...::Just Suppose... Juxtapose... Just A Pose...

This image is presented by Youth Rights Media. The group empowers youth to--
-- know, protect and advance their rights
-- build "youth power and leadership"
-- use "video media production and community organizing"
-- learn "tools, skills, and strategies for affecting change"

...::In The Midst Of War, Congo Women Find Joy In Hairstyles

...::God's Gonna--

The storm gathered.

New Orleans resident Kimberly Rivers Roberts had just bought a video camera on the street for $10. With no filmmaking experience but feeling something in her bones, she let the camera roll.

The result is the 2008 documentary "Trouble the Water." It has been out for months, but it still haunts me.

The storm speaks through Roberts' camera. You can feel its power-- and its devastation. When you hear that wind howling down the street, if you don't believe in God, I feel sorry for you in the Next Life.

This film is rough. Raw. Unscripted.

Not the sweetly crafted words of a news anchor a thousand miles away, with the facial expression of concern, also sweetly crafted. No.

This is not even the story from the point of view of the rescue helicopters hovering over desperate people on roofs.

This is the story from the point of view of the people on the roofs. And under the roofs who did not make it.

It is also the story of everyday people with that most critical resource: the skill to survive, and to even care about others, in the face of one of the most horrible-- if not the most horrible-- catastrophe of their lives.

In the storm's wake, we see death, destroyed lives, scattered families. And Kimberly Rivers Roberts keeps shooting.

The film was nominated for an Oscar, and won the Grand Jury Prize for documentaries at the Sundance Film Festival.

There is no easy solution here. No happy ending. But when the lights go up, you will have experienced filmmaking as powerful as the storm.

...::Strap-On

...::TV Reporter Turns Ghetto In About ... 3 Seconds

...::Blame It On The Humor

We pointed out the seriousness of alcoholism three items below at the item titled "Blame It On The Alcohol." But who says we don't have a sense of humor?

...::Dear Brother Malcolm, You Live

[Malcolm X's birthday is on the 19th of May]

Dear Brother Malcolm,

Though your body was taken away from us years ago, we want you to know that your spirit lives among us still.

Through our dignity and our pride in our history and our culture, you live.

Through our marches and demonstrations and sacrifices for our people's struggles anywhere and everywhere in the world,
you live.

Through our dedication to our children, and our commitment to give them the best, you live.

Through those among us who refuse to be beaten down, and who are willing to pay the ultimate price for our manhood and womanhood and peoplehood, you live.

Through our schools and our centers and our holidays and our children named after you, you live.

Through our desire to live life guided by the highest principles, as you did, you live.

And through our commitment to have our freedom and dignity, fully and completely by paying any price, you live

We declare, brother, to our friends and to our foes, that every shut eye ain't sleep, every good-bye ain't gone.

Brother, you live among us still.

(c) 1985

...::Comedian Skews Obama, Bush

Wanda Sykes is funny, and no funnier than here. She was at the top of her game on Sat.09.May.2009 at the White House Correspondents Dinner, where U.S. presidents attend, knowing they will get ragged...

...::Blame It On The Alcohol

[According to government studies, alcohol causes more deaths, car accidents, health problems, family breakups and arrests than all illegal drugs combined.]

...::Hand Jive

The media played up the so-called "inappropriateness" of Michelle Obama having the nerve to touch Elizabeth II--



Elizabeth must not have minded too much; she touched back--



But here is the touch we like--

...::Another View of the Somalia Story

You don't hear about Somalia's "pirates" in the same breath with nuclear waste, do you? What do they have to do with each other? Well, look away from the mainstream media and listen for a minute to K'Naan, a musician from Somalia.



According to a British journalist, Somalia was a nuclear dumping ground before the "piracy" started--

As soon as the Somali government collapsed in 1991, "... mysterious European ships started appearing off the coast of Somalia, dumping vast barrels into the ocean. The coastal population began to sicken. At first they suffered strange rashes, nausea and malformed babies... hundreds of the dumped and leaking barrels washed up on shore. People began to suffer from radiation sickness... This is the context in which the 'pirates' have emerged. Somalian fishermen took speedboats to try to dissuade the dumpers and trawlers..."

...::There's No Way To Put a Pretty Face On This

A Turkish TV anchor smeared on blackface to talk about Obama--



Blackface is a heavy makeup used to darken white faces so actors could play stereotyped and demeaning Black roles. So why is this still going on in 2009?

...::The Reach of Art

The headline in the NYTimes article was: "Mission From Africa." The story was about a Nigerian missionary in the U.S. But before I could read the article, I was struck by the story's photo--



I haven't even finished reading the article, yet this photo stood out for me--
-- The preacher is in a pose like you would find in a video game
-- Did you notice the "heavenly" light on the right and the extra shadow on the back wall? They give the picture a mystical quality
-- The woman is so deep in prayer; I wonder if she knows she has come out of her heels
-- Attendance sure isn't overflowing; but the preacher is passionate nonetheless

Let me know what you notice-- yemitoure@gmail.com. In the meantime, back to the article. Interestingly, it is about the explosive growth in Africa of conservative Christianity, with African missionaries coming to the U.S. to save souls. How's that for a reversal ...

...::Never-Before-Seen Pictures: The Day Martin Luther King Died

Life magazine on 02.Apr.2009 published, for the first time, pictures of the day Dr. King died in Memphis. The black-and-white images evoke the sadness of that day, 04.Apr.1968. Warning: some of the images are very disturbing.


Go here to see larger pictures and the captions.

King had gone to Memphis to support Black sanitation workers, on strike for better pay and better treatment as human beings. The night before he was killed, King gave his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” address. It was a sign--



And the next day he was dead.

I thought I knew a lot about the day of King's transition, until I watched this wrenching video by my friend Ryon Horne. The weight of that day will come crashing around your shoulders.

...::In Praise of Black Women

Offering a set of items I came across recently about Black women...

1/Billie Holiday singing "Strange Fruit". It is a song about lynching. I have heard many recordings of her singing versions of this song, but I like this one best.



[For lyrics and more info on the song, go here and here]

2/A slide show of Black women.

Includes nice songs, including one with Wyclef Jean.



[Blues singer John Lee Hooker would call *some* of these images "drug store" images-- the natural beauty of these women is covered up by makeup and hair you could get in a drug store. But they are beautiful nonetheless.]

3/A must read--
"Black Feminist Thought" by Patricia Hill Collins. Get it from your local Black bookstore or from their online site.



4/First All-Black Female Airline Crew
Taking Flight



5/Did yall see this?

In Canada there is a Black woman who is Governor General of the nation. Her name is Michaelle Jean, and here she is, welcoming Barack Obama on his recent visit to Canada.







["Governor General" in Canada is a national office, though largely ceremonial. Jean is appointed, and deals with diplomats and protocol and such.]

6/And an important film about Black girls in the U.S. and the obstacles they face growing up.



"The Souls of Black Girls"

I saw this recently here in Atlanta. After the showing, girls in the audience came up and spontaneously told of their personal struggles over skin color-- some were called names by family and friends! Many cried. We have work to do...

7/A great short video of Black women pushing for rights during segregation. It's called Sojourners for Truth and Justice.

...::The Roots and Public Enemy together onstage

... and yes, Flava Flav was there too ...

...::Obama: Hope Through Our Tears

By YEMI TOURE

The photograph was plain, but powerful.

It showed the face of Vertie Hodge, 74, a Black woman who gathered with friends at a community center in Houston to watch Barack Obama's inauguration.

In the photo, her dark skin was clear, weathered. She was unsmiling, very still, focused. She stared at the TV.

Though she looked calm, a lot seemed to be going on inside of her, because from her right eye, a single tear streamed down her face.

When I came upon that photo, I suddenly stopped. I stared at her as she stared. I too was very still and focused. For a moment, I could not breathe.

Growing up in the country, she had little. "We ate a few peanuts one day," she said.

I imagined that she must have endured years of hard work with little reward. Had few places where her voice was respected. Suffered racism of unimaginable length and breadth.

And now comes this moment.

In Mrs. Hodge, I saw so much of what faith, hope and endurance are all about. And tears streamed down my face.

Back in the day, photos of Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy had prominent places in the homes of Black folks across the country, especially in the South. Why? Those two leaders, above all others, embodied the hope that we felt.

We seemed to be saying, "I may not have a voice ... I dont have much money ... I may not run anything ... but I can hope, and you, Dr. King, and President Kennedy, are the embodiment of that hope in me."

So, the "audacity of hope" did not start with Obama. It started with Mrs. Hodge and multitudes like her. They dared to dream, to believe. In this country, yes, but even more so, they believed in the human spirit, in justice, in The Creator. They believed that in this deeply flawed nation, in this deeply flawed world, wrong can be made right, that justice will triumph one day.

That sense of hope is no doubt one of the reasons Mrs. Hodge has lived as long as she has in this racist, sexist, classist country. That sense of hope helped carry her through to this day.

I have little illusion about what Barack Obama can accomplish for women like her. For Black people like her. For poor people like her. He has promised much, and Mrs. Hodge hopes he can deliver.

We have hope through our tears. Obama will not realize all our dreams, but he embodies that hope.