//collateral intentions: an origin story
Updated: Jul 14, 2021
Today, I got in touch with the first reason I made this book.
"You should publish these."
"..."
"I'm serious! Exactly like this! The loose, worn elastic band and everything. Publish them! These are incredible!"
I was awe-struck mixed with dumb-founded. I'd been following this dude for years. We were both still covered in fresh sweat from moshing to his "List of Demands" grand finale at his show:
Saul Williams , CX Kidtronik & BC
I enlisted the company of one friend ("You do not want to miss this!") and en-route to Ybor we were blasting Saul's latest album while I slammed-out "Said the Shotgun to the Head," finishing right on cue as we parked on the third level of the parking garage. I brought my first three journals with me
because I wanted to reach out and share with Saul on the level that he shared with his fans. You see, Saul Williams has a way of being very raw and vulnerable in...just about everything he does. For instance, posting a picture to his Facebook with his face covered in tears.
As he bares his soul, I too operate in much the same manner. So, I brought the journals. I met him after the show.
For those of you who don't know, Saul Williams is an incredibly accomplished artist. He's won international slam poetry competitions. He's written, directed, produced, and starred in award-winning film "Slam" (1998). He's published almost dozen books and created a dozen more albums of intense, raw, dance-inciting original music—one of which entirely co-created with Nine Inch Nails titan, Trent Reznor.
Leaning against the stage, he flipped through the pages of my life and signed a few while pouring affirmation and validation over me that these are interesting creations that people would be interested in if I chose to make them so publicly available.
That was not the start of me keeping them open format. I'd been keeping my journals as open books from the beginning. However, Saul was suggesting a new level of openness. At the time, I simply took it as a massive compliment and too large an undertaking to seriously entertain.
That was 9 years ago. I'd never forgotten those words. This man who I was whole-heartedly inspired by, who I followed as