Mirror on America (inspired by a montage from last night's Oscars)
One of the feature's of last night's show was a montage dedicated to "American Film as it represents America." If you saw it you noticed that about 60% of the clips were scenes relating to WAR, RELIGION and COURT SCENES. Very telling.
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Saturday night I saw the closing performance of "The Dutchman" by Amiri Bakara the iconic and controversial poet and civil rights figure and playwright from Newark, New Jersey. It played at the Cherry Lane Theatre in the Village where it originally played in 1964. It was a 50 minute tour de force, a frontal assault on all your senses that addressed race relations in America.
Dule' Hill (Of West Wing Fame) and Jennifer Mudge were amazing as the Black Man Clay and the White Woman Lulu. The real treat was that Mr. Bakara came onstage after the play and told stories and took questions from the audience (which was about 50% white and 50% black). It was an enlightening and fascinating 2 hour examination of race and politics in America over the last 50 years.
This on the weekend that we find out that Strom Thurmond's ancestors owned Al Sharpton's ancestors. Stark reminders that in 1948 Thurmond ran for president on a racist platform, that in 1963 segregation was STILL the policy of the land and that there are people whose great-grandfathers were slaves still walking the streets today.
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This story I love. One of America's most successful and iconic outdoorsmen and hunters has been virtually blackballed overnight because he dared to suggest that maybe people shouldn't be hunting Praire Dogs with AK-47s.
Check this out - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/23/AR2007022301709_pf.html
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One final look in the American mirror today. After my Brittany, Anna-Nicole, Angelina comments a few days ago this story appears: ANGELINA JOLIE INVITED TO JOIN THE COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
February 25, 2007 -- The prestigious Council on Foreign Relations is about to get a jolt of sex appeal.
The exclusive, Manhattan-based foreign-policy group has decided to admit actress Angelina Jolie, a U.N. goodwill ambassador who has taken more than 30 trips worldwide to advocate for refugees, AIDS orphans and disaster victims.
On Friday night, the council's membership accepted Jolie's nomination - meaning she will soon be rubbing elbows with other club members such as Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell and Alan Greenspan.
A great example of how the barriers between entertainment, politics and news have been virtually demolished in America in the last 15 years.