Category Archives: american history

Hands Down, My Favorite (Televised) American History Discussion

Posted on by drumsintheglobalvillage

I’ve never heard or seen all of the the famous “Black Athena Debate” from 1996, so putting that to the side……

Ladies and Gentlemen, Brothers and Sisters, Lerone Bennett Jr. I don’t know if I’ve ever enjoyed a historical discussion so much. Real debate! Real audience comments! (And where was this happily stereotypical Harlem audience during the Malcolm X-Manning Marable discussion?!? LOL! šŸ™‚ )Ā And why won’t C-SPAN allow embedding of this fantastic 2000 discussion?

Twenty years ago this coming Labor Day I came to Maryland to try to become a serious student of history. Thousands of hours of goofing off later :), I’m very inspired by this. (As my anniversary approaches, Bennett keeps coming back into my head.) Time to go back and read those Ebony “encyclopedias” Bennett (clearly) wrote and edited.

The respectful review that BennettĀ thankedĀ Foner forĀ is here.

Asante Sana, Hal Jackson…..

Posted on by drumsintheglobalvillage

…..for being there from the beginning. And leaving a huge legacy.Ā 

Another Black broadcasting legend in the Realm of the Ancestors. Sad, but understandable, sinceĀ it’s hard to beĀ considered an American mass media pioneer without starting your career sometime between 1930 and 1970. And as we keep seeing in the celebrity obits, the 1970s are now 40 years ago.

A sad irony: the young sister interviewed here, Michelle Thomas—known in “the industry” as Urkel’s girlfriend on “Family Matters” and Malcolm Jamal-Warner’sĀ one-time girlfriend—is also an Ancestor. More irony: the oldest of the three lived the longest.

"Harvest of Empire," The Documentary

Posted on by drumsintheglobalvillage

Just got back from the screening of this film (from this book) at Brookings less than two hours ago. It was great to see Joe Torres and the AP’s Suzanne Gamboa (the post-film panel moderator) again, and equally great to see the legendaryĀ Juan Gonzalez in the flesh. (Of course, I’ve raved about Gonzalez’ and Torres’ epic hereĀ and here.)

ItĀ was a solid film.Ā  It told the story of the immigration of Latinos from the historical perspective of (the abuses of) American foreign policy. The same racial-conflict-covered-in-red-white-and-blue tone reminded me of the first set of “Eyes On The Prize.”

Because I hadn’t been paying attention, I didn’t know that if the Supreme Court decides to uphold the worst parts of Arizona’s iillegal mmigration crackdown, 14 states may follow up with their own laws. Juan Crow, as somebody said tonight.