Listen to "Welcome to my podcast" on Spreaker.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

A Taste of His Own Medicine (Bill Cosby)

Peace all, know it's been a long time since actually posting a personal blog here, but I have my reasons. Amongst the hectic personal schedule I now find myself at somewhat a dilemna. Realizing that we have morphed into an image based society, mostly due to technological advances being heaped upon an unsuspecting mass of people, coupled with a fascination for celebrity status, I sometimes wonder if I should even continue with blogging, and opting more for vlogging and posting my vlogs on Youtube.

  But I'm digressing. Right now I want to briefly touch on an individual that I spoke on previously, that is Bill Cosby, or Dr. Bill Cosby, pardon my manners again. You can check out that blog by clicking HERE.

Seems that Dr. Bill now finds himself in a quandry, being the subject of multiple allegations of sexual abuse/assault by women as far back as during the early 80's, the latest being from a former model who claims that he sexually assaulted her. This is nothing new mind you, for those who remember another post where I shared a brief video by Nikki Giovanni who went on a tangient about Dr. Bill, who seemed to have taken this "tough love" stance as some would call it against poor Blacks, who he, along with other middle class and other Blacks who feel we've actually progressed feel that the issues befallen on poor Blacks are the result of their own "ineptitude", and attacking their mannerisms.




Well now Dr. Bill may be getting a taste of his own medicine, seeing that he finds himself in the midst of sexual assault claims coming from far and wide, and in the wake of the Ray Rice incident, feminism (White Feminism mind you.) finds itself leading the charge against these injustices. Now it is reported that Dr. Bill has lost endorsements, and even the new TV show slated to premiere next year on NBC, whom Bill, or Dr. Bill, has had an enduring relationship with this network, seeing that his 1984 hit The Cosby Show (which by the way was initially turned down by ABC) helped NBC maintain a long standing status as the top network on TV, before Seinfeld,  before Friends, and before the advent of the Fox, WB, and UPN networks (which WB and UPN combined and became the CW Network respectively.) Dr. Bill's success on NBC allowed him to even produce a spin-off from his original show, A Different World, which initially starred Lisa Bonet, who was reportedly released from The Cosby Show, after Dr. Bill's disenchantment of Lisa's behavior, especially in a role in the 1987 movie Angel Heart.

NBC was so grateful of Dr. Bill's contribution to their success, they even helped promote his 2007 literary piece on Meet The Press entitled Come On People: On the Path from Victims to Victors, a book co-written by his longtime "consultant" on The Cosby Show, Dr. Alvin Poussaint, who is a practicing psychiatrist. How's that for propaganda?   The book, along with his popular rants, peaking in the 2004 NAACP address, divided the lines in Black society between those who feel that Blacks have made strides, mainly due to the Civil Rights "victories" and those who sensed that structural racism still exists, disenfranchising many African Americans, and creating a permanent underclass of people with no recourse of action to either reclaim dignity or justice lost. Now with a person who identifies himself as a Black man in the White House, those voiceless people who felt the sting of the Black Bourgeoisie's tongue against them have even a harder time trying to convince their Black middle class compatriots that structural racism is still a hindrance to the advancement of Black people, coupled with the Black middle class' denial or cowardliness, and the recent killings of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, John Crawford, Ezell Ford and others at the hand of vigilantes and rogue police, the future of Black America doesn't seem to be too bright.

Thanks for your contribution, Dr. Bill.

So my thoughts on the situation? Well, as Brother Malcolm (Al Hajj Malik Al-Shabazz) stated in reference to JFK's assassination, it's the results of "the chicken's coming home to roost". The climate that Dr. Bill created with his rants, which were backed by pundits in the so called "Black Press" and presented in the mainstream press as "news", along with his TV show, with his tap dancing around contemporary issues among Black people for fear of as he would put it "reinforcing stereotypes", polarized contemporary Black society, and helped to subside Whites' guilt about living in a society where Race determines social status and upward mobility. He has no remorse for the propaganda he and his partner-in-crime Dr. Poussaint spreaded, which in a book entitled Enlightened Racism: The Cosby Show, Audiences, and the Myth of the American Dream by Sut Jhally shows that results of the show did not actually introduce positive Black family models, but rather confirmed White's insistences that structural racism did not exist, and that Blacks' failure to achieve the American Dream were due to their own inability to "pull up their bootstraps". Now that the shoe seems to be on the other foot, I wonder if Dr. Bill will wake up and wise up?

As far as the allegations go, I don't comment on those, for all I know those are at this point merely "allegations". The biggest problem that I have with the allegations is that they have a tendency to destroy credibility of a person's position on important topics. While Dr. Bill did stress personal accountability and attacked the personal behavior of poor Blacks, his denial of the impact of structural racism and White Supremacy still remains the focal point of discussion, at least in my opinion. Guilty or not of the allegations, the propaganda of poor Blacks that shaped public opinion is what's worth discussing here because it's the same stuff that's pushed by the likes of Oprah, Obama, Charles Barkley, and any other Black person with more than five dollars in their pocket and a token position. Despite a constant barrage of evidence that would suggest otherwise, like multiple video footage of Blacks being killed with no recourse, and the rising discrimination suits that go unheard or unattended to, some of us still harbor this erroneous belief that these things are the result of Blacks' failure and inferiority. It is this that I wish to contend with, and not someone's apparent personal hypocrisy and shortcomings.

But I know some people are going to get their kicks out of these allegations and their impact on his reputation and future endeavors. And while it is tempting to throw egg in the man's face, I must stay focused on the real issues. The ones that affect all of us.

But in closing I have one more thing to say......HA!

Peace....www.qartworks.com

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Whatcha Up To Q?

Peace All... I'm working on a small blog about the Charles Barkley situation, but before I go into specifics about that subject, being that it's been such a long time that I've actually blogged about anything, let alone shown any of my artwork, I'd thought I send a smidgen of something that I'm working on right now. More later! Enjoy!

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Rap video against police brutality...Explicit lyrics

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Why Can’t Obama Talk To Black Americans Like That? | News One

Maybe we're chumps....





Why Can’t Obama Talk To Black Americans Like That? | News One

Palestinians express 'solidarity with the people of Ferguson' in Mike Brown statement

Peace all, sometimes our personal struggles may get in the way of seeing a bigger picture. Then there are those who remind you of the reality of the oneness of the human family, although we may face hardships that seem different than the tribulations of other people. It gave me great confidence and pleasure knowing that some people do understand the plight of ethnic cleansing in the US as well as other parts of the world. Peace to the people of Palestine. 



Palestinians express 'solidarity with the people of Ferguson' in Mike Brown statement

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Will It Stop With Eric Garner?

Eric Garner was killed for no reason at all, yet everyday Blacks continue to hear denials of racism and moans and groans about playing the "race card" whatever that means. Also as I write this I've received information that the trial regarding Renisha McBride, the African American woman who was killed when she was looking for help after a car accident begins today. Let's see how much coverage this gets.

Friday, July 18, 2014

[VIDEO] NYPD Chokehold Kills Man | News One

I don't know what's worse, the NYPD with their constant brutality, or Al Sharpton with his antics. When are Black people going to realize this rat has no good intentions for the Black community?



[VIDEO] NYPD Chokehold Kills Man | News One

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Street Artist Making Impact

When you're called a terrorist for creating art that exposes war criminals, now that's making an impact!

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Friday, May 30, 2014

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Former child soldier Ishmael Beah recounts his past..

Peace all,

Found this interview just recently, and was floored with the information given in the interview as much as I was spellbound by the book entitled A Long Way Gone : Memoirs of a Child Soldier. I see so many parallels in this man's struggles as well as the problems facing African Americans in the US, especially in light of the increasing racism in the so called post racial society. Hope to be back with more stuff so hang tight!

Monday, April 21, 2014

Still At It....

Peace all, been under the weather the past few weeks, trying to get back to normal health. Working on some projects as well...In the meantime check out this sad video of giving a 17 year old 35 years for credit card fraud. Utterly speechless.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

What's The Deal Bill? The War Between The Others And The Others Pt. 1

This is the first of a series of sad but true stories of what happens when those who represent the minorities of America feel that they've made some accomplishments, which results in them blaming the majority of those who've suffered from structural racism and White supremacy in America as "inept" and "inferior".

I begin this series with Bill Cosby, or Dr. William H. Cosby, sorry for my blatant disrespect. Somehow this man keeps popping up in the media, beit corporate or the Black media, with the usual rant about how poor Blacks(note his rants are against one section of people) are not holding up their end of the bargain, or selling short on the Civil Rights movement. It's gotten to a point where I cringe everytime I hear or see this man's name, because I know it's not going to be good, because it's obvious that Bill, or Dr. Bill has a serious connection problem with lower class Black people.

Growing up I watched Fat Albert and The Cosby Kids religiously, as well as The Cosby Show and A Different World in my later years. Like most people, I didn't know then what I know now, which is the fact Dr. Bill is participating in a sinister war of various implications, not just on race relations, but a class war as well. How is that you ask? By not honing in on society's ills which affect its constituency, and ranting on and on about personal behavior issues, Dr. Bill, like others who feel that Blacks have progressed, places the blame solely on the individual, or in this sense, since we're talking about Black people we have to discuss the "group collective" or the double-standard that we place on each other that the actions of one or even a few Blacks represent THE WHOLE RACE.

 I didn't know the hidden subtleties that were inserted inside these shows, such as the lack of racial identity or the lack of approaching social issues that affected Blacks. Bill, oh sorry, I mean Dr. Bill, did not want to have a show which reflected the usual racial stereotypes as he put it, meaning The Cosby Show was not to reflect the realities of America then and now, which is why we never saw an episode where neither Theo or Elvin were profiled by the police, nor any of the kids being ridiculed about their hair, race, nor in any instance did we see any poor Blacks on his show, except the time when Elvin and Sondra leaves school and try their hand at owning a wilderness shop. Eventually Elvin comes to his senses and decides to re enter college...Ho hum...

That was another subtle theme that was inserted in these shows, this need to go to college in order to guarantee oneself a job in the mainstream. We were pummeled with these scenarios from Elvin and Sondra leaving school, only to come to their senses to Denise leaving school, going to Africa and getting married, only to come back to school in the end. The series ended with Theo graduating from college, overcoming his dyslexia and his slackness in his youth. To this day this idea is still being pushed into the minds of Black youth as the salvation of the race, although White students are growing more and more frustrated with the rising costs of tuition, the never ending student loan issue, which is now in the billion dollar range, and the lack of jobs one discovers after they've graduated. But Bill, I mean Dr. Bill and others in the Black middle class swears by this notion that a college degree will guarantee you a slot somewhere in the American Dream.  Even if his doctorate degree was the result of  simply submitting a thesis about the importance of using Fat Albert and The Cosby Kids as a learning tool...whoopee...

 Is this a subtle hint that being poor and uneducated is attributed to attitude or drive? Of being of inferior stock? So poor people are not dignified in any sense? This was the ultimate exhibition of Black middle class fantasy, in which the cries of the poor, downtrodden and destitute are completely ignored, as well as propagating the notion that the Civil Rights movement was the right course for African Americans to take, to not rock the boat and ask for justice and independence, but to ask to be included in a system that became rich from theft,  exploitation and oppression. As usual with these assimilationists, a  tribute was given to Dr. King, which symbolized assimilation and intergration and so called nonviolence, but not to Malcolm X or any of the Black Power movement participants.

 All of this was being broadcast during the height of Reaganomics and the Bush era, when social programs were cut, Black women were being targeted as welfare queens, drugs all of a sudden started appearing in the hood, wrecking families and communities, sending families scurrying in different directions, most of them having a negative end with either death or prison being the end result.  Then you had the Iran/Contra scandal, with Reagan disavowing any knowledge of the issue, jobs were cut, the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. You will be hard pressed to find a Black Democrat who will disagree with this notion, so how is it now easy to believe this man's tirades about people who were the victims of these dilemnas?

Now A Different World was different in that it somewhat spoke of the issues facing a so called Black college, but it was not really a different world when you look at it more closely,  Dwayne Wayne, a homeboy from the streets of New York falls in love with a light-skinned, gentille southern Belle name Whitley Gilbert, who was materialistic to say the least, yet in the end she gets her way,  anyone who represented the counterculture was mocked, whether it was Freddie the hippie, Shaza Zulu, the pseudo Afrocentric who can't seem to graduate, to Terrence Taylor, who becomes Muslim, but you don't really know what he believes, due of the ambiguous way the teachings of Islam were handled by the show. It gave you the impression that to be a Muslim was all about freeing oneself from the oppression of the White man, ala the Nation of Islam, but I won't get into specifics with this right now. In the final season, Freddie gets rid of the hippie look, straightens out her hair, and joins the system and tells Lena(played by Jada Pinkett Smith) that she's going to assimilate into the system with the hopes of changing the system....Such delusion...Again this show gives a tribute to Dr. King and the Civil Rights movement, and pushes the constant barrage of vote, vote, vote, even with Rev. Jesse Jackson making an appearance on one episode.

So while The Cosby Show stayed away from racial politics of any sort, A Different World grazed those issues, but in an assimilationist fashion.

So in reality both shows were just as much propagandist in nature as any other show on television. This time it was for middle class Blacks. And in many cases it worked, due to the lack of approaching racial politics among everyday life for Blacks, especially the ones who don't make it to college for whatever reasons. But in tap dancing around those issues, it created the sense in White people that White supremacy and privilege doesn't really exist, and Blacks are just victimizing themselves, asking for handouts.

 Then there's the issue of Dr. Alvin Poussaint, who acted as the consultant for the two latter of Dr. Bill's shows, as well as co-written a book with Dr. Bill entitled C'mon On People...aimed at who? Poor Blacks of course. But just who is Dr. Alvin Poussaint? Well he's a psychiatrist from....

Hold up...Hold up...HOOOOOLD UPPP!

Dost thou not smelleth something fishy in thy nostrils?

What's the relationship between a psychiatrist and a sitcom? There shouldn't be any, at least until you read the book The Hidden Persuaders by Vance Packard, and begin to make the connection.

The symbol manipulators and their research advisers have developed their depth views of us by sitting at the feet of psychiatrists and social scientists (particularly psychologists and sociologists) who have been hiring themselves out as "practical" consultants or setting up their own research firms. Pg 34

 Dr. Poussaint's take on the working relationship was that he was commisioned to go through the scripts, because the majority of the writers were WHITE, and make sure that there were no nuances or hints of racial stereotyping in the script. Sounds pretty decent right? Dr. Poussaint has openly admitted that many of the Whites in Hollywood are racist, but he only says that within the confines of other cohorts who make that claim as well. I don't recall any real discussion on any major network, including Dr. Bill's favorite network, NBC, about the racism in Hollywood. In a discussion entitled Mickey Mouse Monopoly: Disney, Childhood and Corporate Power, he had this to say:

I worked in media and often I was surprised. Sometimes very intelligent, mostly white writers, college graduates, held stereotypes about a lot of people. When they wrote them into stories they would write it in a stereotypic point of view. It's like they didn't know any other way to write it. Because frequently they were not involved in a social personal way with Blacks, Latinos or Asian-Americans. And so when they had to write something about them, they had to draw on what they knew and frequently what they knew was what they picked up from the media and frequently that was stereotypical.

Regarding the Disney cartoon moive Tarzan: ...Kids in Africa see it. They see a white man in African who is superior, swinging from trees to trees, they see no Africans. They see gorillas being the ones they relate to. What does it mean to an African child? Is it promoting white supremacy to these Black African children who watch Tarzan in a movie theater in Africa? Of course it will, and it might be promoting it around the world.

 So basically you have this actor who realizes the power of the media in brainwashing and mind manipulation, so much so that he would employ a Black psychiatrist to check the scripts and red flag any nuances that may refer to racial stereotyping, but yet his books and public tirades are hurled against the Black victims? Why do the both of them continue to work together and write books together slamming the actions of the victim, but not notate in public the actions of the aggressor? Do you see my point?

The only time I heard him rail against any actors were against the likes of Martin Lawrence and Jamie Foxx for their impersonations of Shenehneh and Ugly Wanda, but now I don't even hear that against the likes of Tyler Perry and his Madea impersonations, and Tyler CONTINUES to use this schtick, which has helped make him into arguably the most successful Black male actor/producer in history, but yet there's no tirade against him? What's the deal, Bill? Why not speak against the actors of today? Why not speak against Lupita's role in 12 Years A Slave, or any of these other roles that were meant to demean and stereotype Blacks, like you did Lisa Bonet when she did Angel Heart?

Surely they are educated enough to know the sordid history of Hollywood and the Academy Awards. http://realquwwa.blogspot.com/2014/03/my-baloney-has-first-nameits-o-s-c-r.html Isn't it obvious that these two men, who strut around wearing their doctor titles and claim to be educated, should know that the actions of the poor Blacks are no different than those of Whites during the Depression.? Were they not fighting over alcohol? Were there not White gangsters during that time?  I mean Al Capone wasn't Black to my recollection. And the likes of him were ABOVE THE LAW. Where is it written that the actions of Whites during the Depression were any different? Was crime lesser with them? Where is their evidence which points to the discrepancies among poor Blacks as opposed to poor Whites? Were domestic abuse and prostitution any less with them? Didn't they use dance marathons, drugs, movies and gambling as a means of escape as well? Were the spending habits of poor Whites any different? If so, then why would an executive make this statement, also contained in the book The Hidden Persuaders:

"We can sell these people refrigerators. They may not have room for them, and they will put them on the front porch. They will buy a big automobile and all the luxuries, but they never move up the scale."
—Chicago ad executive, at a forum on lower-class buying habits

 Surely both men should know these things, unless their degrees are only symbolic,  or they are playing the role of "not biting the hand that feeds them", or they are willingly playing a game with people's minds, and engaging in engineering consent of genocide and elimination of the poor and downtrodden masses of Black people.

Now there's word of a new sitcom starring this man slated for possibly the 2014 fall season. One only knows what type of tricks this man has up his sleeves now. My best suggestion is that he quits while he thinks he's ahead.


Monday, March 10, 2014

UN warns of potential genocide in C.A.R.

Funny how nobody notices when Muslims are attacked, especially in Africa, but when they're accused of doing something, the whole world hears about it. 



UN warns of potential genocide in C.A.R.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

My Baloney Has A First Name...It's O-S-C-A-R!

Why Halle have to let a white man pop her to get a Oscar? Why Denzel have to be crooked before he took it?

 


These are the words from a popular rap song entitled "Why?" performed by Jadakiss, asking the question why do Blacks have to play the most demeaning roles in order to be recognized by the Academy Awards. The song raised important questions that still resonate among some Blacks in regards to the stereotypical nature of Hollywood, yet in today's so-called Colorblind Society, this is propagated as "haterism" or "jealous", which people throw aside quickly, seeing that Blacks seem to have made progress in America.

Now the latest PBG(Pretty Black Girl) Lupita Nyong'o is all the rave among Hollywood and social media, and with the "achievement" of her Academy Award for her role as a slave and constant rape victim named Patsey in the Academy Award winning film "12 Years A Slave", her brand is now brighter than ever before. I can't seem to go a day or even an hour without checking my FB page and seeing all of the posts and images of how beautiful she is, look at her, you go girl comments from Black women, pictures of her walking alongside White actors and actresses up and down Hollywood, which gives Black women the feeling of accomplishments, progress and intergration, and the idea of not having to deny your Blackness in order to accomplish goals in America.

But is that what we're really seeing here, especially when we take a look at the latest winners and nominees in the last few years, or are we seeing a disturbing pattern that very few are willing to recognize?



This gentlemen here seems to think otherwise. I captured this tweet from one of my FB friends, which started a brief discussion( at least on her post), but others commented on a another post with the usual claims of "steady bitchin" and probably threw in some hater quotes in there too. But let's take a close look at what this gentleman is alleging and let's see if there is some merit to his post.

Let's start with Hattie McDaniel's role in the 1939 movie Gone With The Wind,  a docile maid who although she scolded some of the characters, did not countermand or go against the mistress, Scarlett O' Hara. The movie doesn't show anything about Tara's life outside of being a plantation maid. The movie also casts Butterfly McQueen as a maid, a role which she herself says she didn't like because it was demeaning, especially with the stereotypical catchphrase "I don't know nothin' bout birthin babies." Hattie tried to take the mammy schtick out on the road after the GWTW success, but Blacks weren't having it. On this discussion on FB, one African American woman replied that she would rather win an award as a maid than to play a Black whore around a bunch of Black men. I quickly replied to her that in essence there is no difference between the two, seeing that the slavemaster would sleep with his maids if he wished, and gave her the example of the double-standard of Josephine Baker, and recollected all of the accolades she was given for the strip tease dances she would perform onstage while White men in safari suits stood back and let her do her thing, yet hip hop video queens are chided and ridiculed for doing the same thing around Black men. I still ask what is the difference? I surely don't see any. The illusion of inclusion truly clouds many minds.

We all know Halle Berry's win for her role in the 2001 movie Monster's Ball, where she plays a woman who sleeps with one of her husband's executioners, played by Billy Bob Thornton. We've all seen in some fashion the teary-eyed, overly emotional acceptance speech she gave at the Academy Awards. One has to ask oneself, what did she do that was so deserving of a Best Actress Award in a movie about a Black woman sleeping with a Southern hick officer who help executes her Black husband? I mean really? Halle, who has also received criticism from the Black community for "abandoning Black men" after she claimed in an Ebony article that she would never again marry, only to be found engaged to two different Europeans, is quite a study in exploitation and stereotypes of the Black woman. All one has to do is factor in this movie, as well the movie Swordfish, which has her stripping down to her undies in front of two White men, which she claims in an interview that she felt that her participation in that movie took Black women's sexuality to a direction where it had never been before...Are you freakin' kidding me? Read the interview right here. http://cinema.com/articles/471/swordfish-interview-with-halle-berry.phtml

Halle also gets the dubious distinction, in my opinion, of portraying the skankiest Catwoman character ever... I'm sorry, but I didn't see Anne Hathaway play Catwoman that way, and her outfit definitely was not as trashy either...call me a hater if you wish.

Let's move on to Mo'Nique and her Academy Award winning role as an abusive ghetto mother in the movie Precious, which was also nominated for Best Picture in 2010 as well. Again I ask, what is so significant and complex about playing an abusive, single Black ghetto drama queen that Mo'Nique is given an award? Isn't this the same woman who a few years earlier played a stereotypical, man-chasing, self-absorbed ignorant mother on the series The Parkers? In 2009 it was alleged that she owned the rights to Hattie McDaniels' story. Somehow she too thinks that portraying slaves and demeaning roles and winning an award for it is an accomplishment...Go figure. The illusion of inclusion truly runs deep.

Then there's Denzel Washington, Mr. Classy himself, who was nominated in his stellar role in Malcolm X(1992), a movie produced by Spike Lee,  but missed out somehow to Al Pacino. Now back in the day I would've blown a gasket for that film not receiving an award, but then again, I didn't know back then what I know now, especially after Denzel wins an award for portraying a demented, crooked cop on the take in the movie Training Day(2001). If you're not seeing a pattern here, something's wrong with you.

But let's go further...

Remember that movie Hustle and Flow, a 2005 movie starring Terrence Howard? He received a nomination for playing a pimp/hustler turned rapper named DJay. Now I want to say something before I go further here. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, and did not mind the songs in the film, created by a rap group Three 6 Mafia, because I understood the subject matter and the songs Whoop That Trick and It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp, which the latter won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. In the context of the movie, I have no problem. But taken away from the movie, it could come across as something different, so my question is why is that song nominated and chosen as Best Original Song? Given the hypermasculine roles given to Black men in films and music, and also seeing movies like Coonskin and Fritz The Cat and the HBO series The Wire which were passed off as social commentary depicting Blacks in some of the most demeaning fashions,  one cannot help but sense something fishy here. I mean if a Black organization were to give it accolades because it depicted a real life story of marginalized Black people, cool....But this song is selected by people who probably never ventured into inner cities unless they've experienced trying to pick up prostitutes and drugs in these areas. Especially if the allegations are true, that anywhere between 60-75% of rap audiences are White Males, especially between the ages of 18-34. It should make you think something fishy is going on here.

Then there's Ray(2004), where actor Jamie Foxx won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the late musician Ray Charles. While Ray was commended for overcoming his drug problems, his life was certainly not the one you would want to show as a stand up human being, especially with his extramarital affairs. And what is one of the main complaints that has been typecasted of Black men? The inability to commit, irresponsibility, being disrespectful of women, cheating on their wives. One would ask the question if the person was a rapper, would he garner the same respect?  Some people were even under the impression that all of the accolades were heaped upon him due to his illness, including the Grammy award given for his last album before his death.

BUT WAIT...We have The Last King of Scotland (2006), a British film based on a fictional novel, starring Forest Whitaker, who won the Oscar for playing Idi Amin, a Ugandan dictator. This film, like 12 Years A Slave, was produced by Fox Searchlight, which castes a dubious distinction here as well. So now we have Africans portraying roles of African American slaves and wenches, and African Americans portraying crazed African dictators...All from the same production company, and winning Academy Awards for their roles, and still nobody sees anything wrong with this. Truly the illusion of inclusion runs deep.

What makes LKOS so bad is that it's mixed with fiction and actual events, but in an image based society, nobody reads or reads with comprehension. They watch movies and what does this movie show? White guy goes to Africa, gets laid by the native women, in typical African women fashion, 'cause you know they're nymphos, right? Gets next to crazed dictator, finds out he's not all he's cracked up to be, sleeps with dictator's wife, 'cause you know African women are nymphos, right? Finds out dictator slices up wife, dude gets tortured by dictator, manages to escape with his life,  the end. And you wonder why I'm not eager to even watch 12 Years A Slave. So now people can get away with mixing true events and fiction, and it makes a splash at the movies, and African American actors don't see anything wrong with this.

Then there's Will Smith in The Pursuit Of Happyness....I don't even want to go there with that one, because the title of the film tells you what's missing here. What happened to the right to live, which also means the right to have access to a decent quality of life, which is not what this country lives up to? This "personal achievement" actually came at the cost of his wife, who left him after not being able to live in squalor, which didn't make her come out of this movie on a good note either.

So when we get to this years' winners 12 Years A Slave and Lupita Nyong'o, one should not be amazed at the growing amount of discontent among some Blacks who have seen enough slave movies and movies that put Blacks in a marginalized position as incompetent, criminal, and inferior...It also castes a bad reflection of living in an image based society, where as Dr. Gail Dines puts it,  most people are image illiterate, and do not understand the subliminal messages laid out by Hollywood and corporations. I mean instead of ooooing and aaahing over Lupita, why isn't anyone really looking at the theme behind the movie, which basically means no matter how you may claim yourself as free, a Black person is not truly free in this country? And why could they not make a movie about the Dred Scott case? Is it because they can't concentrate on Black women getting raped in a film like that? Now do a movie about Dred Scott, and I might see it, unless Fox Searchlight produces it....and by the way let's not forget the other nominee Burkhad Abdi, the Somali actor who was nominated for his role as a PIRATE in Captain Phillips. Just looks like Black people really are inferior from Hollywoods' standpoint.

All in all, these awards don't mean anything to me anymore.They're just props and PR gadgets if you ask me.

Oscar really has a way with B-O-L-O-G-N-A.  www.qartworks.com


Monday, March 3, 2014

Black unemployment rises to 12.1 percent

Structural Racism...Two words no one wants to talk about...Not even the Black Middle class...They blame it on rap music, saggy pants, and distinctive names. 




Black unemployment rises to 12.1 percent

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Thursday, February 27, 2014

X'd Out Again? My opinions on the recent Malcolm X controversies.

Peace all, Let's skip the chit chat and let's get down to business, OK? First my apologies for what may seem to many to be a late blog, seeing that we are now living in the age where "news" is trendy, and people are now given the impression that things work in a vacuum, or at least are considered "isolated". I assure you although this bit of "news" is about a few weeks old, it all ties into a much bigger picture. And allthough I thought of speaking frankly about Nicki Minaj's song Lookin' Ass Nigga, I hesitated much, one because of my procrastination, but also because I witness more "knee jerk" reactions when news hits the air nowadays. We tend to take the little information we feel we know, and then comment right away based on what we have at that moment. I for one think this is planned by the main press. However, if there is anything that 9/11 has taught us, especially for those who do not believe the official story, is to research, research, research before coming to conclusions that affect the masses of people.
The controversy surrounding Nicki Minaj's song with the Malcolm X picture is one of many attempts to distort the name and the legacy of the late Al-Hajj Malik Al-Shabazz, better know as Malcolm X. Although she supposedly apologized and removed the image, stating that this was a conversation piece and was not the official first song off the album, it still poses as a marketing tactic that Michael Lindstrom, author of Brandwashed: Tricks Companies Use To Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us To Buy, says that Calvin Klein used in 1995 when it pulled its controversial ad after an uproar from the public, and even the federal government.  In his opinion it really didn't matter that CK apologized and pulled the ad , because the controversy surrounding it and the attention it garnered was the main focus. It didn't adversely affect CK's bottom line in the end, and I don't think this incident will affect Nicki's bottom line either, seeing that many who were disgusted with the song and image most likely don't buy her work to begin with, and not to mention it won't affect the sponsorship she gets from "old money." Her target audience probably doesn't know a thing about Malcolm and what he stood for, nor the background behind the image. But I'll discuss that issue later.

 How many of us remember what happened around the same time of this controversy? You know In Queens, NY? The issue involving the teacher who barred her students from writing any reports about Malcolm because she thought that he was a bad man? How many of us who may have heard or read the article noticed that the elementary teacher who made the remarks was nowhere to be mentioned by name in ANY ARTICLE? Nor was the teacher even interviewed by any media who covered the story? Doesn't that sound strange to you, that the accused is not mentioned nor interviewed as to why they would make such remarks?

Many people have forgotten so quickly about the book Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, a book written by Manning Marable, a book that caused so much controversy because of its claims that Malcolm had a homosexual encounter in his hustler day, as well as allegations of having a tumultous marriage life with Betty Shabazz, especially with his busy schedule, among other claims. I didn't read the book at all after hearing what some of the book entails, simply because I didn't believe that I wanted to read a so called definitive book entitled A Life of Reinvention about a man who died in 1965, only to have supposed stark revelations 45-46 years AFTER his death? I don't think it would've taken the American press THAT LONG to dig up dirt on such an important figure.

And to think this book won a Pulitzer Prize in 2012, despite the criticism received from his children and close associates? So who's really behind this?

Well deeper research brings up a figure by the name of Wendy Wolf, a self proclaimed progressive who is the editor and publisher of Viking Books, who went on a tour touting this book and the supposed craftsmanship of a writer such as Manning Marable. However after listening to her make statements about Malcolm's "native" intelligence, and her own admission that she did not read the book in its' entirety due to the fact that it "scared" her, one must ask oneself would a person publish a book which castes a good light on a man that they practically can't stand?

 By now if you're still reading this, you're probably thinking "ok, another person claiming conspiracy" and to each it's own. I just think something smells fishy when one recollects the recent events and put them together. Why is this man hated so? Why is there an attempt to either distort the name and what he stood for, or at least neutralize his influence, which one can bear witness when one looks at the number people he influenced from the former members of the Nation of Islam to the international love he gets from within and outside the Muslim World, the white Muslims who point to his autobiography as a major influence in their becoming Muslim, to the ever growing love and support from the Hip Hop Community?

But I have an even more pressing question. In light of the events that's going on in America, with gentrification all over the place, the growing discontent for America's first Black President, the killing, miseducation, disenfranchisement and incarceration of Black people, especially Black Men beyond the likes of Trayvon, Oscar and Jordan, with the drone strikes and security breaches and invasion of privacy going on in a global fashion, why do we see these sporadic attacks on a man who's been dead for 49 years? Why would an unnamed teacher seek to dissaude their students from writing about such a figure if old people are supposed to be "irrelevant"? Or are they really sporadic? Are they controlled in the press as to what, when and how we receive such information?

 Is it because he represents a  dramatic transformation from hustler to a well respected world figure for human rights and self sufficiency, instead of a figurehead that's controlled by old money and corporations, who seeks to intergrate with a society who feels and teaches the inherent inferiority of Blacks? Is it because he saw the false empathy from White Liberals, and made many statements against the likes of them, for example in an open roundtable he made this statement in 1961:

  Most of your white liberals who profess to love Negroes and who profess to be pushing for this integration thing, they themselves live as a rule in lily-white neighborhoods and sometimes they’re the first ones to put the FOR SALE sign on their door when a Negro who has fallen for this integration thing moves into their neighborhood. I think that it’s very hypocritical today for me as a black man and the white man to sit down with each other and pro fess that there is a great deal of love between us. 

  Or another statement: ...no the Jews are the ones who usually represent themselves as white liberals. More so probably than any other segment of this society. Now if the Jews are genuinely liberal and they want to help the Negro, then they should show the Negro how to use the same kind of strategy and tactics to solve his problem that they used to solve their problems. And you’ll find that all over this country, wherever the Jews have been segregated and Jim Crowed, they haven’t sat in, they haven’t been sittin’ or Freedom Riders, they usually go and use the economic weapon. They bought Atlantic City, and now they can go there. They bought Miami Beach and now they can go there.

  Or another statement: We see masses of Black people who are thoroughly fed up with the deceit of the so-called white liberals, or the white so-called liberals. White liberals who have posed as our friends, white liberals who have been eager to point out what the white man in the South is doing to our people there, while they themselves are doing the same thing to us here in the North.

Why isn't he projected as an example for all of the young Black hustlers as a vehicle for transformation and reformation? Why do we have to keep hearing Dr. King's speeches about I have a dream, which was about intergration, and not about Black people's quest for justice, human rights and independence? Is intergration going to make these young men pull up their pants, start respecting their elders and become more responsible, and not lead lives that will either have them in prison or dead? I think not.

Or, do we really want to see transformation or reformation among young Black men or in the Black community? That's my real question.... www.qartworks.com

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

David Banner - Malcom X

Peace all,

Going thru a lot of changes recently, will tell you about it soon. I'm working on a blog in reference to Nicki Minaj's recent song and video "Lookin A** N***a". This song and video has more layers to it than what we're seeing and hearing in the media. Propoganda today is not as overt as many of us are believing. As I speak right now, genocide and rape is running rampant in the continent of Africa. Also skin bleaching among Africans is running rampant. While many people may have already forgotten about this issue in this fast food, tabloid media, I tend to see something totally different, and sinister about this video. We must understand that when an insignificant female rapper is seen with barely anything on, dancing suggestively, holding two rifles and calling for killing poor Black men, and this is even shown in a financial newspaper like The Wall Street Journal, this is more than just "entertainment". In the meantime, here's a video that I love, giving respects to Malcolm X and other freedom fighters. Until then, PEACE!

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Nikki Giovanni Thoughts on Bill Cosby

Peace all,

Came across this ditty today, and couldn't help but crack a smile on my face. I've lost a great amount of respect for this man, and the more I read about his life and the role he's played in the mind manipulating and the ostricization of Black Middle class from the poorer class Blacks in America, my respect for him has greatly diminished, especially with that fake Doctorate degree he has, which he so proudly flaunts. I don't even watch that Cosby Show crap anymore, and I'm weaning myself off A Different World as well, using boojie Black psychiatrists as consultants on his show in order not to offend White people and to "civilize" poor, Native Blacks...Well Uncle Bill, the only thing you've proven to the Whites as studies have shown, is that Black people really are inferior, looking from your viewpoint, and therefore no assistance in any form should be given to the people whom America has miseducated and mistreated in the first place.



OK Black Press, take that and shove it...

Monday, February 10, 2014

Court Blocks NYPD Stop-and-Frisk Reforms, Removes Judge Who Found Program Unconstitutional | Democracy Now!

Peace all,
While a lot of people are looking at this month as Black History Month, and focus on Civil Rights issues and so called accomplishments, I'd rather stay tuned into just how far we really have to go before we can "reach the prize" whatever that may be.

Court Blocks NYPD Stop-and-Frisk Reforms, Removes Judge Who Found Program Unconstitutional | Democracy Now!

Think Black Man!

great artwork by artist Michelle Brantley

Think Black Man!

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Opposite Side-Hardknocks

Peace all,

Working on some new works here and got some inspiration from this piece here. Classic! Don't tell me these hits ain't relevant!

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Speakin' On It(State of the Union)

Peace all, wanted to bring something a little different this time, it's Davey D's Hard Knock Radio show, featuring members of the Hip Hop Generation speaking on Obama's state of the union address...Pretty interesting. Check it out!

Sunday, January 26, 2014

And Here's The Olds...

I mean the news, well considering this has been going on since Reagan, and maybe even before, this is nothing new, nor is it short of laughable. Not to mention who the heck is the Next News Network?

So Good Make Ya Wanna Slap Ya Mama

Peace y'all...thought I'd send a lil cheer your way, I mean all my blogs can't be so sullen, right? I have more on the way, but for right now as the Scarecrow told Batman before he set fire to him, "You need to lighten up a bit!" Catch ya later!

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Fish and Chips 2

Peace all....

After a couple of weeks away from it all, I come back to the blog feeling refreshed, and ready to let loose on an array of topics. Little did I know that I would be bombarded with subject matter that would kinda distract me from the blogs I had initially planned, but no biggie, I mean after all, I planned to do a blog on the controversial show Scandal, which has the African American community in an uproar, dividing lines especially amongst the genders, ranging from topics about interracial dating, and most of all does the show depict African American women in a stereotypical manner, as hypersexual, power-hungry, scandalous women whose ultimate quest in regards to relationships is with a priviliged White male. I want to delve deeper into this highly emotionally charged subject because I believe strongly that nothing happens in a vacuum, especially in terms of the media, which Gunnar Myrdhal contended in his book American Dilemna: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy, is a very important link in regards to information and the education of diverse ethnic groups in America.  If this is so, we are in trouble Black people.

Then this issue popped up....



Meet the latest concession in America's Colorblind Society, Sasheer Zamata, who is now lauded as the latest Black female cast member on NBC's Saturday Night Live late night television show. Zamata comes in at a peculiar moment, after SNL received flack for "lack of diversity" especially after cast member Kenan Thompson's alleged statement about Black women not being "funny enough" to make the show. Then we had the Kerry Washington episode, which I have no earthly idea what that was about either, except maybe it was a half-hearted attempt by NBC and SNL to mock their own insensitivities.

So I did a little research on Sasheer, and came across a few videos, and after watching Pursuit of Sexiness Pt 1 and More Great Moments in Black Hipstery, I became even more convinced of the constant perpetuation of Black stereotypes broadcasted by all forms of media throughout the globe, continuing this hideous portrayal of Blacks as hypersexual, native, excessive, inferior creatures having little or no understanding at all about the essentials of life, only looking for material things to compensate for their lack of intellect or mores.

Even more troubling was the caption I read below the Pursuit of Sexiness video which reads:

Best friends and troublemakers(incompetent, wretched, aloof) Nicky(played by African American actress Nicole Byer) and Sheer are broke, single, and (adorably!) self-absorbed. They're looking for good men(no black men are in the first video), easy money(golddiggers) and free meals(cheap) but would be satisfied to break even and find a guy who doesn't prematurely ejaculate(hypersexual). It's life, liberty and the pursuit of sexiness. How freakin' convenient. Multiple stereotypes of Black women laid out in just a few sentences. I mean come on now, NOBODY sees this?


I won't even mention the double standards that Blacks put on each other, because if this was done by a Black male, especially a rapper, I shudder at the thought of all of the cries of misogyny from Black women...well maybe I did just mention it.

How can this obvious form of self degradation of a marginalized people be seen  as an accomplishment, ala Kerry Washington's fame from Scandal? Looking at the comments on Youtube by both Black and White, one can only see a troublesome future in race relations for both communities. I mean as Blacks finally begin to understand the inconsistencies of America's Colorblind Society, which still have Blacks and Latinos as the most incarcerated, under-educated, most-profiled, least tended to by the state, resulting in an ever-declining quality of life, they throw another bone, and we eat it up, and give kudos to the performers who will in turn muffle out the cries of the marginalized, whom they've made fun of, all for a few dollars, and five minutes of fame on the front cover of Ebony and Jet. Did SNL hire her based on her "merits" or because of her ability to continue lampooning and demeaning a people, and to silence the critics in the process? All I know is that it doesn't look to good from where I'm standing. Reporting Live From Edgeville.


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