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Otta Benga, Formerly Enslaved
The Epitome of a Nubian Knight

Otta Benga, Formerly Enslaved<br>The Epitome of a Nubian Knight

Followers of Nubian Knights Network
"Thanks For The Support Everybody!!!"

QUOTATIONS OF "BLACK"

"Whenever I use BLACK it relates to some history of Africans in that particular place. It’s the idea of the color BLACK as a metaphor, or as a representation of African-Americans. It’s the notion of BLACK- BLACKNESS - and all its other meanings in relation to the history of race..."

- Fred Wilson



"Most of my fortitude to continue doing the work comes from the moral outrage I feel about the injustices that Black people endure disproportionately daily."

- N. Abdul-Wakil



"In the end, what matters is not skin shade but pan-African consciousness. Loving your complexion, your nose, lips, hair length and texture, no matter what the politics or trends decide, and simply be. That's the problem with us (African folks). We're still learning how to love ourselves. So used to glorifying others and putting others first..."

- Dredlocks Tree

The REEL Black Same Gender Loving Filmography Resource (A 24/7 ONLINE FILM DATABASE)

The REEL Black Same Gender Loving Filmography Resource (A 24/7 ONLINE FILM DATABASE)
Click The Pic To Access The Film Library Database! (166 Films)
LAST UPDATE: Monday, December 3rd, 2012

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Does Alien Movie "Avatar" Have a Racist Theme?



The following column below is taken from blackamericaweb.com. And no matter what you think of Avatar if you've seen the film or not (like I haven't seen the film but because Avatar's a hot topic in the news financially and its social-political storyline), it is undeniable that it brings up the race dialog yet again. It becomes clear over and over again, that the United States of America still does not want to deal with race or racial inequality. Some are quick to say "well, it's just a fantasy movie, stop being so serious about it" or "well, we have a our first Black president,, what more do you want?" . And yet as comedian Paul Mooney recently said on The Tavis Smiley Show, (paraphrasing) are Black people supposed to be ecstatic because we have a first Black president when yet the previous 43 presidents were all white? And fianlly, this post-racial America feel-good crap term thrown around is a fucking joke!

So, again, whenever there are parallels to race (in this case the Avatar film), how can it be surprising to folks that race doesn't flare up again??? We as a country don't wanna deal with it!!!!! How can it not come up unexpectedly???

Dr. Joy DeGruy, a professional around post-traumatic slave syndrome, has said time and again, that America keeps putting a band aid on the bole (race), yet it festers and the wound becomes even more infected because we won't properly deal with it.

Anyway,
here's the article which I thought was a great read...

ROD







Does Alien Movie 'Avatar' Have a Racist Theme?

Date: Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 5:22 am
By: Jesse Washington, AP National Writer

Near the end of the hit film "Avatar," the villain snarls at the hero, "How does it feel to betray your own race?" Both men are white — although the hero is inhabiting a blue-skinned, 9-foot-tall, long-tailed alien.

Strange as it may seem for a film that pits greedy, immoral humans against noble denizens of a faraway moon, "Avatar" is being criticized by a small but vocal group of people who allege it contains racist themes — the white hero once again saving the primitive natives.

Since the film opened to widespread critical acclaim three weeks ago, hundreds of blog posts, newspaper articles, tweets and YouTube videos have said things such as the film is "a fantasy about race told from the point of view of white people" and that it reinforces "the white Messiah fable."

The film's writer and director, James Cameron, says the real theme is about respecting others' differences.

In the film (read no further if you don't want the plot spoiled for you) a white, paralyzed Marine, Jake Sully, is mentally linked to an alien's body and set loose on the planet Pandora. His mission: persuade the mystic, nature-loving Na'vi to make way for humans to mine their land for unobtanium, worth $20 million per kilo back home.

Like Kevin Costner in "Dances with Wolves" and Tom Cruise in "The Last Samurai" or as far back as Jimmy Stewart in the 1950 Western "Broken Arrow," Sully soon switches sides. He falls in love with the Na'vi princess and leads the bird-riding, bow-and-arrow-shooting aliens to victory over the white men's spaceships and mega-robots.

Adding to the racial dynamic is that the main Na'vi characters are played by actors of color, led by a Dominican, Zoe Saldana, as the princess. The film also is an obvious metaphor for how European settlers in America wiped out the Indians.

Robinne Lee, an actress in such recent films as "Seven Pounds" and "Hotel for Dogs," said that "Avatar" was "beautiful" and that she understood the economic logic of casting a white lead if most of the audience is white.

But she said the film, which so far has the second-highest worldwide box-office gross ever, still reminded her of Hollywood's "Pocahontas" story — "the Indian woman leads the white man into the wilderness, and he learns the way of the people and becomes the savior."

"It's really upsetting in many ways," said Lee, who is black with Jamaican and Chinese ancestry. "It would be nice if we could save ourselves."

Annalee Newitz, editor-in-chief of the sci-fi Web site io9.com, likened "Avatar" to the recent film "District 9," in which a white man accidentally becomes an alien and then helps save them, and 1984's "Dune," in which a white man becomes an alien Messiah.

"Main white characters realize that they are complicit in a system which is destroying aliens, AKA people of color ... (then) go beyond assimilation and become leaders of the people they once oppressed," she wrote.

"When will whites stop making these movies and start thinking about race in a new way?" wrote Newitz, who is white.

Black film professor and author Donald Bogle said he can understand why people would be troubled by "Avatar," although he praised it as a "stunning" work.

"A segment of the audience is carrying in the back of its head some sense of movie history," said Bogle, author of "Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies & Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films."

Bogle stopped short, however, of calling the movie racist.

"It's a film with still a certain kind of distortion," he said. "It's a movie that hasn't yet freed itself of old Hollywood traditions, old formulas."

Writer/director Cameron, who is white, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that his film "asks us to open our eyes and truly see others, respecting them even though they are different, in the hope that we may find a way to prevent conflict and live more harmoniously on this world. I hardly think that is a racist message."

There are many ways to interpret the art that is "Avatar."

What does it mean that in the final, sequel-begging scene, Sully abandons his human body and transforms into one of the Na'vi for good? Is Saldana's Na'vi character the real heroine because she, not Sully, kills the arch-villain? Does it matter that many conservatives are riled by what they call liberal environmental and anti-military messages?

Is Cameron actually exposing the historical evils of white colonizers? Does the existence of an alien species expose the reality that all humans are actually one race?

"Can't people just enjoy movies any more?" a person named Michelle posted on the Web site for Essence, the magazine for black women, which had 371 comments on a story debating the issue.

Although the "Avatar" debate springs from Hollywood's historical difficulties with race, Will Smith recently saved the planet in "I Am Legend," and Denzel Washington appears ready to do the same in the forthcoming "Book of Eli."

Bogle, the film historian, said that he was glad Cameron made the film and that it made people think about race.

"Maybe there is something he does want to say and put across" about race, Bogle said. "Maybe if he had a black hero in there, that point would have been even stronger."

___

Jesse Washington covers race and ethnicity for The Associated Press.


UPDATE (FRIDAY, JANUARY 22ND, 2010):

The following is a thoughtful DECONSTRUCTION and analysis using CRITICAL THINKING around RACE in regard to Avatar paralleled with the racist history of the United States.

Well, well done! The truths here cannot be refuted!!




Black Panther Sculptures
Marvel Superheroes by Bowen Designs

Hey FAM,

One of my closest best friends Steve just called me a half hour ago to let me know what's going on in the superhero comic book world. Though I already stumbled upon it the other day, he was letting me know about the new Green Hornet comic book that's coming out. You can see the four variant covers to issue #1 below.


Green Hornet #1 (4 Variant Covers)



HOWEVER! THE MOST EXCITING NEWS WAS WHEN HE TOLD ME TO CHECK OUT BOWENDESIGNS.COM

I go to the website over there and I IMMEDIATELY SEE NOT ONE, BUT TWO NEW STATUES OF BLACK PANTHER!!!!! Take a look at the pics below! IS HE NOT OFF DA CHAIN OR WHAT???!! ESPECIALLY THE MODERN COSTUME!! I LOVE IT!!



T'Challa, The Black Panther, King of Wakanda
(Modern Costume)






T'Challa, The Black Panther, King of Wakanda
(Modern Costume)






T'Challa, The Black Panther, King of Wakanda
(Classic Costume)






T'Challa, The Black Panther, King of Wakanda
(Classic Costume)



These Black Panther statues are just ultra-qool!! Fo' reall!! LOVE it!!



Now, the only other thing that I could ask for would be to have a qool ass sculpture of the new female Black Panther! Can you imagine that???!! I'd like to see a sculpture based upon the art and her stance from the Black Panther #1 cover below Whoooaaaa!!!! That's be vicious!!


Black Panther #1 (Variant Cover)
Drawn by Ken Lashley (a brutha, too! )
Released March 2009





Beautiful Cover To Black Panther #11
As Our Panther Heroine
Gets Into It With
Prince Namor, The Sub-Mariner





Writer Reginald Hudlin Will Be Writing A Black Panther
Limited Series Which Also Stars Captain America

With Art By Denys Cowan
Called Flags Of Our Fathers.
It Should Debut in Early 2010





Black Panther Artists (Pictured Left To Right):
Writer Reggie Hudlin, Artist Denys Cowan, Artist Ken Lashley
and Artist John Romita, Jr.:







Reggie Hudlin Black Panther Signing
At Golden Apple Comics, Los Angeles, CA



And Of Course, You Can't Talk About
Reggie Hudlin's Run On Black Panther
Without Talking About Race Now Can We?
(And Girlfriend Was So Uncomfortable [10:30] Bringing It Up!
LOL!
) Watch It Below...













Finally, one other notable character I have to mention who is one of my top favorite Marvel guys is the Silver Surfer.



Faux Bronze Silver Surfer
(Front Profile)



Faux Bronze Silver Surfer
(Back)



You can check out these superhero sculptures and more at
BowenDesigns.com

Black Iraqis Claim Discrimination
A News Report (Jan 11th, 2010)

Black Iraqis in the southern province of Basra are complaining of discrimination, saying they are not fairly represented in the state.

African Iraqis have lived in the country for centuries and now number more than one million.

Many of them are descendants of African slaves brought to Iraq. Many Iraqis still refer to them by their ancestral name, abeed - meaning slaves.

Al Jazeera's Omar Al Saleh reports.