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Tag: History

November 15, 2016: Hair – Let the Sunshine In

From Wikipedia:

Hair is a 1979 musical war comedy-drama film adaptation of the 1968 Broadway musical of the same name about a Vietnam War draftee who meets and befriends a tribe of long-haired hippies on his way to the army induction center. The hippies introduce him to their environment of cannabis, LSD, unorthodox relationships and draft dodging.

I was a sophomore in high school, and working on my school, newspaper when the movie came out. I wrote a review for the paper, which I have around here somewhere and may add later, if I feel like it.

My father, who had seen the musical onstage with the original cast, had the music on reel to reel tape, and it was a regular request in our house.

When the movie came out, I was excited to see it for the first time. (Nudity wasn’t a thing for kids then or now, really.)

Until this scene came onscreen, I was all about listening to the music and seeing how it played out in real life.

Now, here’s the thing. Dad used to take us to airshows when we were kids. We would see the old WWII planes as well as more modern military craft. After the movie, I wouldn’t go near the C-130s. I couldn’t shake this scene, no matter what I tried.

It is virtually impossible for me to see these airplanes and not see Arlington National Cemetery on the other side.

This song has popped onto my Pandora feed a couple of times since I added HAIR to the playlist for my Modern Musicals channel.

Today, I’m sharing this with you.

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November 11, 2016: Leonard Cohen and Armistice Day

It seems fitting, somehow, to include this video on this of all days.

At the same time some of us are mourning the losses on this year’s Election Day, we can also remember that this was the end of the “War to End All Wars” that wasn’t. I

Today news broke that we lost another in a growing cadre of musicians and poets, Leonard Cohen, on November 7th. Best known for his song, “Hallelujah” (thanks largely to its inclusion in the movie Shrek), Wikipedia says of Cohen:

Leonard Norman Cohen, CC GOQ (21 September 1934 – 7 November 2016)[1] was a Canadian singer, songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, sexuality, and personal relationships.[3] Cohen was inducted into both the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame as well as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He was a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation’s highest civilian honour. In 2011, Cohen received one of the Prince of Asturias Awards for literature and the ninth Glenn Gould Prize.

Armistice Day (co-opted in 1954) remembered the event at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918 as the moment when the Allies defeated Germany during World War I.

Wikipedia says of the first Armistice:

The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was an armistice during the First World War between the Allies and Germany – also known as the Armistice of Compiègne after the location in which it was signed – and the agreement that ended the fighting on the Western Front. It went into effect at 11 a.m. Paris time on 11 November 1918 (“the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month”), and marked a victory for the Allies and a complete defeat for Germany, although not formally a surrender. The Germans were responding to the policies proposed by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in his Fourteen Points of January 1918. The actual terms, largely written by French Marshal and Supreme Commander of the Allied Armies Ferdinand Foch, included the cessation of hostilities, the withdrawal of German troops to behind their own borders, the preservation of infrastructure, the exchange of prisoners, a promise of reparations, the disposition of German warships and submarines, and conditions for prolonging or terminating the armistice. Although the armistice ended the actual fighting, it took six months of negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to conclude the peace treaty, the Treaty of Versailles.

In this year, 2016, the year the music died, we are on the brink of many changes. We have forgotten so much of our history, but Cohen, born the same year as my mother,  was old enough to bear witness to the ugliness of the second War to End All Wars.

I will listen to his words and remember.

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November 8, 2016: Election Day

When I launched this blog, I originally highlighted a brilliant tip of the hat to Lady Gaga.

This year, with Hillary Clinton so very close to winning her place in the Oval Office and making history, I recall this earlier expression of history. It’s what I think of when I cast my vote, which I did last week during early voting in my state.

Polls are already open in the east. They close at different times during the day, but if you are already in line, STAY THERE. You have a right to vote, no matter when the polls close.

And (as if this is necessary): There is no such thing as online voting. It’s a scam. Don’t fall for it!

See you on the right side of history tomorrow!

#ImWithHer

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June 7: The Fallen of World War II

Now that my current degree is complete, it’s time to go back to this blog. I’ll be moving it shortly to a new home, but for now I’ll keep posting here.

This video crossed my feed yesterday, on the 72nd anniversary of D-Day. I think it’s right and proper to recall all the costs that we paid for “the “War to End All Wars” that wasn’t.

I’ll let the video speak for itself. It has plenty to say, and as they say, a picture’s worth a thousand words.

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March 10: Wealth Inequality in America

This video began to make the rounds in my feed shortly after the 2012 elections. I’m sorry it didn’t start to circulate before the election, but now that 2014 is on us, it’s time to revisit the subject, especially in light of Robert Reich’s new feature, Inequality for All.

If you don’t have the time or the patience to sit through a full-length documentary, here’s a summary (not directly related to the movie) that should spell it out for you.

I encourage you to watch the full-length movie, though. It’s available online through a variety of sources, including Netflix streaming, which is how I watched.

I’ve been howling about Trickle Down economic policies for decades. Here’s why.

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March 3: “12 Years a Slave” and “Slavery And The Making Of America” (Revised)

Ordinarily, I’d be posting a video for History Monday, but not today.

Today I’m posting the link to the 2014 Best Picture Oscar Award-winning 12 Years a Slave. I’d post a link to the movie itself, but I’m certain it will return to theaters in the very near future, and I encourage you to go see it.

12 Years a Slave is a tough watch because it presents the terrible, cold, hard, unshakable reality of slavery. Solomon Northrup’s story is Roots for today’s world.

Movies like these bring home the truth, whether people want to hear it or not. It is important to tell these stories, especially today, when people like Arkansas state representative Jon Hubbard can be so remarkably unclear about the cost that they can suggest  slavery was a “blessing in disguise” and sites like Save Our Heritage (which I refuse to link to – you can go find this one on your own) post the sort of revisionist history that would have you believe being a slave isn’t so bad, and that we ought to return to those times.

You can complain about reality all you want, but you can’t alter it. That’s why it’s reality. It’s what happened. And what’s happening now, today, here in the US and abroad. That’s how I dedicate my Mondays this year: To recognizing the truth.

[Revised to add…]

So, because I haven’t got a live link to either 12 Years a Slave or Roots, I give you a different documentary, entitled Slavery and the Making of America. Yeah, it’s long. It’s also important. And I’m adding it here after the initial posting date, because I found it after I posted.

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February 24: Rochester: A City of Quality

No, it’s not an Earth shattering representation of history. The city’s fallen on hard times, thanks to a bunch of bad corporate choices and a whole mess of stupid educational choices, but this was my home for the first 21 years of my life and there’s a lot to be said for revisiting history as it was 50 years ago, when I was born.

Midtown Plaza is gone. The clock that was its centerpiece was relocated and a great deal of downtown is a ghost town. And yet…

And yet. U of R is still there. Eastman School of Music is there. Strong Museum of Play is there.

I’ve been away since 1986, though I return occasionally. I still think of the clock in the middle of Midtown Plaza and the monorail that took you through Santa’s mountain with all the fake glittery snow. Light Impressions was one of my favorite places to hang out. Got my first Sandra Boynton things at Scrantoms. Cathay Pagoda was an amazing Chinese restaurant in the center of downtown.

Memory is a way to travel through time and space. So are movies like these.

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February 20: A Tribute to Shirley Temple Black

I wanted to include something to recognize my connection to Shirley Temple Black, in light of her death on February 10th of this year. This is the first chance I’ve had to include a few links to her life and work.

You can certainly go search YouTube for more, but I’ll tell you I’ve had a thing for Shirley Temple’s work ever since my sitter first wrapped my curly hair in vertical ringlets at a very tender age. I wanted dance lessons like crazy, I thought I could sing just like Shirley. I’m certain I wasn’t alone. Long, long after she stopped making movies, I was a staunch fan. I knew this song by heart, but it wasn’t the only one I could sing (in my own, off-key way):

In later years, after she ended her movie career at the top of her game, Shirley Temple Black became a diplomat, serving in a variety of locations. She also became one of the first public figures to highlight breast cancer, when she was diagnosed with the disease in 1972. She received lifetime recognition through both the Screen Actors Guild and the Kennedy Center Honors.

In the long, long list of child stars, Shirley Temple’s early works remain a sweet, sunny reminder of childhood’s best moments, even if her own life wasn’t among the fairy tales with which she became associated later in life.  This biopic from 2001 tells a lot of her story. In a lot of ways, she led the way through a minefield for child stars, and she did it with poise and grace. I’m glad to have experienced her work.

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February 17 (President’s Day): National Geographic’s Expedition Week ~ The Real George Washington

Today is President’s Day in the United States. Based on George Washington’s birthday, it’s a holiday for many, and now celebrates our presidents in general, though it falls between Washington and Lincoln’s birthdays on the calendar each year.

There’s a lot of myth and mystery surrounding our first official president. This biography does some work to separate fact from fiction.

We depart slightly from Black History month, though in reality, it’s impossible to separate the two, as the president was also a slave holder. Take the time to learn a little more about George Washington.

[Unfortunately, only this preview remains on YouTube. The full documentary is gone. -BMD]

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February 16: Bishop John Shelby Spong ~ “The Church Doesn’t Like the People to Grow Up.”

I debated adding this clip to the blog, but I’ve decided it’s appropriate. Christianity gets a bad rap a lot of the time, because many people who claim to believe use their faith in ways that run counter to the concepts taught in the New Testament. I find it more than a little disturbing that so much of what is passed off as faith actually serves as an excuse for bigotry and exclusion, the exact opposite of what the New Testament says Jesus taught.

If people stopped cherry picking the text for the things they liked, I think they’d come to the conclusion that either the bible wasn’t what they thought it was or that the agendas of those who compiled and printed it were not the Christians they said they were.

I’m not Christian in any conceivable way, but I can still get the teachings. And this man speaks a great deal of truth. And after the horrible bill Kansas almost enacted against a portion of our population that could have taken them back before 1960, I think it’s the right thing to share today.

[The original clip is gone. This is a replacement. -BMD]

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February 7: The Beatles ~ Ed Sullivan Show – All 3 shows (1964)

On February 9, 1964, the Beatles appeared for the first time on the Ed Sullivan Show, and the world changed.

This “shaky cam” video of the three appearances by the Fab Four over three consecutive Sundays that year shines some light on the craze that became Beatlemania. Fifty years later, radio stations still have all Beatles highlights. That’s the timelessness of their music and the devotion of their fan base, in action.

The Beatles paved the way for The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks and other members of the British Invasion over the years that followed.

But how did the shows happen in the first place? Here’s Walter Cronkite to explain.

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February 4: The Eagles ~ “Dirty Laundry” and “Hotel California”

Seems like this is the right combination for this week’s Twofer Tuesday, given Sunday’s horrific, surreal news of Philip Seymour Hoffman‘s death.

Today is Facebook’s 10th birthday. It’s also the day the Electoral College declared unanimously that George Washington was President of the newly formed United States of America.

Four major earthquakes occurred, 46 out of 47 Ronin committed seppuku, the SLO kidnapped Patty Hearst and in Montgomery, Alabama, the Confederate States of America were formed.

Jonathan Larson was born today. So were Alice Cooper, Rosa Parks and Charles Lindbergh. One of them is still alive.

Karen Carpenter and Liberace died on the 4th. So did Ossie Davis.

These things are not related.

The second could conceivably be the best science fiction ever incorporated into a rock anthem, or the sad sorry fate of every player out there on the edge of sanity.

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February 3: Journey to Freedom; Alfre Woodard & Cicely Tyson ~ “Ain’t I a Woman”

Before I post the following three videos, I’m going to say something that stands a chance of making me unpopular. Shocking, I know.

Morgan Freeman, in an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes” in December, 2005, said “I don’t want a black history month. Black history is American history.” I agree. I’m not confining my exploration of history to a single month. I chose Monday to highlight the subject entirely at random. But it’s clear after Google celebrated Harriet Tubman’s life with a Google Doodle, folks aren’t so keen on American History that they know who Harriet Tubman was or what she did to earn her place in history.

To gain an understanding of the Underground Railroad and its accomplishments, you can watch this documentary on the subject, from the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.

Sojourner Truth has a similar place in American history, and equally hazy recognition. She is best known for her “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech, given at the Women’s Convention in 1851. Tubman and Truth, Cady Stanton and Anthony. They helped lay the foundations on which we stand and continue to fight for equality.

I owe a great deal to all four of these women, who fought for equality at a time when we were considered property, not free to pursue our own destinies. So do all the women in this country who enjoy the freedom to vote, to work, to own property and to live independently.

Here are two interpretations of Sojourner Truth’s famous speech:

and

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January 27: ASK A SLAVE Ep 2: Abolitioning

And we’re back with Lizzie Mae, once again, as she tackles the question of Abolition from her own unique perspective.

We’re entering Black History Month in short order. I figure some reminding is in order, while we remember why slavery’s end and equal rights are important.

Remember: The questions are real (and shameful). The names have been changed to protect the guilty.

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January 22: Zach Sherwin ~ “Goose MCs” (5th Anniversary of the Miracle on the Hudson)

Dancing Wednesday just got a whole lot more surreal.

Okay. Really? YouTube has EVERYTHING, including “A hip-hop ballet honoring Capt. Chesley Sullenberger and the fifth anniversary of the Miracle on the Hudson.”

I swear. That’s what the clip says. You’ll find the complete lyrics on the video page.

I’ll probably resort to the classics again next week, but with a continuing accumulation of snow that’s cancelling school a second day in  a row, I have every right to be amused and I just love to share.

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January 20 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day): PBS American Experience ~ Citizen King

Citizen King is a two-hour biography of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. produced by WGBH for the PBS series American Experience in honor of Dr. King’s 75th birthday. The original movie aired January 19, 2004. Clicking the link above will bring you to the web page devoted to the movie, including a timeline, teaching materials and more.

The fact is, Citizen King centers around Dr. King, and on what he achieved in just 39 short years. I think it’s a good but incomplete picture. Before you watch the movie, though, I strongly suggest reading this Blog entry from the Daily Kos.

My birth year, 1963, was a turning point in the Civil Rights movement. I grew up in Rochester, NY and had little experience with the southern states until I moved to Maryland in 1986, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have experience with racism. The question is the degree.

I have tried to honor Dr. King’s messages and am glad to have a platform for sharing these important words, so that those who might learn more can remember that we are not done with the search for justice and equality for everyone, but need to work every day to achieve Dr. King’s goal:

We are not so far removed from those days in the 1960s. Not all of us are ready to join hands, though we are much closer than we were.

… when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

I believe we aren’t done with the work and we aren’t all free. Not yet.

On this rare occasion, I’m providing a link to the entire YouTube playlist, so you can watch all 13 parts in sequence if you wish. Each part is roughly nine minutes long. Click the link below to go straight to YouTube to watch.

Citizen King (Parts 1-13) on YouTube on History Monday.

Or you can watch each segment here, on WordPress:

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January 13: Tax the Rich: An animated fairy tale

Originally posted on December 5, 2012, this short video hasn’t gotten nearly enough air time, and I think it’s important enough that I’m gong to share it under History. Today’s history lesson comes from Fred Glass for the California Federation of Teachers, narrated by Ed Asner (of Lou Grant and Mary Tyler Moore Show fame, among others).

The perils of a tax-free society have made the rounds recently, as the Tea Party fights harder than ever for deregulation and tries to shelter ever increasing amounts of funding from social programs. The cost is already profound, but it’s going to get a lot worse if we don’t find  way to loosen the grip of Corporate America.

Sorry – in a soapbox-y mood this week!

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January 6: ASK A SLAVE ~ Ep 1: Meet Lizzie Mae

I used to say the only stupid question is the one you don’t ask. I’ve revised that line of thinking, thanks to Lizzie Mae.

These first started hitting my feed around the end of last year, and I meant to get to them, but I didn’t, until around mid December when I was already deep in Advent Calendar Land. It’s embarrassing, sitting there, howling all by yourself. I wanted to share with the rest of the world. And now I am. Look for more of these throughout the next few months.

The saddest (most hilarious) part is that these responses are based on real life.

From the credits:

Ask A Slave is a comedy web series based on the actress’ time working as a living history character at [a popular historic site]. Starring Azie Dungey as Lizzie Mae and directed by Jordan Black.
All questions and interactions are based on true events.

Real Questions. Real Comedy.
Learn more @ www.AskASlave.com

Really. People are that insensitive, uneducated and just flat out stupid.

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August 28: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ~ I Have a Dream

We interrupt the highlights of comedy to bring you something deadly serious.

1963 was important to me (aside from being my birth year) because the year represented a major turning point in our path to modern history. The March on Washington was of such significant historical importance that no matter which version you meant, Wikipedia redirects you to here;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/March_on_Washington_for_Jobs_and_Freedom

I  believe it’s true. All the other marches on Washington pale in comparison to this massive, human show of support for a movement that was over 200 years in the making. Dr. King’s speech that summer day marked a milestone on the path to freedom and equality for everyone in this country.

Whenever you look up the term Equal Opportunity, you will find the concept inextricably linked with the speech Dr. King gave at 3pm in front of the Lincoln Memorial that day. There were other speakers, there was music, and there were hundreds of thousands of people, but none of the activities struck more of a chord than what Dr. King had to say that day.

We have come very far since then, but we have a long, long way to go before we truly can say that everyone is equal in this country and that all are treated fairly and with respect.

This version, with far fewer hits (and likely fewer problems with viewing), has Close Captioning for the hearing impaired.

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