As the narrator reads excerpts from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, images depicting the Civil Rights struggle are displayed.
When I hear “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor. It must be demanded by the oppressed.” I detect echoes of Frederick Douglass’ “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” [Read more…]
Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films have compiled the accounts of sixteen women who have experienced the sleazy side of Donald Trump. Collecting the stories and presenting them together demonstrates that there is pattern here.
During the presidential campaign these stories were part of the mix of campaign coverage, but faded from view as as other events crowded out the media spotlight. Now that other high profile sexual assault and harassment events such as the Harvey Weinstein scandal are in the news, three of the women—Jessica Leeds, Samantha Holvey and Rachel Crooks—have joined forces to bring public attention to this issue once again, and demand that Congress investigate the claims. The Hill reports that they have gotten the attention of the Democratic Women’s Working Group (DWWG). On Monday that group sent a letter signed by 59 women lawmakers to the House Oversight Committee Chair, Trey Gowdy, and the ranking member, Elijah Cummings, writing that “The American people deserve a full inquiry into the truth of these allegations.” [Read more…]
Republican Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore was interviewed by Guardian journalist Paul Lewis during the Republican primary in August of 2017. The conversation touched on former president Ronald Reagan’s characterization of Russia as “the focus of evil in the modern world”. Roy’s response: “You could say that very well about America, couldn’t you?” When prompted to explain he went on to say that “We promote a lot of bad things, you know … like same-sex marriage.” [Read more…]
Catching us up with the rest of the world, a Boing Boing article informs us that the top trending video globally (currently with over 186 million views since June 2017) features a masked singer in a costume that resembles a clutch of oysters, if anything.
The song is titled “Until we become dust” and is featured as an entry in a televised game show called The Mask Singer. Don’t know whether this was the show’s ultimate winner, but globally it’s a hit. What am I missing?! [Read more…]
From our Normalize This! file: The Washington Post reports that five days before the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson, Mississippi, Trump announced that he would be attending the Saturday event. This Friday, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba (D) and a slew of other civil rights veterans announced they will no longer be attending. Lewis and Thompson in their joint statement note that “President Trump’s attendance and his hurtful policies are an insult to the people portrayed in this civil rights museum.” The NAACP announced that it will be holding a separate event on Saturday to honor civil rights heroes. [Read more…]
Meanwhile, back in Puerto Rico …
“Now This” producer Melissa Fajardo presents video documentary footage from three Puerto Ricans coping with life in Puerto Rico two months after Hurricane Maria passed directly over the island, leaving devastation in its wake. [Read more…]
Version 3.0 of Tom Steyer’s “Need to Impeach” campaign ad is on the air and features a display in Times Square showing the number of signers at around 2.6 million. The website, as I write, shows a figure of around 3.4 million. Meanwhile, in Congress, Rep. Al Green (D-TX) presented articles of impeachment on the floor of the House. The motion was ultimately tabled, but 58 Democrats voted against the motion to table. [Read more…]
ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt, who presented the first challenge to Trump’s travel ban order, resulting in a nationwide injunction, describes the current status of the Administration’s travel ban. The recent Supreme Court decision to permit the latest version of the ban to be implemented while the legal challenges proceed in court will have drastic effects on affected communities. [Read more…]
On Monday Trump’s personal lawyer pulled a Nixon. The Washington Post is reporting that John Dowd told Axios reporter Mike Allen that the “President cannot obstruct justice because he is the chief law enforcement officer under [the Constitution’s Article II] and has every right to express his view of any case.” Hmm. Now where have I heard that kind of argument before …. [Read more…]
Here’s Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s once again pressing into service his creative use of BBs, this time updating it to illustrate the dynamics of the current GOP tax scam. Even after reading about percentages and dollar figures, it can be difficult to get a handle on the relative amounts. This demonstration helps make the situation visceral. It may be too late to call the number displayed at the end, but there is a demonstration today, Monday Dec. 4th, at 4:30 pm at the Federal Building downtown (880 Front Street). [Read more…]
“You may say to yourself ‘How did I get here?’” and boy, lately I’ve been doing that a lot. Still not sure I know the answer, but I do know it’s important to keep asking …
Talking Heads fans will instantly recognize the work, but it’s been given a twist by skillfully replacing David Byrne with another iconic figure. [Read more…]
Audiophile Christa Blackmon over at Lawyers, Guns & Money, has a post that explores one of the songs—Nature Boy—written in 1947 by an odd character from that period, eden ahbez. It’s one of those songs so captivating that many performers over the years have been seduced into covering it. Here are two versions that resonate with me. The first, performed by Nat King Cole, is the one that brought the tune to wide national attention.
The second, more contemporary version, is performed by David Bowie & Massive Attack for the soundtrack of the 2001 Baz Lurhmann movie Moulin Rouge! [Read more…]
