So a week or two ago I wrote a blog about my friend Brontez Purnell under some unfortunate circumstances. But I wanted to post this really innovative and creative short film (which Brontez tells me is a part of a longer creative project), in which he is dancer, drummer/musician, singer, and choreographer. I just thought this would introduce his work and worth to you in a different moment, one not in a state of duress.
Thanks to Euware Osayande for this post (and his sister Marpessa-who wrote the copy on photo #2! LMAO!) No other words. Just view pic 1. And then 2.
And now…
LMAO!!!!
King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror & Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I fucks with Adam Hochschild.
King Leopold’s Ghost is a brilliant book that traces how what is now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo became a “possession” of the Kings, the greed and profit made from its natural resources, the grotesque violence that resulted in 10 million deaths in 30 years, and the internal and external resistance movements that led to, in the short run, 50 years of colonization by the state of Belgium and not the King.
The book is a page turner, written in some respects like a novel more than a history text, with it’s detailed attention to the “facts” as much as character and narrative development. I also learned alot that not only deepened by knowledge of Africa during the colonial period, but also helped me understand the way contemporary racial politics are embedded in this history.
Part of the reason I say I fucks with Mr. Hochschild is because his analysis is so comprehensive. I often find with history books that while I learn a lot from the author in terms of historical fact, I often see through their political agenda and/or their political blindspots (willful or benign). And it’s not that Hochschild is without a politics here. What works for me about this book is I don’t think I have read another white male historian who is ambivalent about making white historical actors (and their notions of “progress” and “democracy”) look better than they are. As much as he criticizes King Leopold’s and his Congo “government’s” sadism and greed, he is also critical of the motivations and blindspots of many of the Europeans and American whites who were happy to place all of there energies in critiquing King Leopold, while their governments and corporations were involved in the very same acts of violence with genocidal proportions against Black people in Africa and in the diaspora.
This is a must read.
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Thought I should post my article on my analysis of the same-sex marriage passing in New York State for Alternet. I likes.
From Alternet.com
Many people are celebrating what seems on the surface a huge win for gay rights, with the passage of a same-sex marriage bill in New York State last week, by a Republican-controlled state senate to boot. This marks a real sea change for LGBT equality in the US, and therefore a major win not only for LGBT people, but also because this has been a major cause for progressives.
But now that the pride parade is literally over, progressives should be asking themselves about the potential long-term impacts of this “win.”
What does it mean when so-called progressives celebrate a victory in large part won by GOP-supporting hedge fund managers, Tea Party funders and corporate conglomerates—the oft-spoken enemies of progressive causes? Furthermore, this new strategy could be the testing ground for Republicans to peel a gay base and donors away from the Democrats while keeping their Christian conservative base. Read the rest here.
