is the sense of total engagement in the
    30:11
    moment the eye is not observed it is it is
    30:17
    subsumed in the process of the interaction that that thing of the page
    30:22
    opening up and you fall into the page can happen only once this component skills have been
    30:30
    reduced to unconscious competence right right as you can tell we we've talked a lot together [Laughter]
    30:37
    and we have long conversations like this but this gentleman here may have I was
    30:43
    going to say that this is the easiest job I've never had if they were paying me
    30:50
    man I you know um and uh I I definitely the interesting
    30:55
    thing is you know the the one I think it was like the one time I got a chance to I think Jason and I were on a zoom with
    31:02
    you in a similar conversation happened and we were like in the chat like hey man let's just stay here they don't
    31:09
    notice us let's just listen and and get it so that's what I and I also would be remiss if I didn't mention that I am a
    31:14
    fill-in uh Dr Rhonda Henry uh was uh ill and could not make it she would have
    31:20
    been the person here today uh so I didn't want to lift her up and mention that as well
    31:26
    um so thank you first of all thank you for for that first that opening sound thank
    31:32
    everybody for coming see you later oh no we're still we got one more got one more so I do have one more uh thing and and
    31:39
    this is more specific uh you you've certainly touched on it you you showed us uh these were uh yeah yeah these uh I
    31:47
    I purchased uh some years ago of a complete line of Planet stories
    31:53
    from the late 30s to the early 50s these are the original issues and they have Brad Barry's Original Stories in them
    32:00
    and a lot of other people too who became famous because this is this is where he
    32:06
    began you know with the pulse I wanted to have the actual feel of that
    32:12
    um underneath my fingers see one of the beautiful things about Bradbury and the
    32:17
    pulp Riders to me they're prolific they they were not worried about am I
    32:23
    writing something that will last for the ages no Bradbury is getting 20 to 40
    32:28
    dollars per story he's making himself right a thousand words a day a story a
    32:35
    week he's got to sell um to a month in order to pay his bills
    32:40
    okay he is immersed in the moment these precede comic books okay by a few years
    32:45
    and the comic book artists were the same people you know you you were not looking back you were immersed in the moment of
    32:53
    creation you had a deadline to meet that's right um and and you produced all
    32:58
    this stuff not thinking that this might shape called culture that the characters that you're creating from Edgar Rice
    33:04
    Burroughs to the Marvel characters that these would be installed in popular
    33:09
    culture 50 cents uh you know 50 years later so that even my grandson knows
    33:15
    these characters right um I I admire artists who work like that
    33:20
    who don't think that what they're doing is precious but what they're doing is absolutely everything they can do at the
    33:27
    present moment yes and then you let it go and you go on to the next one yes and you go into the next one and you're
    33:33
    blessed to be able to have the opportunity to do that and and that certainly was going to be you know kind
    33:40
    of the next question I wanted to throw out there very open-ended of course but just the idea of you know Bradbury's
    33:46
    influence I know you've touched on a little bit but just maybe if there was any any particular specific oh I
    33:52
    absolutely can but yeah go you can go first or you know I can go there or whatever whatever is appropriate I want
    33:58
    to hear your stories about bravery okay anybody want to hear my stories about rape River okay
    34:04
    because he was very important in my life and I did not write this out because I know for a fact that I'm going to get
    34:11
    choked up so get ready for that um and I wrote down some dates just so I
    34:16
    could I could get as precise as I could but this is not a formal you know
    34:22
    scholarly thing so if any of the dates are wrong you know apologies in advance so
    34:28
    I I grew up and I had a dream of being the science fiction writer it was a thing
    34:33
    that I I really loved to do because I didn't understand math well enough to be a scientist so I did the other thing I
    34:39
    could wrote write poetry of the sciences and so I was a little kid growing up South Central L.A and had dreams of
    34:45
    being a writer and I was writing as much as possible and everything around me told me that I could not do it you know
    34:51
    my mom my dad was a backup singer for Nat King Cole and I was in the studio when they did the the background vocals
    34:58
    for Ramblin Rose yeah just watching dad and every time it's on the radio I hallucinate that I can hear my dad's
    35:05
    baritone and my dad's singing career ultimately floundered and
    35:10
    it led to a divorce and so my mom was terrified that if I followed the Arts that I would have a similar failure and
    35:17
    she used to tear my stories up and burn them because she was so scared that I would go down that path but I you know I
    35:23
    just kept going and kept going and kept going and by the time I got to college I had
    35:31
    um tried I knew my mom wanted me not to write and so I tried to step away from
    35:36
    writing I would but I was tricking myself I'd take all kind of other classes I would take you know drama and
    35:43
    composition and English and speech and stuff like this work in the radio station I think things adjacent to
    35:49
    writing without writing and then finally they had a contest a writing contest on campus
    35:56
    where the winner would read a story to the to the alumni and I won the I won
    36:03
    the contest and I read the story to the alumni and I watched them react to me
    36:09
    and I realized this is who I'm supposed to be that there is I would rather fail
    36:15
    as a writer than succeed at anything else so I dropped out of college my girlfriend at the time who later
    36:23
    became my wife and are living together she was an artist and I was a writer and I was taking jobs adjacent to Hollywood
    36:29
    trying to work my way and I was also writing stories and I was starting to send them out and I was you know getting rejected and rejected and rejected and I
    36:36
    I think that at some point I started getting like a fifth of a cent a word and you know getting paid in
    36:42
    contributors copies but I think before my first sale uh I wrote a story a
    36:47
    Halloween story called trick or treat about a guy who it when he was a kid he
    36:55
    his candy is snatched by the kids in the neighborhood they were bullies and when he becomes an adult he starts you know
    37:02
    the kids in the neighborhood he's living in the same house they're playing tricks on him so he plays tricks back and the
    37:08
    next year they play a nastier trick and they asked that he plays a nastier trick on them and it goes back and forth and
    37:13
    back and forth until one year he plays a trick and the kids he accidentally kills a kid and he knows it next year they're
    37:20
    going to kill him and so this story is called trick-or-treat and I found out that Ray Bradbury was doing an
    37:28
    autographing at a bookstore and so my girlfriend was an artist and I created a
    37:33
    a a Halloween card that contained the story and artwork and we went to his
    37:39
    signing and we gave it to him in an envelope that had my address on it and about six weeks later I got a letter
    37:45
    back from Ray Bradbury saying he loved my story and this was the first time a
    37:51
    professional human being a person who was doing the thing that I wanted to do let alone somebody who I admired so much
    37:57
    had said yeah kid maybe you've got what it takes it meant more than I can
    38:03
    possibly say and inspired me to keep going so I kept going I'm writing and I'm trying to do this I'm trying to do
    38:09
    that I'm still not succeeding very much but I was starting to make a little bit of progress my mom
    38:15
    who had always been terrified finally realized that there was no way I was going to give it up and so she kind of
    38:21
    got on the bandwagon and she found a course that was being taught at UCLA
    38:27
    extension by Robert Kirsch who was the literary editor of the LA Times in about
    38:33
    1980 let's say 1975 1975 and
    38:39
    uh no no this is about about 1980 about 1980. uh and so I took a class from
    38:46
    Robert Kirsch and it was a strange class you know it was the little blue-haired lady writing astrological poetry and it
    38:52
    was the guy writing this going and I was writing these strange stories and I wrote one very strange story called is
    38:59
    your glass half empty about a compulsive Gambler who Hawks his pacemaker and he
    39:06
    Kirsch looked at me and he didn't know quite what to make of the story and he said
    39:11
    I've Got a Friend I'd like to show this story to would you mind if I did that and I said sure go right ahead and about
    39:17
    six weeks later I got a note I got a letter from Ray Bradbury who was Robert kirsch's friend writing telling me again
    39:24
    he didn't remember the earlier story he just said hey you know kid you know this is this is good you know this you know
    39:30
    that you've got something go for it don't ever give up doing that Ray Bradbury inspirational thing I kind of
    39:35
    said I got two letters from him you know this is this is cool so let me keep going
    39:41
    I eventually met Larry Niven and began working with him and started getting my
    39:47
    career going and in about what year did you publish your first story I published
    39:52
    my first story in probably about 1980 1981 somewhere in there maybe 79 to 81.
    39:58
    somewhere in there and it was like a fifth of the center word you know and then I finally the first story that was
    40:03
    published in a professional magazine was called uh it's called endurance vial about an
    40:12
    athlete who accidentally discovers a meditation that triggers his ability to
    40:17
    be more of an athlete and he starts running and he can't stop you know so that I think that was my first my very
    40:23
    first publication and I was working with Larry Niven and I had the balls to walk
    40:29
    up to Larry you know at the Las Vegas science fiction thing and I said hello Mr Niven my name is Stephen Barnes and
    40:35
    I'm a writer and he looked at me and said all right tell me a story I I found out that from the way I'd come
    40:40
    on to him I had about 10 seconds to prove I wasn't an luckily I just put that story is your
    40:47
    glass half empty into the mail that morning so I was able to stumble out you know I
    40:53
    think and that led to us eventually working together in my CR in my working he gave me a chance to work on an
    41:00
    earlier story of his that he hadn't been able to finish to his satisfaction called the locusts which was about a
    41:06
    group of space colonists who go to a planet and their children begin to devolve to australopithecines and they
    41:13
    don't know how to deal with it and if the problem in this story who would right if the problem of the story had
    41:19
    been biology or a cryptozoology or
    41:25
    physics or astrophysics I would have been lost but luckily the problem in the story was the psychology that Larry did
    41:33
    not understand group psychology as well as I think he could have such that he did not understand the impact that would
    41:40
    have on that little Colony if these things happen he was underestimating the emotions involved so that gave me an
    41:47
    opening a way that I could contribute something this story and it led to a Hugo nomination and my first real
    41:54
    publication you know with lyrics it was like you know wow this was you know I'm on my way so one of the things that I
    42:00
    was asked to do in this process was there was something called the planetary society in which I was asked to be a
    42:07
    presenter to be an announcer so I introduced several luminaries that were there astrophysics I mean there might
    42:14
    have been an astronaut so forth and one of the people was Ray Bradbury so Ray walked up on stage and before he walked
    42:20
    up on stage I told my story about how I was he was responsible for my me getting published by giving me inspiration at a
    42:28
    time when I was getting rejection after rejection after rejection started to question myself and he walked up on
    42:34
    stage and gave me a big hug and it was just a great moment everybody applauded it was very nice about eight years after
    42:40
    that um I was teaching a class at UCLA
    42:45
    and it was a a symposium and every week we had a different notable come in one
    42:51
    week it was Ray Bradbury so when I went to Ray's house came to class he came to
    42:56
    yeah he came and talked at the Symposium he was one of the I think seven notables that we had coming there
    43:03
    um and before the class I took him to dinner at in Westwood and
    43:12
    Larry Niven had asked if he could keep me but before Larry got there
    43:17
    ah I for 20 years I was the only black male
    43:24
    science fiction writer in the world so far as I could determine chip Delaney had left the field he'd gone into
    43:30
    Academia and queer fiction because he couldn't make a living in science fiction I survived largely because of my
    43:37
    partnership my mentorship with Larry Niven because I would I do collaboration with him and I'd make enough money to be
    43:43
    able to keep food on the table in the roof over our head but I was starting to wonder was I losing myself
    43:49
    was had I sold myself out was I losing
    43:55
    my art and I remember I had dinner with Leo and
    44:01
    Diane Dillon who we were just talking about in in Greenwich Village and they
    44:06
    are they were the essence of art it was like we're one they work they did Art together where one would start a line
    44:11
    the other one would finish it and back back so far and I was sitting at that table talking to them about the career
    44:19
    of an artist thinking I'd get some tips for my wife who was interested in being a professional artist and I suddenly realized that I didn't care about that
    44:25
    but I wanted to know was had I sold myself out had I sold out
    44:31
    my heart and I sat there and I just poured my eyes out and I just started crying finally I realized because I was
    44:38
    in the presence of real artists here this this was this was for real and I felt like a fraud I felt like a phony
    44:44
    and I was I just you know I poured my heart out to them and I finally said it is it too late for me
    44:51
    and they looked at each other and Diane looked at her husband and then she reached across the table and she took my
    44:57
    hands and she said Steve if you can even ask that question it's
    45:04
    not too late well that helped but I'm sitting at the table
    45:11
    with Ray Bradbury my childhood Idol who somehow I had choreographed an
    45:16
    opportunity to to be with him and and break bread with him and speak with him and I it was pretty much the same
    45:23
    question it's like you know I I've been hiding behind Larry Niven and his partner Jerry Purnell I'm writing these
    45:29
    things and I've gotten these Awards and made this money and so forth but I feel like I don't know have
    45:36
    am I broken you know is it too late for me is it can I can I still touch that
    45:42
    part of me that that is that's sacred and he asked me of course
    45:48
    he said have you published and I said oh yeah I published all these
    45:53
    stories in about six books and this that he just started laughing he just laughs oh you are going to have no problem at
    46:00
    all and hearing that for the second time is what made the difference I was able to see
    46:06
    that that I was just on this road I did not see Rey again
    46:11
    for many years and then in maybe the end of 2011 or the
    46:18
    beginning of 2012. I would I was asked if I would make a presentation at a more
    46:24
    at a at a acknowledgment dinner for Ray Bradbury who was very ill he could barely speak
    46:31
    he was in his wheelchair and it was held at the Universal Sheraton Sometime Late
    46:37
    2011 or early 2012. and I got up on the stage
    46:44
    it was so good to see him and he was so diminished physically but
    46:49
    the child self was still so alive in him his eyes were still still alive and I I told the
    46:57
    story of how he had reached out to me when I was getting started and he'd
    47:03
    written these letters giving me hope ing me believe that maybe it was
    47:09
    possible for me to have the life that I wanted how grateful I was for a chance to say
    47:16
    thank you to this great man and after I finished he held out his arms and he
    47:22
    gave me a hug and I went home and six weeks later I got a letter from him
    47:32
    telling me thanking me for the words I'd said
    47:38
    and how it had reminded him of his own path and his own Joy in his gratitude for the life that he
    47:46
    had had and the fact that he'd been able to touch others in the last words in that letter were
    47:53
    some of your tears are my own Ray Bradbury
    47:58
    and about six weeks after that he passed away and I just
    48:05
    wanted to say there's is no greater gift in life than
    48:12
    being able to take a look at the child you were and the truth and the dreams that they
    48:18
    had it realized that you were actually able to live that life
    48:24
    and that there was no possible way that you could have done it alone and that being able to talk to other
    48:31
    people along the path who say you know you're not remotely at
    48:37
    their level not remotely but they don't care all they care about is are you
    48:43
    writing are you reading are you teaching where are you what does the territory
    48:48
    look like from where you are and I just wanted to say that everybody in this room
    48:55
    has walked a path that others wish they could walk has answered questions that other people can't even formulate yet
    49:02
    and you never know what a kind word or a kind act is going to mean
    49:09
    his actions meant the difference between life and death
    49:16
    for part of my soul and I could not be who I am we're not
    49:22
    for people who had been kind to me who saw me and saw some potential Within Me
    49:31
    it reached out their hand and said you're going to have no problem at all
    49:38
    and I think you for the chance to come here and say
    49:44
    publicly how much I owe those people in one specific man one great man
    49:53
    Ray Bradbury who changed and saved my life
    50:11
    I'm going to pick up on like two things that you said Steve I know in my life there were individuals
    50:18
    who encouraged me when I couldn't get that encouragement from anywhere else
    50:23
    and when you're young you're tender you know you're in your teens and um
    50:30
    you know I'm not gonna belabor you know and bore you with those individuals who
    50:35
    did that for me but that's an extremely important thing for a young person an
    50:41
    old person too to have somebody who gives you permission
    50:46
    to go that route and to trust yourself and to trust your passion that could be
    50:52
    a teacher you've also written about a teacher in high school who um you know
    50:58
    positively gave you reinforcement yes so those those teachers are
    51:04
    extremely important um in our lives and I've had a a a several you know uh when I was a
    51:12
    cartoonist and then the novelist John Gardner when I started writing novels
    51:18
    and he led me into the book World which I knew nothing about and then later you know when I was in philosophy with my
    51:25
    dissertation director who became a dear friend who's actually passing away right
    51:30
    now but those teachers are extraordinarily important but there's something else you said I'd like to know
    51:36
    I'd like you to say a bit more about you've worked with Niven yes collaboratively yes and you're wondering
    51:43
    what's happening to me you know where am I you know so is that the opening that
    51:50
    question that led you to and to Nana Reeve to afrocentrism
    51:56
    is that how you found your way there well okay afrofuturism yeah I'm sorry yeah
    52:03
    for future futurism um well all that happened is that I worked with Larry Niven and his partner
    52:09
    Jerry Purnell and um I learned the basics of my craft and
    52:16
    I already had the basics of my craft I came to them with a certain amount of skills that were developed but then they
    52:21
    took me to being professional I remember you know Jerry I never I don't know how many writers in world history have ever
    52:27
    had the experience of two world-class writers best-selling writers award-winning writers sitting on opposite sides of the room tearing apart
    52:34
    their work at the same time because I was working on a book with the two of them and Cornell was taking great
    52:40
    pleasure in this how Burns we're ripping apart barnes's precious Pros Barnes was your mother
    52:47
    scared by a gerund I mean he would take he took such Glee in ripping me a new
    52:55
    one every single time I would drive home from working with them crying sobbing
    53:01
    because you know just taking this battering but it was like it was like being asked to spar with the black belt
    53:07
    class you got your butt kicked every night but you would crawl off the mat
    53:12
    but you'd know if I can survive this I'm going to be a fighter so I knew if I
    53:18
    could survive this I will learn things that are taught in no school in the world now one of the things is that
    53:23
    Jerry wrote stories that Jerry wanted to read Larry Niven wrote stories Larry Niven wanted to read so in order to be
    53:30
    like them I didn't it wasn't writing like Larry nibbon or Jerry Purnell I had to write stories that Stephen Barnes
    53:37
    wanted to read what were those stories into a huge degree
    53:42
    there is that question what was missing from the field and what was missing was people who
    53:48
    looked like me right and it wasn't passive it was active insult Edgar Rice
    53:54
    Burroughs would write stories you know in which in which uh the
    53:59
    Enterprise Burrows stories were the the core of Tarzan was specifically racism
    54:05
    specifically the idea that a British that an English Lord gentleman raised by Apes is still a gentleman and he made
    54:11
    racism specific in one of his stories in the jungle Tales of Tarzan where he says
    54:16
    white men have imagination black men have little animals have none I mean that was specifically so you can't get
    54:23
    away from it but I needed those stories because I was trying to Define myself as a man where I
    54:29
    am in the universe so as I once said to a group that I I sacrificed my melanin
    54:35
    on the altar of my testosterone I mean I I wanted to be a man more than I cared
    54:40
    about being black I would I would add something you brought something to Parnell and and Niven that they didn't
    54:46
    have yes from your perspective in your history they did not have the black orientation any of that no but but I
    54:52
    don't know if that worked into the books not that much I mean Jerry was was by
    54:58
    his own uh statement took politically to the right of Attila the Hun so it was
    55:05
    difficult to navigate that territory but one of the things I learned was how to argue with somebody smarter than you because Jerry was just smarter than me
    55:11
    just you know he's you know Jerry's brain had a rocket attached to it Larry's brain had a transport a
    55:19
    transporter attached to it whereas I could understand how Jerry would do stuff it was just an ordinary brain with a lot more information working a lot
    55:25
    faster but Larry would dematerialize and materialize someplace I was just like I don't even know how you got there so
    55:33
    taking their lessons and then writing my own stories demanded that I write for my
    55:39
    own experience so I'm then dealing with the fact that you know my my first book
    55:45
    was a book with Larry my second book was a book with Larry my third book was a solo book and I wrote a black character
    55:53
    I specifically wanted to create a black hero that was Street Lethal yeah but the
    55:59
    book company Ace put a white guy on the cover he's very clearly described as being as dark
    56:05
    as Zulu and they put a white guy on the cover and my poor editor called me up and she's in tears you know Beth Meacham
    56:13
    is her name very nice lady not her fault she said that they had done this Susan Allison who was the head editor I don't
    56:20
    have as good a feeling about her because she kind of blew it off she wasn't upset well it's one of those things that
    56:26
    happened it was the marketing department and I talked to the marketing department oh no it's the advertising it's the art
    56:32
    Department I talked to the art Department the art Department said well it's the sales department and the sales
    56:39
    department said well the truck drivers who are going to put the books on the stands would think that this was shaft
    56:45
    in space and so I realized at that point I can either hate white people I'd
    56:52
    rather not do that did I say that out loud no
    56:57
    I could either hate white people or I consider that what's going on here is an
    57:03
    example of how human beings think that human beings feel protective of their
    57:08
    tribe and almost all human beings are tribal they happen to have that power Everybody wants to rule the world
    57:13
    everybody wants to feel that the world reflects who they are in the mirror so this is I'm just at the an unfortunate
    57:21
    unfortunate effect of this what do I do with it I can either use this and say
    57:27
    the world kicked my ass or I can say this is where we are right now my dad
    57:35
    working with Nat King Cole performed in in hotels in Las Vegas where he could
    57:42
    not stay the world has gotten better than that
    57:47
    it's just not as good as I would like it to be how much longer will it take and I
    57:54
    projected trend lines in my mind I thought it might take two generations it might take two generations it might
    58:00
    take another 30 to 40 years before the world is ready for the stories that I want to tell
    58:07
    can I survive long enough to do that and so I started a program of I am going I'm
    58:14
    going to stay in this field and I'm going to create my stories and I'm going to do everything I can do
    58:20
    because I'm going to make it first of all I'm going to write stories that the kid who started this path would have
    58:25
    wanted to read and I'm going to create a career path so that other people coming in will have an
    58:31
    easier time than I have an Octavia Butler and I were the only black people working in the field we had many
    58:37
    conversations about this we lived walking distance from each other and Octavia was a level above me as a writer
    58:42
    she was often not happy with what I wrote Because she felt I was not living up to my potential
    58:48
    she would write and they put green people on the covers of her books but they wouldn't put black people you know
    58:53
    so we had lots of interesting conversations about that what do we feel about it what are we going to do I felt
    58:59
    I if I can stay in here and write the stories that I want stories that would
    59:05
    nurture the younger person I was that no matter what happens I've not been beat
    59:10
    and then I found out one day that there were Scholars studying something called afrofuturism and I was considered to be
    59:16
    an afrofuturist I didn't try to be one I was just trying to write Stephen Barnes stories
    59:21
    casually said that you lived walking distance from Octavia but I want to point out oh yeah you know we
    59:27
    used to come over for dinner and I'd go over her place and then we would just sit and we'd talk writing in life she was like my big sister I was wondering
    59:33
    you know um you go back to what is it the 20s the 30s and you've got black no
    59:39
    more that that early yes um and then you fast forward a little
    59:44
    bit and you got chipped Delaney and yeah you he said he couldn't make a living so
    59:50
    he moved on incredibly um once again elegant Pro stylist amazing and and then
    59:56
    you have October Xavier Butler and then there's you yeah that's about it and now
    1:00:01
    we have a lot of people tons of sci-fi can't even count them yeah but you guys are the best you guys were the pioneers
    1:00:09
    you seriously you were Pioneers um which is really quite incredible when you think back about it remember Pioneers
    1:00:16
    get arrows in the butt you know I was just trying I was just trying to
    1:00:22
    be the best writer that I could be in trying to survive trying to take care of my family and trying
    1:00:28
    to to survive in Hollywood and I made mistakes I made mistakes I betrayed that
    1:00:34
    little creative spark inside me a couple of times and it hurt I mean I was just
    1:00:39
    you know you can only sell yourself out so much yeah you know what's even worse is if you try not to sell out and then
    1:00:46
    one day you sell out nobody's buying you know so that's even worse but I remember
    1:00:52
    one of my agents I lost or walked away from one of my agents in Hollywood because I walked in there with my heart
    1:00:59
    on my sleeve and I said you know I don't know what's going to happen in my career but when I leave Hollywood I want to
    1:01:06
    leave with my sense of Honor intact and he looked at me and he said you'll be the only one and I realized at that
    1:01:13
    moment he and I did not understand each other at all I need to find a new agent because I'm not going to sell my soul to
    1:01:20
    do this I'm going to do everything I can and I will not sell out but I will rent myself
    1:01:25
    you know and I will stretch as far as I can but I'm always going yeah I'm I'm I'm kind of a hoe but
    1:01:36
    enjoy my work
    1:01:43
    if I write an episode of Baywatch and I have I wrote four episodes of Baywatch
    1:01:48
    people say that's not science fiction I said you ever see those silicon life forms running around on the beach
    1:01:53
    um I found something in every episode that I could actually care about and there's
    1:02:01
    another story I can go into that I might tell another time where the producers did eventually end up turning on me but
    1:02:07
    I got revenge but that's another story that's
    1:02:13
    um let's let's we'll uh well first okay before I think we can open up to a
    1:02:22
    little bit of a q a um but before we do that of course we want to just really thank you for your
    1:02:27
    words and Candor have you have you said everything you wanted to see you came prepared with some comments you came
    1:02:33
    prepared with some comments have you expressed what you wanted to express I came prepared with you no you had some
    1:02:39
    comments you were almost going to write a talk to do this but instead of that you prepared some comments I just wanted to be sure that that Charles has had an
    1:02:46
    opportunity to express himself no no no no I'm fine okay I think it's probably a
    1:02:51
    good idea if you want to move to that next question yes but before we did that look at this beautiful let's thank these
    1:02:57
    uh these these wonderful discussions
    1:03:04
    respect just trying to be like you no you don't want to believe me so uh
    1:03:12
    what what we could do um is you know
    1:03:18
    the the aisles could be your your pathway or if you so choose you could
    1:03:23
    just kind of raise it I can't see you because of the lights so perhaps you might want to stand up over okay that
    1:03:29
    they just raise the house lights yeah they just did so I could see folks so if
    1:03:34
    you have a question if you have a comment please just raise your hand and uh I will uh
    1:03:39
    catch you not everybody at once there we go Tumbleweed we got one yeah
    1:03:47
    and you'll have to project because I don't think we have a walking mic you're a big boy oh it's over here there we go
    1:03:53
    okay
    1:03:59
    no they were right even better
    1:04:07
    okay so they're gonna they got questions on index cards oh I see that people wrote already yes all right all right
    1:04:13
    good this is good because I can read them all okay come on yeah I just get them all at
    1:04:21
    once
    1:04:29
    don't do it all right
    1:04:36
    all right I'm gonna start here okay we're ready okay so I think this one is
    1:04:41
    for both of you and so this person says that they want to say that they appreciate uh that you both came out to
    1:04:47
    speak with us this evening and they love hearing your story um the question is is there a book that
    1:04:53
    you wrote that holds the most significance to you um if so would you be okay with sharing
    1:05:00
    your thoughts on the story um and then there's a little statement uh
    1:05:06
    at the bottom it says on the day when life seems to be too much to handle with all that you do okay that's the second
    1:05:12
    question so just go with the first question is there a particular book that you wrote that holds the most significance to you
    1:05:19
    um and if so uh would you share your thoughts on the story I can do that easily okay uh most significant book for
    1:05:25
    me was my second novel called oxygen tale which was rejected two dozen times nobody understood it my own Mentor
    1:05:34
    um John Gardner did not understand it and actually was afraid of the Buddhism that was in this
    1:05:41
    novel which is in the form of a slave narrative philosophical novel no form of a slave narrative with access to Western
    1:05:48
    and Eastern philosophy and my editor didn't understand it for my first book and um but that was critical
    1:05:54
    had I not done that book all the other books that I've done 26
    1:06:00
    after you know total 27 I would not have done it I had to do that book and once I
    1:06:07
    did that book I understood some things about myself I wrote the book to free myself of my
    1:06:15
    passion in reading of Eastern philosophy and Buddhism from my teens so I'm going to write this book you know and I'm
    1:06:21
    going to be free of it got to the end of the book I realized no this is the beginning for me so everything I've done has been in a
    1:06:28
    way referenced back to Oxford and tail which has a Bradbury connection because there is a soul catcher a slave Hunter
    1:06:35
    and Coors of Adam who has tattoos all the black people that he captures
    1:06:42
    are killed he gets tattoos on his body that where where is that going to come from except the Illustrated Man right
    1:06:48
    we're not which I read when I was younger so that that was a critical book for me I'll say that much
    1:06:55
    um yeah so that's mine for me it would almost certainly be
    1:07:01
    lions blood which Lion's blood you know which uh was my statement on race
    1:07:08
    relations in America uh basically it was it took me six years of research and I
    1:07:14
    basically created an alternate history which was an alternate America that was colonized by Islamic Africans bringing
    1:07:20
    in this particular instance Irish slaves here and so the story it deals with a
    1:07:26
    young Irish boy named Aiden Odair who is kidnapped by Vikings and sold to the Moors in Spain in andalus the word
    1:07:32
    perspective and brought to balalistan the United States to the province of nujibouti Texas where he becomes the
    1:07:39
    foot boy slip of Kai ibiz who is a young Islamic nobleman and the
    1:07:46
    story covers their friendship for about eight years from childhood to the beginnings of adulthood and um that I
    1:07:53
    don't know if I'll ever work that hard on a book again I probably will not I remember what you said you invited
    1:07:59
    Scholars to a party yeah to ask them questions yeah I basically knew that I could spend a hundred years researching
    1:08:06
    and still not touch one percent of what I needed to know so I did one of the smartest things I've ever done it's probably one of the 10 smartest things
    1:08:12
    I've done in my life I invited a room full of the smartest people that I knew and people came from from hundreds of
    1:08:18
    miles in addition to my invitation and we had a pizza party all day long I fed them pizza and beer and I had graph
    1:08:25
    paper and butcher paper on the walls and I passed out notebooks with the basic
    1:08:32
    premises of the world you know the politics and the economics and so forth of this alternate universe and I had a
    1:08:39
    videographer following people around and all day long we theorized about this
    1:08:45
    world that I was trying to create and they showed me everything they showed me so many things that I had not thought of
    1:08:50
    that by the end of that single day I had enough research to begin the writing process that I'd done six years of
    1:08:57
    research before I did that party so I my attitude is you want to know enough to
    1:09:03
    ask the right questions of experts and if you can ask an expert the right
    1:09:09
    question and they say oh yes well that's you know and they go off then you know enough to write your story you this is a
    1:09:15
    perfect example of what they call World building yeah World building and you went on to do a sequel or at more than
    1:09:22
    well I I did two of them Lion's bullet in Zulu heart Zulu heart yeah
    1:09:27
    all right and so we have we have a good number of questions I think we can okay I'll keep it shorter no no but we're
    1:09:34
    good I think everybody here is enjoying uh being able to hear is this okay guys I think we're all right this is what you
    1:09:40
    came for it's all it's all about you you can't get you can't Prime me out of the house but once I'm out of the house I really
    1:09:47
    do want to serve whoever brought me out so this is your chance okay and then for anyone out there if I misread anything
    1:09:53
    feel free to correct me um uh given that we celebrate uh
    1:09:59
    creativity originality and the process of fantasy is naming things a reductive
    1:10:05
    Act
    1:10:11
    is naming things a reductive Act well that's a big epistemological
    1:10:18
    question of course I mean how would you answer that um to name something is given of nature that's one way you could
    1:10:24
    talk about this to name something is to limit it uh to whatever name you you've given it uh given to it I there's a lot
    1:10:33
    of ways you could take this but but naming can be extremely important um guys how to talk about I guess people
    1:10:41
    who are Chinese have four or five different names you know a birth name and it it I'm going to let you you feel
    1:10:48
    that one um it is reductive but then again all language is reductive all language is a
    1:10:55
    reification of of something all language is a symbol and it's possible to mistake
    1:11:00
    the menu for the meal you know if you go you know kind of stepping into my core zipski for a second
    1:11:06
    um but language is all we have you know we're communicating with people
    1:11:12
    he said when you go in the other room and get what do you say you know the the salty thing you know it's all you know
    1:11:19
    the thing that makes things taste sharper you've just use labels for things the the concept of taste you've
    1:11:26
    used the label for the concepts of something that is bitter as opposed to sweet as opposed to Salty all those
    1:11:31
    things are labels all words are nothing more than that and
    1:11:37
    what you do with language I remember chip Delaney in his book The Jewel hinge jaw on writing he talks about the fact
    1:11:44
    that every word creates an impression you know the okay is this definite article the boy okay we
    1:11:51
    getting a noun in here the boy ran he got a the boy ran from oh okay now we're getting a sense of direction that that
    1:11:57
    just as music is what happens between the notes poetry is what happens between the words
    1:12:03
    as you hear a word and your brain does what's called a transderivational search for the meaning of that word it's the
    1:12:10
    journey that people go on between the words that creates the impression of art it's like you know this note followed by
    1:12:16
    that note what happens in between there the negative space is what an artist is manipulating or it's the thing that we
    1:12:23
    don't see we see the words but we don't see the space between the words let me see the tree the trees but we don't see
    1:12:28
    the space between them but it's a space between them the trees punctuate that space to create a forest so the labels
    1:12:35
    that we use we use not necessarily to Define things but to guide Consciousness you know think about this now think
    1:12:42
    about this now think about this what is the journey you go on between the words that's the thing that the artist plays
    1:12:49
    with that people do not see and that is in some ways the most important thing and you only learn to get there by
    1:12:56
    concentrating on the words and then at some point you see the forest that you have created with the use of those words
    1:13:03
    it's one of the reasons why the first draft it's so important it just as far as I'm because it just vomited out your
    1:13:09
    first draft should be trash just get it out there what what Bradbury referred to as running Barefoot through the grass
    1:13:16
    let your first draft be done from Pure Love then
    1:13:21
    the rewrite process is where you're adjusting and playing with it but just
    1:13:26
    get that first draft out there don't try to make your first draft meaningful they'll try to make it good don't try to
    1:13:32
    you know make the work of the Masters just write down the music that you're hearing and adjust it later
    1:13:38
    and then rewrite and rewrite and rewrite and rewrite and rewrite that's right that's right
    1:13:45
    okay and uh so um you keep mentioning trials uh Delaney
    1:13:51
    uh Samuel I'm sorry okay I don't know I'm well enough to you know I know who he is
    1:13:58
    I've read his work but I don't I don't know him see I know you know you just casually mentioned Octavia Butler so I'm
    1:14:04
    sure you know chip Delaney wasn't enough to come to anyway I'm stop joking around here um so this question is about uh Mr
    1:14:11
    Delaney why is Delaney out of fashion and the person mentioned that they loved
    1:14:17
    reflection of light in water I would say it's simply because different styles of writing go in and
    1:14:24
    out of fashion chip Delaney came into the science fiction field in the 60s was called the new wave where
    1:14:30
    people see the first generation of Science Fiction were people who knew science and literature you know Jules
    1:14:35
    Verne and H.G Wells and so forth the next generation of Science Fiction Olaf Stapleton and people like that knew the
    1:14:42
    work of wells and and the the Next Generation after that people like uh
    1:14:47
    Robert Heinlein they knew the Olaf stapletons and so forth and they were doing the same thing but by the time you
    1:14:52
    get to the 60s there was enough science fiction literature that it actually started coming back around instead you
    1:14:59
    know the that science fiction of the 30s and the 40s was justifiably mocked by
    1:15:05
    literary establishment because it wasn't interested in literary qualities it was interested in ideas Big Ideas you know
    1:15:11
    back it up to yeah to the first science fiction magazine which is what
    1:15:16
    if uh analog astounding uh no no it's
    1:15:22
    even earlier than that something planets or something the whole purpose of it was to teach young people science you talk
    1:15:29
    about Hugo guernsbach gernsbach gertzbach okay yeah yeah the grinsberg and that's where you get the term
    1:15:34
    science fiction it was to teach and be didactic right however the earlier guys
    1:15:41
    if I don't mischaracterize them would give us a science but they really weren't good with certain things like
    1:15:47
    characterization yes and and the virtues that go along with literature by the time you get to the 60s you see
    1:15:55
    the shift from the hard Sciences physics you know and in chemistry and all that kind of stuff to the soft Sciences yes
    1:16:02
    that is to say sociology and anthropology and blah blah blah so you
    1:16:07
    and my colleague Joan Russ was was part of that I interviewed yes she was I interviewed her and Chip Delaney because
    1:16:14
    we did a special issue of the Seattle review which I was at fiction editor of for 20 years devoted to science fiction
    1:16:20
    so I interviewed them together in the office at the University of Washington
    1:16:26
    um so so I want you to finish this off what happened to chip Delaney what happened to chip Delaney is that in the
    1:16:33
    new wave people like him and Ted sturgeon and Harlan Ellison were playing with language
    1:16:39
    they started playing with language and deconstructing the the relationship
    1:16:45
    between language and Consciousness to create effects in their work so they weren't telling you know uh
    1:16:51
    straight forward stories Bradbury was an early person who was grounded in the
    1:16:57
    pulps but used that manipulation of negative space emotionally and
    1:17:03
    artistically to create an effect you would put down one of the stories and say this wasn't science fiction but somehow you know I want to look at the
    1:17:09
    stars okay chip Delaney was in some ways well there were ways in which he was
    1:17:15
    limited from writing about what he really wanted to write about which was his sexuality and race and he could not
    1:17:20
    write about those things at that time so he would deconstruct language in concepts of race and Consciousness and
    1:17:26
    so forth and he was friggin brilliant he was one of the very first if not the
    1:17:31
    first black writer that John W Campbell who was the editor of astounding which
    1:17:36
    became analog would published because Campbell was a racist I mean he right there he would I know two people who
    1:17:42
    have letters from him where he stated straight out you can't write about an advanced application of civilization
    1:17:48
    because Africans aren't smart enough to create one that was and he was one of
    1:17:53
    the foundations of the field so Chip Delaney had to hide who he was in order to write so he hid in the world of the
    1:17:59
    intellect I will be so brilliant I will people when people think chip Delaney
    1:18:04
    they will not think black they will think brilliant he he deliberately expressed his intellect so that people
    1:18:11
    wouldn't notice his skin color but that where and that's my interpretation
    1:18:17
    that's nothing he ever said directly to me about it but that wears on you how do
    1:18:22
    you write stories for people and you feel in your heart they don't want to know who I really am they if they
    1:18:28
    acknowledge my intellect they're making me an exception oh if they were all like chip Delaney we wouldn't have a problem
    1:18:33
    that that eventually can turn to ashes in your mouth and lead to you asking
    1:18:39
    questions of Ray Bradbury and Leo and Diane Dillon um and he at some point got out of it
    1:18:46
    but the field moved on that the 60s broke the box that Olaf Stapleton and
    1:18:52
    Robert Heinlein and Arthur C Clarke and Isaac Asimov created by asking us to you
    1:18:57
    know the 60s were a time of experimentation and drugs and love and peace and so forth and so on
    1:19:03
    the generation that came after the 60s took all of that for granted and they began exploring Science Fiction with
    1:19:09
    simultaneously a sense of the Aesthetics that lead to literature and by the 80s and the 90s you actually
    1:19:17
    had a body of Science Fiction where the best of the best had both mastered storytelling and the sciences and the
    1:19:24
    capacity to create art and so Chip Delaney was forgotten to a degree because we no longer needed
    1:19:32
    what it is that he had brought to the field there was a recent issue of a magazine National magazine I can't
    1:19:39
    remember what it was a friend told me about it I didn't read it was a long piece on Delaney it's a long piece under
    1:19:45
    like a genuine genius huh Delaney was a genuine genius no question about it he
    1:19:51
    was one of Octavius teachers okay and you know so to act to him he Octavia is
    1:19:57
    insane Octavia she's a good writer sometimes better than others and so for you know and he's for real you know he
    1:20:02
    really means that um and both of them are above my level
    1:20:08
    but they what they were
    1:20:13
    helped make the field what it is they were foundational so let's get we got
    1:20:20
    four more I think we could get through them we will need to potentially move a
    1:20:26
    little quicker a little quicker okay I'm sorry because I'm I'm getting the signs but I don't want to disrupt the flow of
    1:20:33
    what's Happening Here so this person says growing up reading comics there was plenty of violence but now graphic
    1:20:39
    novels have the power to push out I believe it's saying out peace what are
    1:20:45
    your thoughts on that if you could push out peace I don't even know what that means if they mean that art is going to
    1:20:52
    make the world more violent I disagree with that wholeheartedly okay I think that that violence comes from being you
    1:20:59
    know it's like the Billy Budd syndrome you know the the greater your vocabulary and the more ideas you can express
    1:21:04
    through language the less you have to hit people there is an inverse relationship in prisons between the size
    1:21:09
    of vocabulary and the violence of the crime it's been noted many times by sociologists so the people who can play
    1:21:15
    with ideas don't need to stab you okay okay [Laughter]
    1:21:25
    moving at a steady clip we're gonna get there um thank you Elders for sharing your wisdom uh with your stories and the
    1:21:31
    question is how do you uh nurture the connection between your adult self and your child's self
    1:21:40
    how do you nurture the relationship between your adult self and your child
    1:21:46
    self you know I'll give you a meditation that I've seen other people use I don't know
    1:21:52
    if anybody here meditates but you can visualize this visualize yourself
    1:21:58
    as your younger self what what if you had a time machine and you could this has been done in movies
    1:22:04
    go back and talk to your younger self on a bad day when he or she just everything
    1:22:10
    went wrong getting beat up and so forth visualize yourself giving yourself that
    1:22:16
    kid you were a hug and holding that kid for you know a
    1:22:22
    breath or two and telling that kid you know it's pretty bad right now
    1:22:28
    but you don't know what's going to happen in the future that I do and it's going to be good
    1:22:33
    see that's perfect you know in in my system you know our pedagogy we teach we
    1:22:39
    have a podcast you know the life writing podcast and www.lifewritingpodcast.com and we talk
    1:22:46
    about a technique called the ancient child what the ancient child okay it is
    1:22:51
    a technique and it's like you imagine that at one end of a string is the child
    1:22:57
    that you were at the other end of the string is the old the Elder you're going to be on your deathbed you know just
    1:23:02
    just you're gonna die tomorrow be on all ego Beyond any need to look good or any
    1:23:08
    of that nonsense and all you're trying to do is move with Integrity between the dreams of childhood and the knowledge of
    1:23:15
    what values are real that you will have on your deathbed on the other side of ego and if you use a meditation like you
    1:23:22
    just suggested and you visualize the child self you can ask the child what it wants you to do
    1:23:28
    and you can also visualize the child and the Elder simultaneously then just sit
    1:23:33
    back and listen to them talk to each other and they will express everything you need to live your life with Integrity I've got another variation
    1:23:40
    that might be interesting particularly if you have difficulties with your parents
    1:23:45
    with your mom or dad visualize them and also maybe when they were young yes
    1:23:53
    they give them a hug love it I hadn't thought about that I
    1:23:58
    love that that it's not original to me that's multi-generational healing yes that's great yeah no I I didn't invent
    1:24:06
    that it's it's a meditation that people do in in the Buddhist tradition but also
    1:24:12
    I do the one with my younger self every time I meditate I give younger me a hug
    1:24:17
    yeah I do that I've never done that with my parents though and I'm going to do that within the next 24 hours that's
    1:24:23
    great I love it thank you last two very quick because these are quick ones what
    1:24:30
    are you reading now or watching
    1:24:35
    um I'm studying a time and energy management system I'm not reading any well actually no I'm reading the new
    1:24:41
    Stephen King novel of Holly and I'm studying a time in energy management system okay thank you well on the plane
    1:24:46
    from Seattle which left at seven in the morning so we had to be up at four in
    1:24:51
    the morning and I didn't get to bed but nevertheless from Seattle to Chicago I
    1:24:57
    read the essays in this the uh sin and the Art of writing by Bradbury okay and
    1:25:03
    that that was it was great well from Atlanta to Indianapolis I read a story
    1:25:09
    by one of the greatest living writers a guy named Charles don't go there don't
    1:25:14
    go there him a story that I just finished two
    1:25:20
    three days ago that's right because it's about martial arts I gotta show this to Steve and you promised you'd read it on
    1:25:26
    the plane and you didn't I thank you yes I did thank you I worked and one word possibly one quick word yes and we're
    1:25:33
    gonna bring Dr ockman back up but one quick word for any aspiring uh graphic
    1:25:38
    novel novelists writers who that was one of the questions so I'm terrified okay if you told me for just a second I've
    1:25:45
    got something specific I like to say the six step process that we teach in life writing and we learned this from Ray
    1:25:51
    Bradbury and studying other people like this the first step is write at least one sentence a day every day just make
    1:25:56
    that commitment second step is right between one and four short stories every month the third step is finish those
    1:26:02
    stories and submit them the the fourth step is do not rewrite your stories
    1:26:07
    except to editorial requests once you finish them don't rewrite them go on to the next door the fifth step is you read
    1:26:14
    ten times as much as you write and the last step is repeat this process 100 times we teach this to our students and
    1:26:21
    not a single person who's following this advice has failed to publish by story 26. okay well I used to teach at the
    1:26:27
    University of Washington in 33 years and I give my students assignments but one of the things I got them to do that I
    1:26:34
    found extremely valuable is keep a writer's workbook do not let your day go by in which you
    1:26:40
    have a thought a perception an image that comes to you and you don't put it down in your writer support workbook you
    1:26:46
    see an article that you like clip it this these These are extremely valuable I have
    1:26:52
    writer's workbooks that cover three shelves and go back to the early 70s
    1:26:57
    they're like memory memory aids keep a writer's workbook blank pages put
    1:27:03
    anything you want to on it you know like just descriptive passages you see somebody that you run into and they're
    1:27:10
    dressed in a distinctive and interesting way oh they got an interesting tattoo that goes the world is yours to process
    1:27:17
    through perception and you put that these scraps into your writer's workbook
    1:27:22
    and I assure you that they will be of use to you when you're I go through my writer's
    1:27:29
    workbooks I see I've thought about and written something on every subject Under the Sun literally since the early 70s so
    1:27:37
    it triggers my memory and I see my younger self actually because what is it you're paying attention to in the 70s
    1:27:44
    different than the 90s it's almost like an archeology of your own Consciousness
    1:27:50
    what you're focusing on during a particular decade I just filled up one
    1:27:55
    and I was I was telling one of my friends here I'd like to go by the bookstore to see if I can get another
    1:28:00
    blank book because I have to have that during the course of the day put stuff
    1:28:06
    into it is my journal every day yeah yeah I mean writers have them if you
    1:28:12
    want great examples of what they look like look at Hawthorne look at Chekhov look at um no I'm not Starcher I'm
    1:28:20
    thinking of some of the great writers we have their workbooks they have plot
    1:28:26
    outlines for stories they've never written they have observations of people um it started writers and just keep it's
    1:28:34
    just for you not for anybody else I'd like to make one quick comment
    1:28:39
    that if you like the way we've been talking about writing here you might want to come to a screenwriting Workshop that my wife and
    1:28:46
    I are doing you can find out about it at www.hollywoodloop hole.com and what I
    1:28:51
    will say is ignore the price on there if you need a price where we just want good people we don't care if you can afford
    1:28:57
    the full price for people who we know just write us a letter and saying that you you need a break on the price we'll
    1:29:02
    take whatever you got what we want is people come on September 23rd and really
    1:29:08
    want to learn how to write and about screenwriting
    1:29:13
    www.hollywoodloopole.com all right and folks please uh
    1:29:19
    make sure you're going to the events for the the festival 451
    1:29:24
    um tomorrow at the cancan theater will be filming uh screening Horror in the
    1:29:30
    war with uh Tanana you do wonderful you have an opportunity for book signing in
    1:29:35
    the back here thank you thank you thank you
    1:29:40
    [Applause]
    1:29:51
    thank you all so much that was amazing that was amazing thank you thank you and
    1:29:57
    uh there is an opportunity to get your books signed by Steve Barnes Dr Charles
    1:30:03
    Johnson Sharon Skeeter antonina review there are four tables up here at the front please put on your note cards what you
    1:30:10
    would like them to write in your book to my left the aisle in the far left
    1:30:16
    your right we're going to line up over here we're going to pull the tables forward and we're going to to get your
    1:30:21
    book signed if you need to purchase a book in order to have it signed uh The Book Table is still up in the in the
    1:30:28
    foyer to the back there where I'm pointing and thank you all for a wonderful night thank you for such a a
    1:30:35
    stimulating discussion and uh we love you thank you [Applause]
     
  11. richardmurray

    Game Art
    Here is the character list and after it is the image. Find your favorite
     
    CHARACTER LIST:
    (⭐️=Claimed ❤️ =Finished)
    ❤️⭐️1) Mario - Nicostud916
    ❤️⭐️2) Donkey Kong - SunbeamStone
    ❤️⭐️3) Link - ShimoDuck
    ❤️⭐️4) Samus - Joker2735
    ❤️⭐️4e) Dark Samus - SolarBiscuit96
    ❤️⭐️5) Yoshi - Little-Papership
    ❤️⭐️6) Kirby - InnocentBunny101
    ❤️⭐️7) Fox - VixDojoFox
    ❤️⭐️8) Pikachu - KoraNight
    ❤️⭐️9) Luigi - Waluigi-Wah
    ❤️⭐️10) Ness - Geekster1984
    ❤️⭐️11) Captain Falcon - EmmaWolves2020
    ❤️⭐️12) Jigglypuff - Raymanimations
    ❤️⭐️13) Peach - StellarFairy
    ❤️⭐️13e) Daisy - NowLookHere
    ❤️⭐️14) Bowser - sonicexeartist567
    ❤️⭐️15) Ice Climbers - onjikun
    ❤️⭐️16) Sheik - Hakonechloa
    ❤️⭐️17) Zelda - PrincessSkyler
    ❤️⭐️18) Doctor Mario - fall2landers
    ❤️⭐️19) Pichu - DarkSunshine92
    ❤️⭐️20) Falco - Mayelis
    ❤️⭐️21) Marth - GameArtist1993
    ❤️⭐️21e) Lucina - Duckyy8
    ❤️⭐️22) Young Link - psykuanta
    ❤️⭐️23) Ganondorf - FrancoisL-Artblog
    ❤️⭐️24) Mewtwo - cerealncookies
    ❤️⭐️25) Roy - CristalMomoStar
    ❤️⭐️25e) Chrom - HeavenBunny95
    ❤️⭐️26) Mr. Game & Watch - MagmaMTMBFan
    ❤️⭐️27) Meta Knight - dancingfancycat
    ❤️⭐️28) Pit - Mumbles-Pear
    ❤️⭐️28e) Dark Pit - Corovusin
    ❤️⭐️29) Zero Suit Samus - Cyanymph
    ❤️⭐️30) Wario - Jradical2014
    ❤️⭐️31) Snake - NeomiahPVart
    ❤️⭐️32) Ike - Kat-Naps
    ❤️⭐️33-35) Pokemon Trainer (Squirtle/Ivysaur/Charizard) - TunesLooney
    ❤️⭐️36) Diddy Kong - Shishinarts
    ❤️⭐️37) Lucas - Absbor-Phamtusin
    ❤️⭐️38) Sonic - RainbowReaderDrawzYT
    ❤️⭐️39) King Dedede - JustAGhosty
    ❤️⭐️40) Olimar - Arty-PURRchardy2002
    ❤️⭐️41) Lucario - Erry
    ❤️⭐️42) R.O.B. - Zhoid
    ❤️⭐️43) Toon Link - Parastatic
    ❤️⭐️44) Wolf - NazoKG
    ❤️⭐️45) Villager - platinum-starz
    ❤️⭐️46) Mega Man - SirFrancis
    ❤️⭐️47) Wii Fit TRAINER - AlloyAHY
    ❤️⭐️48) Rosalina & Luma - PrismaticArts
    ❤️⭐️49) Little Mac - Ry-Spirit
    ❤️⭐️50) Greninja - phantomfox04
    ❤️⭐️51-53) Mii Fighters (Brawler/Swordfighter/Gunner) - jazz-convoy
    ❤️⭐️54) Palutena - MisterNeedlem0use
    ❤️⭐️55) Pac-Man - goofymonk
    ❤️⭐️56) Robin - GoddessPrincessLulu
    ❤️⭐️57) Shulk - novamallow
    ❤️⭐️58) Bowser Jr - NateDog73
    ❤️⭐️59) Duck Hunt - Lime-o-Bunny
    ❤️⭐️60) Ryu - DarkWolfKnight00
    ❤️⭐️60e) Ken - burgar
    ❤️⭐️61) Cloud - ChrissRegularArtDA
    ❤️⭐️62) Corrin - Lushies-Art
    ❤️⭐️63) Bayonetta - HDdeviant
    ❤️⭐️64) Inkling - ARaccoonNamedPeacock
    ❤️⭐️65) Ridley - ankolosaurus
    ❤️⭐️66) Simon - CatBunny404
    ❤️⭐️66e) Richter - KurdossArt
    ❤️⭐️67) King K.Rool - DingoPizza
    ❤️⭐️68) Isabelle - Frogat0
    ❤️⭐️69) Incineroar - Sparky-94
    ❤️⭐️70) Piranha Plant - JJSponge120
    ❤️⭐️71) Joker - Mystery--Mist
    ❤️⭐️72) Hero - fuyubareluna
    ❤️⭐️73) Banjo Kazooie - wonderingwellow
    ❤️⭐️74) Terry - Retro7
    ❤️⭐️75) Byleth - @MaxxieMousePJMasks
    ❤️⭐️76) Min Min - CatsumiCatsumadness
    ❤️⭐️77) Steve - KATEtheDeath1
    ❤️⭐️78) Sephiroth - MrMcDeathCorporation
    ❤️⭐️79-80) Pyra/Mythra - ItzPinkiePlayz
    ❤️⭐️81) Kazuya - SweetGluttonyArt
    ❤️⭐️82) Sora - LadyYomi
     
    Image original, use as a map

    The complete image

     
    Finished collab image 
    https://www.deviantart.com/ry-spirit/art/Super-Smash-Bros-Collab-981894855
     
    Collab page 
    https://www.deviantart.com/ry-spirit/journal/Big-Smash-Bros-Art-Collab-974447631

    Pokemon Collab 
     
     
     
    Bayonetta - my entry in the collab in full
    https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Bayonetta-super-smash-collab-2023-Color-980504646
    the coloring page
    https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Bayonetta-super-smash-collab-2023-BW-980503498
     
    Black Games Elite article
    https://aalbc.com/tc/blogs/entry/394-bayonetta-of-a-super-smash-bros-collab-is-done/
     
     
     
  12. richardmurray

    Game Art
    Once I made a plushie form of a pokemon for a positive donation to make a wish.

     
    Here is the link to my work, can you find it in the image above?
    https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Bedtime-with-Sudowoodo-plushie-944022157
     
    Now, to make positive donations to the nature conservancy, I created another. When the collab image comes up I will post it, for now, you can see mine. 
    https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Sudowoodo-in-the-rainforest-Color-981132583
     
    I also have Dedenne, and i already figured what I will do, but I will create next week. It is writing time:) 
     
    Also, if you are feeling a strong pokemon vibe,  i made a sudowoodo in random colors. 
    https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Sudowoodo-random-colors-color-981133324
     
    Hopefully when I am done , per my planning, the last months of 2023 I can focus on black games elite doing something similar or involved likewise.
  13. richardmurray
    When the entire collaboration is finished this image will be complete. Do you see where Bayonetta is?

     
    The Following Are Links To My Bayonetta but before a little poem
     
     
    Mistress Cherry, quite contrary
    How does your spellbook grow?
    With shapeshift ghouls and summon'd tools
    And so my spellbook grows
     
    Bayonetta super smash bros collab part
    https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Bayonetta-super-smash-collab-2023-Color-980504646
    Bayonetta coloring page
    https://www.deviantart.com/hddeviant/art/Bayonetta-super-smash-collab-2023-BW-980503498
    invitation
    https://www.deviantart.com/ry-spirit/journal/Big-Smash-Bros-Art-Collab-974447631
     
  14. richardmurray

    game news from somewhere
    Fantasy Life, from LevelFive is the game that had the most fun in my home, cause we all could play, even offline, even traveling, together in an immersive world. 
     
    LevelFive is coming out with Fantasy Life i , but Nintendo has reached out to indie developer Phoenix games, to make a hybrid between  : fantasy life/animal crossing/stardew valley/Breath of the wild from the Zelda seriea. And Fae Farm is the result. 
     
     
    Farm to Fable: The Peace Seekers

     
    Farm to Fable: The Farmers

     
    Farm to Fable: The Adventurers

     
    Farm to Fable: The Artists

     
    Farm to Fable: The Friends

     
     
    I really like the blend of open world, no routine or guided activity, the design parameters of animal crossing with colors or visual perspectives, the connectivity of fantasy life with goals possible but not forced upon the user, side stardew valleys wide array of activities.
     
    If you are in Europe consider the following
     
    https://b2b.gamescom.global/gamescom/the-gamescom/
     
    Have fun!
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