Non-Racist Or Anti-Racist
There is a tasteful bit of white guilt porn on the innertubes. The video is from the Guardian, a British enterprise. Are you racist? ‘No’ isn’t a good enough answer. The transcript has 365 words, one for each day of the year. The word for today is and. The most recent tally shows 4,714,039 views on facebook, which does not pay royalties.
The talk is an exercise in semantics. Either you are non-racist, or anti-racist. The possibilities that you are a known-racist is not considered, as is the concept that attitudes about race are nobody else’s business. The speaker, Marlon James, instructs the listener that you MUST be anti-racist. Nothing else will do. This means that you must take some type of action against racism. What exactly you are supposed to do is not specified, but you need to do something.
Mr. James lists five points that the mythical non-racist uses to justify their non-ness. “I’m not a bigot. I don’t sing that ’n’ word when my favorite rap jam comes on. I didn’t vote for that guy. I’m not burning any crosses. I’m not a skinhead.” From these five nots, a certain lifestyle emerges. “What you end up with is an entire moral stance, an entire code for living your life and dealing with all the injustice in the world by not doing a damn thing. That’s the great thing about “non-”: you can put it off by simply rolling over in your bed and going to sleep. So why are you sitting at home and watching things unfold on TV instead of doing something about it? Because you’re a non-racist, not an anti-racist.” Or maybe you are an uncle-racist, and auntie-racist won’t let you do anything.
At no point is a course of anti-racist action suggested. Should you go block traffic on the interstate? Should you vilify a member of your community who expresses incorrect opinions on facebook? Should you go to the state capitol, and talk to your representative about laws you are not familiar with? Exactly what are you supposed to do? Will this action do more harm than good? Is this action any of your business? Do you know what you are talking about? Maybe the effect of your action is not important, as long as you are doing something.
The monolog takes a strange turn now. “Now, do this for me: take the “c” out of racist and replace it with a “p”. “I’m not a rapist. I’m not friends with any rapist. I didn’t buy that rapist’s last album.” All these things that you’re not doing. Meanwhile, people are still getting raped, and black boys are being killed. It’s not enough that you don’t do these things.”
Ok, so now we need to take meaningless action against rape, and black boy murder. Again, what are you supposed to do? There is also the matter of privilege. Is it really the white person’s business that black boys are shooting other black boys? And what are we supposed to do about this? Maybe you can say rude things about police. Whatever you do, say #blacklivesmatter instead of #alllivesmatter.
The video comes to a merciful end with the words “We need to stop being “non-” and start being “anti-”. Or take action against glamorous issues that have no effect on most people, but make you feel good to talk about. The Academy Award nominations have been announced, and not enough POC have been nominated. We can take action on twitter, as this tweet illustrates. #oscarssowhite that pointed hoods will be included in the swag bags this year.
The pictures today are from The Library of Congress. These details are from picture #06666, documenting “First Internation[al] Pageant of Pulchritude & Seventh Annual Bathing Girl Review at Galveston, Texas.” It was taken in 1926.
The Great Speckled Bird
One day in the eighth grade, PG had a sore spot in his eye. They called it a stye. One afternoon, he got out of school, walked to Lenox Square, saw a doctor, and got some eye drops.
When he left the doctor’s office, there was a man, standing in front of Rich’s on the sidewalk, selling a newspaper. He had blond hair down past his shoulders. PG asked what the newspaper was. Mostly politics, he said. PG gave him fifteen cents for a copy of “The Great Speckled Bird”.
The Bird was an underground newspaper. It was so bad, it needed to be buried. If you are under fifty, you have probably never seen one. These papers flourished for a while. The Bird was published from 1968 to 1976. The April 26, 1968 edition was volume one, number four. This was what PG bought that day.
The Georgia State University Library has a digital collection. Included in it are copies of The Great Speckled Bird. Included in this collection is edition Number Four. PG went looking for that first copy. He needed to be patient, for the GSU server took it’s time. Finally, the copy he asked for came up. It was mostly politics.
When PG saw page four, he knew it was the edition from forty eight years ago. “Sergeant Pepper’s Vietnam Report” was the story of a young man sent to Nam. It had a paragraph that impressed young PG, and is reproduced here. The rest of the article is not that great, which is typical of most underground newspaper writing.
A couple of years later, PG spent the summer working at the Lenox Square Theater. The number two screen was a long skinny room. If you stood in the right place, you could hear the electric door openers of the Colonial Grocery store upstairs. The Bird salesmen were a feature at the mall that summer, which not everyone appreciated. This was the year of the second, and last, Atlanta Pop Festival. PG was not quite hip enough to make it. He was back in the city, taking tickets for “Fellini Satyricon”. The Bird was printing 26 pages an issue, with lots of ads, pictures, and the distinctive graphics of the era.
Stories about hippies, and the Bird, can be found at The Strip Project. This repost has pictures from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
The Last David Bowie Show
It has been a strange week for a David Bowie fan. On Friday, I was looking for a rerun to post, and was reminded that January 8 was his birthday. (Along with Elvis and Shirley Bassey) I put up a piece about Mr. Bowie, and fashioned a poem out of his song titles. Aquarian Drunkard reissued a collection of the “best and most interesting Bowie oddities”. A new album was released, with a lot of comments about how strange it was. Strange is something Bowie fans turn to face.
On Monday, I woke up. Go on the internet. MSN news says that David Bowie has died. This is surprising. I know what people are going to talk about for a few days.
I typically download the new wtf podcast on Monday. The show is “supported” by Columbia records, presenting David Bowie’s new album “Blackstar.” Marc Maron gushes on about how ” DAVID BOWIE I LOVE DAVID BOWIE. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” The single is called “Lazarus.”
The timing of the whole thing is bizarre. Was this planned? To release a puzzling new work on your sixty ninth birthday, and then die two days later. With the master media manipulator involved, prior planning cannot be ruled out. Or was it just a parting shot of synchronicity? We will never know.
In what might be a new move for celebrity deaths, sex scandal rumors emerged. A lady named Lori Maddox claims that Mr. Bowie “devirginized” her. Miss Maddox was underage at the time. Some people think that this incident makes Mr. Bowie a terrible person, whose artistic output should be ignored. One made the inevitable comment “As someone who sees White stars get a pass for things that celebrities of color get crucified for.”
I learned a long time ago to separate the performer from the performance. I also apply this rule to David Robert Jones. (David Bowie was a stage name. The legal name was never changed.) In 1976, there was an interview, where the artist said “Don’t believe anything you hear me say.” While the creative/marketing genius can be enjoyed, there was always a bit of coldness behind the mask. Some press reports say that this softened as the years went by. In the end David Bowie was human. Ziggy Stardust was a character played by an actor. Does it matter that they were a Cracked Actor?
It is ironic that David Bowie played Andy Warhol in Basquiat. Both combined creation of art, and the marketing of art product, into a seamless unit. The two did not have a good first meeting. “Remember, David Bowie was not a big star. He was just some guy off the street as far as Andy Warhol was concerned. They found a common ground in David’s shoes. David was wearing yellow Mary Janes and Andy had been a shoe illustrator, which David knew so they began talking about shoes.”
This would have been in 1971. Mr. Bowie discusses his adventures in between songs of this show. There is another story from that first tour: “I think that must’ve been part of the Mercury Records publicity tour in early 1971, Gus. Ted Vigodsky, if I remember correctly, brought Bowie by The Great Speckled Bird’s offices on North Avenue where Moe Slotin and I met him. Bowie was dressed in an ill-fitting gingham dress and looked something like a gaunt, poverty-stricken woman in one of those Walker Evans photos from the Depression. He informed Moe and me that he was gonna be the next big star in rock-n-roll. It took all of our will power not to laugh in his face. This was before anyone in America had heard of him and he had no records out yet (“Space Oddity,” a hit in England in 1969, was not released in the USA until 1973). Six months later Moe and I realised we had completely underestimated him. I had forgotten Charlie had called you about interviewing him.” Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
What Is Dirty About Louie Louie?
The sixties were a great time to be a kid. As long as you were too young for a Vietnam Vacation, there were kicks to be had.
One of the more enduring legends was the dirty lyrics to “Louie Louie”. Recorded by an obscure band called the Kingsmen, the song was a massive hit in 1963 (It never was Number One). When WQXI put out lists of the greatest songs of all time, “Louie Louie” was at the top of the list. This is despite, or because of, the raucous sound. The song was recorded in one take, when the band thought they were playing a rehearsal. The vocals are difficult to make sense of, and rumored to be obscene. No one was ever quite sure why. With the garbled sound on the record, the listener could hear almost anything they wanted to.
The Governor of Indiana, Matthew Welsh, banned radio stations from playing the song in that state. On February 7, 1964, Attorney General Robert Kennedy got a letter from an outraged parent about the lyrics to “Louie Louie”. An F.B.I. investigation followed. After thirty months of investigation, the Bureau concluded that they could not make sense of the lyrics.
PG had a neighbor named Carol. A tomboy who could whip most of the boys, she had a pet skunk named Napoleon. Carol claimed to have heard a band at Lenox Square play “Louie Louie”. “He said the words real slow so you could understand them. I can’t repeat what he said, but it was dirty”.
Louie, Louie Oh no, me gotta go.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, said, ah
Louie, Louie Oh, baby, me gotta go
A fine little girl she waits for me Me
catch a ship for cross the sea.
Me sail that ship all alone Me never think how I make it home.
Ah, Louie, Louie No, no, no, no, me gotta go.
Oh, no. Said, Louie, Louie Oh, baby, said we gotta go.
Three nights and days I sail the sea Think of girl, oh, constantly.
Ah, on that ship I dream she there
I smell the rose, ah, in her hair.
Ah, Louie, Louie Oh, no, sayin’ we gotta go.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
but, ah, Louie, Louie Oh, baby, said, we gotta go.
[Yelled] Okay, let’s give it to ‘em right now! [instrumental]
Me see Jamaica, ah, moon above.
It won’t be long, me see me love.
Take her in my arms again, I got her; I’ll never leave again.
Ah, Louie, Louie Oh, no, sayin’ me gotta go.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
But, ah, Louie, Louie Oh, baby, said, ah, we gotta go.
I said we gotta go now, Let’s get on outta here.
[Yelled] Let’s go.
Transcribed by David Spector Sept. 2000 Public Domain. If anyone reading this can explain what was so dirty about this song, please leave a comment. Thank you Wikipedia for your help in assembling this. This is a repost. Pictures by The Library of Congress
MOOR EEFFOC
Four words I would like to see used less often: Liberal, Conservative, Racist, Terrorist. ~ The story of the girl with the black name and the “white satan” co worker is prejudiced. You assume she is telling the truth. You do not have the other side of the story, and yet you say that he had it coming. It is 24 part click bait, when you could have told the story in one panel. When I tried to comment, the comment device did not work. This used to be a Christian oriented site. It still is, but you are going to the hateful, childish sort of christianity that gives Jesus a bad name. Grow up. ~ Understand me I do not have time for things that have no soul ~ Understand me. I’m not like an ordinary world. I have my madness, I live in another dimension and I do not have time for things that have no soul. ~ Nobody seems to know what piece this quote is taken from, and what the context is. ~The label “terrorist” needs to go. It is no longer useful. ~ @EdDarrell Mass shootings in 14 nations not at war over 14 years: 133 in US, 33 in other 13 combined.@chamblee54 People involved in drone attacks are amused to learn that the USA is not at war @EdDarrell Do you think war contributed to the US’s 133 mass shootings? (Good point, otherwise; US seems always at war.) @chamblee54 not directly- the “karma” of USA is rotten – having scads of trained killers in our midst hurts – violence of xtianity hurts ~ 23 New Words for Emotions That We All Feel, but Can’t Explain ~ Black Woman’s Response To Her New Racist Coworker Is Pure Pranking Perfection ~ bottom researchers ~ Millard Fillmore ~ word of the year nominees ~ what’s the source of those data. ~ The Unofficial Bowie: A Conversation Piece ~ RNRF reserves the right to edit or delete any comments without notice due to; 1. Comments deemed to be spam or questionable spam 2. Comments including profanity 3. Comments containing language or concepts that could be deemed threatening ~ Sometimes grayscale is the way to go. ~ While listening to Abba. ~ The author is Michael Sherlock. Make your own joke. ~ You could put the period after the word cruel. ~ I was listening to a video panel discussion about drug addiction. At 13:24, one participant says “Dr. Volkoff gives me a lot of grant money I cannot disagree with her” ~ Kathy Shaidle is an author, columnist and blogging pioneer. Her latest book, Confessions of a Failed Slut, is available exclusively from Amazon. ~ First, he (Millard Fillmore) illustrates the on-going tension in our free religious community, between the prophetic and the practical – the privilege of moral purity and the necessity to make real world decisions. ~ Is Hillary being kept alive so that her vital organs can be harvested and sold? ~ @SlavojTweezek My theory of the post-revolutionary Marxist utopia is grounded in Neo-Warholian Materialism: Everyone will be equal for 15 minutes. ~ #arthurblank is the top trending item on twitter He did not die, but expressed confidence for his idiot general manager ~ BS is in his seventies. HDRC is in her late sixties. No one seems to be concerned about this. If BS were to be elected, with EAW (age 66) as the VPOTUS, then she might make it to the oval office via natural causes. ~ @GlennLoury “Whats the source of those data?” Slightly grammar challenged, but could be an internet mantra ~ Hi again. Looks like you’re still using an ad blocker. Please turn it off in order to continue into Forbes’ ad-light experience. ~ @SlavojTweezek When in doubt, quote Hegel. ~ @chamblee54 Is Dunning Kruger related to Freddie Krueger? @EdDarrell No relation. Different spelling, even. ~ pictures from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. ~ selah
A Question And A Joke
You can listen to hours of talk, and then hear everything you need to hear in one sentence. This happened to PG twice recently. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Dr. Glenn Loury is a frequent flyer at Bloggingheads.tv. He hosted a recent discussion with the eyeball grabbing headline Are school suspension policies racist? The guest, Robert Cherry, was going-on-and-on about black household percentages, when Dr. Loury asked “What’s the source of those data?” The guest never did answer the question.
In many internet incidents, statistics are accepted without question. Weasel words like average and prove are not challenged. Simple questions, like “who paid for the study” are not asked. Is this an authority issue? Do rhetoric spouting bullies use statistics as weapons, never to be challenged?
The war on drugs is another playground for authoritarianism. A recent episode of radiolab, The Fix, explores developments in chemical solutions to the remorseless desire to get fucked up. Some say we are headed to a “prozac moment,” to a sea change in the way we view addiction. Others hold onto the AA method, and say that it is the only thing that works for some. Since everyone approaches substances in their own unique way, there probably will never be a one-size-fits-all answer.
The radiolab show links to a panel discussion with “top addiction researchers.” Despite the charming European accents, the show is suicidally boring. At the 13:24 mark, Eric Nestler says “Dr. Volkoff gives me a lot of grant money I cannot disagree with her.” It was intended as a joke.
Google It
It was a good try. The grammar mistakes could give an english teacher nightmares. The all caps, hashtag heavy, rhetoric rampage was obnoxious even by Bernie Sanders standards. When you follow the gentle suggestion to “GOOGLE IT” you see some things that make BS look like a loudmouth fool.
For those people who are yet asking how #BernieSanders will pay for all the things he is campaigning for… LISTEN GOOD!!! You maybe heard the things #BernieSanders wants to do. But you didn’t pay attention.. 1) I don’t going to do it easy for you.. if you are really interested in how he going to pay for. .. GOOGLE IT!!! I’M. F*#&@ING TIRED OF PEOPLE LIKE YOU TRYING TO DEMORALIZED PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY ARE DOING SOMETHING TO CHANGE THE WORLD. SO MOVE YOUR FINGERS AND LOOK FOR YOURSELF. 2) OPEN YOUR MIND TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HIS MESSAGE, HE CAN’T DO IT BY HIMSELF. 3) OPEN YOUR HEART IF YOU STILL HAVE ONE.. if you are doing this just to waste our time or our energy…JUST BACK OFF… #BERNIESANDERS #FEELTHEBERN #MYCITYCONNECTED #SEETHEBERN #BreakEmUp #TheRealDeal #LetsGetToWork http://www.berniesanders.com
The lady said to “GOOGLE IT.” PG highlighted how #BernieSanders will pay for all the things he is campaigning for, right click, “Search Google for”…
If you look at the turmoil BHO went through to get badly needed health care reform through congress, you might be wondering how BS is going to get free college tuition approved. The answer is that he will not. BS is making a lot of promises that nobody could come close to fulfilling. Lets put that aside, and consider how these promises will be paid for.
The Huffington Post is the top result, and is fairly sympathetic. Bernie Sanders Explains How Taxing The Rich Will Pay For His Policies “But he admits it could take more than higher contributions from the top 1 percent alone.”
The Free Thought Project notes the cost of the proposals. BS does not plan to cut back on military spending, but will go full spending speed ahead. Drone warfare would continue, although BS says he would be more careful. The unquestioning support of Israel would continue, with Palestinians blamed for the slaughter in Gaza. At no time does anyone say #GazaLivesMatter.
The Wall Street Journal does not #feeltheBern. Price Tag of Bernie Sanders’s Proposals: $18 Trillion claims that the BS proposals could double the national debt. The WSJ article does not say how the proposals would be paid for.
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Chamblee54 
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