*Spoiler Alert*

Tonight Chandra and I saw Brooklyn’s Finest and left the movie theater with different opinion and feelings about this movie. Over dinner we discussed the scenes we liked, the actors, who performed and the resolutions of the storylines in the movie itself.

Chandra: So what did you think?

Charles: I enjoyed the movie for the actors, they brought the intensity to their roles.

Chandra: Really? I wouldn’t have called it intensity…

Charles: Well, to be honest, the script was the typical vignette of corruption, redemption, and loyalty. Plots, we’ve seen a thousand times - but - I felt the acting was good enough to make us not see that.

Chandra: This movie to me was like The Wire Redux. Only HBO’s The Wire actually had a soul. In many ways it seemed like a bunch of movies rolled up into this one on top of that, like Training Day, Crash, um…Should I go on?

Charles: No, you don’t have to but I just want to point out that this movie portrayed three cops facing personal challenges in their lives. For example, in one story line, a cop was so desperate to find a home for his growing family that he took liberties that he shouldn’t have.

Chandra: Oh you mean Sal? Sal just gave me heebie-jeebies. Ethan Hawke, considering his squeaky clean image did a bang up job of playing a low-life police officer. To be honest, I felt let down by many of the characters. Definitely I was happy to see my folks from The Wire, but if I wanted to see The Wire I would have watched The Wire. How many booty clubs, drug raids, and corrupt commissioners can you rehash? And, I know I’m going on here, but bear with me. Wesley. Oh, Wesley. I had high hopes for the brother in this movie. I wanted him to bring Nino Brown, and he did not. He could have brought back Nino, just once.

Charles: Here’s the thing. If you came in expecting Nino Brown to return, then I can see why you would be disappointed. However, I thought Wesley’s character of a released drug dealer who wanted out of the game showed a different side to a stereotypical role like that.

Chandra: Well, I’m sorry but I was looking for some Nino Brown level drama. Moving on though, I sensed a little Crash-y-ness in the end. Did you?

Charles: The final scene was a bit predictable I admit but Richard Gere’s, Don Cheadle’s, and Ethan Hawke’s roles had me pinned to the edge of my seat because of the situations they were in. Granted the ending was over the top, but the intensity from each of them, convinced me what they felt was real and I was on a rollercoaster ride to the very end.

Chandra: Intensity. Roller-coaster. Is that why I felt nauseous watching it? Or was it the oversized movie screen and watching Ethan-as-Sal sweat and chain smoke? Hmm. Hey, did you notice the stereotypical Latina, with ’Ay Papi,’ every other sentence? And why did she, the only brown woman with a speaking role end up being a prostitute? I don’t know Charles, I just don’t know. I didn’t hate the movie but I believe it definitely doesn’t live up to the hype.

Charles: It didn’t have to. I mean, it’s a cop movie! They are not known for their deeply intellectual, philosophical point of view. That being said, this movie was a look at a system that fails the police who work in it. Maybe not Wire-like, but nevertheless, these cops were all faced with decisions that had serious impacts on their lives. For example, Gere’s character turns out slightly better than when he started.

Chandra: In all fairness, I can’t compare a roughly two hour movie with a multiple season cop drama (yes, I’m talking once again about The Wire so stop rolling your eyes) that just happens to be one of my favorite shows of all time. Also, perhaps it is best to let Nino Brown rest. After all, this is a post New Jack city movie. But, I thought what could have been a gripping drama that left me thinking about the characters long after the credits rolled, turned out to be a circular, cyclical, predictable, bloody mess. So Charles, if you had to rate this movie on a scale of 1 to 10, what would you rate it?

Charles: I’d give it an 8 for the acting over a predictable script. Again, I believe the passion, in Gere’s Cheadle’s, and Hawke’s roles were gripping enough to hold my interest. Wesley’s role wasn’t bad, it was Nino Brown light, but very believable and real.

Chandra: I would give this movie a 6.5 on the high side. Its predictability, too much dialogue, very sweaty, and in the end sickeningly bloody attributes made it hard for me to watch without a smirk.

　

In the past week there’s been a debate, well publicized and documented, regarding an agenda concerning people who are like the author of this piece. One opinion is that now that we have a Black president, he should be more receptive to our needs and help us. The other view is that the president is in fact addressing our needs by tackling the larger issues upon health care, the economy and jobs. Let’s say for a minute we’re excluding the fact he’s in office right now and get right down to the larger issue: when are ‘we’ going to realize it’s up to us, not government, as the catalysts to advance our own agenda?

When Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and many of our brothers and sisters were without shelter or food, who stepped up to provide supplies, money and a home for them? Not the Bush administration, which showed indifference to the plight of many dying around them. Not FEMA, who provided substandard trailers for those in need. The list can go on and on but it was…us. We opened the doors for the homeless, we sent money to those who had none and we went to help rebuild the city after the torrid waters from the storm almost destroyed it. We didn’t wait for government, we moved ahead for ourselves. Also in the case of the Jena 6, where through the power of networking via the Internet and other social media, thousands gathered in the small Louisiana town to show solidarity for the six young men who were jailed from a racial incident. Although the lead prosecutor, Reed Walters led a prayer no harm would befall his town, (which despite his fears, didn't happen) peace eventually was the order of the day and once again, we mobilized without waiting for the government to act.

These acts are nothing new for as mentioned in a commentary after the agenda debate that day, the Civil Rights Movement began through Rosa Parks who refused to move to the back of the bus or four young men who staged a sit-in at a lunch counter when they were refused service. Not to mention the Freedom Riders who rode through the perilous South to allow non-segregated travel along state lines or even Oliver L. Brown, the Topeka, Kansas assistant pastor and wielder, the main plaintiff in the historical Brown vs. Board of Education which ultimately led to the overturning of the ‘Separate But Equal’ statute of 1896. Because of regular people, average citizens requesting justice, these were the events that are ingrained as part of our history, and what we should never forget. We can do it for ourselves.

With this being said, what is our agenda for the 21st Century and beyond? It is all about the money, or reparations, isn’t it? That’s what a majority in the collective want and although it’s a reasonable request, the power structure in America will die to their last dying breath and beyond the grave before that ever happens. So then, what to do? What’s next? If Plan A doesn’t work, what is Plan B? I wager I would have a multitude of replies of what even Plan G is, so with the tools of this new century at our disposal, what can we do to turn it around? If we’re in this continuous state of the old mindset believing our elected officials will solve nearly all of our problems, then we’ll face disappointment time after time with the traditionalists sitting back, laughing. Even our current president encouraged us on a call to service. How many of us heeded the call? How many of us volunteer now? How many of us spoken with young people, passing down our wisdom and knowledge to them without prejudice? These are questions only we can answer and should.

If we have a new agenda, it is my wish that it is just as proactive and profound as those as our predecessors. If we want things to change, then we’re going to have to move from the reactionary status when it comes to issues concerning our larger community. The other side has been very successful the past year, and who can blame them? Whether or not we claim their protests are bogus, they are making a statement and changing the tone of the electorate. If we continue to sit around and wait for government, scholars, or organizations we believe represents us but not move at the pace we ask of them, then it’s time to get up, move forward and as Satchel Paige would attest, not look back. The examples of the mid-1950’s to late 1960’s show us movements begin with the people, period.

On this last day of Black History Month 2010, it’s about time we forge to write a new chapter not only for this generation, but also our children and the next generation who will follow them. It doesn’t require a degree from a prestigious university to get started, but a huge degree of the heart.

Another Black History Month – or African-American Heritage Month, or whatever it’s being called these days – is winding down in these last few days of February. My contemporaries on social networking sites are doing their best to remind us about the accomplishments of the past, which we all should be proud of. Now that we’re one decade in the new century, it’s time to start thinking about the footprints we plan to set on the clay of history. Instead of rehashing the same arguments about what we need to do as mentioned on numerous blogs (including this one), it’s time to brainstorm our way to a new direction our present and subsequent generations can benefit from.

For one, I’m interested in the trend in social media. The challenges print media has been facing are evident, but a growing number of e-magazines are growing such as The Root, and long standing magazines like Ebony, Essence and Black Enterprise are joining in the advantages of the Internet. Even up and coming ‘ezines’ like Urban Lyfestyle Magazine are catering to an increasing and savvy online audience. The YouTube explosion among my same contemporaries has been advantageous in promoting their titles to a mass audience. For the past four years, podcasts have also helped in spreading the word. Mixed Matters on North Bay Media Review which Chandra and I co-host has been a prime example of that. This is just a small list for the writing industry alone. I would be remiss in not mentioning the Internet is a boon for small business as well. E-commerce is the financial engine adopted by most small businesses now and growing each day.

When you consider the booms in the Green Jobs and clean energy industries as pluses for future entrepreneurs to consider. According to this report, there are a few who have made a head start, founding businesses investing in the health of the environment while focusing on being eco friendly. Although it’s in the early stages, by the next decade this industry will be in high demand, IMO. So it’s something to consider.

Even though technology is beginning to play an important part in our lives, there are a few items of a ‘wish list’ of businesses I hope would emerge when the economy begins to improve. Hopefully sometime this decade, the following would happen (but I know more experienced voices reading this blog will let me know differently – and they’re invited to)

-Media. I would hope future entrepreneurs look into buying more radio stations, not just for music, but news and information. Although the big money is in FM, I would prefer AM radio because it’s a good start to build an audience and if done right, provide programs that would help benefit the community at large. Besides, after years of having our narrative directed by someone else, isn’t it time we frame it ourselves? Yes, I know we do have Radio One and BET, but there always should be alternatives for diverse media among ourselves as mentioned earlier.

-Services. Many times on this blog I’ve lamented the fact back in 1992, the residents of South Central wanted a Mom and Pop store that eventually was built. However, because of lack of interest (?), it didn’t last long. That being said, there is still a need for groceries, services catering to the elderly and educational programs that with the amount of talent the community possesses, could be an asset to the few who don’t. If we spend time talking about doing for self, then we should use what we have to help each other. I remember when the South Los Angeles neighborhood I lived in had a row of small businesses up and down the street. TV repair, clothing, books (religious), a small drug store (no liquor served) and food were served to the residents in the area. I’m hopeful once the economy improves we can get back to those types of businesses. Of course, that isn’t to say they don’t exist now but it’s just a thought.

-Thinking ‘outside the box’ with ideas. Certainly the early inventors or township settlers faced opposition from the dominant masses, but I’m assured they heard doubts from us as well. I imagine not everyone who settled with Colonel Allensworth shared his views of his creation of the town with his same name, or Dr. Charles R. Drew facing segregation and speaking out while finding new ways to improve blood transfusions and plasma. So before we begin to build or buy, we have to believe in our creations and ourselves if any venture we enter will succeed.

I reflect on this because while I watched a documentary on Soul Train, there was a clip with the narrator describing 1975 as a landmark year for Black people in this country when we had money to spend and businesses to support. Yes, I’m showing my age but as a young child growing up in those times, it’s good to remind ourselves the best isn’t behind us, it’s ahead of us and if we can remove ourselves from our pervasive negative mindset, we can do great things and plan a new direction for the 21st Century.

For the better part of a year, even in the following week, much noise has come from the traditional crowd regarding the supposed takeover of their country. Slogans which worked in the past, (Country First) failed to match the reality of the first decade of the new century. The traditionalists, for all their mocking of the word change, don’t realize America changed long before President Obama took office. I’ll wager when the Cold War ended, that’s when we also stopped becoming a superpower.

When the Berlin Wall came tumbling down in 1989, it was the beginning of the end for the former Soviet Union, the Evil Empire I and many young people at the time was force fed mentally to abhor and denounce for terms like Marxism, Communism, and the fact freedom was denied its citizens. At last, they were defeated and the United States remained the lone superpower in the world, the winner in the Cold War spanning over forty years.

However, with being the lone superpower, we paid a price. One, we had no enemy to rally against on the national level. We finally had to take a hard look at this country and the financial burdens accumulated over the years. The 1992 Presidential debates presented the first challenge of our new status. What to do about our deficit? In the past, the traditionalists insisted the military was the answer, but now that the Soviet Union was dissolved, what was the solution for the U.S.? The lack of an long term idea to set this country on the right financial track was and in my opinion a continuing challenge today, but the traditionalists failed to see beyond their patriotic mindset.

The patriotic mindset pervaded in our politics and our media for years. How else could we explain the success of television shows with hosts throwing off guests who didn’t agree with their ideological views, in an atmosphere that would make the Ancient Romans jealous. Although Christians weren’t thrown to the lion’s den, there were plenty of liberals to throw at the horde of a rowdy studio audience with leading questions and accusatory statements to their latest victims, the unruly commie-loving activists who survived to face their wrath. While this chatter was entertaining and fun for a while, it didn’t help discuss ways to bring down the deficit, balance the budget and steer our minds to a long lasting vision of what America could be, rather than what Ross Perot once accused the United States of daydreaming of its past “while the rest of the world was building its future.”

I would wager that the frustration shown by protesters, traditionalists and the politicians who side with them is due to the undeniable fact America hasn’t changed and refused to accept the inevitable. A prime example of that is the closure of military bases and the effect it has on surrounding cities depending on them for years. As evidenced by the city I live in now, there is no financial engine as a replacement for the lost bases. Contrast that to other military bases redeveloped with retail outlets serving the communities they reside in.

My counselor once advised me that ‘whatever worked for you in the past, no longer does.’ The entire populace of the United States is going to have to face this undeniable fact, we are going to change whether you like it or not. It doesn’t matter if it’s in a campaign slogan or in actuality, but it’s happening right now. It happened after the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s, end of the Cold War of the late 1980’s, the various incidents in Waco and Oklahoma City in the 1990’s, the terrorist attack of 2001, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and President Obama’s election in 2008.

In each of these historical instances, the world around us was shaped and impacted our consciousness somewhat. And although this is a hard pill to swallow….the 1950’s are long gone. As much as our traditionalists point to that decade, they will not return. I could argue the same about our civil leaders who guided our consciousness such as Malcolm and King. They’re not coming back either, point blank. For now, we have to deal with the fact we can adapt to the global economy, clean energy, green jobs, social networking and yes, those damn digital readers. They are here and we can’t force the 1950’s or any other past time into a 2010 and beyond square peg. It just won’t do.

Rest assured should the traditionalists have their way, our current President will be a one timer and I would assure you there will be a talk show host who will state ‘we finally have our country back again, the experiment is over’ as if the election of a Black president was a unintelligible trial by the majority to see if individuals who share the author’s hue have the mental acumen to govern. In fact, had he continued, former general Colin Powell, also African-American, would have been successful in his 1996 Presidential bid, IMO. So it’s not the ‘experiment’ but more the realism of the time when we can choose content of character rather than a person’s skin. (Slowly creeping but we’re getting there)

Of course, the election of President Obama is another facet of change the traditionalists refuse adamantly to accept. As we move forward in this new century, there will be more Supreme Court Justices sitting on the bench who are not of a certain dominant ethnicity. That’s a fact. The previous administration such as the current one have members of diverse nationalities in high positions, a testament to the changing times in this country. So it would be foolish to combat the winds of change as I wrote in my poem of the same title (in the Voices of South Central), ‘blow continuously over death.’

Whether or not you believe it’s true, the fears of losing the majority in another forty years troubles the traditionalists to no end, which shows in the passion, the fervor of the recent protests and conventions. Yet, if ancient Egypt, Greece, most of all Rome, France, Britain, Germany, Japan and the Soviet Union all faced a social metamorphosis, is it safe to assume the United States is headed for a similar transformation? Although massive turnover in the status of the dominant majority isn’t for certain, it’s the one threat the traditionalists shudder and plan to avoid at every possibility. However, if our Lord in heaven with His patient eye oversaw the rise and fall of empires, what difference would it make when it’s our turn to face the inevitable? That’s something worth considering.

No matter what happens, it will be worth watching – and experiencing the reaction to change among the populace.

Hey everybody,

Haven't posted in over a week. I've been consumed with the Black Book Expo and finishing up a revision on two novellas I'm working on.

March looks like another busy month with Chandra's book signing at Classic One Books in L.A., and a writer's workshop at the Hyde Park - Miriam Matthews Library on the 27th. Before then, I'll make a stop for the Reflections Publishing workshop at the Raddisson near LAX.

Each week, more good news for the LA Black Book Expo. We're gathering a list of outstanding speakers and workshop hosts. Our panel discussions look promising as well.

The California Writers Collective will hold another workshop this year along with an empowerment luncheon for aspiring authors. Time and places to be announced.

Mixed Matters on North Bay Media Review will either return in March or April. I'll let you know when.

More posts in the coming week. I promise.