FN MEKA - The A. I. "rapper' who'd been signed by Capitol Records is the Venn diagram intersect of virtual blackface and virtual gentrification

 FN MEKA. FN MEKA. FN MEKA.

Yes. He/It/They is not human but its creators wanted the thing to be the future of music artistry, at least rap music artistry.

I am glad it failed. Capital Records rescinded its deal with the "performer" when the "authentic" representation of a modern rapper was found to be a little too "authentic." It pissed off real, struggling performers who wondered what was Capitol's agenda, and members of its potential audience. 

The digital dilettante wasn't even a full line into its initial song before it let fly the n-word. Atlanta rapper Kyle The Hooligan, who voiced "FN." wasted no time in getting to that word. I swear it was like the 4th word in the first line of its ouevre. (The dude, more or less, said he got stiffed for his part - https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/rapper-who-is-allegedly-voice-of-fn-meka-speaks-n-ggas-just-ghosted-me-news.156865.html For such a lauded, supposedly monumental step in music, the creation was as insipid as any other popular rap act out now. "FN" wasn't bringing anything new to the game. It was same-o, same-o; it was just in another garish package. A package that got returned to sender after some folks realized it was insulting, stereotypical and far from innovative. "FN" was yesterday's faux-pas before it could even leave the gate.

Why?

'Cuz people who examined "FN" saw that it was, is, offensive. The thing's creators didn't even try to hide their inherent bias in when constructing the thing. 

Oh, and see its creators below. No surprise there. Another level in monetizing Blackness without acknowledging the real deal, or respecting it.

                               Antthony Martini and Brandon Le

These "innovators" obviously had a list of what constitutes a rapper. And they ticked off every item on their list.

The items: 1) the "performer" appears racially ambiguous. The day's hot selling point. Be a little brown, but not too brown as to be BLACK. But sound black and give off a "Black aesthetic."  Appeal to everyone aurually AND visually.

2) a grill, tats, piercings, painted fingernails, colored hair (like Daniel Hernandez had before going to court) colored contacts, tons of gold jewelry - all "markers" of a rap "star"

3) it drops the n-word like nobody's business.

Did I miss anything?

I suppose I can't blame the thing's makers as most rappers look like that now but it does show that there  is a biased blueprint in a lot of people's minds as to what a rapper must look like. 

Which brings me to the backlash the creature received. A plethora of musicians who are FLESH AND BLOOD rappers cried "foul" at the signing of "FN" to Capitol. Why? Because it isn't like there is a deficit of real, live rap potential to choose from. I mean, hell, Capitol, there a lot of REAL, young, hungry folks at there waiting to be snapped up. There's no need for digital artists. Or is there?

Possibly labels were searching for a way to acquire "talent" without liability. Look at the number of rappers who are in trouble with the law - Gunna, Young Thug, Mystikal, ASAP Rocky, etc. It costs labels time and money when a performer is out of work due to alleged criminal activity. It's hard to tour from a prison cell.

Plus, a label could work this new type of "performer" day or night; weeks-long or months-long. Years-long even without needing to pay it, feed it or its entourage, or house it. There would be no need for venues as one would be able to "attend" a concert online. It would be a cash cow that would not need a barn.

So no matter how offensive, tone deaf and short-sighted, creations like "FN MEKA" are coming. He is not the only one. One thing for certain, two things for sure, he was just a test balloon. Its balloon might have been popped but others will fly. Check out Little Miquela, another digital "singer" who is popular with real people. Hell, reference the holograms of Whitney and Tupac. dead folks still working from the grave. Creepy.

"FN's" stereotypical depiction of a rap "star" aside, "FN" didn't sit right with me (as in why does a frame in its video have it being beaten by a cop? Why?), but then, again I am not its audience. The "creators" did follow the present protocol when baking their cake. So it should have been foolproof. Or so they thought. 

Believe me. After these "creators" or others find a way not to not commit the same faux pas, they will be back. It ain't over. 

P. S. Lil, ole dense me just realized "FN" stands for the informal English "f##kin'." My bad.

More Black actresses from the Race Film era of Hollywood - Lucia Lynn Moses

 https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/moses-lucia-lynn-c-1906/

Lucia Lynn Moses. Born December 23, 1906, Washington D.C. - Died October 1984, New York

She was a P. K. (preacher's kid), a chorus girl at the famous Cotton Club and a theater performer.to her family's chagrin. Her two sisters (Ethel and Julia)  followed her into acting, becoming part of Black filmmaker Oscar Micheaux's stable. 

Her sole film was The Scar of Shame, a 1927 movie shot in Philadelphia during the day as she had to be at her other job in NYC at night at the club. The movie has been incorrectly labeled a Micheaux work but it is not. Its plot showed intra-racial conflcit by highlighting a troubled married couple unable to resolve marital problems that end in a divorce and a suicide. Moses' performance was praised as touching, authentic and heartbreaking. A tour de force.

Moses returned to theater and subsequently married a pianist and retired. 

The two kinds of law enforcement outcomes in the States

No. I didn't post anything for the 4th. It's a holiday I really don't think of except when I view it through my uncles and one aunt's service in the Armed Forces. Other than that, it has never been a "golly, gee-whiz" holiday for my family.

So no. Personally, the booms of the fireworks near me got on my nerves. Now on to the post's topic.

Well. Well. Well.

While the police in Akron, OH were on tenterhooks about how the Black populace was gonna react when the dept. was scheduled to release the body caam footage of the straight-up MURDER of Jayland Walker, a White, probable incel (sorry but from the looks of his photo, no sane chick was entertaining him) opened fire on a July 4th parade in Highland Park, Il.

 Hmmm.

Law enforcement is always focused on Black folks while certain White folks are preparing to wild out. I say "preparing" to wild out because the shooter had social media posts declaring his intent waaaay before he acted out.

    (this is a stock photo before anyone gets in their feelings)

Not saying Akron cops should have known anything about the Highland Park shooter. It's not their backyard, but Ilinois cops should have watched the dude in their backyard as he was an incident waiting to happen because they had had PRIOR RUN-INS with him. Like all previous mass shooters he was KNOWN by the police and had a very unhinged social media presence.

Anyhoo, Akron's Black populace stayed calm when the brutal body cam footage of Jayland Walker's execution was released. I bet that deflated some goons balloons. Oh, well, guys, don't fret. Y'all will get to gun down and/or beat down more Black people soon I am sure.

But back to the Highland Park shooter. Killer of 6, wounder of many more.

Unlike Mr. Walker, who had NOT shot and killed anyone and, yes, had led the cops on a high-speed chase and supposedly had fired a gun out of his car at them (strange as a gun was found in the BACK SEAT of the car. Ummm), was cornered and hit 60 times out of the 90-bullet barrage 8 cops sent his way, Robert “Bobby” E. Crimo III, a killer,  was sought and taken into custody without incident. 

Oh my. How was that orchestrated? 

Did he cry and throw himself on their mercy? Did he lie down on the ground? If so, did he get Mickey D's, like Dylan Ruff did, after they "took him into custody?"

No. I do not want to see people be riddled with gun fire when chased by cops BUT why is it ALWAYS the Black folks who get slaughtered whether they have fired a gun or not? Whether they comply or not? they are killed on the spot like unruly livestock.  And the Crimo types get apprehended "without incident" when they HAVE shed blood? Make it nake sense.

I know the answer, You know the answer. We all know the answer.

I did a little research. Seems Highland Park, Il. has a high Jewish population - @50 percent. Is the shooter a "Great Replacement' theory believer or just mental? Or both? If his social media has posts about certain ethnicities, hiis charges will reveal what the authorities beleive his motive was.

In any case, he's dangerous and needs to sit in a big cell with Dylan, Payton,  and all the rest of the mediocre menaces.

P. S. My hometown's July 4th concert ended with a bang. Literally. A shooter shot into the crowd hitting 2 cops. The culprits are still on the loose. I find it interesting that as huge as the crowd was, a shooter could accurately hit 2 cops.  

Hmmm.Interesting indeed.

    (this is a stock photo)

Link to the plice body cam footage of the shooting of Jayland Walker. It is a long video (18 minutes) and is pretty ghoulish at the very end when he is gunned down in a parking lot. by 8 officers. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8HfS2jZ0RU

Note that the man is clearly dead but for some reason he is handcuffed after the fact.

Just a lil rant about TikTokers who give advice on how to steal romance ebooks

Well. Well. Well.

Tik Tok.

The platform that is the newest home to SJWs, is also the home of thieves.

Broke-assed, sorry-assed, bold, proud thieves.

Thieves so proud and bold that these assholes have no problem giving out tips on how to read books, (mostly romance books, but I am sure it is happening to authors of other genres) for FREE!

Yeah, the lil darlings have been doling out help on how to read the hard work of authors for FREE

The tips? Well, if you are a dishonest, broke, cheap smartass, you implement this stealing through Amazon. 

QUELLE SURPRISE! Amazon whose name is whore in my book because they take money from anyone for anything. They also return it too. No questions asked.

But I digress.

As I was aying these lil shytes purchase an ebook from Amazon, read it then return it for a REFUND.That triggers a deficit for the author as the author has to pay for the return. So the only one profiting is the reader. I know of authors who have had their whole series consumed this way. One author had @8 books in a series and this happened to every one of the installments.

And Amazon does nothing. NOTHING. Don't the geniuses in the publishing arm of that business see a pattern? Are they even paid to think? You'd think Bezos would get tired of issuing refunds.Or doing extra transactions at the very least. But Jeffy is too nusy piercing the stratosphere to care because the publishing arm of Amazon operates at a loss. A loss that is offset by all the other stuff it sells. Soooo...Help from Jeff probably won't be coming any time soon.

There are authors who have ceased writing because of this theft. A petition started by authors is going around to stop this stealing. Will it work? Who knows. That would take someone at Amazon giving a shyte.

I would love to see romance authors who use Amazon as a publishing platform, stop giving a shyte and stop writing for a bit, or cease using Amazon to publish. Let the thieves twiddle their thumbs while searching elsewhere to steal. 

Hey, you bottom-feeders out there! You aren't concerned with helping anyone but yourselves.

But I knew that.

ODUNDE IS BACK! AND PHILLY HAS IT!

 https://www.odundefestival.org/

The official Odunde Festival is LIVE again! Having been forced into virtual word for 2020 and 2021 due tot he plandemic, the real deal is back!

It began in Philly 47 years ago (Lord, I can't believe I went to the 1st one!). Founded by the late Lois Fernandez, it has been carried on by her daughter, Oshunbumi Fernandez-West.  It will span June 8 through June 12, 2022 ending with the huge street fair that day with lots of entertainment. In fact, June 11th , an all-wWhite Attire Yacht Party will take place on the Delaware River from 6pm-9pm. Tickets can be purchased at the Penn Museum, 3260 South Street.

Its purpose as taken from the website:

ODUNDE was created in 1975 by Lois Fernandez. The festival attracts UP TO 500,000 people annually and is the largest African American street  festival held in the country. The ODUNDE festival, whose concept originates from the Yoruba people of Nigeria, West Africa, celebrates the coming of another year for  African Americans and Africanized people around the world. It is an occasion highlighted by a colorful procession from  23rd and South Street to the Schuylkill River where an offering of  fruit and flowers is made to Oshun, the Yoruba goddess of the river. ODUNDE is also known for its authentic African marketplace featuring vendors from around the world selling merchandise from African nations, the Caribbean and Brazil.

 Each year, on the second Sunday  in June, ODUNDE takes place covering 15 city blocks and has 2 stages of live entertainment.  ODUNDE will be celebrating its 45TH year in the  traditional South Philadelphia location near 23rd and South street. The festival started in 1975 with a $100.00 grant and neighbors from Fernandez's South Philadelphia community. Since then the ODUNDE Festival has become a national model for cultural street festivals in the country.  The eclectic mix of vendors, entertainment, music, food, jewelry and African art  attracts people from around the WORLD.  ODUNDE IS FOR EVERYONE, WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AND YOUR FAMILY THIS YEAR!!!

P.s. Hey, I know you can't attend but go check out the gallery on the website. it's as close as one can come to being there.

Odunde (oh-doon-day) means "Happy New Year" in the Yoruba language of West Africa, and celebrates the coming of another year for African Americans and people of African descent worldwide who observe the Yoruba faith.

So, ODUNDE!

Oney Judge, or her correct name Ona Maria Judge Staines, enslaved by George Washington in Philly, made a great escape

https://www.phillytrib.com/commentary/michaelcoard/oney-judge-enslaved-by-george-washington-in-philly-had-great-escape/article_43e45d58-a872-5565-a002-46e1bc216753.html 

Oney Judge ran away from the great cherry tree feller (actually his wife Martha) when girlfriend heard through the grapevine that she was gonna be presented, by Martha, to Martha's oldest granddaughter as a wedding gift! 

Ain't that a bitch! Had these folks not heard of gifting china or silverware or...Never mind. I suppose gifting humans requird less wrapping paper.

Anyhoo.

Oney beat a hasty retreat when word came down. She'd been Martha's body servant and an expert needlecrafter. since the age of ten. She was about 17 when she'd been schlepped from Virginia to Philadelphia with her owners, the Washingtons.As i've stated she'd had enough of bondage, servitude and disrespect. She wanted out after being seen as an inanimate object all her life. So, with the help of free Blacks in philly, she left one evvening while the Washingtons were eating supper! 

She made her way, through Underground Railroad stops, to New Hampshire by way of New York. There, she married a free Black sailor and had 2 daughters. She was hounded by America's 1st president until his and his wife's deaths . Ridiculously, they had kept insisting she return to them because how could she have done such a thing to them?

Say what? Now that's some nerve. Or as we'd say today, some privilege.

In any case, Oney ignored them. Sadly, her sister Delphy became the substitute wedding gift. Sorry, Delphy, but when you gotta escape,  you gotta escape.

The story of the long-distance exchange bewteen Oney and the Washingtons is hilarious, if I do say so myself. The book lays it out in such a fashion that the whole interaction becomes a huge WTF moment.

Even though Oney's husband and children pre-deceased her, she outlived the 1st couple by almost 50 YEARS!

Go, Oney, with yo bad self!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HMXRZNM?ref=KC_GS_GB_US

How the formerly enslaved are credited with the creation of "Memorial Day" in America

 https://www.lx.com/black-legacy/dont-overlook-memorial-days-black-southern-roots/53453/

Hampton Park, Charleston, South Carolina - a cemetary, birthplace of Decoration Day or Dedication Day, finally Memorial Day. It first took place on May 1st, 1865.

Formerly enslaved were entrusted with basically the "clean up" in the area after the Civil War. They unearthed a mass grave of Black Union soldiers and honored them properly - proper preparation of the remains for burial, the tidy alignment of individual graves and finally the re-burying of the dead with dignity. Many cities celebrated this remembrance but Charleston had them beat by about 100 years! 

This act was a way of the ex-enslaved thanking the men who'd died fighting for the Union and it also was a dig at the defeated Confederacy.. Needless to say, the custom did not sit right with white Charlestonians. They clung to the the myth of the "Lost Cause" - a re-telling of the Civil War which casts the South in the role of the loer because the North had more manpower and resources. It explained that the war happened because the North was jealous of a paradisical antebellum South. its kindly slave holders, and "happily enslaved darkies." The "Lost Cause" never mentioned the brutality of chattel slavery as a cause for the Civil War. The theory is a doozy - https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lost-Cause

Anyhoo, the origins of Memorial Day are not discussed even today. One must research it to discover the true origins.

Whatevs.

Today, I salute 3 of my uncles who served in WW2, and my father and 1 aunt who were in the Navy.

Happy Memorial Day and thank you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WARRIOR!

                                May 19, 1925 - February 21, 1965

The man

The myth

The legend

6' 3", @180 lbs. of determination

Malik el-Shabazz  (Malcolm X)

Happy Solar Return!

The Buffalo Shooter and the Great Replacement lie that kills!

ALERT! This post will be all over the place because my heart is in one place - with my people.

    The Buffalo shooter's victims

Well, here we go again!

Thoughts and prayers. 

Candlelight vigils. 

White reporters, microphones at the ready, hoping the stunned Black folks they are interviewing will utter how we "all need to love one another and hug it out and get along."

Been there. Done that. Tired of the futile gestures.

Black folks don't need to forgive squat. We have turned the cheek. We have followed the adage of not figuratively blinding others because that just leaves everyone blind.

Yeah, right.

What I see are lots of Black Americans with two bruised cheeks and one eye. While others have unblemished skin and both eyes.

Figuratively. 

Gotta say that in this day and age because ANYTHING Black folks post, say or repeat is seen as "BIE" talk. That's Black Identity Extremists as coined by the FBI. It's seen as dangerous.

HA!

Make up your mind FBI! I thought the infiltration of White Supremacy ideology throughout the country was the main problem for your agency. You know. Poisoned people peppered throughout the military. The law enforcement agencies like yours. The medical field. The judicial system. The school system. On and on. I believe that with each passing shooting. Y'all got the bigger and longer record of barbarism..

Dylan. Patrick. Brenton. Kyle. Payton. A short list but Losers All. I have zero sympathy for them. They cannot leave the earth fast enough as far as I am concerned.

They are men (yes, I said "men." not boys) steeped in a culture that blew their heads up to think their kind is the end all and be all when in reality it has dominance because it is the best at stealing, cheating, lying, plundering and pillaging. Oh, and did I say killing? Can't forget that.

This reality is that the great hub-hub is about the teaching of American history in public schools. The CRT scare. Critical Race Theory. A theory about telling it like it was, and is, about America. It is only taught in law school and has been around since the 70s. NO ONE is teaching it in elementary school. NO ONE! But the mouth-breathers aren't hearing that because the sound of their breathing is drowning it out.

But I digress.

This "replacement" fear has taken hold in the most fragile folks in American society. i. e. those khaki pants-wearing, tiki torch-carrying goons who live in 4chan chatrooms. And their families. Yeah, I said it. No cretins like these bigoted shooters grow up in a vacuum. Mom, Pop, Grandpop, Grandma and countless relatives hold the same belief. America has many sins to atone for. Oh well. If it's a possibility that y'all might be replaced, you might want to take a moment and stop coasting on those fumes of unearned, so-called greatness and actually contribute something of worth besides fear, mediocrity and bloodshed before it's too late. 

But I don't think you can. That's all you know and that's what truly scares you.

P.S. I had a chance to read the latest loser's manifesto but did not dowload it. I regret that because I wanted to share it here. It has been scrubbed from the internet. How convenient. What I gleaned from it is that the dude is not crazy or sufffering from some mental illness. Not a one of them who do this are. When you plot out how you are going to pick a target, do reconnaisance days before you strike, load up on ammo and wear tactical gear...You ain't crazy. You are dangerous.

My love/hate relationship with STARZ "Outlander"

        Jamie and Claire

Yeah. I'm the dweeb who read all the Outlander books BEFORE it became a thing. Except for the last one. I need to catch up. I fell in love with Jamie and Claire from the 1st chapter onward. I adore the pairing of Sam Heughan and Catriona Balfe. Diana Gabaldon has def written an uber saga.. She loves words and I'm here for ithem. She writes for readers. If you ain't one, don't even try. You might hurt your brain. Her depiction of Jamie and Claire is everything a romance should be. Except...That is where my 1st bone to pick with Gabaldon or STARZ or whoever is. Initially, from jumpstreet, this series of books was labelled ROMANCE. Not HISTORICAL FANTASY. It's like if a person calls Outlander, romance, it's a dirty word. The series drips in it but for some reason the folks associated with it have distanced themselves from the term. I mean. damn! Romance sells. Look at the success of NETFLIX's Bridgerton. Which for me has been a snoozer from episode one. I didn't finish it first time around and I doubt I'll tune in for this second part.

But I digress. Folks love it. It's just not my cup of tea. But at least it's billed as ROMANCE.

Next bone to pick? My gripe is with the Frasers' sojourn in the New World. While Jamie, Claire and their immediate kin are depicted as understanding and accepting of the non-Whites in their midst., I'd have to say all involved are pretty tonedeaf. 

Yo, dudes! The Scots, the Irish, etc. fled to the colonies because ENGLAND was putting an ass-whuppin' on them by moving them off their ancestral lands, ERADICATING their customs, forbidding the teaching of their mother tongues and by jailing or killing any of them who did the aforementioned. SO why get to the New World and do the same ish to the Indigenous people here? And don't even get me started with the  enslaved Africans. 

Talk about cognitive dissomce.

Jocasta, Ulysses and Phaedre at River Run Plantation

But STARZ is sticking to the books. More or less. Some books are melded together.

The third gripe I have is the passing glance givien to Natives and Black people. Yeah, I said it and I think I heard your collective groan. Look. I know the  books and the TV show center  around Claire, Jamie aand their brood while in Americaa BUT  honey chile, you cannot give a picture of Colonial America WITHOUT on-going stories of the folks who were already here, and the ones that were dragged here in chains.

Here is a line from a PBS/TIMELINE special entitled 1773, Slavery and the making of America:

"The slave population in the colonies is nearly 500,000. In Virginia, the ratio of free colonists to slaves is nearly 1:1. In South Carolina it is approximately 1:2."

So how you gonna have a series set in Colonial America and see partically ZERO SLAVES when in reality there was, at least, one for every White person?

How? Is STARZ' budget low? Do the writers not know how to incorporate realistic non-White characters? Maybe I'm expecting too much as the show is about conquering things - fear, traditions, time, expectations. 

            Ulyssess, Betty and Phaedre

Gabaldon and STARZ only has non-Whites in a storyline to highlight how virtuous Claire and Jamie are, or for titillation purposes ( See Phaedre's "affair" with Jocasta's husband.or Ulysses' "affair" with Jocasta.). Lord, that's a whole other post for me. That's some fantasy that needs to be broomed to the nearest curb. I am so weary of these rapes being penned as "love affairs"  Yes. We have the noble Ulysses, the Black manservant/ex-bed buck (a dude who'd been FREED years before but stayed behind to care for his former mistress) to Aunt Jocasta who saves her from being killed by killing the White man who was attacking her. Ulysses had to be sent away to England (ironic) with Lord John Gray for his safety. There was another plotline where a young slave, Rufus, disobeys his master. They fight. Rufus draws the man's blood. Rufus is punished by being impaled on a HOOK.  Somehow he gets to the Frasers and Claire tends to him.  A mob assembles outside River Run Plantation and threatens to burn it down (how neighborly), and slaughter the other slaves if the Frasers don't hand over the wounded slave for execution by midnight.  The effery of this episode is that Claire as a doctor can do no harm but she can aid Rufus in his choice - To surrender to the mob to be lynched or drink a poisoned tea and die before the mob kills him. Being noble, Rufus drinks the tea. Jamie holds the mob off until the guy dies and STILL has to hands off the body to the mob. The sickest moment is when the mob takes the body and HANGS THE DEAD MAN. Phew! There are female slaves who run Jocasta's estate who you see every once in awhile. Occasionally, a Black or Native body will meander across the screen but that's it. Yeah, the poor Whitess couldn't afford slaves but still...Somebody could if the ratio was 1:1. Slaves were planting the crops, bringing in the crops, washing the clothes, preparing the food, cooking the food,, and yes, being starved, beaten and sexually assaulted in between performing these tasks while held in bondage. Half of season 4 and all of seasons 5 and 6 are problematic. Hella problematic.

         Jamie carrying the dead Rufus 

But, again, I digress.

Lovers of the books and the series can argue that the story is about Claire and Jamie. Not background people.True. True. But if one is going to set a story in an era that is known for certain occurences, or has a specific atmosphere, do it right. Or don't do it at all. The showrunners had no problem showing whorehouses in Scotland or France or the lavishness of the French court during one season. Same with the years spent at Castle Leoch. No detail was left unexplored.. Thinking on this omission now answers the questiion of  WHY folks associated with the show/books started calling it HISTORICAL FANTASY in lieu of ROMANCE. With their "alterations" they should call it REDACTED AMERICAN HISTORICAL FANTASY.

THE SLAP HEARD AND SEEN 'ROUND THE WORLD

 

No. I do not condone it. I do understand it.

Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at Sunday night's Oscar shindig over a joke Rock made about Will's wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith.

These two have history. They have been beefin' for some years. All over Rock's remarks about Jada Pinkett-Smith. So, I figured if the two men were ever in a room and Rock were to say something...Hands were gonna get thrown. And it happened. Isn't the lament of a certain Black female harpy crowd on YouTube always about how Black men don't protect or defend their women? 

WELL, YA HAPPY NOW? 

Now my breakdown.

Rock is a comedian. He says funny things for a living. Some of them hurtful to his subjects. But I always say when one chooses to be in the entertainment business, one is fair game, Will. Jada.

Mrs. Smith has alopecia. A condition afflicting millions of women. Definitely not something one would want but not slapworthy on network TV. But sometimes a dude has to defend his woman. I would have preferred Will take it the quiet, personal, off-the-record route but this is Hollywood where if an incident isn't photographed, did it happen? Plus, no publicity is bad publicity always to show ponies.

I see it as no big deal. Will will work again. He makes money for Hollywood. They ain't canceling that cash cow. Chris will work again. He makes moolah for Hollywood too. I just think it's sad that this nonsense overshadowed Will's win.

And for the "concerned" Academy members and actors in the audience..Miss me with that. Y'all was eatin' it up like the slave masters of old who'd watch 2 pieces of property go at it.

"Were you not entertained?" in my best Maximus voice.

CLARIFICATION FOR THOSE IN THE BACK!

That wasn't a PUNCH. That was a BITCH SLAP ( open-handed hit). It differs. There is also something called a PIMP SLAP (back-handed hit).

Now you know and I'm over it all. Next!

Mabel Fairbanks, figure skater extraordinaire!

Before Debi Thomas, before Tai Babilonia, before Atoy Wilson, before Surya Bomaly,  before Starr Andrews, there was Mabel Fairbanks. Mabel paved the way for non-Caucasian and African-American figure skaters.

Mabel Fairbanks was an American figure skater and coach. As an African American and Native American woman she paved the way for other minorities to compete in the sport of figure skating such as Naomi Lang. Mabel Fairbanks was born on November 14, 1915 in Florida's Everglades. Her father was African American while her mother was a Native American of English descent. She was inducted into the US Figure Skating Hall of Fame, as the first person of African American and Native American descent, and the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame.

Though loaded with talent, she never competed competitively due to the segregation laws in place. She instead performed as an act on the theatrical circuit.

Fairbanks coached singles and pairs, including Tiffany Chin, Billy Chapel, Scott Hamilton, Kristi Yamaguchi / Rudy Galindo, Tai Babilonia / Randy Gardner, Leslie Robinson, Michelle McCladdie, Richard Ewell, Debi Thomas, Atoy Wilson, and Jean Yuna. She also taught skating to the children of many celebrities. In 1997, she became the first African American inducted into the US Figure Skating Hall of Fame. She was inducted into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame in October 2001.

Fairbanks never married. She was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis in 1997 and with acute leukemia in mid-2001. She died on September 29, 2001 at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California She is interred in the ground at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood, California. Her grave is right at the beginning of the bridge to the Clark Mausoleum.

Remembering the late, great L. A. Banks. mistress of romance, horror and paranormal romance

 https://horroraddicts.wordpress.com/2016/02/02/master-of-horror-l-a-banks-and-her-contribution-to-horror/

She is right up there with Clive Barker and Stephen King as far as I'm concerned. 

Her novel, MINION, Book One (2003) in her Vampire Huntress series hooked me from page one. Her heroine, Damali Richards, who is a spoken word artist gets tossed into the realm of vampire huntress with nary a Buffy-ism in sight (I do love that TV show though).I loved Banks'world of non-White characters where a Tamika could be a "'round the way girl' as well as a vampire. Banks was from my hometown too. She inspired me to write my science fiction series with my own Black female main character.

L.A. Banks. born Leslie Ann Petersen, known also as Leslie Esdaile Banks hailed from Philadelphia, PA. A prolific scribe, her series comprised 12 novels, the last one ironically named, THE THIRTEENTH (2009). 

In June 2011, BBanks was diagnosed with late stage adrenal cancer. Well liked in the romance writing community, notables such as P.N. Elrod, Heather Graham and Charlaine Harris donated to a fund set up for banks' medical care. Sadly, Banks died August 2, 2011 at the age of 51. She is survived by a daughter, Helena. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Esdaile_Banks

List of her works:

https://horroraddicts.wordpress.com/2016/02/02/master-of-horror-l-a-banks-and-her-contribution-to-horror/l-a-banks/

Jayne Kennedy - A 1st in the field of sports reporting. Oh, and it's Black History Month

 https://blackamericaweb.com/2022/02/01/women-in-sports-media/

It is so ironic and sad that I'm posting on Jayne Kennedy, a pageant winner from years past when just two days ago, a lovely young lady who'd been Miss USA left this Earth by her own hand. But I'm here to post about Jayne Kennedy, not Cheslie Kryst. 

May she rest in power..

Jayne Kennedy (nee Harrison), a 5' ft. 10"  model/actress who was a terific sports newscaster. Of course, her CV follows all the requisite steps a future pageant participant walks. Cheer-leader. National Honor Society member. Three times the president of her high school class. She was a woman of "1sts." First Black woman picked as Miss Ohio 1970. One of ten semi-fiinalist in the Miss USA pageant later that same year. Practically fresh out of high school, she married actor and DJ, Leon Isaac Kennedy in 1971. Next, she went on to a successful, if not distinguished, acting career appearing in many TV roles and a few films with her husband. She segued into sports casting on "NFL Today" on CBS but got the boot in 1980 over claims of sexism brought by her. Not to be stopped, she continued on a path of her own. By 1982, her 11-year marriage to Kennedy had ended. Still active in the industry, she met and married actor Bill Overton in 1985 The couple became parents to 4 daughters.. Now 70 years old,  she and Overton are still togehter and Jayne is still as beautiful. 

Off Topic:

Talk about a brush with celebrity. Jayne married Bill Overton in Bermuda in 1985. I was on vacation in Bermuda that same week they were married.. Small world indeed.

P. S.

HAPPY BLACK HISTORY MONTH!

IT'S THE REVEREND DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.'S BIRTHDAY AND Y'ALL NEED TO STOP!

 https://www.phillytrib.com/commentary/michaelcoard/coard-from-the-grave-mlks-telling-white-folks-stop-it-just-stop-it/article_07c21510-40c4-57d0-8b54-2ac9a38cadb1.html

Dr. King's birthday is today, January 15th. If he had not been assassinated he would have been 93 years old today.

It's that time of the year when America's dominant population raises its head from its navel to wax poetic about the Rev. Dr. Martine Luther King, Jr.

They will reach back into the Rolodex (look it up) of their mind and thumb through until they come to the Ks. There they will pluck out the "MLK" card and rush out to recite the "I Have A Dream' speech to the nearest Black person. And how that person needs to heed it.

Yearly duty done, they will retunr to gazing at their navels again.

Oh well.

Look. If you have ever visted this blog during January, you know how I feel about the hijacking of that speech by people who are willfully ignorant about everything else happening to Black people in America at the hands of those who gleefully continue systemic racism against us. 

Anytime something jumps off or is exposed in the news or in an article concerning the state of Black America you can bet dollors to doughnuts that certain someones, somewhere will point to thaat speech and say, "You people haven't gottten where you want to be because BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. You need to read Dr. King's speech!"

My response?

STOP IT! SHUT UP! 

You need to go read "THE MOUNTAINTOP.' by him. And the article I've linked above. Then maybe. Maybe. we could talk. 

OK?

Otherwise...Sit down!

Whiskey? Did someone say, "Whiskey?" - Interview with Fawn Weaver, owner and creator of "Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey"

https://www.npr.org/2021/10/01/1042481944/uncle-nearest-premium-whiskey-fawn-weaver

WHISKEY.

It's not my beverage of choice. I prefer a ginger ale or a vodka and tonic

BUT

Whiskey has a spot in my heart because when I was a cold-ridden, stuffed-up nose, phlegm filled child, my dear, dear, well-loved Grandpop used to make a special remedy for me for relief. - A HOT TODDY!

It's ingredients were some sugar or honey, lemon juice, some water, cinammon and some of his "secret" herbs and a GENEROUS pour of WHISKEY! It was served in a teacup, hot.

Yeah. Yeah. He gave alcohol to a kid. 

QUELLE  HORREUR!

So freakin' what? It was medicinal. The use for most alcohol from its origns. 

Anyhoo, after imbibing that toddy (sometimes two), I was one happy camper and was able to get uninterrupted sleep..And my mom was greatful I was quiet. LOL.

Thank you , Grandpop! 

Anyhoo, this post ain't about mr. Just my passing connection to whiskey.

The accompanying NPR segment features Fawn Weaver, a Black female who owns the brand "Uncle nearest Premium Whiskey." She's a first in a filed with people who look like her out front. 

(Don't get me started on the "creators" of  "Jack Daniels." That's another story for another day).

Please either read or listen to Ms. Weaver's journey at the provided link.

HAPPY FREAKIN' NEW YEAR!

 

Another year gone. Another year begins.

I have projects brewing and much hope for them. 

It will be better in 2022. Much better.

The corona will hang around i think. It looks to be heading for endemic territory. In amy case, whatever you have decided for your safety, don't let your guard down. Educate yourself. Weigh all arguments.

I wish you the best of health, wealth and love!

Happy New Year!