Tommie Smith and William Carlos, Mexico, 1968
Archive for Culture
Bernie Mac’s sister-in-law Speaks
BERNIE MAC’S FINAL MOMENTS: Sister-in-law says family was at bedside; funeral scheduled for Friday, friends release statements.
*A sister-in-law to late comedian Bernie Mac has opened up to People magazine about the entertainer’s final moments at the hospital with his wife, Rhonda, and their 30-year-old daughter, Je’Niece.
Community activist Najee Ali says a candlelight vigil for Mac, as well as Isaac Hayes, will be held at 6 p.m. tonight in Los Angeles at 5th Street Dicks coffeehouse in Leimert Park (4305 Degnan Blvd.)
More than ‘Shaft’: Hayes was goldmine of influence
With its riveting orchestration, definitive guitar play and signature sensual baritone vocals, Isaac Hayes’ theme song for the 1971 movie “Shaft” not only became one of pop music’s iconic songs, but also the defining work of Hayes’ career.
Yet the “Theme from Shaft,” which would earn both Grammys and an Oscar, was just a snippet of the groundbreaking music for which Hayes — who died Sunday at age 65 — was responsible.
Actor and comedian Bernie Mac dies at age 50
Bernie Mac lookin clean and talkin real talk on Tavis Smiley.
Bernie Mac, the actor and comedian who teamed up in the casino heist caper “Ocean’s Eleven” and gained a prestigious Peabody Award for his sitcom “The Bernie Mac Show,” died Saturday at age 50.
The Role Hip Hop Organizations and Groups Play in Politics
A report from the National Hip Hop Political Convention by Davey D via ThugLifeArmy.com
During the recently held Hip Hop Political Convention we had an explosive panel that addressed the issue of Electoral Politics and how they intersect with Hip Hop music and Culture. We wound talking specifically about the impact or lack of impact Hip Hop organizations have on the voting process.
Sitting on this panel were the following people;
Rev lennox Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus, Professor Lamont Hill of Fox news and Temple University, Tony Cani- Young Democrats, Honorable George Martinez of H2Ed and former elected Official & emcee, Rosa Clemente-Vice presidential candidate of the Green Party.
Paterson, at N.A.A.C.P., Warns of Racism’s Power
CINCINNATI — David A. Paterson, in his first major speech to a national audience since becoming governor of New York, said on Thursday that even as black Americans rejoice about the possibility that Senator Barack Obama could become president, they cannot lose sight of the serious social and economic ills that plague their community and should remain mindful of the racism that still exists.
A voice of reason.
Democracy Now! | George Carlin: Legendary Comedian Challenged Status Quo Throughout 50-Year Career
Legendary comedian George Carlin died of heart failure on Sunday evening at the age of seventy-one. Carlin was one of the most well-known comedians of the past fifty years and was widely considered one of the top stand-up comics of all time.
Listen to some of his best social critique at Democracy Now!
In case you’re wondering why we’re remembering George Carlin, check out these exerpts:
America and war….GEORGE CARLIN: It’s the old American double standard, you know, say one thing, do something different. And, of course, the country is founded on the double standard. That’s our history. We were founded on a very basic double standard. This country was founded by slave owners who wanted to be free. Am I right? A group of a slave owners who wanted to be free, so they killed a lot of white English people in order to continue owning their black African people, so they could wipe out the rest of the red Indian people and move west and steal the rest of the land from the brown Mexican people, giving them a place to take off and drop their nuclear weapons on the yellow Japanese people. You know what the motto of this country ought to be? You give up a color, we’ll wipe it out. You got it.
So, anyway, about eighty years after the Constitution is ratified, eighty years later, the slaves are freed. Not so you’d really notice it, of course. Just sort of on paper. And that was, of course, during the Civil War. Now, there’s another phrase I dearly love. That is a true oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one: civil war. Do you think any country could really have a civil war? “Say, pardon me” [gun shots]—“I’m awfully sorry. I’m awfully sorry.” Now, of course, the Civil War has been over for about 120 years, but not so you’d really notice it, because we still have these people called Civil War buffs, people who thought it was a really keen war, and they study the battles carefully, and they try to improve on the strategies and the tactics to increase the body count, in case we have to go through it again sometime. In fact, some of these people actually get dressed up in uniform once a year and go out and refight these battles. You know what I say? Use live ammunition, [bleep], would you please? You might just raise the intelligence level of the American gene pool.
But what do you expect? Hey, come on, this is a warlike country. We come from that northern European, basically the northern European genes, the blue eyes. Those blue eyes. Boy everybody in the world learned real quick, didn’t they? When those blue eyes sail out of the north, you better nail everything down [bleep]. Nail it down, strap it down, or they’ll grab it. If they can’t take it home, they’ll burn it. If they can’t burn it, they’ll [bleep]. That’s what happened to us. And it’s a warlike country. C’mon, I mean, forget foreign policy. Even the domestic rhetoric is warlike. Everything about our domestic policy invokes the thought of war. We don’t like something in this country, we declare war on it. The war on poverty, the war on drugs, the war on crime, the war on AIDS, the war on cancer. We’ve got the only national anthem that mentions [bleep] rockets and bombs in the [bleep] thing. You know what I mean?
Language in Amerca…GEORGE CARLIN: When I was a little kid, if I got sick, they wanted me to go to the hospital and see the doctor. Now they want me to go to a health maintenance organization or a wellness center to consult a healthcare delivery processional. Poor people used to live in slums. Now the economically disadvantaged occupy substandard housing in the inner cities. And they’re broke! They’re broke. They don’t have a “negative cash flow position.” They’re [bleep] broke! ‘Cause a lot of them were fired. You know, fired? Management wanted to curtail redundancies in the human resources area, so many people are no longer viable members of the work force.
Smug, greedy, well-fed white people have invented a language to conceal their sins. It’s as simple as that. The CIA doesn’t kill anybody anymore, they neutralize people. Or they de-populate the area. The government doesn’t lie, it engages in disinformation. The Pentagon actually measures nuclear radiation in something they call “sunshine units.” Israeli murderers are called commandos. Arab commandos are called terrorists. Contra killers are called freedom fighters. Well, if crime fighters fight crime, and firefighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part of it to us, do they? Never mention that part of it.
Any other white men that can talk sh*t like George Carlin, please stand up.
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Some of George Carlin’s “Greatest Hits”
Comedian George Carlin, died Sunday night in Los Angeles. Carlin’s social commentary and truth-telling will be greatly missed.
Clint Eastwood: Spike Lee Should “Shut His Face”
Clint Eastwood has advised rival film director Spike Lee to “shut his face” after the African-American complained about the racial make-up of Eastwood’s films.
Daniel Beaty: One Man Powerhouse
When Academy Award-nominated and legendary actress Ruby Dee witnessed Daniel Beaty perform “Emergency” - his one-man show with more than 40 characters - she described it as “a performance that jolts the senses to attention.” But Ruby Dee also told this incredibly talented writer, poet, humorist and actor something else: He was the artist, she said, who was continuing her legacy and the legacy of her late husband Ossie Davis.
“It’s been such an incredible honor, “ said Beaty, a Yale University graduate and 2007 Obie Award for Excellence winner for his writing and performing in Off-Broadway Theater. “I’ve had a series of angels, the grace of God and a really blessed journey,” he told the L.A. Sentinel in an exclusive interview.
Singer R. Kelly Reinforces Racial and Sexual Stereotypes
When men such as Kelly commit, or are charged with sexual assaults, they leave a long trail of victims, cast shame and disgrace on themselves and, worst of all, reinforce the notion that young black males are indeed menaces to society.
Rock pioneer Bo Diddley dies at age 79
Bo Diddley, a founding father of rock ‘n’ roll whose distinctive “shave and a haircut, two bits” rhythm and innovative guitar effects inspired legions of other musicians, died Monday after months of ill health. He was 79.
10 Questions for Toni Morrison
She’s won the Pulitzer and Nobel prizes and recently received the PEN/Borders Literary Service Award. A new collection of her nonfiction, What Moves at the Margin, is out now. Toni Morrison takes questions. Source Time.com
Do you think that young black females are dealing with the same self-acceptance issues today as your character was in The Bluest Eye? —Francesca Siad, Calgary, Alta.
No, not at all. When I wrote the book, the young women who read it liked it [but] were unhappy because I had sort of exposed an area of shame. Nowadays I find young African-American women much more complete. They seem to have a confidence that they take for granted.
Jazz Fest is yet another survivor of Katrina
For the first time since 2005, Jazz Fest’s seventh day is back at a cost of $1 million to organizers. Favorite sons the Neville Brothers will make their first appearance since the storm as part of a bill boasting major stars and a wide range of regional talent. More food vendors and an expanded children’s area have been added.
France bids farewell to black pride poet Aime Cesaire
FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique (AFP) — French President Nicolas Sarkozy was to join mourners on Sunday at the state funeral of Aime Cesaire, a poet and pioneer of the black pride movement who died at age 94 in Martinique.
Cesaire, revered on his native French Caribbean island of Martinique and elsewhere in the French-speaking world, died in hospital in Fort-de-France on Thursday after being admitted for heart problems.
Click here for background on Cesaire and discussion of his “clash” with Sarkozy about French colonialism from a conversation with Amy Goodman and Prof. Robin Kelley, via Democracy Now!
Obit from Times Online (UK)
