Arts.Advocacy+Wellness: "XIX International AIDS Conference features Cornelius Jones Jr."

XIX International AIDS Conference 

features Cornelius Jones Jr

“To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.” 

                                                                                        ― Pema Chödrön

Arts.Advocacy+Wellness: "Pump-Plie-Jump"

Pump-Plie-Jump

Hello good people. Two weeks ago, I traveled to DC to perform with Brave Soul Collective as we honored National Black HIV/AIDS awareness day through performance art and advocacy. I performed "Pump-Plie-Jump" from my book SHADOWS&LIGHTS and I must say, I had some magical moments sharing this piece. The entire performance touched, moved, and inspired many as there were stories from not only the gay male perspective, but the straight male and female, and the lesbian perspective. This night was so inclusive and so transforming.

Brave Soul Collective is gearing up for a reprise of the show during the International AIDS Conference, which takes place this summer in Washington, DC. Stay tuned as we update you with all details.

For now, please enjoy and share "Pump-Plie-Jump". I would love to hear your thoughts and I would love for you to share this with someone whom you feel will benefit from it.

HUGS,

Arts.Advocacy+Wellness: "Shadows&Lights Available NOW"

Shadows & Lights

Scenes Through Verse and Soliloquies

NOW AVAILABLE

Finally it is here FUTURE Fam. I am so so full today and want to share in the joy with you. I hope that you find a piece of yourself, in it, while reading the poems, scenes, songs, and imagery that I express in this debut collection. Share it with yourself, share it with your friends, family, or touch a strangers life with this book.

Thank you.

CLICK HERE

Tune in next Wednesday for more

Arts.Advocacy+Wellness with Cornelius Jones Jr.

Stay connected with me:

www.corneliusjonesjr.com

FaceBook: Cornelius Jones Jr.

Twitter: CorneliusJonesJ

FaceBook Fan Page: FlagBoy Official Fan Page of the Actor

Arts.Advocacy+Wellness: "World AIDS Day: A SONG FOR YOU"

A SONG FOR YOU

this World AIDS Day

Hello FUTURE & A.A.+W readers. Here is a special piece I created for World AIDS Day. Also follow me tomorrow (Thursday) on facebook: Cornelius Jones Jr. and twitter: CorneliusJonesJ as I will be posting a bunch of videos in commemoration of this special day.

Arts.Advocacy+Wellness: "Shadows&Lights @ Vegas MPowerment"

Sharing

Shadows & Lights

at

Vegas Mpowerment

Hello A.A+W and FUTURE readers,

So my debut collection of poetry is complete and will be released this winter. I recently had the opportunity to connect with a group of young men in Vegas, part of the Vegas Mpowerment group, and read a few selections from my book Shadows & Lights. Yes I enjoy performing my work as well as creating, and there is also a major blessing when I can actually connect to people and share in great conversation. Hopefully the men at Vegas Mpowerement continue the inspiration of sharing and giving and hopefully, my readers, can find a piece of themselves in the work.

Enjoy the clip:

Sometimes...

Sometimes
By: The Heart of Dwight Allen O’Neal

Sometimes my heart still aches to be near you
Sometimes my soul still cries out for you
Sometimes I think that I am finally over you
But then I open my mind to still crave you sometimes.

Sometimes it is far too easy
Sometimes it is far too hard
Sometimes I burry myself in my work
But then when my mind goes idle I still feel your presence sometimes.

Sometimes I am convinced that I am fine
Sometimes I am lacking your radiant sunshine
Sometimes I still picture our sand castle that was going to touch the sky
But then I realize that I am okay without you sometimes.

Sometimes I pretend that I have moved on without you
Sometimes I run from you when I spot you
Sometimes I feel like nothing without your love
But then I accept the absence of your motivation sometimes.

Sometimes life tells me that this feeling won’t last forever
Sometimes I think that this will get better with time
Sometimes I am successful at fighting the feelings of heartache
But then I still feel abandoned and unloved sometimes.

Yolo Akili- "Are We The Kind of Boys We Want?" Docu-Drama Spoken Word Music Video - Thursday, March 24th, 2011 Premiere

THE QUESTION IS…

Would You DATE Yourself?

And check out Yolo's website, too. Go to Amazon.com and downloaded Yolo's new CD Purple Galaxy or on CDBaby.com and iTunes also.

Arts.Advocacy+Wellness: "Holiday Moments with Cornelius"

HOLIDAY Hallmark Moments

with Cornelius:  Pt. 3

Friends are Love

 and Friendships are one in a dozen

very few and uncommon 

A needle in a Haystack

hard to find

Friends are Golden

and Friendships are Precious Relationships no price tag attached

Friendships are sacred unions

all faiths can agree on this

A chemistry that  just happens naturally.

Something you don't have to fight for.

It's not forced at all.

A relationship of honesty and trust. 

A communication you have that 

at times can go unspoken

because you know each other so well.

You love each other.

And Friends are Love.

I found that Friendship in you My Friend

and I'm never letting it Go.

Happy Holidays My Dearest Friend.

-Cornelius Jones Jr.

Arts.Advocacy+Wellness: "Holiday Moments with Cornelius"

HOLIDAY Hallmark Moments

with Cornelius:  Pt. 2

Mother/Father, 

I just wanted to let you know...

You’re my #1 Fan,

and you’ve been that from the start.

You’re the breath of my Heart.

Helping me, encouraging me, guiding me,

and pushing me further to the top.

So that I can attain a sound mind and heart.

We’ll never grow apart.

You’re my #1 Fan

and 

I Love You Mother/Father

Happy Holidays with lots of Love.

-Cornelius Jones Jr.

Arts.Advocacy+Wellness: "Holiday Moments with Cornelius"

HOLIDAY Hallmark Moments 

with Cornelius:  Pt. 1

It's the Holidays and for the next few weeks join me as I share a few personally inspired Holiday Hallmark moments. Feel free to add these words in your Holiday greeting cards.  

It's all about Family, Friends, and Community so show some Love.

Family is like no other.

In those tender moments spent,

sharing stories and memories together, there is so much love there.

When you think no one is listening...They are.

When you think no one understands you...They do.

When love fails you...Family doesn’t.

Family is there to remind you to laugh and be light in life...

That’s Family.

(Brother/Sister), I love you, and I thank you for being Family.

Happy Holidays.

-Cornelius Jones

Winter

The sun hangs low over the horizon,
The wind resists our forward passage over snow-covered streets,
Still we press on, you and me, past sparkling ice-covered trees,
Down frozen avenues, in the gathering twilight.

We hurry past the foggy storefronts, ignore the hissing cars as they wheel through the slush,
For though the night brings deeper cold, we feel no chill,
Because we are together.
The holiday lights twinkle as the sun slips away,
our house beckons us still, ever nearer,
as finally we reach our own doorstep.

Casting off the garb of the darker months, we settle in by the fireplace with summer's sweet wine,
Flickers of the fleeting day dance across our faces,
and as if defying the ice and snow outside,
you take me into your embrace.

The wonder of a spring morning fills me as you follow the line of my face with your fingers, and I caress your strong, hard musculature,
I let my robe fall away as though on a tropical beach,
ever closer to you, no fire hotter than the one you bring forth inside me.
No wind, no storm, no depth of snow,
can take me from you now...

Still we press on,
Exploring each other,
as the wind moans and the snow falls outside,
In this dark, cold winter, we are warm, and safe,
We are together in love.

The sun rises low over the horizon...

Your (Literary) Entree!

I made myself quite busy,
Preparing your literary delicacy
I had purchased the choicest noun cutlets,
tossed up a mean verb salad,
and braised the adjective slices to the peak of their quiescent flavor.

Hurrying to get the alliteration soup just right,
I threw the onomatopoeia chips together with the pronoun fritters.
Then I whipped up some metaphor stew to balance the meal out,
garnishing it with oxymoron tails and double-entendre sauce.

After all this cutting, and chopping, and brioling and frying,
After all this steaming and basting and simmering,
(No potboilers for me...this was going to be a gourmet banquet)
I finally emerged from my keyboard kitchen with my piece de resistance...

My story, cooked up just for you!

Enjoy.

Arts.Advocacy+Wellness: "Aging, Dying, and Love"

Recently I paid a visit to my elderly and ailing Aunt, and for the first time in my life I honestly began to think of my life 50 years from now. How I would age and who would I share my elderly days with. This is something, if we live to see those 'Golden Years', will face. So let's face it with beauty and glory.

Today I share what transpired after visiting my Aunt Ruth:

“Visits are the Best Medicine” And I wondered just how he would handle her dying slowly right before his eyes. She – my aunt – no longer able to walk or fully feed herself on her own. He – my uncle – who reminds me more and more as he ages of my daddy. For him, that’s his woman. His Heart. His Blood. His Sweetheart. His Sweet 16. His Prom Date. His Miss Universe. His Gem. His Diamond. His Fire and Desire. His eyes still glowing as if today was the day he first laid eyes on her. As if today was the day he asked her for her hand in marriage. She’s his heart and he’s going to be there with her. That’s the beauty in Love. That’s the beauty in old age. That’s the beauty in growing old together. That’s the beauty of Love. And when he walked through the door, Oh she rose out of her slight state of dementia. Straightened her sluggish body in the wheelchair, the best she could. Propped her chin up high with a faint upward tilt to the left. She smiled the biggest smile today and balled her tiny and frail right hand into a fist, raised it high in the air like victory was won. Lips part, teeth exposed – “There’s my Joe!” Her Joe – Her Boxer. Her Man who is fighting for Her. “Visits are the best Medicine,” Uncle Joe said.

©2009Cornelius Jones Jr.

Arts.Advocacy+Wellness: "Love is..."

“…a combination of care, knowledge, responsibility, respect, trust, commitment.”
-bell hooks

Love is….

Love is…
Self, within, one, communal.
A mystery, unknown, hidden.
What one makes of it
Or how one defines it for self.
Love is peaceful. Not oppressive.
Supportive

Or

Is it just a word that we place too much attachment to?
Is it a feeling that we give too much power?
Is it a chase for a feeling so close but so far away from us…like a dog chasing his tail
That he’ll never capture?

Love is...complex.

Love is all these things
That’s why we love and never give up on love
The constant search, renewing, redefining…

Love is…

“Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.”

-James Baldwin

“…love does not bring an end to difficulties, it gives us the strength to cope with difficulties in a constructive way…”

-bell hooks

And what is Love for you?