February 16th, 2014

In Memory of: Emmett, Denise, Addie, Carol, Cynthia, Trayvon, Jordan, Darius, Dione...

February 11th, 2014

A MUST SEE DOCUMENTARY!

        The agency where I am employed provides new staff orientation about the agency’s services, sub-units, policies, and procedures. I volunteered to provide an overview about the Minority Disproportionality Workgroup that has been in existence for 4 years.  The groups purpose is combating the over representation of African American children in the Foster Care system by looking at sever al areas addressing race.  During one of the sessions a middle aged AA/Black woman suggested that I view this film…I am very impressed!.

        The documentary is based on the interactions of eight men from diverse ethnic backgrounds, who attended a weekend retreat in Ukiah, California to share their experiences and are willing to explore their beliefs about racism, ethnicity, family history, and prejudices.  All of these men struggled through the process and all were extraordinary in their honesty!!  This a must see!! 

       It is 90 minutes long therefore, I will not write a personal perspective review because it is for you to decide what you come away with after watching these men engage in the dialog process. The video is below.

Wah, L. M. (Producer, Director and Facilitator), & Hunter, M. (Co-producer). (1994). The Color Of Fear (videocassette). (Available from Stir-Fry Productions, Oakland, CA. They self identify themselves as: Lee Mun Wah, facilitator- (Chinese-American” descent and “in China American means White”.  1.   David C.- “American” of English and Denmark heritage.  2.   Hugh- “Mexican-Irish” descent..  3.   Victor- “Cherokee-Black” descent.  4.   Yakata- “3rd-generation Japanese” descent.  5.   Gordon- “7th-generation Euro-American form Scotch-English and German” descent and “I am a racist but I am trying not to be”  6.   Roberto- “Latino-Mexican-American” descent.  7.   David L.-“American Chinese” descent.  8.   Loren-“Black-American” descent. “But having worked in Corporate America I cannot show my blackness”.

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Feb 4th, 2014

Singing the Blues

      As we all know this is Black History month. I debated over what topic I should write about. I was truly drawn to write about the movie “12 Years a Slave” which I went to see by myself in November of 2013. The movie is such a profound piece of scholarly history, it moved me in away only few know about. The unexpected emotions that erupted was unlike anything I have ever read, seen or heard about and will stay encased in my heart and soul. And to think that there is so much more to the historical story of slavery a portion of which, is locked away in the words and the musical notes in the stories and the songs of those long gone.

      Now what would I write about, hmmmm. Being the planner that I am, I began to think about what destination I wanted to travel to on my vacation. I am now an empty nester ¾’s of the year and I only have to think about where I would like to travel! Blues music is my third passion behind writing and photography. Chicago is known for their free summertime Blues Festival and in years past, hosted all of the great’s such as Bonnie Raitt, Ray Charles, B.B. King, the late Bo Diddley, and Buddy Guy and so on. This is sounding promising!

      Chicago is deeply rooted in the history of the Blues and supported the musicians who were monogamous to the genre. However, it was St Louis where the culture of the Blues began and then in the 1950’s migrated to Chicago.

      I was all excited to book accommodations and I started to research places and events in Chicago only to become greatly disenchanted. Chicago just recently lost their bid to have the National Blues Museum make its home in the Blues district. St Louis is the future home of the NBM. What was disturbing to me was the fact that St. Louis' $14 million dollar project, won the backing of a local developer who wanted a museum to anchor a retail, residential and office complex next to the convention center downtown, just blocks from the Gateway Arch. Well let’s see some of the investors such as Todd George, Bob Santelli, Mike Kociela, etc. happen to be what??? Yup, you got it middle age, wealthy, white business men…need I really say more??? 

      As I began looking at Chicago as my vacation destination, guess what, the Blues venue and backers are also prominently what…. I can’t hear you???? This is an issue that further reinforces the need for economic redistribution, but I won’t go there for this post…I promise!  For this post I will simple say that the next stop on my vacation research trail is to look at minority owed businesses along Hwy 61 in Mississippi. 

      The Mississippi Blues Trail tell stories through words and images of bluesmen and women and how the places where they lived and the times in which they existed–and continue to exist–influenced their music. The sites run the gamut from city streets to cotton fields, train depots to cemeteries, and clubs to churches.

      Many greats came from Hwy 61 such as my absolute favorite Blues man Albert King, the mentor to my second favorite Stevie Ray Vaughn. Both music legends now in heaven still singing the blues. In a future post I will provide an update on my findings.

      The last question I will pose to all of you is…when in God’s name will the 1% wealthy elite give back what has been out right stolen from the Black community? 

No wonder the phrase 

“Made in America” denotes 

“whiteness” in the 

global markets!