Saturday, March 04, 2006
I saw Capote today. I am definitely going to have to write something about it. My first impressions of it are that, firstly, it is a beautifully made film Alas, it borders on boring, but there is something there that makes it rather intriguing and keeps you wanting to follow along in the film. There is also a lot of play going on in the film--playing with ideas and concepts of race with the two men on Death Row who are virtually white(as most white people are), but who have native blood and exist on the periphery of whiteness, in the place where most poor whites are located (and I would love to see how many poor whites and especially those who have been labeled "poor white trash" have a certain admixture of native, black, or otherwise colored blood. The construction of whiteness is defintely something that I am interesed in exploring--indeed something that needs to be explored, especially as to who got to fit into the categories and who didn't, how and to what extent. Also, I have to laud Hoffman for his portrayal of Capote--beautifully done! I think that the roles of both Capote and Harper Lee(Nell) should take home Oscars. Its quite interesting to think about how sexuality and regionality plays into concepts of whiteness as well. It is a great film. I would definitely see it again.
Friday, March 03, 2006
I was thinking today of the time when there was a large gathering held at Uncle Mac's house when I was a little boy. I was completely awed by it with tens upon tens of relatives present-including Uncle Lawrence. Uncle Mac's house, he is dead now, is a beautiful brick home situated in the middle of a clearing just off of the road and I always felt comfortable there and enjoyed the good smells to be experienced there, like the scent of the burning wood in the huge fireplace in his living room. That particular day, I don't remember the occasion, but I remember that Uncle Mac slaughtered a hog(I'm so glad I didn't see it) and made a pit out in the middle of the yard wear it slowly roasted. I remember there was tons of food and lots of merriment being made. I can't remember what the occasion was. Uncle Mac, my grandmother's second cousin, was a humourous, red-boned man, not much in height, but very tall in stature.
He always spoke like a drunken Irishman(partially because he often was drunk)and did not like talking about the past, especially family stuff, which he called "digging up bones" (much due to the fact that there were definitely some bones to be dug up in his family, but that we won't get into). Uncle Mac was a delightful character--whimsical and always willing to tell the truth(although certain topics he did not breach--"digging up bones." He was also very industrious. He grew corn and raised hogs on his family's property up until he died at almost ninety.
You could tell Uncle Mac had plenty of white blood just by looking at him(and even more so by looking at his brothers--who could have passed for white any day of the week--or at least as Jews). Uncle Mac was also our family's connecting point to our white relatives. It was nothing on any given day for the old man Rawlinson to be at Uncle Mac's house or for Uncle Mac to be at his house, either place both high on moonshine. They addressed each other as cousins(and we acknowledge them as cousins as well) and the Rawlinsons have been quite open and forthcoming in sharing the records from their family with us including old slave rolls, etc.
Uncle Mac's mother was my great-grandmother's first cousin, Jeroma, both of them granddaughters of Caroline Roper and Greenberry Smith. His father was a mulatto named Jack. Uncle Mac was a magnificent man. He was a life-long member of our family church and an integral part of our extended relations. His death was very deeply felt.
Uncle Mac's brother, Uncle Wade, was also a great figure.he is now deceased. He and Uncle Lawrence used to have long, philosophical and historical discussions and debates. They were intellectual sparring partners. Uncle Wade was a historian as well, a graduate of Wayne State University(which he always heralded). I never had many significant discussions with Uncle Wade, but he did leave me many of his things when he died to which I am very grateful. I am very grateful that I did have the opportunity to talk with Uncle Lawrence a great deal. I have some beautiful relations and I am very glad to have them.
He always spoke like a drunken Irishman(partially because he often was drunk)and did not like talking about the past, especially family stuff, which he called "digging up bones" (much due to the fact that there were definitely some bones to be dug up in his family, but that we won't get into). Uncle Mac was a delightful character--whimsical and always willing to tell the truth(although certain topics he did not breach--"digging up bones." He was also very industrious. He grew corn and raised hogs on his family's property up until he died at almost ninety.
You could tell Uncle Mac had plenty of white blood just by looking at him(and even more so by looking at his brothers--who could have passed for white any day of the week--or at least as Jews). Uncle Mac was also our family's connecting point to our white relatives. It was nothing on any given day for the old man Rawlinson to be at Uncle Mac's house or for Uncle Mac to be at his house, either place both high on moonshine. They addressed each other as cousins(and we acknowledge them as cousins as well) and the Rawlinsons have been quite open and forthcoming in sharing the records from their family with us including old slave rolls, etc.
Uncle Mac's mother was my great-grandmother's first cousin, Jeroma, both of them granddaughters of Caroline Roper and Greenberry Smith. His father was a mulatto named Jack. Uncle Mac was a magnificent man. He was a life-long member of our family church and an integral part of our extended relations. His death was very deeply felt.
Uncle Mac's brother, Uncle Wade, was also a great figure.he is now deceased. He and Uncle Lawrence used to have long, philosophical and historical discussions and debates. They were intellectual sparring partners. Uncle Wade was a historian as well, a graduate of Wayne State University(which he always heralded). I never had many significant discussions with Uncle Wade, but he did leave me many of his things when he died to which I am very grateful. I am very grateful that I did have the opportunity to talk with Uncle Lawrence a great deal. I have some beautiful relations and I am very glad to have them.
Bush Protests
Bush has been met on his visit to India and Pakistan with protests,a lot of it violent, by thousands in the streets.
Interesting News
Russia can always be counted on the act as a wonderful stickler in the side of U.S. foreign policy and today Vladimir Putin(whom I admit is a beautiful man) has invited Hamas to Moscow, a direct hit in the face to Condoleeza Rice and the Bush Administration's policies. Go Putin!
The senate's new Immigration reform bill is replete with racism and reads like this: You can stay in our country as long as you agree to work our lowest paying jobs with no guaranteed job security, but you can't have citizenship and you can't have the rights and privileges of the American citizenry. Indeed, Lindsay Graham of South Carolina outright said that he supported the bill because he liked to have the undocumented workers serve him on the golf course while he was playing. Oh Marie Antoinette?
I think there must be some serious money involved in this Dubai Port deal. Now, the Israelis are getting involved.The whole thing smells a bit rotten.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Another interesting point that Bernadine Dohrn brought up when she was here is that everything that we know about this administration we have learned through leaks. Thank god for subversion and subversives who have brought light to such horrendous acts such as COINTELPRO and the uncovering of Hurricane Katrina.
That George Bush knew about Katrina, not only before it happened, but before he was caught off playing singing cowboy with guitar in hand, is absolutely reprehensible. There should be a serious movement towards getting this man out of the white house, if not through impeachment then through some other means. From now on, a moment should never pass when there is not the sound of protest heard outside of the white house. We are the people and we have to demand justice.
This weekend over dinner someone said something that was quite interesting. Companies, take Ford for instance, used to make products--good working class products that would last forever. When they found that their profits wouldn't grow that way, they stopped making products as durable as they had been and, in the case of Ford, they started putting out newer brands every year in order to make the older versions obsolete. All for the sake of profit and money.
Bush was Warned about Katrina
By MARGARET EBRAHIM and JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writers
WASHINGTON - On the eve of Hurricane Katrina's fateful landfall, President Bush was confident. His homeland security chief appeared relaxed. Louisiana officials were heaping praise on the federal government.
And warnings of the coming destruction — breached or overrun levees, deaths at the New Orleans Superdome and overwhelming needs for post-storm rescues — were delivered in dramatic terms to all involved.
All of it was captured on videotape.
The Associated Press obtained the confidential government video and made it public Wednesday, offering Americans their own inside glimpse into the government's fateful final Katrina preparations after months of fingerpointing and political recriminations.
"My gut tells me ... this is a bad one and a big one," then-federal disaster chief Michael Brown told the final government-wide briefing the day before Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29.
The video prompted Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill to reiterate their calls for a new investigation into the federal response to Katrina. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California said Thursday the video "points out the need for an independent commission" to review events surrounding the hurricane.
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said the video "confirms what we have suspected all along, that this Administration did anything they can to hide what really happened." He said the administration "systematically misled the American people."
The Republican-controlled House and Senate have conducted separate investigations of the Katrina response. Democrats in the House, other than those from the affected states, refused to participate in the inquiry, insisting that an independent commission was needed.
In the Aug. 29 briefing, Bush didn't ask a single question but assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: "We are fully prepared."
But Sen. Mary Landrieu (news, bio, voting record), D-La., said the video shows that the administration failed to prepare adequately for the possible breach of the levees protecting New Orleans.
"This administration was told what Louisiana already knew: that our federally constructed levees could certainly fail," she said. "But these concerns, and others made by disaster relief experts, fell on deaf ears."
The footage — along with seven days of transcripts of briefings obtained by AP — show in excruciating detail that while federal officials anticipated the tragedy that unfolded in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, they were fatally slow to realize they had not mustered enough resources to deal with the unprecedented disaster.
A top hurricane expert voiced "grave concerns" about the levees and Brown, then the Federal Emergency Management Agency chief, told the president and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that he feared there weren't enough disaster teams to help evacuees at the Superdome.
"I'm concerned about ... their ability to respond to a catastrophe within a catastrophe," Brown told his bosses the afternoon before Katrina made landfall.
The White House and Homeland Security Department urged the public Wednesday not to read too much into the footage.
"I hope people don't draw conclusions from the president getting a single briefing," Bush spokesman Trent Duffy said, citing a variety of orders and disaster declarations Bush signed before the storm made landfall. "He received multiple briefings from multiple officials, and he was completely engaged at all times."
Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said his department would not release the full set of videotaped briefings, saying most transcripts — though not the videotapes — from the sessions were provided to congressional investigators months ago.
"There's nothing new or insightful on these tapes," Knocke said. "We actively participated in the lessons-learned review and we continue to participate in the Senate's review and are working with them on their recommendation."
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, a critic of the administration's Katrina response, had a different take after watching the footage from an AP reporter's camera.
"I have kind a sinking feeling in my gut right now," Nagin said. "I was listening to what people were saying — they didn't know, so therefore it was an issue of a learning curve. You know, from this tape it looks like everybody was fully aware."
Some of the footage and transcripts from briefings Aug. 25-31 conflicts with the defenses that federal, state and local officials have made in trying to deflect blame and minimize the political fallout from the failed Katrina response:
• Homeland Security officials have said the "fog of war" blinded them early on to the magnitude of the disaster. But the video and transcripts show federal and local officials discussed threats clearly, reviewed long-made plans and understood Katrina would wreak devastation of historic proportions. "I'm sure it will be the top 10 or 15 when all is said and done," National Hurricane Center's Max Mayfield warned the day Katrina lashed the Gulf Coast.
"I don't buy the `fog of war' defense," Brown told the AP in an interview Wednesday. "It was a fog of bureaucracy."
• Bush declared four days after the storm, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees" that gushed deadly flood waters into New Orleans. He later clarified, saying officials believed, wrongly, after the storm passed that the levees had survived. But the transcripts and video show there was plenty of talk about that possibility even before the storm — and Bush was worried too.
White House deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Brown discussed fears of a levee breach the day the storm hit.
"I talked to the president twice today, once in Crawford and then again on Air Force One," Brown said. "He's obviously watching the television a lot, and he had some questions about the Dome, he's asking questions about reports of breaches."
• Louisiana officials angrily blamed the federal government for not being prepared but the transcripts shows they were still praising FEMA as the storm roared toward the Gulf Coast and even two days afterward. "I think a lot of the planning FEMA has done with us the past year has really paid off," Col. Jeff Smith, Louisiana's emergency preparedness deputy director, said during the Aug. 28 briefing.
It wasn't long before Smith and other state officials sounded overwhelmed.
"We appreciate everything that you all are doing for us, and all I would ask is that you realize that what's going on and the sense of urgency needs to be ratcheted up," Smith said Aug. 30.
Mississippi begged for more attention in that same briefing.
"We know that there are tens or hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana that need to be rescued, but we would just ask you, we desperately need to get our share of assets because we'll have people dying — not because of water coming up, but because we can't get them medical treatment in our affected counties," said a Mississippi state official whose name was not mentioned on the tape.
Video footage of the Aug. 28 briefing, the final one before Katrina struck, showed an intense Brown voicing concerns from the government's disaster operation center and imploring colleagues to do whatever was necessary to help victims.
"Go ahead and do it," Brown said. "I'll figure out some way to justify it. ... Just let them yell at me."
Bush appeared from a narrow, windowless room at his vacation ranch in Texas, with his elbows on a table. Hagin was sitting alongside him.
"I want to assure the folks at the state level that we are fully prepared to not only help you during the storm, but we will move in whatever resources and assets we have at our disposal after the storm," the president said.
A relaxed Chertoff, sporting a polo shirt, weighed in from Washington at Homeland Security's operations center. He would later fly to Atlanta, outside of Katrina's reach, for a bird flu event. Officials say he was frequently updated on the road about Katrina.
One snippet captures a missed opportunity on Aug. 28 for the government to have dispatched active-duty military troops to the region to augment the National Guard.
Chertoff: "Are there any DOD assets that might be available? Have we reached out to them?"
Brown: "We have DOD assets over here at EOC (emergency operations center). They are fully engaged. And we are having those discussions with them now."
Chertoff: "Good job."
In fact, active duty troops weren't dispatched until days after the storm. And many states' National Guards had yet to be deployed to the region despite offers of assistance, and it took days before the Pentagon deployed active-duty personnel to help overwhelmed Guardsmen.
The National Hurricane Center's Mayfield told the final briefing before Katrina struck that storm models predicted minimal flooding inside New Orleans during the hurricane but he expressed concerns that counterclockwise winds and storm surges afterward could cause the levees at Lake Pontchartrain to be overrun.
"I don't think any model can tell you with any confidence right now whether the levees will be topped or not but that is obviously a very, very grave concern," Mayfield told the briefing.
Other officials expressed concerns about the large number of New Orleans residents who had not evacuated.
___
Associated Press writers Ron Fournier and Lara Jakes Jordan contributed to this report.
On the Net:
WASHINGTON - On the eve of Hurricane Katrina's fateful landfall, President Bush was confident. His homeland security chief appeared relaxed. Louisiana officials were heaping praise on the federal government.
And warnings of the coming destruction — breached or overrun levees, deaths at the New Orleans Superdome and overwhelming needs for post-storm rescues — were delivered in dramatic terms to all involved.
All of it was captured on videotape.
The Associated Press obtained the confidential government video and made it public Wednesday, offering Americans their own inside glimpse into the government's fateful final Katrina preparations after months of fingerpointing and political recriminations.
"My gut tells me ... this is a bad one and a big one," then-federal disaster chief Michael Brown told the final government-wide briefing the day before Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29.
The video prompted Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill to reiterate their calls for a new investigation into the federal response to Katrina. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California said Thursday the video "points out the need for an independent commission" to review events surrounding the hurricane.
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said the video "confirms what we have suspected all along, that this Administration did anything they can to hide what really happened." He said the administration "systematically misled the American people."
The Republican-controlled House and Senate have conducted separate investigations of the Katrina response. Democrats in the House, other than those from the affected states, refused to participate in the inquiry, insisting that an independent commission was needed.
In the Aug. 29 briefing, Bush didn't ask a single question but assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: "We are fully prepared."
But Sen. Mary Landrieu (news, bio, voting record), D-La., said the video shows that the administration failed to prepare adequately for the possible breach of the levees protecting New Orleans.
"This administration was told what Louisiana already knew: that our federally constructed levees could certainly fail," she said. "But these concerns, and others made by disaster relief experts, fell on deaf ears."
The footage — along with seven days of transcripts of briefings obtained by AP — show in excruciating detail that while federal officials anticipated the tragedy that unfolded in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, they were fatally slow to realize they had not mustered enough resources to deal with the unprecedented disaster.
A top hurricane expert voiced "grave concerns" about the levees and Brown, then the Federal Emergency Management Agency chief, told the president and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff that he feared there weren't enough disaster teams to help evacuees at the Superdome.
"I'm concerned about ... their ability to respond to a catastrophe within a catastrophe," Brown told his bosses the afternoon before Katrina made landfall.
The White House and Homeland Security Department urged the public Wednesday not to read too much into the footage.
"I hope people don't draw conclusions from the president getting a single briefing," Bush spokesman Trent Duffy said, citing a variety of orders and disaster declarations Bush signed before the storm made landfall. "He received multiple briefings from multiple officials, and he was completely engaged at all times."
Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said his department would not release the full set of videotaped briefings, saying most transcripts — though not the videotapes — from the sessions were provided to congressional investigators months ago.
"There's nothing new or insightful on these tapes," Knocke said. "We actively participated in the lessons-learned review and we continue to participate in the Senate's review and are working with them on their recommendation."
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, a critic of the administration's Katrina response, had a different take after watching the footage from an AP reporter's camera.
"I have kind a sinking feeling in my gut right now," Nagin said. "I was listening to what people were saying — they didn't know, so therefore it was an issue of a learning curve. You know, from this tape it looks like everybody was fully aware."
Some of the footage and transcripts from briefings Aug. 25-31 conflicts with the defenses that federal, state and local officials have made in trying to deflect blame and minimize the political fallout from the failed Katrina response:
• Homeland Security officials have said the "fog of war" blinded them early on to the magnitude of the disaster. But the video and transcripts show federal and local officials discussed threats clearly, reviewed long-made plans and understood Katrina would wreak devastation of historic proportions. "I'm sure it will be the top 10 or 15 when all is said and done," National Hurricane Center's Max Mayfield warned the day Katrina lashed the Gulf Coast.
"I don't buy the `fog of war' defense," Brown told the AP in an interview Wednesday. "It was a fog of bureaucracy."
• Bush declared four days after the storm, "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees" that gushed deadly flood waters into New Orleans. He later clarified, saying officials believed, wrongly, after the storm passed that the levees had survived. But the transcripts and video show there was plenty of talk about that possibility even before the storm — and Bush was worried too.
White House deputy chief of staff Joe Hagin, Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Brown discussed fears of a levee breach the day the storm hit.
"I talked to the president twice today, once in Crawford and then again on Air Force One," Brown said. "He's obviously watching the television a lot, and he had some questions about the Dome, he's asking questions about reports of breaches."
• Louisiana officials angrily blamed the federal government for not being prepared but the transcripts shows they were still praising FEMA as the storm roared toward the Gulf Coast and even two days afterward. "I think a lot of the planning FEMA has done with us the past year has really paid off," Col. Jeff Smith, Louisiana's emergency preparedness deputy director, said during the Aug. 28 briefing.
It wasn't long before Smith and other state officials sounded overwhelmed.
"We appreciate everything that you all are doing for us, and all I would ask is that you realize that what's going on and the sense of urgency needs to be ratcheted up," Smith said Aug. 30.
Mississippi begged for more attention in that same briefing.
"We know that there are tens or hundreds of thousands of people in Louisiana that need to be rescued, but we would just ask you, we desperately need to get our share of assets because we'll have people dying — not because of water coming up, but because we can't get them medical treatment in our affected counties," said a Mississippi state official whose name was not mentioned on the tape.
Video footage of the Aug. 28 briefing, the final one before Katrina struck, showed an intense Brown voicing concerns from the government's disaster operation center and imploring colleagues to do whatever was necessary to help victims.
"Go ahead and do it," Brown said. "I'll figure out some way to justify it. ... Just let them yell at me."
Bush appeared from a narrow, windowless room at his vacation ranch in Texas, with his elbows on a table. Hagin was sitting alongside him.
"I want to assure the folks at the state level that we are fully prepared to not only help you during the storm, but we will move in whatever resources and assets we have at our disposal after the storm," the president said.
A relaxed Chertoff, sporting a polo shirt, weighed in from Washington at Homeland Security's operations center. He would later fly to Atlanta, outside of Katrina's reach, for a bird flu event. Officials say he was frequently updated on the road about Katrina.
One snippet captures a missed opportunity on Aug. 28 for the government to have dispatched active-duty military troops to the region to augment the National Guard.
Chertoff: "Are there any DOD assets that might be available? Have we reached out to them?"
Brown: "We have DOD assets over here at EOC (emergency operations center). They are fully engaged. And we are having those discussions with them now."
Chertoff: "Good job."
In fact, active duty troops weren't dispatched until days after the storm. And many states' National Guards had yet to be deployed to the region despite offers of assistance, and it took days before the Pentagon deployed active-duty personnel to help overwhelmed Guardsmen.
The National Hurricane Center's Mayfield told the final briefing before Katrina struck that storm models predicted minimal flooding inside New Orleans during the hurricane but he expressed concerns that counterclockwise winds and storm surges afterward could cause the levees at Lake Pontchartrain to be overrun.
"I don't think any model can tell you with any confidence right now whether the levees will be topped or not but that is obviously a very, very grave concern," Mayfield told the briefing.
Other officials expressed concerns about the large number of New Orleans residents who had not evacuated.
___
Associated Press writers Ron Fournier and Lara Jakes Jordan contributed to this report.
On the Net:
Kudos to Cardinal Mahoney!
Kudos to Cardinal Mahoney for refusing to comply with federal policies seeking to entrap and criminalize undocumented immigrants in the United States!
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Of ths snippets of the Black State of the Union that I heard( I do planto hear all of it), I heard some very good things. Alas, I was quite pleased that Harry Belafonte and Walter Mosley were participating in that as well. Also, of course it is great that Cornel is ever present. Alas, one thing that I heard that I think needs to be given some attention is the suggestion that Black churches ought to lead the way in the acquisition of real property in the Black community.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
The Chicago Police union is upset because a street is being named after Fred Hampton. My response to them is, go straight to hell and don't stop for nothing.
Interesting Observation
As I was watching the Black State of the Union today, I heard someone say something that made me think of what Bernadine Dohrn said when she was here at Purdue. She said tha the one of the biggest obstacles to making progress in this new era of struggle for human and Civil Rights is the 1960s. That the legacy of that time period and the bar that established as an example blocks us from using our imaginations to come up with new ways and strategies for fighting opprression. I very much agree with this assessment. We need to come up with new ways to combat oppression. As Jimmy Baldwin said, "we can't hit those streets again, because they're waiting for us."
Me as a Writer
There is a story I have to tell and what I am doing now is trying to figure out how to tell it.
Monday, February 27, 2006
What a Horrible Loss
Octavia Butler, the talented Black science fiction writer died today at the age of 58. What a horrible loss.
A Lesson in Songs
The two songs that I want to post today havebeen very influential in my life. I heard both of these starting at a very early age and they have instilled something in me that has has been with me throughout my entire life. "Lift Every Voice and Sing," is a song that we used to sing in church when I was a little boy, and not just during Black History Month. It was sung as benediction, and even as a young boy, the words to this song were a refrain that caused me to pay attention. I feel that all Black people should know this song.Indeed, both of these songs.
Lift every voice and sing, till earth and Heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise, high as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.
Stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat, have not our weary feet,
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered;
Out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.
God of our weary years, God of our silent tears,
Thou Who hast brought us thus far on the way;
Thou Who hast by Thy might, led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee.
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee.
Shadowed beneath Thy hand, may we forever stand,
True to our God, true to our native land.
"To Be Young, Gifted and Black" is another song that has stuck with me and which was instilled in me when I was young. Even before I knew who Nina Simone was and her significance in the world and to the struggle for Black liberation and the liberation of all oppressed peoples, the words to this song inspired something in me. These beautiful words should be known by every Black child.
To be young, gifted and black,
Oh what a lovely precious dream
To be young, gifted and black,
Open your heart to what I mean
In the whole world you know
There are billion boys and girls
Who are young, gifted and black,
And that's a fact!
Young, gifted and black
We must begin to tell our young
There's a world waiting for you
This is a quest that's just begun
When you feel really low
Yeah, there's a great truth you should know
When you're young, gifted and black
Your soul's intact
Young, gifted and black
How I long to know the truth
There are times when I look back
And I am haunted by my youth
Oh but my joy of today
Is that we can all be proud to say
To be young, gifted and black
Is where it's at
Lift every voice and sing, till earth and Heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise, high as the listening skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.
Stony the road we trod, bitter the chastening rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat, have not our weary feet,
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered;
Out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.
God of our weary years, God of our silent tears,
Thou Who hast brought us thus far on the way;
Thou Who hast by Thy might, led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee.
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee.
Shadowed beneath Thy hand, may we forever stand,
True to our God, true to our native land.
"To Be Young, Gifted and Black" is another song that has stuck with me and which was instilled in me when I was young. Even before I knew who Nina Simone was and her significance in the world and to the struggle for Black liberation and the liberation of all oppressed peoples, the words to this song inspired something in me. These beautiful words should be known by every Black child.
To be young, gifted and black,
Oh what a lovely precious dream
To be young, gifted and black,
Open your heart to what I mean
In the whole world you know
There are billion boys and girls
Who are young, gifted and black,
And that's a fact!
Young, gifted and black
We must begin to tell our young
There's a world waiting for you
This is a quest that's just begun
When you feel really low
Yeah, there's a great truth you should know
When you're young, gifted and black
Your soul's intact
Young, gifted and black
How I long to know the truth
There are times when I look back
And I am haunted by my youth
Oh but my joy of today
Is that we can all be proud to say
To be young, gifted and black
Is where it's at
Sunday, February 26, 2006
On Both Walter and Harry
Tonight Walter Mosley said some very inspiring things(so did Harry!--not to exclude him, but I wanted to focus on Walter's comments).He spoke of how most people, and most pressingly people of color, engage in the effort of narcotizing themselves in various ways---with drugs, with liquor, with food, as a means to not have to address the world we live in. I think this is very true. We need to move past our pain and become proactive once again in fighting our own apathy and in eradicating those structures that oppress us.Walter also said something that is very wise. He stated that "the only box to be in is inside of ourselves."
Harry Belafonte also made some beautiful and powerful comments tonight. He told the audience that right before King's death, King was speaking to him about their efforts to achieve integration. After much reflection, King told him "We(Black people) are integrating into a burning house." Meaning that America is on a fast track spiral and will ultimately cave in on itself. King's suggestion was that we must become, especially Black people, firemen.
Belafonte made a burning observation when he spoke of the "duality of the American Evolution." He pointed out the inconsistentcies in the United States and the development of their "American Dream," that while the people that settled here from Europe were escaping persecution and religious freedom, they were killing indigenous peoples, that while the so called founding fathers were fighting to stay free from King George they were enslaving Africans and Afro-Americans, that while they were seeking to compete in technological development and the space age, they maintained a system of segregation and oppression. These are definitely important contradictions to think about in the history of this country and the development of this failing experiment that we have today.
One of the most powerful and pressing things that he spoke of was the need for people in this country--and ESPECIALLY the oppressed--to think, act and live outside of the box. He said we should all be speaking with such truth that "people will question what level of insanity you are at, or if insanity doesn't apply then ponder as to what you have been smoking." THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE!! Harry Belafonte is a beautiful man and he has demanded of us all that we live "not to please those that control us inside of the box, but to live outside of the box and make those on the inside uncomfortable." God Bless Harry Belafonte. God Bless Walter Mosley.
Harry Belafonte also made some beautiful and powerful comments tonight. He told the audience that right before King's death, King was speaking to him about their efforts to achieve integration. After much reflection, King told him "We(Black people) are integrating into a burning house." Meaning that America is on a fast track spiral and will ultimately cave in on itself. King's suggestion was that we must become, especially Black people, firemen.
Belafonte made a burning observation when he spoke of the "duality of the American Evolution." He pointed out the inconsistentcies in the United States and the development of their "American Dream," that while the people that settled here from Europe were escaping persecution and religious freedom, they were killing indigenous peoples, that while the so called founding fathers were fighting to stay free from King George they were enslaving Africans and Afro-Americans, that while they were seeking to compete in technological development and the space age, they maintained a system of segregation and oppression. These are definitely important contradictions to think about in the history of this country and the development of this failing experiment that we have today.
One of the most powerful and pressing things that he spoke of was the need for people in this country--and ESPECIALLY the oppressed--to think, act and live outside of the box. He said we should all be speaking with such truth that "people will question what level of insanity you are at, or if insanity doesn't apply then ponder as to what you have been smoking." THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE!! Harry Belafonte is a beautiful man and he has demanded of us all that we live "not to please those that control us inside of the box, but to live outside of the box and make those on the inside uncomfortable." God Bless Harry Belafonte. God Bless Walter Mosley.
Mississippi Goddam
Protest Song
by Nina Simone
The name of this tune is mississippi goddam
And I mean every word of it
Alabama’s gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about mississippi goddam
Alabama’s gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about mississippi goddam
Can’t you see it
Can’t you feel it
It’s all in the air
I can’t stand the pressure much longer
Somebody say a prayer
Alabama’s gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about mississippi goddam
This is a show tune
But the show hasn’t been written for it, yet
Hound dogs on my trail
School children sitting in jail
Black cat cross my path
I think every day’s gonna be my last
Lord have mercy on this land of mine
We all gonna get it in due time
I don’t belong here
I don’t belong there
I’ve even stopped believing in prayer
Don’t tell me
I tell you
Me and my people just about due
I’ve been there so I know
They keep on saying go slow!
But that’s just the trouble
Do it slow
Washing the windows
Do it slow
Picking the cotton
Do it slow
You’re just plain rotten
Do it slow
You’re too damn lazy
Do it slow
The thinking’s crazy
Do it slow
Where am I going
What am I doing
I don’t know
I don’t know
Just try to do your very best
Stand up be counted with all the rest
For everybody knows about mississippi goddam
I made you thought I was kiddin’ didn’t we
Picket lines
School boy cots
They try to say it’s a communist plot
All I want is equality
For my sister my brother my people and me
Yes you lied to me all these years
You told me to wash and clean my ears
And talk real fine just like a lady
And you’d stop calling me sister sadie
Oh but this whole country is full of lies
You’re all gonna die and die like flies
I don’t trust you any more
You keep on saying go slow!
Go slow!
But that’s just the trouble
Do it slow
Desegregation
Do it slow
Mass participation
Do it slow
Reunification
Do it slow
Do things gradually
Do it slow
But bring more tragedy
Do it slow
Why don’t you see it
Why don’t you feel it
I don’t know
I don’t know
You don’t have to live next to me
Just give me my equality
Everybody knows about mississippi
Everybody knows about alabama
Everybody knows about mississippi goddam
That’s it!
by Nina Simone
The name of this tune is mississippi goddam
And I mean every word of it
Alabama’s gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about mississippi goddam
Alabama’s gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about mississippi goddam
Can’t you see it
Can’t you feel it
It’s all in the air
I can’t stand the pressure much longer
Somebody say a prayer
Alabama’s gotten me so upset
Tennessee made me lose my rest
And everybody knows about mississippi goddam
This is a show tune
But the show hasn’t been written for it, yet
Hound dogs on my trail
School children sitting in jail
Black cat cross my path
I think every day’s gonna be my last
Lord have mercy on this land of mine
We all gonna get it in due time
I don’t belong here
I don’t belong there
I’ve even stopped believing in prayer
Don’t tell me
I tell you
Me and my people just about due
I’ve been there so I know
They keep on saying go slow!
But that’s just the trouble
Do it slow
Washing the windows
Do it slow
Picking the cotton
Do it slow
You’re just plain rotten
Do it slow
You’re too damn lazy
Do it slow
The thinking’s crazy
Do it slow
Where am I going
What am I doing
I don’t know
I don’t know
Just try to do your very best
Stand up be counted with all the rest
For everybody knows about mississippi goddam
I made you thought I was kiddin’ didn’t we
Picket lines
School boy cots
They try to say it’s a communist plot
All I want is equality
For my sister my brother my people and me
Yes you lied to me all these years
You told me to wash and clean my ears
And talk real fine just like a lady
And you’d stop calling me sister sadie
Oh but this whole country is full of lies
You’re all gonna die and die like flies
I don’t trust you any more
You keep on saying go slow!
Go slow!
But that’s just the trouble
Do it slow
Desegregation
Do it slow
Mass participation
Do it slow
Reunification
Do it slow
Do things gradually
Do it slow
But bring more tragedy
Do it slow
Why don’t you see it
Why don’t you feel it
I don’t know
I don’t know
You don’t have to live next to me
Just give me my equality
Everybody knows about mississippi
Everybody knows about alabama
Everybody knows about mississippi goddam
That’s it!
I wanted to elaborate further on CCDS. I very much have enjoyed and been inspired by participating in Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. The first meeting I attended, I was absolutely moved and I left there with a deeper sense of my purpose, of what needs to be done, and with agreater grasp of the beautiful humanity and soul of the progressive community in this country and in this world. God Bless CCDS and I am thankful that I have been able to participate.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
Friday, February 24, 2006
Hows This for the Pro-Lifers?
The Progressive reports that a woman was ticketed the other day for improperly using a carpool lane. She protested the ticket in court, at which a judge ruled that fetuses do not count when using carpool lanes.
No Comment--From the Progressive
The Progressivereports that Qantas airline chairwoman, Margaret Jackson was frisked and searched by a security officer in an L.A. Airport who suspected that she was a terrorist. When he found documents pertaining to airplanes in her bag, he asked her why she had them. When she told him that she was the head of an airline, his reply was "but you're a woman."
Tonight I sat down and watched the wonderful film Dangerous Beauty on WGN(what a wonderful station).Alas, I identify a,love, and cheer for the courtesans of old--and for the independence that those women had in that time. Ode to Veronica Franco, Ode to all of the creole women who made use of French,Spanish,and Portuguese men of wealth,Ode to Diane de Poitiers,Ode to Madame du Barry!
Thursday, February 23, 2006
From the Huffington Post
138 Iraqis dead in the past 24 Hours. Iraq is on the verge of Civil War, their government is almost in collapse, and there is nothing approaching security in that country. Chaos is about to become the rule and not the exception(was it ever any other way since this damned invasion?!) Someone should force Bush to resign or impeach him. Or castrate him. I don't care which one. Oh how depressing.
South Dakota is about to pass a ban on abortion. The bill, which was just passed by the South Dakota legislature, only needs the signature of the governor,who is anti-abortion. What I would do: Move to South Dakota and have an abortion and the cut off the penis of which ever man tried to stop me from doing it.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
One thing I want to mention, as I have thought about this a lot as of recent, It troubles me that such vile people as Gonzales and Bush are being seen trampling into and over such precious landmarks such as the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and Coretta Scott King's funeral. It seems that all sense of decency and justice have flown out of the world. Something sacred has been violated when these people are not only present, but speak and come to bear a commanding presence in these places that have seen the tears and agony and struggle for humanity, freedom, and justice. It is an outright disgrace and an utter violation.
Further Probing into Horowitz
I am really wondering who is taking this man seriously and who, among the people that he is attacking, are paying any attention to him. Looking at his "list of dangerous professors," he has listed, Howard Zinn, bell hooks(and Im sure he intentionally capitalized her name!),Leonard Jeffries, Eve Sedgwick, Eric Foner,Manning Marable, Todd Gitlin!(Wtf, Gitlin is about as conservative as he is!),Noam Chomsky, Tom Hayden,Cornel West, Amiri Baraka(ha!),Bettina Aptheker and Angela Davis,Ward Churchill, Bill Ayers,Mary Frances Berry(wtf?),and Michael Eric Dyson. This is a mess. I am not going to pay much attention to it myself, at least not until the real McCarthyism starts--then I'll be ready to castrate. I am wondering what Baraka is saying about all of this?
I am very pleased that the medical community, at least in part, is taking such a strong stand against the death penalty! Alas, I am quite pleased with the Judge's stay of the Morales execution in California. Abolish the death penalty!
My Opinion
I personally do not care whether they sell these ports to a Dubai owned company--and I do see some racism among those who are opposed. However, Bush is absolutely stupid as he keeps saying that Congress has nothing to worry about because "the government has already looked into it." Congress is the government! He is a dumbass.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Mercy Mercy Me
by Marvin Gaye
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
No, no
Where did all the blue sky go?
Poison is the wind that blows
From the north, east, south, and sea
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
No, no
Oil wasted on the oceans and upon our seas
Fish full of mercury
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
No, no
Radiation in the ground and in the sky
Animals and birds who live nearby are dying
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
What about this overcrowded land?
How much more abuse from man can you stand?
My sweet Lord
My sweet Lord
My sweet Lord
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
No, no
Where did all the blue sky go?
Poison is the wind that blows
From the north, east, south, and sea
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
No, no
Oil wasted on the oceans and upon our seas
Fish full of mercury
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
No, no
Radiation in the ground and in the sky
Animals and birds who live nearby are dying
Oh, mercy mercy me
Oh, things ain't what they used to be
What about this overcrowded land?
How much more abuse from man can you stand?
My sweet Lord
My sweet Lord
My sweet Lord
So tonight I satisfied my curiosity and saw the film, I am Curious (Yellow), which I have wondered about ever since I was in the eleventh grade when I read about it in a history book. My initial reaction could be best expressed with some kind of phrase like "Wow" or "Oh My God" , but needless to say, I found the film to be absolutely interesting. Wow. To have been released in 1968. Im surprised we still have an FCC, I thought they would have killed over from heart attacks after this one.
I just got through rereading the excerpt, "Serving in Florida," from Barbara Ehrenreich's book Nickle and Dimed:On Not Getting By In America in which she details her account of going undercover to work in the minimum and low-wage paying jobs around the country. Econmics is so important. Even more so class. Class is definitely one of the most important factors in American society. We are definitely behooved to be aware of class and those who are oppressed within this society. We should all be aware of our privilege.
Further on thinking about class, I overheard two black girls on the bus today talking about one of the locals who is homeless, an eighteen year old Latino kid named Joshua, who with his father, Abraham, are regular sites all around town. Their conversation was interesting and somewhat amusing. To paraphrase, the conversation went something like this: "GirlThat boy Joshua is a mess! To be homeless he lives better than me! He's always dressed in nice clothes, and he's got that portable CD player which he is always walking around with--which means that he can A: afford the batteries and B: buy the CDs!" Other Girl--"Honey I saw him the other day at McDonalds--somebody had bought him an ENTIRE breakfast!"
Further on thinking about class, I overheard two black girls on the bus today talking about one of the locals who is homeless, an eighteen year old Latino kid named Joshua, who with his father, Abraham, are regular sites all around town. Their conversation was interesting and somewhat amusing. To paraphrase, the conversation went something like this: "GirlThat boy Joshua is a mess! To be homeless he lives better than me! He's always dressed in nice clothes, and he's got that portable CD player which he is always walking around with--which means that he can A: afford the batteries and B: buy the CDs!" Other Girl--"Honey I saw him the other day at McDonalds--somebody had bought him an ENTIRE breakfast!"
Designer Humans
This is an article concerning the government's efforts to enhance human capacity and tamper with our genetics, technologies,and other things. This article, along with thse books uner urgent materials, definitely need to be read and discussed.
Troubling
In San Juan de Sabinas, Mexico, where they earn on average $60 a month, these poor miners are trapped and probably on the verge of death due to the lackadaisical concern of the corporations that own the mine's towards these people's well-being. I will pray for them and hope they make it out alive. God, just to think, if they can do what they do to workers here in the United States, I can only imagine what corporate greed is able to do in Mexico. What a horrid situation.
Monday, February 20, 2006
I am absolutely saddened by the state of Afro-American/Black peoples, specifically here at Purdue, and I am speaking somewhat specifically to those who have come up from a lower socioeconomic background. It pains me that they are caught up on money/in capitalism and totally place too much value in the capitalist system. They define sucess by white male, business terms and live to achieve along those avenues. It pains me. There is one that I see all the time who is constantly caught up in "business propositions" and "the fast trak to wealth." I am horribly saddened. WE NEED A TOTAL REVOLUTION IN VALUES!! I think bell captures a lot in Where We Stand: Class Matters.
I am Quite Moved
My cousin Clarissa and I have been going back and forth about geneological stuff with my family. I have blogged about them before. Anyway, I had previously found an obituary for my great-great-great-grandmother Caroline Roper's father, the white methodist minister(indeed, she herself was a white woman),the Reverend John Thompson Roper, at my alma mater. I didn't copy it then, but I just recently wrote to the United Methodist Historical Collection and they sent it to me. This is my g-g-g-g grandfather, the Reverend John Thompson Roper's, obituary:
REV.JOHN THOMPSON ROPER was born in Mecklenburg *county, North Carolina,
March 30, 1810, and died at his home in Chilton county, Alabama, June 4, 1885. He
was reared principally in Gwinnett county, Georgia, and moved to Algama in the
winter of 1834-5. In the year 1836 he was converted and joined the Methodist Churr 11
A friend writes this concerning him: l' His conversion was of the old Methodist tyne -
cleargut, instantaneous and attended by the witnes~ of the spirit." He was licensed
to preach in June, 1838; joined the Alabama Conference in Januan, 18'39, and remained
a member of this Conference until his death, Jnne 4, 1885.
In 1858 he was superannuated on account of temporary blindness caused by
cataract. In this relation to the Conference he remained until called to his rest in
heaven. This man was a "pioneer preacher." If there are easy places in the life
of an itinerant Methodist preat her, he never found one. On large rircuits, on mlssions
to whites, on missions to blacks, he held on his way until his poor blind eyes
could no longer find the way. He wa8 made of firm stuff. Naturally firm as. the
storm-defying oak, he could become as flexible as the willow where no principle was
involved. Touched and fashioned by Divine grace, he learned to weep with them
that weep, and to rejoice with them that do rejoice. His saintly wife. the companion
of his toils and trials for fifty-four years, still lingers in age nnd feebleness extreme.
awaiting the call to go up higher. John T. Roper is with the dead who died in the
Lord, and his worka follow him
REV.JOHN THOMPSON ROPER was born in Mecklenburg *county, North Carolina,
March 30, 1810, and died at his home in Chilton county, Alabama, June 4, 1885. He
was reared principally in Gwinnett county, Georgia, and moved to Algama in the
winter of 1834-5. In the year 1836 he was converted and joined the Methodist Churr 11
A friend writes this concerning him: l' His conversion was of the old Methodist tyne -
cleargut, instantaneous and attended by the witnes~ of the spirit." He was licensed
to preach in June, 1838; joined the Alabama Conference in Januan, 18'39, and remained
a member of this Conference until his death, Jnne 4, 1885.
In 1858 he was superannuated on account of temporary blindness caused by
cataract. In this relation to the Conference he remained until called to his rest in
heaven. This man was a "pioneer preacher." If there are easy places in the life
of an itinerant Methodist preat her, he never found one. On large rircuits, on mlssions
to whites, on missions to blacks, he held on his way until his poor blind eyes
could no longer find the way. He wa8 made of firm stuff. Naturally firm as. the
storm-defying oak, he could become as flexible as the willow where no principle was
involved. Touched and fashioned by Divine grace, he learned to weep with them
that weep, and to rejoice with them that do rejoice. His saintly wife. the companion
of his toils and trials for fifty-four years, still lingers in age nnd feebleness extreme.
awaiting the call to go up higher. John T. Roper is with the dead who died in the
Lord, and his worka follow him
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Perk Your Ears--More Efforts to Disabuse People in the United States of Their Civil and Human Rights
I am providing a link to J. Edgar Hoover's Emergency Detention Program which came about in the 1940s and which is being revived by the Bush administration. HungryBlues' post Vague and Overbroad Powers provides a great analysis.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Why is that cow Condoleeza Rice posturing against the Venezuelan government and trying to overthrow him? I believe Chavez and the Venezuela-Cuba alliance will absolutely be a force to reckon with. Chavez is a popular man with wonderful ideas....this is the reason why the Bush administration hates him as well as the reason why he just might be the sword to pierce their underbelly.
An Outrage
Its absolutely infuriating that in this day and age the power structure still believes it can murder Black people. The death of this fourteen year old in Florida, Martin Anderson, needs to become a rallying cry.
Friday, February 17, 2006
Senator Pat Roberts, Republican of Kansas is enacting legislation to change the laws concerning Bush's secret wiretaps.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
This article at TruthOut talks about the registry of names, including those of U.S. citizens, that the government keeps as "potential terrorists."
Horrifying Stuff
Today, Rev. Randy H. Schmidt gave a talk at the Lunch and learn on developing Nanotechnology studies and what the U.S. government is spending out tax dollars on developing. Nanotechnology is serious and frightening. The government is trying to develop human capacity so that soldiers can go without sleep for days at a time and also manipulate their vision for nighttime warfare. There are some other serious things that aren't being discussed in the National Dialogue that will definitely have major impacts in ever aspect of humanity in the long run.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
The Guardian reports that the Bush administration has asked Congress for a great sum in order to sell their probable war with Iran.
An Outrage Via BitchPhd
BitchPhd reports on her blog that,
An undocumented Mexican immigrant was shot and killed Sunday evening in an apparent hunting accident on a Webb County ranch owned by the family of former U.S. diplomat John G. Hurd.
"The illegals were crouching out in the brush. They said they mistook this guy for a hog," said Webb County Sheriff Juan Garza....
Juan Garza Mendoza, 34, an employee of the ranch, was charged Monday with manslaughter, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison....
"They mistakenly shot a human being," he said. "It's reckless. It's inexcusable."
An undocumented Mexican immigrant was shot and killed Sunday evening in an apparent hunting accident on a Webb County ranch owned by the family of former U.S. diplomat John G. Hurd.
"The illegals were crouching out in the brush. They said they mistook this guy for a hog," said Webb County Sheriff Juan Garza....
Juan Garza Mendoza, 34, an employee of the ranch, was charged Monday with manslaughter, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison....
"They mistakenly shot a human being," he said. "It's reckless. It's inexcusable."
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Wake Up Everybody
By Melvin and the BlueNotes
Wake up everybody no more sleepin in bed
No more backward thinkin time for thinkin ahead
The world has changed so very much
From what it used to be so
there is so much hatred war an' poverty
Wake up all the teachers time to teach a new way
Maybe then they'll listen to whatcha have to say
Cause they're the ones who's coming up and the world is in their hands
when you teach the children teach em the very best you can.
The world won't get no better if we just let it be
The world won't get no better we gotta change it yeah, just you and me.
Wake up all the doctors make the ol' people well
They're the ones who suffer an' who catch all the hell
But they don't have so very long before the Judgement Day
So won'tcha make them happy before they pass away.
Wake up all the builders time to build a new land
I know we can do it if we all lend a hand
The only thing we have to do is put it in our mind
Surely things will work out they do it every time
The world won't get no better if we just let it be
The world won't get no better we gotta change it yeah, just you and me.
Wake up everybody no more sleepin in bed
No more backward thinkin time for thinkin ahead
The world has changed so very much
From what it used to be so
there is so much hatred war an' poverty
Wake up all the teachers time to teach a new way
Maybe then they'll listen to whatcha have to say
Cause they're the ones who's coming up and the world is in their hands
when you teach the children teach em the very best you can.
The world won't get no better if we just let it be
The world won't get no better we gotta change it yeah, just you and me.
Wake up all the doctors make the ol' people well
They're the ones who suffer an' who catch all the hell
But they don't have so very long before the Judgement Day
So won'tcha make them happy before they pass away.
Wake up all the builders time to build a new land
I know we can do it if we all lend a hand
The only thing we have to do is put it in our mind
Surely things will work out they do it every time
The world won't get no better if we just let it be
The world won't get no better we gotta change it yeah, just you and me.
I read some horrible quote that someone said in the Exponent today about "we are nothing as individuals, we can only act as a community." Indeed, I was quite disheartened that it was someone black who said it. We all need to be Individuals. We all need our own identity. We all need to be PEOPLE and PERSONS as we were created. Until we are ourselves, there can never be anything such as community. A man with his legs missing cannot stand. You have to be individuals and be people before you can fully integrate and interact with other people. To move as a unit that does not allow for people to be and express themselves is against humanity. We can only bring our common humanity to the table in unity when we each have our own measure of common humanity. This is what saddens me a bit about the Afro-american community. We need to find our humanity. Malcolm showed the way. Take it.
At the moment, I am thinking of when we were still living on 73rd in Chicago and my sister would be playing double dutch with the Gordon girls and other neighborhood children. I would always want to play, and try to, but I hated it because I would always get hit with those damned ropes and it hurt like hell.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Very Serious Stuff
The British Police have arrested the man who revealed the tape exposing British abuse of Iraqi civilians. This is a definite case of fascism at work.
Sign this petition to have the U.S. remove its bounty off of the head of Assata Shakur and to have them leave her alone!
So, this weekend I bought the package DVD set of Funny Girl and Funny Lady. I've seen both of these before, but I definitely need them in my Streisand collection, for sure. So, I watched Funny Lady and then I turned to watch Funny Girl today and I must say I came to some new revelations. I can see what an absolutely unprogressive, anti-feminist, heteronormative, Eurocentric message is being sent out from this film. This is not to do with Barbra or any of her fault, but lays all at the hands of Ray Stark and the writers of this film who romanticized and sought to make a profit off of the love life of Stark's mother-in-law, Fanny Brice. Alas, I so realized the irony of myself, in that when I was ten and twelve years old and saw this film(indeed, really up until I was halfway through college) everytime "My Man" came around at the end of Funny Girl, I was bawling, morose, and bemoaning Fanny's having lost her love. Nick Arnstein was a real treat(right). Alas, I have long realized what BS "My Man" is...and I have realized Barbra's realization of this, perhaps right after Elliot Gould.
The message that the filmmaker's send out through Funny Girl is absolutely awful (and that is contrasted against the aura which Barbra gives it, which is absolutely wonderful and truly makes the film. Firstly, Barbra's not supposed to really get this man, of course because she isn't blond and she is a Jewish girl with an ethnic look, and not Sandra Dee. So, there in lies the delight of seeing this poor sloven thing actually get this man, for a time. Absolutely Eurocentric views....alas, I have written and thought about before Barbra's positioning as the first ethnic-looking Jewish star of the modern era (Fanny herself was the one of the bygone era). She never changed her look, she wasn't a "classic" eurocentric beauty, where as Lauren Bacall quips about her experience of how she overheard a director saying to someone about her that she was beautiful and she "didn't even look Jewish." Barbra was an absolute groundbreaker. Absolutely unique.
Alas, this film is absolutely saved, torn from the grips of heteronormativity, and turned into the mantra of the Other, the ultimate other (Barbra) and "Don't Rain on My Parade," ceases to become a song about a woman going to chase after a man and becomes the mantra of those who refuse to be put down and held back, and the portrait of Fanny is not that of the kooky Jewish girl who lands a ruffled shirt, but becomes the Kooky, Jewish girl who becomes the most power woman in Hollywood.....and there in lies the rub.
The message that the filmmaker's send out through Funny Girl is absolutely awful (and that is contrasted against the aura which Barbra gives it, which is absolutely wonderful and truly makes the film. Firstly, Barbra's not supposed to really get this man, of course because she isn't blond and she is a Jewish girl with an ethnic look, and not Sandra Dee. So, there in lies the delight of seeing this poor sloven thing actually get this man, for a time. Absolutely Eurocentric views....alas, I have written and thought about before Barbra's positioning as the first ethnic-looking Jewish star of the modern era (Fanny herself was the one of the bygone era). She never changed her look, she wasn't a "classic" eurocentric beauty, where as Lauren Bacall quips about her experience of how she overheard a director saying to someone about her that she was beautiful and she "didn't even look Jewish." Barbra was an absolute groundbreaker. Absolutely unique.
Alas, this film is absolutely saved, torn from the grips of heteronormativity, and turned into the mantra of the Other, the ultimate other (Barbra) and "Don't Rain on My Parade," ceases to become a song about a woman going to chase after a man and becomes the mantra of those who refuse to be put down and held back, and the portrait of Fanny is not that of the kooky Jewish girl who lands a ruffled shirt, but becomes the Kooky, Jewish girl who becomes the most power woman in Hollywood.....and there in lies the rub.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
I Love This Song
Great Day
by Barbra
When you're down and out
Lift up your head and shout
There's gonna be a great day
Angels in the sky
Promise that be by and by
There's gonna be a great day
Gabriel will warn you
Some early morn
You will hear his horn
It's not far away
Lift up your head and say
There's gonna be a great day
Great day
When you're down and out
Lift up your head and shout
There's gonna be a great day
Angels in the sky
Promise that by and by
We're gonna see a great day
Gabriel will warn you
Some early morn'
You will hear his horn, his horn
It's not far away
Lift up your head and say
There's gonna be a great day
When the skies went darker, oh lord!
Came noah's ark, oh lord!
Amen and amen!
Amen and amen!
He came in january, february, march, april, may, june
July, and august, september october, november,
De de december
It was a great day
It was a great day
The Lord helps those who pray
And on judgment day
If you believe he will receive you Amen
Gabriel will warn you
Some early morn
You will his horn, his horn
It's not far away
Lift up your head and say
There's gonna be a great
We're gonna see a great
There's gonna be,
Be a great day!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
by Barbra
When you're down and out
Lift up your head and shout
There's gonna be a great day
Angels in the sky
Promise that be by and by
There's gonna be a great day
Gabriel will warn you
Some early morn
You will hear his horn
It's not far away
Lift up your head and say
There's gonna be a great day
Great day
When you're down and out
Lift up your head and shout
There's gonna be a great day
Angels in the sky
Promise that by and by
We're gonna see a great day
Gabriel will warn you
Some early morn'
You will hear his horn, his horn
It's not far away
Lift up your head and say
There's gonna be a great day
When the skies went darker, oh lord!
Came noah's ark, oh lord!
Amen and amen!
Amen and amen!
He came in january, february, march, april, may, june
July, and august, september october, november,
De de december
It was a great day
It was a great day
The Lord helps those who pray
And on judgment day
If you believe he will receive you Amen
Gabriel will warn you
Some early morn
You will his horn, his horn
It's not far away
Lift up your head and say
There's gonna be a great
We're gonna see a great
There's gonna be,
Be a great day!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Spanish newspapers are carrying the story of the former CIA agent who is coming forward and stating that Bush new that the excuses he used to go to war were faulty.
Fourteen Characteristics of Fascism
By Dr. Lawrence Britt
Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread
domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.
6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.
9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.
4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread
domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.
5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.
6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.
9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.
14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
According to the Guardian, Tony Blair will from now on be one of Two Prime Ministers in England, effectively running the state with Chancellor Gordon Brown. This is all apart of a scheme that will be introduced tommorow in a speech where Blair will argue for identity cardsin Great Britain. Very scary indeed.
I've been watching Funny Lady a lot, which I just bought recently. I love the numbers "Great Day," and "Let's Hear it For Me." Alas, I also came to the realization that I have for a long time been romanticizing and glorifying the story of Fanny Brice and Nick Arnstein, looking at it through the lense of a fairy tale. How awful really that she spent so much time running after him--and belittling herself before him in the process. Alas, I have for a long time been aware of the irony of "My Man," and of how Barbra probably was laughing and cringing her way through the notes of the song after a while....like Nina Simone's very telling "Hmmmm," in the middle of "Wild is the Wind." That let you know that that song was bullshit and no man was ever gonna be her life. Thank you lord. God Bless Nina and Barbra!
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