Wednesday, November 28, 2007

This Week’s News and Views: The Real “Black Friday” in 2008

For retailers, the day after Thanksgiving is nicknamed ”Black Friday.” It’s called this because retailers look for their bottom line to go from red, (losses) to black (gains).  Actually, this is not the biggest shopping day of the holiday season, but it kicks off the shopping frenzy of the month prior to Christmas.

Retailers often bambozzle shoppers into standing in lines as early as 4am--fighting shoulder-to-shoulder crowds for a limited number of big ticket items like video game systems, computers, audio-equipment and such.  This is retail manipulation at its highest level. 

Tempers flare, fights break out over who grabbed it first and shoppers can be reduced to tears upon hearing that the store has run out of that special prized item.  Why put yourself through that kind of hassle?

This would be the time that black folks can excercise some financial clout.  Why not withold our precious dollars on a day that is aptly named to suit our goals?  Why not show the retailers how much they need our dollars and how important our millions of dollars are to the U.S. economy? 

Why not go for it in 2008?  We have a whole year to save up and find bargains for our holiday gift-giving.  We don’t have to wait until the day after Thanksgiving.  The day could be better spent working off that big meal at the gym, or just vegging out in front of the DVD player, if you are lucky enough to have the day off.  Retailers routinely run sales all through the year and the internet and E-Bay are great places to find bargains on coveted items.

Pass the word along and see if we can come together on an issue that won’t cost us a dime, but might save us a boatload of money in the long-run.  I’ll be reminding you from time to time.

Posted by Dorothy Ferebee on 11/28 at 06:00 AM
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Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Boondocks, the Animated Series…Season 2

Boondockscartoonist Aaron McGruder seems to be pushing the envelope even further this season.  It’s not as edgy as season one, and it is packed to the hilt with profanity, the “n” word and not-so-clever storylines. 

I’ve been a fan of Aaron McGruder ever since his strip appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2001.  I looked forward to what McGruder could do with animation.  Season one wasn’t a walk in the park for me, but season two is much harder to to watch.  I was uncomfortable with his liberal sprinklings of the word “nigger” throughout the first season, but this season, I’m inundated and overwhelmed.

Aaron McGruder gets kudos for being a master of political satire. His frequent and rampant use of the word “nigger” is thought to be calculated and deliberate. Six years after his comic strip debut, I’m really disappointed. I don’t think McGruder is so “smart."--at least not smarter than all the people in the world who find the word “nigger” highly offensive and find its use as a racial epithet cause for a liberal dose of ass kicking.

In the final analysis, I think McGruder is lazy. Why capitalize on a never-ending controversy? Why pander to the immaturity of those who don’t see anything wrong with the word? Why not stretch the imagination to find other ways to entertain and get paid for it?

Here are the ”Official “Nigger” Usage Rules”, excerpted from a 2005 column by Vincent Williams.  Maybe McGruder needs a refresher course in “What Black People Have Had to Overcome.”

  • Rule No. 1: White people can not use the word under any circumstances.
  • Rule No. 2: The word should never be used as a synonym for black people.
  • Rule No. 3: “Nigga” is still the word “nigger,” and all other rules apply to it.
  • Rule No. 4: If you must use the term “the N-word,” understand you sound ridiculous.
  • Rule No. 5: Use of the word for satirical, ironic, or commentary purposes is acceptable if it doesn’t break one of the previous rules. But you better have a point.

Posted by Dorothy Ferebee on 11/07 at 12:30 PM
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Monday, November 05, 2007

Arrested Development’s New CD

Since the Last Time, Arrested Development

3 Years, 5 Days and 2 Months in the Life is a tough act to follow, but Arrested Development gives their best shot with their new CD Since the Last Time

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With Speech still at the helm, AD is still doing their thing, although without co-founder Headliner and the vocal stylings of songstress Aerle Taree, the original six are now four, with eight band members total.

Track 1, “Since the Last Time” is AD on hopped up on pride, with Speech tellin’ it like it is “we got the labels kissin’ our hind parts/ We desired art and never sold out for the high chart positions”.  A little braggadocious, but the grooves behind it are memorable.

  • Since The Last Time
  • Miracles
  • Heaven
  • Sao Paulo
  • Sunshine
  • Stand
  • It’s Time
  • Inner City
  • I Know I’m Bad
  • Down & Dirty
  • Caught Me
  • Nobody Believes Me Anyway

This is not AD at their 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days level, but it’s a good start after a decade of absence from the scene.

According to Speech, “"It’s been ten years since we blessed stages together, we covered bases together and whether we all agreed or not 20/20 vision is hindsight and now we got that so we done got back”.

Particularly impressive is their cover of “Heaven” by Los Lonely Boys with Eshe on vocals and a delightful Latin-inspired groove “Sao Paulo.” For those who remember the beat and fun of AD’s “Mr. Wendell,” “Sunshine” is your best dance track.

AD is back and will have to find their place again amidst the hoot and holler of big-money grips and rappers.  But their track “Stand” is a testament to their belief in their music. ‘’It’s better to write for ourselves and have no public,’’ Speech raps, ‘’than write for the public and have no self.’’


Posted by Dorothy Ferebee on 11/05 at 06:00 AM
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Friday, November 02, 2007

American Gangster, the Movie

American Gangster, the Movie
Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Directed by Ridley Scott

How about Black American Gangster? Why is it when Denzel Washington plays a decent hard-working black man, the Oscar goes to someone else? You can bet there’s Oscar talk for his role as Frank Lucas, notorious drug pusher.  In fact, some are hoping for a run-off between Washington and Crowe, who plays cop-turned-lawyer, Richie Roberts.

Recently, Hollywood has begun to mine the black criminal history archives for a new look at some old stereotypes. Harlem was the stomping ground for drug users and drug pushers during it’s declining years.  Always pre-occupied with guns and violence, America needed some new meat, hence Mr. Untouchable the story of the 70’s flamboyant heroin dealer Nicky Barnes.

And then theres Harlem bad man Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson, who makes a brief appearance, played by none other than Clarence Williams III.  “Bumpy” Johnson has been portrayed in at least three other Harlem drug movies since the seventies (Shaft, The Cotton Club and Hoodlum) and will probably continue to show up in future films.

The real Frank Lucas story is incredible, a man who would smuggle heroin into the country in the coffins of dead soldiers. It takes a special sort of calculating, souless person to do that, while at the same time, escorting his mother to church every Sunday morning.  American Gangster is visually satisfying, but not brilliantly so. The film footage adds a dose of reality to the film--soldiers nodding out on dope; dancers and young American soldiers in Taiwanese night clubs; cargo planes carrying coffins of dead soldiers and heroin--all lend to the seediness of the Lucas era.

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The soundtrack is adequate, most notable is Track 1 ”Do You Feel Me?” sung by Anthony Hamilton in a cameo appearance. For more on the music of American Gangster

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American Gangster is mostly flat and not very exciting. Washington transforms Frank Lucas into an intense and brooding Denzel Washington. The swagger is all Denzel; the compressed lip action is all Denzel; and there is nothing at all that says Frank Lucas.  This is Denzel in Training Day 2.  Scott trotted out some of the most notable names in black cinema, only to assign them cameo appearances.

Chiwetel Ejiofor’s acting skill is wasted as Lucas’ brother slash assistant, Huey. Most of the characters are one-dimensional and paper thin.  Why cast Ruby Dee as the mother, who only has a scene or two along the way.  Cuba Gooding, Jr. is an afterthought as Nicky Barnes and who knows what Armand Assante’s character Dominic is talking about?

So now we have The Rza on the big screen as Moses Jones. And let’s not forget Russell Crowe as Richie Roberts, the guy who nabs Frank Lucas.  Crowe has no fire and or physical presence.  His character was benign, not entirely likable, nor disagreeable.  With Lucas’ help, he takes down the dirty cops and becomes Lucas’ defense attorney.  How bizzare is that?

It feels like that ‘ole blaxploitation is on the rise.  They could have saved some money by re-releasing Serpico.

Posted by Dorothy Ferebee on 11/02 at 06:00 AM
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Thursday, November 01, 2007

Race and Family Secrets

One Drop: My Father’s Hidden Life, Bliss Broyard, Little Brown

Weeks before his death, reknown literary critic Anatole Broyard revealed to his children that he was a black man. While reading One Drop I wondered how many people are “passing” for one ethnicity or another in these times?

In Broyard’s case, her father chose to live without reference to ethnicity.  Of the many issues brought to the forefront of Bliss Broyard’s life, once his secret was revealed, the most challenging of them all was whether or not her father rejected his blackness.

Did he abandon his family and roots in favor of passing as white?  The next most challenging issue was whether or not she herself could truly accomodate her newly discovered “blackness.”

Her father had his own way of seeing himself in the world, he thought that blacks could best “authenticate themselves” by proving that they were “fundamentally different only in appearance.” Anatole Broyard knew, what most blacks know, that darker skin color is a liability for blacks.

Because he was perceived as white, he made use of the priviledges of whiteness for himself and his family. However, his rejection of his blackness is evident in the fact that not even his children knew he was black.  Bliss Broyard was 24 when she was told the family secret.

After seeking out her father’s family and researching the history of New Orleans Creoles, Bliss Broyard painstakingly consumes, but does not assimilate the information she gathers.  She has not really brought herself any closer to answering her own questions of race and identity.

She takes the easy way out.  “I may never be able to answer the question What am I? yet the fault lies not in me, but in the question itself.  And with that realization, that letting go, I can finally say goodbye.”

Posted by Dorothy Ferebee on 11/01 at 12:00 PM
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