http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=c0WBwxIKrzk&NR=1
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Paul Lee 1 year ago
I see no need to model our efforts after Cuba, which had a violent revolution. We need a nonviolent revolution.
As for rewarding "success," we might first ask "What is success? And what would be a proper reward?"
Or most fundamental right is to be human in a human community.
-Savant
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http://blackagendareport.com/content/freedom-rider-real-life-django
Things Blacks Should Know & Consider RE QT's 'Django'
Nixakliel - 01/11/2013 - 03:00
From The Daily Beast article: ‘Django’ Selling Slaves as Action
Figures' [@ www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/01/06/django-unchained-selling-slave...
]
See how {San}Quentin on the QT Disses ‘Roots’ while Pimping ‘Django’ Slave Dolls…
}Quentin Tarantino is laughing all the way to the bank. Tarantino and his longtime studio chief-partner Harvey Weinstein took a gamble on transforming the atrocities of slavery into comedic, action-packed entertainment….
Tarantino’s and Weinstein’s audacious release of ‘Django’ action dolls could be perceived as adding insult to injury, especially considering Tarantino’s lack of regard for the legacy of Alex Haley’s epic 1977 mini-series Roots, which is American pop culture’s most prized depiction of slavery.
“When you look at 'Roots', nothing about it rings true in the storytelling, and none of the performances ring true for me either,” Tarantino told The Daily Beast’s Allison Samuels. “I couldn’t get over how oversimplified they made everything about that time. It didn’t move me because it claimed to be something it wasn’t” [HUHH WTF! see below]
Academy Award-winning actor Louis Gossett, Jr., who starred in Roots, dismissed Tarantino’s critique, he was just “stirring stuff up” and making a “mockery” out of racism.
Gossett revealed that after seeing ‘Django Unchained’ at a Malibu movie theater last weekend, he walked out within the first 20 minutes. “Django is a very small speck on the horizon to what we should be giving energy to,” Gossett said… {
FYI- “Roots’ came on ABC broadcast TV in 1977 during prime-time, & was shown to both Black & white audiences [totaling up to 100Million+ viewers - rivaling that of Super-Bowl Sunday] including CHILDREN & ELDERS! Thus ‘Roots’ had to realistically depict slavery & still pass TV ratings muster, something that {San}Quenton on the QT could NEVER Do because he lacks the ‘creativity’ to make a successful movie without misusing & abusing excessive Violence & the 'N'-word!!!
IMO QT’s dissing of ‘Roots’ & Lou Gossett’s counter-response should be spread thru-out Black communities & near theaters showing ‘Django’ where Blacks frequent. The arrogance of this Guy! He Disses ‘Roots’ as NOT authentic while Pimping ‘Django’ Slave dolls- It’s enough to tell {San}Quentin to his Face- N_______ PLEEZE!!!
There are many untold stories about Blacks' fight / revolts against slavery, that I suspect won't be told [at-least nt correctly] by Hollyweird. No movie has been made about Harriett Tubman since Cicely Tyson's 'Woman Called Moses' [a TV movie] in the late 1970s. No movie, that I know of, has ever been made at-all on Fredrick Douglass [who Spielberg's 'Lincoln' literally wrote out of its script], Nat Turner, Martin Delaney, Robert Smalls, etc. And then there's the Haitian Slave Revolt lead by Toussaint L'Ouverture & Jean-Jacques Dessalines, &/or the African / Native American Alliance of FL's Seminole Nation, that fought against Ole Slave-Owning / Indian-Killin Andrew Jackson [the Democrats' first POTUS]. And I suspect most folks, like myself, haven't even heard of Madison Washington's slave revolt story [just as I hadn't heard of the Amistad incident till Spielberg's movie]. IMO Holly-weird will never touch most of these stories, because they wouldn't appeal to mosts whites & IMO too many Blacks may show an unfortunately lack of interest [ala 'Rosewood']. PLUS- Even on the rare occasions when Holly-weird does make movies about slavery either they turn some white guy(s) into the star(s) &/or real hero(es) [ala "Lincoln', 'Amistad' & 'Glory' ] &/or comes up w some jive angle for the story- ala 'Django'!!!
See how {San}Quentin on the QT Disses ‘Roots’ while Pimping ‘Django’ Slave Dolls…
}Quentin Tarantino is laughing all the way to the bank. Tarantino and his longtime studio chief-partner Harvey Weinstein took a gamble on transforming the atrocities of slavery into comedic, action-packed entertainment….
Tarantino’s and Weinstein’s audacious release of ‘Django’ action dolls could be perceived as adding insult to injury, especially considering Tarantino’s lack of regard for the legacy of Alex Haley’s epic 1977 mini-series Roots, which is American pop culture’s most prized depiction of slavery.
“When you look at 'Roots', nothing about it rings true in the storytelling, and none of the performances ring true for me either,” Tarantino told The Daily Beast’s Allison Samuels. “I couldn’t get over how oversimplified they made everything about that time. It didn’t move me because it claimed to be something it wasn’t” [HUHH WTF! see below]
Academy Award-winning actor Louis Gossett, Jr., who starred in Roots, dismissed Tarantino’s critique, he was just “stirring stuff up” and making a “mockery” out of racism.
Gossett revealed that after seeing ‘Django Unchained’ at a Malibu movie theater last weekend, he walked out within the first 20 minutes. “Django is a very small speck on the horizon to what we should be giving energy to,” Gossett said… {
FYI- “Roots’ came on ABC broadcast TV in 1977 during prime-time, & was shown to both Black & white audiences [totaling up to 100Million+ viewers - rivaling that of Super-Bowl Sunday] including CHILDREN & ELDERS! Thus ‘Roots’ had to realistically depict slavery & still pass TV ratings muster, something that {San}Quenton on the QT could NEVER Do because he lacks the ‘creativity’ to make a successful movie without misusing & abusing excessive Violence & the 'N'-word!!!
IMO QT’s dissing of ‘Roots’ & Lou Gossett’s counter-response should be spread thru-out Black communities & near theaters showing ‘Django’ where Blacks frequent. The arrogance of this Guy! He Disses ‘Roots’ as NOT authentic while Pimping ‘Django’ Slave dolls- It’s enough to tell {San}Quentin to his Face- N_______ PLEEZE!!!
Other Considerations: QT dissed
'Roots' by saying 'it didn't ring true... -&- claimed
to be something it wasn't'... YET {San} Quentin on the QT claimed that his
"Django' would be an important film on slavery, but when called to task
that 'Django Unchained' apparently turns slavery into a QT style JOKE-
QT then claimed it's really a combo of the original 1966 spaghetti-western
'Django', 'Blazing Saddles' & 'Shaft in Ole Dixie-Land
/ Candie-land'- NOT really about slavery per-se'- HUMM!!! -AND- Apparently
Jamie Foxx ain't 'Django's" real star- because it's the white
German Dude who- Frees Django & gives him license to
kill [only] 'wanted' white men, & who
actually confronts the movie's main villain [DiCapro's Candie]
both intellectually & ultimately exacts justice by killing
him- NOT Foxx's Django- even though
thee reason for going to Candie-Land is to rescue
Django's wife! Foxx's Django instead just gets to kill off the 2nd-Fiddle
Uncle-Tom House-Negro [Sam-Jack in black-face]! I've seen enough westerns to
know that their real stars ALWAYS confronts & takes down their main
villains. Thus IMO QT pulled a 'Bait & Switch' move on
'Django's" Black audience! [PS: Holly-weird just made it
official who 'Django's' Real Star is by nominating the
white German dude {Christopher Shultz} for Best
Supporting Actor- NOT Jamie Foxx]!
====================================================There are many untold stories about Blacks' fight / revolts against slavery, that I suspect won't be told [at-least nt correctly] by Hollyweird. No movie has been made about Harriett Tubman since Cicely Tyson's 'Woman Called Moses' [a TV movie] in the late 1970s. No movie, that I know of, has ever been made at-all on Fredrick Douglass [who Spielberg's 'Lincoln' literally wrote out of its script], Nat Turner, Martin Delaney, Robert Smalls, etc. And then there's the Haitian Slave Revolt lead by Toussaint L'Ouverture & Jean-Jacques Dessalines, &/or the African / Native American Alliance of FL's Seminole Nation, that fought against Ole Slave-Owning / Indian-Killin Andrew Jackson [the Democrats' first POTUS]. And I suspect most folks, like myself, haven't even heard of Madison Washington's slave revolt story [just as I hadn't heard of the Amistad incident till Spielberg's movie]. IMO Holly-weird will never touch most of these stories, because they wouldn't appeal to mosts whites & IMO too many Blacks may show an unfortunately lack of interest [ala 'Rosewood']. PLUS- Even on the rare occasions when Holly-weird does make movies about slavery either they turn some white guy(s) into the star(s) &/or real hero(es) [ala "Lincoln', 'Amistad' & 'Glory' ] &/or comes up w some jive angle for the story- ala 'Django'!!!
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Perhaps a more democratic path to a cooperative society is possible. I favor some of what the Cuban Revolution sought to do. But I think a democratic path would have been more effective and humane.
But Cuba has a govt that takes care of all the citizens. I know they won't allow much freedom, and won't allow citizens to leave the country. But The govt takes care of everyone and no one even has to have a job. At least our president is leading us that way and that is so much better than the current free enterprise and self-responsibility nonsense.
-Savant
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Dandelion34 minutes ago
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I am neutral about this. I know nothing of their relationship and this whole situation can cause debate and so forth. That is their business. In this day and age, I am not living the post racial dream. I am not at this point in my life. I am more mature, but I am more militant than in the past. We are at war. We are battling white supremacy. Since we are at war, we should realize that Black Love is one legitimate way to defend the interests of black people. Before any male or female goes out with anyone, that person should find a sense of self or self development. Not all IRs are monolithic, but far too often, the establisment and the media glamorize IRs as a means to view that as superior to Black Love. That is a lie of course. Umoja wrote great books on this issue. Some black people go into that route of IRs, because of inferiority complexes, prestige, emotional hurt, and other illegitimate justifications. Do I think that all IRs are like that or a product of self hatred? No, but may are. In my life, I am not on some post racial wave right now. Far too often, interracial marriage is used as a tool to break up black cultural cohesiveness. This is proven in Brazil, America, the Maafa, and other examples. Interracial marriage is not some smoking gun that can solve our ills. It is a reality in our world. Some of it is a product of self hate and some of it is made of up human beings with love for each other. Me personally, I want to marry someone of my own background. I want to be romantically be involved with someone who is the opposite gender of myself. I want to further connect with my heritage and the fullest way I can do that is to be with a Sister. I want to say controversial commentary sometimes that a Sister will understand.
Some brothers are angry, because some brothers are hurting. These brothers need to redirect that anger at the system or at white supremacy not the Sisters. The Sisters are just as much victims of the oppressive system as the Brothers are. The sisters are not responsible for the Maafa, Jim Crow, lynchings, Sean Bell's murder, and other ills in our community. I get mad too sometimes, because I can't stand being stereotyped and see my people experiencing oppression worldwide not only in the States. So, we who are men will harness that anger in doing something constructive like setting up businesses, being a mentor, teaching young folks the essence of our black culture, fighting crime, defending our human rights, helping the Brothers, and defending the strength of the Sisters too. At the same time, I am not an authoritarian, so human beings have the right to love each other regardless of race in a free society. That is their business.
-By Timothy (Me)
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On the Jemele Hill controversy
wendy16 hours ago
11 hours ago
Mike Stein16 hours ago
TheBurningBush10 hours ago
A PROGRESSIVE COALITION I think that the people who re-elected Barack Obama are potential makers of a new progressive coalition for social justice. I don't know about how progressive Obama is himself, but the forces that launched him to victory are relatively progressive. And they include at lest one third of white America. I look forward to the time when it will be at least two thirds. 93% of African-Americans, 71% of Latinos, 73% of Asians, and about 39% --40% of whites. If we can form a progressive alliance of all these people we can transform America.
-Savant
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In Europe, Obama would also be a more progressive stateman if only because of the different politicval culture and citizenry. I read that in Europe even conservative politicians find it remarkable that we don't have some kind of national health care over here, and that even Obama's meagure health reforms are seen as Communist or subversive by our Republicans.
-Savant
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jared ballJanuary 6, 2013
Spike’s film on Malcolm more or less ignores everything that made Malcolm the brilliant threat he became. It takes almost 90 minutes before you even see Malcolm X and more time is spent on him in his pre-political days than is given to his most radical moments. The film deals nothing with the OAAU, his visits with African revolutionary leadership, his connections with RAM and so on. Ill try to find and post the discussion held in 1992 with Dhoruba bin Wahad, John Henrik Clarke and Amiri Baraka who i think all did a great job in demonstrating the details of the flaws in that movie. But basically it was a Warner Bros product that carefully took the growing re-emergence of Malcolm in the minds on young people and safely softened it for mainstream consumption. Id rather these films not be made at all as opposed to what happens where most will see them and have them become the foundation of what they think they know about the subject which ultimately inhibits access to the true power and brilliance of – in this case – Malcolm’s critique and suggested responses. And thats my point, Stephanie says I am too narrow and overly critical and then calls the film “naturalistic” and “realistic” while saying the film cannot be universally pleasing. The same was said to critics of Spike’s Malcolm, that it was “his story” as Stephanie says of Tarantino’s mess. In fact, my point is also that these films cannot be universally pleasing, they only mean to please the mindset of those who rule and those who want to distort history to manage the present. Tarantino’s film is not at all natural or realistic, that was my point and the point of those i cite and agree with. These films are the product of narrowly-held views meant to satisfy the narrow goals of those who create – and promote – them. These are not films “for the people, by the people” and so on, the perspective used in creating them is no more or less narrow than my (or anyone’s) criticism. Remember Reed’s point about Precious and For Colored Girls, the execs at Lionsgate said that these are films they can promote to their intended white audiences who dont want to see Black films like Miracle at St Anna (a Spike film i love) or the Great Debaters. These are products intended for white audiences that are at times markets to Black people as films for them. Movie execs, as Reed points out, have said explicitly that these films, like The Help, are for white audiences to enjoy and therefore are chosen for promotion because they do not upset white sensibilities about race. So we get a tarantino film about slavery and tyler perry films about Black people so that whites wont ever be disturbed in their myths of themselves and their country. You may search voxunion for Ishmael Reed for interviews and links to his work if you like. I almost feel like leaving it at Cathy Hughes like Django and Oprah and Bill Cosby supported Spike’s Malcolm X, i rest my case.
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NixaklielJanuary 6, 2013
Spike’s epic [IMO his best film besides his 2 classic documentaries '4 Little Girls' & 'When the Levees Broke'] is about Malcolm X NOT MLK. I too am glad Spike did it, though I understand Bro Dr Ball’s issues w Spike’s ‘Malcolm X’ [but at-least it was NOT an insidious hit-piece ala Marable's book of 'Reinvention'].
But if Holly-weird is just in the entertainment Biz- instead of the political-propaganda Biz, then why didn’t Denzel win for his out-standing portrayal of Malcolm [nor for 'Hurricane' but instead won for portraying a fictional Thug N_--- Rouge Cop], & Spike wasn’t even nominated for best picture / director nor Angela Basset & the late Al Freeman Jr for best supporting actress / actor. Their ‘excuse’ was Malcolm X was too ‘controversial’ a figure.
Seemingly most Black ‘Django’ supporters back it NOT because it’s an accurate portrayal of slavery, but rather because ‘Django’ portrays a ‘Bad Mother-Fer’ ['Hush Your Mouth'- ala 'Shaft in Dixie-land']. Well there was another ‘Bad Black Dude’ movie that came out in 1996 w a Black Director [John Singleton] a mainly Black cast [Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle, & the late Ester Rolle - though they added a 'reluctant' white ally- Jon Voight] based a real historical event- called ‘Rose-wood’, where Ving Rhames played the ‘Bad Black Dude’ who came to rescue of the Black town for true love & honor. Yet it did NOT get nearly as much Holly-weird hype as ‘Django’. Thus Blacks largely failed support it w the same type of enthusiasm.
But if Holly-weird is just in the entertainment Biz- instead of the political-propaganda Biz, then why didn’t Denzel win for his out-standing portrayal of Malcolm [nor for 'Hurricane' but instead won for portraying a fictional Thug N_--- Rouge Cop], & Spike wasn’t even nominated for best picture / director nor Angela Basset & the late Al Freeman Jr for best supporting actress / actor. Their ‘excuse’ was Malcolm X was too ‘controversial’ a figure.
Seemingly most Black ‘Django’ supporters back it NOT because it’s an accurate portrayal of slavery, but rather because ‘Django’ portrays a ‘Bad Mother-Fer’ ['Hush Your Mouth'- ala 'Shaft in Dixie-land']. Well there was another ‘Bad Black Dude’ movie that came out in 1996 w a Black Director [John Singleton] a mainly Black cast [Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle, & the late Ester Rolle - though they added a 'reluctant' white ally- Jon Voight] based a real historical event- called ‘Rose-wood’, where Ving Rhames played the ‘Bad Black Dude’ who came to rescue of the Black town for true love & honor. Yet it did NOT get nearly as much Holly-weird hype as ‘Django’. Thus Blacks largely failed support it w the same type of enthusiasm.
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What if Rosa Parks had SURRENDERED her seat? We know the story. Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger as demanded by the local segregation laws. She was arrested, and an aggrieved Black community in Montgomery boycotted the buses in 1955. The Montgomery Bus Boycott catapaulted Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. into historical greatness, and perhaps helped precipitate the Civil Rights Movement. But.... What if Mrs. Parks had obeyed the segregation ordinance and given up her seat to the white passenger? Perhaps no Montgomery Bus Boycottt. Maybe no one would ever have heard of Martin Luther King, Jr. No one would have heard of Rosa Parks either. Dr. King may have become an obscure pastor or academic. But not a world-historical leader of a great crusade for human freedom. The Black Freedom Movement would probably have happened anyway. But it's hard to know how it would have developed without the prophetic leadership of Dr. King or the inspiration of "Mother Rosa.
-Savant
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ECONOMIC JUSTICE We will soon be observing MLK Day, and I will have speaking engagements connected with my book on King. But I think people should know that the final phase of King's mission was a struggle for EONOMIC RIGHTS and the abolition of poverty, exploitation and war. The struggle for economic rights and his proposed ECONOMIC BILL OF RIGHTS was intended to be a multiracial fight for economic justice for all. I hope we can reclaim that legacy. And I hope that progressive white people can help conscientize the poor, surtout the white poor, to unite with their fellowed exploited compatriots of color to end the evil of poverty and exploitation once and for all--both in America and the world. Justice is for ALL or it is for NONE.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT and BROTHERS KARAMAZOV are my favorite works by Dostoyevsky. The famous "tale of the Inquisitor" is for me one of the more memorable parts of BROTHERS KARAMAZOV. Ivan is one of them most memorable characters.
-Savant
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http://blackagendareport.com/?q=content/bill-clinton-haiti%E2%80%99s-neo-colonial-overlord
I have the honor to be
Historical-Lee yours,
Paul Lee
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