For All Men Are Created Equal...

I have always been amazed at how Conservatives consistently claim to be both the progenitors and guardians of true blue, American ideals and values, when it was actually a bunch of radical revolutionaries that revolted, fought for and created this country. Of course, there's always been that one small caveat, that one small irritant that nagged so blatantly in the craw of all that talk of freedom and justice. Ya know, that thing that didn't quite fit the pattern of The Bill of Rights, or that stuff about "all men are created equal." Yeah, you know... the very financial backbone of what this new "land of the free" would be based on- the ownership and enslavement of human beings, that most peculiar of institutions...

Were the Founding Fathers just the blatant, myopic hypocrites that we always assumed them to be, or were they quite possibly- ultra Conservatives, not revolutionaries, who purposely founded this country in order to help keep, maintain, and expand that most heinous of human enterprise into perpetuity? After all, Britain promised freedom to any Blacks who fought on their side against the upstart Americans, and then proceeded to abolish slavery well before the United States, and in a much less bloody fashion...

Reparations

Granted, a certain amount of water has thus passed under the proverbial bridge since a small handful (emphasis on small) of conscientious Americans contemplated reparations on behalf of African Americans, or as they were called then... well, lets move on from the colloquialisms. Of course, it didn't happen then, and Congress (as most Americans) won't even consider... talking about it. Ridiculous, outrageous, the absolute nerve of those...

Let them pull themselves up by their bootstraps, just like everyone else! Which sounds all well and good, I must admit- except... The one thing that (African) American history teaches us time and time again, the one thing that Ta-Nehisi Coates' essay repeatedly smacks you upside the head with, is that not only were Blacks prevented from working for what they aspired to, be it from denial of education, opportunity or equal wages, but once they did achieve success by working twice as hard, for twice as long (for half the pay), despite all the pernicious obstacles- American society was then free and clear to take it all away from them! That's why the subject of Reparations remains in the lock box, never to be opened, discussed or attempted. The dirty little secret of secrets would then be revealed: the myth of hard work equaling success, the fallacy of shared sacrifice, the mockery of a justice for all.

Coates equates Reparations with the unpaid credit card of overdue wages for hundreds of years of forced labor; the thing is that those willing to discuss it are not clamoring for a free ride and cash on the barrel head- they're talking: education, health care, income parity, etc. I'm not going to break down every straw man, red herring and outright fallacy that White America throws out in their denunciation of the very thought of Reparations- the experts linked to here do a much better job of that. And as for where would we get the money, well... the previous administration would have told you the same as any other- it doesn't exist, it just isn't there. And that was before they launched us into a totally unnecessary and illegal multi-trillion dollar war.

But we all know we live in a post racial society, and all that animosity, inequality, and unfair housing practices are a thing of a long and bygone era... Right?

The Beauty Of Not Seeing Race

Translation not necessary...

12 Years A Slave

I almost feel that to speak of this film only cheapens it, for nothing within it is wasted, and anything I would have to say could never pay it justice. Every scene, every moment is used to full potential, even the air hangs heavy, with you in its presence. Director Steve McQueen has resurrected the evil insanity upon which an entire nation was created, whose legacy we continue to deny to this very day.

Django Unchained

I'm hardly the Quentin Tarantino fan, in fact, the very sight of him makes me kinda nauseous. But as a confirmed believer in the "every dog has his day" philosophy of life and living (ie- based on the favorable reviews), I gradually came to the conclusion that I had to grit my teeth, cross my fingers, and check Django out for myself.

And this is one masterful piece of movie making before finally descending into the routine spaghetti western it ultimately purports to be in its last half hour. Tarantino has taken that most exaggerated of genres, infused it with liberal doses of genuine humor, and still manages to create palpable tension with its visceral depictions of the brutality that was slavery. Not an easy feat to pull off by any means. While not a historical dissertation on antebellum plantation America, neither does it gloss over the overriding evil that pervaded "that most peculiar institution." It does not exist in the background as some theoretical evil or historical backdrop, it is highlighted front stage and center in all its hideous, pernicious degradation of human mind and body.

What makes the film so entertaining and unique is that you never quite know which way the storyline will go, how a particular scene will play out- be it for drama, shock, or unexpected humor (a crowd scene with KKK precursors is one of the funniest offbeat comedic scenarios ever filmed- and I detest most modern comedies). Every scene is a chess match of human emotions. This is in large part due to the character of Django's partner and mentor, one very uniquely drawn and versatile Dr. King Schultz- cunning, ingenious and comically deceptive. This unlikely duo of bounty hunters enchant us into a dreamlike escapade filled with various unforeseen encounters that lure and captivate our imagination, only to  awaken us in one sweaty fright.

Republicans' Romance With Slavery

There's never been any doubt in my mind that if many of your more "Conservative" Republicans (and granted, that caveat may be a tad redundant) had their way, they would magically snap their fingers and transform this country back into some more slightly "modern" version of feudalism slavery. And now some are actually starting to give voice to their repressed, age old romance with that particularly peculiar institution of yore.

If slavery were so God-awful, why didn’t Jesus or Paul condemn it, why was it in the Constitution and why wasn’t there a war before 1861?  -State Rep. Loy Mauch (R-Bismarck)

See... The Bible says so- and the Constitution! Just the natural order of things...now tell me ol' Loy wouldn't cut one helluva handsome figure with a Confederate officer's hat firmly atop his fair skinned head.

Jeremy Scott Apologizes!

Look, I'm just a self absorbed, selfish little twit without the slightest concern for anyone but myself. If I had the slightest concern, the slightest empathy for any other human being other than myself- I would have thought twice about creating a product so obviously infused with the hateful, demeaning legacy of slavery. It's pretty apparent I'm incapable of any sincere remorse or introspection- let alone any meaningful insight into anything other than my narrow, self centered and often imaginary world of self absorption. So let's have fun and party!         -Jeremy Scott

Shackled Shoes/Shackled Minds

Hank Willis Thomas

Hank Willis Thomas

So often I'm left scratching my head about what worthwhile subject to post next- and then you get the rarity like today that seems to fall from the sky! The scathingly satirical work of Hank Willis Thomas was recently featured on Lens blog. Work that often highlights the 'peculiar' relationship between  the commercial and advertising industries, and that of the (Black) athletes they endorse and feature. Nothing could better elaborate the historical irony and definitive unease of that relationship more clearly than that of Adidas' up and coming new product pictured below. Contrast that to the work of Mr. Thomas- I'm sure there were many people who thought he just went too far to suggest and compare the (obvious) relationships and juxtapositions between slavery and modern day sports found within his art.

Of course, the brand spankin' new Adidas seen in all their arrogant, flamboyant folly below render that argument disquietingly moot. Not, that there won't be those who will still argue no such connection, real or implied, exists (besides, slavery is so... 19th century- 'lighten' up). And I'm betting designer Jeremy Scott (creator of the Roundhouse Mid "Handcuff" shoe) one of them. His slavery inspired, athletic haute couture shackle shoes at $350 a pop are the epitome of arrogance writ large. 

Ignorance and arrogance often walk hand in hand (particularly when it comes to racism), but if I'm gonna grant Mr. Scott anything- it's that even he is not that ignorant, though the latter always follow...

Jeremy Scott

The Evil Men Do...

I really can't think of a more wretched, miserable position to be in- or a more blatantly evil practice to promote...

A Brief History...

...Of African Stereotypes- John Edwin Mason breaks it down for us step by step- the myths, the stereotypes, the long forgotten and deeply buried truths that pervade history well into the present. And the promise of more to come!

KKK Good, Reality Bad...

During my fifty six years of living in the U.S. of A, I have repeatedly witnessed how our clean cut, respectable Republican sons of bitches methodically erode and undermine the rights our citizenry have selflessly sacrificed, fought and died for. They've effectively dumbed us down by eviscerating and abandoning a once world class public education system and then eliminating tuition free higher education. They've wantonly shipped out the manufacturing jobs that formed the backbone of our once prosperous middle class (with the eager support of their Democratic brethren from the other side of the very same coin), and you know they're just itching to destroy the last vestige of our so called safety net by driving a stake into the still beating heart of Social Security. Make no doubt, these heartless bastards will not stop until the white majority is a silent, compliant work force of scared shitless drones, ever thankful for being that one small whisper above the enslaved brown skinned masses this nation was built on.

Having wrecked the proverbial American Dream with endless war while promoting mindless consumerism under ever decreasing wages, they happily continue to play us one against the other, and should any of us stop to ponder and complain- they sanctimoniously exhort... Class Warfare! Unsatisfied with poisoning our present and sabotaging our future, their bountiful, limitless greed now seeks to delude and divorce us of our very past, so that we no longer acknowledge their sins and just revel in their fanciful, shameless machinations...

The Best & Worst @ XMAS

The Best and the Worst @ Christmas...