Eye for an Eye by Raheem Rahm

First, I would to thank Raheem Rahm for allowing me to share this with
others.
Like I always say" I would rather struggle with the true then be comfortable
with a lie"!!!
TRUTH TELLING HAS TO BE PRIORITY # ONE!!!


EYE FOR A EYE

"The blind force of the people is a force that must be economized and managed." One of many riveting quotes out the book MORALS & DOGMA; published in 1871, by a Confederate Civil War General, & 33 Degree, Grand Commander, of t...he Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite Chapter, Freemasons. A morbid philosophy convicted in a most influential ranking officer of the time; delegating a profound organization. The word BLIND being merged in a doctrine amidst words like FORCE, ECONOMICS & MANAGED, leads me to conclude in contrast, the obvious affect anticipated. This particular ideological principal can only exceed such to state; "In order that our fraternity may benefit from a mutual disadvantage." Which constitutes a deliberate campaign to initiate a FREE LABOR SOCIETY, under the guise of a FREE ENTERPRISE SOCIAL ORDER.

CAPITAL, is thus the IMAGE inaugurating business: The archetype implementing fair trade, or a "fair & SQUARE deal." Whether on a large scale or small, in any ISM. Revenues of CAPITAL, are the essential focal element of its business. Revenues, proceeds, or profits, are GAINS of ADVANTAGE in the CAPITAL conspiracy. How then can one achieve a PROFIT in an equitable FAIR exchange? Someone, (the consumer) must take a LOSS, or nurse a handicap in order that another, (the producer) proclaims a GAIN. It is a basic law of physics; "For EVERY action their is an EQUAL & opposing re-action." -Sir Issac Newton- Witness the "carrot on a stick," cliche, executed by "the velvet glove covers an iron fist," aphorism. This structure intentionally produces an almost imperceptible type "pyramid scheme." Where currency is inevitably being suctioned vertical toward a PRIVILEGED SOCIAL CLASS, rendering customers inept to acquire & maintain ANYTHING of significant value according to an ELITIST "status quo."



The distribution of income emphasized in World Book Encyclopedias; published in 1992, via, a myriad of sources, acknowledges that implemented under CAPITALISM, "who shall get the goods & services produced? depends mostly on who can afford to buy them. And the amount of goods and services people can afford depends mainly on the size of the income they receive. Under these code of ethics, people earn income by producing the goods & services that consumers demand." Also in reference to World Book Encyclopedia, "Firms pay MANAGERS more wages than they would an unskilled laborer. A firm pays MANAGEMENT more beneath the FACADE, that sales and profits of a firm depend on the quality of decisions MANAGERS make." The word MANAGER, derives from the Latin root MANU; signifying HAND, as in MANUscript; HANDwriting: (the word SCRIPT, denoting to WRITE, is also of Latin origin.) In archaic Italian, MANEGGIERE, means to HANDLE, or TRAIN LIVESTOCK. A synonym of manage, is the word MANIPULATE; which means to HANDLE with skill. And what precisely are MANIPULATORS MANAGING? What exactly are these HANDLERS, conditioning with SKILL? And just what & who are these LIVESTOCK? The truth is concealed amidst the obviousness of the lie; Proceeds, revenues, profits, bonuses, incentives, perquisites (PERKS) etc., intricately extracted out of employees wages & consumer earnings. In other words; MANIPULATORS (SCHEME) earnings from UNSKILLED LABORERS, & or TRAINED LIVESTOCK.




" In the land of the BLIND, the ONE EYED man is KING; The shepHERD is thou guide, thus as lost sheep ye OMNICONSCIOUSLY follow them." In the Kamau, (ANCIENT EGYPTIAN) culture, discussed in the book Metu Neter volume 2; translated in 1994, by the author, RA Un Nefer Amen, describes in her chapter; "The Setanic Perversion of Economics," expresses the consequences induced by reason of such an unbalanced system incorporated by General Pike, and his colleagues. Amen explains how man, "driven by an intellect & partially developed will dominated by his passions the Setians, (ELITIST) have MANIPULATED the masses in order to gain control over the economic resources of the world. Why? its the key to power. And why do they seek world dominance? The answer is in the animal vehicle, specifically a left side of the brain & testosterone dominated mentality." Amen continues to imply that, "They aspire to a degree of wealth that exceeds billions of dollars & property, but succeeds to a state of having impoverished people around to perform all their menial task. Such as cooking, washing clothes, cleaning their homes/ businesses; hence the establishment of sanitation departments etc." "Thus the Setians CREATED poverty. They have successfully MANIPULATED the MANIPULATOR, (manager, supervisor, landlord, officer, police officer, executive producer, superintendent, administrator, director, chancellor, president, dean, pastor, imam, rabbi etc.) to MANIPULATE, our IGNORANCE & GREED, to establish the concepts of absolute private ownership & money.




Money which is NOT a factual conceptual reality, has evolved to being an instrument of exchanging values in society, while having no value of its own." Amen further iterates, "We must understand that we don't exchange things for money, but things through money. Properly defined, then, money is a MEASURE of MATERIAL VALUE. Hence, there can be no shortage of money, but of VALUE." Manifesting yet another story in itself. Thereof, it is imperative that WE THE PEOPLE, WE the masses, WE the MANIPULATED, WE the HUMILIATED, WE the TRAINED LIVESTOCK, WE the UN-SKILLED LABORER, WE the LOST SHEEP, WE the BLIND, WE the red, WE the black, WE the yellow, WE the white, WE the VICTIMS of circumstance, WE the PRODUCTS of this global socioeconomic beast, fully comprehend & asses in its entirety; That it was NEVER a matter of RACE or RELIGION; To them... it is ONLY a matter of DIVIDE & CONQUER!!!!!!!!!! SO MOTE IT BE.

Remember His Name; Herbie Hancock

Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock (born April 12, 1940, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet", Hancock helped redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section, and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound. He was one of the first jazz musicians to embrace synthesizers and funk. Hancock's music is often melodic and accessible; he has had many songs "cross over" and achieved success among pop audiences. His music embraces elements of funk and soul while adopting freer stylistic elements from jazz. In his jazz improvisation, he possesses a unique creative blend of jazz, blues, and modern classical music, with harmonic stylings much like the styles of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel.

Hancock's best-known solo works include "Cantaloupe Island", "Watermelon Man" (later performed by dozens of musicians, including bandleader Mongo Santamaría), "Maiden Voyage", "Chameleon", and the singles "I Thought It Was You" and "Rockit". His 2007 tribute album "River: The Joni Letters" won the 2008 Grammy Award for Album of the Year, only the second jazz album ever to win the award after Getz/Gilberto in 1965.

As a member of Soka Gakkai, Hancock is an adherent of the Nichiren school of Mahayana Buddhism.

Early life and career


Hancock was born in Chicago, Illinois. Like many jazz pianists, Hancock started with a classical music education; Hancock studied from age seven. His talent was recognized early. Considered a child prodigy, he played the first movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 5 at a young people's concert with the Chicago Symphony at age eleven.

Through his teens, Hancock never had a jazz teacher. Instead, around high school age, Hancock grew to like jazz after hearing some Oscar Peterson and George Shearing recordings, which he transcribed in his own time, and which developed his ear and sense of harmony. He was also influenced by records of the vocal group the Hi-Lo's:

..by the time I actually heard the Hi-Lo's, I started picking that stuff out; my ear was happening. I could hear stuff and that's when I really learned some much farther-out voicings -like the harmonies I used on 'Speak Like a Child' -just being able to do that. I really got that from Clare Fischer's arrangements for the Hi-Lo's. Clare Fischer was a major influence on my harmonic concept... He and Bill Evans, and Ravel and Gil Evans, finally. You know, that's where it music after two years.


In 1960, he heard Chris Anderson play just once, and begged him to accept him as a student. Hancock often mentions Anderson as his harmonic guru. Hancock left Grinnell, moved to Chicago and began working with Donald Byrd and Coleman Hawkins, during which period he also took courses at Roosevelt University. (He later graduated from Grinnell, who also awarded him an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree in 1972). Donald Byrd was attending the Manhattan School of Music in New York at the time and suggested that Hancock study composition with Vittorio Giannini, which he did for a short time in 1960. The pianist quickly earned a reputation, and played subsequent sessions with Oliver Nelson and Phil Woods. He recorded his first solo album Takin' Off for Blue Note Records in 1962. "Watermelon Man" (from Takin' Off) was to provide Mongo Santamaría with a hit single, but more importantly for Hancock, Takin' Off caught the attention of Miles Davis, who was at that time assembling a new band. Hancock was introduced to Davis by the young drummer Tony Williams, a member of the new band.


Miles Davis quintet and Blue Note

Hancock received considerable attention when, in May 1963,he joined Miles Davis's "second great quintet." This new band was essentially Miles Davis surrounded by fresh, new talent. Davis personally sought out Hancock, whom he saw as one of the most promising talents in jazz. The rhythm section Davis organized was young but effective, comprising bassist Ron Carter, 17-year-old drummer Tony Williams, and Hancock on piano. After George Coleman and Sam Rivers each took a turn at the saxophone spot, the quintet would gel with Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone. This quintet is often regarded as one of the finest jazz ensembles, and the rhythm section has been especially praised for its innovation and flexibility.

The second great quintet was where Hancock found his own voice as a pianist. Not only did he find new ways to use common chords, but he also popularized chords that had not previously been used in jazz. Hancock also developed a unique taste for "orchestral" accompaniment - using quartal harmony and Debussy-like harmonies, with stark contrasts then unheard of in jazz. With Williams and Carter he wove a labyrinth of rhythmic intricacy on, around and over existing melodic and chordal schemes. In the later half of the sixties their approach became so sophisticated and unorthodox that conventional chord changes would hardly be discernible; hence their improvisational concept would become known as "Time, No Changes".

While in the Davis' band, Hancock also found time to record dozens of sessions for the Blue Note label, both under his own name and as a sideman with other musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Tony Williams, Grant Green, Bobby Hutcherson, Sam Rivers, Donald Byrd, Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley, Lee Morgan and Freddie Hubbard.

His albums Empyrean Isles (1964) and Maiden Voyage (1965) were to be two of the most famous and influential jazz LPs of the sixties, winning praise for both their innovation and accessibility (the latter demonstrated by the subsequent enormous popularity of the Maiden Voyage title track as a jazz standard, and by the jazz rap group US3 having a hit single with "Cantaloop" (derived from "Cantaloupe Island" on Empyrean Isles) some twenty five years later). Empyrean Isles featured the Davis rhythm section of Hancock, Carter and Williams with the addition of Freddie Hubbard on cornet, while Maiden Voyage also added former Davis saxophonist George Coleman (with Hubbard remaining on trumpet). Both albums are regarded as among the principal foundations of the post-bop style. Hancock also recorded several less-well-known but still critically acclaimed albums with larger ensembles — My Point of View (1963), Speak Like a Child (1968) and The Prisoner (1969) featured flugelhorn, alto flute and bass trombone. 1963's Inventions and Dimensions was an album of almost entirely improvised music, teaming Hancock with bassist Paul Chambers and two Latin percussionists, Willie Bobo and Osvaldo Martinez.

During this period, Hancock also composed the score to Michelangelo Antonioni's film Blowup, the first of many soundtracks he recorded in his career.

Davis had begun incorporating elements of rock and popular music into his recordings by the end of Hancock's tenure with the band. Despite some initial reluctance, Hancock began doubling on electric keyboards including the Fender Rhodes electric piano at Davis's insistence. Hancock adapted quickly to the new instruments, which proved to be instrumental in his future artistic endeavors.

Under the pretext that he had returned late from a honeymoon in Brazil, Hancock was dismissed from Davis's band. In the summer of 1968 Hancock formed his own sextet. However, although Davis soon disbanded his quintet to search for a new sound, Hancock, despite his departure from the working band, continued to appear on Miles Davis records for the next few years. Noteworthy appearances include In a Silent Way, A Tribute to Jack Johnson and On the Corner.

Fat Albert and Mwandishi

Hancock left Blue Note in 1969, signing up with Warner Bros. Records. In 1969, Hancock composed the soundtrack for the Bill Cosby animated children's television show Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. Titled Fat Albert Rotunda, the album was mainly an R&B-influenced album with strong jazz overtones. One of the jazzier songs on the record, "Tell Me A Bedtime Story", was later re-worked as a more electronic sounding song for the Quincy Jones album, Sounds...and Stuff Like That.

Hancock became fascinated with accumulating musical gadgets and toys. Together with the profound influence of Davis's Bitches Brew, this fascination would culminate in a series of albums in which electronic instruments are coupled with acoustic instruments.

Hancock's first ventures into electronic music started with a sextet comprising Hancock, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Billy Hart, and a trio of horn players: Eddie Henderson (trumpet), Julian Priester (trombone), and multireedist Bennie Maupin. Dr. Patrick Gleeson was eventually added to the mix to play and program the synthesizers. In fact, Hancock was one of the first jazz pianists to completely embrace electronic keyboards.

The sextet, later a septet with the addition of Gleeson, made three experimental albums under Hancock's name: Mwandishi (1971), Crossings (1972) (both on Warner Bros. Records), and Sextant (1973) (released on Columbia Records); two more, Realization and Inside Out, were recorded under Henderson's name with essentially the same personnel. The music often had very free improvisations and showed influence from the electronic music of some contemporary classical composers.


Synthesizer player Patrick Gleeson, one of the first musicians to play synthesizer on any jazz recording, introduced the instrument on Crossings, released in 1972, one of a handful of influential electronic jazz/fusion recordings to feature synthesizer that same year. On Crossings (as well as on I Sing the Body Electric), the synthesizer is used more as an improvisatory global orchestration device than as a strictly melodic instrument. This reflected Gleeson's (and Powell's) interest in contemporary European electronic music techniques and in the West Coast synthesis techniques of Morton Subotnick and other contemporaries, several of whom were resident at one time or another, as was Gleeson, at The Mills College Tape Music Center. An early review of Crossings in Downbeat magazine complained about the synthesizer, but a few years later the magazine noted in a cover story on Gleeson that he was "a pioneer" in the field of electronics in jazz. Gleeson used a modular Moog III for the recording of the album, but used an ARP 2600 synthesizer, and occasionally an ARP Soloist for the group's live performances. On Sextant Gleeson used the more compact ARP synthesizers instead of the larger Moog III for both studio and live performances. In the albums following The Crossings, Hancock started to play synth himself and unlike Gleeson, he plays it as a melodical and rhythm instrument just like electric pianos.

Hancock's three records released in 1971-1973 became later known as the "Mwandishi" albums, so-called after a Swahili name Hancock sometimes used during this era (Mwandishi is Swahili for writer). The first two, including Fat Albert Rotunda were made available on the 2-CD set Mwandishi: the Complete Warner Bros. Recordings, released in 1994, but are now sold as individual CD editions. Of the three electronic albums, Sextant is probably the most experimental since the Arp synthesizers are used extensively, and some advanced improvisation ("post-modal free impressionism") is found on the tracks "Hornets" and "Hidden Shadows" (which is in the meter 19/4). "Hornets" was later revised on the 2001 album Future2Future as "Virtual Hornets".


Among the instruments Hancock and Gleeson used were Fender Rhodes piano, ARP Odyssey, ARP 2600, ARP Pro Soloist Synthesizer, a Mellotron and the Moog synthesizer III.



All three Warner Bros. albums Fat Albert Rotunda, Mwandishi, and Crossings, were remastered in 2001 and released in Europe but were not released in the U.S.A. as of June 2005. In the Winter of 2006-2007 a remastered edition of Crossings was announced and scheduled for release in the Spring.


Headhunters and Death Wish

After the sometimes "airy" and decidedly experimental "Mwandishi" albums, Hancock was eager to perform more "earthy" and "funky" music. The Mwandishi albums — though these days seen as respected early fusion recordings — had seen mixed reviews and poor sales, so it is probable that Hancock was motivated by financial concerns as well as artistic restlessness. Hancock was also bothered by the fact that many people did not understand avant-garde music. He explained that he loved funk music, especially Sly Stone's music, so he wanted to try to make funk himself.

He gathered a new band, which he called The Headhunters, keeping only Maupin from the sextet and adding bassist Paul Jackson, percussionist Bill Summers, and drummer Harvey Mason. The album Head Hunters, released in 1973, was a major hit and crossed over to pop audiences, though it prompted criticism from some jazz fans. Head Hunters was recorded at Different Fur studios.

Despite charges of "selling out", Stephen Erlewine of Allmusic positively reviewed the album amongst other friendly critics, saying, "Head Hunters still sounds fresh and vital three decades after its initial release, and its genre-bending proved vastly influential on not only jazz, but funk, soul, and hip-hop."

Mason was replaced by Mike Clark, and the band released a second album, Thrust, the following year. (A live album from a Japan performance, consisting of compositions from those first two Head Hunters releases was released in 1975 as Flood. The record has since been released on CD in Japan.) This was almost as well-received as its predecessor, if not attaining the same level of commercial success. The Headhunters made another successful album (called Survival of the Fittest) without Hancock, while Hancock himself started to make even more commercial albums, often featuring members of the band, but no longer billed as The Headhunters. The Headhunters reunited with Hancock in 1998 for Return of the Headhunters, and a version of the band (featuring Jackson and Clark) continues to play live and record.

In 1973, Hancock composed his second masterful soundtrack to the controversial film The Spook Who Sat By The Door. Then in 1974, Hancock also composed the soundtrack to the first Death Wish film. One of his memorable songs, "Joanna's Theme", would later be re-recorded in 1997 on his duet album 
with Wayne Shorter 1 + 1.


Hancock's next jazz-funk albums of the 1970s were Man-Child (1975), and Secrets (1976), which point toward the more commercial direction Hancock would take over the next decade. These albums feature the members of the 'Headhunters' band, but also a variety of other musicians in important roles.


Back to the Basics: VSOP and the Future Shock

During late 1970s and early 1980s, Hancock toured with his "V.S.O.P." quintet, which featured all the members of the 1960s Miles Davis quintet except Davis, who was replaced by trumpet giant Freddie Hubbard. There was constant speculation that one day Davis would reunite with his classic band, but he never did so. VSOP recorded several live albums in the late 1970s, including VSOP (1976), and VSOP: The Quintet (1977).

In 1978, Hancock recorded a duet with Chick Corea, who had replaced him in the Miles Davis band a decade earlier. He also released a solo acoustic piano album titled The Piano (1978), which, like so many Hancock albums at the time, was initially released only in Japan. (It was finally released in the US in 2004.) Several other Japan-only releases have yet to surface in the US, such as Dedication (1974), VSOP: Tempest in the Colosseum (1977), and Direct Step (1978). Live Under the Sky was a VSOP album remastered for the US in 2004, and included an entire second concert from the July 1979 tour.


From 1978-1982, Hancock recorded many albums consisting of jazz-inflected disco and pop music, beginning with Sunlight (featuring guest musicians like Tony Williams and Jaco Pastorius on the last track) (1978). Singing through a vocoder, he earned a British hit, "I Thought It Was You", although critics were unimpressed.[9] This led to more vocoder on the 1979 follow-up, Feets, Don't Fail Me Now, which gave him another UK hit in "You Bet Your Love". Albums such as Monster (1980), Magic Windows (1981), and Lite Me Up (1982) were some of Hancock's most criticized and unwelcomed albums, the market at the time being somewhat saturated with similar pop-jazz hybrids from the likes of former bandmate Freddie Hubbard. Hancock himself had quite a limited role in some of those albums, leaving singing, composing and even producing to others. Mr. Hands (1980) is perhaps the one album during this period that was critically acclaimed. To the delight of many fans, there were no vocals on the album, and one track featured Jaco Pastorius on bass. The album contains a wide variety of different styles, including a disco instrumental song, a Latin-jazz number and an electronic piece in which Hancock plays alone with the help of computers.

Hancock also found time to record more traditional jazz whilst creating more commercially oriented music. He toured with Tony Williams and Ron Carter in 1981, recording Herbie Hancock Trio, a five-track live album released only in Japan. A month later, he recorded Quartet with Wynton Marsalis, released in the US the following year. Hancock, Williams and Carter toured internationally with Wynton and his brother Branford Marsalis in what was affectinately known as "VSOP II". This quintet can be heard on Marsalis' debut album on Columbia (1981).

In 1983, Hancock had a mainstream hit with the Grammy-award winning instrumental single "Rockit" from the album Future Shock. It was perhaps the first mainstream single to feature scratching, and also featured an innovative animated music video which was directed by Godley and Creme and showed several robot-like artworks by Jim Whiting. The video was a hit on MTV. The video won 5 different categories at the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards, including the category for Video of the Year. This single ushered in a collaboration with noted bassist and producer Bill Laswell. Hancock experimented with electronic music on a string of three LPs produced by Laswell: Future Shock (1983), Sound-System (1984) and Perfect Machine (1988). Despite the success of "Rockit", Hancock's trio of Laswell-produced albums (particularly the latter two) are among the most critically derided of his entire career, perhaps even more so than his erstwhile pop-jazz experiments. Hancock's level of actual contribution to these albums was also questioned, with some critics contending that the Laswell albums should have been labelled "Bill Laswell featuring Herbie Hancock".

During this period, he appeared onstage at the Grammy awards with Stevie Wonder, Howard Jones, and Thomas Dolby, in a famous synthesizer jam (the video on youtube ). Lesser known works from the 80s are the live album Jazz Africa and the studio album Village Life (1984) which were recorded with Gambian kora player Foday Musa Suso. Also, in 1985 he performed as a guest on the album So Red The Rose by the Duran Duran shoot off group Arcadia. He also provided introductory and closing comments for the PBS rebroadcast in the United States of the BBC educational series from the mid-1980s, Rock School (not to be confused with the most recent Gene Simmons' Rock School series).

In 1986, Hancock performed and acted in the film 'Round Midnight. He also wrote the score/soundtrack, for which he won an Academy Award for Original Music Score. Often he would write music for TV commercials. "Maiden Voyage", in fact, started out as a cologne advertisement. At the end of the Perfect Machine tour, Hancock decided to leave Columbia Records after a 15-plus-year relationship.




As of June 2005, almost half of his Columbia recordings have been remastered. The first three US releases, Sextant, Head Hunters and Thrust as well as the last four releases Future Shock, Sound-System, the soundtrack to Round Midnight and Perfect Machine. Everything released in America from Man-Child to Quartet has yet to be remastered. Some albums, made and initially released in the US, were remastered between 1999 and 2001 in other countries such as Magic Windows and Monster. Hancock also re-released some of his Japan-only releases in the West, such as The Piano.

1990s and later

After leaving Columbia, Hancock took a break. Then, with friends Ron Carter, Tony Williams, Wayne Shorter, and Davis admirer Wallace Roney, they recorded A Tribute to Miles which was released in 1994. The album contained two live recordings and studio recording classics with Roney playing Davis's part as trumpet player. The album won a Grammy for best group album. He also toured with Jack DeJohnette, Dave Holland and Pat Metheny in 1990 on their Parallel Realities tour, which included a memorable performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in July 1990.

Hancock's next album, Dis Is Da Drum released in 1994 saw him return to Acid Jazz. 1995's The New Standard found him and an all-star band including John Scofield, Jack DeJohnette and Michael Brecker interpreting pop songs by Nirvana, Stevie Wonder, The Beatles, Prince, Peter Gabriel and others. A 1997 duet album with Wayne Shorter titled 1 + 1 was successful, the song "Aung San Suu Kyi" winning the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition, and Hancock also achieved great success in 1998 with his album Gershwin's World which featured inventive readings of George & Ira Gershwin standards by Hancock and a plethora of guest stars including Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell and Shorter. Hancock toured the world in the support of Gershwin's World with a sextet that featured Cyro Baptista, Terri Lynne Carrington, Ira Coleman, Eli Degibri and Eddie Henderson.

In 2001, Hancock recorded Future2Future, which reunited Hancock with Bill Laswell and featured doses of electronica as well as turntablist Rob Swift of The X-Ecutioners. Hancock later toured with the band, and released a live concert DVD with a different lineup which also included the "Rockit" music video. Also in 2001, Hancock partnered with Michael Brecker and Roy Hargrove to record a live concert album saluting Davis and John Coltrane called Directions in Music: Live at Massey Hall recorded live in Toronto. The threesome toured t support the album, and have toured on and off through 2005.

2005 saw the release of a duet album called Possibilities. It features duets with Carlos Santana, Paul Simon, Annie Lennox, John Mayer, Christina Aguilera, Sting and others. In 2006, Possibilities was nominated for Grammy awards in two categories: "A Song For You", featuring Christina Aguilera was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance, and "Gelo No Montanha", featuring Trey Anastasio on guitar was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Performance. Neither nomination resulted in an award.

Also in 2005, Hancock toured Europe with a new quartet that included Beninese guitarist Lionel Loueke, and explored textures ranging from ambient to straight jazz to African music. Plus, during the Summer of 2005, Hancock re-staffed the famous Head Hunters and went on tour with them, including a performance at The Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival.

However, this lineup did not consist of any of the original Headhunters musicians. The group included Marcus Miller, Terri Lyne Carrington, Lionel Loueke and John Mayer. Hancock also served as the first artist in residence for Bonnaroo that summer.


Also in 2006, Sony BMG Music Entertainment (which bought out Hancock's old label, Columbia Records) released the two-disc retrospective The Essential Herbie Hancock. This two-disc set is the first compilation of Herbie's work at Warner Bros. Records, Blue Note Records, Columbia and at Verve/Polygram. This became Hancock's second major compilation of work since the 2002 Columbia-only "The Herbie Hancock Box" which was released at first in a plastic 4x4 cube then re-released in 2004 in a long box set. Hancock also in 2006, recorded a new song with Josh Groban and Eric Mouquet (co-founder of Deep Forest) titled "Machine". It is featured on Josh Groban's CD "Awake". Hancock also recorded and improvised with guitarist Lionel Loueke on Loueke's debut album Virgin Forest on the ObliqSound label in 2006, resulting in two improvisational tracks "Le Réveil des Agneaux (The Awakening of the Lambs)" and "La Poursuite du lion (The Lion's Pursuit)".

Hancock, a longtime associate and friend of Joni Mitchell released a 2007 album, River: The Joni Letters, that paid tribute to her work. Norah Jones and Tina Turner recorded vocals, as did Corinne Bailey Rae, and Leonard Cohen contributed a spoken piece set to Hancock's piano. Mitchell herself also made an appearance. The album was released on September 25, simultaneously with the release of Mitchell's album Shine. "River" was nominated for and won the 2008 Album of the Year Grammy Award, only the second jazz album ever to receive either honor. The album also won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, and the song "Both Sides Now" was nominated for Best Instrumental Jazz Solo.

Recently Hancock performed at the Shriner's Children's Hospital Charity Fundraiser with Sheila E, Jim Brickman, Kirk Whalum and Wendy Alane Wright.

His latest work includes assisting the production of the Kanye West track "RoboCop", found on 808s & Heartbreak.

On June 14, 2008, Hancock performed at Rhythm on the Vine at the South Coast Winery in Temecula, California for Shriners Hospital for Children. Other performers at the event, that raised $515,000 for Shriners Hospital, were contemporary music artist Jim Brickman, and Sheila E. & the E. Family Band.

On January 18, 2009, Hancock performed at the We Are One concert, marking the start of inaugural celebrations for American President Barack Obama. Hancock also performed the Rhapsody in Blue at the 2009 Classical BRIT Awards with classical pianist Lang Lang. Hancock was named as the Los Angeles Philharmonic's creative chair for jazz for 2010-12. In June 2010, Hancock released his newest album, The Imagine Project.

On June 5, 2010, Hancock received an Alumni Award from his alma mater, Grinnell College.

Discography


Title Year Label

Takin' Off 1962 Blue Note

My Point of View 1963 Blue Note

Inventions and Dimensions 1963 Blue Note

Empyrean Isles 1964 Blue Note

Maiden Voyage 1965 Blue Note

Blow-Up (Soundtrack) 1966 MGM

Speak Like a Child 1968 Blue Note

The Prisoner 1969 Blue Note

Fat Albert Rotunda 1969 Warner Bros.

Mwandishi 1970 Warner Bros.

He Who Lives In Many Places (with bassist Terry Plumeri) 1971 Airborne.

Crossings 1972 Warner Bros.

Sextant 1973 Columbia

Head Hunters 1973 Columbia

Thrust 1974 Columbia

Death Wish (Soundtrack) 1974 Columbia

Dedication 1974 Columbia

Man-Child 1975 Columbia

Flood (Live album) 1975 Columbia

Secrets 1976 Columbia

VSOP (Live album) 1976 Columbia

Herbie Hancock Trio 1977 Columbia

VSOP: The Quintet (Live album) 1977 Columbia

VSOP: Tempest in the Colosseum (Live album) 1977 Columbia

Sunlight 1977 Columbia

Directstep 1978 Columbia

An Evening with Herbie Hancock & Chick Corea: In Concert (Live album with Chick Corea) 1978 Columbia

The Piano 1979 Columbia

Feets, Don't Fail Me Now 1979 Columbia

VSOP: Live Under the Sky (Live album) 1979 Columbia

CoreaHancock (Live album with Chick Corea) 1979 Polydor

Monster 1980 Columbia

Mr. Hands 1980 Columbia

Herbie Hancock Trio 1981 Columbia

Magic Windows 1981 Columbia

Lite Me Up 1982 Columbia

Quartet (Live album) 1982 Columbia

Future Shock 1983 Columbia

Sound-System 1984 Columbia

Village Life (with Foday Musa Suso) 1985 Columbia

Round Midnight (Soundtrack) 1986 Columbia

Jazz Africa (Live album with Foday Musa Suso) 1987 Polygram

Perfect Machine 1988 Columbia

A Tribute to Miles 1994 Qwest/Warner Bros.

Dis Is Da Drum 1994 Verve/Mercury

The New Standard 1995 Verve

1 + 1 (with Wayne Shorter) 1997 Verve

Gershwin's World 1998 Verve

Future2Future 2001 Transparent

Directions in Music: Live at Massey Hall (Live album) 2002 Verve

Possibilities 2005 Concord/Hear Music

River: The Joni Letters 2007 Verve

Then and Now: the Definitive Herbie Hancock 2008 Verve

The Imagine Project 2010 Hancock


As a Leader

* 2000: Dejohnette, Hancock, Holland and Metheny - Live in Concert

* 2002: Herbie Hancock Trio: Hurricane! with Ron Carter and Billy Cobham

* 2002: The Jazz Channel Presents Herbie Hancock (BET on Jazz) with Cyro Baptista, Terri Lynne Carrington, Ira Coleman, Eli Degibri and Eddie Henderson

* 2004: Herbie Hancock - Future2Future Live

* 2006: Herbie Hancock - Possibilities with John Mayer, Christina Aguilera, Joss Stone, and more



Awards

Academy Awards

* 1986, Original Soundtrack, for Round Midnight




Grammy Awards

1. 1984, Best R&B Instrumental Performance, for Rockit


2. 1985, Best R&B Instrumental Performance, for Sound-System

3. 1988, Best Instrumental Composition, for Call Sheet Blues

4. 1995, Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual Or Group, for A Tribute to Miles

5. 1997, Best Instrumental Composition, for Manhattan (Island Of Lights And Love)

6. 1999, Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocal(s), for St. Louis Blues

7. 1999, Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Individual Or Group, for Gershwin's World

8. 2003, Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group, for Directions in Music: Live at Massey Hall

9. 2003, Best Jazz Instrumental Solo, for My Ship

10. 2005, Best Jazz Instrumental Solo, for Speak Like a Child

11. 2008, Album of the Year, for River: The Joni Letters

12. 2008, Best Contemporary Jazz Album, for River: The Joni Letters


Playboy Music Poll

* Best Jazz Group, 1985

* Best Jazz Keyboards, 1985

* Best Jazz Album - Rockit, 1985

* Best Jazz Keyboards, 1986

* Best R&B Instrumentalist, 1987

* Best Jazz Instrumentalist, 1988


 Keyboard Magazine's Readers Poll

* Best Jazz & Pop Keyboardist, 1983


* Best Jazz Pianist, 1987

* Best Jazz Keyboardist, 1987

* Best Jazz Pianist, 1988


Other notable awards

* MTV Awards (5 awards in total) - Best Concept Video - Rockit, 1983–84

* Gold Note Jazz Awards - NY Chapter of the National Black MBA Association, 1985

* French Award Officer of the Order of Arts & Letters-Paris, 1985

* BMI Film Music Award "Round Midnight", 1986

* U.S. Radio Award "Best Original Music Scoring - Thom McAnn Shoes", 1986

* Los Angeles Film Critics Association "Best Score - Round Midnight", 1986

* BMI Film Music Award "Colors", 1989

* Soul Train Music Award "Best Jazz Album - The New Standard", 1997

* Festival International Jazz de Montreal Prix Miles Davis, 1997

* VH1's 100 Greatest Videos "Rockit" is "10th Greatest Video", 2001

* NEA Jazz Masters Award, 2004

* Downbeat Magazine Readers Poll Hall of Fame, 2005

* Album of the Year, 2007

* Harvard Foundation Artist of the Year, 2008

John Hanson, Was the First President of the United States 1781-1782

George Washington was really the 8th President of the United States!

George Washington was not the first President of the United States. In fact, the first President of the United States was one John Hanson. Don't go checking the encyclopedia for this guy's name - he is one of those great men that are lost to history. If you're extremely lucky, you may actually find a brief mention of his name.



The new country was actually formed on March 1, 1781 with the adoption of The Articles of Confederation.

This document was actually proposed on June 11, 1776, but not agreed upon by Congress until November 15, 1777. Maryland refused to sign this document until Virginia and New York ceded their western lands (Maryland was afraid that these states would gain too much power in the new government from such large amounts of land).






Once the signing took place in 1781, a President was needed to run the country. John Hanson was chosen unanimously by Congress (which included George Washington). In fact, all the other potential candidates refused to run against him, as he was a major player in the revolution and an extremely influential member of Congress.



As the first President, Hanson had quite the shoes to fill. No one had ever been President and the role was poorly defined. His actions in office would set precedent for all future Presidents.



He took office just as the Revolutionary War ended. Almost immediately, the troops demanded to be paid. As would be expected after any long war, there were no funds to meet the salaries. As a result, the soldiers threatened to overthrow the new government and put Washington on the throne as a monarch.



All the members of Congress ran for their lives, leaving Hanson as the only guy left running the government. He somehow managed to calm the troops down and hold the country together. If he had failed, the government would have fallen almost immediately and everyone would have been bowing to King Washington. In fact, Hanson sent 800 pounds of sterling siliver by his brother Samuel Hanson to George Washington to provide the troops with shoes.



Hanson, as President, ordered all foreign troops off American soil, as well as the removal of all foreign flags. This was quite the feat, considering the fact that so many European countries had a stake in the United States since the days following Columbus.



Hanson established the Great Seal of the United States, which all Presidents have since been required to use on all official documents.



President Hanson also established the first Treasury Department, the first Secretary of War, and the first Foreign Affairs Department.



Lastly, he declared that the fourth Thursday of every November was to be Thanksgiving Day, which is still true today.



The Articles of Confederation only allowed a President to serve a one year term during any three year period, so Hanson actually accomplished quite a bit in such little time.



Six other presidents were elected after him - Elias Boudinot (1783), Thomas Mifflin (1784), Richard Henry Lee (1785), Nathan Gorman (1786), Arthur St. Clair (1787), and Cyrus Griffin (1788) - all prior to Washington taking office.



So what happened?



Why don't we ever hear about the first seven Presidents of the United States?



It's quite simple - The Articles of Confederation didn't work well. The individual states had too much power and nothing could be agreed upon.



A new doctrine needed to be written - something we know as the Constitution.



And that leads us to the end of our story.



George Washington was definitely not the first President of the United States. He was the first President of the United States under the Constitution we follow today.



And the first seven Presidents are forgotten in history.

Mansa Abubakari II 181 years before Columbus

Mansa Musa on a 1335 map of Africa and Europe

photo source: http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Mansa-Musa


In any basic history lesson, the Italian Sailor/explorer Christopher Columbus has a famous name as the discoverer of the new world. Till date, this has been of global acceptance as for over 500 years. Education has been in the hands of the Europeans,
who many believe imposed what profited them while scorning or amending what did not.

As the waves of knowledge keep spreading, the acclaimed achievements of a number of “European” expeditions are now being observed with scepticism. One of such expeditions is the true ownership to the discovery of America.

iting the book written by the famous Egyptian scholar, Ibn Fadi Al-Umari in 1342, there were two large voyages across the Atlantic Ocean preceding that of Columbus. Both Expeditions were pioneered by one man, Abubakari or to give him his rightful name, Mansa (King) Abubakari II.

In this movie we discuss the discovery of America by Emperor Abubakari of the ancient West African empire of Mali in the early 1300's.




n the time of the Malian Empire, the general conception was that on the other end of the Atlantic lied the end of the world. This delusion took its roots from then primitive Europe. Abubakari on the other hand was far from convinced. If the Niger had its beginning and its end, then the Atlantic Ocean must have its end with people living on its shores. He also felt this could be a sea root to Mecca.

With the quest for knowledge burning in him, Abubakari sent out 200 ships. Their duty was to sail across the Atlantic, with the aim of finding out what lied beyond. It was recorded that only one of the ships returned. Its captain claiming to have turned around when he saw the other ships disappear into the wild ocean.

Abubakari was not convinced by the captain’s testimony. This further increased his thirst to discover what lied on the other end of the Ocean.

13th century Mali was a centre of excellence in Abubakari’s time, though reaching its peak after his era with Timbuktu having the second oldest University at that time with students numbering more than that of the University of New York. Courses such as mathematics, geography, history, astronomy, chemistry as well as Islamic studies flourished in Timbuktu. Mali was a center for trade, the exact spot to meet all who made the world spin. With the aid of the ship builders from Egypt and Mali, Abubakari built ships off the coast of Senegambia. His ships were 2000 in number. With this, he was to use to discover the end of the ocean. Abubakari was no coward. He insisted on accompanying the ships across the ocean.

In the year 1311, Abubakari abdicated his thrown to Mansa Musa. Not a son of his (contrary to contemporary literature). Abubakari equipped 1000 of his ships with the finest men, sorcerers, physicians, sailors and navigators. Every ship had supply ship attached to it. The number of ships totalled 2000. The other 1000 ships were loaded with foodstuffs, drugs, fruits and drinks to last his team for 2yrs. It was believed that Abubakari arrived on the other end of the Atlantic in the year 1312. Proof of the Malian expedition can be noted in the names given to places in Haiti as the Malians renamed places after themselves. Examples of such are Mandinga Port, Mandinga Bay and Sierre de Mali.

Lots of other proof abound and many more keep unfolding. There is also a Malian folktale which gives reference to this great expedition.

How could this be possible in Abubakari’s time? From a scientific point of view, the Atlantic is governed by 2 currents, which usually remain the same irrespective of month or season. These are the Guinea Current and the Canary Current. Both possess currents powerful enough to pull a ship form the coast of West Africa to the Americas. It is at end of these currents that you see the signs of negroid presence in the Americas.

t would therefore be suspected that Columbus employed similar knowledge of the currents of the Atlantic to sail across to the Americas. Such could only have been possible through the help of someone familiar with the rout. Hence the speculation that Columbus was accompanied by an African, Pedro Alonso Nino, who helped him navigate the Atlantic, appears more credible. It must be made clear that Columbus recorded seeing blacks in America. He also recorded seeing a building which looked like a mosque. The Malians were Muslims and hence there is a possibility that the mosque could have been erected by Malians. Columbus also recorded seeing a ship, filled with goods just departing the coast of guinea and heading in the direction of America.

In addition to the above, another proof of this voyage comes from words of Mansa Musa, the successor to the thrown. Upon his arrival in Egypt, it was obvious the Egyptians were expecting to see Abubakari for the Hajj. On arriving in Egypt, Mansa Musa was quoted as explaining how ascended the thrown of Mali. Once again citing the manner King Abubakari had given up his thrown to contribute to global knowledge. A trait lacking in present day African rulers.

The presence of the Malians on American soil may thus be the reason for the presence of African crops such as Banana Plants and mango to mention a few.

This incredible history of Abubakari’s adventure should be a great area of interest to all black educators, especially in rewriting world history which has been focused on imposing Eurocentric perspectives. Anything short of this would be depriving not just the black youth but the entire world of true history.

I must add before drawing the curtains, this article is not meant to scorn Columbus. Columbus till date ranks amongst the finest explorers of all time. Christopher Columbus was great, but the discovery of the Americas belongs to King Abubakari II.

This video was made in response to Salsassin's slander that the Mexicans have less than 75% African admixture. It illustrates that the Classical Maya do not look like the Olmecs. The film expalins that contemporary Mexicans look African because of the slave trade,

James Armistead ~African American Trailblazers

James Armistead Lafayette (c. December 10, 1760–August 9, 1830) was the first African American double spy. An African American slave, Armistead was owned by Will Armistead in Virginia during the American Revolution.

Most sources indicate that Armistead was born in 1748 in New Kent County, Virginia as a slave to William Armistead. Other sources put his birth around 1760 in Elizabeth City, Virginia.

After getting consent of his master, William Armistead, he volunteered in 1781 to join the army under General Lafayette. He was stationed as a spy, acting as a slave in Lord Cornwallis' camp. He relayed much information about the British plans for troop deployment and about their arms. His intelligence reports espionage were instrumental in helping to defeat the British at the surrender at Yorktown.

Because he was an intelligence agent and not technically a soldier, James could not qualify for emancipation under the Act of 1783, so with the support of William Armistead, he petitioned the Virginia State Legislature for his freedom. He received a letter of commendation dated November 21, 1784 from the Marquis de Lafayette. The facsimile of the letter of commendation can be viewed on the Lafayette College website. On January 9, 1786, the Virginia State legislature granted the slave known only as "James" his freedom for services rendered and bravery as a spy during the siege of Yorktown. It was at that time that he chose the name 'Armistead' for his middle name and 'Lafayette' for his surname, to honor the general.

Stuart's James Lafayette/Martha Washington's Birthplace

He continued to live in New Kent County with his new wife, one son and several other children. He became a farmer and at one point owned three slaves. By 1818 he applied to the state legislature for financial aid. He was granted $60 for present relief and $40 annual pension for his services in the Revolutionary War.

In 1824, he was recognized and embraced by General Lafayette during his tour of Yorktown, the story of the event was reported by the Richmond Enquirer. It was also about this time that the artist John Blennerhassett Martin painted an oil on canvas of Armistead. This painting is owned by the Valentine Museum. The artist also created a broadside including both the painted likeness and the facsimile of Lafayette's testimonial.

Another possible likeness is John-Baptiste Paon’s 1783 portrait of Lafayette at Yorktown with James Armistead holding his horse. This portrait is owned by Lafayette College and can be viewed on their website.

A discussion on the images of Armistead may be found on the Common-place website.

By 1828, James Armistead Lafayette was also featured as the general’s aid and sidekick in the novel Edge- Hill or the Family of the Fitzroyals by James Ewell Heath.

Some black Americans with the last name of Armistead are suspected of being descendants of James Armistead Lafayette as he is said to have had a number of children after the Revolution. Also it is possible that James was an illegitimate son of William Armistead, The Purser of the Virginia Troops. Regardless of his birth, he is remembered as an American patriot. His intelligence contributions to Lafayette and Washington aided in the capture Gen. Cornwallis at Yorktown, Va. with few shots fired.

He died on August 9, 1832 as a freed slave turned farmer.

The Birth of a Nation The Movie 1915

The Birth of a Nation (premiered with the title The Clansman) is a 1915 silent film directed by D. W. Griffith. Set during and after the American Civil War, the film was based on Thomas Dixon's The Clansman, a novel and play.



The Birth of a Nation was the highest-grossing film of its day, and is noted for its innovative camera techniques and narrative achievements. It has provoked great controversy for promoting white supremacy and positively portraying the "knights" (male members) of the Ku Klux Klan as heroes.



Plot



This silent film was originally presented in two parts separated by an intermission. Part 1 depicted pre-Civil War America, introducing two juxtaposed families: the Northern Stonemans, consisting of abolitionist Congressman Austin Stoneman (based on real-life Reconstruction-era Congressman Thaddeus Stevens), his two sons, and his daughter, Elsie, and the Southern Camerons, a family including two daughters (Margaret and Flora) and three sons, most notably Ben.



The Stoneman boys visit the Camerons at their South Carolina estate, representing the Old South. The eldest Stoneman boy falls in love with Margaret Cameron, and Ben Cameron idolizes a picture of Elsie Stoneman. When the Civil War begins, all the young men join their respective armies. A black militia (with a white leader) ransacks the Cameron house. The Cameron women are rescued when Confederate soldiers rout the militia. Meanwhile, the youngest Stoneman and two Cameron boys are killed in the war. Ben Cameron is wounded after a heroic battle in which he gains the nickname, "the Little Colonel," by which he is referred for the rest of the film. The Little Colonel is taken to a Northern hospital where he meets Elsie, who is working there as a nurse. The war ends and Abraham Lincoln is assassinated at Ford's Theater, allowing Austin Stoneman and other radical congressmen to punish the South for secession, using radical measures Griffith depicts as typical of the Reconstruction era.



Part 2 depicts Reconstruction. Stoneman and his "mulatto" protegé, Silas Lynch, go to South Carolina to observe the expanded franchise. Black soldiers parade through the streets. During the election, whites are shown being turned away while blacks stuff the ballot boxes. The newly elected black legislature passes laws requiring white civilians to salute black officers and allowing mixed-race marriages.



Meanwhile, Ben, inspired by observing white children pretending to be ghosts to scare off black children, devises a plan to reverse the perceived powerlessness of Southern whites by forming the Ku Klux Klan. Elsie is angered by his membership in the group.

Hooded Klansmen catch Gus, a black man whom the filmmaker described as "a renegade, a product of the vicious doctrines spread by the carpetbaggers." Gus was portrayed in blackface by white actorWalter Long .





Then Gus, a former slave who became educated and gained a title of recognition through the army, proposes to marry Flora. Scared by Gus' lascivious advances, she flees into the forest, pursued by Gus. Trapped on a precipice, Flora leaps to her death. In response, the Klan hunts Gus, tries him and finds him guilty, kills him, and leaves his corpse on Lieutenant Governor Silas Lynch's doorstep. In retaliation, Lynch orders a crackdown on the Klan. The Camerons flee from the black militia and hide out in a small hut, home to two former Union soldiers, who agree to assist their former Southern foes in defending their Aryan birthright, according to the caption.



Meanwhile, with Austin Stoneman gone, Lynch tries to force Elsie to marry him. Disguised Klansmen discover her situation and leave to get reinforcements. The Klan, now at full strength, rides to her rescue and takes the opportunity to disperse the rioting negroes. Simultaneously, Lynch's militia surrounds and attacks the hut where the Camerons are hiding, but the Klan saves them just in time. Victorious, the Klansmen celebrate in the streets. The film cuts to the next election where the Klan successfully disenfranchises black voters and disarms the blacks. The film concludes with a double honeymoon of Phil Stoneman with Margaret Cameron and Ben Cameron with Elsie Stoneman. The final frame shows masses oppressed by a mythical god of war suddenly finding peace under the image of Christ. The final title rhetorically asks: "Dare we dream of a golden day when the bestial War shall rule no more? But instead-the gentle Prince in the Hall of Brotherly Love in the City of Peace."





Production



The Birth of a Nation pioneered such camera techniques as deep focus, jump-cut, and facial close-up, which are now considered integral to the industry. It also contains many new cinematic innovations, special effects, and artistic techniques. At the time, it shattered both box office and film-length records, running three hours and ten minutes. It was voted one of the "Top 100 American Films" (# 44) by the American Film Institute in 1998.



The film was based on Thomas Dixon's novels The Clansman and The Leopard's Spots. Griffith, whose father served as a colonel in the Confederate Army, agreed to pay Thomas Dixon $10,000 for the rights to his play The Clansman. Since he ran out of money and could afford only $2,500 of the original option, Griffith offered Dixon 25 percent interest in the picture. Dixon reluctantly agreed. The film's unprecedented success made him rich. Dixon's proceeds were the largest sum any author had received for a motion picture story and amounted to several million dollars.








Griffith's budget started at US$40,000, but the film finally cost $112,000 (the equivalent of $2.38 million in 2008). As a result, Griffith had to seek new sources of capital for his film. A ticket to the film cost a record $2 (the equivalent of $42.07 in 2008). It was the most profitable film in history until it was dethroned by Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937.

Woodrow Wilson's History of the American People is quoted in The Birth of a Nation.


West Point engineers provided technical advice on the Civil War battle scenes. They provided Griffith with the artillery used in the film.



The film premiered on February 8, 1915, at Clune's Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles.



At its premiere the film was entitled The Clansman but the title was later changed to The Birth of a Nation to reflect Griffith's belief that the United States emerged out of the American Civil War and Reconstruction as a unified nation.



The film is currently in the public domain.





Responses



The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, founded in 1909, protested premieres of the film in numerous cities. It also conducted a public education campaign, publishing articles' protesting the film's fabrications and inaccuracies, organizing petitions against it, and conducting education on the facts of the war and Reconstruction.



When the film was shown, riots broke out in Boston, Philadelphia and other major cities. Chicago, Denver, Kansas City, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh and St. Louis refused to allow the film to open. The film's inflammatory character was a catalyst for gangs of whites to attack blacks. In Lafayette, Indiana, after seeing the movie, a white man murdered a black teenager.






Thomas Dixon, author of the source play The Clansman, was a former classmate of President Woodrow Wilson at Johns Hopkins University. Dixon arranged a screening at the White House, for Wilson, members of his cabinet, and their families. Wilson was reported to have commented of the film that "it is like writing history with lightning. And my only regret is that it is all so terribly true". In Wilson: the new freedom, Arthur Link quotes Wilson's aide, Joseph Tumulty, who denied Wilson said this and also claims that "the President was entirely unaware of the nature of the play before it was presented and at no time has expressed his approbation of it." However, Woodrow Wilson's History of the American People explained the Ku Klux Klan of the late 1860s as the natural outgrowth of Reconstruction, a lawless reaction to a lawless period. Wilson noted that the Klan "began to attempt by intimidation what they were not allowed to attempt by the ballot or by any ordered course of public action." In the film, approbation for the Klan, citing Wilson's History, is directly quoted.








Relentless in publicizing the film, Dixon was apparently the source for the quotation. It has been repeated so often in print that it has taken on a separate life. Dixon went so far as to promote the film as "Federally endorsed". After controversy over the film had grown, Wilson wrote that he disapproved of the "unfortunate production." D. W. Griffith responded to the film's negative critical reception with his next film Intolerance.



In 1918 Emmett J. Scott helped produce and John W. Noble directed The Birth of a Race in response. The film portrayed a positive image of blacks. Although the film was panned by white critics, it was well-received by black critics and moviegoers attending segregated theaters. Also in 1919, director/producer/writer Oscar Micheaux released Within Our Gates, another response. Notably, he reversed a key scene of Griffith's film by depicting a white man's assaulting a black woman.








Ideology and accuracy



The film is controversial due to its interpretation of history. University of Houston historian Steven Mintz summarizes its message as follows: Reconstruction was a disaster, blacks could never be integrated into white society as equals, and the violent actions of the Ku Klux Klan were justified to reestablish honest government. The film suggested that the Ku Klux Klan restored order to the post-war South, which was depicted as endangered by abolitionists, freedmen, and carpetbagging Republican politicians from the North. This reflects the so-called Dunning School of historiography.



W. E. B. Du Bois and other black historians vigorously disputed this interpretation when the film was released. Most historians of all backgrounds today agree with them, as they note African Americans' loyalty and contributions during the Civil War years and Reconstruction, including the establishment of universal public education. Some historians, such as E. Merton Coulter in his The South Under Reconstruction (1947), maintained the Dunning School view after World War II. Today the Dunning School position is largely seen as a product of anti-black racism of the early twentieth century, by which many Americans held that black Americans were unequal as citizens.



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Veteran film reviewer Roger Ebert wrote,



* ... stung by criticisms that the second half of his masterpiece was racist in its glorification of the Ku Klux Klan and its brutal images of blacks, Griffith tried to make amends in Intolerance (1916), which criticized prejudice. And in "Broken Blossoms" he told perhaps the first interracial love story in the movies--even though, to be sure, it's an idealized love with no touching.



Despite some similarities between the Congressman Stoneman character and Rep. Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania, Rep. Stevens did not have the family members described and did not move to South Carolina during Reconstruction. He died in Washington, DC in 1868.



The depictions of mass Klan paramilitary actions do not seem to have historical equivalents, although there were incidents in 1871 where Klan groups traveled from other areas in fairly large numbers to aid localities in disarming local companies of the all-black portion of the state militia under various justifications prior to the eventual Federal troop intervention and the organized Klan's continued activities as small groups of "night riders".



The civil rights movement and other social movements created a new generation of historians, such as scholar Eric Foner, who led a reassessment of Reconstruction. Building on Du Bois' work but also adding new sources, they focused on achievements of the African American and white Republican coalitions, such as establishment of universal public education and charitable institutions in the South and extension of suffrage to black men. In response, the Southern-dominated Democratic Party and its affiliated white militias used extensive terrorism, intimidation and outright assassinations to suppress African-American leaders and voting in the 1870s and to regain power.



Significance
Released in 1915, the film has been credited with securing a successful future of feature-length films (any film over 60 minutes in length) and of the film industry itself, as well as solidifying the visual language of cinema.



In its day, it was the highest-grossing film, taking in more than $10 million, according to the box cover of the Shepard version of the DVD (equivalent to $200 million in 2007).

The website Rotten Tomatoes, which compiles reviews from various sources, indicates the film has a 100% "fresh" (positive) rating.



In 1992 the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. Despite its controversial story, the film has been praised by film critics such as Roger Ebert, who said: "'The Birth of a Nation' is not a bad film because it argues for evil. Like Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will, it is a great film that argues for evil. To understand how it does so is to learn a great deal about film, and even something about evil."




According to a 2002 article in the Los Angeles Times, the film facilitated the refounding of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. As late as the 1970s, the Ku Klux Klan continued to use the film as a recruitment tool.

Who’s Really Running the Country

A BOULE PUPPET!!! IT IS WHAT IT IS!!!


I have been having a nagging intuition lately that something is not quite right about Barack Obama. I am not suggesting there is something wrong with the man, per se. Nor am I talking about the crazy, even dangerous, policies coming out of the White House. No, lately, I have been wondering if Barack Obama is, in fact, the person who is actually functioning as President of the United States.

I mean, there’s no doubt that he fills the position of POTUS but is he really the one in command? The man actually seems lost at times. He seems to be reacting to ideas about which he does not really have a clue. He has left the writing of this health care bill to Nancy Pelosi’s House of Representatives and she, in turn, has farmed the writing out to several fairly radical community action groups. When questioned about health care, he seems not to know or understand the details and even with his silver-tongue seems unable to demonstrate any leadership on the issue.

With respect to Afghanistan and the rest of our foreign policy, he seems equally lost. Especially when it comes to dealing with other world leaders. He makes beautiful speeches but seems to be unable to cut deals which benefit our nation. He seems to be acting as a pawn of much more clever world leaders.



The more I watch the man, the more I see a person who appears to be the “face” of some other entity or group. He seems like a “front man”. And it is becoming clear that his strings are being pulled by someone else. He does not appear to be the man in command of the ship of state. At least, he is not in the driver’s seat.












You might recall that people said about Bush that he was a front man for the neo-cons and that it was really Dick Cheney that was running the show. It turns out that Dick Cheney was not as influential in Bush’s second term as many thought but, perhaps it is true that the neo-cons, whoever they may be, were pulling some of Bush’s strings.

On the other hand, with Obama, it does not appear that there is anyone who is visible to ‘we the people’ or the media who is pulling the strings. If they are there, they are not in elected positions as Cheney was. They are better hidden than that.



We know that he has been and remains surrounded by life-long radicals, professed communists and anti-capitalists, some of whom he has even appointed as czars in his administration. Thirty six czars, to date. But is it Obama who is picking the czars or is it the czars who are running the show and propping up Obama as their front man?



I know all this may sound crazy but, really, when you look at the man without the idolatry and media worship, does he really look like he knows what he is doing? Does he seem to have a direction? Firm convictions? Something he deeply believes in? The more he talks now, the more his words seems empty of content. Platitudes about America and the American people which, when he says them, simply do not ring true. They are words being mouthed but not believed by him.



Okay, so maybe he is really clever, is firmly moving the ship to the left while mouthing the words of a centrist but I don’t think so. What I used to think was that he was a really slick conman who was making us watch his left hand while he was manipulating us with his right. But, now I don’t think that so much. I think the man is more plastic than real. Now I begin to see him as the “Great and Powerful Oz”: a fearsome presence who is being manipulated by men behind the curtain. And while Obama does not have strong convictions, the men behind the curtain do. And they are moving this country down a dangerous path. All the while, we are being distracted by Obama and what he says and does.



Okay, maybe I am simply a mildly paranoid conspiracy theorist. Why, you might ask, have Obama up there? Why not have one of the actual people behind the curtain run for President. Well, being a paranoid conspiracy theorist, I can come up with an answer to that question. Those other people behind the curtain have backgrounds that are so radical that they would never have made it past the first few days of a campaign. Additionally, they are life-long community organizers and they know what kind of face can be effective if you wish to radically change the nation. First, you need a black man to gain the support of the vast black minority. Second, you need a pale skinned black man so as not to be too much of a threat to white Americans. For the same reasons, you need a mixed race man who allies himself with the poor and down-trodden.



And you need someone who speaks well enough to co-opt the language of the right and appear to be a uniter, not a divider. Someone who sees, or at least can articulate, both sides of an issue. This is the kind of man you would pick to be your front man so that while you move things drastically and dramatically left, the vast majority of Americans will not believe that was the intention of the moderate appearing front man.



Yes, Obama was a community organizer. Yes, he could be clever enough to have this all be his idea. But he really wasn’t a community organizer for that long. And when he was, he didn’t do anything truly radical. It was more a time during which he was being trained than a time when he was driven by a personal sense of commitment to anything in particular. There are people who are now in his government who have been community organizers and radical left wing activists for 20-30 years. These people have deeply ingrained commitments to changing the system and have been actively trying to do so for all that time. Obama is not one of them.



In my view, Obama has been trained and used as a puppet by others for a long time. His successes seem to have come too easily, as if they have been orchestrated. His life appears to have been pre-planned. I mean, Harvard Law Review without publishing a single paper of note. That is unusual. A community organizer for a short time, a State legislator for a few years, a freshman US Senator, a convention key-note speaker, and then POTUS. How does that happen? A person with zero governmental administrative experience is running the entire government of the United States.



How do 1,017 page documents get developed and put out in such short order? Who is writing all these proposals? Does it not seem that something is just not quite right here? Forget about the specifics of the policies for the moment. Have you seen this level of activity in the first few months of any other administration in your lifetime? Does Obama seem like the kind of person that could manage this level of activity in so short a time? Too much does not make sense here.

So, slowly but surely, I am becoming convinced that it’s not Barack Obama who is running the show. The White House has been captured by a group of people who are using Barack Obama as their front man. He is nothing but an articulate but empty suit. We have to start looking behind the curtains to find out who is really controlling the “great and powerful Obama.”



Something to think about….