Jackson Neal
Stories (3/0)
Bug Chaser
“Come on. come on. Janus” My classics professor, Dr. Fuggati, still has his tie on, but his pants are at his feet. His legs are slick and glistening, splayed open on the desk, like a sow hanging on a hook. He’s got a salt and pepper mustache, and olive skin that clutches his hips like cling wrap when he hugs his knees. He grips the desk till his knuckles gasp blue, and I am having trouble staying focused. He shakes impatiently
By Jackson Neal3 years ago in Fiction
The Body is the Ultimate Political Arena
The word “Hip Hop” comes from the Wolof “hipi” which means “to open one’s eyes” and the English word “hop” which means “to move.” Hip Hop then means to be a knowledgeable mover of a knowledgeable movement. I learned this lesson from one of my first dance teachers, Duane Lee Holland. A former Olympic bound gymnast turned Broadway dancer, Duane is a man with open eyes. When we met he wore his hair in shoulder length locs, he has light brown skin, and always dresses in leather jackets and studded shoes. He dresses for an occasion, and if there is no occasion he intends to make one. He gave lectures on the power and importance of Hip Hop, its history and mission. He talked in lecture halls, in conference rooms, in hallways, in bathrooms, in gyms, wherever there was a chance to share his knowledge he shared it. Duane had the rare condition of being a man who believes in what he says. He didn’t speak so that he might be seen speaking, as many do, but because he knew desperately the necessity of what he had to say, that it must be said, and hardly anyone else would have the courage to say it. Among a group of dance students he asked ”If you know the word tendu, if you know plie, and pas de cheval, why won’t you learn jackhammer, jerk, boogaloo? Don’t these moves you watch on your phone and on your television, don’t they also have names and history? Isn’t this also a technique that we must honor?”
By Jackson Neal3 years ago in The Swamp