Speculum Speculorum...

"Do you know the hallmark of the second-rater? It's resentment of another man's achievement. Those touchy mediocrities who sit trembling lest someone's work prove greater than their own... they have no inkling of the loneliness that comes when you reach the top. The lonliness for an equal - for a mind to respect and an achievement to admire. They bare their teeth at you from out of their rat holes, thinking that you take pleasure in letting your brillance dim them - while you'd give a year of your life to see a flicker of talent anywhere among them. They envy achievement, and their dream of greatness is a world where all men have become their acknowledged inferiors. They dont know that that dream is the infallible proof of mediocrity, becvaue that sort of world is what the man of achievement would not be able to bear. They have no way of knowing what he feels when surrounded by inferiors - hatred? no, not hatred, but boredom - the terrible hopeless, draining, paralyzing boredom. "

Seculo Seculorum... Surgam

Lessing wrote, "There are things which must cause you to lose your mind & reason or you have none to lose." Upon reading this, I began to examine the statement with the kind of "eye for detail" a doctor has in searching for a cancerous cell.

"What have I lost," I asked myself. "What have I gained?"

$3.60 means things come full circle.

And for things to come full circle, I believe I needed to undergo... to experience the full cycle.

To be born. To live. To die. And to be reborn. Pluto. Scorpio. Hades. Underworld. Unseen. Unknown. Known.




I have undertaken this task... of redemption... of "Redemption" for Cathartic reasons... In hopes that it might be purifying or purging for both you and I. "In real life, men are sometimes too much addicted to pity or fear, sometimes too little; tragedy brings them back to a virtuous and happy mean." Tragedy is then corrective.

With that said, I hope this experience is pleasurable for you. I hope you can find some meaning in it, and walk away better than you came.

Sincerely,

AJS

Anthony Shears | Microphone Sessions | Walk In My Shoes

Speak.

Once Upon a Time in the Ghetto

There's a war going on outside... No man is safe. From himself. But this aint no World War whatever... No Warsaw. Work with me. And watch. Cuz what's going on around here is way worse than what you might be aWAre of... whoa!

Last night I had a dream Jesus came back as a Palestinian. He kept yelling at me, "Say word son!"

And I kept yelling back "Word" like, "I have none."

Speak.

I understand my purpose, but my shadow may not be big enough.

Every word is measured against the Tower of Babel...

Like here's your punishment. I'm calling you.

I'm calling you out.

Like put your mama on the phone because I know you're daddy ain't home...


write bars where (in this city) the consequences are being who you are.

write bars in this city... go to too hard... and get life bars.

My nigga told me if G.d didn't let him into Heaven, he was breakin inside.

And I was breakin' in(side) like "There's nowhere to hide."

It was Heaven... Jesus was there... HANGING with Emmett Till...

and I could here "Strange Fruit" playing in the background.

So I leaned over and grabbed the microphone from Michael Jackson who grabbed it from James Brown and cleared my throat...

speak.

Fear and Self-Interest...

Men are Moved by two levers only: fear and self interest... and in revolution there are only two sorts of men, those who cause them and those who profit by them. I think I prefer to be both. And with that in mind, WE set out to accomplish what has never been accomplished from our geography. Indeed glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever. We, the sons of real men and women, can no longer obey; We have tasted command, and we cannot give it up. We will not give it up. We will not lose.

I'd like to formally introduce myself. My name is Anthony J. Shears. Welcome to my world...

My ENDtroduction.

AJS

Seul Contre Tous...

Who is so hated as I am?... Who so much feared? But break, my heart, for I must hold my tongue. It brings me closer to sorrow than anger.

"Rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind."

Have not I been kind to you? Have not I offered my heart up for sacrifice? I pray that one day I will see you seeing... so that we may see together.

And with this, a simple gesture of "forever" offered to my brothers...

Music is What Feelings Sounds Like...

Music is a beautiful system of morality, veiled in allegory, and illustrated by sounds, symbols, and words. I believe the grand objective of music is to promote the happieness of the human race. At least today I do. Music is what feelings sound like. And today, when I close my eyes, I can hear the voice of G.d in the music playing. It's Beethoven's Symphony No. 5... saying...

"So you can walk on water? You are no better than a twig floating on a puddle.You can fly through the air? You are no better than this gnat buzzing around my head."


"Master your own heart then maybe you can be somebody."



When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist. When I try to protect my family they call me a criminal.


I am convinced the earth on which we live silently remembers the catastrophies of our personal histories. But I wonder... Will the world remember those I saved?