aka Contrarian

@ProfDThat'll be the day when Blacks and whites decide to forgive and love each other. I have yet to encounter any black folks who don't harbor contempt and mistrust for white people. And most whites don't seem to care one way or another about nigras.

I think I've come down with a case of post traumatic eclipse syndrome. Ever sense the event, I've been feeling light headed and off kilter. Hummmm. Well, I had a good run. If I go to sleep and don't wake up, it's been real, Folks. Fun and interesting hangin out with ya. Check ya later. Maybe.

This is a touchy subject. I'm inclined not to make generalities about black cops or those in the military, members of 2 organizations which, in a violent society, are necessary evils that deter chaos. Not every arrest of a black man involves gun happy police brutality, or every calling out of the guard an over reaction. There are a lot of criminals and mentally ill black offenders out there harming innocent black bystanders who always seem to be diminished by the high profile "driving-while-black" cases. Here in Chicagoland hardly a day goes by without devastated loved ones crying on TV newscasts over their innocent children killed during random shootings. Chicago's Police force is heavily black and many of these law officers are women of color. It's complicated. Chicago's own Ida B. Wells was an early and tireless crusader against lynchings in the south. I think the last officially acknowledged hanging occurred in 1937 back when Jim Crowism was rampant in the South, and the KKK a visible presence. Glib black men nowadays talk about what Blacks could've and should've done to prevent lynchings. Easier said than done suggestions that ignore how hard times were back then. White supremacy was the law of the land in the South, and Blacks had little recourse against lynchings. Ideas about organizing to combat lynching got nowhere because of the risks involved and the fear of retaliation and the stronghold of white authority. What Blacks did do when they got in trouble back then was to flee the south, often leaving town in the middle of night, hitching rides on trains headed up North. I personally knew 2 different guys who parents had quickly spirited them up north after they'd gotten in trouble with white townsfolks down south. "America, the land of the free and the home of the brave"; the free white man - and the brave black nigga is what we used to say back when Billie Holiday sang about "strange fruit", hangin' from the trees. Lynching is still a term that occupies a special place in the black vocabulary. Uncle Clarence Thomas referred to the white-approved charges of sexual harassment brought against him by a black Anita Hill, as a "high tech lynching". And he was set free to go forth and inflict further damage on his race.. It's possible that latter day black people associate hanging with suicide, never connecting it to lynching because of how different the circumstances are that brought about the act. How black cops react to a body dangling from a rope would undoubtedly differ from one to another and laughter would hardly be a unanimous reaction. Whatever. I'm still divorced from the black "race", which doesn't need or miss me, so it doesn't really matter what I think.

I kept up with the progress of the solar eclipse by watching a local TV channel which was originating its broadcast from Chicago's Adler Planetarium where a crowd of sky watchers had converged. This station was also keeping the viewers up to date on what was happening at locations all over the country where the eclipse was best visible, so I got to get a good view of it from the Carbondale site in downstate Illinois. The announcer there actually choked up during the "corona" moment when the sun was totally eclipsed and the huge crowd amassed there in temporary darkness broke out in cheers and applause. I, myself, felt moved as, where I was, got rather dim. A few minutes prior to that, I had gone outside and looked up at the sun through my special glasses but all I could discern in my area was a bright glare. Yet my dog seemed transfixed and unusually quiet. And I actually did feel at one with the Universe and conscious of my existence and how wondrous Life is. Now, I'm back to whatever it is I'm back to. Tomorrow is another day. Or is it? It seemed like only yesterday when I'd stood in my front yard watching the 2017 solar eclipse. When told the next one would be in 2024, I chuckled, thinking I wouldnt be around to witness it. HaHa the joke's on me!

@ProfDJonathan Majors starred in a HBO sc-fi series I watched a couple of years ago that was entitled "Lovecraft Country". It was a pretty good show but I couldn't get into Jonathan's interpretation of the character he played, I found his acting style to be very one- dimensional and aloof, unlike the the other actors in the cast of this all-black show. I say this to say, that when the news broke about the charges against Majors, and I later read his words, my reaction was: now I know why I wasn't a fan of his acting. The ego in general, and the male ego in particular often play a role in bolstering the "pride that goeth before a fall". Jonathan Major's success went to his head and his subsequent behavior cost him his role of playing a super hero. Of course black males will insist that it all has to do with racism and refer back to the lynching era, (which, in hind sight, they actually know very little about)... Considering that Majors' girlfriend was white, eye-rolling sistas might think: well, that's what he gets... lol This is the quote in question. "I'm a great man. A great man. I am doing great things, not just for me but for my culture and for the world." This was a part of the entire statement Jonathan Majors made in reference to his expecting his woman to be a "Coretta" to his Martin, and a "Michelle" to his Barack.

@richardmurray Thank you for posting that music video of "For All We Know." It was lovely! @ProfDmy knee is doing much better, thank you. But I don't think I'll trust myself to ever again walk any distance without a cane. Farewell to my independence. >sigh<. btw, the Chicago sports community has been in an extended uproar since BEARS gm Poles traded QB Justin Fields to the Pittsburg Steelers, and everyone is anxiously awaiting NFL draft day this month. Fandom is split between those heartbroken and disappointed over Fields being let go and consideration not given to how weak his defensive line was when rating him, and those who thought he just was not up to speed. Sports radio and online fan sites are blowin' up, off the chain, rabid Bear geeks almost coming to blows, divided right down the middle between Team Fields and Team (Caleb) Williams the #1 draft pick QB who da BEARS will probably select to replce Fields. The city has never seen such intensity and passion about a sports dilemma! I liked Fields (he's cute) but he did always seem to be running for his life, unable to read the defense and pass the ball. These sports jocks are really into the situation. I never realized how big a role sports play in the lives of certain men until I accidentally ended up on one of the FaceBook hang outs of Bear fans. Whew! And, alas, the Great White Hope aka as 3-pointer phenom Caitlin Clark was unable to lead her Iowa team to victory against South Carolina in the Woman's NCAA basketball finals. Time for Taylor Swift to step back up and represent for white gurls. @Everbody: well, tomorrow's the big event. The solar eclipse will occur and Judgment Day might accompany it if we are to believe certain conspiracy theorists. If Humanity survives, what we can next look forward to in my area will be the imminent awakening of the cicadas who've been sleeping underground for the past 17 years and are now ready to emerge and swarm around for a couple of weeks, buzzing and bugging people like the locusts in the Bible. Egads! Trump, Ukraine, Immigrants, Israel & Palestine, AI, and around Chicagoland, a daily toll of Blacks wantonly car-jacking, robbing, shooting and killing each other! Watta world. Anyway, Folks, it's been fun hangin out with ya! I'm just stretched out here on my recliner, and it's so easy to pull out my phone and start keying. Anyhoo, see ya Tuesday. If not, oh well...

@Mel&Del I've been thinking about the idea of thinking being overrated. What else can you do with your mind? I'm thinking about it... Listening to music is a good alternative. Music really is magic. It requires you to do nothing but listen, and if you enjoy what you hear, that's icing on the cake! Lately, for some reason I've been thinking how 73 years ago in1951, as a Freshman at the University of Illinois, one of the favorite songs of the little black colony of students on this large campus was a song named "For All We Know." At the end of every social event, those gathered would form a circle, grasp hands, and sing this song followed by a chorus of "Auld Lang Syne". Listening to that old favorite by Nat Cole, the years fall away and I'm swept back to the innocent carefree days of my youth. I imagine. And listen. And no thoughts are necessary. For all we know...

@Pioneer1I was not aware that what appears on this site becomes the exclusive domain of whomever posts it. Certainly not a protocol you observe with your imposing self. At least I adhered to the tone of the discussion while you, to whom straw man tactics are second nature, were all off-key. You could hardly wait to inject yourself into my remarks, stumbling in your feeble attempt at being on point. I assure you, the less attention I get from you the better I like it. Your attention is unwanted, Dummy. Like dog shit, you're all over the place so it's hard to avoid interacting with others without having to deal with you. in the future, ignore me and I'll do the same to you.

@Pioneer1Are my comments so provocative that you just can't ignore them, or at least refrain from making your responses so silly and irrelevant?

@Pioneer1Why don't you just mind your own business and keep your stupid, unsolicited advice to yourself? Doing that seems to be a problem for YOU.

@Pioneer1what is it with you and all your silly attempts at humor? In another post you suggested I take LSD if I wanted to expand my mind. Now after smugly announcing that you are too intelligent to be affected by marajuana, you suggest, for no discernable reason, that I should start smoking weed. In another goofy post you proposed that you and Chevdov find me a man since I mentioned that I was bored, and in yet another thread you snidely implied that you were "sexually hararrassing" me. It would be different if such attempts at humor were clever but they are, instead, lame since, in regard to the last one, I am 90 years old, and you are too old and over the hill to be my boy toy. And I have no intention of complaining to Troy about your buffoonery. Nor have I nor any other female regular on this site ever done so. We handle you ourselves. Now, (I have to keep reminding myself to refer to Marijuana as "weed", not "pot" or "reefer" as it was called in my day when jazz musicians were who mostly "toked" it.) I just read somewhere that said if you can remember your dreams you are lucid not dreaming. As of late, every time I doze off, I enter into a vivid dream world where I'm always trying to overcome obstacles that are impeding my progress. The people in the dreams are mostly dead friends and family members and the scenarios are repetitive. I am inclined to attribute this to the BP meds and all the otc supplements I take. e.g. garlic caps, ginger root, ginko biloba, and magnesium. And the cocktail of fruit juice I drink each morning that contains blueberry and strawberry concentrates, pomegrant, mango, pineapple, lemon, and orange juice. I make a big container of this concoction and store it in the fridge. Half way through the week, it has fermented and is quite potent. I really get a buzz from my morning glass of it. So between my meds and my fruit cocktail, who needs weed? I am to the point where my entire existence consists of me just alternating equally between the wake world and the dream world. It's weird. The longer I live the more aware I become of another environment available to me by simply closing my eyes...

Gee, I missed some of this conversation. Parts of it are new to me and must've occurred when I was trying to get my bearings after my e-mail was hacked and my computer broke down, and I was reinstating my account here. @Mel HopkinsI had no idea what you were going through during that time! My dear brave girl, how impressed but not surprised I am by the way you rose to the occasion and displayed your true grit in coping with the crises that tested and gave meaning to why you are here! "Life is the question, love is the answer." You go, Girl! I feel inadequate because my journey has not veered off into paths that called for me to be courageous as I trudge along, knowing that I know not. But being old does present challenges and - I.Am.Still.Here.

I've never smoked weed. It wasn't readily available when I was coming into my hey day. I did drink, finally settling on vodka as my drink of choice. I started smoking in college where every body smoked PallMalls - so we could bum our own brand, we joked. Everyome in my family smoked cigarettes or cigars so I was a pro and gave smoking lessons to my college dorm mates. Years later I would into run into people who complained that if it hadnt been for me, they'd never have taken up this bad habit! A very good friend of mine and a former student of my smoking classes moved to California. About 10 years later she came for a visit. After we sat down to chat and up date each other, we each pulled out our pack of cigarettes to light up and - wadda ya know, we both smoked MORE Menthols. Long thin brown 100s which had just come on the market. Her daughter told me that on her death bed a few years back, my friend asked for a cigarette and managed to just utter my name and chuckle... I was ordinarily just a half-pack-a-day smoker but chain smoked when I played cards or was out partying. When I retired from my job in 1992, I quit smoking and drinking.It wasn't something I wanted to just lay around the house and do. (Instead I elected to write and self publish several books.) My husband had also given up smoking and went from a pack-a-day to not wanting to even be around cigarette smoke. Reformed smokers are the worst. Well, as you can see, I have a lot of time on my hands and since I'm now able to access this site on my phone, its very easy to go on line and come here to bore people with what has become a compulsion to share my thoughts.zzzz I wish Mel would come back, and Chevdov would show up more often. I feel out-numbered. And where is Troy??? Oh well, I'm done

Visiting day at the joint.

There are several other videos out there going into detail about the conspiracy theories and alien involvement in connection with the solar eclipse. I'm trying to get a link from my son to post.

@Pioneer1LOL As much as you whine and pout, you must not be having much success in your grandiose ambitions to lead your people out of bondage in your self appointed role as the savior of "afroamericans". Maybe you'd achieve more results if you'd cut out the sexual harassment.

@Delanoturns out these dire predictions floating around have their origin in the conspiracy theory community. They speak about the Cern reactor in Switzerland giving off all kinds of signals that something is on a collision course with Earth and the speculation is that it might be an asteroid know as the devils comet which is due to come this way in its regular pass by earth. This is all supposedly influenced by and connected with the sun being eclipsed by the moon And of course the religious nuts are saying all of this has been foreseen and will culminate in a cataclysmic explosion leading to the beginning of the end for the world. An amateur Astrologist acquaintance of mine complies with your observation that there are turbulent times ahead... Business as usual on the little blue planet.

Isn't the first photo the famous one taken of an assembly of famous jazz musicians who at the time played gigs at various Harlem night spots?

@Delano I'm hearing some very dire and ominous predictions in connection with the upcoming solar eclipse. What's the word from the astrology community??

Nothing to argue about if you're into religion. Jesus was not a Christian; he has been referred to as a Jewish Rabbi, and progressive biblical scholars now claim he did not "die for our sins" but was executed for challenging the authorities. Happy Easter aka Resurrection Day!

I'm puzzled. Why would the acronym DEI which stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion be offensive to "AfroAmericans"? Aren't those conditions that aĺl marginalized minorities have a right to expect? Similarly, when did civil rights become the exclusive domain of America's black population?? Aren't other ethnicities entitled to equality in a country that calls itself a democracy??? I venture to say that the generation of Millenials and GenZers would put these same questions to the old school brigade of black malcontents who have come to personify the "dislike-for-the-unlike" syndrome that MLK identified as being at the root of racism and bigotry. These are the ones who give credence to my claim that many Blacks, themselves, are prejudiced and are not the least concerned about "liberty and justice for all." What they really want is to make America over in their image while retaining a black form of racial supremacy. Lol And this is also why I support the idea that a certain element of "AfroAmericans" who squat in America need to get their own diversity-free. melanin-infused country where, wallowing in the sameness of their blackness and corrupted by power they can, for instance, ban and deport any evolved LBGTQ nuisances wnoho have mutated into individuals daring to be different and true to themselves. Imo, it is not necessary to embrace these misfits but, coming froma background of being oppressed and discriminated against themselves, these curmudgeons are remiss in refusing to acknowledge and honor the right of the unorthodox to peacefully exist. The world is in a state of turmoil as usual and when it comes to a polarized America, the one thing that remains constant is the tribalism that divides rather than unites, - a situation that jeopardizes the common good. Moreover, in a nation where a vast majority of Americans distrust their government, it's, ironic that these same citizens have no qualms about doing whatever they can get away with in their ruthless pursuit of the materialistic Amercan dream. As for the speculation about which U.S. presidents did what for Blacks, and when did they do it - President Franklin D. Roosevelt came into office in 1933 the same year I was born. I grew up during the Depression and from what I recall and what my parents said (and Dick Gregory later joked about,) the dire economic hardship caused by the stock market crash was nothing new to the black masses who had always struggled to survive. They were lucky to be eligible for the same benefits as whites via the New Deal but they continued to be denied equal opportunities because of America's entrenched racial prejudice.( this is what eventually precipitated the March on Washington in 1963.) FDR gave lip service to racial tolerance but coddled the South, never wanting to rock the boat when it came to Jim Crowism because he needed southern political support. His wife Eleanor was his charitable good will ambassador but had little effect on national policy aside from lending her approval to the black Tuskeegee airmen. President Harry Trumen deserves credit for desegregating the armed forces after WW2 and LBJ carried out what the assassinated JFK began by signing a massive civil rights bill Into law. Bill Clinton had good intentions but his heavy handed approach blemished his record. Reagan did nothingl to benefit Blacks. Joe Biden is a man of his times, a pragmatist who shed his past ways to become a pseudo Liberal, earning points by serving as VP under a black president and subsequently choosing a woman of color to be his running mate and placing other Blacks in key positions of authority on his staff and in his cabinet. America's 2 political parties are, what they are. The Democrats supposedly represent the common man with the "lifting others as we climb" mission statement that has perennially resonated with Blacks. Republicans are more representative of Capitalism and the pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps motto. No bootstraps? Tough shit. "I got mine, now you get yours," is what right wing Conservatives sneer. And so it goes. Come November, America will show its true colors.

Puff Daddy seems to personify the old saying that notes "You can take the nigga out of the ghetto but you can't take the ghetto out of the nigga." A multi millionaire who could be a philanthropic Renaissance Man but he chooses to be a pimping weapons dealer. tsk-tsk.

I always look up things that I don't know the answer to or that I'm curious about. i don't waste time trying to remember what I never knew. I:'ve always been about expanding my mind! This is the case with most people - except for those with narrow minds who only want to reinforce what limited knowledge the have stored in their memory and are deluded enough to believe that they already know everything there is to know.

Hummmm. I dont know why I'm a "Johnny-come-lately" to this thread because I grew up during the golden era of Hollywood, and musicals were a major part of what was shown on the "silver screen" aka the movie theaters which brought the land of dreams right into neighborhoods all over Amrica. I go waaaay back with this subject and I literally had a front row seat to what was being shown back in the day for public entertainment at the cost of a 10-cent admission fee. Only, I didn't even have to pay that because my mother worked as a ladies' room attendent at the local movie theater in my idyllic little midwestern home town located 20-something miles west of Chicago. So, I was able to do what we called "going to the show" for free. As a mere child, before TV was ever heard of, I was a regular movie-goer and the first musical film I remember seeing in 1939 was "The Wizard of Oz", which was made even more spectacular because it was in technicolor, a new technology in the movie industry! From then on, I was hooked on musicals and whenever I accompanied my mother to do her chores in the mornings before the theater opened, I would tap dance up and down the winding marble stair case that was a center piece in this beautiful palace that featured the classical architecture style of movie houses back then. All that was missing was a chocolate Fred Astaire to complete my impression of Ginger Rogers! A few years later in the mid 1940s, I was thrilled to view one of the first full length motion pictures with an all black cast; a musical entitled "A Cabin in the Sky" starring the legendary Lena Horne! It was full of mugging black stereotypes but enjoyable nonetheless. When TV came on the scene during the early '50s, black folks became more visible in the public eye, doing what they were deemed to be best at doing; grinnin and singin' and dancin'. Nat Cole even had his own TV show but it didn't last long because his being black made it difficult to attract sponsors. Yes, Flip Wilson was successful in captivating audiences during the '60s, and it suffices to say that a lot of this was due to the "Geraldine" character he played in drag. What really fostered an appreciation for musical theater back then was the long running Don Cornelius' Soul Train TV show, featuring Motown, R&B, and Pop recording artists performing their hits and, of course, the legendary soul train line that provided a mini-musical show case for a parade of all the latest steps and improvised dance moves. Over the years my taste for musicals did, as the poster Steinsman suggested, change. The music I eventually came to prefer was JAZZ which I wanted to hear played by small combos, or sung by sultry songtresses in dim, intimate, little venues charging a 2-drink minimum cover charge. And so it goes... I liked the original "Color Purple" movie and the musical version of it on stage also. When the remake of it debuted, I had little interest in seeing it. It's now available on cable TV but I'd much prefer to watch the movie about Bayard Rustin who I remember from his role in organizing the March on Washington during the Civil Rights era which I also lived through... Nowadays, black folks are almost over represented in the entertainment industry. There they were recently, as they have been for the past few years, on stage at all the award shows, clutching their trophies, fighting back tears, blubbering about how, as a child watching movies and TV, they had yearned to see people "who looked like them" on camera and now, here they were, being recognized for their talent, bringing their testimonies to a close by urging all the young black kids out there to hold on to their dreams, blah, blah, blah, (and not to worry about losing weight because being fat is now "in" ) . I do feel guilty because, as a child, all I cared about was a good story and if white folks were striving to impress me and everybody else with their talent, so be it. If these expectations were fulfilled in an all-black movie, that was even better. But I never cared about seeing a black James Bond any more than I wanted to watch a white guy playing John Shaft. Now I'm a crazy old lady who can't half see or hear, hobbling around, only bothering to watch the news, and documentaries and true crime prorams and listen to music from by gone days with strong melodies and exquisite lyrics, still cheering on the local sports teams, but not really looking forward to what the future holds. C'est la vie. Well, I've rambled and reminisced long enough. The ol night owl is ready to pack it in. Good Evening. zzzzzzzzz

Close on the heels of the ads featuring gold garnished sneakers bearing the Re-elect Trump brand, is a TV commercial featuring Donald tRump hawking for the modest price of $59.00, a "patriotic" Bible guaranteed to inspire God to Bless America. Holding the leather bound holy book in his raised little pudgy hand, flanked by two gigantic American flags, a salivating Donnie gives his spiel, hardly able to keep a straight face as he anticipates a flood of orders from his faithful following. What a perfect embodiment of the dire warning political pundit, Sinclair Lewis, predicted years ago. to wit: "When Fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag, and carrying a bible." Elsewhere in the news, Robert Kennedy has selected a female Asian Progressive as his presidential running mate. Nobody seemed more stunned than she was in her deer-in-the-headlights TV sound byte. And NBC will have to pay out a ton of money to rescind its hiring of a 2016 election denier, January 6th defender, and former Republican National Committee head. They hired her to give more balance to their news reporting, but they got so much flack from their liberal Talking Heads who thought she'd be more at home on Fox News, that NBC execs backtracked and broke her contract. She gone. Since Fani fired her stud muffin, she's back on the case. Puffy's mansion ransacked and wrecked by a crew of Feds, looking for a weapons stash. Conspiracy rumors already circulating about the Baltimore bridge collapse being a terrorist attack. 10-4, your night owl news reporter signing off...zzzzzzzzz