Blaxploitation and Other Movie Classics on ThisTV in February

Though there is nothing on their homepage, ThisTV is doing a tribute to Black History Month by showing the following

Across 110th Street
Black Girl
Breakin
Five on the Black Hand Side
Glory
Halls of Anger
Hotel Rwanda
I'm Gonna Get You Sucka
Odds Against Tomorrow
The Organization
...and I'm pretty sure Sugar Hill (not Wesley an 'em) is in the lineup also.

So far, it looks good and if you have events you want to advertise for the month of February, hit me up!

Here's one that I hope to catch soon.  UPTIGHT came out in '68 with a very young Max Julien, Ruby Dee and other familiar faces.  Bounce TV would air this after midnight when my lights were out right before the holidays.  

Speaking of, what's up with those Soul Train reruns?  3 and 4 in the morning?  Think of us on the West Coast, PLEASE!

Django, Mandingo,Ding Dong a Dango

Not making light of slavery.  However, I did find it only appropos that I give my take on the whole Django controversy.

While I am both a fan of Quentin Tarantino and have genuine love for my people, I am not in a race to see this movie.

Many people like Dick Gregory and Spike Lee have made excellent points about why people of color should or should not see this flick, I'm not phased.

Wanna know why? Because in a sense, $hit has not changed.

They throw us a crumb and we act like its the cow.

A crumb is still a crumb and there is no justifying or glorifying slavery.

You can say that Jews and Mexicans were able to overcome the obstacles but from POV, they had the sense of community that a lot of Black communities have been missing out on for some time.

Only a handful of us have the sense to pass things forward to make someone else's life better. A small percentage of New Money Negroes are too busy patting themselves on the back for getting ahead and the remainder are still chasing the crumbs as they come and go which is rather quick since many have their priorities mixed up.

Is there one answer?  Hell no but if you know that your $10-12 would be put to better use, hold on to it.  And if you're desperate for entertainment (I will be back to business soon, I've got bills), RUN to your DVD guy. If you don't have one, I know of someone that has that unreleased Halle Berry movie where she plays someone who is unbalanced.  Since she's behind it, I haven't given into temptation but I know how it is.

Anyway, here is an interesting trailer that shows one of many Black cowboy movies from the 70's as well as the original Mandingo trailer.

A New Year and a Little Tea

Hey'yall!  I first heard about Bettye Lavette last year on PR.  Since I (no longer, LOL) don't have the audacity to copy & paste and I never heard of her, I let the tea of her new tell all pass late last year.  Courtesy of The Daily Beast.

Here is a vintage vid and I really want to say that I HATE the state of music today.  That is all.

Okey dokey.  I got some Soul Train tea though it wasn't everything I expected.  Linda Howard, a dancer from 1973-77 who also performed with the Motown group High Energy passed over the holidays.  On many forums, people asked which one she was since you rarely saw their faces dancing.  She had more Asian features.  Not sure of her nationality as I remember arguing this with friends at West Athens ES (Go Class of 1980!) but her features stood out the most.  Here is a hit that I didn't know about until a couple of yrs. ago.  Would be nice if Mariah can get off whatever and do covers of these classics. JMO.

On a lighter note, I got found an interview with Damita Jo Freeman.  If you're just barely catching up to what Bounce TV has to offer (NOW it either comes on early in the A.M. or it comes on twice in the afternoon on the West Coast), she's famous for doing THAT high-ass kick.  Like Pat Davis had the neck-roll (back when it was cool and not a stereotype), the kick and robot were her signature steps.  Check her out in this classic clip w/Joe Tex.