Try as I might, there is no escaping the presidential campaign. I attended some film screenings at the Afro-Punk Festival over the weekend. The 1968 film "Up Tight!" is a story of revolution and betrayal set in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Its stars include Raymond St. Jacques, Roscoe Lee Brown, Max Julien, Juanita Moore and Ruby Dee.
During the Q&A following the screening, Ms. Dee noted that they were wrapping up filming when Dr. King was assassinated. The director, Jules Dassin, packed up the crew and went to Atlanta for King's funeral.
The film includes powerful footage from that day. ...
"Up Tight!" had a limited release in the United States because Paramount Pictures, its distributor, got cold feet. In response to a question about the film's title, Ms. Dee said:
With the assassination of Dr. King, it was an uptight time...Being black in the U.S.A. is an uptight situation. If you're going to survive, you have to loosen up.The screenwriters' liberal use of "whitey" brought to mind the rumor that Michelle Obama was caught on tape using that racial slur. The smear has since been debunked by the Obama campaign. The rumor was spread by someone outside the black community because black folks haven't used the word "whitey" since we were Negroes.
Still, the attacks on Michelle are unrelenting. As the Washington Times reported:
Even as Mrs. Obama appeared on ABC's "The View" in an effort to "soften" her image, one trio of black women launched a Web site, MichelleObamawatch.com, to monitor the coverage of the woman already disparaged as a "Baby Mama," a racist and an unpatriotic radical.Gina McCauley, founder of MichelleObamawatch.com, said the blog is "a repository of all of the criticism, praise, and general chicanery thrown at Michelle Obama between now and November." Readers are invited to monitor media coverage and contribute to the site.


Comments: (24)
Add a comment
By: Vegas on 7/07/2008 8:21PM
Michelle Obama is what we all should strive to be. She's what most parents dream their child will become. She's a lady (yes, lady is what I mean to say even though that word is thrown around loosely these days and does not apply to every female). I can't believe the grief some people are trying to put a decent lady through. Much of it is racism, certainly. How can they justify saying all of the nasty lies they say about such a fine lady? There's nothing to talk about. Michelle Obama grew up, went to school, got good grades, went to a better college, got her degree, got a great job, married a great man, and had some great children. What's not to love? She's an inspiration to us all, a true first lady. Those are qualifications if ever I've seen any. Juggling, family, friends, career, travel, the press, fashion, etc.? She's on top of it all. Why would I not want her to be first lady? She's beautiful, too. Some people don't want a woman like her in The White House. It really is not because of her or her "for the first time in my adult life I'm really proud of my country" bs. I know what Michelle meant. And what she said was not wrong. They act as if she said, I've never been proud, ain't gonna be proud, kiss my a** or something! LOLOL She did not say anything wrong. Period. It was just something they could jump on, pounce on! They're so hungry for something to tear these decent Americans down. We ought to be glad and thankful we have the Obamas and that they want to take on the task of helping their country. All they want to do is help, and some people have a problem with that. McCain, can't do any better. And you don't hear people ripping into him about what he said. He said he didn't love America. Yes, that's right. But of course, they're making all kinds of excuses for him. They're making excuses for Cindy, too. She should not have even opened her mouth about Michelle when the "proud" thing came out. Cindy has too much dirt on her to point fingers at anyone, much less a lady like Michelle Obama. Let's start with this...She defrauded a charity she helped found by stealing and doing the drugs intended for needed patients. Now, if any other regular American would've done that, we would be running from the cops, not running for the White House. Felons can't even vote, much less think about being first lady. She did no jail time. None. Then she was involved in some other scandal where she was in the same business with the guy who actually did some jail time, once again, Cindy did no jail time. She got richer, and he got jailed. So, Cindy McCain is above the law. Laws, rules, consequences, they do not apply to her. No wonder she was running around like a first grader touting about how proud she was of America. She's not proud of America, she's proud that America let's her get away with everything without consequence. Then, she committed adultery with McCain before he was divorced. McCain threw over the first Mrs. McCain after she became crippled in a car accident for the younger Cindy. So, he shouldn't be talking about dishonesty, honesty, or people going back on their word. He went back on his on his first wife..."til death us do part. For better for worse..." means nothing to McCain or Cindy. There you have it. There's more scandals, etc. I'm sure, but it's just a little to let you know that if you take Cindy's name out of everything I just wrote and replaced it with Michelle's same for John and replaced it with Obama, they'd be polling 2% in the polls. It wouldn't be close at all. They talk about the Obamas sometimes like dogs and they haven't even done anything. Just goes to show you, Michelle compared to Cindy and she's still not good enough. They were two single folks who found each other and got married, they weren't hanky pankying with other people's spouses. Still, not good enough.
They are good enough for me. I will be voting Obama in November. I'm proud of him and his wife. I'd be honored and proud to have them lead this country. McCain can't do any better. A vote for him is a vote for his VP. I think he can't handle being president...just the daily grind, the travel, etc. He can't keep that up. Obama can run circles around him. I can't vote for McCain's VP, because they didn't generate all the excitement in this election, Obama did.
Links...
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/2008/05/cindy-mccain-is-fair-game.php
http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message564780/pg1
http://www.nolanchart.com/article3736.html
http://sharoncobb.blogspot.com/2008/06/drug-addict-and-thief-cindy-mccain-on.html
http://www.tuccille.com/blog/2008/05/for-peddling-buzz-cindy-mccain-gets.html
http://www.momlogic.com/2008/06/mccain_called_wife_cut.php
http://www.knowthelies.com/?q=node/1978
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/09/john-mccains-first-wife-s_n_106021.html
http://www.bloggernews.net/113986
http://womensissues.about.com/od/influentialwomen/p/MichelleObama.htm
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: angela lloyd on 7/08/2008 6:47AM
do you think she would receive all this grief if she were a lighter skinned sister-I don't think so. Her skin is darker and and everytime I see her all I see is strenghth, courage, and wisdom.
Keep on Keepin on First Lady
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: Jimmy Jam on 7/08/2008 8:51AM
When you have little or nothing to say it is better
to day NOTHING, LEAVE HER ALONE, most people are so
ENVIOUS because of her EDUCATION let alone her composure to be able to handle IGNORANT RUMORS, TROUBLE, always being used by US TO US. GO FIND A
SEAT.
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: Mustafa Rasul Al-Amin on 7/08/2008 8:51AM
You went a long way to re-visit what most now consider to be a dead/moot issue. And the reason?
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: TOPAZ28 on 7/08/2008 9:19AM
#1 SIAD IT ALL. PLEASE FIND SOME TOPIC WORTHY OF A REAL CONVERSATION INSTEAD OF THIS SHODDY JOURNALISM. THIS WOMAN IS INDEED A ROLE MODEL FOR ALL WOMEN.
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: Vanity on 7/08/2008 9:50AM
Look !!!!
Barrack and Michelle !!!
You are a Candidate and candidates wife in one of the most import elections of time. You knew when you took on the responsibility of running for office that you and your family would be subjected to scrutiny,ridicule,and defamation. It goes with the territory. For some odd reason the Obamma campain feels as if Barrack and his Baboom face wifes background,religion and views shold not be subject to inquiries. Well when you are running as a candidate of this Great Country, just know that we are gonna cross every T and dot every eye. Mr. Obamma is going through a process that others such as Bill Clinton,John Kerry,Micael Dukakis,Al Gore,John Edwards,
Richard Nixon,Ronald Reagan,Both Bushes had to endure.
.So get over it.
Is the bottom line
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: Sherylle Hutchings on 7/08/2008 10:56AM
SHE IS A ROLE MODEL,A ROLE MODEL ,A ROLE MODEL,A ROLE MODEL,A ROLE MODEL,A ROLE MODEL,A ROLE MODEL,A ROLE MODEL,A ROLE MODEL,A ROLE MODEL, A ROLE MODEL,A ROLE MODEL,A ROLE MODEL,A ROLE MODEL.......................................
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: sweetness on 7/08/2008 11:07AM
fine something else to talk about...............
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: smartsista on 7/08/2008 11:34AM
Faye Anderson, stop hating on Michelle, get off yo lazy behind and go find us some real news/issues. I'm at work sneaking, trying to catch up on the latest events, and I've wasted my time reading and commenting on this dumb article!
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: JENN on 7/08/2008 11:46AM
LOL...WHEW WHAT NEXT!
Reply to this Comment | Report This