Living it Single!!

 

(www.amazon.com)

    Happy Black History month y'all!!!  Normally, during black history month, trials, tribulations and overcoming these trials seem to be promoted heavily, which is fine but it can be mentally draining sometimes.  So I am focusing on t.v shows such as Living Single, which shows six successful black people, go through life's challenges such as careers, love and even each other, while living in a brownstone in Brooklyn!!  Living Single was created by Yvette Lee Bowser, which aired on the Fox network for five seasons, from August 22, 1993 to January 1st, 1998.  Yvette Lee also wrote for A Different World and Half and Half.  Yvette wanted to create a show which focuses on successful black women, following the footsteps of A Different World, which shows successful people going through life from a black perspective.  

    As mentioned above, the show features six characters who are successful in their own right.  Khadijah James (Queen Latifah), an entrepreneur who runs an independent magazine Flavor, Synclaire James (Kim Coles), Khadijah's cool and a bit naive cousin, who is also a receptionist at Flavor Magazine.  Maxine Shaw (Erika Alexander), an attorney who is opinionated but loyal and Regina "Regine" Hunter (Kim Fields), always in gossip or bacchanal as we say in Trinbago!  And she loves to shop! A woman of my own heart.  Also note that Maxine and Regine are always arguing which makes good comedy.  I can't forget the men; Overton Wakefield Jones (John Henton), the handyman, Kyle's roommate and Synclaire's boyfriend and Kyle Barker (T.C Carson), stockbroker and eventually Maxine's boyfriend.  I also need to add Ira Williams (Mel Jackson) who is Khadijah's roommate in season five, (Wikipedia).  

(www.vibe.com)

    The 90s were the golden age of entertainment, especially black entertainment in my opinion and it was segregated (as usual) in terms of audiences.  Yet, there was a variety of entertainment for black audiences and since the creation of the Cosby Show, shows such as Living Single, Martin and Fresh Prince of Bel Air, black audiences and even mainstream audiences are exposed to successful black people who live their lives as normally as the mainstream (white) people do, as opposed to the gangster, baby-mama trope we see on t.v.  And let's talk about the style!  I don't know who was the costume designer but the cast was very stylish, even adding African elements and promoted natural hair.  I remembered growing in Trinidad (as were many Trinis), I wanted my hair just like Maxine, but I was in high school so it was a no-no.  I wanted to be like them, a career woman living in a beautiful brownstone.  That is until I moved to Brooklyn and realized that these brownstones are expensive.  No wonder they were roommates.  Well a girl can dream!  

    Living Single was so successful that it had higher ratings than Martin and it was the fourth highest rated show on Fox, (Wikipedia).  But as the saying goes, good things must come to an end and sadly it happened to Living Single.  Promotion, race and gentrification are some of the reasons why Living Single did not last as long as its pale counterpart, Friends.  In fact, Friends was "inspired" by Living Single and went on to become one of the successful shows in the 90s, which lasted well into the early 2000s while Living Single only lasted five seasons and it was cancelled.   Ms. Bowser even noted that her show was not promoted by Warner Bros, compared to Friends (Wikipedia).  

   Speaking of gentrification and straight up plagiarism from the mainstream crew, the show centers on six friends who live in apartments in NYC, going through tribulations in life.  The only difference is the cast on Living Single have successful careers while the cast on Friends have questionable jobs or just skating on by.  That wouldn't work on Living Single, we as black people already have a stereotype of being lazy and don't want to work while our pale counterparts can afford to be lazy and unemployed.  Talk about privilege.  Adding insult to injury, Friends became more financially popular and its stars became instant celebrities with high incomes while the Living Single cast barely made half of their counterparts. 

 

                   

 

 

 

    Friends cast member David Schwimmer, suggested that there should be a black version of Friends, apparently unaware that Living Single was the blueprint for Friends but thankfully, Living Single fans, even Erika Alexander dragged him to hell and back.  Talk about willfully obtuse from these colonizers.  I'm not a fan of Friends to be honest, I don't find their sense of humor funny and I can't relate to them as a black woman.   But the mainstream entertainment will always market to majority which is white even if they have to steal from black creators and then raked in millions of dollars.  Nothing new under the sun.  However, Living Single continued to inspire future shows such as Girlfriends, Insecure, Awkward Black Girl and recently Amazon's Harlem.  Living Single is on Hulu, if you want to enjoy this classic show and reminisce about the 90s.  Living Single is a breathe of fresh air promoting positive and sometimes complicated characteristics of black people instead of one sided negative tropes and I wish that it lasted longer but I'll still watch reruns.  Until then, happy Black History Month y'all!!

 

 

                         

Thank You for Being A Friend!!

 

(www.inmagazine.ca)

Happy New Year, everyone!! I know the month is almost over but it's not too late to mention that.  It's been awhile, but the real world has taken over my life lately and I mean employment.  Since the passing of Betty White last year, I figured that I can pay homage to her and the other ladies who made the show, The Golden Girls,  iconic and timeless that every generation can enjoy.  

The Golden Girls, created by writer, Susan Harris, aired on NBC  from September 14, 1985 to May 9, 1992, spanning to seven seasons in total.  Lead by iconic actresses, Bea Arthur, Betty White, Rue McClanahan and Estelle, the show centers around four elderly women, sharing a home in Miami Florida.  In the plot, the widowed owner of the house, Blanche Devereaux placed an ad in a grocery and three other women, fellow widow, Rose Nylund, divorcee Dorothy Zbornak and her widowed mother, Sophia Petrillo, after the retirement home was burned down (Wikipedia). 

    Golden Girls was so successful that it won several awards, including Primetime Emmy Award and three Golden Globe Awards.  Even the actresses received Emmy Awards and it is the only show to achieve this feat (Wikipedia).  The cast have various characteristics among themselves yet they seem to balance the show.  Dorothy Zbornak, (Beatrice Arthur), a sarcastic and realistic character has to put up with naive Rose Nylund (Betty White), the ever romantic (and a bit thirsty) southern belle, Blanche Devereaux, (Rue McClanahan) and Dorothy's witty mother, Sophia Petrillo, (Estelle Getty). 

    Golden Girls is also a boost to the actresses' careers especially Estelle Getty whose stardom started pretty late in her age but as they say age is just a number.  Sadly, all the actresses passed away with Betty White (Rose) being the last member, who passed away at 99.  RIP to all the actresses who made the show a success and now all the Golden Girls are together again.  Thank you for all the funny and fond memories ladies.  

 

 

 

He-man!!

 

                                                      ( www.scroll.in.com)


        He-man and The Masters of The Universe!!!  One of my favorite cartoons in the 80s, He-man stood the test of time, becoming a classic and even inspired new cartoons of He-man, even a movie and now we have a controversial show, Masters of The Universe: Revelation, which had a lot of fans triggered.  I have seen the new show on Netflix and I'm gonna give my review later in this point.  Warning, spoilers ahead.  But before we do that, let's go back in time as to why this show is so special.  

 

 

     He-man and The Masters of The Universe, is located on a planet of Eternia, where magic and technology coexist peacefully for the most part.  He-man and his friends,  Man-at-Arms (Duncan), Teela, Orko and the Sorceress among others, help defend Eternia from the villainous Skeletor and his allies, Beastman, Evil-lyn and Trapjaw from gaining control of the planet and learning the secrets of Castle Gray-skull.  Speaking of secrets, He-man's alter ego is Prince Adam who only shares his secret with Duncan, Orko and the Sorceress.  King Randor and Teela have no idea about Prince Adam's secret identity and they were both condescending and disappointed in Adam at times, especially King Randor, who wishes that his son Adam was more brave and courageous as He-man, not realizing that He-man and Adam is the same person.  However, Adam's mother Queen Marlena may know Adam's secret as it was hinted in an episode,  The Rainbow Warrior.

 

 

 

(www.highsnobiety.com)

 

        Ah the 80s, where consumerism was taking off.  And what I mean by that is the manufacturing, promoting and buying toys.  Fast fashion today had nothing on toy manufacturing,  Mother Earth be damned!  He-man like other cartoons, started out as toys, so why not make cartoons and promote the toys at the same time?  Marketing genius!  The He-man action figure was released by Mattel in 1982 and the creation of the cartoon series followed thanks to Filmation. He-man and The Masters of The Universe became syndicated in September 1983, making it the first syndicated cartoon show based on a toy line (Wikipedia).  The show has become so successful that it began to show worldwide, even in Trinidad and Tobago!!  Compared to the comics of the toys, the show was not allowed to promote violence, including sword fighting which was rather strange to me.  What's the sense of having a sword if you can't use it to fight and defend yourself?  He-man's spinoff series, She-ra: Princess of Power, (no, not that travesty) suffered the same fate as sword violence was not allowed as well. 

 

    Lack of violence aside, the series is pretty good and there were some standout episodes such as, Teela's Quest, House of Shokoti pt. 1 &2, The Origins of The Sorceress, The Problem with Power where someone died (supposedly) in the episode and the aforementioned The Rainbow Warrior.  Each episode also has morals at the end of an episode which actually makes sense in the real world.  The show was eventually cancelled and its sister show She-ra: Princess of Power to appeal to young girls.  Not to mention the pretty She-ra dolls for girls to play with.  Again, marketing for kids.  

 

  

 (www.knowyourmeme.com)

                                                                       (www.imdb.com)  

     

    He-man and even She-ra has been cemented in pop culture of the 80s and beyond so much so, there were many reboots of the cartoons.  Shows such as futuristic The New Adventures of He-man in the 90s, the 2000s He-man and even a movie and cult favorite Masters of The Universe was created.  She-ra on the other hand was rebooted only once and sadly it wasn't all that.  I highly recommend watching the Netflix documentary, Power of Grayskull for more history of the show.  Speaking of Netflix, it's time for my review of the new He-man series, Masters of The Universe: Revelation.  

 

                                                      (www.screenrant.com)

    After all that bacchanal with the all those fans who basically bombed the show (I bet some of them didn't bother to watch it to begin with), I've decided to watch all 5 episodes and honestly, it wasn't even that bad.  Unlike that mess called She-ra and The Princesses of Power, Masters of The Universe: Revelation by Kevin Smith, is a continuation of the original series, instead of completely changing the whole premise of a series, which is something that I can appreciate.  

                                              (www.screenrant.com)

        It's start with usual, He-man and his friends battle to defend Eternia from Skeletor and his goons.  Teela gets promoted to Man-at Arms (or is it Woman-at-Arms) and Duncan is ready for retirement.  The Sorceress asks for help from the heroes and they show up to stop Skeletor from invading Castle Grayskull.   Well drama really started where He-man had to save Castle Grayskull from Skeletor and to do so, he had to split the sword in half, eliminating himself and Skeletor but not before turning back to Adam.  Teela was shocked and even pissed at her father Duncan and Cringer for keeping Adam's identity a secret.  Even King Randor was pissed and banish Duncan from kingdom and  threatens to execute him if he returns.  I wasn't expecting all of this bacchanal already and the show barely started.  Teela went into self-exile, shaves her hair and befriended Audra and they both went on many adventures and I'll stop there.  Please check out the show, it's really good.  I really appreciate classic characters such as Clamp Champ, Stinkor, Scareglow and Roboto were added to the show.  Also the animation is gorgeous and if you think that it looks familiar, it was done by Powerhouse Animation, who also created Castlevania and Blood of Zeus.   With that being said, here are my critiques.  

    Teela is mad annoying in the show.  I understand that she was upset that Duncan and Adam kept the secret from her but I really think she was being irrational.  So was King Randor.  After all, they were always disappointed in Adam so I'm not surprised that he would keep it a secret.  The transformation to He-man, reminds me too much of Sailor Moon.  Evil-lyn's voice was too soft for my liking.  I missed the harsh and powerful voice of Evil-lyn in the original, voiced by the late great Linda Gary.  I'm going to ruffle some feathers but I really don't think it's necessary to change King Graskulls' race even though he is fine as hell. I find that they should have kept King Grayskull as is and create a black warrior-king.  I mean they added the token black friend, Audra as Teela's best friend, so why not do the same with King Grayskull?  Also, Teela's voice actor, Sarah Michelle Gellar was a mismatch in my opinion.  Other than that, the show was pretty good.  I'm praying that Mr. Smith and crew will not make Teela a new He-man. Please don't!  She was supposed to be a new Sorceress as it was stated in the original episode, Teela's Quest.  I guess we'll have to wait and see in season 2. 
 

 

 

 

        I really think the reasons that the fans were upset were false advertising and a female lead.  I really understand the false advertising part.  In the preview, He-man was large and center, and with his friends, ready to defend Castle Grayskull!  The part that Adam died made fans, extremely upset! How dare they kill off Adam?  Maybe if they added that part to the preview, the fans wouldn't be as upset, at least be transparent about it.  Teela, being the lead character really triggered some fans, accusing Kevin Smith of creating a too woke show.  Mr. Smith naturally told them to grow the fudge up! Other than the advertising part, I really don't think that it's a big deal to be so triggered.  Don't  these so-call fans realize that female characters play a major role in the He-man franchise?  Well hopefully, season 2 will be better, once everyone calmed down.  

         He-man will always be a classic! No matter, how times it has been rebooted, He-man and The Masters of The Universe,  is one of the cartoons that stood the test of time and thank you Filmation for making such a gem.  Until next time, By the Power of Grayskull!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                

Has BET Gone Through?

     

                                             (www.nexttv.com)

 

    Hello my lovelies, it's been awhile.  I've moved to a new place recently, so it took me awhile to get adjusted, including all the packing and stuff.  I've also decided not to get cable because it's too expensive and frankly, it's overrated.  Especially when you got so much streaming services (now getting very crowded) to choose from.  Speaking of cable, there's one cable station which has major importance in the black community and that's BET.  However, over the years it has become less relevant to black viewers and I'm wondering if BET is losing its steam and concerns about its relevance in these times.  

     To understand why BET is the way it is now, we have to go back in time in its creation.  BET was created by Robert Johnson, who wanted to launch a cable network for black audiences.  He received a $15,000 loan and $500,000 investment from John Malone, an investor.  This new network, named Black Entertainment Television was launched on January 25th, 1980 and the famous logo was created by Cheryl D. Miller.  It didn't start as its own network per se, it was broadcasted for 2 hours a week on USA Network, which was called Madison Square Garden Sports Network back then.  BET's lineup at that time consisted of music videos and black sitcoms re-runs.  BET became so popular with its audiences that it became its own cable station in 1983 (Wikipedia).

 

     Trying to add variety in the network, BET added BET News starring Ed Gordon in 1988.  BET's talk show BET Tonight debuted in 1996 with Tavis Smiley as host and in 2001 Ed Gordon replaced him as host.  It also created other networks such as BET on Jazz (BET J) and BET Her.  I didn't even know that BET was in the New York Stock Exchange in 1991!  Sadly, in 2001, BET is no longer black owned and it was purchased by Viacom for $3 billion, which also has MTV, CBS and VH1 in its wings.  BET also had BET Gospel and even went international, in places such as Canada, Europe, Middle East and Africa. Robert Johnson eventually retired from the network and Debra L. Lee became president of the network.  Sadly, things went downhill from there (Wikipedia).

    

    Now don't get me wrong, BET does have some gems, especially in the 90s.  Growing up, I would watch some music videos from R&B and Hip-Hop stars in the day.  I also looked forward to the show, Video Soul, hosted by the foine Donny Simpson.  Teen Summit, Caribbean Rhythms, Rap City and 106 and Park, and the hilarious Cita's World and Comic View were my go to shows.  Despite the success of these shows, BET was beginning to lose its luster, especially since Viacom took over the network.   

 

 

                                                               (www.bet.com)

 

                                                              (www.wikipedia.com)

        Naturally, there were many critics of BET.  Many has accused BET of promoting negative stereotypes of black people.  Critics such as rapper Chuck D and filmmaker Spike Lee accused the network of upholding negative stereotypes in its programming.  Aaron McGruder of the famous The Boondocks, also protested the network by cleverly creating two episodes, "The Hunger Strike," casting Debra Lee as the villain and "The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show" where the main character, Uncle Ruckus criticizes the network and its portrayal of black people.   Many viewers were also outraged when BET didn't show Coretta Scott King's funeral in 2006.  Instead, it played music videos.  Now, that was a disrespectful thing to do in her honor.  The same woman who supported her husband, Dr. Martin Luther King jr. in his fight for equality and this is the thanks she got.  Malcolm X really said the most disrespected woman is a black woman and sadly Mrs. King was no exception especially by a network which was supposed to show positive aspects of African-Americans.

        Even Sheila Johnson, who was the co-founder, was "ashamed" of the network and she and her kids don't watch it.  Can't really blame her when the network has become a joke sadly.  There are shows such as Being Mary Jane, starring Gabriel Union which was a hit but quite frankly, it was not enough to save the network.   BET got into the streaming game by creating BET+ in collaboration with Tyler Perry Studios and BET: ViacomCBS.  Might as well call it Tyler Perry+.  At this point, BET is a shell of its owner self and it's in danger of becoming irrelevant.  The same can be said for MTV.  With the younger generation turning to social media, especially TikTok, BET has been struggling to attract younger viewers.  Then again cable itself is losing its grasp in viewership, not only is it expensive, it has to compete with a lot of streaming services which portrayed exciting shows which are definitely talked about in the media.  Game of Thrones anyone?  When was the last time anyone has so much excitement about a show on a cable network?

 

 

 

        It might be too late for BET but it can still play an important role in black society but it still has to adapt to attract all viewers in today's times.  Can y'all bring back Teen Summit in this day and age?  A wide variety of topics can be discussed on the show such as racism, sexuality, police brutality etc. Bring back Comic View please...never mind, cancel culture will not have it, so comedians have to be careful with what they say.  Lastly, create a show to expose viewers to the African diaspora and its culture with Afrobeat and Kwaito as examples.  Viewers should also be exposed to other Caribbean music such as Soca, Calypso, Kompas, Zouk, Bouyon etc.  Caribbean Rhythms was a good start but it mostly promoted Reggae and dance-hall music.  Maybe create a travel show to show places and culture around the world, including the diaspora.   Has BET gone through?  Not necessarily.  It is not as relevant today as it was in the past but it still plays an important role in the entertainment industry.  Hopefully, this time BET will do the right thing and stop putting black people in a negative night, after all, it was black people who made BET the way it was before it was sold to Viacom.  Hopefully it can adapt before it's too late!!

 

Can we please stop sanitizing Dr. King?

 

 

(Taken in 2015)

 

Hi everyone!  Happy Martin Luther King Day!!  I hope that you're having a productive day, considering Mr. C is still wrecking havoc worldwide.  While we were celebrating Dr. King's achievements and the continued quest for equality; I've noticed something from some people, mainly yt people in respect to Dr. King.  They always love to quote his phrase, "don't judge me for the color of my skin,"  when called out for their racist behavior or trying to turn Dr. King into some sanitized hero to fit their agenda.  For example, as I have experienced on social media, this 6F dude claimed that Dr. King would not like Black Lives Matter because it's Marxist.  It really irritates me when these people will speak for Dr. King as if he has raised from the dead and spoke to them about his "dislike" for BLM and other organizations of that nature.  These people, being willfully obtuse would complain about BLM, The Black Panther Party and their favorite phrase "black on black crime," where violence in concerned but they will willfully turn a blind eye to systemic and organized violence perpetrated by 6F people against black people and POC.  A perfect example of this is the attack on the Capitol on Wednesday the 6th of January where some claimed that it was the Antifa crew that stormed the Capitol, not Trumpanzees.  However, evidence has shown otherwise but they'll deny it till the day they die.  

 

(Taken in the Summer, 2020) 

It's also ironic that these people chose to celebrate Dr. King, when in the past he was ostracized and even accused of being a communist by the FBI under Edgar Hoover, the very same FBI who celebrated Dr. King's achievements.  Gotta love the irony here, they throw you under the bus, and when you're dead and gone, that's when they want to celebrate you.  But sadly, history is repeating itself because these 6F people are doing the exact same thing to BLM calling the group, Marxist or communist in order to not to remind themselves of the evils they have done in this country.  However, no amount of gaslighting can prevent the real terror in this country and that is white supremacy.  We have seen it happen in the Trump presidency and the crazy events at the Capitol.  Democracy be damned, they want to keep white supremacy at all costs, at the expense of black people, POC, women (well, women of color, because lets face it, some white women participate and uphold white supremacy), LGBTQ+ and progressives who want to see this country prosper and celebrate all people.  If Dr. King was alive, he would still join the fight for equality and continue to call out leadership for their transgressions.  That's the Martin Luther King we need, not the watered down, sanitized version.  So for the next year please celebrate all of Dr. Kings, all the complexities, the doubts, the vulnerability and resolve, not to fit your agenda.  Thank you Dr. King for your fight for equality and justice. We still have a long way to go but I'm hopeful that we'll get there.  

Iwer George!! Ayyyy!!!!

 

(Pinterest.com)

Hello my lovelies!!! Happy New Year.  2020 is finally over and Trump is on his way out!! Praise the Lord!!! It's been awhile but you know, life happens.  Work nonstop and then trying to evade the 19 at the same time!!  I'm back but honestly, it'll be sporadic but I'll try to post more articles in the coming days.  The year barely started and bacchanal started.  An attempted coup that almost happened in D.C and Orange Marmalade still complaining about the elections fraud.  But trying not to stress myself over the news, I decided to listen to some soca music. Soca is so infectious and uplifting and always put me in a happy mood. And since Carnival is cancelled this year because of the Big C, I am having Carnival tabanca (meaning, I miss Carnival).   Speaking of Soca, I want to talk about one of the Soca artistes who has longevity in the business and that is Iwer George.  Iwer George is one of these artistes who is still relevant since the 80s and can hold his own amongst his younger peers.  

Neil Iwer George was born in 1964 in Point Fortin, south Trinidad and began his soca career at the age of 21.  In 1987,  he made a huge hit with a single, "Boom Boom Time," which came in second in the Road March competition at the time.  Since the success of his first single and his LP Keep the Boom Boom Rolling in 1988, Iwer continued to create more hits especially in the 90s where he really took off (Paul Simpson-Tidal).   In the 90s, Iwer was creating hit after hit, including my favorites, "Yes Iwer" and "Ah Wine is ah Wine."  I remembered jamming to his during high school especially during Carnival.  

Iwer was also successful in various competitions in Trinidad and Tobago.  Iwer won two International Soca Monarch titles in 2003, 2007 and 2020 respectively.  He also won Road March titles in 2000 and 2020.  He had a minor beef with Machel Montano in 2018 concerning Road March, in which was rather controversial.  I was sure that Iwer's "Savannah" was going to win Road March.  However, Machel's "Soca Kingdom," which came out of nowhere, won the title.    Finally, they made up and even made the song "Conch Shell," together for 2020 Carnival (pre-Covid).  Iwer got his revenge though when he collaborated with his fellow artiste Kes to win last year's Road March title with the song, "Stage gone Bad."  

Some people may complain that Iwer only singing crap but nonetheless, he makes infectious tunes for his audience and I'm sure they enjoyed it, even the complainers.  But Iwer has a serious side as well when it comes to music.  He sings about pressing issues such as race and economic hardships plaguing the country.  He also had an entrepreneurial spirit by creating  his own radio station, The Street 91.9 fm and even promote soca artistes and calypsonians on his life stream on Facebook last year.  Iwer is a hard working man in the soca business and he shows no sign of slowing down.  I'm looking forward to new music from in 2021 and beyond.  

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/