The 1992 Los Angeles Riots

www.abc.com

A little reminder before I continue.  This post is in relation to what is happening to the United States concerning police brutality and I'm giving you a warning.  If you come in here with "all lives matter," "blue lives matter" black crime statistics and what about black on black crime posts, they will be deleted.  I understand that you have freedom of speech and you can post whatever you want, I also have the freedom to delete your posts because I'm not in the mood to argue with those who are willfully ignorant.  Also, if you come here to troll and post racist shit, your post will be deleted and you will be blocked! Thank you for understanding.

While living in Trinidad in the 80s and 90s, my family and I would often looked at CNN for international news and all things American.  In those days if you're well off you can get cable or buy those huge satellite dishes to watch international t.v stations and CNN is a must.  So imagine my surprise and dismay seeing a black man, Rodney King being brutally beaten by four LAPD cops who were eventually acquitted.  Well that set off a shit storm in Los Angeles, from April 29th to May 3rd where protests and riots lasted for 6 days, including looting, arson and murder, costing the city $1 billion in property damages (Wikipedia).

Before this even took place, there were already racial tensions in the city particularly between African-Americans and Koreans who set up shop in these neighborhoods, creating a tense atmosphere between these two groups.  African-Americans often complained about the horrible treatment from the Koreans and Korean shop-keepers were victims of armed robbery from African-Americans.  Things got worst when a young black girl, Latasha Harlins was killed by a Korean shopkeeper Soon Ja Du on March 16, 1991. Du was convicted of voluntary manslaughter.  The jury recommended the maximum sentence of 16 years but apparently the judge Joyce Carlin disregarded the sentencing and instead gave Du 400 hours of community service and $500 fine (Wikipedia).  If this wasn't a miscarriage of justice, I don't know what to tell you.  And then this heffa Carlin had the nerve to say, "This is not the time for revenge." Apparently the rioters didn't get the memo and burned down her store anyway and it never reopened.  I always wondered why Asians opened their stores in black communities and treat them like shit in the process.  Honestly, I tried to stay away from Chinese restaurants and especially the beauty supply stores owned by Koreans, mainly because of the mistreatment.

www.cnn.com

Like a pressure cooker, racial tensions were about to bubble over concerning police brutality.  On March 3, 1991, Rodney King and two passengers were driving on the Foothill Freeway when he was pursued by the California Highway Patrol and the LAPD.  King's passengers were in the patrol car and he was surrounded by five white officers; Koon, Powell, Wind, Briseno and Solano.  Let's just say they beaten him almost to a pulp and unknowingly, they were being filmed by George Holliday from his apartment.  That video went worldwide to say the least and naturally, black people were outraged.  The LA District Attorney charged the officers with assault and excessive use of force.  However, it was the verdict that set off the firestorm in Los Angeles. The officers were acquitted and the riots began after.  The riots lasted 6 days. Stores were burnt and looted and 68 people were killed in the riots.  Even the Korean stores were not spared in the onslaught.  It was so bad even Rodney King had to break his silence and said, "Can we all get along?"

LA Times

I'll be honest, I naively thought that once the Civil Rights Movement was over, all the atrocities African-Americans suffered in the hands of whites will be long gone. But then again, I was living in Trinidad so I didn't know much history in the United States, except maybe Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and Malcolm X.  We didn't even know how pervasive police brutality was and still is in the States.  And I got a rude awakening once I moved to the States. I moved to the US in 1996 and 1997 was my first exposure to police brutality.  Abner Louima was brutally assaulted by NYPD officers and the main culrpit was Justin Volpe who sexually assaulted the man.  My mistrust of the police began back then and it still hasn't changed.  Another victim, Amadou Diallo in 1991, was shot 41 times by four white officers and unsurprisingly, they were all acquitted.  Police brutality has continued well into the 21st century with the murder of Michael Brown, Philando Castile, Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland and other victims to police violence even as cameras showed these murders in media, police brutality still continues.

Which brings me to the latest police brutality cases concerning victims Ahmaud Aubrey, Breonna Taylor and now George Floyd.  After seeing the murder of Floyd by a police officer, protests and riots began in Minneapolis and the rest of the country including NYC and LA.  Citizens had enough and began destroying police buildings and vehicles.  The police who really don't know how to de-escalate any situation, made things even worse! And world got the see the true brutal fashion of the police first hand.  Why are they like this? Why can't they act like civilized human beings towards civilians?  Some scholars believed that police at "war" and civilians are the "enemy" especially where the war on drugs is concerned.  That would explain why some police departments have military-styled equipment, uniforms and vehicles.  These jokers haven't seen real war yet.  Maybe all of them should deploy to Afghanistan and Iraq and they'll get a real taste of war and maybe then they'll humble themselves. 

Let's not forget the racist attitude these cops have towards so-called minorities especially black people.  They treat white criminals with kiddie gloves but gave all that smoke to black people.  This racist mentality was detrimental to the black community which often resulted in death.  The sad thing is these cops are hardly held accountable for all the atrocities and they continued to live their best lives.  Hell, some of them were even promoted in the force.  I wondered how these police officers sleep at night doing these things.  And the police supporters, now that you see police brutality live and direct, are you still going to support them?  Will police brutality ever end?  Honestly, I don't know.  The police department and the United States at large failed to acknowledge their violent tendencies, at home and worldwide.  I really don't think police brutality will end because they relish in violence.  It's a high for them.  I highly doubt there will be trust of the police, maybe the blue lives crew but for the rest of society, nada.  The late Rodney King pleaded that we should all get along but honestly I don't know at this point and I'm tired. 

https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/31/21276044/police-violence-protest-george-floyd

https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/

https://timelines.latimes.com/los-angeles-riots/

We need a Captain Planet!

(www.imdb.com)

Hello my friends!  It's been awhile!!  I've been working so I haven't been on the site for awhile.  However, now that I am quarantined thanks to Mr. Corona Virus, I have a bit of time to reflect and do some blogging.  I really think that 2020 needs to start over, seriously.  We already have rumors of war, Kobe died and now the virus, holding everyone hostage. I'm scared to find out what's going to happen for the rest of the year.  We already got two grumpy old men running for U.S President and unfortunately I'm not looking forward to it.  Anyway, on to cool stuff. Earth Day is coming up (April 22nd) and what a better time to bring up Captain Planet and his crew, the Planeteers! Captain Planet and The Planeteers was created by Ted Turner and Barbara Pyle and it was shown on TBS from September 15, 1990 to December 5, 1992.  Another series The New Adventures of Captain Planet was broadcasted from September 11 1993, to May 11, 1996 and both series are in syndication and even on YouTube but you have to pay though.  The show promotes enviromentalism,  where Captain Planet and his gang fight with villains to protect the planet.

(www.theguardian.com)

The plot follows Mother Earth or Gaia, a spirit who sees the destruction we humans brought to the planet.  She sends five ringers to five teenagers from around the world; four to control the natural elements while one controls the heart.  The five teenagers are Kwame from Ghana with the power of earth, Wheeler from New York, U.S.A with the power of fire, Linka from then Soviet Union with the power of wind, Gi from South Korea with the power of water and finally Ma-Ti from the Amazon, Brazil with the power of heart.  With all the rings combined, Captain Planet was born with an aim to protect the planet from villains who wants to destroy it for their own personal often financial gain (Wikipedia). 

(www.theguardian.com)

Eco-Villains (comicvine.com)

Naturally there are evil counterparts to the good guys and they are called Eco-Villains.  They are, Hoggish Greedly (consumerism), Verminous Skumm (disease, urban blight and drug abuse), Duke Nukem (abuse of nuclear power), Dr. Blight (uncontrolled technology and unethical scientific practices), Looten Plunder (poaching and loothing), Sly Sludge (laziness and lack of empathy) and Zarm, a spirit similar to Gaia but he represents war and destruction.  Captain Planet's evil counterpart is Captain Pollution.  The show went on for 6 seasons in total with the last episode aired on May 11th 1996 (Wikipedia).  I watched some of the episodes while living in Trinidad and even though it can be cheesy at times, it's still an important show as it shows kids and adults that we have to protect our planet for future generations. 

Captain Pollution (tvtropes.org)

Zarm (saturdaymorningsawesome.blogspot)

Right now, the planet is in peril.  I really believed that all this pollution and overall ongoing destruction really took off in the Industrial Revolution which started in the 1760s England.  It brought economic success and improved technologies but these came with a price.  Destruction of forests and natural environment for natural materials, increased by consumerism especially for cotton and cane sugar in which slavery and even child labor came into play.  Not to mention the severe class structure where the lower class population suffered from dirty air and water, poor hygiene and overall unsanitary conditions.  The continuous pillaging of our planet continued well into the 21st century, even causing the glaciers to melt in the North Pole.  Also, the destruction of the natural environment caused many viruses including Covid-19 and extreme disasters such as hurricanes.  People are slowly but surely taking action to protect the planet and hopefully it will not be in vain.  So please, we must do our part to protect the planet.  As Captain Planet said, "The power is yours!"

The Oscar Crew doesn't care and neither should you.

(www.theminaretonline.com)

Hello, everyone! There's a hashtag on the internet, #Oscarssowhite, and you're probably wondering what does this have to with anything retro.  However, it is very relevant because since the Academy Awards or the Oscars was created on May 16, 1929, it has been very white with a sprinkle of color and even if black or other POC wins an award, the character is usually stereotypical such as a slave or the help. I am wondering in this day and age if the Oscars are still relevant because it continues to be tone-deaf and out of touch with reality.  

Hattie McDaniel

(www.wikipedia.com)

The first black person to win an Academy Award was Hattie McDaniel for her portrayal of Mammy in the movie, Gone with The Wind in 1939.  She won for Best Supporting Actress.  Now, by today's standards, this would not be acceptable to black people, after all, we're much more than just servants or slaves.  However, as I mentioned earlier, this is a recurring theme in the Academy Awards; either you're the help or slave and you'll get an Oscar.  At that time, it was a great win for African-Americans, even if acting roles at that time were limited, especially in a time of Jim Crow.  The same award was won by Whoopi Goldberg in 1990, 51 years later for her portrayal in the movie, Ghost. Other black actresses who won Best Supporting Actress (Best Actress in a Supporting Role) are Jennifer Hudson, 2006, Mo'Nique, 2009, Octavia Spencer, 2011, Lupita Nyong'o, 2013, Viola Davis 2016, and Regina King, 2018.  For Best Actress, it was even more dismal as Halle Berry is the only African-American woman to win the award in 2001.  That same year, however, Denzel Washington became the second black man to win Best Actor.  The first was Sidney Poitier who won for his role in Lillies of The Field,  in 1963.  Jamie Foxx and Forrest Whitaker also won their awards in 2004 and 2006 respectively.  Best Supporting Actors winners were Louis Gossett Jr, 1982, Denzel Washington, 1989, Cuba Gooding Jr, 1996, Morgan Freeman, 2004 and Mahershala Ali, in 2016 and 2018.  Best Picture went to Steve McQueen in 2013.  

Rita Moreno

(www.wikipedia.com)

Latino winners were also far in between unless you're talking about cinematography and the Best Director.   Jose Ferrer was the first Latino and the only Latino to win Best Actor in 1950 in the movie, Cyrano de Bergerac. Anthony Quinn and Benicio Del Toro won for Best Supporting Actor, 1952, 1956 and 2000.  No Latina has won for Best Actress,  however, Rita Morena has won for Best Supporting Actress in 1961's West Side Story a historic win for the Latino community.

Umeki Miyoshi

(www.wikipedia.com)

Asian winners are also few and far in between. Miyoshi Umeki won her Best Supporting Actress in the movie Sayonara, in 1957, while Cambodian-Chinese actor Haing S. Ngor won for Best Supporting Actor for the 1984 film, The Killing Fields.  Ang Lee won for Best Director in 2005 and 2012.  

Kathryn Bigelow is the only woman to win Best Director in 2009 for the film, The Hurt Locker, while many women won for Costume Design, including Ruth Carter, the first African-American woman to win in 2018's Black Panther.  

Overall, the awards ceremony is notoriously pale and this year is no exception.  Movies such as Adam Sandler's Uncut Gems wasn't even nominated for anything and I heard that it was a great movie. Another film that wasn't nominated, Queen and Slim which was surprising since the Academy seemed to enjoy seeing black pain such as slavery and abusive relations, shown in films such as Monster's Ball, Precious and 12 Years a Slave.  

There were a few bright spots though.  Cynthia Erivo, a black British actress was nominated for Best Actress for her portrayal of Harriet Tubman, a former slave who risked her life to save her people from slavery.  Again, the only way for a black woman to be nominated is to act like a slave or the help, or in Whoopi's case a cheerleader of sorts.  Korean director, Bong Joon Ho is nominated for Best Director, Best International Film and Best Motion Picture of the Year, for his film, Parasite, which was very good and worth the hype.  I hope he wins at least Best Director but we all know how the Academy rolls. For Best Animated Short Films, Matthew A. Cherry and Karen Rupert Toliver are nominated for the film, Hair Love, which is about a black girl and her father's love for natural hair.

Is the Academy Awards still relevant today? It's a complicated question.  Humans, in general, want some sort of validation, a recognition for their hard work.  It is even more so for black people, other POC and women. Don't get me wrong, there are other awards shows that support and reward their work but awards shows such as the Oscars and even the Grammys are still seen as the pinnacle of success.  However, the Academy Awards have proven time and again, that they couldn't care less.  They might give you an Oscar every now and then but they're basically rewarding themselves in the long run.  The institution is still white and male, even if they claimed to be liberal and open-minded, which is rather ironic as clearly it was shown otherwise.  The ratings have been dismal lately and this year there's no host.  Who wants to sit for three hours watching this mess?  Plus it's boring.  But I would be watching for fashion and that's it.  I hope that the film Parasite wins some awards, other than that, I couldn't care less.  

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/entertainment/when-the-oscars-were-not-so-white-a-history/2016/02/25/cf632cc8-db47-11e5-8210-f0bd8de915f6_video.html

Sanitizing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

(www.huffingtonpost.com)

Next week Monday will be Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a day to celebrate Dr. King's achievements.  It's celebrated every third Monday in January.  It was signed into law by President Reagan in 1983 in some States but in other States, it wasn't implemented until 2000 (Wikipedia).  Dr. King was a civil rights leader who spoke up against the atrocities black people faced in the United States, especially Jim Crow.  Now we all know that Dr. King fought for equality for black people but after he died (or rather assassinated), he became an icon for togetherness, freedom and equality for everyone.  Isn't that a good thing, you might ask.  Sure, but sometimes I felt that his other messages have been lost and many wheat people often quote Martin Luther King Jr's phrase, "Judge not for the color of my skin," when they're clearly in the wrong or are called out for their racist tendencies.  In fact, in a 1968 article, 75% of the population disapproved of his actions and mind you, he just passed away.  He even had a poor approval rating before his death, especially with his focus on the Vietnam War and the continued disenfranchisement of African-Americans.  Some states such as Arizona and  New Hampshire didn't even celebrate the holiday until 1987 and 1991 respectively.  So it was rather interesting that they chose to celebrate the sanitized version of Dr. King instead of acknowledging the revolutionary fight he started before he died.  I wondered what Dr. King would say if he was alive today.  The income gap between whites and blacks is worsening every year, birth mortality rates among black women are disturbingly high and race relations have been deteriorating ever since.  He would be disappointed that's for sure.  So we as a people have a lot of work to do in order to achieve equality in this country.  So instead of running around screaming, "let freedom reign," it's time for us to be honest and try to get rid of the disease in this country and that disease is racism and the mainstream society needs to acknowledge that.   Only then, we'll let freedom reign. 

Mary J. Blige

(www.amazon.co.uk)

Happy birthday Mary!! Mary is 49 y'all!  The Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, Queen of R&B, etc. How time flies!  I remembered back in the day, listening to some Mary, reminiscing about the ups and downs of life, not realizing at the time, she was going through hell herself.  Life imitating art. 

Mary J. Blige was born on January 11th, 1971, in Yonkers, New York to Thomas Blige, a jazz musician and Cora, a nurse.  She also has an older sister LaTonya and brother, Bruce Miller.  Mary also spent time in Richmond Hill, Georgia. Mary went through hellish teenage years.   She was molested by a so-called family friend and even endured sexual harassment from her peers in school.  That would explain why she turned to alcoholism, drugs and even had sex, trying to forget the experiences she had.  These experiences also played a major role in her songs later on.

(www.pinterest.com)

Mary's singing career started at a recording booth in Galleria Mall in White Plains, NY, eventually ended up with Uptown Records, under Andre Harrell who met with Mary in 1989.  Gotta give props to her mom's boyfriend for helping her achieve her dreams.  In 1992, she made her first album What's The 411? Produced by Sean "Puffy" Combs or Diddy or whatever he called himself these days, the album reached multi-platinum, with hits such as Real Love and You Remind Me, among others (Wikipedia).  What makes this album so remarkable was her style of singing which was much grittier than say, Anita Baker or Aretha Franklin.  Mary even combined hip-hop and R&B to create a new sound.  Yet it was powerful and in many ways relatable to listeners. 

While she enjoyed the success of her first album, her personal demons continued to fester.  She continued with her drinking and smoking cocaine while creating successful albums in the process.  I guess the saying goes, money can't buy happiness.  And I believed that Mary didn't have any support in the industry hence the cocaine and alcohol use.  Plus, her experience with sexual abuse didn't help matters either.   

(www.flipboard.com)

Mary decided to turn her life around and appropriately named her 2001 album, No More Drama, which should her growth and taking ownership of her life.  She was even married to Kendu Isaacs in 2003, who was also her manager but they divorced in 2016.  With the divorce came the drama, almost making Mary broke.  Still, she was able to find success in her music and even in movies.  Her latest movie was Netflix's Mudbound, where she was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (I don't understand why they just can't say, best-supporting actress) and Original Song in both the Golden Globes and The Oscars in 2018. 

Mary is a force to be reckoned with in the music industry.  She went through hell in her personal life yet managed to succeed.  That's why she's so relatable.  She experienced trials and tribulations and expressed herself in her music, allowing herself to be vulnerable in the process.  Her hard work also paid off.  She has won Grammys, plus other awards.   So happy belated birthday Mary, and I wish you more success in the coming years!!

War for the New Year!!

Happy New Year everyone!! How is the New Year treating you?  The new year started with a bang, literally.  Unless you're living under a rock, the U.S President decided to provoke Iran and the country naturally responded in kind.  Everyone is freaking out, talking about World War III.  Thankfully, it has been averted but I wasn't expecting such bacchanal to start so early and the year barely started.  Well, you can't expect anything less from Trump, he always makes reckless and dangerous decisions.  Anyhoo, Bob Marley made this song a long time ago but this is still relevant.  Enjoy and pray for peace in the world.