White Elite Men Give Imus A Pass

Imus is disgusting but more shameful and immoral than him are John McCain, Rudolph Giuliani and the CBS and NBC bosses who are letting him off with a slap on the hand. "Nappy headed hos" can not be spun. The casual way these words dripped off the Imus tongue is not unbelievable but just another slam to African women of America in their 300+ years on these shores. No one wants to say it but I will ---Imus' comments are consistent with the treatment of Black women in the United States. That's why the comedy context fits because his description of the Rutgers players are humorous and comfortable for the Imus and his audience. McCain and Giuliani can let him off the hook with no worries as to backlash to themselves because the know the light in which Black women are seen. If these Rutgers players were predominately white and scathed like this I very much doubt that ANYONE would easily get the joke. I know many will say I am making too much of this but I think the point has to be made that jokes are not funny without a commonly held view behind them. A low place in society for Black women, strong disdain for female athletes and contempt for striving, working class people are some of the common understandings that allow for this "comedy".

NBC and CBS are not going to do too much to punish Imus because of the color green. Follow the money!! Imus is a 50 million dollar franchise ... sells a lot of books, has lots of politicians and media types on his program. The financial loss to NBC and CBS would be too much so Imus is in no real danger. I am happy to hear sponsors are pulling out. Yeah! If a Black woman was felt to be the offender such as Janet Jackson, well, we know how that would go.

The Rutgers players run in with racism in the commercial media is not only painful for them but hurtful and damaging to the rest of us. It teaches people that its okay to say anything in any venue and is particularly hurtful to other Black student athletes. Kids working hard in their sports life and their academic life find out in the most negative way possible that their efforts are not respected. Life in the public square is disrupted; the fissures exposed and deepened. Race in America, land of the free and home of the brave, is touchy and very much unresolved. The racial rift has not healed; it is not even well examined so we really do not need this blowup.

The nastiness and meanness of Imus shtick is sometimes entertaining but this ain't hardly funny. Why would the Rutgers players meet with Don Imus???? The disregard shown to these young ladies does not engender conditions for sitting down with the broadcaster. I bow to their graciousness ...this is beyond my powers as a human. These women are reaching out their hands to heal the racial wounds in our country through this incident. My hat is off to them.

"Bye and bye, Lord ... bye and bye"

First Term Bush Ambushes US

I have a difficult time accepting that George Bush, the second, "won" the 2000 election.*****He did not win the popular vote; he was installed president by the United States Supreme Court.***** The American public can not really look too closely at the fact that we had an unelected official sitting in the Oval office for four years. The media, our Fourth Estate, our watchdogs who keep the people of this republic informed did not look too closely or clearly at the funny business of the 2000 elections till years later because the truth closely examined would have undermined the whole country.


The Iraq morass/mess the citizens of America find ourselves in brings to mind the saying " don't start out right and you won't end up right!". We began wrong with George Bush ,number two; he began the wrong headed invasion of a nation, a civilization he didn't understand and energetic dedicated young soldiers are caught in the quagmire of Iraq.

Just What Is On My Mind

The Super Bowl

Attended a very small Super Bowl party, there was two meals, lunch and dinner. It was a 'let's cook together' gathering. Fluffy Belgian homemade waffles with homemade orange butter spread and crispy pan-fried sausages was lunch. I know these are usually breakfast foods but it was indeed lunch. Dinner was two steaks ...one prepared by each of us...oh, the joy of variety! We made a beautiful potato salad and a delightful, garden salad. Our snack for the game was reduced fat Cape Cod potato chips with a very spicy yogurt dip.

We watched the game, paid very little attention to the famous and infamous Super Bowl commercials but HALF TIME ~~~~ Wow Wow Wow!!!! Prince is a king, he was just the cat's meow of a half time performer. The rag he wore on his head so his hair stayed cute till the last song was just so PRINCE,baby. It was pouring the purple rain in Miami but Prince and his crew just danced and sang like it was blue skies and sunshine; never missing a step or a note. As reported previously in this blog, his Purple Badness works me over. I was screaming at my friend's home as if I were in Miami at the actual event; she was screaming, too!!!!!

Crime and Misery Does Not Respect Zip Codes

01776
Sudbury, Massachusetts

Last week, just as the school day was beginning, a fifteen year old student killed his sixteen year old classmate in the hallway near the bathroom at Lincoln-Sudbury High School. The town is in shock and the surrounding area is more shocked . Everyone wonders how a brutal stabbing takes place in Sudbury, an upper middle class town. This is not supposed to happen in this zip code!!

Inner city school slayings of other American children make the headlines everyday but not in Sudbury's front yard. If a child is not blonde, blue- eyed or white, in general, is lost or hurt it is rarely more than a one day story. Molly Bish, a fifteen year old life guard, abducted and murdered five years ago has been kept alive in the press. She was a very beautiful blond girl. The media has made the decision to cover blond abductees and murder victims and even, female criminal defendants, mostly.

Last night the parents of the Lincoln-Sudbury High gathered to discuss the details of the murder and the background of the alleged student perpetrator who is a special needs student from Princeton, Massachusetts --- 01541. They comforted each other and asked the school's officials if the student from outside the district should really be enrolled in the Sudbury (01776) high school.

Misery respects no boundaries. Crimes follow no zip code maps but tones and caring in media coverage of incidents in upper income communities is impressive. Its almost as if the media 's attitude and the society's attitude is if you don't live in certain places the losses of your children and loved ones is not important.

I stand in sympathy and solidarity for ALL the parents who been hurt this past week in Sudbury.

Supreme Court Seeks To Legally Resegregate Public Schools

Hello Readers
I happen to have come across a few sentences in the Boston Globe's coverage of Deval Patrick, the new Massachusetts governor's comments at today's Martin Luther King breakfast that say the Bush administration has taken the side of parents in Louisville, Kentucky and Seattle, Washington who are suing because school assignment has a racial component.

The Washington Post has covered very well the current Bush administration's the systematic removal of as many as possible traditional and long -term staffers in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Enforcement Division. The watering down of its mission to protect us all and minority groups ,in particular, has resulted taking only a handful of anti-discrimination cases and usually, as in this case protecting white rights from enormous(???) minority powers.

Can this nation return to the infamous days before the end of legal segregation ???? The lawsuit now being heard by the Supreme Court and that most reasonable of fellows, Justice Roberts who really only said his name at the Senate confirmation hearings. I believe Roberts may now have the chance to show the true sides of himself that Bush and the Conservatives know well as all of America can decipher NOW. Overturning Brown v Board of Education is the return to yesteryear ,however it may be spun, that many have been waiting for and many, many more than are willing to admit it would be glad for.

***Deval Patrick is a s former Justice department staffer in Civil Rights Enforcement

Merry Christmas

Dear Readers
You are very dear and appreciated by this blogger. Thanks so much for reading me. I know I was not posting for a while. I promise to right this ship and get back to my feisty self.

As you take time to spend with loved ones and friends ... enjoy enjoy ENJOY!!!! The time together is the gift and the blessings not what you bought. The joys are phone calls, hugs and kisses, telephone calls, Christmas letters and other simple remembrances. Even the family disagreements are a wonderful to have 'cause they make the best stories over a cocktail later (big smile) AFTER the season is over.

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Joyous Kwanzaa and a Wonderful and Prosperous New Year.

From My Heart,
Billi

Danger! Danger! Danger Will Robinson!!!

I am sure young men of color and Black men in particular, in New York City, are afraid of the "fraidy cat", shoot first police there. The reason I call the shooter police persons "fraidy cats" is because they always seem to have to put 41 or 51 bullets into black male flesh to quell their fears of these unarmed brothers. The groom recently killed by NYC police on his wedding day for no reason I can understand; was out doing the pre-wedding celebrations tradition and I guess the police force's fear was enough to end his life and the party and seriously wound a few of his friends.

The robot that warned the stranded television space family of danger would be really helpful to young unarmed black men to let them know a fearful group of NYC police are about to put quite a bit of lead (bullets) into their asses. Black men in New York City : you are warned "Danger Danger Danger Be Careful Out Here!"

Going Backwards

OOOOhhhhh Trent Lott. The senator has just become top Republican in the Senate replacing Senator Bill Frist who is returning to Tennessee to "the house he was born in". In America there is always a second act, well not always but most of us get a second chance. Being white, rich, and well connected usually provides fellows such as Trent Lott with several second chances in business, higher education, lobbying or political leadership.

A 100th birthday party removed Senator Trent Lott from the Republican party leadership. At the celebration honoring ,segregationist,Senator Strom Thurmond, Trent Lott said if Strom had won his Dixiecrat bid for President back in 1948 , "we wouldn't have had all these problems over these years,either."

Like Mel Gibson every excuse and explanation was made, Senator Lott was not drunk. He said of himself and other Mississpians "we voted for him". We're proud of it". It was finally excused as one son of the South, making another very old, son of the South feel good about the good/bad(Jim Crow) old days. If Senator Strom Thurmond had become president, the entire US might be still segregated.

Lott returns to the Republican leadership in the senate and the country goes backward not because of what is coming out of his lips but because of what is in his heart and mind. There is no law that can control the feelings inside each of us nor should there be such a law.

Why Women Love Prince So Much

Sitting here this morning trying to figure out why this purple crazed munchin gets to me so much as I listen to old Prince songs on my cassette player, its his intelligent, humorous sexiness. Prince turns all my dials !!! He says things slyly ~ hotly ~ in his falsetto voice ~ in his bass voice AND he's pretty. That pretty part at first, could appear to be a problem but all the women know his carefully put togetherness is for each and every one of us ~~~ personally.

All smart men know the center of a woman's sexuality is her brain. Prince works the brain over and over and titilates the other sensuous centers with his provocative licks on the guitar, piano and drums then teases with his voice. I can hardly type and listen. One ardent Prince fan who is a friend of mine has moved to Minneapolis to be closer to his Purple Badness (you know who you are). The women surrounding Prince are the real deal they are not props. I want to be a Prince woman but I am not his type although he is my " special" type.

More big, manly men than one would think are undercover Princes; I fondly remember a coquettish fellow named Chuck who really turned the tables on me. What a fond memory. This is a shout out to the King of sensuality and humor.

Can You Say Dubba ????

From the LA Times:
"Rosa Brooks: Was Kerry right?
The military isn't full of poor, uneducated kids, but it doesn't look anything like America"
November 3, 2006

I thought the Kerry "botched" joke was right on the the money both in the way it was taken and in the way Kerry says he meant it. Our commander-in-chief, Dubba, who attended Harvard and Yale defended the American borders as a member of the Civil Air Patrol while Senator Kerry volunteered to serve in Viet Nam. Brother Vice President Cheney has no military service under his belt; I think (???) he got a college deferment to avoid going to war. Please write me if I have my facts wrong.

The United States military does not even recruit on Ivy League campuses because they KNOW there will be no takers. Only 1% of the offspring of members of the Congress are wearing the uniform. Most households earning over $60,000 do not send their sons and daughters off to possibly get their heads blown off. America is not the military and military is not America. The poor are not over represented; the military does not take high school dropouts in some branches and limits to 3 1/2% the number of recruits who haven't completed high school in others. The poor are highly represented in the groups of young people who do not receive high school degrees. Most officers are college educated and many hold graduate degrees in higher percentages than the general population. Karl Rove does not have a college degree ---smart rats like him don't need them.

The presidents who serve the country with their bodies and their hearts on the line for us; send our sons and daughters to war much, much, much less than the presidents who do not serve.

Can you say Dubba????

Technical Problems

Dear Readers,
I am having technical problems which is that I technically have NOT been in my chair in front of my computer banging out my blog. I get my ideas from the newspapers, television news and other blogs and sometimes, readers suggest a topic. I ALWAYS have an opinion; sometimes, I am just too steamed to write it down. So in the favor of my readership, I've held my tongue but no more. What's a blog for if not to raise a little HELL ! ? ! ???! ! !

One entry I wrote that did not make it to the blog because of a blogger.com technical difficulties was about Condoleezza Rice. Damn good!!!! More incredible, I had some positive things to say about her. Having a positive thought or feeling about Rice is highly unusual for me as of many of my circle know. Condoleezza impressed me at least temporarily. More on Secretary Rice in a future posting.

Please keep coming back to billingsleybabbles.blogspot.com. I have lots more to say. Thank you for reading me.

winter squash

Autumn has truly fallen for me today; I cooked an acorn squash and filled the center of it with chili. It was sooo good ~~~ a sweet golden squash brimming with a spicy, delicate turkey chili. This dish is a metaphor for life sweet and spicy. Cool nights bring out the urge for stews, soups and other cold weather foods.

Seasons changing and particularly, fall, is one of the simple joys. As time falls back to Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) this weekend, the Northeast plunges into darkness by 4:15 pm. By the time its dark when you leave for work and dark when you return home, the winter season's pleasures dim. The snow comes down, the Hawk --- cold temperatures and brutal , biting winds --- comes out and we are looking good fares to the Caribbean and Florida.

Fannie Lou Hamer's Six Degrees of Separation

Fannie Lou Hamer's name and recognition of her place in history has come to me in many ways over the past few weeks. I am researching the artwork of Faith Ringgold; her painting "Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles" has Fannie Lou Hamer pictured in it at the quilting bee. Shortly after I began doing the background of this painting, the documentary, "Eyes on the Prize" began airing on my local public television station. One of the first segments of the film I watched covered Fannie Lou Hamer making her speech at the Democratic National Convention in 1968. The theme song of the film keeps playing in my head and Mrs Hamer's famous words " I'm tired and I'm sick of being sick and tired" are stuck in my head, too. The civil rights activist and movement ground breaker for African American voter registration in Mississippi in the 1960's spoke plainly but so strong and clear on her vision of equality in America. Last night on the Tavis Smiley show , the actor James Cromwell (the farmer in the movie "Babe") spoke about his early acting experiences doing theater in Mississippi and Louisiana where he encountered Mrs. Hammer at one of his performances. Mrs.Hamer spoke up and out at the Q&A portion of the play.

Earlier today, in a meeting, Fannie Lou Hamer's eloquent words popped into my head but not out of my mouth. Hearing Fannie clearly say, "I am tired and sick of being sick and tired" made me feel think that's how I feel, too.

Beginning with a painting, next a film, a television talk show and in my research today about Faith Ringgold; Fannie Lou Hamer was mentioned and in my heart and head her famous words expressed my feelings.

Six degrees of separation between me and this courageous warrior, Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer.

Deval Patrick Fights Back

Today, I attended the Deval Patrick rally on the Boston Common. What a perfect fall afternoon it was ~~~ lots of people, good cheer ,a beautiful blue sky and Mr Deval Patrick kicking a little Healey ass. He said ' don't worry about the negative ads and attacks; I'll handle that!!' Deval asked the crowd( around 5000 strong) to support him for the next 23 days to get to the Governor's office and to continue to support him after he arrives in the Governor's chair. Because >>> TOGETHER WE CAN!

Deval Patrick said that he and his wife, Diane stand firmly with his sister and brother in-law who have repaired their lives and continued together as a family raising children. Patrick emphasized that he and his family are as flawed as any other family but that his sister,her husband and two children did not need to be raked over the coals by the press because they are related to a man running for governor. I say "Amen" to that. I say to the Herald I believe a great disservice was done in exposing Patrick sister's wounds. What does his sister being a victim of crime tell us about the candidate ~~~ only that the Patricks are like any other family . Shame on the Boston Herald !!!

Patrick emphasized his accomplishments and put into perspective the reasons behind the attack ads of the Healey campaign ... Nothing else to talk about. I still do not know why Healey is in the race for governor ??? I am quite disappointed that Kerry Healey believes that a Karl Rove style, low down dirty campaign, will work in Massachusetts.

Deval Patrick has a vision for the Commonwealth and I want some of that. I want to be part of putting Massachusetts right. If you do too, pull the Deval Patrick lever on November 7th.

TOGETHER WE CAN !

Superman Really Lived

Hawk (J.D. Jackson)

Superman was real. He really lived and breathed. He actually walked and talked and dwelt among us, his own.

Yet, overwhelmingly, his own received him not. Instead, with all too few exceptions, his own used the deadly kryptonite-like trio of unbridled jealousy, greed, and white supremacy to vilify, ostracize, and even crucify him in the world court of public opinion. Collectively, they tried to bury him under a mountain of lies in a relentless attempt to white out the huge depth and extensive width of his mighty deeds and to silence forever his thunderous voice, which he consistently and courageously used to demand justice, freedom, and equality for all people on the earth.



But the monstrous devices that his enemies used against him and the fecal-filled mountain of relentless character, financial, and unsuccessful physical assassinations under which they tried to bury him completely proved to be almost totally unsuccessful. Muscular and broad-shouldered, barrel-chested and booming-voiced, this man, the real Superman, disarmed the devilish devices used against him and burst through the seemingly rock-solid mountain under which his foes tried to bury him. He did so virtually unscathed and definitely unafraid but more steel-willed than ever to stand firmly on, to live out fully, and fight even more vigorously for his life-long, globetrotting convictions in the pursuit and hopeful realization of the ideal that all men are brothers and should act and be treated that way.

And just who was this Superman? A native of earth not some distant planet, he could neither fly nor stop locomotives. He was neither bulletproof nor perfect. But history, most especially his granddaughter's book The Whole World in His Hand, provides a short list of his many, mighty deeds. The son of a former slave, he was a much-heralded college and professional football player and an all-around college athlete in basketball, baseball, and track; a brilliant academic student, who graduated Phi Beta Kappa and the valedictorian of his college class at Rutgers University; a graduate of Columbia Law School and practicing lawyer; an international star of the movie screen and theatrical stage, the recording studio (with records still selling) and the concert stage; a legendary orator; a musicologist; and a linguist, who studied, spoke, and wrote in more than (20) languages, including African languages and Russian, Chinese, and Arabic!

More importantly, however, this man of steel will, the real Superman, was an international hero to the world's oppressed. That was due primarily to his life-long involvement as an activist who traveled around the globe to give his unflinching support to the racially-, economically-, and politically-oppressed people worldwide. Most prominent among them were everyday laborers and those in progressive labor unions, those persecuted in fascist-leaning countries around the globe, the colonized people of Africa and Asia, and, of course, his own heavily-persecuted people, African Americans, in his own homeland, the United States of America.

As such, the real Superman used his singing and speaking voice, his written and his spoken words, and his huge physical presence and laser-sharp mental faculties to right the wrongs that he witnessed and believed blanketed the world. That meant that he also used his world-famous name to promote world peace and global unity and positive solutions to death-dealing crises around the world when all too many of his contemporaries remained silent and decades before many of today's singers, actors, and/or activists were even born or thought that raising their voice in protest was fashionable or profitable.

Faithfully following his convictions resulted in Superman, an associate, if not a friend, of many world leaders (Russia's Stalin, India's Nehru, China's Mao, and Africa's Jomo Kenyatta and Kwame Nkrumah, among others) and to such stellar 20th century personalities as the preeminent African American scholar-activist W. E. B. Du Bois and the world-renowned scientist Albert Einstein, a friend of over 20 years--paying a heavy cost both physically and financially. But it can truly be argued that, as he did in life, now, though dead, he honestly deserves the long-overdue, golden crown of honor and respect due him for living such a long-lived and meaningful life of self-sacrifice on behalf of his fellow human beings.

So, again, just who was this man, this real superhero, the real Superman? Surprisingly, he is a person who no movie studio seems to deem worthy enough of a blockbuster, big-screen movie. But, in short, he was a multi-talented, multi-genius and giant of a man, who strongly believed in talking straight and walking tall. No fair-weather friend to the oppressed, he was none other than the late but great, African American Paul Robeson, the real Superman.

This was featured in "The Black World Today"(www.tbwt.org). I thank the author for his permission republish it here in my blog. Excellent work,Hawk.

More Money Than Substance

Kerry Healey the current Lt. Governor of Massachusetts is running negative ads about her opponent Deval Patrick that highlight his work as a lawyer. She states that as a lawyer, Patrick defended a "cop killer" and now that man is eligible for parole in Florida. The ad asks is that the kind of person we want for governor of our state. The answer is hell, yes!!!

Patrick was successful as a lawyer, at Harvard and at the Justice Department under President Clinton. I want a successful truly selfmade man to be the top executive of Massachusetts. We need statesmanship, leadership and someone with the life experience to scrap as hard as necessary to do a good job as Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Healey's negative ads decry a excellent advocate for the defense. Patrick's defense of an accused criminal resulted in a reduced sentence from execution to a sentence that allows the "cop killer" to be eligible for parole.

Yes, the crime was vicious and uncalled for but Deval Patrick defended the man under the laws of the state of Florida and the judicial practices of the United States. The American legal system is known and revered as the most fair and open and just legal system in the world. Our system is adversarial, prosecution against the defense. Our laws require every person accused of crimes to have council and the same quality of defense as the richest man or woman in our nation( fat chance of that "really" being the case). Patrick and his "cop killer"client went the through 'rough and tumble' the of Florida's courts and they prevailed. For this Deval Patrick is being battered and blamed with Healey's huge media buy( the commercial seems to be on all the time). Blamed for doing his job. Blamed for defending a man who killed a policeman. Blamed for honoring and participating in the judicial system of the United States that is a light unto the rest of the world.

Kerry really has nothing to show for her time in office so she must attack. Deval Patrick is holding fast to his promise not to go negative in responding to the terrible and low down attacks on him. When one really has nothing to say, Kerry Healey has turned ugly.

More Money than substance!!!!!

Unintended Outcomes

JOYS
TRAUMAS
SADNESS
CONTENTEDNESS ( in short bursts)
ECSTASY
GLEE
GOOD FOOD ( lots of it )
TOGETHERNESS
LAUGHS
LOVE ( in abundance )
TEARS
TOUGHNESS
VACATIONS
VOCATIONS
EDUCATION
IGNORANCE
IMPATIENCE
KINDNESSES
UNKINDNESS
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> FAMILY LIFE

Lamb Shanks Moroccan Style

I am trying something a little off my usual culinary path. I've got the Prince CD playing and I am off to North Africa in my humble kitchen. I've made leg of lamb in this style before(that was quite a while ago) so I hope the Moroccan cooking chops come back to me. I am using a recipe from the BBC food website ~~~~red wine, tomato puree,lots of garlic and my favorite spice, cumin as well as ground coriander. It is so different than the way lamb is usually prepared but the wine and tomato combination create a moist tasty, well seasoned lamb dish. The lamb is served with plenty of the sauce over couscous. Dear readers, I am not the best braiser but I shall soldier on in pursuit of strengthening my prowess in the preparation of Moroccan/North African cuisine. The spice/herbs combinations of Moroccan cooking are unusual but sensuous and well flavored but not hot.

As Jacque Pepin would say "here's to happy cooking".

Musings in the Morning

Good debate last night. Everyone acquitted themselves well. I was particularly proud of Grace Ross who is an old friend of mine. All the candidates brought unique points of view. Healey was particularly strong although she appears to be running against herself as we have had Republican governors in Massachusetts for over a decade. Christy Mihos was energetic and managed to get quite a bit of information in with each of his answers. What a shame his family(sisters and brothers) are not supporting him and they let it be publicly known. The statesman-like quality of Deval Patrick let me know he'll be a wonderful governor; he pledged to work cooperatively with the powers on Beacon Hill for all of Massachusetts.

TOGETHER WE CAN!

Beleaguered Bush

Enemies of the Bush administration said the Bushies were lying about why the US is at war in Iraq and about the civil war currently going on there. Democrats and a few others said DUMP Rumsfeld. Per Bob Woodward's new book, State of Denial, Andy Card, former white house Chief of Staff gave Mr. Bush the same advice, DUMP Rumsfeld. Andy Card may have been dumped because of this advice given or maybe, he just left the ship before it sank.

When enemies and trusted friends gave President Bush the same directive, come clean with the American public and clean house and start over with fresh minds, eyes and hearts to solve this mess, MORASS; Pres Dubba did not listen.

Can all these diverse voices be wrong? Here's hoping Bush will listen, even at this late date, to get America on the right path in Iraq and elsewhere ~~~~!!!!!!