Glenn Robinson talks about Religion's Role in Occupy Wall St

Louie Armstrong plays Jazz to his Lady Under the Sphinx

If she ever broke up with him, the next brother might have an incredulously difficult time, topping this feat.

Beautiful Song to Start the Week.

Cannot get this song out of my head. Going to have to learn Hawaiian. So here is He Mele No Lilo aka "Lullaby for the Lost Ones."

And Now a PSA About whupping your Kids

The Ugly Side of Fashion

Interesting Piece By Leomie Anderson over at the U.K. Sunday Times detailing her experiences with racism in the Fashion Industry.

A Few months ago I came across this story which I gave the worst possible title in the world to.

It seems since then this story has gained a life of its own and the guys at Next Media Animation now have their take on it.

The Myth of the Gun

Excellent piece (as always) from the Guys at Extra Credit, over at The Escapist about the Historical and Social Reason Americans are so into First Shooter Video Games.

New York MMA

At the premier of NY MMA I joked with Peter Lamapsona, a writer for USCombatSports.com that this would be the worst place for some drunk or troublemaker to start a fight. As he pointed out in addition the various MMA martial artist in the room their were at least 2 or more title holders in the Room including Eddie Alvarez, a current lightweight champion and also interview subject for the documentary. The drunk/troublemaker scenario would quickly turn into the Chappelle show skit, “When Keeping it Real Goes Wrong.”

Fortunately for all imaginary drunks and troublemakers that scenario was just a mental exercise. NY MMA as a documentary argues and illustrates that as a sport it celebrates the discipline and dedication of the people involved especially people in the NY scene where for various reasons its illegal.

In many ways NYC is the perfect fit for MMA . With a international reputation for toughness and a international reputation for being international. MMA with its modern gladiators and the impossibility of being part of the MMA scene and not encounter a Brazilian, Dutch, Eastern European, or Japanese accent. Accents and toughness that would be right at home in NYC.

Yet despite this the early reputation of MMA as human cockfight lingers and part of the consequence of this is the State wide Ban on MMA bouts. Part of the consequence of that is shown when we encounter Bradley Desir, Promising MMA fighter who because of the ban on MMA has to travel to other states to qualify and compete in the sport he loves.

The documentary covers a wider array of the MMA world from Martial Arts Teachers to Public Relations, Executives like Dana White of UFC and important figures in the sport like Bas Rutten, Josh Barnett and others.

But noticeable in the documentary about a sports origin in combat is that it has a lack of an opponent. The fighters and MMA professionals are all given a real voice and personality yet the opposition to them is vague. The vague rule against MMA in NYC is never personified as well as the opinions of the fighters and teachers the Filmmakers interview. No politician or public figure or voice on the street who stands against the legalization of MMA is ever giving a clear voice to either critique or show their motivation.

Another lack of the documentary is the Filmmakers take far too long to introduce what turns out to be a sly sense of humor. There humor which is only apparent in the third act, creates some of the documentaries more entertaining moments, such as a in joke about the illegal practice of a popular MMA fighter, Relaying the many many rules in place to safeguard fighters while having some in jokes and adds a levity to the professional and intelligent tone most of the interviewers take.

In all a good documentary but the lack of a clear counterpoint and a unexplained subjugation of a wonderful sense of humor that makes many good points in arguing for legalization of MMA in New York.

Newsworthy Weekend

This Weekend had a lot of events. Normally wouldn't cover this, but hell, a whole lot of whole lots happened, and they can't be ignored.

So as every one knows the Brits have a new Princess since Prince Philip got married. Wasn't too interested in the Royal Wedding. Glad too people who say they love each other are going to try and spend the rest of their life together, but past that didn't have any interest, until I saw this:

Whatever convinced Princess Beatrice to wear that God only knows. But suffice to say if Doctor Who and the Daleks showed up and fought over who got possession of that hat, nobody would blink, in fact they would kind of anticipated it.

On a more serious note we also found out that Osama Bin Laden had been found and killed. Lots of surprise, some celebration at his death, as for me, to quote the Smiths “I'm not Happy and I'm not Sad”
Glad to see that some of the families of 9/11 were able to find closure. Glad some justice was served But find no need to celebrate what is a benchmark though not a endmark in a continuing struggle .

The Smurfette Principle

The Folks over at Feminist Frequency do a great job of explaining the Smurfette Principle; part of the "The Only" Trope Family ( "The Only" Black/Latino/Woman/Minority in a story or cast of characters.)

Animation and Hip Hop

Anyone that know their Urban Metaphors, knows that Roses grow out of concrete. And being a fan of this saying I wanted it so badly to describe the very first animated movie I saw that had a hip hop sensibility to it. Unfortunately upon re-watching Bebe's kids it became apparent that a weed growing out of concrete was the more apt metaphor.

As Far as I can remember Bebe's kid was the first animated movie that had a hip hop sensibility to it. Based on a comedy skit by late comedian Robin Harris, it unfortunately did not stand the test of time when recently watching it as an adult. Both critics and the studio that produced it gave it the side eye treatment. Reviews for it were horrible and the DVD was discontinued due to low sales.

Now thinking of Hip Hop and Animation in the same sentence gives people pause. After all Hip Hop is stereotypically about gritty street imagery, while animation is stereotypically about cute talking animals and bunnies, and flowers and fairy princesses. However I might suggest that this is because these people never ever paid full attention to Disney Movies in particular their villains who show us mere mortals how grimy is done.

In Disney's very first Movie “Snow White” the Evil Queen literally ask for Snow Whites heart to be bought to her in a box. Disney screwed up many a child hood by killing Bambi's mother. In “Sleeping Beauty” Maleficent catches feelings cause she wasn't invited to a birthday part so she curses a infant with a horrible death (not making this up folks, re-watch the movie.)

Both Lady Tremaine (aka this Axe murderer looking bitch from "Cinderella")



And Madame Medusa from “The Rescuers”
didn't just write the definitive books on Child endangerment and abuse but they founded and maintain the library on that subject.

Let's not forget Judge Claude Frollo who if we learned anything from “Hunchback of Notre Dame” is that his favorite pickup line is “Sleep with me, or I'll kill you and your entire ethnic Group.” So yeah fuck that Bull@#$% If you're walking down the block and Captain Hook and his crew are on one side of the road and the Crips are on the other side you better walk in the middle .

So after that brief education in Disney Griminess and the early failures to incorporate Hip Hop and Animation (Not even going to discuss the MC Hammer Cartoon aka “That which must be named.” Here are some examples of making it work.



Afro Samurai – In contrast to Disney's falsely earned reputation for being all pixie dust and fluffiness, Anime always had a harder edged reputation, that gained it a big underground audience. So it wasn't out of left field when Afro Samurai with its Kung Fu Movie, Rap and Japanese cultural references, was introduced. Further adding to the pedigree is the soundtrack by Wu-Tang's Rza and the lead character being voiced by Samuel L. Jackson.



Samurai Champloo – Another example of Hip Hop and Anime. A excellent soundtrack provided by the now regrettably deceased Producer Nujabes. The Anachronistic story telling includes beat boxing Samurai, Break-dancing Samurai, Yakuza with Gold Fronts, A episode that gives a completely new meaning to “blazing trees”. In addition this anime also tackles some social issues like the mistreatment of the Ainu, a minority group in Japan, homosexuality, and the early persecutions of Christians in early Japan.



Madagascar 2 – For the Second Madagascar movie Movie Soundtrack Movie Maestro Hans Zimmer teamed up with Will I Am for a Animated movie with a Heavily Hip Hop tinged soundtrack. My Favorite moment of this movie was Alex On The Spot/The Traveling Song where the Hans Zimmer/Will I Am combination create a truly moving father/son moment.





Despicable Me – For their first animated outing the guys who did Despicable Me went with a Big Gun, Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes. As Far as I can tell this is Pharrell's first movie composer credit and I'm impressed. The high point is probably the R&B and Jazz infused song “Prettiest Girls”. The Title song for this movie is also killer.


Honorable Mentions:

(Gatchaman :)

While Technically not Hip Hop C'mon its a soundtrack composed by Earth Wind and Fire's Maurice White and the 80's R&B Inspired exit song for Gatchaman isn't bad.




(Proud Family:)

So Yeah Breakdancing against Mutant Peanuts........



(Tengo Tenge:)

One of the few Animes with a black central character it makes the list with its snazzy dance opening

Libyan Child Traffic Cop

WTF Pics: Final Fast Food

After seeing these Pics taken at the 2008 Los Angeles Anime Expo I can't help but hum "McDonalds" in my head to this tune

WTF Picture...................Nation of Islam chill with Neo Nazi's

I don't even know where to begin to explain this one. It almost sounds like a bar joke, "So a bunch of Neo Nazi's where hanging with the Nation of Islam..."

Further explanation for this WTF Picture provided here.

Happy St Patrick's Day

For All my Irish Folk, a clip from one of my fave Animated Movies, "Secret of Kells.". Songs in Celtic and About the Book of Kells with a Redhead as the main character, its got "Erin Go Bragh" written all over it.

R.I.P. Dwayne McDuffie

Most people knew Dwayne McDuffie from his work on Ben 10, and Justice League, and Static Shock. His characterizations and plots produced some of the finest moments of television I've seen, animated or otherwise.

Static a creation of Dwayne McDuffie and the Milestone Staff, in his Original Comic Book Design

The more familiar design from the Cartoon Series

I was introduced to him though, not through any of the writing he did for these shows, but a well deserved and hilarious murder. I remember him for murdering Luke Cage, Black Lightening, and Brother Voodoo. Icon one of the criminally underrated titles in the Milestone Universe had a issue called the Death of Buckwild that basically parodied the piss out of these iconic black comic book characters. It Showed the cringe inducing stereotypes and ghetto fabulous portrayals that always accompanied these characters .

As a comic book fan as much as I enjoyed these characters there was always a reserved part of me given these stories the side eye, because of the ridiculously hammy and racist portrayal even by comic book standards of non white characters.

While at Marvel Comic he sent a infamous memo making fun of how Marvel was marketing and portraying two of their popular black characters at the time.

Unfortunately a few weeks ago Dwayne McDuffie passed away due to complications he had from Surgery the day before. With his passing the comic book community not only loses a master of the art who in addition to creating stories that revealed dimension of Archetypes like The Justice League, and others, but a creator who bought the question of race in comic book out of tired cliche and made all his character portrayals, regardless of ethnicity three dimensional.

Fanboys and Sex aka Hot Oil and Water

Video game fanboys have earned a reputation for fanaticism and crude behavior. It's arguable whether its deserved or not.

Spending too much time on Xbox Live won't do a damn thing to disprove this notion, more like a daily orgy of name calling that would make a toughened MMA Fighter/Ex Marine blush, run and go cry in his pillow (Before he tracks down mofo's addresses and then........)

Then you have the guys over at The Escapist who have produced some really thought provoking and informative videos as part of their Extra Credit animated series. Lots of intelligent and insightful things to say about diversity and sex in video games.

Diversity in Video Games

Sex in Video Games

Sexual Diversity in Video Games

Riverdale, It just got mother@#$%^ Real !!!

Not sure how I feel about Rules of Attraction meets Archie.................................... Why did they make some of my favorite childhood characters such hot CW Prime Time/Movie of the Week Messes !!!!

Ms. Navajo Nation Racial Controversy.

Interesting Article over at TheRoot.Com, discussing the controversy over Radmilla Cody, winning the Ms. Navajo Nation Contest.

Life After Hate Part 2: A Brief Chronicle of Nicky Crane

In response to the Arno Michael's Article the very first comment mentioned Nicky Crane. Nicky Crane gained notoriety by being a bodyguard/compatriot of Skrewdriver the infamous racist punk band and as founder of Blood and Honour, the British racist skinhead movement alleged by many to be enforcers for the British National Party, a far right British political party dedicated to keep Britain the same color as milk.

Picture of Nicky Crane from the Cover
Of The Punk Compilation Album
Strength Through Oi

To some the idea that Nicky Crane would be one of the faces of a movement that was anti black, anti homosexual, anti anyone not light, bright, cockney, and white, while being a homosexual was unthinkable. And it was initially to me too, until I began to think of a point made in the Graphic Novel “Stuck Rubber Baby.”

SEGREGATED GAY BARS,
SWARTHY ARMENIANS ARYANS
AND SKINHEAD JEWS

While a fictional story the book drew heavily on the author's Howard Cruse own experiences as a gay man in Alabama Two scenes I recalled thinking about how Nicky Crane managed to be both gay and a racist, made me realize this combination wasn't outside the realm of possibility.

The first was a scene at a Gay Bar where a bunch of gay guys having a conversation that our main character overhears, comment on how “the bar has really gone down since they started allowing niggers in.” In another scene during a civil rights march another character who has been beaten by a cop yelling racial slurs explains that this was the very same person who was a regular at the same gay bar and with whom he had hooked up a few weeks earlier.

Now Southern Culture is complex, is often evoked in conversations about race. Issues of sex and race in Southern Culture, can get complicated. The same person who put great effort into fighting integration tooth and nail, could also have a interracial daughter at the same time, as was the case with Strom Thurmond. There is no reason to believe that Southern Gay Culture would be any less complex in dealing with race and sexuality. There is also no reason to believe that race and sexuality get any less complex by leaving the South, and going anywhere else.

Strom Thurmond's Daughter and his Grandchildren

The contradictions and unusual behavior that occur when dealing with race and sexuality is not unique to Southern culture straight, gay, or otherwise. Another example, this one having to do with racial identity more so than sexuality, that came to mind, is Arno Michael's description of an encounter with an Armenian Skinhead in “Life After Hate.”

In this encounter Arno Michaels notes the rather swarthy complexion of this Armenian skinhead who is joining him in battle to fight for white rights and Aryan Superiority. Anyone who knows anything about Armenian genetics or culture would raise their eyebrow to this notion of Armenians representing or fighting for a “White Purity” Ideal.

With Heavy Middle Eastern, Central Asian, and some African Influence, a great percentage of Armenians have geographical and genetic origins outside Europe. The Kardashian Family perhaps America's most famous Armenians, are originally from Iran/Persia. Both Andy Serkis (original family name Serkisian) the actor who portrayed Gollum in Lord of The Rings, and Serj Tankian of System of a Down both have family origins in Iraq. Yet despite history, culture and genetics it was still possible to encounter a Armenian Skinhead.

Andy Serkis

Serj Tankian

Kardashian Sisters

The most unusual example of this type of behavior however would be that of Daniel Burros and Leonard Holstein, and Leo Felton . Despite being the product of a Biracial relationship and a black father, Leo Felton become a Neo Nazi.

Despite both being Jewish, They became organizers and leaders in the American Nazi Party. Eventually Daniel Burros committed suicide after a reporter for the New York Times made it public that he was Jewish. Elements of his life were fictionalized in the movie “The Believer.”

Leo Felton

Leo Felton's Father

Daniel Burros

If Racism can be so powerful that it can make people espouse racist views, despite the fact that their different sexuality, multiracial and ethnic background, or religion ethnic group, is abhorrent to the idea of Aryan Purity, and goes against their self interest, to the point where there are way too many examples then the idea of someone like Nicky Crane existing isn't so unusual. another idea becomes apparent, looking at the case of Nicky Crane and others like him and it is the dark side of “gay people can be anyone.”

DARK SIDE OF REPRESENTATION

A commonly stated and very true statement is that gay people are in every walk of life. You have Gay Football Players (Esera Tuaolo) gay politicians (Barney Frank, Jim Kolbe), Priest (Mychal Judge) gay military people, gay CEO's, world conquerors, bakers, shakers ,candle stick makers, garbage men etc etc.

But the flip side of this is that gay people can be everyone and anyone, some of those everyone and anyones can be unsavory things. con artist (Alan Conway who impersonated Famous director Stanley Kubrick ), Serial Killers (Jeffrey Dahmer,) and of course racist.

Now if Nicky Crane off could be written off as as an anomaly, I would have to scratch my head a lot less, spend less time looking stuff up, and I wouldn't have to given any effort into writing this post, which took a lot longer than anticipated. Unfortunately enough other high profile examples exist that it has to be acknowledged that the anyone and everyone that make up gay people, include racist.

Ernest Rohm, a top figure in the Nazi Party was openly homosexual In Austria there was the case of Jorg Haider, a leader of a Far Right Alliance for the Future of Austria known for making anti Semitic and pro Nazi statements. After his death, the relationship he participated in with his protege Stefan Petzner became public. In England, there was a accusation made by Martin Webster, that he carried on a relationship with Nick Griffin, a current leader of the Far Right Racist British National Party. In all these cases certain themes begin to stand out.

Martin Webster

Former Leader of National Front

Jorg Haider

Leader of the Far Right

Freedom Party of Austria

Ernst Rohm

Leader of SA/Brown Shirts

Member of Nazi Party

THE HOWS AND WHY'S OF BEING A GAY RACIST SKINHEAD

(BOTH IN AND OUT OF THE CLOSET)

In “Life After Hate” Arno Michaels discusses the vulnerabilities that led to him becoming a skinhead. While in Arno's case he's a heterosexual, the very same factors that led to his decision, would factor into a gay person becoming a skinhead. In fact depending on how closeted the person is the more attractive the idea of being a skinhead would be.

If someone was young, gay, probably closeted, and self hating, doing something to throw suspicion off them being gay, plus from an environment of casual or at least that possibility would make being a skinhead seem a good idea. The added benefit of becoming part of a group that helps their self esteem by setting up a confrontational and superior attitude towards outsiders based on race and ethnicity, makes it not a unattractive proposition. In skinhead culture where violence is seen as proof of manhood, the idea of hiding gayness by beating people up or obfuscating it with this activity is a very

likely option., That gay men would become a target would only help this person further disguise their own homosexuality. If the violence they doled out extended to gay people, even the better for them in maintaining their closer. In discussing how racist skinheads related to gay people Arno Michaels had this to say.

As whites, we didn’t worry about having to prove how not-black we were. But it was always important to keep your distance from homosexuality. Any good white man worth a damn had to either have a steady girlfriend, wife or a steady wake of female conquests to prove how not-gay he was. For those guys who weren’t a hit with the ladies, being called a faggot was always a concern. They would try to establish their heterosexuality by bashing gay men, verbally and physically.

Having a Multiple Arrest record for various offenses and a job as a bouncer helped Nicky Crane maintain this reputation. It's rumored that he maintained this reputation so well that other skinheads who suspected he was gay never confronted him on it because of this reputation for violence.

As long as they can fulfill the macho requirements losing themselves in violence and liquor for the culture and sneak off to have anonymous sex then its quite possible that a gay skinhead could continue on this path. Whats surprising is that if the same person decides to come out one of the changes isn't necessarily becoming any less of a racist.

As I mentioned earlier race and sexuality when they meet can be complicated, and being gay doesn't cancel that out, and they may initially feel that being gay doesn't mean they can't be racist. There are unfortunately instances and people that prove this true.

Comedian Alec Mapa entitled a one man show he did “No Fats, Fems, Asians” off a very common listing in Gay Personal Ads. Many gay men and Lesbians have expressed discomfort when it comes to being made to feel welcome in the gay community. One of the reasons given for separate ethnic pride parades is the lack of visibility of gay men of color in mainstream gay culture.

A historical example that most gay skinheads would be familiar with is Ernst Rohm, whom was openly gay and enforced Nazi policies against Jews, Gypsies, and other enemies of the Nazis. And as a modern example, there is this guy who manages to somehow combine being gay, a Hindi and a racist skinhead ?!?! (I'm going to let him explain himself........)

But Trying to maintain these two identities never seems to last. To try to be a open homosexual and a racist skinhead/Nazi/racist is a swan song that may last a bit but usually ends on a bad note.

The Most benign cases happened to Martin Webster. Upon being revealed to being a homosexual he was ostracized from the National Front, the political party he lead and shut out of the British Far Right.

Ernst Rohm suffered a worse fate. During the Night of The Long Knives Rohm who was despised by a lot of Hitler's Inner circle for both his open sexuality, and the perceived threat they thought he posed to both the Nazi Party and Adolph Hitler by his independent actions.

Along with other members of the SA/Brown shirts, Ernst Rohm was shot and killed. His and other SA members homosexuality were used as a rational for their execution by the Nazi's.

And what of Nick Crane ??

Nick Crane appeared on the British Program “Out” where he publicly came out and renounced his racist skinhead past which resulted in him being ousted from that group. Nick Crane had also contracted HIV.

About a year and a half later he had died from AIDS related illness.

His reputation and legacy included, being a Founder of Blood and Honour, a British racist skinhead movement, violence towards minorities, and political thug. His toughness and reputation as a fighter undermined the gays as sissies argument. His racist skinhead activities prove the dark side yet the truth of “gay people can be anyone.

The question of how many of his exploits that earned him a reputation of violence and fierce fighter, targeted Black and South Asian Britons, and homosexuals is a very uneasy one, and dark answers are very likely. And yet despite all this, he did renounce his formerly destructive and racist ways, and he renounced the racism of his former comrades.

Whether what Nick Crane did was forgivable or not is debatable. Which is more important in that decision ? your actions before or after your repentance ? In the debate that started by revealing the idea of Nicky Crane, that got prompted by Arno Michaels discussing the attitude that Skinheads had towards homosexuals, and the violence committed before the change of heart, this became a deeply contested idea.

Best of Fake Video Game Trailers

Cause nothing says WTF, but still has Win all over it,like Kratos meets Wes Anderson !!!




Jai Ho Master Chief. Jai Ho !!




The scared look on thats Goomba's face is because that Fireball is about to go where no Koopa has gone before.



Pokemon: It Just got Mother@#$%^& Real !!!




Hyrule High, 80's Style

مارتن لوثر كينغ والثورة المصرية (Martin Luther King and the Egyptian Revolution)

Interesting Article over at the Comics Alliance site about the distribution of a long forgotten Comic Book about MLK and its affects on the activist community.

Black on Black Hate

Other than the brutality of the attack on Nadin Khoury, and the subsequent media attention one of the more disturbing part of this story (which fortunately seems like it will have a happy ending); is the Intraracial Hatred shown towards Africans.

R.I.P. BRIAN JACQUES

Over This Weekend Brian Jacques the author of the Redwall Series passed away.

Some of the most memorable things I enjoyed about the Redwall series were:


Martin the Warrior's epic quote and puzzle, "I am that is, my sword shall yield for me."

The country charm of the Abbey where our peaceful mouse heroes lived,

Cluny the Scourge's violent and relentless siege of The Abbey
(all of Brian Jacques villains were pretty well crafted. The unpredictable, crazy, King Bull Sparra. Korvuss Skuur the ominous raven, whose advisor was a snake on top of his head, who whispered evil into his ear. Slagar the harlequin masked Fox with the deformed face, who kidnaps the children of Redwall to sell as slaves. Asmodeus The Serpent, who made a creepy promise of showing his victims peace and Paradise, before eating them)

The battle Frenzy of the Badgers,

and the vivid scent of food.

I have joked that Redwall was the only thing I ever read that made British food sound appetizing.

The Abbey feast of Nutbread, Lemon and Butter Trout, Leek Soup, Scones with Meadow Cream, Oat Cakes, Rose Pudding, Dandelion Wine, and many other dishes, intrigued me as a reader and you could almost taste his descriptions.

So vivid was his imagery that he actually inspired fans to create the many recipes that he listed in his novels.

Part of the reason for this vivid description of the taste and scent of food, was that Brian Jacques when he worked delivering milk, had a School for blind kids along his route. He used to entertain the kids by telling them stories that would become the Basis for Redwall. He placed a heavy emphasis on describing the smell and taste of food because it was something them being blind, could relate to.

Thanks for the memory Brian Jacques you will be missed.

A Long Time Ago in a Project Far Away.......

Johnny Come Lately/Negro Por Favor Coon of the Year Nominee

Every Year someone will do something that automatically nominates them for Coon of the Year. Vybz Kartel pulled a move that puts him in top position for Coon of the Year, and no matter what anyone does in the next 10 Months they'll have to try really hard to knock him from his spot.

If you haven't seen Vybz Kartel “Cosmetic Makeover well...............

While bad the SMH towards Vybz isn't just for the bleaching of his skin, but for his “defense” of it.

If Vybz “Cake Soap” is the same one that I used growing up, And if the "AC "is the same cooling unit millions of black people use, I'm pretty sure they don't do that to the skin (BTW, I don't think you can blame the Ashy Lips on Cake Soap Either.)

To Compare Skin Bleaching to Tanning, when in most cases the motivation is usually very different, is spectacularly mind numbingly dumb. Showing that you have leisure time to spend at beach\afford a tanning booth ≠ being ashamed of dark skin, or believing that dark skin will hold you back in life. You don't have to believe me, most skin bleaching commercials, and people who bleach come right out and say it.

COMPARE THESE TANNING COMMERCIALS:

TO ADS ABOUT SKIN LIGHTENING:

AND THE EFFECTS OF SKIN LIGHTENING ON BROWN/DARK SKINNED PEOPLE:

TO MAKE MATTERS WORSE IS VYBZ NEW VIDEO:

Other than the obvious jokes about not knowing the Crypt Keeper was a Yardie, I feel sorry for his fans who admired him, to discover he has feet of clay (bleached, yet probably still ashy feet of clay.)

To tell people self improvement messages raises the skeptical eyebrow, when your lack of confidence in your own appearance and God given melanin is staring them back in the face. To say this is not a good look is the understatement of the century.

Interesting article over at TheRoot.Com, which talks about the Afro American response (or lack of ) to the events in North Africa's Egypt and Tunisia.

Life After Hate: Part 1

A couple of weeks ago Arno Michaels a ex skinhead, founder of the website Lifeafterhate.org, and author of the book “My Life After Hate”, explained how he abandoned his old life, and talked about how skin heads thought about targeting homosexuals, Jews, Blacks etc, etc . Originally published in the Wisconsin Gazette, parts of it where excerpted on the website Queerty. Needless to say it got a response.

My experience with ex skinheads has been limited to watching American History X, and a brief conversation a long time ago, at a house party in Florida, with one who after getting a SS tattoo decided it was stupid and time to get out. Reading the responses to Arno Michaels interview bought up all types of issues of forgiveness, gay skinheads, skepticism, etc etc. So many issues were bought up that I struggle writing this , cause I don't even know where to begin in covering these issues. The best place to start I figure would be with Arno Michaels the catalyst and cause of conversation.

After reading his autobiography “My Life After Hate”, to describe Arno Michaels when he was a young skinhead as a feral drunk would not be adequate enough. For someone whose dissent into hate is a harrowing experience, he comes across a bit like the Lord Byron of Skinheads, mad, bad, and dangerous to know.

Quite a few passages describe violent encounters, from facing off against angry protesters at a rally where he knocks out some one's teeth with a metal shield. to an encounter at a party where he brutally beats a hippie party goer unconscious after a unsuccessful attempt to stand up to his crew of skinheads. The subsequent visit to the hospital to obtain stitches for a head injury that left his skull exposed is also detailed. But what makes this more than a record of gladiatorial combat in the name of saving the white race is the many unexpected aspects of his life.

No one expects a tattooed racist thug, to also be a big Dungeon and Dragon fan, or that somebody who used to be a break-dancer and big time Beastie Boys fan would eventually become a member of Centurion one of the biggest Racist bands from the 1990's. Having to think about a very hostile possible violent presence in a very human way is not something new to anyone who is a minority, but as a reminder that people who you struggle with are human too. This fact haunts Arno Michaels in certain encounters such as when skinhead compatriots of his, sliced up the face of a homeless black man, and eventually helps change his racist ways, such as seeing his young daughter around classmates of different races.

Not highlighted, but most likely self evident to the author in retrospect, and very apparent to readers is some of the ridiculous behavior that was expected of him and his fellow skinheads. Swearing off watching Seinfeld, because of the shows many notable Jewish characters and actors was one of them.This and many other behaviors separated him and other skinheads into a insular close minded society.

A important part of this environment , was the rampant encouraged drinking, which aided Arno Michael's alcohol abuse.

Violence and alcoholism kept him and others in as frenzied, drunk, and violent state as possible, in the name of keeping white folks pure and prepared, for a grand race war that Arno and other skinheads, imagined themselves the Frontline for.

I've never known any environment like this (even minus the racist ideologies and motivations) to not have tragic consequences and Arno's story isn't an exception. One of his tragedies was a young friend of his who he introduced to the skin head life style being shoot and killed in a drive bye.

Arno Michaels has a clear eye in retrospect in describing many aspects of his former life. One aspect he describes is the motivation of racial superiority, how despite his low social status, poverty, and alcohol abuse he was able to hold on to the “better than thou” attitude towards non-whites:

If you're going on a

premise that the white race is something special and that it

needs to be saved from “non-whites”, you need to be able to

justify the hows and whys of that—namely the whys. Why

your people are superior to their people. Never mind that your

way of life is almost indistinguishable from theirs. Never mind

that you're a raging alcoholic and that you work a shitty

minimum-wage job and that you go around and start fights

with honest people on the street. That's all really beside the

point, because you are “fighting for your race”, and your race

is something worth saving because pretty much anything

worth anything was, according to us, invented by white people.

Now there is no such thing as a unchallenged premise and “My Life after Hate.” is no exception. Quite a few contentious commenter's on Queerty who were skeptical of Arno Michaels transformation and refutation of his old life, and I doubt his former compatriots from the white power movement would be happy with his decisions, I being morbidly curious, checked out the reaction on Stormfront.org, The most popular White Supremacy site on the Internet, for their enlightened reaction.

Some of the Folks you would encounter on Stormfront

Being the enlightened and tolerant types, some of their reactions to Arno Michael's rejection of a shared racist ideal with them include:

Accusations of being a “Secret Jew”:

This guy probably found out he had Jewish heritage, because I have observed quite a number of Jews with the surname 'Michaels' or 'Michael.'

And false equivalence:

You know what's funny, even if his story is true and he saw his kid playing with a non-white in pre school, how come we never hear stories about how the black kid now thinks differently about skinheads after playing with one of their kids?

It's always the same, "Blah blah blah I got trapped in an elevator with a black guy for 10 minutes and realized I didn't want to kill him anymore..."

If meeting a nice, well educated black person is supposed to "change my thinking" about all black people, how come meeting a nice, well educated racist doesn't change black peoples' thinking about us? (Where to even begin to reply to this one.......)

Now Since the place I first encountered this post on was on Queerty a news site dedicated to gay news since he was discussing skin heads attitudes towards gays. The reaction to his article was interesting to say the least. But one of the most interesting things I encountered was finding out on the very first comment about Nicky Crane, a figure in Britain's far right White Power movement who was also gay.