Today’s Media Links
The Emperor Hits the Book Shelves
Kim McLarin at blackprof.com is not quite sure what to say about Yale law professor turned novelist, Stephen L. Carter, but her mention of a $4 million dollar advance for The Emperor of Ocean Park for this self-described “black conservative” is a start.
In my earlier Blog post about Brideshead Revisited, my sincere curiosity purposed that, ‘Someday, a young Black novelist will write her biting expose of the American Negro “rich” of the new millennium.’ Well, Stephen L. Carter is not that young or that female but close enough. And, uh, no: Terry McMillan and her many imitators were not biting into the rich as much as ass licking…
What’s even more fascinating is the possibility that he will open up a new Hollywood-film supply chain that might break out a new genre of exploitation films. Instead of showing people “of color” role modeling in the armed forces like in Denzel’s proletariat film Antwone Fisher (and way too many other Hollywood films), I actually think that ‘flooding’ the market with films about rich, professional, educated people with strong African features living in relatively large community-like groups (instead of being the lone chocolate drop in a sea of well-meaning whiteness) would be a refreshing change for the imagination cultivation of young people. The movies will still suck but it’s better than nothing. In recent years, Walter Mosley and Carl Franklin had a thang going… Eventually new rebellion will break out and that’s when it gets interesting…
Asunder? Nah… (lick, lick)
Sekou Sundiata on YouTube.com (HBO Def Poetry)
Not being sure whether he’s still with Righteous Babe Records or not, Sekou Sundiata performs “Come on with the Reparations” on HBO Def Poetry Jam. Like a frustrated DJ/Librarian, I’m struggling to place this one in a collection to present mash up here in the kinté space—similar to “Home Box Office, Inc.: def poetry six rasx() mix.”
Cheikh Anta Diop Video Interview
The streaming video interview of Cheikh Anta Diop at dailymotion.com was a welcome surprise. Younger folks of the MTV generation can get an ‘easier’ introduction to this great man. It was a wake-up call to me to get out of the rut with the assumption that too few “tech savvy” voices on the Internet don’t know (or care) about these civilization-scale issues.
Guaranteed Minimum Income for the Economic Elites
Wikipedia.org has an entry for “guaranteed minimum income” for the economically disenfranchised of the world. Since this latest George Bush thing broke out, the history of guaranteed income for the wealthy has been bugging me. Certainly, there is a recent book or at least some document out there covering such a history.
Just think about it: sending over 100,000 troops over open desert for days guarantees income for all of the private companies supplying these troops. Ordering troops to search each and every house in Iraq—and later in Iran—guarantees more income for years to come. There are sentient beings on this planet that are so left-brain myopic that they can see only the mathematical formula pumping dollars in some bank account and not the long term environmental impact of their money making decisions.
And let’s get real, real old school here. Iran is full of gold. The culture of “living off the land” where soldiers steal from the local population to supplement the (often defective) supplies being sold to them from private companies is breeding the intestinal fortitude necessary to send units of soldiers tear-assing through Iran looking for gold.
A Google Employee out of Domestic Bliss
Dustin Diaz announces the separation from his wife in “From the horse’s mouth.” This would be an opportunity for me to sarcastically scold Dustin for being “off topic” in the context of a technology Blog. However, experience informs me that sarcasm gets misinterpreted easily especially in these domestic situations. So what’s important now is to commend Dustin for not falling for that hanging-on-in-quiet-desperation bullshit and being secretive for no real-world reason. For what its worth (a great deal to me) Dustin might like to compare his post with mine: Flippant Remarks about “Getting the Love You Want.” I’m not trying to start a men’s encounter group or anything like that but from a respectful distance it might help.
Just because business people and other non-techies use the Internet for their fake-ass, money-grubbing performances, does not mean the people who have been with the Internet and computers since before AOL should play these games (all the time). For us from the tech old school we use these tools like how Jimi Hendrix uses his guitar slung around his neck while cooking eggs in his breakfast skillet. Until the day comes that a company like a Google does “no evil” and takes the relatively free Internet away from us, we will continue to use this space like a tool—a very personal tool.