FILM(S) MONITORED
BLOOD DIAMOND
THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS
The monitor of the film(s) listed above is farther down in this eNewsletter.
We will tell you, however, that “Blood Diamond” was not very good.
If one of the primary purposes of the movie is to explain the ruthlessness and greed of the diamond business owners, the film didn’t translate that aspect very effectively.
In fact, you’re better off reading this piece for a more accurate and detailed account of the history:
All Diamonds Are Blood Diamonds.
We’ve permanently linked this excellent pamphlet on our site along with the transcript to a 1994 PBS special, which was also in BN-W #65, under “Diamonds/Africa” mainly for the historical documentation in them – and not because we have any interest in diamonds.
The piece makes references to Cecil Rhodes (the Rhodes Scholar namesake), Belgium, the
Herero people (see additional information on and the connection to these people in the “Israel’s Heart of Darkness” article below), Namibia, Ernest and Harry Oppenheimer, Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, Joseph Mobutu, Nelson Mandela, Jacqueline Kennedy, Madeline Albright, and, of course, the usual suspects and partners in crime who always seem to be somewhere in the center of all the action – the United States, Israel, and South Africa – plus much more.
Both stories give you a solid base to begin your own research into a very long and dirty history that involves not just diamonds, but many of Africa’s wealth of natural resources, plus politics, genocide, corruption, control, dominance, and so much more.
The trail of facts from many different paths and all types of sources just keep linking up…
Along with the upcoming PSA against anti-Semitism – yet bragging about calling his own Black brothers nigger/nigga – not surprisingly Russell Simmons has come out strong for the DeBeers and Oppenheimer family supporting diamonds.
Brother, have you lost your mind!!
Or, more likely, he’s just totally misled, misinformed, miseducated, and just doesn’t have a clue.
Simmons has plenty of money, so it can’t be
just about the money.
That’s a brother who is clearly in trouble with his core and he’ll probably never realize it.
So it’s probably best to let him go because some people are just not open to change.
Whatever the case may be, here’s an article by Davey D about Simmons and diamonds:
Bad Blood, Blood Diamonds & Why I Disagree w/Russell.
INTERESTING WEB SITES/LINKS/ARTICLES OF THE DAY
:
Egypt on the Potomac
If you’re planning your trip to Kemet (Egypt) but want a teaser beforehand or you haven’t yet decided when you’re going to go on vacation, then do the next best thing, take an “Egypt on the Potomac” tour of Washington, D.C.
Anthony T. Browder, author of several books, including Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization (Exploding the Myths), has sponsored these tours for years to reveal the many contributions of African people that are “hidden in plain sight” and he also correctly points out that “as long as we remain disconnected to our history, they don’t have to worry about us taking it back.”
As explained on the Web site, “this field trip will familiarize you with the architecture, symbolism, philosophy, and mythology of the ancient
Following are some links on the tour and books by Anthony T. Browder:
Washington Post Article
EUR Book Review
Amazon.com
Racism Tests:
Implicit Association Test
Institute for "Interracial" Harmony
Of the two racism tests above, the Implicit Association Test was used for a show called Skin-Deep:
Racism in America that was recently shown on the Paula Zahn NOW cable news show.
According to the data gathered from this test, “most respondents find it easier to associate African American with Bad and European American with Good.”
That’s hardly a surprise when you think of the American media, (mis)education system, and the marketing/advertising techniques.
It’s easy to make those associations whether consciously, subconsciously or unconsciously.
The United Voices for a Common Cause organization has created a Benedict Arnold List with inaugural members that include John Ridley and Damon Wayans who have both put themselves in a straitjacket by being hardcore advocates of the N-word.
In a poorly edited Esquire magazine article, Ridley uses the word profusely to describe poor and/or low-income Blacks and in a Los Angeles Times article, Wayans actually states that this word is “part of our culture” and “don’t take that away from us.”
What?
Another set of lost brothers.
As UVCC’s Founder/CEO writes:
“Stoicism and excuses are not substitutes for self-respect, pride and dignity….There is nothing chic, cool or…cerebral… about Blacks referring to one another as niggas.”
We know enough about Wayans and his misguided and worthless attempts at being defiant, but here are three short articles on Ridley:
Maynard Institute
African American Literature Book Club
Black Agenda Report
Oprah’s friend Gayle King got caught up in commenting that she uses the word with her “closest friends,” but quickly cleaned it up to say that Oprah, Stedman, and Maya Angelou do not use the word – even pointing out that Angelou will “ask people to leave her home if they use that word.”
King states she’s rethinking use of the word because it’s not a good thing.
No kidding, Gayle!
Here’s the EUR story:
Gayle King on the N-Word.
Darryl James has written a lot of excellent pieces on the N-word, but he really explodes on this one.
There are times when we want to throw some foul language out there ourselves – and have even created at least one acronym we’ve yet to use officially (DAM – you figure it out!) in an eNewsletter, but so far we’ve been able to refrain.
But James does some venting for us, including to those individuals who say we have more important things to worry about:
“Even the barely conscious argue that there are greater things to worry about….And even the morons who think that we can afford to ignore this issue to focus on others are more than likely doing nothing about anything else anyway.”
We all know plenty of people like that – those who sit back, look around, complain about the problems, and never do a damn thing.
Here’s the complete article:
The “N” World Reloaded.
Listen to Richard Pryor’s 1982 audio on why he stopped using the N-word.
You rarely hear this anywhere, but you always see and hear his comedy shows where he’s using the word excessively.
This NPR link also includes interviews with Paul Mooney and old school rapper KRS-One who somewhat disappoints by being almost neutral on the word, especially since he was considered a so-called conscious rapper back in the day.
As we mentioned in
BN-W #54
the conclusion of Part II:
Black-Jewish Relations will be included with our new bi-monthly Music Monitor.
As we also stated, we’ve got a lot of information, and, for that reason, until Part II comes out, we’ll be filtering stuff to you so it won’t be too overwhelming in the buildup to Part II’s conclusions.
Refer to
BN-W #53/54
if you need a repeat of our feelings on the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
We received two inquiries surrounding the issue on whether Michael “Kramer” Richards is Jewish or not.
Initially his crisis management expert, Howard Rubenstein, was adamant that Richards was Jewish (“I am his spokesman and I am telling you he is Jewish.
You got that directly from me.”).
About a week later, Rubenstein changed his tune and said Richards “believes in Judaism, and that’s what he’s adopted for himself.”
So we can only assume that Richards must have fooled a lot of people over the years.
As far as we’re concerned, we can’t relate to hiding or not hiding your religion because your “race” allows you the avenue to attempt to get over so to speak.
We’re Africans, so we can only relate to the following words by Stevie Wonder:
“can…not cash in your face.”
If you’re interested in the intentional game of religious indifference played by some on television and, of course, in real life, read this piece by the Jewish News of Greater Phoenix:
To Be or Not To Be…Jewish.
You figure out who’s who or who’s what.
Have fun…
Jimmy Carter’s new book – Palestine:
Peace Not Apartheid – is causing much uproar and discussion.
Carter’s been effectively holding his own from the onslaughts including predictable attacks from attorney Alan Dershowitz about the “tone” of the book and incoming Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi who eloquently speaks for “all” Jewish people and their views on oppression.
Below are some links, including two from CNN mainstays:
Larry King and Wolf Blitzer
Black Agenda Report
:
Jimmy Carter and Israel’s Apartheid by Margaret Kimberley
“Carter’s book tells just a little of the truth about the occupation of
ABC News Book Excerpt:
Former President Shares His Plan for Middle East Peace in New Book
CNN Transcript Links:
Larry King Live and Situation Room
The
If you’re curious about those Orthodox Jews who attended the conference recently held in Tehran about the Jewish holocaust, here are some links explaining a little about the differences among Judaism, Orthodox Jewry, and Zionism:
BBC News
Black Electorate [Speech delivered by Rabbi Aharon Cohen]
Neturei Karta International – Jews United Against Zionism
If you missed any other BN-W monitors, just send an e-mail to bannword2@yahoo.com and request that it be sent to you. As always, we highly encourage you to see these films for yourself and, if applicable, make your own judgment call on the N-word usage – appropriate/inappropriate? necessary/unnecessary? sensible/nonsensical? does it add to or take away from the film’s concept? does the N-word have to be used at all? is there a valid reason for doing so? is it mandatory for the scene(s) to be effective? what are the circumstances/situation that necessitate any use of the word? is it just thrown in for humor, fear, crime, insult? are other culturally insulting slang terms used as much as the N-word in the film? Lots of questions and a whole lot of reasons to wonder what’s the real purpose and thought process behind why these entertainers, writers, directors, producers, executive producers, distributors, and studios/studio heads and executives give the “greenlight” for these crews to liberally use (or allow to be used) the N-word.
FEATURE FILM(S)
:
B L O O D
D I A M O N D
[Release Date:
12/8/06]
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou, Jennifer Connelly;
screenplay written by Charles Leavitt; directed by Edward Zwick; produced by Paula Weinstein, Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, Graham King Gillian Gorfil; executive produced by Len Amato Kevin de la Noy, Benjamin Waisbren; studio – Warner Bros. Pictures
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NONE [0]
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LOW TO EXCESSIVE [1+]
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XXXXX
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NOTE
:
N-word used through rap music and “kaffir” (the African version of the N-word) also used.
Unfortunately, one thing the film effectively did was to continue to show what we call “White ‘Hollywood’ Supremacy,” [WHS] which never fails to emerge in the majority of films in general, but particularly when it’s about
T H E
P U R S U I T
O F
H A P P Y N E S S
[Release Date:
12/15/06]
Starring Will Smith, Thandie Newton, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith;
screenplay written by Steven Conrad; directed by Gabriele Muccino; produced by Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch, James Lassiter, Will Smith; executive produced by Louis D’Esposito, Mark Clayman, David Alper, Teddy Zee; studio – Columbia Pictures
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NONE [0]
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LOW TO EXCESSIVE [1+]
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XXXXX
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NOTE
:
This is not a great movie, but it’s a good movie.
It’s also a very serious film from beginning to end and shows the plight of homelessness.
And even though it was a story of overcoming difficult times, it was nice to see a bond of love and loyalty between father and son.
There are some minor things we could do without, including some references to Thomas Jefferson’s thought process, but we’ll overlook it since it’s supposed to be based on one man’s life story.
BN-W Monitor Coming Soon:
“Slow Burn” [LL Cool J, Ray Liotta]; “Dreamgirls” [Beyonce Knowles, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy]; “Pride” [Terrence Howard, Bernie Mac, Kimberly Elise]; “Home of the Brave” [Samuel L. Jackson, Curtis “50 Cent”
Also Coming
:
Part II:
Black-Jewish Relations; Bi-Monthly Music Monitors