Chinese Food

Why are we so reliant upon imports from China -- whether food for our pets or toothpaste or, in the latest scare, certain varieties of fish? As long as the Chinese take shortcuts on their exports and, in this country, the FDA and other agencies take shortcourts on inspections, let's stay local and forget that part of the global choice.

Nigga ,Please!

I don't use that N-word, but I am impressed with the way some young folks are dealing with this issue. Check out:

www.youthcomm.org

It starts with this:

The N-Word: Not in my vocabulary
By Desiree Bailey


"Nigga, please."
My friend Jeff and I were having a slight disagreement at school last month when he decided to call me the N-word.
Since we're both black, he somehow thought it was appropriate. But it's not to me. I hate to be referred to in that way by anyone, no matter what his race.
"Don't you ever call me a nigga," I said. And so our heated discussion began.

Read on>>

Amazing Grace

For some time I’ve wondered who this Wintley Phipps guy is other than a favored Black gospel singer for the White House when it needs a Black gospel singer. Well, check this out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMF_24cQqT0

Paris Hilton, God -- and Who Gives a Heck?

I'm so disappointed in news media for expending so many resources on covering this Paris Hilton Goes To Jail story while ignoring so many more important stories and firing, laying off or buying out serious journalists because they have limited resources!!!

I'm also outraged that any media company worth its weight in ethics would consider paying Ms. Hilton $1 million for an interview about her time behind bars. Think of how far that kind of money could go towards the rehabilitation of others who have done serious time without the benefit of private doctors or Barbara Walters as a mouthpiece.

Radio Golf Needs Your Seat in the Seats!

Congratulations for that best-play Tony nomination! Bummer that this last of the late August Wilson’s 10 phenomenal plays about Blacks in the 20th century IS CLOSING after only 81 performances.

Are you feeling guilty? Good. Try to see it by July 1st at the Cort Theater in Manhattan. A friend of mine took a group of 80 to see it , and they had a wonderful time before the play socializing, during the play taking it all in and after the play debating its message.

This is an excerpt from a New York Times review by Ben Brantley in May:

"As Mr. Wilson portrays them, the 1990s are an arid, soul-sapping time for the black man. This is because his characters at last have the chance to enter the white man's kingdom of money, stocks and bonds and real estate and takeovers and, oh yes, the moneymaker's favorite pastime, golf. A poster of Tiger Woods figures in 'Radio Golf,' and it says much about the play's priorities that tearing it down becomes a small moral victory.

'''Radio Golf' centers on the Faustian figure of Harmond Wilks (Harry Lennix), a real estate developer poised to run for mayor of Pittsburgh. Harmond's wife, Mame (Tonya Pinkins), is in line to be head of the public relations office of the governor of Pennsylvania. And Harmond and his longtime friend Roosevelt Hicks (James A. Williams) are on the verge of clinching a big redevelopment deal to revitalize the Hill, erasing its history in the process.

'''This is the big time,' Roosevelt says to Harmond, 'nothing but blue skies.'

"But there's a blot on those skies in the form of a house that must be torn down to make way for a new shopping and apartment complex (which will include Whole Foods, Barnes & Noble and Starbucks, of course). The address of that house is 1839 Wiley. And if you know your August Wilson, you know this was the address of the ancient Aunt Ester, the former slave who lived for centuries on the Hill as the embodiment of a past that must never be forgotten."

Urbanworld/VIBE Film Festival

You no doubt know about Sundance and maybe about Tribeca, but if you really care about Black images on the big and small screens, then you should find a way to support this effort, now in its 11th year.

There’s still time this weekend to check out some wonderfully engaging and thought-provoking film at the AMC 34th Street Theater (312 W. 34th St., between 8th and 9th Avenues in Manhattan). In my circles people are constantly complaining about the depiction of Blacks or the absence of Blacks on the screen. This festival showcases independent film that covers the range from serious to silly. Many of the films are about Blacks, but there are also films that cover others on the edges of recognition in this urban environment.

The website for learning about the schedule is: www.urbanworld.org. Some of the board members of the sponsoring organizations are Samuel L. Jackson, Danny Glover, Rosie Perez and Debbie Allen.

Beyond the festival, look for the films. Demand the films!

Here are descriptions of two:

DIVIDED WE FALL
Driven to action by the murder of a turbaned man in her community, a college student drives across America in the aftermath of 9/11 to discover stories that did not make the evening news. From the still-shocked streets of Ground Zero to the desert towns of the American West, Valarie Kaur’s inspiring journey uncovers remarkable stories of hate, violence, fear, and unspeakable loss – until she finds the heart of America halfway around the world.

761st

The 761st Tank Battalion became the first African-American armored unit to fight in WWII. Requested by General George S. Patton, they assisted in heavy combat during the famous Battle of the Bulge. Despite this, they faced racism at home and death overseas, fighting a war for many freedoms they did not enjoy back home in America. This is their story.

AL SHARPTON’S STRATEGY

For everyone who wonders why Al Sharpton is in the public eye as a Black civil rights Superman when so many others are accomplishing so much more in a less flamboyant way, I recommend reading an online article in City Hall (www.cityhallnews.com) by Edward-Isaac Dovere.

A couple of snippets:

“Cynics say, ‘He plays the media,’” Sharpton said. “But if I play the media toward the end goal, that’s saying I’m competent.”
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Sen. Hillary Clinton and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama are among those doing the math. Both want his presidential endorsement, and Sharpton has been making them wait. Both could benefit enormously in public perception from the reverend’s backing—Clinton by cementing the foothold in the African-American community her husband enjoyed in his own presidential runs, Obama by using it to help dispel a disconnect some prominent African-Americans have described feeling toward him. Both have made very strong appeals.

One thing many assume is weighing on Sharpton’s mind is jealousy of Obama, a worry that the Illinois senator’s ascendancy might mean that Sharpton gets eclipsed on the national political scene.

Sharpton dismisses this notion.

“We’re both athletes,” he said. “I box, he plays baseball. I mean, it’s different parts. It’s crazy.”
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[ I kind of get his point. Scary!!! Actually, as anyone who knows Obama knows, he plays BASKETBALL!!]

Blogger Interrupted Now Returns

Sorry for the silence. Believe me, I did not run out of opinions two months ago. But I've had other matters with which to deal. I'm back at it!