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Showing posts with the label Black Earth Rising

Virginia, Blackface, and roosting chickens

Virginian politics has been imploding for about a week now due to blackface AND sexual assault allegations. Gov. Ralph Northam initially said "Sorry. That was wrong." Then , "nope, wasn't me." And lastly , "hell no, I won't go." Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax has denied allegations of sexual assault made by two women, and has asked for a full investigation. AG Mark Herring pre -confessed to wearing blackface when he saw how hot the water was getting for Northam. So far, no one has resigned. The citizens are split on whether some, all, or none of them should resign. And all the damn chickens are in the yard roosting their asses off. Although controversial as hell at the time (and still is for some), Malcolm X's statement after JFK's assassination about chickens coming home to roost has plenty of relevancy here. His statement seemed callous at the time, but in a world where the U.S. supported and sanctioned violence, murders, coups, etc. ...

Black Earth Rising--spoilers therein

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag-map_of_Rwanda.svg I recently finished  Black Earth Rising on Netflix. The show stars Michaela Coel (as Kate Ashby), Harriet Walter (as Eve Ashby), John Goodman (as Michael Ennis), among many others. It's about a Rwandan genocide survivor Kate, who was adopted by an international lawyer (Eve) who prosecutes cases in the ICC. Over two decades after surviving the genocide, Kate and all those around her are forced to come to terms with some seriously uncomfortable realities of what happened before, during, and after the genocide. The show got in my head... One, it was great to see so many beautiful, brown-skinned people in a show and to experience a story of modern African history--albeit horribly, tragic history. And every time Coel was on screen, I marveled over her beauty--beautiful, smooth, brown complexion, amazingly shaped eyes, beautifully pronounced cheekbones and full lips. Two, although fictionalized, I learned a LOT more ...