GROTHE

Dear Rosa, Dear Parks

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Submitted by GuyMontag on Mon, 10/24/2005 - 10:03pm.

Rosa Parks 1913-2005

Rosa Parks, known as the mother of the civil rights movement in America, died last night in Detroit's East Side. She was 92 years old. Parks is best known for her refusal to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama, and was kicked off the bus. Her refusal started a boycott of the bus system in Montgomery, which eventually ended in a Supreme Court decision outlawing segregation. Mrs. Parks moved to Detroit after the boycott, and has lived there until her death. Mrs. Parks received the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor, which is the highest award given to a civilian.

A number of books have been written about this amazing woman, and her even more amazing life.

Rosa Parks: 1913-2005

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Speaking of Education

Dr. Uplift and I were having a conversation last night about furthering our journalism careers. I am applying to Newhouse.  He is applying to Columbia.  In lieu of the GRE Columbia's potential candidates must pass a current affairs test to matriculate in.

The test has various questions like "Where is the secret location of Asama bin Laden" and "What is the significance of Abu Gharib?"

Dr. Uplift was reading off some of the questions and asked "What is the capital of the United States?" That's easy I think, Washington D.C. He says, Harrisburg, of course.

Harrisburg?  The capital of Philadelphia is Harrisburg. Clue #1 that this mofo is not getting in.

He asks "What are the seven continents?"  He names 3 and cannot remember the rest.

I say "North America, South America, Australia...."

Australia?, he balks.  Australia is not a continent. 

Another reason pop culture should be banned indoors.

Bill Bennett, (th)ink, and John Roberts Collide

                               The Bill Bennett/John Roberts connection...

"If you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose -- you could abort every black baby in this country and your crime rate would go down, Bennett told a caller to his syndicated radio talk show.

In a world of celebrity culture pushing the enevolpe for name sake, one cartoonist or the other Black cartoonist (in some circles), uses pen to bring social awareness and enlightment to those who read the funny pages.

Keith Knight spoke about race issues and the importance of community based arts On Oct 19 at the Ann Arbor District Library.  Keith Knight is on a midwest tour.

When his conspiracy theory strip ran on the 13th, former Regan Education Secretary, Bill Bennett's radio program announcement sent ripples through middle (Black) America. 

It is alarming when people in general publicize certain blatant racist propganbda but when it comes from a former Education Secretary, the issue of race and education should take immediate precednce in the news.

Instances of racial steroetyping are more damaging in the classroom to young students than experienced elsewehere.  For young students whose lives revolve around the classroom being mistreated becuase of their skin color can be devasstating.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in a press release expressed "disgust" and asked President Bush to renounce Bennett's comment.   

Bennett's website quotes him as saying, "I like to get to the truth of things, that's the philosopher's job. When I get it wrong, people will tell us. We're not going to insult our callers, we'll depend on our callers. We'll engage them. I'm a conservative, but I'm not going to assume that the conservative line is always right."

Caveat Emptor Administratio

Amid the frequent penis enlargement, financial empowerment and free iPod Nano spam mailings clogging my inbox, I received a warm letter from my loan provider, the federal government. It seems that I am 45 days overdue with my loan payment.  My loan is in forbearance.  The email must have been a mistake, dreamily thinking to myself. 

I called a DLS customer service representative to resolve this problem (DLS must pay their workers peanuts because they are always rude). I informed Belinda (that's such a rep name) of the problem at-hand and in protocol fashion, Belinda asked for a litany of information. 

"This is not new information. You knew this already." Suddenly she knows me on a personal level.

Belinda proceeded to think of me not as the patient customer (that I was) but as her child.

Since graduating from undergrad in 2002 my life was been continually spiraling into a episode of The Simple Life: Interns. Shifting from "this is not a real job" nightmare to a "what the hell I am wearing and why I am here" workdays. Fortunately I was accepted into my graduate program in 2004 to avoid paying my rich uncle. Government started calling last winter semester (termed spring at smaller institutions) when I dropped down from 3 classes to 1 class. Uncle Sam, knowing that I have the gift of telepathy, failed to call me before my loan account was first overdue.  Wait, no. They called and left a message (supposedly) stating to call a forgettable person at a forgettable 800 number (see bullshit).

Receiving a blow to the head, I was informed that I should submit a Forbearance form. The rep failed to inform me that the suspension of repayment was for 3 months only (see postal). 

Sometimes How I Find Myself

It is becoming exceedingly clear that as a freelance writer I should be taking a more proactive and realistic approach to finding decent (paying) work.

Instead of jumping over hoops for editors that do not respond to my emails I am going to take a direction in my writing.

Step 1: Avoid Craigslist/Myspace classified ads seeking writers. The psychopaths (see hiphop-magazine.com, accentmag.com ) that post ads looking for writers aren't really looking for writer's they relish in filling their empty inboxes with writer's hopes.

Step 2: Seek out local and niche peridocials.

Step 3: Network more with publishers.

Step 4: Write about anything.

One encouraging development is that, I have been tapped to start a new column at Dr. Uplift. My column will run weekly.

Capoeira Jogos

Capoeira is everything the mouth eats.  -- Mestre Pastinha

I am a master that learns, and a student who teaches. -- Old capoeira song

               

    

My latest freelance assignment is writing an article about capoeira, the Afro-Brazilian dance form that incorporates self-defense maneuvers.  To give my readership a better view of the dance I decided to sit in on a capoeira class.  I met with a capoeira instructor to get an interview.  The class had five students.  We practiced outside the dance studio on the dewy grass.

The Afro-Brazilian music playing created an intense mood.  The main instruments used in capoeira are the berimbau, atabaque and pandeiro.

We started with Ginga, the most basic movement of Capoeira.  All Capoeira movements derrive from this dance-like fighting position.

The most important concept to remeber in Capoeira is keep your movements fluid.

Followed into Cocorinha and Negativa. In Negativa You can drop into the Negativa from the Ginga  You have one leg bent and your weight should be balanced on its football. The other leg is stretched with the toes pointing to the side. Out of a degree of difficulty (1 being easy/5 being hard as hell)This movement was hard as hell.

After embaraasing myself, being unable to follow the pattern of movements. The instrutor took me aside and gave me a personal lesson. I have never been coordinated.

We executed Au, a cartwheel and moved into Armada, the standard standing spin kick.

Oh My Neck, My Back ... 

Two hours into the class, sweating more than anyone else, legs feeling like I've squatted 200 lbs, biceps twitching, I called it quits.  I observed my classmates in wonder.  Though this was my first class, they have been coming to class three days a week for the past five weeks.   

What Can One Expect From a Capoeira Class?
"Be prepared to work out! Capoeira is a very physical activity. Since we play capoeira in bare feet mostly, we suggest using sports tape to prevent blisters. The normal class structure starts with warm-ups, stretching, strength work, partner drills according to level, more ab work and we finish off with either music or a quick roda."  --Bantus Capoeira Malaysia