ambivalence, in the face of local power
originally posted by daiichi
originally posted by daiichi
32. Which of these figures are of African-American descent:Metro Times: a quiz to make you go hmmmm.a) George Herriman, creator of the Krazy Kat cartoon strip. b) Best-selling novelist Frank Yerby. c) Carol Channing, actress and stage performer. d) Johnny Otis, 1950s rhythm and blues star.
originally posted by xowie
The Voynich Manuscript mystery has been solved by a UK computer scientist. via /.
originally posted by xowie
"The Bells of Balangiga have as much significance to the Filipino people as the Liberty Bell does to the American people," said Rodel Rodis, San Francisco Community College trustee and organizer of the event, to the gathering of about 50 in the church.The bells are a souvenir of the 1901 scorching of Samar province by the U.S. Army, which left 50,000 (?) Filipinos dead.
originally posted by xowie
He left behind an army of imitators and a catalogue of songs that people will be dusting off and singing for as long as they make guitars. For me personally, Woody is my hero of heroes and the only person on earth that I will go to my grave regretting that I never met.Woody Guthrie by Steve Earle. (via a damn fine bunch of stuff at Craig's Booknotes)
originally posted by xowie
Elderly inhabitants recount that when Che was laid out in the hospital, campesinos who passed by and saw him affirmed that it was the figure of Christ. Today, people living in the area pray to Che and ask for miracles when they have personal problems, if they have lost an animal and, if there is a drought, for rain.Granma Int., Memories of Che.
originally posted by xowie
"O, damnation, damnation! thy other name is school-teaching and thy residence Woodbury."I went to elementary school at the site of a one-room schoolhouse where a famous anti-war poet was schoolmaster. He hated it there, so did I, but his ghost was in the woods, and we do as we're taught.
"I believe when the Lord created the world, he used up all the good stuff, and was forced to form Woodbury and its denisens, out of the fag ends, the scraps and refuse."
originally posted by xowie
He turned. He saw me. He recognized me. The noise was deafening but he spoke to me. I couldn't hear a thing, but I read his lips, and I'm pretty sure what he said was, "How are you coming along?" But I wasn't positive. So I replied as best I could. "What?" I said.Nora Ephron, All the President's Girls.
originally posted by xowie
The five-story dormitory was riddled by gunfire. FBI investigators estimated that more than 460 rounds struck the building, shattering every window facing the street on each floor. Investigators counted at least 160 bullet holes in the outer walls of the stairwell alone -- bullet holes that can still be seen today.The May 1970 Tragedy at Jackson State University.
originally posted by xowie
Corky Lee was set on his course in junior high school by a famous photograph taken at Promontory Point, Utah, in 1869. The picture commemorated the completion of the transcontinental railroad and showed workers posing with two trains, one from the Central Pacific line and one from the Union Pacific. But something was wrong with this picture. No Chinese workers.New York Times: Getting Asian-Americans Into the Picture.
Thousands of Chinese men worked on that railroad. In fact, Mr. Lee said, the saying "He doesn't have a Chinaman's chance" comes from the fact that when the Sierra Nevada had to be blasted for the railroad, the Chinese were usually the ones lowered from cliffs laden with dynamite and fuses. Each time they went down to set the charges, they got paid a dollar more. But when the time came to party and be photographed, the Chinese were nowhere to be found.
Since Mr. Lee first laid eyes on that photograph, he has devoted himself to making Asian-Americans visible.
