JUNETEENTH!

Oh Man. I completely forgot. Too much celebrating I guess.

Juneteenth! That holiday 45 says NO ONE knew about until he brought attention to it.

Lord help us. Party the whole weekend to burn off that nonsense.

Something has got to give and it ain't gonna be me!

The continued protests here in the States are not over only George Floyd's, Breonna Taylor's, Ahmad Arbery's, and lately Rayshard Brooks' MURDERS. Their deaths are a catalyst. A spark. The culmination of Black frustration and anger built up over decades, no CENTURIES, of constantly being ignored, used as scapegoats whenever the White populace needs a whipping boy to boost its flagging morale, discounted, and being convenient wells from which others culturally appropriate while we are told subtly that we are a worthless lot.

And this cover?

I do not know what to make of it. Is The New Yorker being sincere? Or just making a Kardashian-like move by striking while the racial iron is hot by taking advantage of a trend (being "woke" and White) while making some quick bank and acting like it gives a good goddamn?

Just like half of America these last three weeks.

That half one sees on the news begging forgiveness. The half performing foot-washings on Black people. The half draped in Kente cloth. The half pulling down Confederate statues. The half in corporate America taking black images off their products. The half crying on bended knee, saying that "it didn't know." Didn't know what? Pray tell what didn't you know?  How brutal your people can be? Have been? How could you NOT know? Don't you read history books? What did you think? That we were making this mess up for shits-and-giggles? That we were just whining? Or as you love to say, "playing the race card?" So y'all needed an effin' visual? Y'all needed to see a man dying on camera for 8 minutes and 46 seconds to finally know we weren't lying? Yanno, your reaction would be comic theater at its best if it were not so disturbing and tone-deaf.

How could you NOT have known how we are treated? We live it everyday. It's in our face everyday; it has to run across yours in some form too. But knowing your low tolerance level when it comes to being confronted with your own short-comings  you looked the other way probably. Well...NEWSFLASH! We are harassed daily by "Karens." We are chased and followed daily by "Brads.."  We are killed daily BY OFFICERS FRIENDLY..

And let me insert here as a refresher for those in the cheap seats in the back. DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT PART YOUR LIPS TO SPEAK TO ME ABOUT BLACK-ON-BLACK CRIME. That is a whole other topic that is none of your beeswax. When you can answer why there is White-on-White crime, or any other nationality-on-any other nationality crime, MAYBE we can talk. MAYBE. Otherwise shut up. This ain't the time or the place to air your brain droppings. Okay?

As for the other half of America? Well, they aren't even part of the conversation. Which is good as WE are over listening. This other half of America though, wants to "make America great again." To bring back the  "good, old days" when lynching was in vogue. When they could have a nice Sunday picnic, after church, under the same tree where a Black person was freshly swinging. And take home parts of the deceased as souvenirs! Yes. That half wants us gone in the worst way or to hush up as my grandmother would have said.

Which ain't happening.

Just like COVID-19 ain't going anywhere neither are we. Naw. This crap is biblical. For all you Evangelicals out there, or so-called "religious" folks, who shuddered and prayed against Obama those 8 years he was in office; for all of you who feared his "otherness;" for all of you who believed 45 was sent by God to deliver you from Black/Brown people; for all of you who backed 45, you know what? You signed a deal with the Devil to gain your idea of Heaven on Earth. Yeah, it is biblical AF as the kids would say. You misinterpreted your God terribly. You know what I'm talking about. That's why y'all are kneeling and crying and seeking forgiveness 'cuz it's finally dawned on you that, that God you believe in ain't pleased with the horrors y'all as a collective have inflicted on my people for 400 years in His/Her name. Former presidential candidate Marianne Williamson was an opportunist, BUT she spoke truth when she said America will never heal until it rectifies its offenses against the BLACK DESCENDANTS OF THE FORMERLY ENSLAVED.  To paraphrase the words of a fellow author who'd posted on Facebook, "You had 400 years to be in your racist feelings. The grace period has run out." Oh yes. This is warfare and it's spiritual. And y'all know it and y'all are afraid.

So, Americans, the choices are...meh. but which half are you part of? The nervously, obliviously contrite or the firmly-entrenched, self-righteous  nostalgic?  Will you choose wisely? Can you be real for once? What I know is you better prostrate yourself before your God, not us, before time runs out. Personally, with this country's track record on doing the right thing for the right reason, I don't hold out much hope for you.


P.S. Yes this was caustic. Yes, this was biting. But it's been building for 400 years

The dark, flip side of activism - What can happen when a movement 's members do not have a common goal - Black Lives Matter (NSFW)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w__3tUUX-wE

This young man (Darren Seals) was the real deal and was cut down in the prime of life. He'd been a warrior, a true activist in Ferguson on the front lines during rhe Mike Brown debacle. Darren Seals was found shot to death in his burning car back in 2016. Who did it? No one knows. Police did declare his death a homicide..

Even with all the injustice being revealed today and being pushed back on by Black Lives Matter, this video made by Seals before his shocking murder revealed how BLM's members, and its purpose were corrupted by instant fame. An organization like BLM was, is, needed but it morphed from activism for all to notoriety for a few. Seals was not a fame-whore and in this video clearly spells out his stance and that of  the crowd who ran/runs BLM at the time. In the video, he speaks on how the organization, born of a hashtag, was on a whole other agenda from Day One. He speaks on how the killing of Mike Brown was the perfect backdrop from which to launch BLM and how outsiders hijacked the progress being fought for in Ferguson by the local people.

Every fledgling movement has its birthing pains. It's inescapable. Not everyone will agree on the singular, best path to take. It's a shame that Darren Seals did not live to leave his mark. I think BLM would have been better for it, and for ALL Black lives.

Darren Seals

America has lost its already dubious title of "Human Rights Defender" permanently

Ahmaud Arbery

Well. What an exhausting, frustrating garbage can few weeks it's been here in the States. As you know by now, video was released on two incidents where 2 Black, unarmed men were killed. One gunned down George Zimmerman-style, while jogging, after being hunted by a father/son duo who looked to be auditioning for the role of Hillbilly One and Two in a film; another was suffocated for allegedly paying for groceries with a fake twenty dollar bill., ON CAMERA by a cop. Their names? Ahmad Arbery and George Floyd.

A third incidence involved a young Black woman, who was asleep in HER HOME, IN HER BED when police crashed through the home's door at 12:30 am and started spraying everything and everyone in sight with bullets. @ 22 bullets were recovered; 8 had lodged in the body of Breonna Taylor. The cops were serving a "no knock" warrant at the residence. Such a warrant sounds like exactly what it is. They come in like gangbusters. These 3 cops were in plain clothes and did NOT announce who they were; therefore, Breonna's boyfriend returned fire (with a legally bought and registered firearm). like anyone else would if a group of men were busting into your abode. He was arrested for firing back because one of the Keystone Kops was hit in the leg. Later, it was revealed the cop who'd been hit, had been hit by "friendly fire." 

Quel dommage!

Breonna Taylor

But the ass-kicker of this story is, they were at the WRONG HOUSE! The person they'd been looking for had previously lived there but had moved AND the perp had been arrested and was IN CUSTODY ALREADY! Talk about a lack of communication in that precinct!

The killings on video are stomach churning.I do not know which video is worse. Both are horrid. In one, Arbery is fighting for his life over a shotgun with Hillbilly One while Hillbilly Two watches. Oh, yes. Then we have a third man who'd been trailing and FILMING the whole deadly.fracas. I'll call him Hilbilly Three. Second, is the one with Mr. Floyd, handcuffed, lying on his stomach on the ground, pleading for his life, calling for his deceased mother as that turd Chauvin pins him by the back of the neck to the ground with a knee. Just rocking back and forth slowly. Putting all his weight into it. All the while, you see the light leave Mr. Floyd's eyes, and you see his face turn gray as he dies. 

Eight minutes, forty-six seconds.

Poor Breonna. An EMT for the city of Louisville, KY. She'd been on the front lines doing her part in assissting those with COVID-19. And she gets killed at home. The place that is supposed to one's refuge. Lord, I do hope she went quickly. I cannot imagine being jolted out of sleep at !2:30 am to the sound of gunfire, then hit by a volley of bullets. I. JUST. CAN'T.

So, Black America erupted when it was revealed that NONE of the perpertrators of the violence had been arrested and charged. Well the riots didn't happen all at once for all three events. It hit a crescendo with Floyd's "digital lynching." It was the culmination of people tired of being seen as an afterthought when it comes to doing the right thing by them as it pertains to the justice system.. Black folks had had enough. Especially the youth.

George Floyd/Derek Chauvin

No. I didn't like seeing small businesses being destroyed. That was not cool. They were in our neighborhoods. From what I saw, yes, Black folks were stealing stuff and trashing stuff. And tossing bricks taken from a pallet, conveniently placed nearby? Really, bruh? Use your brain! BUT who were the masked, dressed in Black mostly WHITE folks who were defacing and trashing businesses? Several news clips (plural) showed instances of these "protesters" vandalizing establishments. I recall one clip where 2 White chicks were spraying "BLM" on the walls and windows of enterprises until 2 sistahs asked them Why they were doing it. The chicks couldn't answer and ran away when questioned further. These folks, I am certain, took off their gear later, collected their checks and rode home to the suburbs to leave behind a huge mess in a Black neighborhood. In the name of what? Solidarity? NAW. Controlled opposition strikes again. And y'all know what controlled opposition I'm talking about. That word that starts with A. White supremacydoesn't like losing and will  play both sides of an argument.

Big enterprises like Autozone, Target, CVS, etc., will be re-imbursed through their insurances. I don't cry for them. This bump in their roads was a mere inconvenience. A little birdie told me that besides the crisis actors there were Alt-Right types out who'd infiltrated the protests to wreak havoc. I believe a number of the Caucasians in the crowds weren't there for George Floyd. I mean what made his death any different then previous ones? We'd been telling y'all for years how law enforcement and law enforcement wannabes are not our friends. There had been Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown and Eric Gardner and Freddy Gray and Korryn Gaines, and Atatiana Jefferson, etc. before George Floyd. His was not the first death to be documented.

This extremely violent rioting, I think, was a combination of Amurricans taking advantage of an opportunity to be outdoors as COVID-19 lockdown was getting to a lot of them, and I believe most importantly, it was a release of anger toward a gov't that clearly showed these Amurricans how it truly feels about them. A gov't that executed the biggest wealth transfer to the rich under the guise of "payments." But when it came to Amurricans, his buddy Uncle Sam tossed a few ducats at them and effed them over without lube  just as much as he's been effing us Black folks over for centuries. Oh, there might have been a few souls out there genuinely who cared, who believed Black lives matter, but on the whole...Nope. If these Amurricans had really cared they'd have been protesting all along when the other murders went down. If they were to tell the truth, they know they were out there "protesting" due to job loss, no income, mortgages/rent due, car notes due on top of having had to be stuck in the house with people they discovered they didn't like. Things these Amurricans rarely had to deal with as there was usually a parent or grandparent or relative or some source of generational booty to get money from. But not this time. Everybody got burned. There were no "safety nets" to fall back on. Just like Black folks have not had for centuries. So, these Amurricans were marching with us because they were mourning themselves not George Floyd. They finally came to the realization that the gov't/those in charge/the Elites do not give a damn about them either. Hence, the looting and violence. They were "protesting" but not for the same reasons as us Black folks. On the other hand, the Black folks who were out there to be heard, were not part of those factions. As my Grandmother would have said..."A closed mouth don't git fed". So, at its root, Black folks opened their mouths. The sole reason any moves were made to arrest Chauvin was because the entire nation was burning not just Minneapolis. Something was done because something was done. Dr. King's peaceful tactics worked in the 50s and the 60s. Even he, at the end of his life, knew more forceful means were going to have to be enacted if we were going to be taken seriously. Like I have always said, he and Malcolm X were on the same page by the end of their lives..

Now for all you parrots who adore yelling "Well what about Black-on-Black crime?" And I say, "What about it?' Do not part your slack lips at me to pose that stupid question. I could ask, "What about White-on-White crime? Asian-on-Asian crime? Gay-on-Gay crime?" Look and read slowly so you understand. Crime involves two factors - proximity and opportunity. Get it? You tend to kill  those you know and live around. Like when Brad whacks Becky. There is a whole industry on cable TV devoted to "When Brad kills Becky." Yet, I do not hear the lamentation about that. Hell, there are whole evenings on A&E and the ID Channel devoted to misssing White women. Missing White women who usually are found dead, bound in duct tape in a suitcase somewhere courtesy of  husband Brad. Same goes for any ethnicity. Try perusing the online newspaper  "Tokyo Reporter." Pretty eye-opening. So do not start with me about Black-on-Black crime. Do not use it as the reasoning that cops should get to kill us with impunity. 

So, yeah. The unrest. The protests. The riots. All the result of being ignored, disrespected, discounted and used for target practice for centuries. Sadly, these murders will continue until Black people's humanity is seen. Will that ever happen? Maybe. What's needed? Well, the ones who need to do the "seeing" would have to cultivate a conscience concerning us. And from what i've seen, that a damned long shot.

The history of the "race film" in Hollywood

I'm going to try my hand at starting a series on little known Black actresses of years past. Almost everyone knows of Fredi Washington, Lena Horne, Dorothy Dandridge et al. They were the few deemed "worthy" of being on Hollywood sound stages. BUT there were others. Others who graced the screen for Black audiences only. They were the stars of the genre known as "race films." Yes. A totally separate classification of movie created for Black folks. These films, as with a lot of Black entertainment then, were financed by White-owned companies and scripted by White writers. Much like the Black sit-coms of 70s TV. Still, there were a handful of Black directors - Spencer Williams, Alice Guy, Oscar Micheaux. Despite who had a major hand in these movies making, Black actors found themselves the hero cowboy, the heroine, the villian, etc. They could be ALL things not just the "help" as they were in films made by "mainstream" Hollywood.



But before I jump into the performers in these films, let me discuss the foundation of these films. Race films were produced as early as 1905 but flourished after 1915. Over 500 movies were made between 1915 and 1952.  The main White-owned companies were Million Dollar Productions and Toddy Pictures. The few Black-owned outfits were Lincoln Motion Picture Company and Chicago-based, Micheaux Film Corporation. Micheuax proudly advertised that his films were srcipted and produced by African-Americans.



Of course, these films were segregated when released in the South. They weren't welcome up North all that much either. Northern movie theaters showed them in Black neighborhoods too like the South did, but relented a litttle if shown elsewhere. Meaning? Black were seated in the "peanut gallery" of the theater (the balcony) or relegated to evening showings period. So much for Northern liberty! Whites were not interested in viewing these films. Yeah, right. I'll play along. It was partly true but look, what was a White chick supposed to do if she and her date (Mr. Brad) were watching a "Race film" and Mr. Brad were to get all hot and bothered by the negresse on the screen? Quel scandale! Can't have that. Why do you think any musical with a musical number showing a sultry Lena Horne or Dorothy Dandridge was CUT out of the film BEFORE it was viewed down yonder? Couldn't have those men folk all heated up by a...colored gal!

But I digress.



Many Black singers, dancers and performers that did go on to appear in "mainstream" Hollywood films made their mark in "race films" first.



Read all about it at the links below:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_film
http://dhbasecamp.humanities.ucla.edu/afamfilm/whatis/history/
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-dec-31-et-racefilm31-story.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Micheaux

Back room deals, selfishness and lawlessness in the States in the age of COVID-19

Um, er, um, no. Hate to burst your kumbaya bubble but we are NOT all in this together.

"In these difficult times" blah, blah, blah.

"As we adjust to a new normal" blah, blah, blah.

If I had a dime for every time I've heard each of those treacly platitudes parroted, I'd be as rich as the big corporations who received the lion's share of the funds from the 1st round of the PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) handled by the Small Business Administration. The program was supposed to help Mom and Pop types of businesses stay afloat during their shuttering due to orders rolled out by the federal government due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Well. The usual greedy suspects showed up, crashed the party and ran off with the best favors. Huge PUBLIC companies like Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Kura Sushi USA, Shake Shack, and hotel conglomerates sucked up 905 million bucks. So many establishments rushed the website where applications were being accepted that the thing crashed soon after it opened with true small business owners in dire straits being locked out. After much hue and cry, a second round ensued about a week later with many small business owners crosssing their eyes and fingers and toes and holding their breaths as they logged on.





Les scandales ensued of course. Ruth's Cris Steakhouse and a few other big businesses played dumb saying they had not realized they were not eligible for the no-pay-back loans as they viewed their businesses' individual locations as a small businesse on its own. Yeah, right. It gave the monies back after being shamed. Shake Shack dragged its feet but its head honcho finally gave up the 10 mil it had bagged.

The big offenders, the ones NOT giving their windfalls back are companies dealing in hospitality - hotels, cruise lines, airlines and those in the medical device sector. There is total mishegas surrounding the deals cruise lines got. Read here: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/04/cruise-lines-are-already-getting-coronavirus-support.html Talk about shady back room ish.

But that's the world of business. I expect that sort of behavior from that bunch and arrange my affairs accordingly. But girding myself against the vagaries of my "regular, fellow Americans?" That takes a lot of girding as individuals are harder to shame, and far from rational when panicked and I have little time for fools who have me seeking out meditation more than twice a day. You make me do that and you are on my ish list.

As COVID-19 sweeps across the U. S. and cozily settles into certain communities more than others, the refrain "We are all in this together" has become hypocritical and painfully trite. Truth be told my "fellow Americans" are a selfish, recalcitrant lot on the whole, and could give two turds about others. Let me take you back a few weeks as we stroll down Memory Lane. Let's reminisce as Mary J. would say.

Shortagess of toilet paper and paper products. Shortages of fresh produce (which baffled me as this present generation swears it does not know how to cook). Even the frozen food aisle was picked clean at the markets I frequent. Shortages of alcohol wipes. Shortages of hand sanitizer. Shortages of snack food (I guess after attempts at actual cooking the real food the hoarders bought, failed. my fellow culinarily-challenged Americans moved on to live off Doritos and Sprite).

Now two new shortages loom. First, there looks like there will be a slowdown in meat/poultry production (due to many workers at meat/poultry processing plants coming down with COVID-19). So that means less will be trucked into supermarkets. I envision people, who look like they have never missed a meal in their lives, rushing to Publix with their cashed stimulus payment to grab up all available packages of ground round, sausage and chicken lest they perish from not having a burger or link or drumstick at every chow time, or worse, might have to resort to eating, GASP!...vegetables and a starch one night. Yes. These are the folks who say, "The hell with the rest of ya." That is the refrain they live by..

Second shortage is more serious. Since the Man-In-The-High-Chair at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue declared in one of his many campaign rallys posing as coronavirus press briefings, that hydroxychloroquine (a drug Lupus sufferers need) is a CURE for COVID-19, morons, who are NOT Lupus sufferers, have been pushing their doctors to write scripts for it for them. So much so, that people afflicted with Lupus have been having their script amounts cut, rationed, or not fllied at all due to the pharmacy they use being out of stock. Yeah. Nothing says "We are in it all together" like bogarting stuff.

Deliver me from a panicked person because they will get you hurt or killed. Sorry but in a crisis situation there's always an abundance of azzwipes. In this case, it's the ones who panic-buy and leave the rest of us to twist in the wind. They hoard as if an apocalypse could be stopped because their dumb azzes stocked up on enough cottony, triple-roll, 2-ply, and industrial-sized bags of chicken nuggets. I have no patience for self-absorbed morons. NONE!

Then we have the news making it seem Black folks in America are the face of COVID-19. Like they must be living wrong, 'cuz "look Ethel, they are all over the T. V." NO! NO! NO! We are not "carriers" or "breeders" of COVID-19. What we are are the essential, over-worked, and the under-served when it comes to healthcare in The U. S. We are also found in mostly service jobs with little to no healthcare benefits, so that when we get sick, we push it to the back burner because 1) illness costs money and 2) that low-paying, or high-stress job (like working for FEDEX or UPS) can be quuite feudal when a day off is needed to see a doctor. Most service jobs and low-paying jobs love to threaten employees with termination if they miss work. So, health issues pile up until a person simply has to go to a doctor because they have pushed themselves to the limit. And once there, as history has chronicled time after time, one's sypmtoms of anything grave will be ignored. One will be told to "work through it" or given some innocuous treatment like an 800 mg Motrin. (True story: this happened to my Mom. As a hard-working nurse, she'd not been taking care of herself. Finally after pain pushed her to the ER and was attended by a Boy Doctor. Said Boy Doctor prescribed her 800 mg Motrin for her upper back pain and sent her home. SHE WAS HAVING A HEART ATTACK! The only reason she lived was because I took her back to the same ER and and insisted she be admitted) Anyhoo, as I was saying, at the end of a doc's visit most Black folks (working or not) will get one of three things - 1) sent home; 2) a script; OR 3) get so many meds that for some many ills that there will be contraindications out the wazoo. Six of one; half a dozen of another. When it comes to Black Americans, healthcare is either a suggestion or a goldmine for the medical industry.

So, no. Black folks aren't the face of COVID-19 in America; they are the face of a failed "healthcare" system.. Also, the kinds of jobs most are in puts them on the front line. They are your mail carriers, your transit workers, nurses, CNAs, store clerks, etc. Work that puts one in constant contact with germy John Q. Public. They are the canaries in the mines.



Then, we have others who are protesting lockdowns across the land. Which is their right but with ASSAULT RIFLES slung across their chests? WHY? Last I heard COVID-19 was a virus not a ninja. Plus, you cannot tell me that if those armed protesters had been Black that the National Guard would not have been called in. I mean how does one even get that close to a state's capitol armed like that? RHETORICAL QUESTION. I know the answer. (I believe in Michigan it's allowed but one can't bring in a knife. What in the actual phuck. And they say there is no privilege for certain people.
So listen up, buttercups. While you hole up in youe bunker, scarfing down wings and chips, waiting for that signal to show the coast is clear...IT AIN'T HAPPENIN'! Forget REMDESIVIR. That other "wonder" drug being touted as a cure. That is for actual COVID-19 patients. Not folks who are afraid of getting COVID-19. A COVID-19 vaccine is a good two years away.


Look at it this way. There is no vaccine for the common cold which this virus seems to be a sinister strain of. It's as easy to catch as the common cold and is as easily spread. Since this new coronavius is from the same family, all you can do is what doctors and your mother have been telling you to do for years - WASH YOUR HANDS. COVER YOUR ROTTEN MOUTH WHEN YOU COUGH. DISCARD SNOTTY TISSUES. And the newest caveat is don't be all up in a person's face when speaking to them and tell them not to be all up in yours. Be extra cautious if you are immuno-compromised in any way.


Please use the brain the Divine gave you. Think. Respond not re-act. Stop being selfish. Think of someone besides yourself for a change. Quit panicking and stockpiling crap! it only makes those corporations who grab up PPP money they don't need, richer.

The History Quill opens its curated book club. Guess who made the cut?

https://bookclub.thehistoryquill.com/book/dissent/

The History Quill is a resource website for writers of historical fiction. It covers 5 key areas of the genre: Action/Adventure; Mystery/Thriller; Drama; Historical Romance, and Historical Fantasy. The site is currently testing, and building, a book club covering curated novels in the 5 categories. After being on the site's email list for a spell, when offerred, I jumped at the chance to be included in the testing phase for the project. After meeting the guidelines, following instructions, filling out an author submission form and submitting it, I made the cut. DISSENT, my current historical romance, is featured in The History Quill's book club selections under the Romance category. 

The book club is growing (present subscriber base is 800), and I look forward to adding my other historical romance to the site after other authors have had their turns, and the submissions' round opens up once more to all. 

Until then, check out the book that made the cut!