first up - flame and citron. it's about two world war II danish resistance fighters -- legendary, iconic heroes, actually -- who get caught out there with double crossing agents, a triple (yes, triple!) femme fatale and assassinations run amok. it's loosely based on fact, but who cares. it's a bloody wild ride - in part because everything was constantly unraveling so thoroughly and so believably around them all the time.
inglorious basterds should have been this good.
here's another gem - black book. it's another world war II epic about a dutch jewish woman who becomes a spy for the resistance. unbelievably shockingly great film. more twists and turns and unexpected potholes than anything i was anticipating. i mean it. you must see this. there were moments when i was actually yelling at the screen, in this totally involuntarily way.
it's interesting to see films about world war II that show another european perspective besides concentration camps and what happened to the jews. what about everybody else?
here's the based on facts world war II movie i'll make someday: german prisoners of war shipped off to america believe it or not. specifically, i want to go off about the ones held in barracks deep in the heart of the lone star state in the early 1940s. what happened to them -- most of them ended up staying, getting married, having a life -- is a story for the ages.
Showing posts with label texas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label texas. Show all posts
Saturday, July 09, 2011
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Happy Juneteenth!
For the uninitiated: today is Juneteenth -- our Independence Day.
Everyone thinks they know when Lincoln freed the slaves but the claptrap they teach you in school isn't entirely true. The Emancipation Proclamation that was signed and issued on September 23, 1862 freed the slaves in Confederate states that weren't under Union control. Everyone else was still enslaved. Lincoln was just trying to break the South and rally Northerners (who had plenty of slaves, by the way) to end the war. As the Union moved forward and conquered the South, more and more slaves were freed. Quite a few states ignored the federal government (it's the Southern way, isn't it?) and kept the ball rolling. Texas was one of them. The slaves on Galveston Island didn't find out that they were free until June 19, 1865.
I can't believe that people are surprised to find out that there were slaves in New York City or their part in the Civil War. Without them, New York City wouldn't be the worldwide financial powerhouse that it is now.
Of course, Juneteenth is an official holiday in Texas. I guess they had to make it official because everyone was taking the day off, anyway. It's celebrated all over the south but when I first came up north, no one had ever heard of it. Yankees are catching on, though: Buffalo boasts the 2nd biggest celebration in the country. And this year in Harlem, there was a parade and a double dutch tournament and everything, even if it did happen last weekend.
I always had fun on Juneteenth in Austin. It was all about blues music outdoors somewhere, crazy-tasty Sam's BBQ and that Big Red soda! If I could wave a magic wand and be anywhere celebrating this year, it would be Ponca City, Oklahoma. Playing horseshoes! A rodeo! Cake raffles! Frito pie!
*sigh* oh, well. back to the yankee corporate salt mines...
but before i go, here's an interesting tidbit from the NY Sun regarding an apology for slavery from New York state. I like it that they mention the exhibit from the New York Historical Society about Slavery and the Civil War. Maybe someone saw it and wised up.
-----------------------------------------------------------
N.Y.'s Apology for Slavery Is Readied for 'Juneteenth'
BY JACOB GERSHMAN - Staff Reporter of the Sun June 13, 2007
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/56415
ALBANY — Lawmakers are poised to approve legislation that would make New York the first northern Union state to issue a formal apology for its role in the slave trade.
Following on the heels of other states that have recently apologized or expressed regret over slavery, the Legislature is expected to pass its own apology bill before it breaks for the summer next week — in time to commemorate the June 19, or "Juneteenth," anniversary marking the day in 1865 when federal troops liberated the last slaves in Texas.
Sponsors of the legislation said the Democrat-led Assembly would act first in passing the bill and would be followed by the Republican-led Senate, some of whose members have expressed concern that offering such an apology could give a boost to supporters of slavery reparations.
The Assembly this year introduced a separate bill that would create a commission to study reparations, a measure that has gotten less support and most likely won't pass the chamber this session, lawmakers said.
The apology bill would amend Chapter 137 of the laws of 1817 relating to slavery, statutes that set in motion the eventual emancipation of slaves in New York in 1827, to declare that the "government of the state of New York formally apologizes for its role in sanctioning and perpetuating slavery and its vestiges."
It also "acknowledges that slavery, the transatlantic and the domestic slave trade were appalling tragedies in the history of New York state not only because of their abhorrent barbarism but also in terms of their magnitude, organized nature and especially their negation of the humanity of the enslaved person."
In February, Virginia lawmakers, who were marking the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, approved a resolution that expressed "profound regret" for the state's sanctioning of the institution of slavery. Since then, Maryland, North Carolina, and Alabama have passed similar measures accepting blame for their contribution to slavery.
The history of slavery in New York, a story of human rights horrors mingling with triumphs, is less well known than in other states, where slavery was more firmly entrenched. In 2005, the New-York Historical Society helped fill in the gaps of knowledge with its high-profile exhibit "Slavery and the Making of New York."
The legislation "may be symbolic, but the reason that New York City is the financial capital of the world is because of its involvement in the slave trade," the bill's sponsor in the Assembly, Keith Wright, a representative of Harlem who is African-American, said.
Slavery existed in New York for more than 200 years. The state both legalized enslavement of Africans and taxed the sale of slaves. The 1817 statute that gradually emancipated slaves also imposed penalties on people who harbored slaves.
Slaves in New Amsterdam, the Dutch colonial town that became New York City, built a major and fort to guard against English colonies, a dock to receive cargo, and roads into the Manhattan island, according to the Historical Society.
"By the 1740s, 20% of New York's inhabitants were slaves and two out of every five households had at least one. Repressive laws were written to control them but the enslaved conspired, rebelled, and ran away relentlessly," according to the Web site of the Historical Society. After the start of the American Revolution, New York City's population of free blacks soared, although slavery remained an important part of the city's economy until it was finally abolished in 1827.
The Senate sponsor of the bill, Dale Volker, a Republican who represents a district in Western New York and is white, said it was likely that the Senate would back the measure, despite concerns among some members that the bill is a steppingstone to reparations. "They have to do it," he said. "It's not like we're apologizing for anything that we're doing now. Why does it hurt us" to say slavery is wrong?
Mr. Wright said his slavery apology bill and the bill proposed by one of his colleagues, Hakeem Jeffries, proposing a reparations study should not be considered as a legislative package.
A spokeswoman for Governor Spitzer did not immediately know his position on the apology bill.
Everyone thinks they know when Lincoln freed the slaves but the claptrap they teach you in school isn't entirely true. The Emancipation Proclamation that was signed and issued on September 23, 1862 freed the slaves in Confederate states that weren't under Union control. Everyone else was still enslaved. Lincoln was just trying to break the South and rally Northerners (who had plenty of slaves, by the way) to end the war. As the Union moved forward and conquered the South, more and more slaves were freed. Quite a few states ignored the federal government (it's the Southern way, isn't it?) and kept the ball rolling. Texas was one of them. The slaves on Galveston Island didn't find out that they were free until June 19, 1865.
I can't believe that people are surprised to find out that there were slaves in New York City or their part in the Civil War. Without them, New York City wouldn't be the worldwide financial powerhouse that it is now.
Of course, Juneteenth is an official holiday in Texas. I guess they had to make it official because everyone was taking the day off, anyway. It's celebrated all over the south but when I first came up north, no one had ever heard of it. Yankees are catching on, though: Buffalo boasts the 2nd biggest celebration in the country. And this year in Harlem, there was a parade and a double dutch tournament and everything, even if it did happen last weekend.
I always had fun on Juneteenth in Austin. It was all about blues music outdoors somewhere, crazy-tasty Sam's BBQ and that Big Red soda! If I could wave a magic wand and be anywhere celebrating this year, it would be Ponca City, Oklahoma. Playing horseshoes! A rodeo! Cake raffles! Frito pie!
*sigh* oh, well. back to the yankee corporate salt mines...
but before i go, here's an interesting tidbit from the NY Sun regarding an apology for slavery from New York state. I like it that they mention the exhibit from the New York Historical Society about Slavery and the Civil War. Maybe someone saw it and wised up.
-----------------------------------------------------------
N.Y.'s Apology for Slavery Is Readied for 'Juneteenth'
BY JACOB GERSHMAN - Staff Reporter of the Sun June 13, 2007
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/56415
ALBANY — Lawmakers are poised to approve legislation that would make New York the first northern Union state to issue a formal apology for its role in the slave trade.
Following on the heels of other states that have recently apologized or expressed regret over slavery, the Legislature is expected to pass its own apology bill before it breaks for the summer next week — in time to commemorate the June 19, or "Juneteenth," anniversary marking the day in 1865 when federal troops liberated the last slaves in Texas.
Sponsors of the legislation said the Democrat-led Assembly would act first in passing the bill and would be followed by the Republican-led Senate, some of whose members have expressed concern that offering such an apology could give a boost to supporters of slavery reparations.
The Assembly this year introduced a separate bill that would create a commission to study reparations, a measure that has gotten less support and most likely won't pass the chamber this session, lawmakers said.
The apology bill would amend Chapter 137 of the laws of 1817 relating to slavery, statutes that set in motion the eventual emancipation of slaves in New York in 1827, to declare that the "government of the state of New York formally apologizes for its role in sanctioning and perpetuating slavery and its vestiges."
It also "acknowledges that slavery, the transatlantic and the domestic slave trade were appalling tragedies in the history of New York state not only because of their abhorrent barbarism but also in terms of their magnitude, organized nature and especially their negation of the humanity of the enslaved person."
In February, Virginia lawmakers, who were marking the 400th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, approved a resolution that expressed "profound regret" for the state's sanctioning of the institution of slavery. Since then, Maryland, North Carolina, and Alabama have passed similar measures accepting blame for their contribution to slavery.
The history of slavery in New York, a story of human rights horrors mingling with triumphs, is less well known than in other states, where slavery was more firmly entrenched. In 2005, the New-York Historical Society helped fill in the gaps of knowledge with its high-profile exhibit "Slavery and the Making of New York."
The legislation "may be symbolic, but the reason that New York City is the financial capital of the world is because of its involvement in the slave trade," the bill's sponsor in the Assembly, Keith Wright, a representative of Harlem who is African-American, said.
Slavery existed in New York for more than 200 years. The state both legalized enslavement of Africans and taxed the sale of slaves. The 1817 statute that gradually emancipated slaves also imposed penalties on people who harbored slaves.
Slaves in New Amsterdam, the Dutch colonial town that became New York City, built a major and fort to guard against English colonies, a dock to receive cargo, and roads into the Manhattan island, according to the Historical Society.
"By the 1740s, 20% of New York's inhabitants were slaves and two out of every five households had at least one. Repressive laws were written to control them but the enslaved conspired, rebelled, and ran away relentlessly," according to the Web site of the Historical Society. After the start of the American Revolution, New York City's population of free blacks soared, although slavery remained an important part of the city's economy until it was finally abolished in 1827.
The Senate sponsor of the bill, Dale Volker, a Republican who represents a district in Western New York and is white, said it was likely that the Senate would back the measure, despite concerns among some members that the bill is a steppingstone to reparations. "They have to do it," he said. "It's not like we're apologizing for anything that we're doing now. Why does it hurt us" to say slavery is wrong?
Mr. Wright said his slavery apology bill and the bill proposed by one of his colleagues, Hakeem Jeffries, proposing a reparations study should not be considered as a legislative package.
A spokeswoman for Governor Spitzer did not immediately know his position on the apology bill.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
a happy birthday, every day
Once upon a time when i lived deep in the heart of the sovereign state of Texas and sang with an outfit called Ro-Tel and the Hot Tomatoes, we'd do all the balls -- The Zoo Ball, The Governor's Ball, The White Ball, to name a few -- and quite often, private parties for such regional upper crust as the Bass brothers and H. Ross Perot. Oh, the stories I could tell, about the food and the instant just-add-money opulence and the tacky gowns and what the nouveau riche turned into when they got ripped and of course, what was said and done to me, once things really got going. Such swank! Such decadence! Such bad taste!
While playing a country club in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area (boy howdy, we did a lot of parties in that area -- could have been Plano, could have been anywhere), I distinctly recall meeting a lovely society matron (fourth generation oil baroness, to be exact) who turned me on to Chinese herbology, Creme de la Mer, and the joys of fried ice cream inside of one 15 minute conversation. She was what can only be described as a panic and a caution -- the kind of woman that never calls anyone by their actual name and yet everyone genuinely loves her for it. While we chatted, she called me "honeydip" which (for those of you keeping score at home) is a kind of donut. Bizarrely enough, it's what my brother Emmett sometimes called me when we would have our most vicious fights. Nicknames that are food items are actually a very Southern thing to do. A Yankee would never talk like that. At least, not any of the Yankees I've ever met.
So there we were at some art gallery gala dinner soiree function brou-ha-ha, making conversation. And I'm looking around, I'm looking at all the people and I'm taking it all in, you know? I'm thinking things like, when I have money, no one's gonna know it and other stuff too, like when i'm loaded, i'm going to be the healthiest person on the planet. or else why bother if you're just going to keel over from a massive coronary before you really enjoy any of it? yeah. stuff like that. heh.
Suddenly, we were talking to each other. She said my singing was really, really real and then our chat took off from there.
In retrospect, I realize why we had somehow gravitated towards each other. This old lady and I had a lot in common. She didn't smoke. She didn't drink. She excercised, ate sensibly and in her words, "avoided the sun like it was the shadow of Death." Well, heck. So did I. I had to admit -- she was aging well for a blonde. She also saw a doctor and dentist regularly. And she loooooooooooooooved Jesus. (Check, check and check.) She had more money than she'd ever spend so she decided to give it away, judiciously and carefully and intelligently. Philanthropy! What a concept. I liked that, too.
Aside from the other things she told me about, she mentioned something that she did every year that piqued my interest: she celebrated her birthday not just for that particular day but the entire month that she was born. I loved the idea of that -- lavishing goodies on myself, secretly reveling in my own private funtime, whether it was my birthday or not. It seemed to epitomize my idea of luxury: having the expansiveness to be good to yourself spontaneously, for example. Even if that meant something as simple as taking a walk through the park and enjoying the flora and fauna instead of hopping on the crowded subway like everybody else.
Pretty soon, I found myself enjoying my birthday for the entire month of June. I bought myself that book I'd wanted for so long. I took a day trip to the beach by myself. I skipped that slice of pizza for dinner and had wild salmon instead. And then the next thing I knew, a month stretched itself into a year. And every day became my birthday. I woke up, happy and grateful to be alive and actually excited about staying in bed and playing guitar all day or getting out of bed and going to work all day or whatever. I would do little things for myself all the time and when I did, I would think, well -- it is my birthday. and that would be that.
Well. My Texas time was once upon a time ago. I still don't drink alcohol or smoke anything. I still drink my daily shot of wheatgrass and pour sunblock lotion (with an spf of 30, no less!) all over myself, even on cloudy days. I still go to church every Sunday. Even when I was broke and at my absolute lowest, I was still happy as a lark because my skin was radiant, I was making cool art and I was a size 4. But having a birthday every day has given me a much needed way to spoil myself a little, in the most ordinary moments of my nyc life. Because those ordinary moments, that's life. that's what we live through. Really, when you stop to think about it, that's when we should be happiest. And usually, that's when we're not.
Happiness is a choice, after all. Hm. Maybe all this time I was just choosing to be happy...
While playing a country club in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area (boy howdy, we did a lot of parties in that area -- could have been Plano, could have been anywhere), I distinctly recall meeting a lovely society matron (fourth generation oil baroness, to be exact) who turned me on to Chinese herbology, Creme de la Mer, and the joys of fried ice cream inside of one 15 minute conversation. She was what can only be described as a panic and a caution -- the kind of woman that never calls anyone by their actual name and yet everyone genuinely loves her for it. While we chatted, she called me "honeydip" which (for those of you keeping score at home) is a kind of donut. Bizarrely enough, it's what my brother Emmett sometimes called me when we would have our most vicious fights. Nicknames that are food items are actually a very Southern thing to do. A Yankee would never talk like that. At least, not any of the Yankees I've ever met.
So there we were at some art gallery gala dinner soiree function brou-ha-ha, making conversation. And I'm looking around, I'm looking at all the people and I'm taking it all in, you know? I'm thinking things like, when I have money, no one's gonna know it and other stuff too, like when i'm loaded, i'm going to be the healthiest person on the planet. or else why bother if you're just going to keel over from a massive coronary before you really enjoy any of it? yeah. stuff like that. heh.
Suddenly, we were talking to each other. She said my singing was really, really real and then our chat took off from there.
In retrospect, I realize why we had somehow gravitated towards each other. This old lady and I had a lot in common. She didn't smoke. She didn't drink. She excercised, ate sensibly and in her words, "avoided the sun like it was the shadow of Death." Well, heck. So did I. I had to admit -- she was aging well for a blonde. She also saw a doctor and dentist regularly. And she loooooooooooooooved Jesus. (Check, check and check.) She had more money than she'd ever spend so she decided to give it away, judiciously and carefully and intelligently. Philanthropy! What a concept. I liked that, too.
Aside from the other things she told me about, she mentioned something that she did every year that piqued my interest: she celebrated her birthday not just for that particular day but the entire month that she was born. I loved the idea of that -- lavishing goodies on myself, secretly reveling in my own private funtime, whether it was my birthday or not. It seemed to epitomize my idea of luxury: having the expansiveness to be good to yourself spontaneously, for example. Even if that meant something as simple as taking a walk through the park and enjoying the flora and fauna instead of hopping on the crowded subway like everybody else.
Pretty soon, I found myself enjoying my birthday for the entire month of June. I bought myself that book I'd wanted for so long. I took a day trip to the beach by myself. I skipped that slice of pizza for dinner and had wild salmon instead. And then the next thing I knew, a month stretched itself into a year. And every day became my birthday. I woke up, happy and grateful to be alive and actually excited about staying in bed and playing guitar all day or getting out of bed and going to work all day or whatever. I would do little things for myself all the time and when I did, I would think, well -- it is my birthday. and that would be that.
Well. My Texas time was once upon a time ago. I still don't drink alcohol or smoke anything. I still drink my daily shot of wheatgrass and pour sunblock lotion (with an spf of 30, no less!) all over myself, even on cloudy days. I still go to church every Sunday. Even when I was broke and at my absolute lowest, I was still happy as a lark because my skin was radiant, I was making cool art and I was a size 4. But having a birthday every day has given me a much needed way to spoil myself a little, in the most ordinary moments of my nyc life. Because those ordinary moments, that's life. that's what we live through. Really, when you stop to think about it, that's when we should be happiest. And usually, that's when we're not.
Happiness is a choice, after all. Hm. Maybe all this time I was just choosing to be happy...
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
In Observance of Cinco de Mayo: A Lingering Afterthought
While at a festive gathering somewhere in the bowels of this burgeoning metropolis to celebrate Cinco de Mayo a few years ago with a bunch of Dominicans and NuYoRicans, a redheaded Texan I knew rather wryly observed that most Latinos that she encountered in Yankeelandia didn’t know anything about our beloved Mexican holiday. As far as she could tell, it was just another reason to throw a party. As an honorary Texan, I had to concur.
When I lived in Texas, it was the event of the year. If I could, I would spend every Cinco de Mayo in San Antonio. What a beautiful little town. Sometimes my friends and I would go to there for the day, to make sure that we ripped it up just right. There were tequila tastings, lots of Tejano music and of course there was incredible Mexican food and Tex-Mex, the likes of which cannot be found up here—and trust me, I’ve looked. More importantly, we knew why the day was important and we were extremely proud of it, even though we weren’t Mexican at all. Where did that pride come from, you ask? The mezcal?
I’d taken enough required classes on Texas history as a student while at UT to know that it was essentially an unofficial Mexican/Mexican-American July 4th holiday. No one ever tells the real story: the Mexicans collectively beat an army that hadn’t been defeated in 50 years. Not just any army—the army of Emperor Napoleon III, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte. And the Mexican general that led the fray was a Texan! Finally, Europe was officially out of Mexico and the Mexicans were free to rule themselves. (Now why do you suppose no one in Hollywood wants to make a movie about that?) It's a really good thing the Mexicans did this, kids. Remember, this happened in 1862. While both Mexico and the US were having civil wars, the French sided with the South. (In spite of popular opinion at the moment, the French have been buddies with the US for quite some time. They helped us gain our independence from England. Y'all know who General Lafayette is, don't you?) If the French had won in Mexico, they would have sent reinforcements through Texas to help the Confederates win the Civil War. And we probably wouldn't be having this conversation.
I don't care what anyone says. As a Southerner that’s only two generations removed from slavery, Cinco De Mayo is very much my holiday.
I think it's wonderful that everyone has their Independence Day because its a cool way to introduce yourself to another culture. Of course, African-Americans in Texas have been celebrating Juneteenth as their July 4th for quite some time—another very important day that isn’t really honored with much fanfare up here. Such holidays can be a great way to unify us. In understanding the history of Cinco de Mayo and celebrating the event, we can better understand ourselves and our collective history as Americans.
There’s a push to make Juneteenth a national holiday for African-Americans. If it happens, how lovely—and if it doesn’t happen, I suppose that’ll have to be lovely too. It’s certainly not going to stop my fish fry. Why should we wait around for the powers that be to “officially” recognize and validate what we know to be ours? Heck. Let’s all take the day off on Malcolm X’s birthday, not just Martin Luther King, Jr. And Zora Neale Hurston. And Robert F. Williams, too. Why not? Pick your hero and celebrate your heritage. Make the world wonder what in the world we’re up to—and for the love of Benji, fill them in.
When I lived in Texas, it was the event of the year. If I could, I would spend every Cinco de Mayo in San Antonio. What a beautiful little town. Sometimes my friends and I would go to there for the day, to make sure that we ripped it up just right. There were tequila tastings, lots of Tejano music and of course there was incredible Mexican food and Tex-Mex, the likes of which cannot be found up here—and trust me, I’ve looked. More importantly, we knew why the day was important and we were extremely proud of it, even though we weren’t Mexican at all. Where did that pride come from, you ask? The mezcal?
I’d taken enough required classes on Texas history as a student while at UT to know that it was essentially an unofficial Mexican/Mexican-American July 4th holiday. No one ever tells the real story: the Mexicans collectively beat an army that hadn’t been defeated in 50 years. Not just any army—the army of Emperor Napoleon III, nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte. And the Mexican general that led the fray was a Texan! Finally, Europe was officially out of Mexico and the Mexicans were free to rule themselves. (Now why do you suppose no one in Hollywood wants to make a movie about that?) It's a really good thing the Mexicans did this, kids. Remember, this happened in 1862. While both Mexico and the US were having civil wars, the French sided with the South. (In spite of popular opinion at the moment, the French have been buddies with the US for quite some time. They helped us gain our independence from England. Y'all know who General Lafayette is, don't you?) If the French had won in Mexico, they would have sent reinforcements through Texas to help the Confederates win the Civil War. And we probably wouldn't be having this conversation.
I don't care what anyone says. As a Southerner that’s only two generations removed from slavery, Cinco De Mayo is very much my holiday.
I think it's wonderful that everyone has their Independence Day because its a cool way to introduce yourself to another culture. Of course, African-Americans in Texas have been celebrating Juneteenth as their July 4th for quite some time—another very important day that isn’t really honored with much fanfare up here. Such holidays can be a great way to unify us. In understanding the history of Cinco de Mayo and celebrating the event, we can better understand ourselves and our collective history as Americans.
There’s a push to make Juneteenth a national holiday for African-Americans. If it happens, how lovely—and if it doesn’t happen, I suppose that’ll have to be lovely too. It’s certainly not going to stop my fish fry. Why should we wait around for the powers that be to “officially” recognize and validate what we know to be ours? Heck. Let’s all take the day off on Malcolm X’s birthday, not just Martin Luther King, Jr. And Zora Neale Hurston. And Robert F. Williams, too. Why not? Pick your hero and celebrate your heritage. Make the world wonder what in the world we’re up to—and for the love of Benji, fill them in.
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