Aaannnd....Scene.

Barack, Baby!

Sorry y'all, I'm on a one track mind until Wednesday, and it ain't about Black Cinema for once. We are on the crest of something great for our community, and after 400 years of hell we deserve every single part of it. Things like Lewis Hamilton being the first Black to win the Formula One Championship the other day is just paving that yellow brick road.

Still, I am mired in what has happened in those 400 years, and my glasses are clear, not rose colored. As Undercover Black Man said:

"... and I can truly visualize either of three outcomes on Tuesday night: a blowout victory for Obama, a squeaky-tight win for Obama, or a stunning upset for McCain."



For reals. So if you registered to vote, and think that no one will notice if you sit this one out...WRONG! Get out there and take the privilege of what our ancestors were hosed, gassed, and attacked by vicious dogs for--and in some cases, lynched. And make SURE your vote says Obama and not McCain if that is who you are voting for.



Okay, I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, so I will post this pro-Barack video that my good friend neo-soul artist Amp Fiddler made....check it. I will be back to our regularly scheduled blog to post and answer your comments on Wednesday, when I firmly know who's gonna be sleeping in Lincoln's bedroom!

Awww Yeeeeeaaahhh.....

Could this be one of the reasons why? Hilarious!





pic: h/t undercover black man click on pic to enlarge

Hope, Naivete, or Desperation?

While watching the debate last night, I tried not to get distracted by trivial things the way I usually do with these things, such as what was going on with the candidates lips (seriously, did Obama not have a razor within a mile radius before this important debate? Why were McCain's looking all coral lipstick-y?).

But I digress.

I was in a particularly political/militant mode yesterday, as before the debate I rewatched "Black August", the story of imprisoned Black Panther leader George Jackson. For those of you who don't know, in the 70's George Jackson was the boyfriend of Black Panther activist Angela Davis, and was sent to prison for 1 year to life for robbing a gas station of $70. While in prison he formed an offshooot Black Panther unit (The Black Guerillas); 3 of his comrades were killed by a guard in cold blood, and the guard got off scott-free. When the guard was murdered, George was one of the suspected. This, coupled with his Panther beliefs, subjected him to a heinous life of torture within the prison walls, until he couldn't take it anymore and organized a mutiny--in which he was shot and killed. His sixteen year old brother was shot and killed beforehand by taking a judge hostage to get George freed.

I have made the synopsis of his story very simplistic for the purpose of this post, as he was a complex man and the effects of his life are still being felt today, as it was with me yesterday. Gary Dourdan as George Jackson did an amazing job of showing that throughout American history, if you were/are an intelligent Black man that stands up for your rights, there was/is hell to pay.


It saddens me that the younger people of today (not all of them mind you) seem to have zero idea of the struggles we had even in the 70's (and George was in his 20's), much less what was going on during slavery. The simulated sex at parties, quests for Gucci, Prada, and other assorted junk--rims, weaves and the latest sneakers and cell phones are of the highest order of the day. It is so directionless, tragic, and amazing in it's cocooned ignorance. I try to laugh to keep from crying sometimes, but the shit is SO not funny. For example, a post I read on The Field Negro:

Scranton Pennsylvania ain't exactly field Negro country, if you get my drift. So I wasn't exactly surprised to hear that the good folks in Scranton were calling for the head of the skinny Negro with the funny name. "Kill Him" , one enthusiastic supporter shouted, while Congressional candidate, Chris Hackett, fired up the crowd. Oh, did I mention that this was once again a Sarah Palin rally? Well I didn't. But if you have been following these elections like I have, you would know that I didn't have to. Because I am sure you knew exactly who the guest of honor was.

Honestly, who are these people? Do they just follow Sarah around like "dead heads" or some shit? The Sarah Palin Hate Tour coming to a small back water town near you. And why didn't anyone in the crowd call out this guy? Why didn't Chris Hackett, who should know better, and who is running for Congress for crying out loud, rebuke the guy? Seriously folks; this stuff is not funny. These people aren't too smart, and if you keep telling them enough, they will really try to hurt that uppity Negro. Take that nigger, how is that for change? Since you are supposed to be the second coming, let me see you rise from the dead. Your dead ass is the only change that we all can believe in. We have god on our side , so we will go to heaven after we kill your ass.


Yes, so definitely not funny. And yet when Obama spoke up about why at these rallies people were screaming "kill him", (which I was surprised he actually brought up--he's usually above it) McCain is like "boy, how dare you insult my people? I will not sit hear and listen to these insults" WTF? Not once addressing that it was actually said. If they were saying that about McCain at an Obama rally, they would have brought that shit back to the 50's, straight up, with dogs, and hoses, and teargas, and billyclubs, and pepper spray, and if it got too hot, bullets.

And so it goes. I am hoping with all of my heart that this election is the last true bastion of unashamed racism. Am I just being naive in that hope, cause as George Jackson said (paraphrasing) "every time we we give them the benefit of the doubt, the Fascists always stay true to who they are" ? Which is to say, it may just be inherent in some circles to stay the same, no matter what is going on in the rest of the world--there will always, always be someone to carry on the torch. I hope (again) that's not true.

I'm also hoping (again) that if Obama wins this election, it will be an awakening to those who don't know anything about George Jackson, and couldn't care less. Maybe they can see the beauty, the real beauty of being Black, which is also the beauty of being just a human, something that a lot of the times we aren't allowed to do.

As one who has received great amounts of hostility for NOT being ashamed of my blackness in any way, where I've lived, where I've worked, where I've gone to school, and sometimes being covertly (or overtly) punished for it, I see this as the first step in the direction of well deserved respect in an Obama win. Yes, I have respect for myself, and yes, I respect others, and I want everyone to treat me with that same respect. People would be more hard pressed to lynch/taser someone to death someone if our president is Black. I would like to think.

My fate has been sealed for a long time. My great, great grandfather was born a slave, and I am not an old person. When I had a baby, I had my six week old son in a front carrier on my breast. A BART policeman accosted me when I got out of the car, and when I had the audacity to ask him what he wanted and what I had supposedly done, he twisted my arm behind my back and slammed me on the hood of the car, with my 6 week old baby under me. When I went bananas, I was arrested and taken to jail; they took my breastfed son away through child protective services, and it took me days to get him back. The cop had to cover up and lied and said I assaulted him--I had to got to court 4 times because I would not say I was guilty, though they tried to scare me into saying it. They dropped that charge, but till this day, I have no idea why that BART cop rolled up on me, and to my knowledge he was never punished.

I knew the pain of what my ancestors felt when their children were stolen away from them. Until you feel that pain of complete and total injustice, you can actually listen to a bullshit artist like McCain, and a potentially dangerous airhead like Palin. Me? They make my ears bleed. My experiences are why I'm a Malcolm X and not a MLK, and why I am a George Jackson and not a Barack Obama. There are those of us that know our fate--that if it all goes down, you will be on the front line, full force, no questions asked. There's nothing in you that will allow for anything else.

I am hoping (again) that it never comes down to that, because Obama is our MLK--yes, it's cliched, but he is our hope, what George Jackson was longing to see in his lifetime. If he was able to have that hope, he might not have died, just as our brothers are dying in the streets by their brother's hand. Maybe his winning will heal some of our hurts, give us more pride, make us remember the struggles and sacrifices that were made by our people in the last century to get to this point, and make no one ashamed of their Blackness anymore.

I hope.




to read more about george jackson, click here

Just Asking....

Isn't 8 years of smirks, snide remarks, and one-liners enough in place of real politics and leadership in our country?

WAKE THE F*CK UP!!!

Damn.



this is sarah palin at an anti-peta rally (not really). this woman is half a breath from being our president. do you REALLY want that?! ps: i already know the vast majority of the readers of this blog are too smart to drink that koolaid.....

Photo credit: Ryan McFarland http://www.zieak.com/2007/05/21/governor-sarah-palin-and-the-vikings-and-valkyries/

The GOP aka The Mummy And The Bubblehead....

From BygBaby:

I am so tripping over the fact that:

This woman has no passport & never been out of the country but is expected to have foreign relations on behalf of the country.

This woman has went to 5 colleges in 6 years. WTF?????

Half the people at the convention never heard of her before last Friday

Does this sound like someone who has it on the ball? Let me answer that one; Ummmm NO!

Regarding The Mummy, aka McCain:

Most of the speeches given were about the war, Palin, elitist democrats, The Mummy’s war/POW record (how many times will this story be told?), religion, family values. I really could give less than a fuck about any of these issues. Talk to me about the economy, schools/higher ed, what happened on America’s Next Top Model and why Tyra chose a transsexual contestant, the housing market, jobs (Breaking news: 84,000 more jobs lost in August) etc. Talk to me about something that is going to make my life better, not something that divisive.

From IW: Amen! I am going to go off about this Republican booolshyt very, very soon here....it is bubbling up in me like a freakin' volcano. In the meantime, I will leave you with something that at least made me laugh a bit. From "News As Gossip", a blog that I love:

Sarah Palin Proves She's Unqualified and Ignorant Enough to Lead This Country

In a speech last night that was so good Rush Limbaugh liked it, Sarah Palin erased any doubts that she is the single best person to lead our nation.

Palin made it clear she's not like those "Washington Insiders" who have worked in federal government and apply their experience to make knowledgeable decisions. She would apply her complete ignorance of foreign affairs and domestic legislative and judicial rules to solve problems like immigration and Pakistani instability with simple rural charm she learned by driving her kids to hockey. Perhaps we could even eliminate the climate crisis by poring over the book of Leviticus a bit more thoroughly. We would win the war in Iraq, provide unparalleled care to those with Down's Syndrome (hopefully without resorting to science) and pay for it all with an enormous tax cut.

By the way, here's a great joke I heard last night:

Q: What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull?

A: Lipstick!(note: I'm unsure if this means the hockey mom wears lipstick or the pitbull wears lipstick. Either way, it's a terrific joke that qualifies the teller to be Vice President)

pic spotted on "Maybe It's Just Me", who stated about Palin "If you look at her stuff, she's basically a glorified student government president." lol!

Today In B'Days....

The always lovely Whitaker is 47.

The usually annoying Eddie Griffin is 40.

Their birthdays were actually over an hour ago, but this is the first chance I had to post. I also wanted to post a related story....

Remember that debacle Eddie had about a year ago at the ultra boo-jee Black Enterprise 14th annual Golf and Tennis Challenge? If not I wrote about it HERE.

Well, Afro Nerd posted this story about the new version of this with the Bernie Mac/Obama function, and I could not agree more. Don't expect champagne when you buy Colt 45, I'm just sayin'!:

Must everything relate to Senator Obama? I think for the moment, the answer will be a resounding, "yes!" First off, please excuse the expletive laden stand up routine as performed by the incomparable Bernie Mac. It appears that Senator Obama's staffers were unaware or had a lapse in judgment by hiring a blue comedian such as Mac and then expecting Walt Disney corporate humor-don't let his recent work on the family friendly, Bernic Mac Show fool you! Eddie Griffin received a similar comeuppance last year when hired to perform in front of the Boule/Jack & Jill set (Black Enterprise members/supporters, more specifically) and his microphone was snatched from him by Enterprise publisher, Earl Graves. This time it was Obama coming to the "rescue" and denouncing. Word of advice to the good Senator-you can't denounce everyone. Check out this excerpt, courtesy of the Huffington Post:

CHICAGO (AP) _ Comedian Bernie Mac endured some heckling and a campaign rebuke during a surprise appearance Friday night at a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Toward the end of a 10-minute standup routine at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Chicago, the 50-year-old star of "The Bernie Mac Show" joked about menopause, sexual infidelity and promiscuity, and used occasional crude language.

"My little nephew came to me and he said, 'Uncle, what's the difference between a hypothetical question and a realistic question?'" Mac said. "I said, I don't know, but I said, 'Go upstairs and ask your mother if she'd make love to the mailman for $50,000.'"

As the joke continued, the punchline evoked an angry response from at least one person in the audience, who said it was offensive to women.

"It's not funny. Let's get Barack on," a man shouted from the crowd, which paid $2,300 each to support the Illinois senator.

About 15 minutes later, Obama tried to smooth things over with a joke of his own.

"We can't afford to be divided by race. We can't afford to be divided by region or by class and we can't afford to be divided by gender, which by the way, that means, Bernie, you've got to clean up your act next time," Obama said. "This is a family affair. By the way, I'm just messing with you, man."

From IW:

A) I thought that ish was hella funny (I know Obama did too) and wasn't offended at all.

B) Ummm....Obama; you might want to calm down with the "denouncing", homes.

How Bernie probably side-eyed this foolishness

BARACK BABY!!!!

Take that Hill o'beans!

Ruh Ro!

Oh, snap!! John Edwards just endorsed Barack Obama....

hillBilly is ready to cut somebody!

Update--btw:

“According to the West Virginia surveys, 95 percent of the Democratic primary voters were white, 70 percent did not graduate from college, and 54 percent had household incomes less than $50,000.”

hillBilly indeed.

KICK ROCKS!!

The time has come
We don't care how.
But Hillary Rodham Clinton
Will you please GO NOW!

Your campaign is becoming

An endless charade,

So get off the trail,

Burn out now, don't just fade.

You can swim down a river

Of crocodile tears.

You can surf on a wave

Of terrorist fears.

Enough with the red phone!

Enough with the NAFTA!

If you like,

You can go now by White Water Rafta.

Hillary Rodham Clinton,

We don't care how—

HRC,

Will you please GO NOW!

You can leave on McCain's

Straight Talk Express.

You can leave all made up

in a Muslim headdress.

Kucinich will take you

On his UFO

But good God, dear Hillary

Just go go, GO!

You can ride home on coattails

Or in big biz's pocket.

Or maybe you'd like to

Ride NASA's new rocket.

You've raised a gazillion

From execs on Wall Street.

But when it comes to real change,

Barack's got you beat.

You can go by limo

Or lobbyist jet.

You can ride an old donkey

Just get, Hillary, GET!

Your negative ads

Are bringing us down.

You should get off the air,

You should get outta town!

You can go to New York

Or back to The Hill,

But get yourself home….

and don't forget Bill!

Hillary Rodham Clinton,

We don't care how—

HRC

Will you please GO NOW!

From IW: Amen!!

from www.againsthillary.com via Long Live THE MESSAGE

This N That

Hello all. I really missed you guys. I'm sorry I haven't been posting, but yours truly has been really busy. Unfortunately, it isn't spending lottery winnings. *sigh*. But I will tell you I am glad to be home, and have never been so happy to see palm trees in my whole life...

I'll put up a post tonight, but probably won't be able to answer your comments till tomorrow. And to my Old School Friday fam, I'm back in action this week.


I haven't been on the blogs, but how can you not hear about that Mimi/Nick Cannon debacle? And I thought he was lucky playing Arthur Ashe. That mofo has hit the lotto! All I can say is good luck to both of them. And oh, Nick's ding ding must be made of gold and diamonds.


While traveling I was watching CNN in an airport, and lo and behold there was an interview with Sidney Poitier by Larry King. Only Larry King can make a conversation with one of the most historic black actors ever seem like a calculus class. So freakin' boring!

There was one interesting tidbit, tho. Sidney told a story about how he came upon his first audition cause he saw an ad in a newspaper. He thought it was just a regular job, cause it was posted next to the dishwasher jobs he was looking at. Anyhoo, he goes to the audition, and he doesn't even know how to read! It is hard to believe, as one would think Sidney came out of the womb reading a book. The audition guy basically kicked him out and told him he was an idiot.

Sidney left, but the more he thought about it, the more pissed he became until he was enraged. He was angry that this man would treat him that way, and vowed that he wouldn't let the experience define who he was. He was not going to let this man think he was justified in saying he was a horrible actor, and a horrible person, and set out to prove him wrong. I think that mission was definitely accomplished.


For my Philly folkses:


Reelblack’s BEST IN PHILLY SHORT FILM SHOWCASE

Reelblack concludes it’s Fifth Season with a special program showcasing some of the best new work by filmmakers of color in the Tri-state area.

Come for an exciting night of narrative, documentary, PSA, music video and animation by filmmakers Shannon Newby, Fantz T. Excellent, Nadine Patterson, Patrick Pierre Belinda M. Wilson, Rick Morris, Bryan Green, Roz Fulton, Akbar Azziz & Mamie Young, Tim Greene, Mike D. Ben Foster and Joseph H. Lewis III & Eugene Haynes. Discover the next wave of visual storytellers raised on cheesesteaks, pretzels and Schuylkill punch.

Tuesday May 13 at 7pm (doors 6:30) INTERNATIONAL HOUSE 3701 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19104 215-387-5125 Admission $5 students & members/ $7.00 Adults. Visit http://www.reelblack.com/ for details.



For the ladies (and some men); click HERE to read my beloved Sergio's interview with my fifth husband Chiwetel Ejiofor.



And finally, can someone please, please, please tell Hillary to go the f**k away? You know your campaign is in trouble if there are Barak Obama signs posted all over Texas (like I saw earlier this week). Texas for chrissakes!

Her arrogance is maddening...basically in my eyes it boils down to her thinking "I know they are never gonna make this ni**er president, not in this lifetime. So I'm gonna keep going until everyone else sees it too! I could give a sh*t if it completely implodes the Democratic party."

The problem is, some very important people are starting to make rumbles that it is time for her to kick rocks. Even ol' Bill looked like he was chewing on crushed glass during her Indiana victory speech. And if they keep allowing her to hang around, and if she or that mummy that is McCain wins the presidency, then this country deserves everything it gets, straight up.

He's Not The Second Coming, But....

I've been reading this book on the spiritual laws of prosperity. I was grabbed by one particular passage today....I guess it's because I have been thinking so much about politics lately:

"This is the most enlightened age the world has ever known. It has been stated that more progress has been made on this planet in the past one hundred years than in the past ten thousand years! Jesus promised that, when the Spirit Of Truth is come, it would guide us into all truth. This is the age when the truth about God, man, and the universe is being explored and revealed as never before."

IW: I'm not super religious or anything, but Amen. I think Obama is part of this awakening; he has a consciousness and conscientiousness like no politician I've ever seen. I wish him well on his journey, and no matter how things turn out, he has given politics the much needed shake it has deserved for way too long--and as a result has put many a perpetrator under the microscope for the fools and/or hypocrites that they are.

Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself....

I was sent this by a couple of people (thanks tambay and sergio), and I'm sure you will read it elsewhere, too. But it is so wonderful, I just had too post it. Beauty incarnate.

Lest We Forget: An open letter to my sisters who are brave.

Alice Walker on Obama

I HAVE COME home from a long stay in Mexico to find – because of the presidential campaign, and especially because of the Obama/Clinton race for the Democratic nomination - a new country existing alongside the old. On any given day we, collectively, become the Goddess of the Three Directions and can look back into the past, look at ourselves just where we are, and take a glance, as well, into the future. It is a space with which I am familiar.

When I was born in 1944 my parents lived on a middle Georgia plantation that was owned by a white distant relative, Miss May Montgomery. (During my childhood it was necessary to address all white girls as "Miss" when they reached the age of twelve.) She would never admit to this relationship, of course, except to mock it. Told by my parents that several of their children would not eat chicken skin she responded that of course they would not. No Montgomerys would.

My parents and older siblings did everything imaginable for Miss May. They planted and raised her cotton and corn, fed and killed and processed her cattle and hogs, painted her house, patched her roof, ran her dairy, and, among countless other duties and responsibilities my father was her chauffeur, taking her anywhere she wanted to go at any hour of the day or night. She lived in a large white house with green shutters and a green, luxuriant lawn: not quite as large as Tara of Gone With the Wind fame, but in the same style.

We lived in a shack without electricity or running water, under a rusty tin roof that let in wind and rain. Miss May went to school as a girl. The school my parents and their neighbors built for us was burned to the ground by local racists who wanted to keep ignorant their competitors in tenant farming. During the Depression, desperate to feed his hardworking family, my father asked for a raise from ten dollars a month to twelve. Miss May responded that she would not pay that amount to a white man and she certainly wouldn't pay it to a nigger. That before she'd pay a nigger that much money she'd milk the dairy cows herself.

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.theroot.com/id/45469

Blogging For Justice

I know I have some new readers...so in case you didn't know, sometimes I go on a political bend. It is too much a part of my nature not to. I was a member of the Bloggers For Justice For The Jena Six, and am part of the Afrosphere Action Coalition.

I know some of my political subject matter may not appeal to all who visit here; if not, I understand. Just scroll on down. :-) Back to normal business tomorrow. For the others, today is another day of Blogging for Justice with my fellow Black blogging brothers and sisters.

This is a non-Hillary zone, I'm sure you must have noticed by now. The fact that she tried to get MI and FL to redo their primaries was tantamount to a spoiled child throwing a fit in my opinion. She was the only one on the ballot! The politrickin' of her "considering Obama" to be Vice President was almost laughable in it's unadulterated arrogance.

So dear readers, I am in solidarity today with my Afrospear and Afrosphere folkses....read on:

Day of Blogging For Voter Justice

The Democratic presidential nomination is over! The VOTERS have spoken. Senator Clinton cannot win by legitimate means as Politico.com has noted.

Yet, in Hillary Clinton’s undying personal ambition she has endorsed the other party’s candidate over her own democratic teammate, and has conducted a scorched earth campaign of ‘if I can’t be the president, no Democrat will’.

We are asking our readers who do not want to see four more years of Bush/Cheney in the person of John “100 more years in Iraq” McSame to do three things:

1. First, sign the petition

2. Make contact with the DNC, and even Hillary Clinton’s office to let them know your stance. It can be as simple as sending an email with a link to the petition, saying that this is your stance; or whatever you want it to be.

3. Contact superdelegates that represent you with the same message. Superdelegates include democratic congressmen and governors.

The Democratic National Committee:

Mailing Address:Democratic National Committee430 S. Capitol St. SE Washington, DC 20003
Main Phone Number:202-863-8000

For their email form, go here

For Hillary Clinton’s contact information, go here

From the Afrosphere Action Coalition press release:

The Afrosphere Action Coalition (AAC) is circulating an online petition to the Democratic National Committee (DNC), to super-delegates, and calling upon Senator Hillary Clinton to “face the reality of the earned delegates count, concede defeat, and thereby contribute to healing a wound which is opening and continues to widen” in the Party. Therefore, the AAC is sponsor “Day of Blogging for Voter Justice.”

As the nomination contest for the Democratic nomination wears on, Senator Hillary Clinton insist on waging an increasingly divisive campaign; throwing the “kitchen sink” at Senator Barack Obama, dismissing democratic voters as in consequential in those states with large Black populations, in small states, or in what she regards as “red states”. In fact, Clinton discounts every state that she fails to win.

Behind in the earned delegate count and the popular vote, “Clinton’s desperate political tactics threaten to split the long-standing Democratic Party coalition.” “We utterly reject Senator Clinton’s endorsement of the other party’s candidate’s; an act which unprecedented.” If she cannot win enough earned delegates under the current process, “Clinton seeks self-serving rules changes or to win in a smoke-filled room.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 2008 Democratic National Committee Convention Chair, states that “If the votes of the Super-Delegates overturn what’s happened in the elections, it would be harmful to the Democratic Party.” (New York Times)

The Afrosphere Action Coalition concurs and therefore calls upon the DNC, super-delegates and Hillary Clinton to “end her relentless war against established Party principles and constituencies and concede defeat in the nominating process.”

If Democrats are going to act like republicans and steal elections from the voters, then what’s the point of voting for democrats?

Story behind the story: The Clinton myth

By JIM VANDEHEI & MIKE ALLEN

One big fact has largely been lost in the recent coverage of the Democratic presidential race: Hillary Rodham Clinton has virtually no chance of winning.

Her own campaign acknowledges there is no way that she will finish ahead in pledged delegates. That means the only way she wins is if Democratic superdelegates are ready to risk a backlash of historic proportions from the party’s most reliable constituency.

Unless Clinton is able to at least win the primary popular vote — which also would take nothing less than an electoral miracle — and use that achievement to pressure superdelegates, she has only one scenario for victory. An African-American opponent and his backers would be told that, even though he won the contest with voters, the prize is going to someone else.

People who think that scenario is even remotely likely are living on another planet.
Read the rest of the article

Bloggers Participating in the Day of Blogging For Voter Justice:

1. Francis L. Holland http://francislholland.blogspot.com/2008/03/concede-now-hillary.html
2. D. Yobachi Boswell http://www.blackperspective.net/
3. Villager electronicvillage.blogspot.com/
4. PurpleZoe purplezoe.blogspot.com/
5. Sojourner’s Place sojournersplace.blogspot.com
6. Vanessa Byers http://www.blackhandside.net/
7. JD www.blackinbusiness.org/
8. MrsGrapevine mrsgrapevine.com/
9. Sincere http://www.sincere-thoughts.blogspot.com/
10. Credo dowdellresearch.blogspot.com
11. Black Women in Europe blackwomenineurope.blogspot.com
12. Belizebound www.inpursuitofperfection.typepad.com/
13. Shawn Williams http://www.dallassouthblog.com/
14. MarvalusOne opinionatedblackwoman.com/
15. Rock AfricanAmericanPoliticalpundit.com & AfricanAmericanOpinion.com
16. Anne-Marie McReynolds http://www.backyardbeacon.org/
17. therealready.blogspot.com/2008/03/its-on-now.html
18. Phil philpierrepaul.blogspot.com/
19. imby.wordpress.com/
20. Gunfighter gunfighter1.typepad.com/warrior/
21. Tom automaticpreference.wordpress.com/
22. InvisibleWoman invisible-cinema.blogspot.com/
23. Baratunde www.jackandjillpolitics.com/ and www.jackandjillpolitics.com/
24. Marcus E. Carter http://www.inpursuitofperfection.typepad.com/
25. Terry Howcott http://www.terryhowcott.com/

Straight Politrickin' in Dese Here United States....

Today is one of those days folkses...

You know how I do; sometimes I veer off into a tangent, but fear not--it never lasts long and it is onward to Black Cinema again.

I just want to talk about Hillary Clinton, aka HRC, for a moment.

She is a problem.

And she is a problem that we Bloggers can see with crystal clear clarity, but are in a comundrum about what to do about it. Example--this email exchange between 2 Bloggers (their names have been changed to protect the innocent) that was forwarded to me:


To IW from John Doe: Do you think there's something the black blogosphere can do to disrupt Hillary Clinton's strategy of destroying Obama by any means necessary?


Begin forwarded message:


From: John Doe to Jane Jackson
Subject: Re: Hillary & racism

I'm not much on organizing, Jane. Michael Fisher's thing is, "Look what the black blogosphere did with Jena." Clearly bloggers can shape events.

But it's hard to know what the most effective counter tactics could be, regarding Clinton. Could it backfire? If the mass media picks up the story of black bloggers en masse criticizing Hillary, will it shame the Hillary campaign? Or will it boomerang and hurt Obama some kind of way... by making him look like "the black candidate"? The "politically correct" candidate?

In the six weeks leading up to Pennsylvania, I think that, for now, we can at least try to make Hillary Clinton a major topic of conversation in the black blogosphere. Encourage other bloggers to write about her. We link to each other's posts, comment on each other's posts... try to get the conversation going on a grassroots level. And we do it "kitchen sink" style... like Hillary's doing. Throw everything at her.

Then, perhaps we could try coordinated actions?

I'm gonna forward this email to a few other bloggers... see what they think. Because it's plain as day that the Clinton strategy is to destroy Barack Obama by any means necessary.

Thanks for your interest in this.
JD


Jane Jackson to John Doe wrote in response:

Yes, I agree with you that the bloggers should ban together and do something QUICKLY about Hillary and her racist attacks on Obama. She is desperate and the last thing we need is a desperate nut in the white house.

What did you have in mind? Write one huge article and all of us post at the same time or...all of us write separate articles and post on the same day or....devote an entire week reporting specifically about it or....?

Jane


From IW: I agree something must be done. It is unfair that we have to step so carefully about this subject. If non-black Bloggers rallied against a non-black candidate, no one would think twice about it. But that is the nature of being Black in this here America. For me it is not a "Black thing".

I simply despise HRC's filthy tactics, and I do not want someone who has absolutely no control whatsoever over their emotions representing me as POTUS (president of the United States). I do not want to continuously hear how she's faced "massive hardships and came through it" cause some chick sucked her husband's d**k and the whole world knew about it. Oh, and let's not forget her supposed and alleged adulterous lover, Vince Foster, who was found dead. Oh, and Whitewater. Shade city! I want someone who can at least pretend they don't have a few screws loose, and will not continue the dirty disgusting low blow tactics we've been seeing for the past 10-15 years.

To be blunt, I don't want this unbalanced, untrustworthy woman in the White House. Period.



The blog "Hello Negro" speaks of Hillary's desperation with this:

This video is supposed to embarrass the Obama campaign, but before you drink the kool-aid (believe the lie), it must be noted that this is NOT the complete interview. (It’s attached below). However, this is the level to which apparently Clinton’s campaign is willing to stoop to tarnish the image of Barack Obama. The way I see it, Hillary Clinton is 60 years old (looks good for her age, I know). She probably feels like she must win now, because running a campaign at 68 years old is probably something she doesn’t want to have to consider. She will probably go as far (even farther) as she must to win. If she doesn’t, then millions of women might get their wish as she will probably divorce Bill Clinton for ruining her life and causing her to put on hold her ambitions that were in the end never fulfilled. Regardless, this race will get uglier as April approaches. The question is, how many people will drink the kool-aid without getting all the facts and how will Obama counter?




The complete interview as reported by The New York Times on March 6, 2008:

Mr. Carlson: So Hillary Clinton runs this ad, the famous red phone ad, that says when the phone rings at 3 o’clock in the morning, you know, who do you trust to make those snap decisions that could hold all of our lives in the balance? And the Obama campaign, I thought very wisely, came back and said, name one that you — you know name a situation where you’ve judged a foreign policy crisis, and she couldn’t.

I’m going to ask the same question to you. Where has — Barack Obama been in a position where he has to make those kinds of decisions?

Ms. Rice: He hasn’t and he hasn’t claimed that he’s been in a position to have to answer the phone at 3 o’clock in the morning in a crisis situation. That’s the difference between the two of them. Hillary Clinton hasn’t had to answer the phone at 3 o’clock in the morning. And yet she attacked Barack Obama for not being ready. They’re both not ready to have that 3:00 a.m. phone call.

The question is and what Barack Obama raised is, when that phone call is received for each of them for the first time, who’s going to make the right judgment? Who is going to make the right decision?

On the critical foreign policy issues of the day, whether it was a decision to go to war in Iraq or the decision to give President Bush the benefit of the doubt and beat the drums of war with Iran, Hillary Clinton has made the same wrong judgment as John McCain and George W. Bush. Barack Obama has made a very different judgment.

So neither one of them, and nor John McCain for that matter, have had that 3 o’clock phone call that others have had. And I think we have to be honest about that.

From IW: Indeed. I also received this from Michael Fisher from the blog "The Assault on Black Folk's Sanity" the other day:

Sorry to interrupt Sis. But I thought you might agree with this.

Been posting it all ova:I think it is time to gather all the black bloggers around a statement. Namely this:

(1) The Democratic party base has spoken. The numbers show that Mrs. Clinton has lost this race for the nomination.

(2) Mrs. Clinton's increasingly shrill attacks against Mr. Obama have taken on the airs of racism.

(3) That is regrettable because via the candidacy of Mr. Obama for the first time in the electoral history of this nation, the vast majority of African-American stand united with untold millions of white Americans and Americans of all colors.

(4) It appears that Mrs. Clinton is about to shatter this historic unity.

(5) We therefore call on Mrs. Clinton to face the reality of the numbers, concede defeat and thereby heal this wound which she has opened and continues to widen.

(6) It is clear that Mrs. Clinton can not be considered for the Vice-Presidential slot on the Democratic ticket. Mrs. Clinton has denigrated Mr. Obama to the point that any possible praise she would heap on him as a member of the Democratic ticket would ring hollow and hypocritical.

(7) If the Democratic Party leadership were to nullify our votes by giving Mrs. Clinton the nomination despite the popular vote, we call on all African-Americans to withdraw their support from the Democratic Party and to stay at home.

We have survived eight years under President Bush, we will survive four years under a President McCain. We will NOT survive the nullification of our most hard-fought for right - our votes.

Pass it on...

From IW: Officially passed. Please dear readers, what should we do in this wonderful Black Blogosphere of ours to help derail this dirty Politrickin'? I started a couple of weeks ago when I changed my homepage from Yahoo!, whose pro-Clinton slant is so glaringly obvious my 10 year old nephew commented on it.

Update: I like this little ditty from Villager at Electronic Village:

I've been watching Team Clinton talk about adding Barack Obama as their vice presidential running mate. I thought I might be in a Bizarro world. Hillary and Bill Clinton seem to talk every day on the campaign trail about having the 'best of both worlds' if the Democratic Party would have Obama on their presidential ticket.I had to do a fact check on the current score in this presidential campaign.

Who is winning the popular vote? - Obama (13,007,968) vs. Clinton (12,415,816) [SOURCE]

Who is winning the pledged delegate count? - Obama (1378) vs. Clinton (1223) [SOURCE]

Who won the most caucuses or primary contests? - Obama (26) vs. Clinton (15)

Why are we listening to Team Clinton's pompous, arrogant, Bizzaro discussion about a running mate? Team Clinton is losing this election. Don't believe the hype...

The Audacity Of It All...

I know I am venturing off of the subject of Black Cinema, but until I start another blog, I need to say it here.

This primary/Obama situation is a catalyst for so very many things...I will be processing for a while.

It has caused me to lose much respect for some folks, and believe me, I'm not happy about it; Julian Bond, Andrew Young, Charles Rangel, and most importantly, the Clintons. At the same time I have a new respect for Oprah for completely putting herself out there for him early on, and the for Kennedys being newly regenerated for this millenium.

I laugh at the pundits that say Black folks are voting for Obama because he's Black. Maybe some are, but if that were the case, where were the strong showings when Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton ran? Whatev.

I find Barack believable, well balanced, thoughtful, and sincere. And I have since I read his autobiography 2 years ago, before the thought of him running for president even came to light. His truths that resonate with me go way beyond race, and that's why I think "others" feel him too. He is real. And after being lied to for so very many years by our government, I feel a lot of folks don't give a f**k what his color is. The important part is that they believe what he says.



I found some posts on other blogs about non-blacks diggin' on Barack. The first is from "A Black Man's View":


Today I had an interesting conversation with a guy that came into my office checking on the status of a background search that my office conducted on several of his employees. While I was pulling up the information, he asked me how I felt about this historic election that we will have this coming November. (This is a white Guy). He tells me that he is supporting Big O, and he proceeds to explain why the "O" man will get his vote on March 4.

Basically he told me that he is sick of the way Washington DC is, and he wants a change.

He told me that Obama is like a cold drink of water on a hot Texas day.

He told me that he could care less if Big O was black, white, or green with pink spots.

He told me that all of his friends feel the same way.

He also told me that Hill-Billy could bend down in front of him and.... well.... you fill in the blanks.

He then asked me who I was supporting. I told him my eyes were on Edwards, but now that he is no longer in the race, I have to go with Big O. He asked me if I was voting for him just because he is black. I told him that of course I am thinking about him being a brother, but ultimately my decision to back him is that I think he is a better candidate than Hill-Billy. I reminded him again that Big O was not my first choice.

Well the guy goes on to say that he is glad that Obama is black, because it will make America look good on the world market, since the current President has f--ked up America's reputation.

Keep in mind this guy is being very candid with me in my little cubicle. He is talking to me like we have known each other for years. Oh, I forgot to mention that this guy was a registered Republican until last year. Now he is an Independent.

Well, I finally get my slow-ass computer to cough up the information that he wanted and he shakes my hand, tells me I better hit the polls on March 4 and he leaves. After he left I got to thinking about the conversation I just had. If Obama can make a (white) Texas cowboy like this dude accept him ( A black man) at all costs, is nothing short of amazing.

I never thought I would see the day were a Black Man would have a legitimate shot of moving to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. I never thought that I would see the day where a Black Man that was not running a football, shooting a basketball or rapping, would get so much unconditional love from the majority of my beloved country. It really amazes me. If this guy represents what the rest of (white)Texas is feeling, I do believe that come March 4, Hill-Billy is in trouble.


From IW: Right on.


The second is from one of my blog loves "The Field Negro":

Today while shooting the breeze with one of my white friends, {He said} "Field, I am voting for that Barack fellow, you know why?" "Why?" I asked him. "Because then I won't have to hear you rip the white man anymore, and you will quit 'busting my chops' about white privilege."


Field also had this one:

My assistant has been with me for about eight years now. She was assigned to me by the city of Philadelphia and I couldn't be happier.

She is a white woman, and I think she is in her early fifties or so. She also happens to be a republican. I know this, because unfortunately, party affiliations and connections are two of the most important factors that are considered when folks get city jobs.

Now we rarely talk politics, but this morning my assistant asked me who I was voting for in the upcoming elections. Of course I knew right away where the conversation was heading. She then proceeded to ask me if I liked Obama. I told her I did but I still wasn't sure if I was going to vote for him just yet. "Why not?" She asked. "Well are you going to vote for him?" I asked her. "Yes I would consider it, I mean field, the man is so handsome."

Now I must admit, I never saw this coming. Not from her. I never even considered that she would consider voting for the "O" man. But after our little discusion it dawned on me that there must be quite a few A-merry-cans who will vote for the "O" man because they like how he looks, and how he carries himself.

I mean let's be honest; here in A-merry-ca we like our presidents to look, well, presidential. There are a couple of criterias that must be met. They must be tall, and they must have a full head of hair. It's why I knew Rudy was doomed from the get go. And it's why I know that Mike Huckabee, with his rice bowl bald spot in the middle of his head, has no shot. It's why Mike Dukakis- all four feet of him- had no shot when he ran against the first Bush. Think about it, pretty much all of our modern Presidents have been tall (I know the frat boy looks short, but he is really over six feet tall) with a full head of hair. The "O" man certainly fits that bill. And if my assistant is to be believed, he is handsome to boot.

So if I were John McCain I would be a little worried right now. I mean honestly John, I don't think A-merry-cans are feeling the comb over look. You might want to go the Joe Biden route and consider some hair plugs. And how tall are you? Could you get on one of the rides at Six Flags?... let me stop. The man does have one saving grace though, he is a war hero. Soldiers always seem taller than they really are don't they? I heard, for instance, that Ollie North was only like five feet six inches or some shit. Yet I see the guy on T.V. and he always looks like he is so much taller. (But I digress).

So back to the"O" man. Yes "O" man, if you are going to be the second coming of Camelot you better have the looks to go along with all the great speeches of inspiration. Fortunately for you it seems that you have that covered. And if my assistant is to be believed, it might carry you a long way; yes even with middle aged republican white women.


From IW: The Field makes a good point. The 'audacity of hope' indeed. And by the way, Tavis Smiley? STFU!



As George Clinton (not Hillary Clinton), Ice Cube, Yo-Yo, The Red Hot Chile Peppers, and Dr. Dre would say, "Paint The White House Black"** (video produced by Reginald Hudlin--how ironic):





**Thanks "The Black Snob" for video and pix

This N' That

Note: Please forgive spelling errors as Blogger spellcheck is not working, and I am the world's worst speller.

Hope you guys are having a good weekend...it's Super Sunday so I know I won't be seeing a lot of you until tomorrow, haha. I was a chosen blogger by Nielsen to rate the Superbowl commercials...tho I come from a football lovin' family, it's never been my thing (I like to watch the puppy bowl), but the commercials are always a big discussion in the public for the past few years, so it might be interesting....is anybody else doing this rating? Let me know....

Billary and Obama's camp were in Cali over the weekend for rallys, Hill in San Francisco and Ted Kennedy with one of the women I absolutely adore, Representative Barbara Lee across the bridge in Oakland for Obama. I noticed that when Hillary speaks now, it is so overly careful and heavily modulated...extremely unatural. It's like somebody told her "try to speak calmly the way Obama does". You can see her concentrating so hard to keep a level oration that you can't even focus on what she's saying, and the long pauses between words don't help. I wonder how many people she's fooling with that mess.

Normally I try to go to as many film festivals as I am able, both Black and non-black. While looking at the advance program for The San Francisco Independent Film Festival there was not ONE black film featured. WTF? To me that is just blatant "we don't give a f--k, and we don't care if you know it" and I cannot support an independent film festival with zero diversity. One reader, I forget who it was, said that Black film festivals are pretty much useless as far as getting your film distributed, but the white ones are where all the money is made. At this point in time, regretfully I would have to tend to agree, so it's extra f'd up that we get no love at fests like these. There was ONE six minute preview short about some rap group from Oakland. That figures. There was one film out of like 25 that featured a person of color, a Dominican kid from Brooklyn. If you would like to call the film festival on their BS (which I think is very important we start doing) click HERE, and tell director/founder Jeff Ross about himself and the policies of his festival. If you care about Black film and how we are represented, these are the things we need to do.

Anyway, over at BygBaby's blog, I found out about a film called "Touissant", which is being directed by Danny Glover about the infamous former leader of Haiti. Don Cheadle plays Touissant, and it co-stars Mos Def, Chiwetel Eljiofor, Angela Bassett, and my favorite wierdo, Roger Guenveur Smith. I see that Jonathan Rhys Myers is getting top billing, so I hope it's not another one of 'our stories' told by some YT's perspective once again....I would like those to go away for a while, imho.

Speaking of opinions, I will be giving mine (of which I have many, haha) along with Qadree from Culture Critical, The Black Actor, and Mr. Obenson on his podcast "The Obenson Report" tomorrow, Monday, at 9pm EST. We will be discussing all things Black Cinema, of course. If you want the info, click here.

And finally, some things I see I want to post here; alas they are not fitting with the content of this blog, but I could not resist this one. Someone seems to be keeping company with Jasmine Guy in the club of "aging rapidly and not well":

The party's over, Pam, please read the memo in it's entirety.

Over And Out....

This is not a political blog, but you know I go there sometimes.

The South Carolina Debate was a shameful travesty. I am officially so over Hillary Clinton. Her behavior has been heinous and inexcusable, and it's sickening to see her constantly trying to bait Obama and pull him down to new lows. Why does she focus absolutely zero of that negativity on John Edwards? If I used to give her some credit, it is now all forgotten and done. And it's not "about Obama being black", and me "blindly defending him", blah blah blah, like all of these empty talking heads say.

It is about respect, disrespect, professionalism, and unprofessionalism. Guess which ones Mrs. Clinton is dealing out in spades? (no pun intended)

Eff off, Hill.


rant over