Once again, we have a wonderful guest blogger in the Barbershop. Today, Glenn “Omodiende” Reitz, a regular visitor to the site, will honor us with his commentary. Glenn is currently a PhD candidate in African American Studies at Temple University. Before returning to school, he was an officer in the United States Navy and a self-described “minor felon”. Glenn currently seeks to reconcile the spheres of technology and humanity, science and art. As a Black Studies scholar, he strives towards holism.

Glenn also works as a website developer and webmaster, providing free advice and design work for minority and non-profit business, as well as local hiphop talent. He has also volunteered as a peer educator in HART, Temple ’s Health Awareness program, sharing his knowledge of safer sex, relationships, stress and crisis management, human sexuality, and body image issues. He regularly gives lectures on “Living with Dying” and “Crisis Management.”

Show him some love, y’all!!!!!

In addition to blessing us with a powerful post, Omodiende has also been wonderful enough to share the following pieces.
SACCHARIN-TONGUED

the dying lie to us,
telling us that there will be a tomorrow,
knowing full well that there will not.
each lie, an act of kindness,
stabs years of bitter regret into our hearts
that only later fester and erupt.
if only we knew,
if we only knew,
if only we allowed ourselves to know,
we would not listen to those kind, sweet lies,
those lies that allow us not to cry, not to think, not to feel.
then, perhaps, we could truly know
what it means to die
and what it means to live.
So don’t ask me how I’m doing
’cause I’m too damn tired to lie.

Drama
you don’t love me, you love my story
the pathos, tragedy, and drama
of my afterschool special, made-for-tv-movie life
you love the chance to be more than just an extra:
the guy at the coffeeshop or man crossing street,
or simply known as Shopper #7.

You want a starring role
something bittersweet to fill
the hole of inconsequentiality in your life
the leftbehind lover and the grieving widow,
looking for an excuse to live your life lonely and alone,
everyone remembers the grieving widow
and excuses her noble vigil as she pines.

but this is my story, my drama,
and I don’t feel like sharing
I don’t feel like being used to make you feel important.
find another production to be in this casting call is closed
This is a one-man show.

I will die alone just to spite you
no sad goodbyes, no teary endings, at least not for you
unremembered, unremarked
as Shopper #7

I am not my body
I am not weak,
weak with fatigue, weak with atrophy, weak with limbs that give out well before the job is done, quivering and panting.

I am not my body
I am not dying, decaying, degenerating
debilitating, disease-ridden, dissolving, disappearing…
slowly, like blood stains on the sidewalk, bleaching under footsteps and the daily sun –
until one day you just notice that they’re gone
and you can’t remember who left them, who died.
All you can remember is that the crime scene jammed traffic for blocks, the sudden stop/start of the bus spilling coffee on your shirt, and making you late for work.
You remember that.
Curious, though, the coffee stain is still there, no matter what you do –
just keep your jacket closed so no one sees.

I am not my body,
I am not slowly slipping into shadows
Losing brightness and luminosity
Sinking in obscurity and the sussurus of memory.
I am not my body
slowly wearing out like an eraser on the pencil of a writer
leaving bits and pieces of myself behind, evidence of mistakes and redirected thought,
wearing slowly to a useless nub.
If I would write less perhaps I would last longer, maintain my shape, my form, my body
but the writing serves a purpose, if only to make the eraser useful.
And the writing I can’t stop.

I am not my body
I’m a shining, luminous creature, strong and vibrant
casting shadows of my own illuminesence
burning into minds and onto paper
growing stronger every day.
My appetite and capacity feed cravings that direct me and empower me
imparting flight to me like that of hummingbirds – no,
not stupid hummingbirds but honeybees.
Swarming out from hidden places, taking sustenance and energy from everywhere they stop to feed, yet always leaving something fertile and productive,
bits and pieces left behind. They, too, serve a purpose.
but even bees are gone at sunset, fly to shadows ‘fore the night arrives
So maybe then I’m not a bee, or hummingbird.
But I am damned sure not my body
I’m not.

I just found out that I’ll be back on “Showbiz Tonight” on CNN Headline News to discuss the Survivor issue in greater detail than I did last night. The show airs at 11pm on CNN Headline News.

ABC AIDS Special: Help or Hype?
By Keith Boykin

I can tell already that I’m going to have some issues with tonight’s ABC special on AIDS in Black America. From the moment I first heard about this project a long time ago, I was concerned that it would be used to reignite the demonization of the down low in our community. It’s very difficult for network television to deal with the complex social, cultural, political and spiritual issues around HIV/AIDS in the black community without sensationalizing those issues. I put those concerns aside for more than a year until I learned earlier this week that the ABC show was finally planning to air tonight.

The list of guests was already enough to stir my concern. One of the guests is my colleague LaJoyce Brookshire, author of “Faith Under Fire: Betrayed By A Thing Called Love.” LaJoyce is the same person who sat with me during a radio interview two months ago and said that black people should put their faith in God and not in condoms. And then there is Boston’s Rev. Eugene Rivers, an African-American pastor who has been outspoken in his criticism of homosexuality and same-sex marriage. And there’s more.

For the rest of the story, click here.

Tonight, I’ll be appearing on CNN’s “Showbiz Tonight,” where I’ll be talking about the new season of Survivor. This season, the teams are divided by race.  The show airs on CNN Headline News (the other CNN station) at 11 PM tonight!!