Cool Day for Hot Rods

 Cool Day For Hot Rods
Belmont Shore Car Show

With temperatures at sixty-three degrees in Long Beach, California, it was a cool day for hot rods. Hot rods and cool cars were on display at the 21st annual Belmont Shore Car Show on Sunday, September 12, 2010. Also known as street cars, hot rods are vehicles modified to maximize speed and acceleration. 

East Second Street in the Belmont Shore section of Long Beach is closed to traffic for the popular yearly event. The trendy main street shopping district is a much used direct route for people traveling to nearby Seal Beach and points south.

 Restored vehicles manufactured before 1975 were displayed on both sides of the four lane street and along the median. More vehicles were displayed on side streets that intersect E. Second Street. They were parked as far down the fourteen blocks as the alley and parking lots that run behind the stores, restaurants, and taverns. 

The Belmont Shore Car Show was hosted from 9AM until 3PM. Promptly at three, owners started heading out. Built for speed, the vehicles threaded their way very slowly through the crowds. The sports bars were as crowded as the streets. Football was showing on the multiple big screen televisions in most of them. 

I was disappointed that there were very few sandwich board signs in front of vehicles and a rare plaque card displayed on windowsills. I do not know model years and have depended upon those signs in previous years.

Looking at a beautiful sky blue '59 Impala, I was awed by the size of it. Did I actually drive one of those? My first time behind a wheel was in an Impala. My brother had two, one with fins, one without. I thought one was a 1962 model, but did not look like the 1962 Impala whose year I obtained from owner sitting behind the wheel. 

Some Highlights
1971 Harley-Davidson Service Car complete with police scanner, which I am sure was a tape playing, complete with static.

1923 Long Beach Paddy Wagon owned by the Long Beach Historic Society.

1967 Road Runner photo album showed car straight from junk yard, all rusty metal with car seat stuffing looking like rats' nests and through process of restoration to final transformation.

Hearse loading a coffin onto sidewalk. Open lid showing brown skull bones. A man had his photo taken sitting on bus bench near coffin, with arm over shoulder of mannequin. The dummy lady was sitting head down, dressed early 1900s mourning style, including hosiery with runs, veiled hat and lots of jewelry.

A pick up truck had a coffin in its bed, half lid open, Michael Jackson at rest, complete with silver glove.

Owner of 1932 Ford Hot Rod had a storyboard posted next to his pride and joy. He had the car since he was 16, entered races and drove it to California. The story board included photocopies of news clippings featuring his '32 car.

Yes there was a little, red Corvette on display and yellow, blue, maroon ones, too. Actually the little, red 1959 Corvette, sported white side wings and a white convertible top. 

A young man climbed in the Indy Formula One race car to his photograph taken. Although there was a lack of information cards, signs proclaiming "Look Inside But Do Not Touch" were plentiful. Representatives from Long Beach's Grand Prix at table next to the Indy car did not object to the photo shoot.

Monster trucks, some racing stripes and awesome graphics seemed too modern for the old vehicles sporting them. Chances are car enthusiasts saw their favorite car, but I did not see a 1962 Mercury Monterey, which was my first. If I thought the 1959 Impala was long and wide, the Cadillac’s were even longer and wider. The car show sported BelAirs, Dodge Challengers, Chargers, Falcons, T-birds, woodies sans surfboards and many more. 

Although it was a cool day for hot rods, the Belmont Shore Car Show, sponsored by Bay City Rodders classic car club, was a blast from the past. Leaning to look inside an unrestored Ford truck, I got a whiff of sunbaked vinyl, that smelled exactly like my father's trucks did, in the 1950s.

I Got Your Back

I Got Your Back: A Father and Son Keep It Real About Love, Fatherhood, Family, and Friendship by Eddie and Gerald Levert.

Reading comments on a YouTube, O'Jays video, someone wrote, "it is good to see Eddie performing again." Wondering if Eddie had been ill, I did a web search. I saw the book: I Got Your Back, so downloaded it on my Kindle.

I thought it was going to be a memoir or biography. Perhaps I should have read the subtitle, eh? I pretty much liked reading it, but was boring at some parts. They are Jehovah's Witnesses, and claim they are devoted to their religion. They did not seem to be devoted to following the Ten Commandments. Their God is their judge, not me.

But if they had been Catholic, they would have been spending a lot of Saturday nights in the Confessional booth, to be absolved of their sins ~ wine, women, song, and drugs ~ Party Down!

I only recalled one Levert song, Casanova. I saw the O'Jays in concert. I vaguely remember Eddie mentioning his son, but not if Gerald performed on stage with the group.

 

Fathers and Daughters

 From the book: I Got Your Back. Eddie, and later Gerald, Levert talk about the importance of fathers being there for their children. 

"A young girl's first connection to men is with her father, and she learns from her father how a man should treat her. If that scared union is broken or non-existent, then that young girl can be set up for one unhealthy relationships after the other. "

"...always searching for the father figure."

I would think my first connection to men would have been with my three older brothers. 

I was terrified of my father. I think he adored his first daughter, and probably the second one. Then three sons, and I was born. Probably did not have time to pay attention to me specifically. He somewhat doted on the next daughter. Then two more sons.

I saw him whip my older brothers with his belt. He was always yelling, although I no longer remember exactly what riled him. I was three months old when we went to Cape Cod to visit my mother's brother. I would not stop crying, so Dad stopped at a doctor's house. Mom never told me if the doc got me to stop crying.

The next morning they left for home. I think that is why my mother did not like me that much; deprived her of visit with her brother? Dad being so upset with my crying. Too bad I did not think to ask for more details of that oft' repeated story.

I guess I learned from dad that women deferred to men. Father rules, mom obeys. A women should not expect much attention from her man. Extreme, unfounded jealousy is normal male behavior? If a gal wants something done, she needs to do it herself? 

My brothers' drank a lot of alcoholic beverages, so I was not too concerned about my future hubby's drinking. I liked to drink also. I would not go out with him due to heroin use, having seen the trouble it got a brother into. I was too young, navie, to recognize the liar that would cause my life to be hell on earth for 13 years.

He claimed he did not mess with that stuff anymore. Oh, well...

The Women's March

 "She was absolutely resolved to continue putting questions to all the men who wanted to govern her without her consent." ~ Jennifer Chiaverini

from The Women's March: A Novel of the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession. 

 
"As things change they remain the same." ~ Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr 

Some white women (mostly Southern racists, but not all) were refusing to march in the procession if Negro ladies were allowed to march with them. A colored woman doctor was not to be allowed to march with white women doctors? Why not? Those bigots wanted any black marchers to be delegated to one section at the end of the procession.  

(A memory post from my Facebook Timeline. I am deleting the memories when they come up. Do not remember if I wrote about the book here or at Goodreads. My comment was longer ~ about the women in today's world who would deny other females the right to take a morning after pill, or have a D & C after miscarriage.)

The Answer is...

...Alex Trebek ~ subtitled: Reflections of My Life.

My oldest daughter is a Jeopardy whiz kid. She might not know an answer, but she quickly uses logic to come up with the answer. She was labeled: Gifted & Talented in elementary school. So was her younger brother. Gave the middle child an inferiority complex. I would point out to her, that she might not be "Gifted & Talented," but she was above average on standardized tests, among her peers. 

The oldest & youngest, like myself, were avid readers. The middle child would not sit still to let me read her a Dr. Seuss book, and does not read for pleasure. But back, to Alex.

"You could replace me as the host of the show with anybody and it would likely be just as popular."

The show may be "just as popular," but the new hosts are not. Trebek is missed.

It took me over a week to read the book, due to not enough bright light in my apartment to read the small print, this paperback. 

I found I share many of Alex's ideas or ideals. 

Woodstock: A New Look

 Published non-exclusive, no pay, July 22, 2009 at Associated Content.

Woodstock: A New Look
Book Review

Greg Walter, author of Woodstock: A New Look, worked for Woodstock Ventures during the summer of 1969. As he worked he took photographs. After the festival and his job were over, he dumped the developed slides in a shoebox and stuck it under his bed. When his number came up, he fled the country rather than be drafted to fight in a war he felt was "Dead wrong." He did not open that shoebox again until 1999. Walter shares those photographs in his memoir.

Woodstock: A New Look is not all photographs; Walter tells a story that begins in 1968. The first photograph shows a Vietnam war protester on the ground bleeding after being hit by a Chicago policeman at the Democratic National Convention. Missing from the short narrative is any mention of the murders of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy that year.

Lisa Grant is listed as co-author of the book, but Walter does not mention her in his preface. Grant is credited with Barbara Hodge as Book Cover and Interior Designers. Whether she did any of the writing or not, I think a few of the sentences needed editing. A simple comma added in some sentences or rearranging the order of the words in others would make the reading smoother. Despite that I enjoyed reading the book. 

A picture is worth a thousand words. 

Some of the photographs in the book are included courtesy of AP IMAGES and Henry Diltz. Walter does not identify which photos are his and which were taken by other people. Most pictures do not have captions. A photo spread on pages 92 and 93 shows faces in the crowd of concert attendees. None of the people seemed to be enjoying themselves. Only one young woman has what might be a smile on her face; the rest appear to be either bored or angry. This surprised me. Woodstock and the hippie generation were all about love, peace and joy. 

Woodstock: A New Look was published in 2008 by The Writers' Collective of Cranston, Rhode Island in conjunction with the forty year anniversary of the August 15/16 event. Youngsters might enjoy learning that a concert ticket featuring many rock bands cost $7.00 in 1969 and also what wages a typical high school graduate earned during the summer of love. The 60s generation, grown up, might nod in agreement with Walter as his narrative leads up to his evading the draft. He says, "The hypocrisy of America's elders paying homage to the Ten Commandments while systematically breaking every one of them was not lost on many of us."  

The Great American Tush Award contest included in the book ended in June, 2009, so no more opportunity to claim the $5,000. prize. Although I would not purchase this book for myself it is a good book to be on library shelves. Walter had some interesting experiences prior to and after after Woodstock. A memoir about those times would interest me.  those times would interest me.

Control

 "her need to control about getting things done, Lulu's need to control was about getting her way"

From Sweet Tea Tuesdays by Ashley Farley

Phantom Limb

Thoughts on Phantom Limb by Lucinda Berry.

Elizabeth did not understand people's obsessions with celebrities "amount of time people spent focusing on everything they did, like they were gods they worshipped instead of a human being like the rest of us."

Elizabeth was in bed for 7 days in hospital. She did not want to get in wheelchair, nurse said it was hospital rule. She figured "wheelchair trumped staying in the bed." After being transported to 5th floor, nurse indicated that she needed to take wheelchair back with her; she stood, felt dizzy.

7 days in hospital bed, one needs to learn how to walk again. I expected the young woman to fall on the floor, unable to stand up without support. 

One character in the psych ward was rocking back and forth although not in a rocking chair. That belongs on my Homeless blog ~ one of my mental health issues, along with losing time in thoughts due to blank stare.

Another character "pulling hair out of her head, strand by strand, putting each strand in a neat pile on her pants." I added (bipolar) The lady had trichotillomania. Most do not make neat piles. They sniff the root touching it their upper lip, then if acceptable, bit on it before dropping it into messy pile on the floor. 

Author accurately described cutters, suicide indention, outcome of childhood abuse or domestic violence. The only thing I know about psych wards is what I have seen portrayed on TV. This novel, was missing the lineup for pills, "show me your tongue," or however nurses check to make patient swallowed their meds.

There may have been a couple of schizophrenics, two men having animated conversations with invisible people. The man doing nothing but staring out the window might have severe case of PTSD (thousand yard stare.)

Blood Grove

One of the two Kindle books I read after finishing The Black Friend was Walter Mosley's Blood Grove. My first Kindle purchase, after Mosley posted about it on sale, via Facebook. LOL I paid $2.99 for a book I gave a 2 Star Rating at Goodreads. I guess the first time I read it was a hardcover book from library. At first I thought he was bringing readers up to date on past characters. It all sounded so familiar, but I do not remember Mosley going into so much detail about clothing and food. 

Then I checked Goodreads and put the Kindle book aside. It was getting boring, which seldom happens with a Mosley novel. Since I paid for it, I resumed reading; it got better, before it got boring again. Goodreads changed format. The old format easier to use, so doubt I aid a 2nd read date. 

"One of the symptoms of shell shock is that the victim of trauma sometimes loses themselves in thoughts " I think it is called the thousand yard stare. 

"You can't have one rich man without a hundred poor standing behind him."

I found myself noticing every time Mosley used all the variations of the N word. Thank you Frederick Joseph, seeing the word in a novel never caused me to stumble over or even notice before you admonishing white people not to read and never read it out loud. Prime offered to add narration to Mosley's book. Gee I wonder if they got Denzel Washington to read it to those who prefer audio books? 

I recently watched an Easy Rawlins movie. I kept hearing Denzel's voice when reading some of Easy's lines. Hence my wondering whose voice narrates. Or do they have different readers for different characters? 

NPR, food, music, family

"NPR is religion for liberal white people." There goes Frederick Joseph again with his bigoted, stereotypes. 

"Food, music, and family are the essence of race and culture for many of us." He was talking about "many of us Blacks." They are the essence of most ethnic backgrounds, not limited to black folk.

Maybe that is what he meant? 

The author and I were both reading The Audacity of Hope about the same time. I never heard about Barack Obama, and could not pronounce his name. The book was in back seat of my service worker. She told me he was going to run for president. I could borrow if I wanted to read it. I loved his ideals and ideas. My daughter told me she said "he is going to be president someday, but did not expect it to happen so soon."

Sarah is white with dreadlocks. Joseph would not approve. 

"it is hard to get even well-meaning white people to see them that way." Do not know what context he wrote it in, but I disagreed. My next two notes said: "complicated" and "is why you are reading this book." (I had checked a Kindle Override library book out. A few chapters later I returned it and saw this title, checked it out. Would have been better if I returned it also!)

Several Goodread's reviewers named Joseph "arrogant" and "condescending" ~ my exact thoughts.

Karishma's story broke my heart.

So did when he and his friends ganged up on a Chinese/American girl because she would not agree to being bothered when non-Chinese people wear Chinese clothes. The group was driving to see one of the friend's college. They were singing. The Asian/American girl sang along. Including a lyric that included the N word. Driver stopped the car; When they could not get her to see it their way, driver turned around and they went home. 

I forget what he said about "the DNA of America," just some more blanket indictments of whites.

He included a quote or something about a book he was forced to read, Great Expectations. He seemed to think everyone knew Miss Havisham. I reread the novel as an adult because I remembered liking it when required reading in Jr. or Senior High. I might have to read it again, as I have zero clue as to the character. I assume "racist white lady." 

If I find anymore notes on The Black Friend not sharing. This took too long.

Color Blind

 My pet peeve. Frederick Joseph says he does not want us to say "we don't see color." Well, duh of course we see color, unless we are blind. We also see a person's height, weight, clothes they are wearing, age (young, old, child, teen) and usually gender. 

What we do not do is go up to someone and say, "I see you are fat, you must overeat. Tell me your story. Do you have a thyroid problem?' "When is the baby due?" 

Well, some people are that rude. If we say a person's skin color is irrelevant we are being disrespectful, because it is relevant to them. Does a person's height, weight, style of clothing have any relevance to us? 

Well yeah, those kids wearing pants showing off their arse crack remind me of some of my father's friends that did that, grossed me out then, grosses me out now. I have heard Black women tell them to "pull up your pants." I would never comment on them. Just glad my son was grown before the style became a fad. I allowed my children freedom to dress as they pleased, but that one would have caused us to butt heads.

Speaking of culture apportion whose culture started high heels. Are Persian a Black Race of a White Race? 

I think the last time I used the word was when a black man on the beach was trying to pick me up, asked "have you ever been with a black man before."  He said, "I thought so." I guess he meant he did not think I was a racist. The first time I heard someone complain about the C.B. term, I stopped saying it. 

I had a tiff with people via Facebook meme. I should have never commented. The creator of the meme's last name was Rodriguez. My constant companion friend's cousin spent a lot of time with us. Playing kids' games, dancing. Her last name was Rodriguez. Now I felt bad that I never asked her to "tell me your story." I never knew her nationality. The meme did not state "Black" just "thou shalt not say you are color blind." 

Andrea was petite, cute, very popular once we all were in the same high school. I do not know her elementary school experiences. My friend's father was light skinned Italian; her dark hair mother said she was Spanish. Joanne was nicknamed Carrot top due to her "red" hair. Lots of freckles. Later years Joanne told me her mother was Cuban; but due to prejudice and hatred of Cubans she lied. I am trying to picture her skin tone. Darker than the father's I am sure. 

I would say Andrea was brown, as in suntanned even tho' it is winter. But we were all considered white in those days of "colored people," or Negroes. 

I do not have to ask Blacks their stories. When we get together we talk about racism they experienced. But since the meme did not mention a color, it was a commenter that used the CB phrase, I gave an example of how silly it would be to sit in a seat next to stranger and say "I see you are white, tell my your story." Imagine a white person saying, "I see you are black..."

It sounded condescending to me. Telling people I see their color and asking them to tell me their story as if I am superior to them. The commenters blasted me. "Just because you have not experienced it..." Did not say I was being pig headed, but something to that effect ~ when it was them refusing to understand my point. 

A fav old expresion: here comes the tsunami wave we all be running. Tired of notes from the book The Black Friend.

Affirmative Action

 A friend called himself, The Black Man. He and I agreed on most everything, except Affirmative Action. He thought it should end; took away incentive. I thought it was still needed. I know too many white people who would not hire based on skin color. I skipped over a lot of Frederick's explanation about how Affirmative Action works. 

Due to trump being indicated (his word) Yahoo comments full of insults on Judge Bragg. Maybe he did have a low LSAT score? I bet the one who wrote it would not last long in law school. Even if he was enrolled in a college to met an Affirmative Action quota, he needed the grades, intelligence, and other things to get admitted. Snoop Dogg would not be enrolled in Princeton and get a degree based on Affirmative Action. 

I correct people on their misconceptions routinely when I see their comments on Internet articles. Thus could skip his lecture. 

Reparations

 Of course Frederick Joseph wants reparations. He considered suing Nabisco because of all the times he was called an Oreo. (He may have been joking.) Is he aware of how many times white people have been called the n word attached to lover? My daughters black friends told her she was white on the outside, black on the inside. 

It is a problem; when a white person does not hate a black person, they become outcasts among whites, and accepted among blacks/browns. 

I do not agree with reparations for the same reasons most people do not: money. The country is on brink of bankruptcy. Need to trim the budget, not add to it. Logistic nightmare. Does only Marian Robinson get money, or does she, Craig Robinson, Michelle Obama also get money. Would one of the Obama girls be eligible and not the other? Or would they each be entitled to 1/2 the standard payout? 

Is there stored slave DNA so that each requesting reparations due to sins of their ancestors can prove they qualify? How do they calculate the hours slaves worked? Calculate in yesteryear's average wage? If a freed slave got the promised "40 acres and a mule" do they still get repaid for slave labor?

I am first generation U.S. of A. citizen on my father's side, 2nd generation on my mother's. Why should people like me pay for sins we did not commit? Maybe track down all families that owned, bought/sold slaves and make their ancestors pay reparations? 

Slavery was horrible and wrong. So was Jim Crow. So is systematic racism. Will Joseph get over the wrongs done to his ancestors, it if given money? If djt does not start a civil war, giving reparations might do it. Peeps called the N Lover words would not fight with White Nationalist but could be killed by either side in such a war. 

Sidetracked

 Easily distracted from my goals. Read two more Kindle books after finishing The Black Friend. Still have scribbled notes.

When I finished the book, I questioned if I was a white supremacist. Long ago I once questioned myself: maybe the husband (long ex now) was right. Maybe n*g* (you know the rest) were inferior to white people.

I grew up with and knew too many Negroes, blacks, Afro/Americans, African/Americans to agree with the ex. Nah, neither could I ever be a supremacist. But because he is Black and I am considered white, I am loathe to criticize him. I doubt the book will stop white racists from being racists. It might lead some white kids to become racists.

Frederick Joseph does not approve of The White Savior, even though a man used his White Privilege to stop him from being arrested for shoplifting. That was nice that you got me out of trouble, but we do not want your help? He talks about White Saviors using feeding homeless as a photo op. I do not know if homeless being served by white celebrity are all Black. White people are homeless too. Would he feel President Obama helping prepare meals, serve at a Food Bank, simply a photo op; A Black Savior?

He mentioned whites who go to predominantly black communities abroad as being Opportunist White Saviors. I do not recall seeing a photo of Jimmy Carter in his Carter Foundation work overseas. I think I may have seen him building houses for humanity. Ok White People Thou Shalt Not Use Your Privilege to help the disadvantaged. I wonder if Jon Bon Jovi's "pay what you can afford" soup kitchen exclusively serves whites? Or Blacks? Or a diverse population? 

White kids go to furniture stores to chill? Maybe in his neck of NYC they do. I have never seen teens hanging out for hours in furniture store; In a mall maybe, but they would have been asked to leave sitting on or laying on beds. Talk about judging an entire "race" by skin color.

I have never watched Sex & The City. Have watched Living Single. I watched A Different World always on lookout for actor Mary Alice.(Smith.) I agree there is no "reverse racism." Joseph is plenty bigoted. The way he lectures he sounds like he thinks he is superior to other ethnic groups as a whole. That makes him a racist. 

"You probably think yoga was started by a white woman in California." No, I thought it was started by an Indian guru in New Jersey. Sarcasm. I would think it is of Hindu origins. Just more stereotypes. As if all white woman in CA do yoga? Or lead Yoga groups? 

"Historically off-limits to non-community members." Thou shalt not practice Yoga? Or Kung Fu? Or wear green on St. Patrick's day? Or eat lasagna? White peeps thou shalt not taste sushi, as ordered by Frederick Joseph. 

He talks about being forced to live up to white people's standards, so maybe this is a big get even? I do not know that Negroes were forced to straighten their hair, to conform to white standards. That changed; but I notice a lot of Black ladies on TV shows or movies straighten their hair or are wearing wigs with long, flowing hair styles. Where did all the naturals and Afros go?

I think everyone has the right to choose their own hairstyles. It is disturbing when Native American child is told to cut off his culture's natural braids. Or the biracial student not being allowed to attend graduation due to his cornrow hairstyle. Michelle Obama said she did not wear braids while First Lady because it might be too upsetting for white folks. Yes, many White Folks do have standards they expect others to follow.

The Black Friend

 The Black Friend is supposed to be teaching white people not to be racist. Good luck with that. 

"..every interaction is som weya is influenced by race." I used to tell bus drivers, "thank you for coming to work today." That brief interaction was not based on anything other than the person was driving the bus that got me where I wanted to go.

"Green bean casserole is a form of white oppression."  I do not get that. Did he mean white people force blacks to eat green bean casserole? I was not much aware green bean casseroles existed until lately. I have a vague recollection of someone making it once. 

Sunday dinner at a white friends house was also the first time he tasted "devil's vomit." (also called date loaf) I did not want to get up and find what type of drug that is. Oh, after many paragraphs, he explains it was desert, that looked like a banana loaf or carrot cake. I never heard of date loaf (made with dates.) Yet he seems to think date loaf is a typical white family desert. 

In one of his shaded gray inserts he says "If you are white and you are reading this, do not read that word." WTF If you do not want white people to read a word, leave it out of the book. Better yet, stop using it; stop saying it in movies, and repeating it over and over in hard core rap music. Yeah, it is authentic when in movies about, um, "the boyz in the hood?" 

A Richard Wright, James Baldwin, or Walter Mosley he is not. Um, I can not recall if Mosley's characters use the word. That is not the only 'thou shalt not," in The Black Friend.

White Race

 Frederick Joseph asserts in his book, The Black Friend, that white is a race, so he does not capitalize it. White is no more a race than Black is a race. As far as I know, there is one race, the human race. We do not say "Russian race," or "Swedish race," or "Australian race," and not everyone from those countries has white skin. 

Nationality or ethnicity is my preferred word. 

If you saw my neighbor Andrea, you would likely label her Black. If you saw her next door neighbor,Angie, you would likely label her White. You might identify Maria, around the corner, down the hall, as Hispanic if she talks; black by site alone. Andrea was born in Dominican Republic. Angie is also Dominican but she did not say she was born in that country.

Maria, may be Puerto Rican. She babbles away to me in Spanish, when all I can say is "hola, Maria," other standard greetings and "poquito." Andrea's bilingual friend may also be Puerto Rican. She appears to be like the other Puerto Ricans I know, first generation Americans. I do not know her well enough to question her heritage. Nice, friendly lady.

Joseph may liken Black people to descendants of slaves. But not all shades of brown peeps are. I know Jamaican, Puerto Rican citizens who actually may have been descendants of slave in their countries. I know a black Indonesian woman. She may have shared the same experiences that black skinned peeps in the U.S. of A. faced. She did not think her husband's family would accept her because she is black, she told me. 

The other not born in the U.S. of A. or first generation blacks, likely deal with the same discrinations as those descended from slaves. But they do not consider themselves black. Maybe Mr. Joseph meant there is not one white culture; but there is also no one Black culture. Go back to my first post on this book ~ blanket indictments never work. A lot, many, some works better in most cases. 

The Black Friend ~ errors

 Author Frederick Joseph made a few mistakes in The Black Friend.

He stated that Trayvon Martin was killed by the police. No, Martin was murdered by George Zimmerman, who was found not guilty due to Florida's Stand Your Ground (or it is my) laws. Sad Martin did not live to say he was standing his ground when Zimmerman attacked him, simply for wearing a hoodie in the rain. 

He said "America was founded on multiculturalism." He explained it as the "melting pot." Well, no. When forefathers declared all men were created equal, that did not include multi-cultures. The country was 100 years new when the Statue of Liberty was erected, and the poem "give us your tired, your hungry, your poor," became the mantra. Natives of the land were not allowed to occupy land they used to ~ moved to Reservations. There culture not accepted. 

The author should know that. He complains that white people do not know "we" stole the land from Indians. In 2023 I would guess everyone over 18 must know about what colonists did unto the many tribes living here. He might also realize, that Spain, and France helped populate the North Americas. "We" fought a war with Mexico to take some disputed territory. Chinese were brought to the U.S. of A. to help build railroads. Do not know it their culture was part of U.S. of A. culture.

Japanese Americans were put in detention camps, many losing their homes and livelihoods. Many years after the U.S. of A. became a nation it became the "melting pot." Women were finally created equal as were former slaves. Or almost equal. Intermarriage changed the complexion of U.S. citizens. My father predicted that one day we would all be the same. His marriage was called a "mixed marriage" back then; Italian/German. He was born in Italy, she, in the U.S. of A. Yet both families opposed to marrying outside their nationalities and faiths. 

Just yesterday, I read an article that a Charter School insisted that a 6-year-old cut off his long braids.The boy was embracing his Native heritage, ie: culture. If  "we" were founded on multiculturalism, his hairstyle would be be accepted. I would say "we" were founded on anti-culturism. Assimilate or be ostracized, kicked out of school, or ridiculed in Congress. 

I say "we" that way as I was born in the U.S. of A. long after the nation was founded. Maybe saying "they" is more appropriate for long dead founders of the country, and presidents that followed. Today's Congress in no way reflects the diversity of its citizens. There are, however, many members who melted from various nationalities. 

The Black Friend ~ music

 More on music from the book: The Black Friend:

Author was surprised his white friends did not know John Coltrane. I heard of him; I may have listened to some of his songs on You Tube. (Author mentions: "yes I am that old", before YouTube was invented.) 

He is aghast that they do not know "Before I Let You Go," by Frankie Beverly and Maze. Early 2000s, a man said "yeah you know Maze," because I liked the song "Joy and Pain," Um, wrong artist, I was thinking, Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock. Fast forward a few years, I was at a MLK Jr Day celebration. Do not remember if it was the group Maze. I was amazed, however, when Frankie Beverly sang "A Change Is Gonna Come." 

One of the best renditions I have ever heard. I have been unable to find a video on YouTube of Beverly doing that tune. Musical stereotypes is not the only stereotype the author pushes about white people. One Goodread's one star review said the same thing. That person mentioned him using the name Chad due to not knowing a guy's name, but he looked like a Chad. Or she looked like an Ashley. Chad would not be the first white guy's name that comes easily to mind. Nor Ashley.

Robert, Richard, Joseph, George, James, Matthew, Michael ~ but, I guess the author does not associate those names as white peeps names, due to many blacks/browns with the same names? Ashley? How about Heather for his age group? Mary, Brenda, Rose, Susan, Elizabeth, Hazel, might be more white-sounding, but that is stereotyping also. How about Frederick? Or Fred? One of his teachers did not believe he was Frederick, not Jamal. 

Frederick sounds more English, although he was named after Frederick Douglass. It seems the name  Frederick was given him by his slave owners. Seems the author should resent the name. 

I know whites who only listen to C & W music, but they know other pop hits. Hard rock, disco, R & B, soft rock, metal, classical, opera ~ all kinds of music genres. My building is hosting two classical musicians; I checked them out to see if I want to attend. The viola player is an elderly black man. Wonder if he knows tunes by Maze, N.W.A. 98 Degrees? 

Has Joseph never heard or or seen "We Are The World" U.S.A. for Africa? Talk about diverse people in the music industry! 

The Black Friend

 Reading: The Black Friend: On Being A Better White Person by Frederick Joseph. Soon after I checked it out of library via Kindle, I went to Goodreads to check reviews. I did not realize the book was for Young Adult or Teen Readers. In the preface Mr. Joseph spoke to his younger brother. He said bro would likely be 12 when he read the book, as it was not yet published. 

Do not like the book, thus far, because I do not like when authors tell you what they are going to be telling you. An author's writing advice was something like: just tell the damn story, and get on with it. Maybe Joseph could not find enough to say to fill up 250 pages? Or is that a standard size for a teen book? He includes an encyclopedia at the end. Do not know if that is included in the page count. Will update that info in a future post.

"... a blanket indictment of all white people is as wrong as when whites make blanket indictments against blacks.” ~ Malcolm X

Was unable to find the author's age. Must be quite young. He has an experiment. He invites a diverse group of friends all of whom work in the musician industry. He starts playing songs. As expected all the white people in the group knew songs by Ariana Grande, Jonas Brothers, Katy Perry, and Maroon 5, but did not know Ms. Jackson by Outkast, or 98 Degrees.

Maroon who? I have heard of the other 3 white musicians, but none of their songs. Hey, Ya, by Outkast is a fav song of mine. If someone played Ms. Jackson, I might not be able to name the group, although I know the song. I do not know 98 Degrees. He went on a rant about the whites not knowing rap artists tunes. "And they are all in the music industry!" Oh my.

I wonder what would have happened if he played tunes by O'Jays, Usher, Sam Cooke, Stevie Wonder, Nat King Cole, Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, The Sugar Hill Gang, Antoine "Fats" Domino, Little Richard, Prince, Bob Marley, Ray Charles, Whitney Houston, to name a few well-known artists, how many of those whites would know the song? 

And if he had played songs by Jerry Lee Lewis, Pat Boone, Doris Day, Barbara Streisand, Cher, Bob Seger, Christopher Cross, Leo Sayers, Enya, Taylor Swift, Alanis Morissette, Alan Jackson, Johnny Cash, and others ~ how many blacks/browns/Asians would know those songs?

The author claims to have diverse musical tastes, which is why I assume he is quite a young man, due to the music he choose to play for his guests. Based on his experiment he negatively critiques whites for not being aware of some of his fav black artists. 

I have known white peeps who did not know Al Green or Otis Redding. I think everyone of my generation, and their now adult children, are quite familiar with Motown/Tamla/Soul/Gordy music. Most can sing along to Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, Four Tops, Temptations, Stevie Wonder, the Jackson 5, Rick James, to name a few. No matter what skin color or ethnicity. 

I was at a festival when the female artist did a Motown melody ~ the "kids" were all singing along. By kids, I mean teenagers. Myself and another lady my ageish got up and danced. Just another reason I am not liking this book. 

Quotes about writing

 Quotes to inspire writing the next great American novel. 

"The first page of War & Peace was once blank." Robert F. Mager 

"First you get it down, then you get it right." ~ unknown

"Look, what I want to tell you is this.." ~ unknown

What if? Then What? So what? ~ unknown

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Maybe, someday, I will come across the sources of those quotes. I think I read a book about learning to write author advice. Today just sharing quotes I like from notecards.

This Year You Write Your Novel

 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/219462.This_Year_You_Write_Your_Novel

I read This Year You Write Your Novel by Walter Mosley, a long time ago. He said if you write a page a day, in a year you would have 365 pages; a novel. Ooh, I can do that! He suggested having a strict routine. His was writing first thing in the morning. Hey, me too! Soon after I woke up in the morning, I headed to Blogger to write. 

At one time I had 6 or more blogs going at one time. And 4 websites. Later I wrote articles for now defunct Associated Content. Writing everyday was not an issue for me; brevity is not my writing strong point. 

My other issue is writing things people will read. Forget a novel; all my attempts were short lived. 

“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it,” Toni Morrison

I dream big; surely people would want to read my adventures in homelessness.  It seems even my own family were not interested in what it was like living on the streets for a year. One friend was basically my only reader. I did a lot of Technorati advertising and commenting on other peeps blogs. Nada. 

So, no I did not write my novel that year, despite writing everyday for hours on end. C'est la vie!

1960s

High school was all Motown, Tamla, Soul, Gordy 45 rpms for me. James Brown, Wilson Picket, maybe still liked the Four Seasons. No Pete Seeger or Bob Dylan for me, thank you. 

High school was boring history teacher pounding on desk shouting: We. Are. At. War. I woke from my daydream wondering what I had missed.

I got caught up, as he continued his rant. He told us not to listen to what they told us, it was war, not a conflict. Vietnam. I was probably aware of the Watt's riot. 

Although I remember working full time, when a co-worker came to work with a black eye suffered from attending a mini-riot in my hometown. When I drove home from work, Albany Street was eerily empty and quiet. My father yelled at me when I got home, driving through downtown.

As if I could have gotten home in any other way. That is when I heard about the rioting. I guess that was 1967. Police brutality against blacks was the cause. Can not say "we've come a long way baby" in that regards. 

I do not remember having nothing to do, being bored. Personally, times were changing. I was a devout Catholic, but that was ending ~ mainly due to use of N-word by peeps who sat in the pews beside me. What about love they neighbor? 

I had embarrassing menstrual accidents. I suffered terrible "hay fever" and had contact dermatitis, or eczema. I do not know which was worse~ worrying about a boy asking me on a date, and telling him I was not allowed to date until 16 or that no boy asked me out. I was terribly shy.

My elementary school friends went into College prep courses, and I was in Office Practice. Once I started my part time job, I no longer got to attend basketball games or football Saturdays. I like working more than high school. School was boring.

I do not remember being bored as my favorite free time activity was reading. And listening to radio or my records, and dancing. People experienced the 1960s differently. 

1965

 I was class of '66, thus started 1965 as senior.

We spent 9th grade at the Junior High School. We went to the old high school as Freshmen. First day of school at the new high school was my birthday. Some kids teased me about them giving me a new school as a present.

I got pulled out of class ~ Office Practice? Filing? Maybe Office Machines? I was one of the two or three advanced students that worked on booklet for the new school. I do not remember the people who came to ~ what ~ a dedication? My memory is that this happened the 2nd year the school the school was in use.

We had to type, mimeograph programs, then put the booklets together. It was a lot of fun.It may have been. One of those two years in the new school, I had two study -periods. I spent one of them volunteering in the Vice Principal's office. One of my jobs was to file absentee notes.

My brother forged a lot of them. He got caught. Another job was to go to classrooms to pull out students to see the V.P. How embarrassing to walk into my brother's classroom to pull him out to the office. Foggy. My mother let him stay home on Memorial Day program because the year before he passed out at the outdoor program. Of did she tell VP that is why he skipped that day?

What about all the others!

I also manned the switchboard next to Principal's office between classes. That would have made me late for my next class. Maybe my next class was Lunch? My other study period I spent working on those programs. 

I vaguely recall the other girl who I worked with ~ maybe it was just the two of us ~ or others did it at different times from their class? We also were given the job of mimeographing teacher's tests for them. She and I were not the kind who would cheat, taking a copy of tests for friends who had those classes to give them a headstart. 

What Really Happened to the Class of '65

 I found an old note from "What Really Happened to the Class of '65" by Michael Medved. Most of my notes do not make much sense; people's names, like Pete Seeger, waist deep in the Big Easy. 

The book I read had passages highlighted in yellow. I wondered if my sister was the one who highlighted stuff. "Heartfelt love letter," might have been something she would highlight. Out of context, have no idea why I noted it.

"Most of the time we were bored Despite what you've read about how exciting the '60s were, those of us who grew up in them, spent a great deal of time, looking for something to do."

My thought: when people talk about the '60s, it is really about late 1960s and early 1970s. It was 1966 when the coolest girl in my high school class, stopped teasing, hairspraying stiff, her hair, to let it grow straight and long. 

She also was one of my classmates that wore mini-skirts. Mini, not micro mini, that some wore. When we arrived for gym, the teacher was by locker room sending us into the gym. We had to kneel on the floor; if our dresses/skirt hem did not touch the floor, we would be sent home to change.

Sandy pulled her blouse out of the skirt, pulled her mini down as far as she could, so that when she kneeled on the floor the hem touched it. A visual inspection would have shown it was not touching the top of the knee ~ the approved length. 

The traditional Senior Dress Down Day was cancelled. The principle did not think taxpayers would approve seeing boys in jeans and girls in pants on the next to last day of their senior year.

Was it two years later, or the next, when my sister was in high school? The dress code was changed; boys were now allowed to wear jeans to school and girls were allowed to wear pants or slacks.

My sister wore dresses. I wondered why. I hated dresses ever since the boys would look up the zigzag staircase to look under our them. And, on Sunday's we went to our grandparents. We played kids games, like What Time is It Mister Fox or Freeze Tag. I complained to my mother about my female cousins being allowed to wear comfortable play clothes ~ but she was not moved. 

1984

 I loved 1984 by George Orwell, so read it again. Did not find it all that great second time around. 

Quotes: 

It was after the catastrophe, when they shot the president and machine-gunned the Congress and the army declared a state of emergency. They blamed it on the Islamic fanatics, at the time.

Keep calm, they said on television, everything is under control.

...It was hard to believe. The enire government, gone like that. How did they get in, how did it happen?

That was when they suspended the Consitution. They said it was only temporary. There wasn't even any rioting in the streets. 

They've been building up to this.

Newspapers were censored and some were closed down, for security reasons they said.

domestic products the Aunts*

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*Aunts, I did not find any aunt's named after domestic products, like Dawn or Joy. A Goodreads person suggested they meant like, Aunt Jemima, Sara (Lee) Estee (Lauder,) Lorna (Dunne) and so on.

Random

 Some random quotes from books that I neglected to write down the source.

I would scribble something on note paper, later post on Notepad doc, after having read three more books, then completely forgot which quote came from which book.

*your perception is a reflection of you

*not because of me or anything I did

*affirming our best values 

*label attached ~ she was tall, I was short

*operating with integrity ~ not with emotions 

*"three sisters" vegetable patch corn, beans and squash each plant has something to offer the others, corn grows tall, creates natural pole for beans to climb, beans provide nitrogen, squash low to ground large spreading leaves block weeds keeps soil moist page 45

*probably from The Light We Carry, Michelle Obama

Aphasia ~ talk with the current instead of swimming against it ~ Gabby Giffords

"most bigoted adherents to the Party the swallowers of slogans" 1984

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“The true Islam has shown me that a blanket indictment of all white people is as wrong as when whites make blanket indictments against blacks.” — Malcolm X. (old quote that I copied to use on comments.)

Also found to add to comments:A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.

Unthinkable by Senator Raskin

 “You don’t ridicule people and give them obnoxious nicknames, at least after you graduate from the third grade,” Jamie Raskin

"I have learned that trauma can steal everything from you that is most precious and rip joy right out of your life. But, paradoxically, it can also make you stronger and wiser, and connect you more deeply to other people than you ever imagined, by enabling you to touch their misfortunes and integrate their losses and pain with your own."

"if a person can grow through unthinkable trauma and loss, perhaps a nation may, too."

"If you are one of millions of Americans who have suffered, in these hard days of plague, violence, and climate emergency,  a trauma and rupture like the ones we have experienced in our family, I bid your and your family deep healing and recovery for the battles ahead." Jamie Raskin

Rule-or-Ruin Party

 March 2020, when Trump attacked Governor Whitman over her response to the novel coronavirus pandemic. On April 17, 2020, he tweeted, 'LIBERATE MICHIGAN'..."

"on April 30, his supporters marched on the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing, storming the building."

"...the Trump-inspired mob in Lansing, itself looked stunningly familiar: Confederate battle flags, MAGA hats, weapons, camo army gear..."

DJT tweet: The Governor of Michigan should give a little, and put out the fire. Theres are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives back again, safely! See them, talk to them, make a deal".

"...May 14, Trump's mob again stormed the state capitol."

"..Thirteen men arrested...plotting..to launch a civil war, kidnap Governor Whitmer, transport her to Wisconsin, and they try to execute her."

J6 DNC and RNC headquarters

"...driving crowd in Muskegon to chant, "Lock her up! Lock her up!" 

"The test run in Michigan showed that many of his followers were prepared to engage in criminal vilane on his behalf, with orchestrated attacks and deadly weapons, to neutralize his chosen political enemies."

"...the Republican Party is the party of Trump, authoritarianism, corruption and insurrection."

"The Grand Old Party has become the Rule-or-Ruin Party."

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Trump is still leading his gaga MAWAs with lies, and calls for action.

He says "need to deal with the cancer" "weaponized, thugs, tyrants," "Democrats, FBI and DOJ." So what is GOP House trying to do as I type: form committee to investigate the weaponized DOJ and FBI; investigate the Biden family. Senator Raskin is correct: Rule-or-Ruin Party. 

More from Unthinkable

 More from Jamie Raskin's Book: Unthinkable

Lost Cause Myth "...falsely claimed that the Civil War had nothing to do with slavery but was a simple constitutional disagreement between the states and the federal government over the proper allocation of powers."

j6 DJT tweet: "These are the things and events that happen when a sacred election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfaired treated for so long."

"There's never been a time like this where such a thing happened where they could take it away from all of us, from me, from you, from our country.This was a fraudulent election. But we can't play into the hands of these people. We have to have peace.So go home. We love you. You're very special. You've seen what happens. You see the way others are treated that are so bad and so evil. I know how you feel."

"It is no coincidence that a Confederate battle flag was waved inside the Capitol on January 6..." ("new-and-improved Lost Cause myth")

"...it's time to heal, let's all just move on and let bygones, be bygones." (Trump GOP loyalists)

The managers understood that "Can't we all just move on?" was the go-to mantra of abusers and bullies who got caught."

"...we pounced immediately to argue that we could not successfully heal without first confronting the reality of what had happened. 

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Reminds me of my ex husband, "you're living in the past." No, I was living in the exact moment. If I brought up an incident from our past, it was to show why he should not make the same mistake again. DJT reminded me so much of my ex. And a brother-in-law who constantly told tall tales (lies, imagined heroics.) 

No way to get over his physical violence when he denied the reality and never apologized. That violence might be due to my trying to talk him out of making another mistake; if I would not simply agree to do what he wanted, he used his fists. 

Jenny Lawson

 Found a Jenny Lawson quote from her book: Let's Pretend This Never Happened:

Most Bloggers are emotionally unstable and are often awkward in social situations, which is why many turned to blogging in the first place. 

Well, no. I started blogging to try to earn money with sidebar ads or selling products I created. I think Homeless in Long Beach was my first blog. Or maybe my first Blogger blog. I also had 4 websites, along with multiple blogs at other sites. I even created a blog using HTML. Self taught.

I know one of my websites still exists. All the blogs gone, except here. And these had many transformations. I enjoyed every minute of all that work. Other than selling some t-shirts, postage stamps at Zazzle, my profit was: net zero. If only someone would have hired me to work-at-home, paying me to do research, or something.

I did make some spare change writing for Associated Content. I should have made more. I stopped begging family to click on titles if they did not have time to read my articles, and ask two friends to do likewise. We earned money by page view bonuses.

I stopped submitting for pay because the site rejected my book reviews. They said they wanted product reviews. Duh, ever hear of Barnes and Noble? 

All those homeless help people I knew? No time to read or at least click on a title. A pastor liked my cross words cards. Never bought a one. Some college kids who took photos of me? Never read an article. Depressing. At least 40 family members who used the Internet. I thought an easy 40 pageviews. It did not cost them a penny to help me earn a few of them.

They say to dream big, but I never became what today is called "an influencer." I can write a lot, but I guess I do not write anything worth reading. 

Unthinkable. by Jamie Raskin

 I saw an article about a Senator diagnosed with lymphoma. It piqued my interest because I also have lymphoma, although not the same type as the Senator. 

I had no idea who Jamie Raskin was. LOL I should have known. I was pleasantly surprised that Kindle had his book, Unthinkable. I bookmarked pages, and jotted notes. Kindle being charged right now, so just recording some jotted notes. Need to get rid of some paper.

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Plug Uglies

House Divided Speech

vigilante force of racist mob violence

KKK Act 1871

"great and dangerous offenses" 

bullies that target the press, innocent people, and Democracy itself

11/14/2020 Million MAGA March, aka: March for Trump, Stop the Steal

12/12/2020 MAGA II Rally

Trump said: "we have just begun to fight." violent attacks, burning of church by Proud Boys

Ayanna Pressley: What is more polarizing than trying to kill us?

"We were sent here by the president"

Stop reminding them that anyone who crosses Donald Trump, gets death threats.

laughable alibi 

Michael Van der Vern stole coasters after electoral college count was finally completed on J6/2021

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In addition to bookmarked pages, I noted pages 353. 368, 371, 379, 381, 447 I believe I rated the book 4 stars on Goodreads. I do not find any book Amazing. Others places I would rate it 5 Stars; a great future look at history.

I did find parts of the book to be dull. Too many listings of who attended what party, kind of stuff. Enough trying to keep up with all the politicians and rioters names. Often too repetitive; almost a copy paste from Part 1, to Part 3. 

I did, however find I really like Jamie Raskin. Maybe he could run for president. Intelligent, & knowledgeable. Some of his ideas came from his son, Tommy, who unfortunately committed suicide days before J6. 

When I was a bit younger than Tommy, I never wanted to marry and have children; I thought the world was such a horrible place. I imagine Tommy felt it was even more horrible ~ not just mass shootings, but mass school shootings, and a president who lied for four years, grooming his MAWA thugs to fight over his stolen election lies.