The 88th annual Academy Awards aired Sunday night, and like all good cinephiles I watched. It was a last-minute decision, though; with the eruption of protest against the Academy's decidedly monolithic nominations (all 20 acting nominations were white, and there were depressingly few POC, female and other minorities nominated in the other major categories), I … Continue reading (Political) The Third Rail: Anger in Activism
Category: Politics
(Movie Review) Judgement at Nuremberg
Judgement at Nuremberg (1961) Starring Spencer Tracy, Maximillian Schell, Burt Lancaster and Marlene Dietrich Directed by Stanley Kramer Written by Abby Mann A few years after the end of World War II, a battered Europe is beyond ready to move on. Germany, now that the atrocities of the concentration camps are out in the open, … Continue reading (Movie Review) Judgement at Nuremberg
(Writing) Howdy, Br’er!
This month for Fiction Friday, I'll be giving the Br'er scenario another try. I'm not sure what people thought of the couple fragments I posted last month, but I wasn't really happy with them -- I think they came across far too "woe is me, poor special snowflake" and less "these are some things that … Continue reading (Writing) Howdy, Br’er!
Kwanzaa 2015: Imani (Faith)
Happy New Year, everyone! Aren't you glad that words typed on a scream can't shout? I sincerely hope that this first day of a brand new year is a great one, and that you are able to spend it doing exactly what you want to be doing -- whether that's recovering from last night's festivities, … Continue reading Kwanzaa 2015: Imani (Faith)
Kwanzaa 2015: Nia (Purpose)
Why are we here? The answer to that question depends on who you are and what you believe. Many people believe that we're here to reflect the glory of God and praise His creation; there are a lot of different ways to do that, but if it leads you to a more positive and compassionate … Continue reading Kwanzaa 2015: Nia (Purpose)
Kwanzaa 2015: Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)
Want to know something really great? Read the Wikipedia entry on Ujamaa here. Julius Nyerere developed a political and economic blueprint for lifting Tanzania out of poverty back in the 60s. The idea was to remove barriers and dividing lines between the people within Tanzania and replacing them with incentives to fostering a national identity … Continue reading Kwanzaa 2015: Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)
(Personal) Going Back to Go Forward
My childhood was spent in a procession of hostile places. At home, I had a severe, distant mother and an alcoholic father to tend with; my sister got into trouble a lot and ran away from home several times, so there was always something terrible going on there. At school I was a poor, shy … Continue reading (Personal) Going Back to Go Forward
(Personal) The Wolf We Feed
I’m sure you know this story. One evening, an elder sits down with his son. The son had been getting into trouble because he had problems with anger and lashing out, so the elder tells him a quick fable. “There are two wolves fighting inside of each and every one of us,” he says. “One … Continue reading (Personal) The Wolf We Feed
When I Talk About Bigotry
There's a big disconnect in our society when we talk about bigotry. I think a lot of people in privileged groups believe that bigotry means something like "active discrimination and disrespect of a minority group" or maybe "active/vocal hate directed towards every single member of a minority group". There are a lot of people out … Continue reading When I Talk About Bigotry
Have a Joyous Kwanzaa!
Habari gani? My estrangement from the black community happened really early. To be fair, I didn't have a lot going for myself when I was a wee leveret; I was mousy and had strange interests, and my mother was an older woman who had adopted me and my sister even though she had her own … Continue reading Have a Joyous Kwanzaa!
From the Desk of Jakebe T. Rabbit 