Race

Why is Oscar so white?

Posted on by billjohnson2014

Arguably the most recognized trophy in the western world traces its origins to the year 1929. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences  wanted to bestow upon worthy recipients an honor that encouraged excellence of all facets of motion picture production.  As of 2015 2,947 8 1/2 pound gold plated academy awards have been given out.

Eddie Murphy is known today more so for his affable characters displayed in movies ” Norbit” and “Shrek”.  There was a time when Eddie Murphy was this brash outspoken comedian who challenged everything in popular culture. This included jokes on homosexuals, women dating men for status and racial injustice. In the above video Eddie Murphy openly admits that he was going to boycott the  1988 Oscars.

Eddie Murphy cited Hattie McDaniel, Sidney Poitier and Louis Gossett Jr. as the only black recipients of the award. Murphy would later make a joke that at the current rate someone black would win Oscar in 2004. Coincidentally Jamie Foxx won for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of Ray Charles in 2004.

Sidney Poitier was honored for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 1963 but, it took nearly 40 years for Denzel Washington to be honored. In a 2008 interview Tavis Smiley asked  Denzel Washington about his response to the sentiment in the black community that he is not recognized for his work. Denzel Washington answered as only he could very seriously at first and then laughed it off “don’t get me wrong receiving acclaim is nice” as only he can. I received a great quote from the Denzel Washington interview he said ” man gives the award..God gives the reward”. I like that quote but, I also believe in a quote my father told me ” a man who stands for nothing  will fall for anything.

Jada Pinkett Smith has decided to boycott the 2016 edition of the Oscars because of the lack of black nominees. Jada Pinkett Smith speaks for the need for blacks to recognize there true power and the need to respect and hold themselves  in a higher regard. Jada Pinkett Smith also speaks about blacks keeping money in there communities in an effort to cultivate togetherness and independence from mainstream money and thought.

In the less then 40 hours since the posting of the video anybody with a blog has written on the subject and anybody with a mic has put it into’s someone’s face looking for a quote. In my mind it does nor really matter where you are on the issue. I personally love  people who take a stand on there own merits.  Jada Pinkett Smith took a stand for something that she believed was a crude injustice. In taking that stand she has raised awareness which has sparked dialogue that hopefully will lead to change.

I’m not saying I’m gonna change the world, but I guarantee that I will spark the brain that will change the world.   – Tupac Shakur

The Re-education of the Negro

Posted on by billjohnson2014

The Mis-Education of the Negro is a book written by Dr. Carter G. Woodson in 1933. Dr. Woodson is credited with black history week which later became black history month. In the book Dr. Woodson challenged African Americans to read and do for themselves so they are not dependent on whites. Dr. Woodson argued that the history that was taught to blacks in school caused them to seek out an inferior place in society.

Michael Brown was shot on August 9, 2014 in Ferguson Missouri and the black community was outraged. What did the black community do? We enlisted the help of a famous rapper, marched, protested, looted oh and a reverend or two spoke. All the major media outlets covered this story right up until Robin Williams committed suicide on August 11, 2014. So I ask did we as blacks are even the community of blacks in Missouri effect change? I heard Malcolm X say once that blacks are the only people that have “peaceful revolutions”. He insists that in every major revolution there has been a fight for land and much blood shed. Land is said to hold great power because land is equated to not only physical freedom but, economic and spiritual freedom.

If you’re keeping score there was something awful that happened to a young black man followed by sympathy and a brief national outcry. The outcry that was so short the shooting can still classified as a “black thing” to the masses. Yes, a black something terrible that happens to the black community that causes sympathy but, does not affect the masses. Then there was a tragic death that refocused our attention i.e. a distraction followed by another distraction. You may remember Joan Rivers died on September 4, 2014.

Now we bring the cycle full circle by tearing down the image of the black man. On September 8, 2014 the complete elevator video of Ray Rice punching his now wife was released to the public. This blog is not about morality so I want get into the altercation I just urge you to look at when it was leaked. It was not an accident. The incident took place on February 15, 2014. On September 13, 2014 Adrian Peterson was booked and charged with injuring a child before he was released on bond. The incident he was arrested for took place in May. Does anyone see that pattern? Again I will not argue morality because if any person black or white does the crime they should do the time. The appearance of the powers that be holding information until they can get the most destruction and create hopeless within the race is real. Media brainwashing is real.

Have you ever heard the compliment “he speaks so well” by some media member or politico referring to a black person? Now ask yourself have you ever heard a white person give another white person that compliment? Go back and listen to some of the things that were said about the president when he was running for office. Have you ever heard what is said when Michael Eric Dyson or Stephen A. Smith speak? In 2010 comedian Chris Rock did a set about Colon Powell running for president. “Colon Powell can’t win”. “Colon Powell has a better chance at winning the bronze in female gymnastics”. White people always give Colon Powell the same compliments “he speaks so well”, “he’s so well spoken”. Speaks so well is not a compliment. Speaks so well is something you say about a retarded kid that can talk. He’s an educated man how is he supposed to sound. What voice where you looking to her out of his mouth. “Umma drop me a bomb today”. “I’ll be prezoodent”. In this piece I highlighted media brainwashing as it relates to blacks but, it is something that crosses racial, gender and socioeconomic lines. I argue that the brainwashing of black happens so early that most don’t even realize that they are being positioned and puppeteered

They say the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist

 

The Talk

Posted on by billjohnson2014

The term hater dates back to biblical times as in Romans (1:30) Back biters , haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents. Lord Alfred Tennyson asked “what room is left for a hater” and advised us to “love your enemy and bless your hater”. The quotes are from Lord Tennyson’s poem “The Spiteful Letter”. In the poem Tennyson is responding to a letter he received from a contemporary alleging that he was a better poet than Tennyson. The poet was upset that he was not receiving the acclaim Lord Tennyson was receiving. Lord Tennyson responded it does not matter who is better. Those meanings parallel how we use hater today which is a shorten form of the term “player hater” that gained notoriety in the 1990’s. Hip-hop historian Marcus Reeves believes that rappers such as the late Notorious BIG (Christopher Wallace) among others popularized the term. The word was used anytime someone spoke out about what you were doing and how you were doing it.

I would like to introduce you to a line of thinking that surpasses any one word. The “crab theory” has been around for centuries. The theory is used to describe a group of like situated people who hurt those in their family/community attempting to get ahead. The theory finds a great example when applied to people in an impoverished community where one person is starting to get ahead. People who are attempting to get out of bad life situations often find themselves foiled by friends and family who keep sucking them back in. The analogy is to a bucket of live crabs: whenever one crab attempts to escape the bucket by climbing out of it, the others reach up and pull it back down. The result, of course is that no one grab succeeds.

I wanted to introduce and or clearly define the aforementioned items because in the black community I see them play out all too often. I think there are many psychological reasons for the practices mentioned ranging from self-hatred, low self-esteem to jealousy. If where looking at ourselves objectively I think we don’t always surround ourselves with positive forward thinking individuals. I also think the mindset that blacks were forced to adopt early in the 1900’s to take the professions and social standing that whites outlined for them still permeates. To a certain extent blacks got used to taking what they were giving and the status quo has been passed through generations.

Blacks only get together when there is a national tragedy. The things that we could get done if it were not for the “crab mentality” or constant “hating”. We are so scared to tell each other how good our job is for fear that the person being told will apply. We talk about each other for being educated “he or she sounds white”. There are no black owned businesses in our neighborhood anymore. You ask why? We don’t support each. We will gladly let a little Asian women follow us around the store to save a quarter. When approached the black shopper says “the owner of the black owned business used to date my cousin”. When your grandson asks you who gentrification is and why he lives so far from his school I want you to lean over and say “the owner used to date my cousin”. Kanye West one of my favorite rappers has a song titled “Everything I am” where he speaks of occurrences that have made him who he is. There’s a line “people talk so much bleep about me in barbershops they forget to get they haircut”. Conversation and heated banter is healthy but everyone loses when the talk becomes divisive. My pastor used to tell me “I wish I had as much money as people think I do”.

Blacks are more successful than ever but, I don’t feel like we have the social or economic voice that matches that success. When you add the divisive subject matter presented in this article it further puts in perspective how we are falling behind the eight ball. Jay-z another one of my favorites has a song “What more can I say”. He has a line “I say a B.I.G. verse, I’m only bigging up my brother/bigging up my borough—I’m big enough to do it/I’m that thorough, plus I know my own flow is foolish”. In the rap he is professing his greatness but, at the same time giving credit and paying homage to his deceased friend rapper Notorious BIG. Did you catch that? He said this and that about himself but, he didn’t do it at the expense of putting down his brother. I understand as a race of people we are in large “showy” we have to have the glitz and glamour and we have to be loudest in the room. We don’t have to do it at the expense of our brother or sister. I’m not sure how we will overcome this ill but, I’m willing to start the conversation. If we don’t education ourselves and the generation after us we will never make real progress. I take so much pride when I see family, friends, old teammates, old friends, former girlfriends, school mates and church members doing well. It literally makes my day. I wish I could give that gift to my people, my world.