Lena Horne Passes - RIP

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/10/local/la-me-horne-20100510

I know.

People do not think of the beautiful vocals of Lena Horne when they think of the Civil Rights Movement. But they're missing out on a whole, fabulous part of our history.

NPR did a great story on Lena, her career, and the racism she encountered. You should check it out.: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126666993

Oh My Gosh! Larry Platt On American Idol

Larry Platt - Memorable auditions

This was GREAT!

And upon reading about Larry Platt, he's an awesome man. From the Civil Rights movement right up to the present, he's an activist that we should pay attention to!

While some may feel that performing "Pants On The Ground" on the pop TV show American Idol was beneath him, I saw him as an impassioned activist that saw a way to send a message to millions of Americans about self respect and dignity. He was not acting the buffoon as some bloggers have said, he was using the popular media to get an important message out to our youth.

He's a great man. Check the video out -- Larry Platt.

And then read more about him and be ready to be truly impressed!

http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/realityrocks/301708/general-larry-platt-a-real-american-idol/

More Paranoia In The Hinterland

Oh my goodness!

I just got back from out of state.

Did you know that there is some MAJOR paranoia going on in the hinterland?

I heard not one, but several people comment on how they're afraid of Obama.

Whaaaaa????????????????????????????

Oh my goodness, I really couldn't believe it. Some people are listening to way too many right wing whack job radio hosts.

Obama isn't going to overturn the Constitution. Even if he is a Democrat.

He isn't going to start a race war. Even if he is African-American. (Or bi-racial if you prefer.)

He isn't going to take your guns away. Even if he is a liberal.

Why?

Folks, do I really, really have to explain it?

Obama BELIEVES in civil rights and has worked as a lawyer. He wasn't always a politician. He has a real law degree and has used his education, training and knowledge to help those less fortunate than himself.

He's probably the best thing for our country right now, despite what the tin foil hats are blathering right and left.

He's not against the Constitution of the United States. He TAUGHT constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School for 12 years!

He's not a neo-Marxist. Shoot, he served on the Senate Committee for Veteran's Affairs and sponsored legislation favorable to our Veterans.

He's not anti-white. People, his MOTHER was white!

He's not a Muslim. He's been a member of a Christian church for what, twenty or so years. He's going to swear his oath on the Lincoln Bible, for God's sake!

My people, my people, he's an American citizen, just like you and I. Born in Hawaii of a US citizen, all the blatherings about his birthplace are just that, blatherings.

I really have trouble believing the paranoia in the hinterlands of our country. People will believe anything bad about anybody, won't they? Because they saw it on TV, because someone on the Internet said it, so it must be true.

I just shake my head. Then I sigh. People will believe anything except the plain, unvarnished truth...

Check this out:
http://www.notablebiographies.com/news/Li-Ou/Obama-Barack.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2008/jun/27/obamas-birth-certificate-part-ii/

Today, A Light Went Out In America

Yes, today a light went out in America, the day that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was murdered.

A light went out.

Yet at the same time, a torch was lit. America woke up to the true state of affairs of the Civil Rights movement and many good hearted (and previously oblivious) people were horrified at his murder.

I was listening to Good Morning America this morning and Dr. King's son and daughter were talking and it really made me think. Coretta Scott King's words to her children brought me to tears. How can a mother explain to her children that their father was murdered for doing the right thing? Not the popular thing, not the thing society thought he should do, but the right thing?

It brought another train of thought about sacrifice.

Dr. King sacrificed himself and when he did, it changed our whole society -- it changed America.

Like Jesus, he gave his own life for his people. And not just his people, but for all Americans of every color. His words are quoted often, "I have a dream". Today so many of us share that dream, that all people should be equal in America. Just like they are equal in the eyes of the Lord.

Yes, unlike Jesus, Dr. King was a man. A great man, but a man with flaws. Of course he wasn't perfect. He was a man, like every other man. He had weaknesses that his enemies tried to exploit.

Don't we all have weaknesses? Flawed thinking? Even prejudices and bigotry?

Yes, we all do.

As a Christian, Dr. King was held to a higher standard. Sometimes he failed and sinned, as we all do, but the point of being a Christian is that we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and try again. We are mandated to try again.

I know in my heart, my Faith tells me, that when Dr. King met Jesus at the throne, he was welcomed as a good and faithful servant.

How can I know this, beyond my heart's desire, beyond my Faith?

Look at America today.

Today, our children go to school together, play together, work together, live in the same neighborhoods.

There were many catalysts that brought this about, but the murder of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr brought an epiphany to America.

Thus here we are, April 4, 2008, forty years after his untimely death, reflecting on the legacy that he left his four little children as well as all of America and the world's little children.

Today so many of us share his dream. His dream that is still marching toward reality, step by step, day by day, year by year.

Today, we reflect on the man and the Cross he chose to pick up and bear. Each of us has a load that we can choose to pick up, or leave lying on the path of our lives, on our road to Heaven.

Dr. King paid a high price for his choice. But it was the right thing to do.

As we reflect on this day in American history, I look at the faces of my three children and reflect on how the world has changed.

They might not even exist if it weren't for Dr. King, Rosa Parks, the many who worked so hard to make the Civil Rights movement a reality.

We live in a neighborhood where the original CC&Rs say that we couldn't live -- before Dr. King.

My children go to a school that they wouldn't have been allowed to attend -- before Dr. King.

And today we follow the progress of Barack Obama, running for President of the United States of America, something that was unthinkable -- before Dr. King.

It's only been forty years since Dr. King left us, but see how far we have come.

Yes, there are many, many people who have worked to make this a reality. Dr. King didn't work alone, there were many who picked up the torch that was lit when his own little light went out.

Today, we reflect on Dr. King and his massive contribution to our society, our culture, our country.

There is still much to do, but I think Dr. King would be very pleased at our progress.

I think our Lord is too.

"Well done, good and faithful servant. Well done."

Broderick Boys - Revisited

Oh great! Here we go again!

Once more, the Yolo County District Attorney has managed to get the judge to sign off on the Broderick Boys gang injunction. Once again, the cops have free reign to harass our Hispanic and Latino Brothers and Sisters in West Sacramento.

Funny how the residents of Broderick, who are directly affected by this, are mostly against this trampling of residents' civil rights.

Funny how our opinions are ignored in this matter.

Funny how it's OK to trample on the rights of AMERICAN CITIZENS just because they're olive complected and have a Spanish last name.

I think it's well past time that I put "La Casa de" above my front door. Because it's about darn time that we start putting out there that just because we live in Broderick and have Spanish last names, it DOES NOT mean that we belong to a gang.

I don't want MY kids to become the victims of well-meaning but brainwashed and oblivious cops who see olive skins, Raider jackets, or a red sweatshirt (or car) as signs of gang affiliation. Cops need to learn that just because a Broderick resident is brown, it doesn't mean the police force has the right to trample on that person's right to live in our white dominated culture. My neighbors have the same rights as the white guy that lives across the street, the Russian guy that lives over in Bryte, the Asian or white or Black neighbors in Broderick, in Bryte, in Southport, in West Sacramento.

It's about darn time we started sticking up for our neighborhood and our neighbors.

"Broderick Boys - Revisited" needs to become "Broderick Residents Win The Battle For The Civil Liberties".

Because it's a heck of a slippery slope and when we turn our faces from our neighbors, we'd best expect that we'll be next on the DA's list. Just because we live in the same neighborhood, or go to the same schools, or hang out at the same parks, or attend the same churches as the "Broderick Boys". Pretty soon, we'll be profiled as members of the same gang.

We are all in the same gang.

Think about it.

It's only a matter of time...

Bill Cosby Is Right

Bill Cosby is old.

Rich.

Conservative.

He's kinda like the old rich uncle who tells you how to get rich, but you have NO access to any of the methods that he used. And what you do have access to is NOT the same opportunity that he had, the world has changed and he can't see that his method may not work for you.

Not everyone is a talented comic.

I love Bill, especially his old stuff. But in today's world, a young comic can't recycle Bill's old jokes.

Bill has valid points, but he comes across as being distant, out of touch, not really comprehending what's going on with young people today. He comes across as not understanding the way that the underbelly of American culture, the drugs, the violence, has affected our Brothers and Sisters of Color, especially those who are poor.

This is not all race or color based, American has glorified violence and hate for a LONG time. Look at the gangsters of the 30s, how we've romanticized them, glorified them. (And I don't have time today to get into the long history of violence against People of Color [POC].) It's a long, long road that's gotten us ALL to this point.

Now we are reaping what we've sown.

Unfortunately the poor are the first victims, and since POC are disproportionately poor, we as a society are blaming POC for the conditions that we have set into motion a long time ago. Yes, racism, bigotry, prejudice are all a part of our culture and the problem too, intensifying the effect on POC. But it's moving "upward", in the long run, we all face the same issues.

White suburbia isn't getting it. They just see that their kids are falling into the same glorifying of hate and violence, drugs and guns. So they blame the poor, specifically our Brothers and Sisters of Color, never seeing that they've perpetuated the problem by their actions and more importantly, their inaction.

Bill's words are a two-edged sword. If only our society could hear the good side, and get down into the trenches with the good people who are working to make a difference right now, today.

Instead, Americans hear what we want to hear -- that blame game, never seeing that there is a hopelessness that keeps our kids from realizing their full potential.

I'm so, so tired of the white conservative line, that patronizing attitude that racism doesn't exist anymore and thus POC should just work harder and get themselves out of the ghetto. Hello? So sorry but if you live in a poor area, with less than adequate schools, few job opportunities, no transportation, it's pretty darn hard to "move on up to the east side".

And bluntly, too many white liberals are just as bad. "Oh my goodness, those poor black people, we need to 'bring them up''. Patting themselves on the back about what great non-racist kind of people they are. But do they LIVE next to their Brothers and Sisters? Do they get down in the trenches, volunteer at schools, help build affordable housing, provide on-the-job training, mentor young people? Ummmm, well, probably not.

Yes, Bill is right. People need to take responsibility for their actions.

Bill is right -- and that includes white society taking the blame and responsibility for over 100 years of oppression, which affects POC right up to the present.

We have a long, sad, ugly history to overcome, and the advances made by the Civil Rights movement have only made a dent in the problem. We still have much to overcome, including the unconscious attitudes of the society that surrounds us all.

Bill Cosby is right.

But not in the way that he thinks he is....