Black History Month 2016: A Review

This post is dedicated to my mother. HI MA!!!


Hello All!


February is over and what a Black History Month it was. Not only was it about the history but it was also about us making history and having our voices heard. 2016 is shaping up to be a big year and has already been a historic one with much more to come. But now, lets go over some of the things that went down in recent weeks that had an impact on Black America and its future.

The White House Celebrates Black History Month

President Obama held a reception in honor of Black History Month where he touched upon several issues including the fight for racial equality. In attendance was a photographer from The Washington Post who shot this breathtaking photo of a 3 year old boy meeting the POTUS himself.  This photo really resonates with me. In that little boy's eyes you can see the hopes, dreams and potential of an entire race.  I see how far we've come as a nation and a people.  This United States has gone from a country that didn't even see Black people as human to a country that is LED by a Black man. American society is far from perfect. But if you really think about it, we've really come a very long way.


Race & The 2016 Election
The election has been heating up as of late on the racial front with the Black Lives Matter movement and the KKK both joining the mix.  At a private fundraising event in South Carolina, a couple of Black Lives Matter activists interrupted Hillary Clinton's speech to confront her on her views toward racial justice during her husband's administration back in 1996.  She also asked her to apologize to Black people for the mass incarcerations of the 90s (brought on by Bill Clinton's three strike laws and his elimination of rehabilitation programs for drug addicted criminals) and for referring to the at risk youth of the time as "Super Predators". The other activist shot the whole ordeal before being escorted out by the Secret Service. You can see it all here:

Pretty strong move by these young activists who paid $500 each to attend the event. Although I don't quite agree with their approach, I do understand their need for clarity. Hillary's campaign makes her look like a lifelong civil rights activist when, during Bill's administration, she had a much more stern opinion on racial justice (basically "Lock 'em up now and ask questions later). It appears as though she plays which ever card she has to when it comes to race depending on the situation. If you remember, she took a different stance during her campaign in '08 against Obama. 1996, 2008 and the present are all different times with race relations in completely different situations. That makes it understandable how ones viewpoints can change. However, its causing some to wonder which Hilary with which different state of mind is running prompting the hashtag #whichhillary.  I, personally, really like Hillary Clinton and understand the changes she's made. Should she win the primary (which it looks like she will) she's got my vote because out of all of the candidates I believe that she's the most experienced, prepared and has the mental toughness to do what's right and lead the free world in the right direction.

Now, on the other side, there's The Donald...

Donald Trump's presidential campaign has been surrounded by controversy since it began but things are at an all time high right now. He's received many endorsements but the one that's making the most noise is the endorsement he received from former KKK grand wizard, David Duke (I'm sorry but "grand wizard"? These backwood inbred hicks are laughable. I can't even be mad at the KKK because they are such an ignorant and backwards group that its really quite sad. All one can do is pray for people like that). Sh*t really hit the fan when Trump failed to immediately disavow the endorsement. First, when asked about it on the "Today" show (after going through a smooth interview with no complications) he avoided answering the question. His reason: A "bad earpiece". The WHOLE INTERVIEW was fine. But, once confronted with questions about the David Duke endorsement, the earpiece has now gone "bad".  I'm so sorry but I call SUPREME BS on that. On "State Of The Union" Trump stated that she has already disavowed Duke the week before. He also stated that he didn't know anything about David Duke. Well, that's a lie. Trump was thinking about running for president back in 2000 under the Reform Party which included David Duke. At that time he stated that that wasn't the company he wanted to keep. But, now he doesn't know who he is or anything about the KKK. How convenient.

Everything that Donald Trump does reeks of shady behavior. He's anti immigrants but he's married to one. Along with this, a lot of the work done physically building Trump Tower was done by illegal and undocumented Polish immigrants. Plus, with his racial views currently being under fire, him having dozens of black students removed from a rally in Georgia doesn't help. There was no reason to even have them removed. The students were silent.  However, they were wearing all black clothing.

Scary.

Today is Super Tuesday meaning that 12 states will hold primaries today. I pray... I PRAY that the American people come to their senses soon. But, most of those 12 states are southern so, who knows what's going to happen.


Chris Rock Takes On #OscarsSoWhite
This year's annual Academy Awards ceremony was definitely a hot topic. A few months ago when the nominees were announced and not one Black actor was nominated the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite popped up and the Black community vowed to boycott the Oscars in protest in spite of the fact that it was being hosted by a Black man and there were also Black nominees in other non-acting categories. Spike Lee was very upset about the nominations (which makes sense because he seems to believe that he deserves a nomination for everything) along with Jada and Will Smith who believe he should have been nominated for his role in the movie "Concussion".  I'm not saying that Will Smith is not an amazing actor because he is. However, its my opinion that he deserved the Oscar nod (and should've won) more for his work in the film "Ali" than he does for "Concussion".  Just my opinion. But Will Smith does deserve an Oscar and should've won one years ago.  But, I digress...  The boycott worked and the Oscars had the lowest ratings in 8 years.  Although I had no plans to watch the Oscars (except for Chris Rock's opening monologue because I love him and think he's hysterical), I didn't agree or support the protest. I know... "Where's my loyalty?"  Well, I'll tell you. There have been plenty of years when not one Black actor was nominated so, who cares? Have you ever considered the fact that maybe no Black actors deserved a nomination this year? I'm not saying that that's the case but it should be considered. There have been years that people were nominated and won who didn't deserve it. These things do happen. Also, when did it become a requirement for there to be Black Oscar nominees?  Honestly, I think these type of protests make us look bad. Like whiny babies with a huge sense of entitlement. Yes, the "Powers that be" have kept Black people down in this country for centuries. However, we have Black Oscar winners because they earned and deserved it. There's a quote (I don't know who said it)that I live by: "Be so good at what you do that you can't be ignored.".  Whoopi won the Oscar because when you watched the movie "Ghost" you believed that she was a phony psychic with a heart of gold. Denzel won the Oscar because for 2 hours you believed that he was a crooked cop. Jamie Foxx won the Oscar because I thought I really was watching the REAL Ray Charles. That is how good they were.

I think whoever had the idea to make Chris Rock the host thought that White Hollywood would get away that night unscathed. Totally not the case. Not only the Chris attack the issue head on but he spread it out for the ENTIRE EVENING holding no punches. No only was he funny (that's a given) by he was philosophical, blunt, made people feel/look stupid and put everyone in their place. You can catch Chris Rock's opening monologue here:

Devastating.

That's right, Chris... Rip 'em a new one. The big WTF moment of the night was Stacey Dash. First of all, why in the hell was she even there??? Apparently, she was there to add diversity and also to serve as a Chris Rock punchline. Unfortunately, the mostly White audience didn't get it.  The actress turned Fox News commentator and, as Chris Rock announced her, "Director of Minority Outreach" came out and wished the audience a "Happy Black History Month". No big deal, right? It was funny because Stacey has openly spoken against #OscarsSoWhite, the BET Awards and Black History Month. She believes that because we are all equal, we shouldn't have our own month, award show or even network.  I agree with the "We're all equal" part but, no BET?  That would suck on epic levels.  Anyway, back to Stacey at the Oscars, Black people were outraged. White people, once again, didn't care. We as Black Americans take way too many things too seriously and give weight/value to things that are meaningless. Like Chris Rock said in his monologue, Black people didn't protest the Oscars in the 1960s because there were a lot more important things to protest. This fact remains the same today. With all of the messed up injustices that occur across the globe on a daily basis, you really want to get riled up over the Oscars??? Seriously... Get a life.

I've got to mention the one thing that I LOVED about the Oscars... My main man Leo DiCaprio finally won his Oscar.

Always a bridesmaid... Never a bride? Not this year. Leo finally got the award of all awards and its about damn time.  His first nomination was 22 YEARS AGO for "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" and, dammit, he should've won then! That was an injustice that should've been protested. But he earned it and he most definitely deserved it.

In closing, this has been a very eventful Black History Month. I'd like to send a special Rest In Peace to the very talented, gifted and unforgettable actor, Lou Myers.

 Yes, Mr. Gaines from "A Different World". That's probably his most memorable role but his small and big screen career spans decades. He will be missed.


Well, that's it. Please, read, share, comment, subscribe, comment some more, tell your friends/family/co-workers/someone. All feedback and love (or non love) is appreciated.

Until next time,

<3