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Archive through December 04, 2006

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: Apr. 2007 ~ Jun. 2007: Black History (ARCHIVES January 2006 ~ June 2007): Archive through December 04, 2006 users admin

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Seamonkey
Moderator

09-07-2000

Monday, November 27, 2006 - 9:36 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Seamonkey a private message Print Post    
I didn't realize that, either. I had the pleasure of attending a performance by Bobby McFerrin.

That is a heck of an article, Ladyt!!

Mameblanche
Member

08-24-2002

Tuesday, November 28, 2006 - 12:19 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mameblanche a private message Print Post    
And on a lighter note... turn up the volume and click here...

Ladytex
Member

09-27-2001

Thursday, November 30, 2006 - 4:21 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Ladytex a private message Print Post    
Joan Higginbotham ready for lift-off next week

higginbotham

Astronaut gets 'unique opportunity to serve my country'

November 30, 2006
BY RUMMANA HUSSAIN Staff Reporter

Joan Higginbotham assumed she was in trouble when the chief of NASA's astronaut division asked to speak with her more than a year ago.

"I was trying to figure out why I was being called into the principal's office and what I had done wrong," the single 42-year-old astronaut said recently.

Turns out she was wrong about being wrong: Higginbotham had been summoned to join the Space Shuttle Discovery crew. The South Side native, who will be the third African-American female in space when her 12-day mission launches next week, will serve as the primary operator of the International Space Station's robotic arm.

"Personally, it means I have this really unique opportunity to serve my country," said Higginbotham, who plans to carry a photo of her late father, William, with her.

Higginbotham's Chicago relatives are proud that she is walking in the footsteps of local heroine Mae Jemison, who made headlines as the first black woman in space nearly 15 years ago. But they said Wednesday that "Joanie's" race and gender shouldn't be the sole focus.

"She has accomplished something very few Americans, very few human beings have an opportunity to do," said Higginbotham's older sister, Angela Higginbotham Monroe.

Whitney Young grad
Higginbotham, who graduated from Whitney Young High School and studied electrical engineering in college, didn't set out to become an astronaut. But when she learned IBM had a hiring freeze on engineers, she took a job at the Kennedy Space Center and eventually applied for the astronaut program.

Higginbotham's mother, Inez, is eagerly anticipating the Dec. 7 launch. She gave her youngest daughter a list of fellow Avalon Park Community Church members and an emblem from her alma mater to take to space for luck.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/154936,CST-NWS-astro30.article

Mocha
Member

08-12-2001

Thursday, November 30, 2006 - 4:51 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mocha a private message Print Post    
This is great. She looks a lil like Sheryl Lee Ralph.

Seamonkey
Moderator

09-07-2000

Thursday, November 30, 2006 - 4:56 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Seamonkey a private message Print Post    
She has a super smile, doesn't she?

Pamy
Member

01-02-2002

Thursday, November 30, 2006 - 6:05 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Pamy a private message Print Post    
she is beautiful, what an accomplishment, and she is so young

Twiggyish
Member

08-14-2000

Thursday, November 30, 2006 - 6:08 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Twiggyish a private message Print Post    
Good for her!

Grannyg
Member

05-28-2002

Thursday, November 30, 2006 - 6:45 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Grannyg a private message Print Post    
Yay!! for her!! I know she is so glad IBM had a hiring freeze on!! She is gorgeous!

Seamonkey
Moderator

09-07-2000

Thursday, November 30, 2006 - 6:47 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Seamonkey a private message Print Post    
I'll be holding my breath for all of them, of course, but I think especially for her, now that I "know" about her a little.

Jimmer
Moderator

08-30-2000

Thursday, November 30, 2006 - 7:04 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jimmer a private message Print Post    
That is great! I try to watch all the Space Shuttle missions.

Ophiliasgrandma
Member

09-04-2001

Thursday, November 30, 2006 - 7:12 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Ophiliasgrandma a private message Print Post    
I'd be willing to be that she's a bit smart too.

Mameblanche
Member

08-24-2002

Thursday, November 30, 2006 - 9:58 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mameblanche a private message Print Post    
She's cute! She reminds me of the gal from the 5th Dimension singing group...

UP, UP AND AWAY

Herckleperckle
Member

11-20-2003

Friday, December 01, 2006 - 6:18 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Herckleperckle a private message Print Post    
I just used a couple hours early this morning to sneak in here and read all the comments about Richards. (I did so after catching comments in Mocha's folder about her decision to 'take a break' from the board for awhile.)

Since I am so late to the discussion here, let me recap my initial reactions to the incident by saying I was first totally shocked to hear about the incident and then thunderstruck when I was able to confirm Richards' behavior (via the clip that was made available). I was also appalled that Letterman allowed his show to be used as a vehicle for Richards' "apology."

Richards' is an adult. So he is responsible for his own words and actions. I think lashing out in anger is one thing, but lashing out with references to lynching is a whole other ballgame. Yes, I am calling Richards a racist.

Why? Well, let me explain it this way: My husband is Irish and I am very aware of all the stereotypes that go along with that. However, as angry as I have been with him on occasion when we do battle, I have never once used his ancestry to attack him (that is, when I am in the mood to 'attack' him). It just never occurred to me to do so. My mind doesn't work like that. If I think he is acting like an a$$, I call him an a$$. As simple as that.

Hearing those lynching remarks Richards made tells me this man has a serious psychological problem. SERIOUS--as in, trace his roots, you'll find the seeds of hatred somewhere in his family tree--just as was found to be true in the case of Gibson's father.

Racism, as you all must realize, begins at home. Venomously stated beliefs propulgate bigotry. But racism is also seeded via 'jokes' and 'throwaway remarks' at home. Both foster acceptance of the same in impressionable young children.

Those of you who have overcome your parents' bigotry and are determined to take a stand against it (knowing that to 'let it go' is tantamount to agreeing with the speaker) are helping to break down the stereotyping and helping to rid your own family circle of racism. And that helps to build a saner society.

There is potential good in both the Richards and Gibson incidents, as reprehensible as they both were. The good is that it reminds each of us to examine our beliefs and our society--so we can make strides--not to become phobic about making a charge of racism, but simply to stop condoning it--no matter what form it takes. Because hatred is as clear a signal of a sickness in our world environment as are foul air and polluted water.

And if some of us are not good history students (slavery in the U.S; WWII); paid little heed to the Serbian-led massacre of Bosnian Muslims; are not taking action to counter the ongoing, full-scale genocide of Rwanda; we all surely can recognize what hatred has visited upon us as a society, following 9-11.

Ophiliasgrandma
Member

09-04-2001

Friday, December 01, 2006 - 9:50 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Ophiliasgrandma a private message Print Post    
I'll be eagerly watching the lift-off on the NASA channel. It's nice to know some of the astronaughts before hand.

Retired
Member

07-11-2001

Friday, December 01, 2006 - 1:41 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Retired a private message Print Post    
She's beautiful. Safe journey.

Ladytex
Member

09-27-2001

Sunday, December 03, 2006 - 12:27 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Ladytex a private message Print Post    
Slave holiday gets new look
'Jonkonnu' was all the rage in N.C

Stanley B. Chambers Jr., Staff Writer

On plantations from Wilmington to Durham, a Christmas-time celebration -- little-known elsewhere in this country -- enabled slaves to have their own Mardi Gras, without the beads.

They gathered in the afternoon and sang songs about musical instruments, gave thanks for a good harvest and made fun of the plantation owner. The ragman (leader) wore a colorful rag costume, considered to be the spirits of the plantation owner's family.

Following him was the fancy man (second-in-command), who sang songs as he strolled down the street in his best suit and tall black hat and collected money with a tin cup. The dancers and drummers followed closely behind.

This parade would travel through the plantation and conclude at the slave quarters, where the singing and dancing continued until participants tired out.

This was the only time slaves and their masters were friends -- the ragman shook hands and hugged the plantation owner -- which benefited both parties, said Sharon Bryant, African-American outreach coordinator for Tryon Palace Historic Site and Gardens in New Bern.

Slaves were able to blow off steam, which helped prevent revolts, while they secretly made fun of their masters. The celebration had nothing to do with Christmas, but it was the only festive time for blacks and whites.

It's called "Jonkonnu," a North Carolina tradition with West African and Caribbean ties. A troupe from Tryon Palace will perform a similar celebration -- also known as a Johnkankus, Jonkanoo or a John O'Cooner among other names -- today at the Historic Stagville Plantation, where slaves held one in 1848.

The origin and meaning of the name is as varied as its spelling. But according to a book about Jamaican travel written in 1826, "Jonkanoo means the sacred boat or the sacred dove, in Hebrew or Samaritan."

"[The children] all had a merry Christmas finding their stockings full of St. Nicholas' gifts upon waking, and having music and dancing together with a John O'Cooner," former plantation resident Anne Cameron wrote to her husband Paul, who was away on business.

Having the festivities in present times helps tell the story of Durham's enslaved population, said Jennifer Farley, Stagville site manager.

"They had their own lives and culture," she said. "It also shows where some of the enslaved people came from."

Day-long Jonkonnu celebrations had existed in Jamaica since the 1700s and were in Eastern North Carolina by the 1800s. They became scarce statewide after the 1850s but thrived in the Wilmington area until the race riots of 1898, when a white mob took control of the city and terrorized its black community.

They ceased to exist after World War I until 1988, when Chuck Davis and his Durham-based African-American Dance Ensemble performed it at Somerset Place Plantation in Creswell. Tryon Palace has recreated the celebration annually since 1999, giving presentations and workshops around New Bern and in Charlotte, Raleigh and Washington D.C. Spreading the word helps others understand one aspect of life as a slave.

"Even though slavery was bad, there were some good things that came out of it," Bryant said. "We try not to let African-American history die, we try to keep it alive and get the community involved with it."

Link

Mak1
Member

08-12-2002

Sunday, December 03, 2006 - 2:36 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mak1 a private message Print Post    
This summer, I saw a Junkanoo Review parade at the American Folk Festival. Link: americanfolkfestival.com/ I loved the costumes, the energy and the funky dance movements as they marched and played their instruments! Thanks for posting the history of the celebration, LadyT. Here's the link to the Bahamas Junkanoo Review, showing one of the costumes. historical-museum.org/folklife

Ladytex
Member

09-27-2001

Sunday, December 03, 2006 - 2:39 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Ladytex a private message Print Post    
Very cool, Mak1, thanks for posting those links!!

Ladytex
Member

09-27-2001

Sunday, December 03, 2006 - 2:57 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Ladytex a private message Print Post    
Discovery's flying a culturally diverse crew

Pamy
Member

01-02-2002

Sunday, December 03, 2006 - 3:15 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Pamy a private message Print Post    
Dylan just visted a history museum and he loved it and wants to go to more. We plan to go to a Black History Musuem next, I know there is one in LA , I am gonna google and see if there is one closer.

I have always dreaded the day I had to discuss slavery and all the horrible things whites did to them. I think it stems back from when I watched Roots in Jr High. I had learned about slavery and past events in school(or so I thought)but it never was as real until I saw Roots.

I think reading about it in history books was kinda like reading a storybook, it just didnt seem as real as when I saw Roots. Probably because the stuff I read was so horrible deep down I didnt think it possible....seeing Roots changed that.

I remember going to school the next day and being ashamed I was white. There was a strange aura over the whole school that day.

Does anyone else remember/have thoughts on how Roots changed you.

Watching2
Member

07-07-2001

Sunday, December 03, 2006 - 9:14 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Watching2 a private message Print Post    
I remember crying like crazy watching Roots, Pamy. And yes, the horror of it all stayed with me.

Pamy
Member

01-02-2002

Sunday, December 03, 2006 - 9:30 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Pamy a private message Print Post    
I just reread my post and realized my sentence wasnt complete I left out that I dreaded discussing with Dylan

Mocha
Member

08-12-2001

Monday, December 04, 2006 - 7:36 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mocha a private message Print Post    
Roots was very powerful. My mom always reminds me that after watching it I asked if she was ever a slave.

Legalboxer
Member

11-17-2003

Monday, December 04, 2006 - 9:28 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Legalboxer a private message Print Post    
A Warm December with sidney Poitier was on TV this weekend - with a great south african singer in it

by the way - if anyone hasnt read about sidney's background, go to imdb and read the mini bio - its just makes him 1000 times more wonderful to be able to be such a role model for all

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Monday, December 04, 2006 - 9:34 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
When Roots was first shown, I was a new teacher. I remember that my school bought its first VCR so that the programs could be recorded. The principal didn't have quite enough funds to purchase the equipment so a basket was set up in the school office to collect extra money; it filled before the day ended. Everyone seemed to recognize that it would prove to be something big before ever even seeing one broadcast. It was bigger and better and more powerful than we could have even imagined. I still think of it. Alex Haley brought history to life in his books and those amazing actors brought it to life on the screen.