HISTORY, HISTORY, HISTORY...

HISTORY, HISTORY, HISTORY....


I was motivated from the elegant mind of "If You Don't Understand Yourself...." to write about Black History. I ask myself, why haven't I written about Black History? Many people have a problem with it being in February. (shortest month) That doesn't anger me anymore, but I will tell you what does. I am angered by the people who let society dictate what they do. To further explain this, I don't need a month assigned to me telling me that I need to acknowledge something. I'm not in school anymore. Let me take that back! I am still in school. I will ALWAYS be in school. People do NOT allow this sorry ass, sack of shit-ass society to manipulate you. We are all in school, whether it involves instructors, books, and projects. You learn all around you. You attend school everyday. You learn outside the classroom. See what I'm gettin' at here? Back to da HISTORY thang, I have learned to explore, acknowledge, and celebrate BLACK HISTORY in ANY FUKKIN MONTH I FUKKIN FEEL LIKE IT!!!! I am not laughing, neither should YOU. Last month, I was fortunate with my schedule to watch "The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson." It was a two-part series which portrays the story of, in my opinion, the triumphs and struggles of the BEST heavyweight champion of all time! He was a fugitive, he contribute to who he can, he fought 30 round, 40 round bouts. (YES!!! They were that LONG!!) Forgot to mention that the storyteller was Samuel L. Jackson. Whether if Johnson will be remembered for the "rise" or the "fall", is determined by you.


I was also blessed last month to meet an very interesting person. I have a friend who lives in Evanston, who is really deep into just about everything. She is a member of the EHS, Evanston Historical Society. She invited me last month up there to check out a preview of the function, "Anthony Crawford Remembered" which was to be conducted on 02/10/2005 at the EHS. I was also blessed to meet the mind behind this extraordinary event, Doria Dee Johnson (Evanston researcher), where Anthony Crawford is the great-great-grandfather of Johnson. She opened me to many photos, letters, and art work of this remembered man. He was lynched in the South Carolina in the year of 1916. She also touched on lynching as a whole, gave me a briefing on how it was created and destroyed. The show was last night and I called my friend before I went bowling to see how it went. She said that it was tight. A few people, including Doria was moved by it.


I plan to take a trip to the Museum of Science and Industry where I will see two exhibits. The first one, "Engineering the Future", is an exhibit that demystifies (**good word**) the variety of engineering fields while it highlights the careers and achievement of African-Americans. It also displays superhero characters and the chance to assemble a computer, design a building, create a molecular structure and more. I am lookin' forward to that. The other one, "Juried Art Exhibit", will display the original works of over 100 professional and amateur African-American artists. It goes from ceramics, drawings, and painting to mixed media, photography, sculptures and textiles. I will enjoy this as well. I was invited to see a play at the end of this month, but I don't know what it will contain yet because it is a suprise for me, but I will keep ya posted. Next month I will check out the DuSable Museum for the exhibit, " Countdown to Eternity: A Photo Documentary of Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement". The exhibit will have almost 80 black-and-white prints by acclaimed photographer Benedict J. Fernandez, that were taken throughout the year before the assassination of the civil rights leader. I'm lookin' towards the first week of March for this one here. **Is it me or does February and March on the calendar look quite similar with the exception of three short days in February?**


I also want to express something else as well before I finished this. **Plays album "S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M." by One Be Lo** I am not here to anger people on my opinions and feelings in regards to BLACK HISTORY. If it does, then something is wrong. I feel that a lot of us do NOT appreciate the history behind our culture. It's bad enough that we fight each other instead of standin' in each other's corner to give support. They were people who fought to help establish our well being today. We may be a long way from freedom, but at least we can now at least have an opportunity to seek it versus the past where freedom was considered as a "heavenly destination". People seem to be more into drama, rims, and sex. Hearin our young ones reciting lyrics to "How We Do" by 50-Cent and The Game instead of them reciting "Children's Rhymes" by James Langston Hughes makes me punch the wall, the tree, or whateva is nearest to me. Or that's the way I feel on the inside. Who do you blame? What can you do? Where did we go wrong? Why can't life be simple?



-Da Original 1-