What does Bhutto's Death Do for You?

We mourn the death of Pakistan's Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Not just because she came from a comfortable life of status to help the common person, not just because she was well-educated and wanted democracy as the bedrock of freedom for her people, but for a more simple reason:

She represented the hopes and dreams of a human race longing for peace and freedom to live without hurt or hurting others, something the whole world wants now more than ever. When such deaths of martyrs occur at such crucial times, it tends to bring very ugly wars. Through which, if past similar events are a measure, they may bring extensive social improvement.

Such was the case when Archbishop Ferdinand's death sparked WWI. Such was the case when Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated and fire broke out on the streets of America in the 1960s. All bad events, but significant social change for the better occurred after it.

Such was the case when Saddam Hussein was captured, and later put to death by a proxy legal tribunal crafted and created by the U.S. government. Mind you, Saddam was no martyr, but the result was significant: It brought the civil war now ensuing, more terrorism not less as promised, and America's now-seemingly endless involvement over there.

But as for Bhutto's effect, will this recent martyrdom now raise the stakes for American peace and security, at home and abroad? Are we approaching yet another 9/11 brought on by American meddling in other nation's affairs? I do believe so.

What goes around, always comes around.

Denzel At It Again - He's the Best of His Time.

FILMOLOGY IN MOTION:

THE GREAT DEBATERS (OPENING CHRISTMAS DAY)
12/20/2007
By Sergio Mims (wif a little extra journalism from VillagePeeps)

CAST: Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Jurnee Smollett, Nate Parker,
Denzel Whitaker (great name choice), Kimberly Elise, Gina Ravera

WRITTEN BY Robert Eisele, DIRECTED BY Denzel Washington

RATED PG-13 *** Already the recipient of 5 (count 'em - FIVE) Golden Globe Awards

The Great Debaters announces its brazen intentions to right a few wrongs straight from the outset. It audaciously wants to answer for all the negative images and degrading stereotypes of black people that have plagued films for last 100 years. It’s a bold, ambitious mission and though one black film (or 100 for that matter) can’t rise up to that challenge, Debaters works triple hard to do its best. The end result is an excellent, rock solid effort that should be on the top of everyone’s “must see” list.

Though we have seen many times over and know all too well the “inspirational” film genre about a group of people rising against the odds before facing the ultimate test and even can predict the final outcome, Debaters puts a spin on the usual proceedings with plot twists, surprising character developments and shifting relationship dynamics unexpected for the genre.

Washington admits to having a greater appreciation for directors. The film is produced by Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films, Todd Black, and Joe Roth. It is executively produced by David Crockett and The Weinstein Company, and is distributed by MGM. It was written by Robert Eiselle who was introduced to an article about the Wiley Team’s unheard of victory thanks to the help of debate coach Melvin Tolson.

Melvin B. Tolson (center) with the Original Wiley College debate team in 1935 after Harvard University U.S. Championship win. Photo credit: Courtesy of Wiley College

The film is based on the true story of the trials, tribulations and triumphs of the heralded 1930’s debate team at Wiley College, an all black college still based in East Texas. The team led by their demanding coach and mentor Melvin Tolson (Washington) rises to the occasion beating all oppositions both white and black until they are invited to compete against Harvard University for the ultimate prize and national recognition.

Needless to say Tolson and his team, all played wonderfully by Smollet (Eve’s Bayou, Roll Bounce) and newcomers Parker and Denzel Whitaker (no relation to Forest Whitaker) face battles of self doubt, setbacks, and tremendous expectations and, of course, the all American scourge of racism as a constant presence which occasionally rears its violent side as in an extremely brutal scene where Tolson and his team accidentally come upon a horrific lynch mob and their unfortunate victim.

Jurnee said it was more about the actual events.

Yet, one of best and most refreshing aspects of The Great Debaters, thanks to an intelligent screenplay by Robert Eisele and nuanced direction by Washington, is that, from the beginning, it treats knowledge, learning and intellectual pursuit as something completely normal and expected by black people and not as an alien concept whose value we find dubious. In the film both parents and teachers demand the best from their students and children and they in turn not only expect that from them, but they try as hard as possible to live up to those expectations. For that alone Debaters is a blessed relief for those who have suffered through enough Whose The Caddys and Soul Planes.

In his second outing as director (after the overrated Antwone Fischer) Denzel Washington has clearly grown more confident and assured behind the camera. He’s become more visually attuned and creative in Debaters with some remarkably striking sequences such as the wonderfully atmospheric opening of the film crosscutting a raucous, sweaty, down home, blues party with a shallow figure of a mysterious man running through the swamp in a desperate attempt to stop a horrible act from happening.

Whitaker's view and Washington's view are the same - Two of the Greatest Academy Award Winners Ever!

It should be no surprise that all the performances are uniformly excellent but then with Washington and Forest Whitaker together in a film it would be expected that everyone else has to be at the best. No slouching when you have to go up against these two.

Before you think I’ve gone soft, let me point out that Debaters does have a few minor problems including an unrequited love affair subplot that’s not really necessary and an awkward, unexplained appearance by Washington during an important moment of the film which, instead of being the dramatic wallop it was intended to be, will only have viewers wondering how he got there. The film also has several historical inaccuracies which no doubt the filmmakers knew they were making but intentionally put in the film to make a bigger dramatic impact.

In spite of these small faults The Great Debaters is far and away better than the standard “inspirational” film and actually becomes something more than that. A moving, emotional movie that delivers a genuine sense of joy and satisfaction at the end.

Film critic, lecturer and festival consultant Sergio Mims covers all things film from the city that works, Chicago. He is a regular contributor to ebonyjet.com

Anyone Up For A Chess Game?

A rather unique way to play. But who doesn't like life-size entertainment? Lika go for it Papi !!

Amy Winehouse - Great Singer, Just Not One Of Music's Finest Moments

So this is Amy Winehouse? The Brit Blue-Eyed Soul Singer (her eyes are brown, this is just 70s Hall-n-Oates-speak for white singers of black soul music) can't seem to decide whether she wants to be a buxom Kim Kardashian-run-for-her-money lookalike or a Crack Whore. But after hearing her, I can say for sure mon, she's one helluva singer. Check out her videos.


we can't wait for the sex DVD - now that's so Kim Kardashian!

Great Years of the Modern Music Era: 1955 to Now

I'm not old enough to be sure about some of these years, especially those before 1960. But by many accounts, most would start with 1956 - the year Elvis hit the charts hard. Now we can debate about his authenticity, since he stole his sound from black R&B legends of the time. But he is nonetheless the artist who folks from that era remember as starting the trend.

But I can tell you about the years I do know about:

1965: the year the Beatles and the Rolling Stones came to America, and Motown hit its peak. Yeah, I was a little too young to know this, but those who do would agree this was probably the pivital moment that music could never look back from forever.

1967: The Summer of Love. Nuff said. Too many artists to mention, but defintely the year that music hit the mark that defined everything that came after. One cool year, too (even if I was just a little boy then). Life was pretty cool in '67. Of my favorites of this year? Jim Morrison and the Doors (c'mon baby Light my Fire), Sly & The Family Stone (I Wanna Take ya Higher), and Edwin Birdsong (Here comes the Judge). But for many more, The Grateful Dead's debut.

1969: Woodstock. Need I say more? What more can I say about the year that changed America? Hendrix, Carlos Santana, Fleetwood Mac, Jefferson Starship, the list is endless.

1971-72: Shaft, Superfly, Al Green, The O-Jays. And the beginning of TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia). The year America found its five on the black-hand side. And we're better for it.

1973: Earth, Wind & Fire with Evil. Stevie Wonder with Superstition. The Ohio Players, Mandrill, and the introduction of Parliament/Funkadelic. Yes. Boston. Traffic. Eric Clapton. Funk, R&B and Rock hit their stride. And with the jazz-rock-fusion of Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Ramsey Lewis and the incomprorable Grover Washington Jr, the modern funk and smooth jazz sounds was born.

1978: The pinnacle of the Disco Era. Without a doubt, Donna Summer and many many others did a helluva job spearheading a revolution in dance music. And a social icon lifestyle standard, the predecessor of the Bling Era, was established. Think Saturday Night Fever.

1983: Michael Jackson. Madonna. Prince. Rick James. Lionel Ritchie, Evelyn Champagne King. Phil Collins. The Clash, Tina Turner. Punk Rock and New Wave were at their peak, a new music form was taking hold (rap) and the aforementioned artists put out music that became legend. For me, this was probably the best music year ever.

1991: New Jack Swing, which was brought to its still-dominant peak by the movie New Jack City (thanks Nino Brown and you Cash Money Brothers). This year inspired the likes of Teddy Riley, R. Kelly, Guy, Bobby Brown/New Edition's springoffs, and also brought us the West Coast Rap of Snoop, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube and Tupac Shakur. It's also the year I knew I'd never in life move into an apartment building called The Carter.

1997: Perhaps the coolest year ever; I like to refer to it as "the 9-7". I consider this year the current generation's 1967 or 1973, because the hip-hop revolution and the alternative music generation led us into the music download era, and was in fact LIVE and televised. Busta Rhymes, Usher, Common, Erika Badu, and the icons Mariah Carey, Diddy (when he was Puff Daddy), Biggie Smalls, an' on and on and on. Some of the best artists of the genre, many of whom are icons now, started or came of note in this year. And, like 1967, it was a very cool year to be alive. But most important, like '67 and '73, it inspired a new generation of enlightenment.

2000: the year of Bling, the Boy Bands, and Britney Spears. Ok, a little perverted on the history charts, but a significant year nonetheless. Although still part of the hip-hop revolution of 1997, it changed pop music to platinum status as not just music, but a new culture in America, which later inspired political movements like MoveOn.org and politics on the internet that still exist today. And - oops - some wardrobe malfunctions.

footnote: Quincy Jones was in the mix for damn near all of it.

Joyous Turkey Day, You Turkeys!

I'm just thinking about 'cha.....

---

Happy Thanksgiving!

just thought i'd wish everyone a happy safe and travel-logged thanksgiving weekend!



oh...and HAPPY HUNTING you f**kn 2nd Amendment freaks!

i'm just parking this story here to cut n paste into another blog...

but it's good bloggings....

LAST week, the Pew Research Center published the 'astonishing finding' that 37 percent of African-Americans polled felt that “due to a widening income gap . . . the values of poor and middle-class blacks have grown more dissimilar over the past decade; and in contrast, the values of most blacks and whites have grown more alike.” I'm still trying to figure out who was 'astonished' by this 'finding'.

This smells of bleeding heart, except that you can see some truth of this in some parts of the U.S., especially where there has been significant industry secession from a city, but also where you see incredible wealth performance, such as New York, Washington, Dallas or L.A., but that's more black-to-white wealth disparities. But also one of class in some parts of town.

How did this happen? Well the old theories, slavery and segregation, surely laid the infrastructure that still exists benignly to this day. The new theories? The decline of factory jobs, crack cocaine, draconian drug laws and outsourcing to be sure.

It's jobs - which creates both stability, an important foundations from which to take risks and create wealth - which are the most significant tool that's needed, the keystone. Economic stability in the black community is the lifeblood, as in any community, that pours life and keeps us safe from the other ills.

The problem is the lack of jobs, and the segregation of opportunity that comes without it, that still marks the overall black community in the United States. This is no doubt emulated in many other parts of the world, but the U.S. must focus on its culpable acts over the years, not worry about what others may or may not do. This nation has a dismal record on its own standing as not to have to concern itself with how the rest of the world handles its problems (Darfur perhaps an exception). You wanna reduce crime, improve schools, and have a more harmonious society with less political division? Easy - use our great potential as a nation to close the gap between rich and poor, not just financially, but spiritually.

A Harvard study of the family trees of 20 successful African-Americans, shows an astonishing pattern: 15 of the 20 descend from at least one line of former slaves who managed to obtain property by 1920 — a time when only 25 percent of all African-American families owned property.

Imagine how different black-white relations would be had “40 acres and a mule” really been official U.S. government policy after the Civil War. The gap between the black middle class and underclass shows that ending discrimination would not eradicate black poverty and dysfunction. Further intervention to promulgate a middle-class ethic of success among the poor, while expanding opportunities for economic betterment among every level through promoting upward mobility as a family value at all socioeconomic levels. But who is to do that? Black people, it's your problem you better start before you ask somebody else to do it.

Margaret Thatcher, in the 1980s, turned 1.5 million residents of public housing projects in Britain into homeowners. This was a positive (and liberal) step for the conservative PM Thatcher. It has had mixed results, apparently. But its core benefit is that it has created a stake in the land for these U.K. citizens they didn't have before.

The telltale fact is that the biggest gap in black prosperity isn’t in income, but in wealth. According to a study by the economist Edward N. Wolff, the median net worth of non-Hispanic black households in 2004 was only $11,800 — less than 10 percent that of non-Hispanic white households, $118,300. Sadly, in the wake of the subprime mortgage debacle, an enormous number of houses are being repossessed. But for the black poor, real progress may come only once they have an ownership stake in American society.

Some scholars say that the civil rights movement may be reborn, with the focus to thumbmark the causes of entrenched black economic struggling at all levels, both those afflicted upon and those self-inflicted, and take action. If there is a correlation between land ownership and success of African-Americans that is reflected in current socioeconomics, and partly the result of social forces set in motion by the dismal failure of 40 acres and a mule, then a correction - which means economic and social advancement in one's fellow man support - is surely needed before we really have 2 - or 3 - separate and unequal nations.

newsflash! the judith regan story is heating up!

...just can't get it off the presses fast enough! now the heart of the story (the lawsuit by judith regan) is that roger ailes, the president of FOX Network at the time, personally pressured regan to lie about the kerik relationship.

...add to that, as i watch CNBC, rudy's relationship with roger ailes and FOX that has existed since the early 1980s (rudy was at roger's wedding, sat at his table at a white house correspondent's dinner, got FOX on NY Cable when Time-Warner refused, and so on. it's an incestuous story, an incestuous, toxic relationship.

...and of course, it is now shedding light on FOX News' agenda - to get a right-wing demogogue or a Republican they can control into the white house. guess who's their choice for that? yes folks, this 2008 is the year we may elect the Manchurian Candidate.