Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Morgan Freeman On Black History Month


Have you had your fill of WBAI bozos trying to cash in on Black History Month? Have you noticed how they have brought it down to the level of President's Day white sales? At least sheets and pillowcases are functional, the twisted blather of the Mumia/Garvey scammers serves only to set back past advances.

Intelligent people of all hues and heredity know what game these opportunists are playing. Asking demanding that listeners pay exorbitant prices for amateur-produced propaganda and tabloid-tainted books has turned WBAI into a tawdry marketplace for gimmicks. Expecting intelligent people to see such exploitation as anything but exploitation is to grossly underestimate their capacity for independent thought, which is the basic premise upon which these silly delving dilettantes operate.

Morgan Freeman had it right when he appeared on CBS' 60 Minutes many years ago.  

7 comments:

  1. I remember seeing that , and thought it was spot on .
    Now on a sarcastic note , i'm really looking foward to next month
    when black history month is over and bai goes back to "normal" programming. haha
    Black history month on bai... Was there any difference from this month to any other?
    Sadly we all know the answer to that question. And they wonder why nobody is giving any money.











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  2. Freeman said what I have said most of my life. Everything that has occurred in this country (and even before within these borders) is all our history, not to be relegated to some condescending period of a month then ignored. White, Black, Native American, etc. is all one history, United States history.

    Anyway. For kids of my generation, Freeman is probably best known for his time on the Electric Company show, and particularly for his Easy Reader recurring character, which all us little kids liked and learned from.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkwCynNm18c

    SDL

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  3. I wholeheartedly agree with Morgan Freeman. Its heartening to hear when the exact opposite message is being spread on college campuses today.

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    1. And Freeman isn't just talking about the commercialization of BHM, he thinks the whole idea is without merit. I agree, it's an appeasement.

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  4. Morgan Freeman is old enough to remember that Black History Month was developed to counter the false narrative that Black people have no history worth studying and that Black people have made no significant contribution to US history. Given Hillary Clinton's recent off-base comments regarding Reconstruction, I'm not sure the need for BHM is obsolete just yet. https://www.facebook.com/MTV/videos/10153519675986701/

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    1. If one needs to create a designated month as a reminder, what does that tell us? It becomes an extended National Tomato Week... Another time for commercial exploitation, like President's Day, Lincoln's Birthday, etc.

      The year should contain twelve Black History months and there ought not be a need for reminders. No black history month white sales? Perhaps not yet, but the commercial exploitation is in place and--as we have just seen--firmly so at WBAI. Of course, we might note that the present crew at WBAI prefers to look at the dark side of that history, thus fomenting and perpetuating racism rather than exhibiting pride in a people's achievements and inspiring future generations to demonstrate how futile negativity is.

      Would it not be more constructive to honor the efforts of such extraordinary people as Fannielou Hamer, Will Marion Cook or Langston Hughes rather than to broadcast and beatify the likes of "Mumia"?

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  5. What it tells me is that the nation has not advanced as much as one would hope on racial matters. It would be wonderful if all history would be taught every month. It would be wonderful if the schools used Howard Zinn's People's History of the US rather than textbooks generated in Texas. However, that is not the reality.
    It is a logical fallacy to postulate that talking about what you call (perhaps ineptly) the "dark side" of US history foments and perpetuates racism. How could you make sense of the significance of Fannie Lou Hamer's life, to take one of your examples, without addressing Jim Crow and the active denial of voting rights against which she fought? And, it is a false choice to prefer Fannie Lou Hamer over Mumia. There is room for learning about both, as well as so many others. Our schools' history curricula are so impoverished, I doubt if school children are learning much about Ms. Hamer, if they are learning anything about her at all.
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/03/04/a-texan-who-called-obama-a-gay-prostitute-may-soon-control-what-goes-in-childrens-textbooks/
    This is what I mean. With people such as Ms. Bruner having such a disproportionate influence over the history textbooks of the nation, how realistic is it for us to expect true US history to be taught? Slaves referred to as "workers"?!





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