This book has been featured several times here, mostly because parts of it are nightmare fuel, and also because its writer, Roald Dahl, was some sort of nymphomaniac James Bond. But there are also aspects of the book that don't make Dahl seem like an awesome guy to party with.
You probably remember the Oompa Loompas -- they look like compact clowns and sing creepy songs while getting rid of the corpses of the victims of Willy Wonka's shoddy factory safety standards. If you are wondering what's so racist about them it's because you are only familiar with them from the movies.
The Racism:
In the original book, the Oompa Loompas don't come from Loompaland -- they come from Central Africa, and they were described as just regular ol' black pygmies and not hippie clown dwarfs. They were relocated to Loompaland and their skin was changed from black to white in the illustrations thanks to growing controversy in the '70s. Get your hands on one of the versions printed before the world came to its goddamn senses, and you'll read about how Willy Wonka simply found a tribe of Africans, enslaved them and used them to replace his regular work force because they were willing to work for chocolate. And before you complain that they were not slaves because they got paid, we'd remind you that even the worst slave owners fed their slaves a more balanced diet than Mr. Wonka.
Of course, the original treatment of the Oompa Loompas is reminiscent of colonial Europe, when white folks were still able to convince each other that they were doing all the other races a favor by enslaving them. Unfortunately for Dahl apologists, the book was published in 1964, right around the time that the "Hey, everyone thinks black people are funny little animals" argument became a hundred goddamn years too late.
As we've pointed out before, Dahl even based some of the ideas from the book on actual events involving real chocolate companies. So Dahl was probably at least partially aware that a lot of the cacao plantation workers in Ivory Coast, the biggest producer of chocolate, were practically enslaved African children. It seems more than a little insensitive of Dahl to give Wonka a bunch of funny little African slaves who happily give away their freedom just to give white kids some chocolate. But then again, he's never been the most sympathetic guy when it comes to children.
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December 30, 2011
December 29, 2011
CLASSIC LYRICS....GOOD SHIT...MIKI HOWARD
I’ve been tryin’ to tell myself I don’t need you
Trying to hold back the feelings I feel for you
Knowing in the end there’s no future for you and I
I can’t tell no lie
(Baby, be mine) You never really got to know me
(Baby, be mine) I should have said it at the time
(Words left unspoken)
They only gave you a token of my love, ooh
Take a second chance, see what you’re missing
I’m just somebody you don’t know as well as you think you do
So understand me this time
Baby, be mine
(Baby, be mine) You never really got to know me
(Baby, be mine) I should have said it at the time
(Words left unspoken)
They only gave you a token of my-my love
Ooh...ooh...hoo...
Ooh...
Ooh...hoo...
Hey...hey...hey...hey...
(Baby be mine) Yeah, yeah...oh...yeah, come on, come on
(Baby, be mine) Maybe I should have said at the time
(Words left unspoken)
They only game you a token of my love, my love
(Baby, be mine)
(Baby, be mine) Oh, baby, baby, baby, baby
(Words left unspoken)
They only game you a token of my-my-my-my-my love, hey...hey...yeah...
Come on, you sweet thing
You know I-I need love everyday
No way
(Baby, won’t you be mine) Oh, come on , boy
Give me just a little bit, just a little bit, just a little bit lovin’, baby
(Baby, won’t you be mine) Won’t you be mine, won’t you be mine, oh, yeah, yeah
Oh...baby, baby, baby, baby, be mine
(Words left unspoken)
(They only game you a token of my love)
You haven’t even begun to know me, boy, oh...ho...ho...yeah
(Baby, be mine) Come on and be my love
Say that you will, say that you will, say that you will
(Words left unspoken)
(They only gave you a token of my love)
My-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my love
(Baby, be mine) Come on, baby
Say that you love me too, say that you’ll be my forever love
Always together love
(Words left unspoken) I promise you
Trying to hold back the feelings I feel for you
Knowing in the end there’s no future for you and I
I can’t tell no lie
(Baby, be mine) You never really got to know me
(Baby, be mine) I should have said it at the time
(Words left unspoken)
They only gave you a token of my love, ooh
Take a second chance, see what you’re missing
I’m just somebody you don’t know as well as you think you do
So understand me this time
Baby, be mine
(Baby, be mine) You never really got to know me
(Baby, be mine) I should have said it at the time
(Words left unspoken)
They only gave you a token of my-my love
Ooh...ooh...hoo...
Ooh...
Ooh...hoo...
Hey...hey...hey...hey...
(Baby be mine) Yeah, yeah...oh...yeah, come on, come on
(Baby, be mine) Maybe I should have said at the time
(Words left unspoken)
They only game you a token of my love, my love
(Baby, be mine)
(Baby, be mine) Oh, baby, baby, baby, baby
(Words left unspoken)
They only game you a token of my-my-my-my-my love, hey...hey...yeah...
Come on, you sweet thing
You know I-I need love everyday
No way
(Baby, won’t you be mine) Oh, come on , boy
Give me just a little bit, just a little bit, just a little bit lovin’, baby
(Baby, won’t you be mine) Won’t you be mine, won’t you be mine, oh, yeah, yeah
Oh...baby, baby, baby, baby, be mine
(Words left unspoken)
(They only game you a token of my love)
You haven’t even begun to know me, boy, oh...ho...ho...yeah
(Baby, be mine) Come on and be my love
Say that you will, say that you will, say that you will
(Words left unspoken)
(They only gave you a token of my love)
My-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my-my love
(Baby, be mine) Come on, baby
Say that you love me too, say that you’ll be my forever love
Always together love
(Words left unspoken) I promise you
December 27, 2011
December 22, 2011
WHY EXPECTATIONS ARE AND SHOULD BE SO HIGH....
Nowhere else in the hemisphere do the descendants of African slaves have as many opportunities to develop socioeconomically than in the US, in spite of foolishness from both mainstream society (of which we're less than 14% of the population) and amongst ourselves. Black immigrants from the Caribbean might do well in Canada, but not too many of them do that well back in their home countries.
December 21, 2011
THROWBACK...THE BEST OF THE BEST OF MALE R & B TALENT FROM THE 90'S....
Aaron Hall
After 7
Al B. Sure!
Boyz II Men
Brian McKnight
Christopher Williams
D'Angelo (songwriter)
Damion Hall
El DeBarge
Gerald LeVert
H-Town
Intro
Joe
Keith Sweat
Lenny Kravitz (guitar)
Lil' Joe
D.R.S.[citation needed]Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Portrait
R. Kelly
Silk
Sovory
Stokley Williams lead singer of Mint Condition
Tevin Campbell
Tony! Toni! Toné! (Raphael Saadiq on guitar)
Usher
NOTHING ELSE TO SAY....
You hate being alone when you ain’t the only one.
You hate the fact that you bought the dream
When they sold you one.
And you love your friends,
But somebody should have told you somethin,
To save you.
You hate the fact that you bought the dream
When they sold you one.
And you love your friends,
But somebody should have told you somethin,
To save you.
LESSONS FOR THE SINGLE, UNDWED AND CHILDLESS FRIEND....
The only way I could hang out with my best friend of 15 years tonight was if I went with him to his little girl’s school recital. There was a time in my life when I would have told him to just call me after the recital was done, but tonight I agreed. I’m home until December 30. There are plenty of nights him and I can get drinks, flirt with women, and talk about the world using an unnecessary amount of expletives, so yeah, scheduling, there’s that; but that’s not why I accepted the invitation.
My boy didn’t have to invite me to his daughter’s concert, but he did. The gesture was a testament to how we’re more like brothers than friends. You should have heard the way he asked, like he was inviting me to come watch a game with him or some other customary fellowship in which men partake. I didn’t find it unusual, but I knew it was. The last time we were hanging out at school concerts, we were performing in them.
In addition to my best friend, my married best friends just had child number two, a beautiful girl. While I’m home, I’m going to see them and my new Goddaughter. All around me, my friends are living new lives, which means to some extent, I am too.
People may not say it out loud, but nothing challenges life-long friendships like children, marriage, or new relationships. Some friends are fortunate to find themselves doing any one of these things within the same window of time as one another, but most of us fare like this:
A friend of ours is shopping for baby formula while we’re still shopping for contraceptives. They’re ring shopping, we’re waiting for our phone to ring. They’re on date number 300 with the same person, we’re on date number one for the 300th time.
These things tear friends apart and sometimes, we the single, we the unwed, we the childless, have only ourselves to blame.
I remember when my boy told me he was having a child, just a couple of weeks after I came back from visiting home. During that visit, we went out nearly every night, living life as bachelors and wanting it to end never. When he told me he was having a baby, I could have sworn those nights were gone for good.
Some of us are so convinced kids, marriage, boyfriends and girlfriends, change our friends, sometimes to the point where we change on our friends. Now when we go out, we invite our other childless, single friends, and don’t even think to invite the married friend or the friend with kids. After I told one of my other friends who is married about a night our group went out sans him, he half-jokingly said, “I guess when you’re married, you stop getting the calls to go out.”
He had a point. The married folk, the parent folk, the relationship folk, they may not go out like they used to, but us single folk don’t call them to go out like we used to either.
Every year I invite my boy here in California to meet me in New Orleans to attend Essence Music Festival with me and my other boys from college. Every year he declines because it falls on a weekend he has with his daughter.
I plan on going to Essence Fest again next year. Of course, I will extend the invitation to my friend in California again, because over the years, it’s become an important way for me to spend time with my important friends (for those who think they know why, click here to kill that noise). Chances are he will decline, but still I ask. Just because he has a child and I don’t, doesn’t mean I pander to those differences by not inviting him to trips like Essence Fest. It also means, I don’t decline his invitations to things like kindergarten school concerts.
When I called my boy to tell him I landed back home and to put together some plans to kick it, going with him to his daughter’s holiday concert was hardly what I had in mind. But I’m glad he invited me and I’m glad I didn’t take it as some joke and tell him to meet up with me afterward. Seeing my friends be parents or be married is actually awesome. I may not be ready to be either of these, but I’m more than happy to be there for and spend time with my friends who are.
My boy didn’t have to invite me to his daughter’s concert, but he did. The gesture was a testament to how we’re more like brothers than friends. You should have heard the way he asked, like he was inviting me to come watch a game with him or some other customary fellowship in which men partake. I didn’t find it unusual, but I knew it was. The last time we were hanging out at school concerts, we were performing in them.
In addition to my best friend, my married best friends just had child number two, a beautiful girl. While I’m home, I’m going to see them and my new Goddaughter. All around me, my friends are living new lives, which means to some extent, I am too.
People may not say it out loud, but nothing challenges life-long friendships like children, marriage, or new relationships. Some friends are fortunate to find themselves doing any one of these things within the same window of time as one another, but most of us fare like this:
A friend of ours is shopping for baby formula while we’re still shopping for contraceptives. They’re ring shopping, we’re waiting for our phone to ring. They’re on date number 300 with the same person, we’re on date number one for the 300th time.
These things tear friends apart and sometimes, we the single, we the unwed, we the childless, have only ourselves to blame.
I remember when my boy told me he was having a child, just a couple of weeks after I came back from visiting home. During that visit, we went out nearly every night, living life as bachelors and wanting it to end never. When he told me he was having a baby, I could have sworn those nights were gone for good.
Some of us are so convinced kids, marriage, boyfriends and girlfriends, change our friends, sometimes to the point where we change on our friends. Now when we go out, we invite our other childless, single friends, and don’t even think to invite the married friend or the friend with kids. After I told one of my other friends who is married about a night our group went out sans him, he half-jokingly said, “I guess when you’re married, you stop getting the calls to go out.”
He had a point. The married folk, the parent folk, the relationship folk, they may not go out like they used to, but us single folk don’t call them to go out like we used to either.
Every year I invite my boy here in California to meet me in New Orleans to attend Essence Music Festival with me and my other boys from college. Every year he declines because it falls on a weekend he has with his daughter.
I plan on going to Essence Fest again next year. Of course, I will extend the invitation to my friend in California again, because over the years, it’s become an important way for me to spend time with my important friends (for those who think they know why, click here to kill that noise). Chances are he will decline, but still I ask. Just because he has a child and I don’t, doesn’t mean I pander to those differences by not inviting him to trips like Essence Fest. It also means, I don’t decline his invitations to things like kindergarten school concerts.
When I called my boy to tell him I landed back home and to put together some plans to kick it, going with him to his daughter’s holiday concert was hardly what I had in mind. But I’m glad he invited me and I’m glad I didn’t take it as some joke and tell him to meet up with me afterward. Seeing my friends be parents or be married is actually awesome. I may not be ready to be either of these, but I’m more than happy to be there for and spend time with my friends who are.
December 20, 2011
December 19, 2011
POWERFUL BEYOND MEASURE....
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
ONE OF TBHE BEST MOVIE QUOTES OF ALL TIME....
I am alive because of the blood of proud people who never scraped or begged or apologized for what they were. They lived asking for only one thing of this world: to be allowed to be. And I learned through the blood of these people that black isn't beautiful and it isn't ugly; black is! It's not kinky hair and it's not straight hair; it just is.
SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO THE TROOPS AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, PRESIDENT OBAMA
On Thursday, U.S. soldiers were photographed rolling up the flag of American forces in Iraq and slipping it into a camouflage-colored sleeve, symbolically ending the Iraq war.
And in a statement on his website today, President Obama said,
Early this morning, the last of our troops left Iraq. As we honor and reflect on the sacrifices that millions of men and women made for this war, I wanted to make sure you heard the news. Bringing this war to a responsible end was a cause that sparked many Americans to get involved in the political process for the first time. Today's outcome is a reminder that we all have a stake in our country's future, and a say in the direction we choose.
Thank you.
Barack
Although nearly 170,000 American soldiers were on the 500 bases across the country, only around 150 U.S. soldiers will remain after Dec. 31 at the U.S. Embassy near the Tigris River.
Our thanks go out to all of our soldiers for their hardwork and dedication.
December 16, 2011
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