Speak Out for Hana Al Shalabi

Justice for Trayvon Martin

Patti's Tribute to Whitney

"The law is meant to be my servant and not my master, still less my torturer and my murderer." -- James Baldwin. The Nation. July 11, 1966.

Wendy Williams' Tearful Tribute to Whitney Houston

Bless you, Wendy Williams....

Whitney Houston's Obituary, RIP 1963-2012

The Greatest Love of All

"The Greatest Love of All" was one of the first songs to ever catch my attention and make me sit up and listen to the lyrics and the music. At a young age, Whitney's deliverance of this song and the message that it gives instilled something in me that I have held to for a long time. Yes, Whitney Houston has been apart of my consciousness. Her voice and her music are a part of my make up. What a presence in the world that will now be sorely missed.

RIP Whitney Houston: 1963-2012

What a tragic loss.... Read here, my previous post dedicated to Whitney Houston, a reflection on her career and her music.Now, I can't help but to compare her life and death to that of Judy Garland.

Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer on Tavis Smiley

Watch Actresses Viola Davis & Octavia Spencer on PBS. See more from Tavis Smiley.

OK. So, here is my official response to this conversation between Octavia, Viola, and Tavis that I posted earlier to Facebook:

I think Viola Davis has a point....Black people are far too concerned about image....and instead should be concerned about tearing down this goddamned system that we live in. Fuck the image, tear the shit up and rebuild.

I wonder if a lot of the protests over The Help doesn't contain elements of class shame. Blacks, overly concerned about image, are triggered by depictions of lower class Blacks working in white kitchens....as opposed to images of Martin Luther King or other, more affluent Blacks in retellings of history. These Black maids who worked in kitchens possess their own truths too....and their truths must be told and deserve to be heard. Now The Help is not perfect....but it does not demean or take away from the truths of these Black voices that should be heard.

That said, Hollywood.....and the entire American cultural scene.....is racist and should be torn apart and rebuilt.

However, I do have an addendum:

Tavis erred in his exchange with Octavia in the clip above. When Octavia pointed out to him that other ethnic groups don't have such a hard time seeing depictions of their past on screen (although, that's not completely true-Italians were up in arms over The Godfather), Tavis automatically jumped back in with a response concerning depictions of the Holocaust in films. This is not a true comparison....the comparison would be seeing generic Black movie The Maid on screen as opposed to seeing Fiddler on the Roof and other such depictions of Jewish life broadcast before the world....which got me to thinking, would Blacks who espouse such criticism be assuaged if we saw fifty different versions of Fiddler on the Roof on the big screen, with different different variations on the theme? I think not. But then the wheels in my head started to turn further and I began to wonder if Jews in the 19th century and early 20th century perhaps didn't have the same responses to cultural depictions of themselves as well. Perhaps the only difference in Generic Black movie The Maid and "Fiddler on the Roof" was that Fiddler on the Roof depicted the Jewish putz before the entire Broadway community-with its real effects felt no further than New York perhaps....Generic Black movie The Maid depicts the subservient Black woman before the entire world on a great big screen....oh time and technology...

Thomas Frank's Pity the Billionaire

Michael Jackson and Me

For most of my childhood, or perhaps ever since the release of the Thriller album, I have possessed an irrational fear of the man known as Michael Jackson. It all came about because my sister, knowing what a scaredy-cat I have always been ,used to find her greatest pleasure in locking me into the bedroom with the lights out, turning on thriller and standing on the other side of the door laughing while I screamed my head off. Oh the joys of childhood.....Well, anyway,I developed these recurring nightmares in which Michael Jackson and a wizard(whom I very much later came to recognize was wierd al yankovic) were chasing me down a long white hallway. Needless to say, I avoided everything that had to do with Michael Jackson....I found him odd and freaky long before the trials.... It sometimes is a wonder of its own that one grows up.... While Michael Jackson is nowhere near one of the many musicians and/or singers that I hold in the greatest esteem....I have overcome my latent childhood fears enough to now appreciate what I consider to be some of his finest work, including "PYT" and "Human Nature" from the Thriller album, "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough," "Rock With You," and "Off The Wall" from the Off The Wall album, and his work around The Wiz. So here it is, my one and ONLY post ever dedicated to Michael Jackson. Enjoy.

Soul Train Line

RIP Don Cornelius 1936-2012

Shadows and Light Now Available on Amazon.com

One of My Favorites by Etta James: Sail Away

Etta James with Nina Simone in the Audience

Call Jan Brewer and Tell Her About Wagging her Finger

602-542-4331,The Honorable Janice K. Brewer
Arizona Governor
Executive Tower
1700 West Washington Street
Phoenix, AZ 85007 and the website is www.azgovernor.gov

My Book, Shadows and Light, is OUT!!!

Buy it here