GULF OIL DISASTER: Fears of Cultural Extinction on Louisiana's Gulf Coast

Jordan Flaherty

Posted: June 15, 2010 11:00 AM

This is not the first time that Louisianans have lost their communities or their lives from the actions of corporations. The land loss caused by oil companies has already displaced many who lived by the coast, and the pollution from treatment plants has poisoned communities across the state -- especially in "cancer alley," the corridor of industrial facilities along the Mississippi River south of Baton Rouge.

"The cultural losses as a consequence of the BP disaster are going to be astronomical," says Advocates for Environmental Human Rights (AEHR) co-director Nathalie Walker. "There is no other culture like Louisiana's coastal culture and we can only hope they wont be entirely erased." Walker and co-director Monique Harden have made it their mission to fight the environmental consequences of Louisiana's corporate polluters. They say this disaster represents an unparalleled catastrophe for the lives of people across the region, but they also see in it a continuation of an old pattern of oil and chemical corporations displacing people of color from their homes.

Harden and Walker point out that at least five Louisiana towns -- all majority African American -- have been eradicated due to corporate pollution in recent decades. The most recent is the Southwest Louisiana town of Mossville, founded by African Americans in the 1790s. Located near Lake Charles, Mossville is only 5 square miles and holds 375 households. Beginning in the 1930s, the state of Louisiana began authorizing industrial facilities to manufacture, process, store, and discharge toxic and hazardous substances within Mossville. Fourteen facilities are now located in the small town, and 91 percent of residents have reported at least one health problem related to exposure to chemicals produced by the local industry.

The southern Louisiana towns of Diamond, Morrisonville, Sunrise, and Revilletown -- all founded by formerly enslaved African Americans -- met similar fates. After years of chemical-related poisoning, the remaining residents have been relocated, and the corporations that drove them out now own their land. In most cases, only a cemetery remains, and former residents must pass through plant security to visit their relatives' graves.

The town of Diamond, founded by the descendants of the participants of the 1811 Rebellion to End Slavery, the largest slave uprising in US history, was relocated by Shell in 2002, after residents had faced decades of toxic exposure. Morrisonville, established by free Africans in 1790, was bought out by Dow in 1989. Residents of Sunrise, inaugurated near Baton Rouge by former slaves in 1874, were paid to move as the result of a lawsuit against the Placid Refining Company. In the mid-1990s, Chemical producer Georgia Gulf Corporation poisoned and then acquired Revilletown, a town that recently freed Black families had started in the years after the civil war.

"We make the mistake of thinking this is something new," says Harden. She adds that the historic treatment of these communities, as well as the lack of recovery that New Orleanians have seen since Katrina, makes her doubt the federal government will do what is necessary for Gulf recovery. "Since Obama got into office," she says, "I have yet to see any action that reverses what Bush did after Katrina."

Harden says Louisiana and the US must fundamentally transform our government's relationships with corporations. "We've got to change the way we allow businesses to be in charge of our health and safety in this country," she adds. As an example, Harden points to more stringent regulations in other countries, such as Norway, which requires companies to drill relief wells at the same time as any deepwater well.

Pointe-au-Chien

Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe is a small band of French speaking Native Americans along Bayou Pointe-au-Chien, south of Houma, on Louisiana's Gulf Coast. Their ancestors settled here three hundred years ago, and current residents describe the ongoing oil geyser as just the latest step in a long history of displacement and disenfranchisement. "The oil companies never respected our elders," explains community leader Theresa Dardar. "And they never did respect our land."

In the early part of the 20th century, the oil companies took advantage of the fact that people living on the coast were isolated by language and distance, and laid claim to their land. Over the past several decades, these companies have devastated these idyllic communities, creating about 10,000 miles of canals through forests, marshes, and homes. "They come in, they cut a little, and it keeps getting wider and wider," says Donald Dardar, Theresa's husband and part of the tribe's leadership. "They didn't care where they cut."

The canals have brought salt water, killing trees and plants and speeding erosion. According to Gulf Restoration Network, Louisiana loses about a football field of land every 45 minutes, and almost half of that land loss is as a result of these canals. Meanwhile, Pointe-au-Chien and other tribes have found they have little legal recourse. At least partly as a result of lobbying by oil companies, the state and federal government have refused to officially recognize them as a tribe, which would offer some protection of their land rights.

So late last month, when oil started washing up on the shores of nearby Lake Chien and fishing season was canceled before it had even begun, members of Pointe-au-Chien took the news as another nail in the coffin of the lifestyle they had been living for generations. On a recent Sunday, a few residents gathered at the Live Oak Baptist Church, on the main road that runs through their community. They described feeling abandoned and abused by the government and corporations. They spoke of losing their language and traditions in addition to their homes.

Sitting on a church pew, Theresa said they had met with indigenous natives from Alaska who discussed their experience in the aftermath of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill. "We don't know how long we'll be without fishing," said Theresa. "It was 17 years before they could get shrimp." And, she noted bitterly, this disaster is already much larger than the Valdez, with no end in sight.

BP has promised payouts to those who lose work from the oil, but few trust the company to make good on their promise, and even if they did, they doubt any settlement could make up for what will be lost. "It doesn't matter how much money they give you," says Theresa. "If we don't have our shrimp, fish, crabs and oysters."

"It's not just a way of life, its our food," she added. "It's the loss of our livelihood and culture."

The anxiety that Theresa expresses is also increasingly common in New Orleans, a city whose culture is inextricably linked to the Gulf. "How do you deal with this hemorrhaging in the bottom of the Gulf that seems endless?" asks Monique Harden of AEHR. "That is just scary as hell. I've been having nightmares about it."

As the oil continues to flow, people feel both helpless and apocalyptic; depressed and angered. Residents who have just rebuilt from the 2005 hurricanes watch the oil wash up on shore with a building dread. "I never thought I'd be in a situation where I wanted another Katrina," says Harden. "But I'd rather Katrina than this."

Loss of Land and Culture

Across the street from the church in Pointe-au-Chien is a bayou, where frustrated fishers wait on their boats hoping against all odds that they will be able to use them this season. Behind the church is more water, and a couple miles further down the road ends in swamp. Dead oak trees, rotted by salt water, rise out of the canals. Telephone poles stick out of the water, along a path where once the road continued but now the encroaching waters have taken over.

2010-06-15-Picture4.png
The miles of swamp and barrier islands that stood between these homes and the Gulf used to slow hurricanes, and now the entire region has become much more vulnerable. Brenda Billiot, another local resident, gestured at her family's backyard, about a few dozen yards of grass that fades into marshes and water. "This used to be land," she says, "as far as you could see." Billiot's family is still repairing their home from the 2005 flooding, including raising it up a full 19 feet above the ground. She wonders if that will be enough, if there is anything they can do to make themselves safe and hold on to their culture.

A brown rabbit hops across her backyard, and Billiot describes the dolphins and porpoises she has seen swimming nearby. Walking along the bayou here, where generations of people have lived off the land and fought to protect their territory from corporate theft, you begin to sense the gravity of what will be lost.

Theresa believes that the government and oil companies are looking for an excuse to permanently displace the tribe. She believes this latest disaster, and the upcoming hurricane season, may spell the end for their language and culture. "I tell people; if we get another hurricane, take everything you want, because I don't think they'll let you back in," says Dardar. "It's scary because I don't know where we're going to go."

=====================

 

Oil Spill Casualties: New Orleans' Musicians and Service Workers

2 days ago
NEW ORLEANS -- At first glance, Louisiana's oil-fouled coast may seem worlds away from the small, neighborhood blues bars of New Orleans' African-American community. But as toxic tendrils of crude reach ever farther inland, the connections become increasingly apparent. For nearly half a century, Tommy Singleton, 67, has been expertly singing blues, soul and R&B in little joints around New Orleans. While Singleton sounds every bit as good as many big-name artists, he has yet to enjoy a big-name career.

Accordingly, Singleton must supplement his income with what musicians call a "day gig." For the past dozen years, that day gig was at P&J Oysters, where Singleton drove a truck and worked in the processing room, preparing the mollusks for market. "I would go to towns like Grand Isle, Pointe a la Hache, Port Sulphur, and pick up the oysters at the dock. Then I'd bring them to the French Quarter and we'd wash, sort and pack them."

But the continued existence of P&J, which has been in business since 1876, is now threatened by the BP spill. Oil has tainted many of Louisiana's best oyster beds, and at present there's little product left for the company to sell. With grim prospects and limited income as the leak keeps gushing, P&J has been forced to lay off many employees, Singleton included.

"It's terrible," Singleton said between sets at Margaritaville, a French Quarter tourist joint owned by the singer Jimmy Buffett of "Wasting Away In Margaritaville" fame. "It's going to make things very difficult for a lot of people who really depend on this for a living. About 20 people were laid off. Hopefully it's temporary. I believe that when they clean up certain areas of the gulf, then people can go back and fish for oysters. But it could take a lot of PR work to convince people to buy them again."

"And there aren't a lot of singing gigs right now, either," Singleton said. "For a while I was doing Sunday evenings at the Young of Heart lounge, in Pigeon Town, but that ended." (While it lasted, the weekly set at this tiny, ebullient club was the hottest ticket in town.) "And there aren't any live sets lately at Guitar Joe's House of Blues, uptown, like there used to be. So right now, this is it."

Singleton and his cohorts -- including veteran guitarist Irving Banister -- are grassroots cultural preservationists, a vanishing breed who maintain the classic soul-music legacy of Wilson Pickett, James Brown and Little Milton, along with material that's unique to New Orleans. Banister has played and recorded with such local R&B heroes as Professor Longhair and Sugar Boy Crawford, among others. Singleton has led his own group, appeared with the iconic likes of Irma Thomas, Ernie K-Doe, and toured with the Living Dead Review. This tribute band impersonated such late, great R&B celebrities as Otis Redding, and emphasized the point by sporting a coffin on stage.

But such career credentials mean little at Margaritaville, where Singleton, Banister and associates are presented without fanfare as just another bar band that plays cover songs. The realities of this gig become obvious during repeated introductions of an invisible band member named Philip -- as in "fill up the tip jar." If the oil spill cuts deeply into New Orleans tourism, as many fear, that jar may catch fewer and fewer tips all the time.

Some 100 miles to the east, in Pascagoula, Miss., musician and artist Libby Rae Watson is experiencing the spill more directly. Watson, who lives just blocks from the gulf, is one of many residents to report a strong scent of oil in the air. She also notes a community filled with anxiety. "We all know how to get ready for a hurricane," Watson said, "and rebuild after one, but this oil thing is from left field. People are frustrated because they don't know what to do. They are mad, sad and feel completely helpless. Preparation seems futile and repair seems hopeless.

"I don't think most people understand the potential magnitude of this yet," Watson said. "It's still hard to wrap your head around. All of this occurred because the best technology wasn't used, in order to cut cost and speed up production. It cost 11 men their lives and it's costing us our gulf."

Some oil has already tarnished Horn Island, part of the National Park Service's Gulf Islands National Seashore. An oil ribbon around 30 yards long and 5 yards wide washed ashore on Saturday. Response workers were already on site but could not begin cleanup until the incident was reported, and considerable bureaucratic delay ensued before work could actually begin.

This undeveloped barrier island, which inspired the renowned Mississippi artist Walter Anderson, is considered a sacred, meditative place where Gulf Coast residents can commune with nature. On the symbolic level, its defilement compares to the photos of oil-drenched pelicans that have so incensed Louisianans.

"This spill could make our world uninhabitable," said Watson, a frequent visitor to Horn Island. "For the first time ever, we've talked about the possibility that we may have to move away."
>via: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/06/14/oil-spill-casualties-new-orleans-musicians-and-service-workers/

 

VIDEO: Long Live Busi Mhlongo > from AFRICA IS A COUNTRY + 3 Videos

Long Live Busi Mhlongo

June 15, 2010 · 1 Comment

Some sad news–amid the euphoria of the World Cup–from journalist Bongani Madondo:

Busi Mhlongo passed away 9:19 pm South African time, Tuesday night, some hours before June 16 Commemoration.

Long Live The Quee. Long Live The Zulu Rock Queen. Long Live Queen B!
Busi Victoria Mhlongo: 1948-2010.

For those who missed Bongani’s last post on Busi on this blog, please read it here.

 

______________________________________________________________

 

Busi Mhlongo (South Africa) - Urbanzulu

Rouvanne  July 22, 2006 — This track Uganga Nge Ngane is from Busi Mhlongo's famed Urbanzulu (BW2118SA) album.

Busi, from Durban South Africa, was one of the first Zulu women to sing and transform Maskanda to reflect the modern society of her day.

Urbanzulu, released by MELT 2000, was produced by Will Mowat.

 

Busi Mhlongo Live Zithin' izizwe live at Nantes & Roskilde

 

Melt2000Africa  September 25, 2009 — South African diva, singer and songwriter Busi Mhlongo - Live recordings from the Fin de Siecle Festival in Nantes France, 1997 and the the Roskilde Festival in Denmark 1999. Cameras by Dick Jewell and Marcus Conway. edited by Lianne Cox. Taken from the DVD Busi Mhlongo Urbanzulu live by MELT 2000 cat. No MZADVCD014. featuring Spector Ngwayi, Thierry Mvie, Serge Ngndo, Brice Wassy Ndodile Shezi & Thembisa Khuzway

 

Busi Mhlongo - We Baba Omncane live@Nantes & Roskilde

 

 

 

 

PUB: LAP/SAP Guidelines – Santa Fe Writers Project

Santa Fe Writers Project

2010 Literary and Screenplay Awards Program Guidelines

Literary Award Program deadline: July 16th.

Screenplay Award Program deadline: August 1st.

The page limit for postal entries is 25 pages. For electronic submissions, there are no page limits.

Send postal entries to:

Santa Fe Writers Project
369 Montezuma Ave
#350
Santa Fe, NM 87501

Questions? Also see our FAQ section.

  • Multiple entries will be accepted.
  • Entries must include a copy of the Entry Form.
  • A $30 reading fee must accompany each postal submission.  This fee is non-refundable after the awards have been granted. All decisions made by the judge are final.  PLEASE GO GREEN and submit online. The electronic entry reading fee is $25.
  • Postal submissions: Please include two self-addressed #10 business size stamped envelopes so we can notify you of receipt and of the results.
  • SFWP will not keep submissions on file or use them for any purpose without the permission of the respective authors. We do not share personal contact information with any individual, organization or marketing agency.
  • SFWP claims no control over your work. There are no stipulations if you are selected for the 2010 Awards. Participation in any SFWP-related activity is voluntary.
  • We will not be able to return manuscripts sent via post. Please keep a copy of your work.
  • The contest is open to international submissions.
  • Entries may include a synopsis, outline or introductory letter. These will not be counted towards the overall page limit for postal submissions. Entries will be blinded. Do not send personal correspondence to the Judge.
  • You may participate in other contests and programs as well as pursue publication during the SFWP 2010 Awards Cycle. There’ll be no penalties if your work wins another award or is published before the judging begins.

 

PUB: Hip Hop Anthology call for submissions + Aurora Harris: Broadside Press Updates for 2010

Broadside Press Updates for 2010
 Share
Dear Friends,

Here is the latest Broadside Press News. Please feel free to circulate it to your email lists.

Broadside Press Contact Information:

Broadside Press' New Address: Broadside Press P.O. Box 02307 Detroit, MI 48202
Phone: 313 586-4577


* We are not accepting new poetry manuscripts for publication at this time, however we are putting out a second call for our Hip Hop Anthology. The deadline is open at this time. We are looking for poetry, short essays and literature reviews that expresses the Hip Hop Movement and its daily, local, national, and global effects, and, concerns. We are also accepting submissions from other countries for this anthology.

CALL FOR SUBMISSION: HIP HOP ANTHOLOGY

Noted for its history of publishing the foremost African American poets of the last 40 years, Broadside Press is calling for submissions to an upcoming anthology, Broadside Speaks Hip Hop. This collection will feature the work of young and adult writers who have matured in the cultural climate of the hip hop movement of the last few decades. The anthology editors are interested in the following kinds of work:

· Poetry which reflects the styles, political concerns, and critical commentary characteristic of the hip hop genre.

· Poetry which reflects new modes of expression, or a new aesthetic.

· Poetry written for spoken word performance.

· Poetry which exemplifies serious intellectual engagement and technical mastery.

· Poetry which deals with the pressing socio-political concerns and issues of the African Diaspora.

· Poetry which expresses African and African American spirituality.

· Poetry which refers to African diasporan history.

Broadside looks forward to the publication of this anthology and the presentation of new writers in keeping with our legacy of making the finest literary productions of our community available to the world.

Please use 11 or 12 font size. You may submit 3 or 4 poems, one poem per page. The maximum pages of poetry is 4 pages, which allows for one poem that is 2 pages long and 2 short poems. For short essays and lit reviews 1800 word maximum. Make sure you include your name and contact info, including email, with the titles of your submission on a separate sheet. Include your name at the top of each poem, essay and lit review.

Send submission to: Broadside Press P.O. Box 02307 Detroit, MI

OTHER NEWS:

1. The Broadside Press functions in conjunction with the Dudley Randall Center for Print and Media at the University of Detroit-Mercy campus located on Livernois and McNichols in Detroit, MI. You may go to the University's website and look for posts about the Poets Theater there, or look for dates posted on Aurora Harris' facebook events page.

2. The Broadside Press Poet's Theater runs every third Sunday of the month from 3-6pm at U of D-Mercy and follows the university's semester schedule. We have featured readers and open mic.
June 20th is the last open mic until further notice. July is the month that we run our Institute of Cultural Studies.

3. The Broadside Press Institute of Cultural Studies takes place every summer for discussion and poetry workshops at the University of Detroit-Mercy campus. We will meet on Saturdays. July 12,17,24,31 from 12pm to 3 pm. contact Aurora at aurora917@gmail.com

4. The Aquarius Press & Broadside Press Writers and Poets Conference takes place in Idlewild, MI, the historic summer resort of many African American families, poets, writers and musicians. The dates are August 12-14 2010. The deadline for registration is July 31, 2010.

http://motownwriters.blogspot.com/2010/06/idlewild-writers-conference.html
www.idlewildconference.homestead.com

5. NEW POETRY CD INFO: Fellow board member Al Ward has a new spoken word and jazz cd called About Love Sometimes...The Poetry of Soul by Albert M. Ward. Also reading on this cd is board member Dr. Gloria House (Aneb Kgositsile).

http://spokenu.wordpress.com/

6. Board member Aurora Harris wrote a poem called "Yurugu" for the jazz composition called "Yurugu" by Detroit's In The Tradition Jazz Band. The music and poem were inspired by scholar Marimba Ani's book "Yurugu." The cd has been receiving world air play on radio stations in the US and other countries. To order the cd go to

www.inthetraditionjazz.com

Aurora's John Coltrane poems on Radio Free Amsterdam are found on her blog at
http://auroraharris.blogspot.com/

Aurora's interview about her being a scholar-poet-activist is on

http://emugoldalumni.wordpress.com/2010/06/10/140/


Thank you!

 

PUB: White Pine Press - Marie Alexander Poetry Series Contest

White Pine Press
Marie Alexander Poetry Series’
Open Submissions Period

The Marie Alexander Poetry Series has an open submission period during the month of July.  An award of $500 and publication will be given for a chosen collection of prose poems by an American poet. Submit a manuscript of at least 48 pages, which can include some lineated pieces, along with a cover letter with complete contact information and an SASE for notification only.  Postmark must be between July 1 and 31.  Entries should also include a simultaneous electronic submission of the manuscript (MS Word or PDF format) sent to editor@mariealexanderseries.com.  There is no entry fee.

Marie Alexander Poetry Series
Attention: Nickole Brown, Co-Editor
P.O. Box 5686
Louisville, KY 40255-0686
editor@mariealexanderseries.com

 

White Pine Press | P.O. Box 236 | Buffalo, NY 14201 | (716) 627-4665 (Voice) | (716) 627-4665 (Fax) | wpine@whitepine.org

 

 

 

 

VIDEO: “The Bicycle,” Needs Your Help! (Brotha/Sistah Can You Spare A Dime?) > from Shadow And Act

“The Bicycle,” Needs Your Help! (Brotha/Sistah Can You Spare A Dime?)

Writer/director and member of The Leagues, James Richards, needs your help… but instead of me typing it all out for you, I figured I’d let James tell you himself. So, watch the video below first, and then continue reading after that:

Picture 1

Alright, so what’s The Bicycle about? Here’s the plot lifted directly from the film’s website:

Bobbi can’t stand Teddy. Teddy isn’t exactly thrilled with Bobbi. Now that’s all right on the playground. But Teddy is 36 and Bobbi is 10. And they live in the same house. And Teddy is going to marry Bobbi’s mother Cheryl in a few months.

Cheryl has given up on them all coming together as one big, happy family. Now, all she wants is for Bobbi and Teddy to live in peace. Not a great way to begin your new life with the man you love.

Teddy isn’t helping. He’s engaging in a battle of wills with a 10 year old and losing, and his ego won’t let it go. He knows that between himself and Bobbi, Cheryl needs him to be the adult. But Teddy can’t help himself. He knows better. He knows something has to change for the sake of his upcoming marriage, his relationship to Cheryl and his sanity.

When Bobbi is jumped and her bicycle stolen, Teddy realizes this is the moment where he can repair his relationship with Bobbi. He volunteers to help find the bully and get the bicycle back but Bobbi resists, seeing this as ploy for Teddy to get in good with her mother. What they do discover as they travel through the many worlds that make up their community will both surprise them and connect them in a way neither could imagine.

The Bicycle is also an opportunity to tell a story in a world I know very well; the Black working class and middle class enclaves of Queens. Often stories about the African-American experience are tales mired in poverty and despair, or fabulous superstars living the high life. There is often nothing in between. Working people have lives also, and are often beautiful in the search for grace. Why not give some of those stories a chance to shine?

Alright… and now that you have some idea of what the film is about, here’s a sample of what it’ll look like, in the trailer below:

And so… you’ve heard James’ plea, and have some idea of what to expect from the project; are you just going to sit there and do nothing? Or will you help a brotha out, and ensure that he’s able to see the feature project through completion? To make a donation/contribution, or even just to send a note of encouragement, visit the film’s website HERE. There you’ll find a link labeled “How To Support Us” in the right-hand column menu, which will give you all the info you need!

I’ve already chipped in. I’ve seen James’ previous work – those who’ve seen 6 Things I Never Told You will also be familiar – and I can say that he’s efforts are well-worth your attention! So, give if you can. Again, visit the film’s website HERE.

VIDEO: Sonia Sanchez > from Freedom Verse Café

the best in spoken word poetry, jazz, & soul
twitter | facebook ||| Reviews

June 15, 2010 4:12 pm

Poet Sonia Sanchez Celebrates Her 75th Birthday (via BeaconBroadside)

September 24, 2009The poet Sonia Sanchez celebrated her 75th birthday on September 12, 2009. Helene Atwan, Director of Beacon Press, recorded this video of Sonia discussing children, education, and the joy of seventy-five years on this earth.

 

INTERVIEW: My interview with Pam Grier > from Shadow And Act

My interview with Pam Grier

I’ve interviewed a lot of people in the last 6 or 7 years since I’ve been doing this. Actors, actresses, directors, opera singers from A list to Z list. But I’ve never had been so nervous or intimidated as I was when I interviewed The Queen Goddess herself Pam Grier this weekend.

And now you can read the interview for yourself and actually I think it’s pretty good. Fortunately for me, our talk went much longer than planned; but unfortunately for you that means I had to edit some of it due to space considerations. But believe me, she’s as down to earth and  funny and honest and accessible as you would imagine she is. No pretense about The Goddess at all. Read the interview HERE.

____________________________________

/uploadedImages/EbonyJetcom/ebonyjet_logosNEW.jpg

 

 

 


 
 

Pam Grier
Interview with an Icon 
June 15, 2010 
By Sergio Mims

Coffy. Foxy Brown. Jackie Brown. The L Word. No need to say anymore. There can be only one person we’re talking about, the one and only Pam Grier, one of the most iconic and dynamic personalities ever in movies with over 120 film and TV roles in her impressive and outstanding career.

After five 5 seasons on Showtime’s “The L Word “and another season on CW Network’s “Smallville”, Grier is currently working on the new film “Larry Crowne “ with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts and in whatever little time, has left has been touring the country promoting her best selling new autobiography, Foxy, a brutally honest unflinching look at her life, the hard times, the good times, the loves of her life and of course her famous roles.

Recently Ebony had an opportunity to talk to Grier about new book, how she dealt with the tough challenges she faced, her relationships with men and her issues with being a “savior”.

EBONY: To start off , there was an article recently in which the writer posted the question if there were to be a remake today of Coffy and Foxy Brown who would you cast? Of all the responses NO ONE could come up with an actress who could play those parts. That’s why you’re an icon. You’re one of a kind, unique.
Grier:
 Very interesting! Great observation!

EBONY: But on screen you are, no doubt, a “woman”. These actresses today, most of them come off to me like little girls wearing their mother’s clothes trying to be adult, but missing the mark by a mile. 
Grier:  I don’t feel that. They’re all original, very unique because an actor is an unique entity. They come from different spiritual perspectives, different economic situations and generations. We’re all so different.

EBONY: But here’s the point. After reading Foxy, in which you chronicle many difficult experiences you have been through, being raped twice before the age of 18 (once when you were 6), your parents’ separation and divorce, facing discrimination and racism growing up on Colorado, I realized that’s why audiences really responded to you even in your early films like The Big Bird Cage or Coffy. They could somehow sense that, even at the young age, you had experienced a life and faced some real challenges. Today actresses don’t have that anything remotely like that. 

Grier: Well they may have, but they’re not revealing it. It would be presumptuous to say it that I’ve lived more than they have. But not everyone recovers or is able to separate themselves from their lives to survive and…who knows? For me, all I could do is just to be present, be me. And yes the depths of emotion that I experienced from a child through adulthood, that I could be able to parlay on the screen. And, yes, there are films with, say, certain reenactments very similar to what I’ve experienced that I may not be able to portray because they’re so close. But being a great actor is a life lived and lessons learned. And I had to write my memoir to share that.

EBONY: And I just about the ask you the obvious question, why did you decide to do your autobiography now?
Grier:
 Because of so many women and inspirations like Lena Horne, Hatte McDaniel, who went to the same high school in Denver I went to, to Gloria Steinem to Shirley Chisholm to Barbara Jordan. All these women who opened doors for me and helped me to navigate my life and I’m hoping with this memoir will give insight and help others to navigate through their lives and to share my faults. But there was time when people were filled so with self pride or shame that they could not reveal themselves or to their family and they kept so much to themselves which I don’t know is healthy. I see a lot of family dysfunction, sibling dysfunction and relationship dysfunction and that behavior was being passed on to generation to generation to generation. But there are today many counseling services today and group therapy and family therapy for that. But back in the day I didn’t have anyone to speak with to understand humanity, behavior and human nature. And now many years later I’m seeing the same the same abuse, the same behavior. And I have such a compassion and empathy for life and people I thought if I could share some events I went through then people could see they were not alone. As if they’re talking to me and I’m talking to them, to share and help them make another step to feel confident and less uncertain.

EBONY: So writing Foxy for you was in effect a form of catharsis?
Grier: In several ways, yes. It was cathartic, yet it released some evidence of trauma, uncertainty and despair. However many of it stays with you, but doesn’t encompass me. I don’t define myself by my tragedies. I don’t define myself by my age. I define myself by my energy, my great love for living.

EBONY: Which brings up the fact that terrible things that you experienced in your past you then recreated in films like being raped in real life like your character in Foxy Brown. How do you do a scene like that in front of an entire cast and crew without experiencing flashbacks or having breakdown?
Grier:
 Well you’re split. I was able to be split from that and to be working from almost a “third eye”.  Also many times as I was able to humanize the character, humanize the events , humanizing the iconic status, putting a human embodiment. I’m sure I found a protective corner in my mind where I said I may not be able to do it, I’ll stop when I cannot. But if I can, I’ve been there and if it’s not so frightening and I survived it then let’s show how harmful this can be. That’s how I was able to reenact certain events in my life. It’s called maturity.

EBONY: One of many things I found most surprising in your book is how when you were younger you doubted and were insecure about your looks. YOU? Pam Grier? For real?
Grier: It was not doubting. It was not recognizing that my features were more unique or more attractive than someone else. It was just “there” and there wasn’t a real recognition of the atheistic or appreciation: “Oh my features are so perfect” or making a making a judgment or a competition. It was: “My eyes I can see, my jaw works,  my skin is clear” (laughs) That’s basically all the recognition that I should ever have for myself. I don’t compare my aesthetic comprehension of beauty with someone else which is kind of boring.

EBONY: You also deal with a couple of your relationships with men a few such as Kareem Abdul Jabar, Freddie Prinze and of course Richard Pryor -- none of them ended well…
Grier:
 Well they did end well. I disagree with you wholeheartedly. With Freddie Prinze it didn’t end badly. He had not been indulging in drugs until he became very successful and I could see that he was going to embrace that world of entertainment and I was not going to have his attention. But it wasn’t bad. I went on to love Pam more. Same with Kareem. I moved on to love Pam more, which is positive. And with Richard, he wanted to see if I had any real influence on him and if he could go cold turkey and not indulge in drugs. He wanted know how he could act being sober. If he could be funny, that was his deepest fear. Will I be funny sober?

EBONY: But in your book you stated that the first time you met Pryor he was high on drugs. Most people would have said: “UH OH trouble!”
Grier:
 Yes he was doing drugs when I met him, but we didn’t meet again until a few years later when we did Greased Lightening together. He had tried to stop and he used my influence to help him stop. All I could do is say we can try. I’ll try to be an influence for you. But when I realized I could not be successful and so did he, that’s when Pam loves Pam more. A lot of women give up their souls and their self-love to love someone else and that someone else takes them down.

EBONY: You don’t think that you saw yourself as  savoir? That you were trying to “rescue him” which is a trap that a lot of women fall into?
Grier: If you met someone, if you met anyone, would you run away if they an issue? Do you hide from everyone because they have baggage?  Everyone has it.  We’re not perfect human beings. It would be arrogant for me to say I can save them or I won’t be around anyone who has baggage.  It would be very lonely life. However I gave myself a certain amount of time of reality because I could have said: “Oh I’m going to try to save him and stay with him. I’ll lose my career, my family, I wouldn’t be able to do things for Pam. I’ll stay with him”. But I chose not to. In the beginning Freddie didn’t do drugs when I met him. It wasn’t about saving Freddie or saving Kareem trying to get him to change back into Catholicism. I wasn’t trying to change him. We had a traditional relationship of love and respect and growth. How dare me say I was saving him. And Freddie, I couldn’t save him. He called me three days before he died. Nor was I trying to be a savior to Richard. Richard was trying to save himself. When someone wants to indulge in drugs or take their life they’re going to do it and out of that great love and respect I had for all of them, I still chose Pam.
But wait, what’s in your closet? I would like to know what’s in your closet?  What are you hiding? (laughs)

EBONY: No comment! I refuse to answer that! None of your business!
Grier: (laughs) They ought to make a movie about you! (laughs)

EBONY: It would be a film of infinite sorrow. But getting back to you the last chapter of your book is interesting because in it you express your philosophy of life. The journey of self awareness that you went andare still going though. How you found your place in the world and how others can as well.  I can’t recall another book like that.
Grier:
 Well Tolstoy does it in the last chapter of War and Peace (laughs)

EBONY: Well yes, you’re right. He sure does.
Grier: But to get to your point that is correct. I wanted to share all that I had been given, all that I had survived. I get lot of my “foxiness”, my attitude, my comprehension from listening to people and watching how they present themselves and it tells me a lot about how we are as a community and it’s fascinating! I absolutely love getting in touch with them. I don’t get to as much as I would like to living in Colorado and working from project to project and you don’t get to meet a lot of people. So it’s been so significant for me to share and look into their eyes and to hear about their lives and they hug me. A lot of actors don’t want to be touched or they don’t sign autographs. But I really do adore it when people hug me and they say: “Thank You!” They feel emboldened. They feel confident to know that I would accept it graciously. It’s wonderful. That’s my journey.

EBONY: So the journey is always continuing and never ending?
Grier: No!  It’s a never ending journey.

EBONY: Did you take that from a movie? (laughs)
Grier: I did not!  I made it up just now all by myself. Honest. O.K. then! You get credit for it. (laughs)

>via: http://www.ebonyjet.com/entertainment/movies/index.aspx?id=17128

INFO: North American Jews meet to ‘confront racism and Israeli apartheid’ + Questions

Mondoweiss

North American Jews meet to ‘confront racism and Israeli apartheid’

by Adam Horowitz on June 14, 2010 · 41 comments Like 46 3 Retweet
Send to a Friend del.icio.us Digg Furl

USAoJ poster FOR WEB
 

You can learn about this historic gathering at www.jewsconfrontapartheid.org. And here's more from the Electronic Intifada article "Jewish challenges to Zionism on the rise in the US":

Accountability of Israeli, US government and international Zionist support for Israel will not come from a shift in US policy but through shifting American public opinion and debate, fomenting popular movement, using international and US legal sanctions and supporting the Palestinian call for BDS. The 2010 US Assembly of Jews seeks to contribute to these efforts and reflects a significant departure from Zionism that has been building since the second Palestinian intifada broke the stranglehold of the Oslo accords. It has continuity with a long history of Jewish participation in struggles for human emancipation. Ours are among the growing voices of Jews who seek a departure from the course that Zionism has been and continues down -- a course that is a betrayal of our humanity as it simultaneously denies that of Palestinians.

=======================================

Tell me, has the ‘NYT’ run an Op-Ed by a Palestinian in the last month?

by PHILIP WEISS on JUNE 16, 2010 · 6 COMMENTS LIKE 01 RETWEET
Send to a Friend del.icio.us Digg Furl

Jeffrey Goldberg said of the flotilla raid, on CNN's Reliable Sources show:

You know, I always refer to this discussion as the taboo that won't shut up. Everybody argues all the time that you can't say anything you want about Israel. If you've looked at "The New York Times" op-ed page over the last month, I think there have been 15 different denunciations about Israeli policies and behaviors by a plethora of regular columnists and guest columnists, and that's fine.

My question: Are any of the alleged plethora Palestinian, the people most affected by Israel's policies? I don't seem to remember any... I'd be happy to correct myself!

>via: http://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/tell-me-has-the-nyt-run-an-op-ed-by-a-palestinian-in-the-last-month.html

============================

 

These ‘Times’ demand Robert Mackey

by ALEX KANE on JUNE 11, 2010 · 21 COMMENTS LIKE 53 RETWEET
Send to a Friend del.icio.us Digg Furl

The New York Times has become notorious for its thoroughly pro-Israel reporting on Israel/Palestine. So it was somewhat of a shock to read recent entries on theTimes’ "Lede" blog, authored by Robert Mackey, and see actual reporting and blogging that doesn’t take Israeli claims at face-value in the aftermath of the Israeli raid on the flotilla.

Mackey's most recent post highlighted filmmaker Iara Lee’s unedited video from aboard the flotilla. He posted the full one-hour clip on the blog.

In an earlier posting, Mackey’s headline read, “Turkish Doctor Describes Treating Israeli Commandos During Raid,” highlighting two photos that show just that, therefore undermining the Israeli claim that they were met by a “lynch” mob intent on killing the commandos. Mackey even links to Electronic Intifada co-founder Ali Abunimah’s blog, giving credit where it's due, for Abunimah has been doing great work on the flotilla aftermath and, specifically, on the “lynching” claims. Linking to someone like Abunimah is not par for the course for the Times (has the Times ever assigned this writer an Op-Ed or a book review?) and I applaud Mackey for doing so.

 

Mackey also devoted a separate post to the testimony of two activists aboard the flotilla who were listed on the Israeli Defense Forces’ website as “active terror operatives.” Mackey casts skepticism on the Israeli claim, noting that there were factual errors in the IDF's bios, and gives space to Fatima Mohammadi, an American citizen born in Tehran, who strongly denied the claim that she was a “terrorist.”

All of which leaves an obvious question: Why are there such stark differences between the Times’ online work at the "Lede" blog and its pathetic reporting in print? Ethan Bronner and Isabel Kershner deny space to Palestinian voices, let alone Palestinian analysts and activists like Abunimah who buck the conventional wisdom on Israel/Palestine.

Bronner’s article today on the blockade of Gaza includes the usual distortions theTimes propagates on Israel/Palestine and Gaza. Imagine that article if Mackey became the Times’ Jerusalem bureau chief? And imagine the effect that Mackey's getting print space-- with free rein to cast substantial doubt on Israeli propaganda and quote smart people like Abunimah-- would have on the bankrupt discourse in our mainstream media generally on these issues.

Times Public Editor Clark Hoyt suggested Bronner should be put in a different position than his current one as Jerusalem bureau chief at least for the duration of his son’s service in the IDF. That’s what should happen, and I have a good idea who should replace him.

 

>via: http://mondoweiss.net/2010/06/these-times-demand-robert-mackey.html