I managed to catch the re-broadcast of CBC’s Q last night, where Jian Ghomeshi spoke (the first third of yesterday’s podcast)Â with Dave Zirin about the anti-immigration law, SB-1070, in Arizona, and reaction to it from the sports world, and Major League Baseball, specifically. It is really an interesting interview. Check it out…
Update: Stephanie Ernst posted quite a few interesting links, yesterday, on  Challenging Oppression. Check them out, too…
Well I saw the movie Avatar this past Saturday night. And subsequent to having “experienced” it, I was involved in quite a thoughtful and very constructive — personally speaking — conversation. Discussing, both, the film’s flaws — animal issues, with which I have a specific concern with, and don’t fully agree — and its benefits — the fact that white people can better understand and relate to a white character, and thus begin to understand “colonial[/white] privilege, hegemony, etc.” — on Facebook.
As for the animal issues raised, I agree with the objections to the “domestication”/domination/ownership of the flying species the Na’vi used throughout the film is flawed, specifically with respect to the way they are “connected,” but I’ve issues with demonizing the hunting. While sad, of course, plus I’m not really sure how necessary hunting is to the Na’vi, given their seemingly “fruitful” environment, but condemning an indigenous people for living off the land, much the same away people in the Arctic currently, and for many a generation have survived, seems uncomfortably misplaced.
That said, my interpretation of the film is a bit different. Not better. Just different. While I agree with what one particular individual involved in our conversation said, it was very refreshing (even exciting) to see a disability cast in such a role, the main role, but something about Jake’s value as productive member of the team — only because he happened to be the twin of the intended original Avatar “driver” — didn’t sit right with me. An almost a least best scenario? Like “it’s this or nothing?” I understand it. But it still bothered me. And I’ll be the first to admit, it could be me being hyper-sensitive…
What an utterly absurd notion. And, by no means is it coincidence, the same people towing that line are the exact same fools reporting falsities concerning the current recession being over. What a bunch of shit spewed by the corporate owned media and their lackeys.
Today, arriving in my inbox, was last nights ZNet Nightly Commentary, True Crime: White Privilege and a Police Killing in an Obama-Mad College Town. Read it!
I received this in my inbox, courtesy of Z Nightly Commentaries, today. When Wall Street Is The Prolem, Is Bernanke The Answer? Spelling errors aside — oversights, I’m sure — this one excerpt, at least, is worthy of attention;
“In his recent press conference, after which President Obama would be called to task for lambasting the police in Cambridge Mass. for acting ‘stupidly’ — a comment he later withdrew — he also charged that Wall Street knew what they were doing when they made predatory loans. No one called him on that, not even Wall Street. […] If it was a smear, you would expect an uproar from the Wall Street-Real Estate complex responsible for millions of families losing their homes. After all, this is a mass problem, not a mere incident. Also, a large proportion of those targeted were people of color. Their lives have been handcuffed, not just their wrists. If you are looking for a case of mass racial profiling, look here…”
I wonder if CNN will consider Danny’s suggestion, to “consider this as a theme for Black In America 3?” What are the chances?