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Movie Night Friday – Malcolm X

Welcome back to another week of Movie Night Friday, where I present some of my favorite movies and why I love them. Next up on our list is Malcolm X:

I still don’t understand why Denzel Washington could win an Oscar for Training Day and not Malcolm X, it is in my opinion one of his best roles (Washington did win the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor). Directed and co-written by Spike Lee, Malcolm X released in November of ’92 and is based on the life of Malcolm X from his Biography. It was a time where, after the crack epidemic of the 80’s, Black people had begun to pick up some inkling of consciousness. You’ll notice many movies in the early 90s where blacks wore Kufi’s, and Dashiki’s as an indication of awareness (even though not completely, there is always stepping stones that take place in our lives that start us on the right path). Needless to say Malcolm X was a hit.

The movie takes us through the life of Malcolm Little, his early life as a gangster and as a criminal and his transformation as the controversial Islamic, Black Nationalist leader Malcolm X. For the record, I am not a Muslim, but I love how Denzel showed Malcolm’s passion and anyone with access to YouTube can verify this in the eyes of the real Malcolm. It’s one thing to make a speech or stand for something, but it’s a completely different thing when you are sincere about it, when you have passion that comes from the depths of your very heart and Malcolm had this. He had this and it lit a fire under those who wished to be apart of change for the so called Black people. And because of the traumatic experiences of America, we more than our brothers and sisters in any other country worldwide, need the kind of discipline that Malcolm brought forward; a tough love if you will. I also love the outreach programs catered to the community and the re-instilling of a love of self; the teaching of black people to embrace, as Malcolm put it, “their beautiful black selves”. Of course today I have a different perspective on the whole black thing (as I do not believe our nationality is defined by a color, that we are from the lost tribe of shabbaz or that white people are devils, for the record), but this movie was a great first step for many young people, such as myself, to dig deeper into the question of nationhood. The movie even portrayed Malcolm’s awareness that the Hebrews, was (are) Black Skinned:

Yea Yea, ignore the title of the video because this isn’t about religion and it’s deeper than color, but the point is that scenes such as this is a great introduction to full understanding for someone who otherwise does not know.

Moving on…

Additionally, I loved the way Malcolm explained things because not everyone can do that. Yes, you say that you believe in something but what is that belief based on? And what do you mean? Malcolm spoke to understanding, he was precise, knowledgeable, and aware on a level that made your head spin. Just watching this movie alone makes me excited and compelled to do something. But of all this, the most important part of the movie, in which it was careful not to go into much detail, was the end, Malcolm’s split from the NOI (Nation of Islam)

You see, I cannot judge neither Malcolm X or Martin Luther King Dr., for what they were for the first part of their lives. For me, what’s important is how they ended their lives. Malcolm X left this world with a different outlook on life and I do believe he understood the truth completely. He discovered the lies and attempted to expose the truth when he was murdered, as did Dr. King (whose entire jaw was blown off as symbolism that you keep your mouth shut). You see, men of this caliber, who spark this much power among black people, they aren’t just killed by random acts of violence, they are murdered and this is not political mumbo jumbo nor is it conspiracy theory; this is conspiracy fact.

In 2010, Malcolm X the film, was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

Trailer:

Funny Movie Mistakes:

When Malcolm is talking on the telephone in an extreme close up, you can see the connector on the phone is one of the modern snap-in modular jacks. Telephones in the 1960’s did not have those.

Watch the movie and see if you can spot the knot!

“What’s your favorite movie? Why do you love it?”

#Ronovan Writes Weekly #BeWoW Prompt- Get It Together

No, that’s not Ron’s suggested prompt but it was inspired by it. Ronovan’s prompt is “Are You Ok?”

It’s an interesting thing how a week can comprise a singular theme. Sometimes there are lessons we have to learn and messages silently embedded into our day to day that we do no always see. The central theme of my week for instance had to do with not letting things burden me. So when I saw Ron’s prompt: “Are You OK?” it was on accord with my thoughts already. So my dose of positivity for today is Ron’s idea with a mixture of something I tell myself often, more so this week, and that is: “Get It Together!”

For those of you who know me by now, you know that I believe strongly in the power of choice and how our choices impact our lives. I counsel sisters from time to time and I noticed there’s a lot of depression taking place. I even found such depression to try and overtake me but I had to stop and ask myself a serious question: “Do you want to feel this way right now? Of all the things that need to be done and that are being done, really EC? Now?” From there I made the conscious decision to be OK with leaving things undone that attempt to rob me of the peace I so need in this moment. This was important to me because I knew that I will not otherwise accomplish the things I needed to. I saw this feeling then as a stumbling block to my daily priorities. Sometimes the problem is that we often try to go back and see how we can redo things that we really need to let go completely. We all have our moments (I know I do), but when our emotions get tangled sometimes we do not need to dwell on why, we just need to “Get it together” because the choice is yours no matter what it is. If you want to, you can shake the baggage and fly or you can give it permission to wear you down.

For the most part the advice to those who suffer from depression or any other negative spirit is “trying to figure out what’s wrong”, but not today. Today my message is the opposite, just drop it and get yourself together. Easier said than done I know, but it’s not impossible to do. Sometimes it’s not about thinking things through, it’s about letting them go completely and being OK with moving on.

The Writer in Me: TV

A Supernatural Meme that has nothing to do with this post

Does the writer in you get in the way of certain normal activities? Do you react differently in certain situations because of how you analyze the writing in it? Maybe you used to read books strictly for entertainment, but now you can’t stop noticing run-on sentences and comma splices. Well, maybe that’s more along the lines of the Grammatical Geeks (of which I happen to not be one of them, for those of you who’ve counted all of my grammatical mistakes in the first two sentences of this post) but you get the point. For instance, watching movies is not just about watching movies anymore. I don’t know about you, but TV means so much more now than entertainment on a number of levels. One of those levels is writing. When I sit down to watch a good TV show or movie, one thing I notice is how well (or poorly) the writer outlined a scene. Sure the director and actors play a major role, but I’m also looking at how the story was written, what was left out, and why. Its kinda weird I’ll admit. I’m probably the only person who yells at the screen:

“What? That doesn’t even make any sense. Who wrote this?”

On occasion I do blame the actors but mostly for me its the writers. I mean, don’t say Sara hates the color red and then have her skipping down the street in red platforms. And please don’t overdue the dialogue. The second season of American Horror Story almost lost me, way too much talking going on between the head guy of the catholic mental institution and the demonically possessed Nun (yea, forgot both their names). That season just seemed to be a lot slower than the first one. The writer in me therefore sought to mentally ask the writer what happened. Supernatural on the other hand is totally awesome when it comes to dialogue. I love the conversations between Sam and Dean, the humor that is incorporated into the story, and the carrying out of the roles by the actors. Speaking of awesome, when a TV show is excellent the writer again gets all of my praise. It rarely occurs to me that the actors merely improvised or that the director deleted a scene. In the end, I just can’t help the writers eye. But believe it or not this actually helps me in my own writing. When I write, I like to picture it playing out like a movie. I figure if I picture the story unfolding like a movie, chances are I’ll critique it with the same level of attention. Nope,. doesn’t always work but I still do it. In the same way, when I watch TV shows or movies I sometimes see it as a manuscript. I mean, someone had to write it first… write?

Movie Night Friday – Coming To America

It is a treasure to find movies that have it all, and Coming to America is one of those movies. Comedy, History, and Symbolism.

For the most part, I fell in love with this movie for the same reason that everyone else did, because of its humor. If you need something to help make you laugh then put this movie in. I’m not even going to ask you if it’s part of your collection. I mean, you do have Coming to America…..right???? But as time went on I also started to notice other information of importance that surpassed the laughs. Not only is this movie extremely hilarious, but it also includes many messages.

Starring Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall, Coming to America is about Akeem Joffer, the crown prince to the throne of the wealthy African nation of Zamunda, who lives a prosperous life. But having been appointed a wife from birth and forced to marry her, Akeem is unfulfilled to take a woman who would obey him and submit to him. He is also uneasy with the idea of the arranged marriage. In fact, he is sick of being pampered in general. As a result, he decides to take a trip to America to find his bride; as he puts it, “someone who will excite his intellect, as well as his loins.” To make a long story short, he takes with him his friend (or personal side kick whichever fits), named Semmi and together they end up in Queens New York, an impoverished part of New York City, and opt to stay in a run-down apartment in one of the most disgusting rooms in the building (“it’s a shame what they did to that dog”…lol)

Now, since there is so much here, I’m going to take only a couple aspects of the movie that I see that involve a deeper message than the ability to tickle the funny bone.

#1: Authority and Submission

To start, part of Akeem’s travels is that he is not interested in taking a submissive woman as wife. It’s more than the arranged marriage; it is also the woman’s trained obedience to his authority. The famous, “Whatever you like…” scene showcases this well. While many of us laughed at this and threw our “I know that’s rights!” into the air, smashing our judgmental comments of Imani Izzi (arranged bride-to-be seen here) at the screen, in truth there was nothing wrong with what she said. Of course they had to exaggerate it, but the point is that a woman is supposed to obey her husband. She is his helpmate and her desire is his desire. Contrary to popular belief, authority has nothing to do with money. A man is not the head of his household because he’s supposed to make the money and a woman’s money does not appoint her as the head either. This is society’s definition of authority and it is the reason many women think they can step all over a man because they make more money than he does. And isn’t it a shame? That the one thing we value most in a man, many of our men do not have. No wonder 70% of black women are single.

A man’s authority is to be the leader and the protector of the family. A man provides more than just money. He provides protection, leadership, and guidance just to name a few. Contrary to feminist thought, submission does not mean weak nor is it synonymous with slave. Submission just means to give respect and to be in agreement. When a woman is respectful and in agreement with her husband she is following his direction. In addition, she strives to keep him happy in every aspect. The saying that a woman is a lady in public and a freak in the bedroom is not made up by happen chance. It just means that a woman works to keep her man happy in every capacity. Even something as subtle as King Jaffe sitting on the throne and Queen Aeoleon standing by his side; this is an accurate portrayal of how it should be. It is no wonder the King walks around with a lion hanging from his shoulders. In the animal kingdom, the lioness hunts down the food, she brings it to the lion, and he is the first to eat. Like I said, respect. As you can see from this example, the woman is by no means idle and her job is not insignificant. She must work to keep the family strong just as he does and ensure her home is a happy and thriving one for her family. She may do this by working or staying at home. Either way, she is helping to add to the strength of this business of sorts called family. She makes decisions and suggestions as well but this authority does not surpass that of her man’s. There can be only one CEO of this business and he stands up to pee for a reason.

In short, Akeem refuses a woman from his own cultural background who will be obedient and respectful to him, and instead seeks a woman from America who is more independent-minded.

#2 Identity

Akeem is in line to receive his father’s possessions. He is the royal descendent of a great people, much like the children of Israel. As he and Semmi maneuver their way around the “Land of the Free”, you start to notice an unraveling of their culture. They do not desire to be a set-apart nation of priests; they are simply, “Ordinary Americans.” They go from living in a palace to living in poverty; from letting their hair grow long to cutting it off; to being draped in gold, to designer jackets; from being pampered and provided for by a King, to having to work a 9-5 at a restaurant. Akeem and Semmi go from being among a powerful and set-apart people, to a downtrodden and despised people. They go from being in line to inherit the blessings, to accepting of the curse. In America, Akeem is not proud of his cultural heritage, he is ashamed of it.

Even the end of the movie is significant, but I will leave that part alone for the 2-3 people reading this who have not seen Coming to America (smh).

Trailer:

Funny Movie Mistakes:

When Akeem and Semmi get their apartment, the landlord says that the room has only one window facing a brick wall. But when Akeem is out on the fire escape, he yells out to a street, not a wall. And there are two windows.

Watch the movie and see if you can spot the knot!

“What’s your favorite movie? Is this among your collection? Why do you love it?”

#Ronovan Writes #BeWoW Weekly Blog share – Positive Quotes

As I thought about what to write for today’s #BeWoW, I struggled a bit. What is left to be said week after week about positivity? And what purpose does this light afford us? I started to list some of my favorite positive quotes, but it somehow did not seem sufficient. I’m all for happy endings but I also do not want to bore you. Quotes are cool, but they only go so far. And since I already indulged in some “quoting” today, I didn’t want to overdo it. So I sat here and I thought and instead of being my normal speedy gonzales self, I embraced the patience and thought some more. I even let my thoughts roam to other things, did some cleaning, ran some errands and gave this post a rest for a while. And as I did so, I realized how much a day can change from one to another. I thought about how different yesterday was for me than today and how far away last week seems to be from today. I thought about how I felt in the recent past and how it affected the present future. I thought about how easy it is to feel angry or sad one moment and excited and joyful the next. How simple it is to be spun into a wide range of emotions in one moment and to be relaxed and content the next. In this I understood how important it is to find and embrace the positive moments in our life. As a result, I do have a positive quote to share, but only one. And I hope that it gives you the serenity, courage, positivity, and strength you need to continue through to the rest of the week:

“The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.”

― Bob Marley

The Hobbyist Writer & Understanding Goals

“Do you consider writing to be a Hobby alone? Or do you intend to build a business around it”

This is a question I often ask people who approach me with the idea of writing and self-publishing a book. Mostly young people who are new to the industry and do not have a lot of information about how to go about the Self-Publishing process. So I thought I’d write about it here since I was recently approached by a young woman who’s writing her first novel (yayy her!). The core of the question is this: What goals do you have for this book? Is it the first of many or something you just want to try and see where it takes you? Do you plan to become an author with websites and blogs and networks or is this just something you want to put out to see your name in print? Do you plan to publish Traditionally or Self-Publish?

It benefits to weigh the pros and cons of self-publishing and traditional publishing. Even though I’m a Self-Publisher, by looking into TP (the unofficial abbreviation for Traditional Publishing), I’ve learned a lot in my career. I’ve learned how to be better organized for example. I have always said myself: “if you don’t think you can put in the work necessary for self-publishing, it may be a good idea not to.” But I have learned too that everyone does not have this option, though they have this option. For most people, the option to publish traditionally flies out the window at the thought that it will never happen because it’s based on the approval of someone outside of themselves and it is therefore no guarantee. But as a result, they blindly plunge into this ever growing sea of books and fall into the category of a Hobbyist Writer.

What is a Hobbyist Writer? Something I made up. But, more specifically, a Hobbyist Writer is someone who’s infatuated with the idea of publishing. There is no specific goal or reasoning behind publishing the book except to see what it’s like to hold its preciousness between your fingers and bask in the awe of what you’ve done. The internet has made it easy to publish almost anything. Thus, there are waves of new authors out there who write specifically to publish their work and to see it in print. I think this is great. On the other hand, if you plan to get more serious and organized, to simply write books and publish them without vision, or direction does nothing for your writing career. So know what you want and the requirements to obtain it. Writing a book doesn’t have to mean you want to publish it and publishing a book doesn’t mean you want to sell it. Thanks to today’s technology, we have these options. You can sell a book or you can just give it away for free. So I would definitely say to clearly define your goals before stepping out. A goal is a desired result that a person or a system envisions, plans and commits to achieve and in my opinion does tend to change over time.

Personally, I publish often, at least once a year (with the exception of this year, where I plan to publish three books as part of a short story series) because I like writing and I think the best way to polish any skill is to do it often. And I do hope that the more I engage in the process, the better at it I’ll become and the more people I’ll reach. What I enjoy most is that with each book I learn something new, and I am able to add that to my stored chamber of experience. Though I write a lot, I do not consider myself a Hobbyist Writer because the desired result, the end game if you will, is to build something greater than a sea of published books. There’s a lot I want to do eventually that go beyond writing my own books. At the same time, I like to keep everything organized and this is when the business me kicks in. I believe that everything you do, whether you get paid or not, should be done with some level of professionalism. So if you’re going to write a book, it should have some level of significance even if it’s just a hobby. If nothing else, I have learned that if you don’t place value on your work, no one will. And that’s why established and clearly set goals are important; it adds value to the work. Whether that work comprises something you just want to try or something you want to build on.

Say No to Charlie

In 1988, a demonic entity named Charles Lee Ray, nicknamed Chucky, possessed a doll. It was the first time many of us saw a real example of spirits using children to their advantage. The mother gave her son the popular sought after toy and Chucky worked through him to commit his crimes. The spirit of murder that was on the man Charles had come to inhabit the doll. We became obsessed with the “cute devil” and still we cannot get enough of Chucky. I believe there are like five parts out now, one released just recently. However, truth is stranger than fiction. Is it any coincidence that this spirit has come back to us? Only this time, it is more than animation and make-up.

They say it’s like the Ouija board but the truth is its worse. The “Charlie Charlie Game” is a game that is being played by children, not just in classrooms, but in general. It is considered a combination of the Ouija board and bloody Mary, but this game is physically injuring its participants.

“Brian White, from Biloxi Mississippi, reports he was attacked by Charlie the demon after he taunted the spirit saying, “You’re not real, you’re a fake, come get me if you are who you say you are! Show me you’re here!”
That’s when White said he was thrown facedown and violently attacked. He said it felt like somebody was slicing him with razor blades.
When the attack stopped, his friends saw that his back was covered in scratch marks…”

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Jon Santa Cruz / Rex Features (582062k) Ouija board with pointer VARIOUS - 2006 — Mandatory Credit: Photo by Jon Santa Cruz / Rex Features (582062k)
Ouija board with pointer
VARIOUS – 2006

The reason it’s physically injuring its participants is this: you give more energy to demonic entities, fallen angels etc. when you call them by name. According to history and the experience of those who’ve played it, the Ouija Board conjures up demonic spirits by those who participate. It is a flat board marked with the letters of the alphabet, the numbers 0–9, the words “yes”, “no”, etc. along with various symbols and graphics. It uses a small heart-shaped piece of wood or plastic as a movable indicator to indicate a spirit’s message by spelling it out on the board during a séance, so forth and so on. As a result, this game creates a portal for demonic entities that are given permission to enter. Which demon accepts the invitation varies but we do know something happens to alert the players to its presence. However, while this is bad enough, the Charlie game is worse than the Ouija Board because it is conjuring a specific spirit; creating a portal for this demon named Charlie.

Contrary to popular belief this is not a game, this is a séance, and this is the part where parents are supposed to wield their authority and take away this stumbling block from the minds of their children. We sit back and we laugh at horror movies and pretend they have no bearing on reality. We sit back and laugh at violent movies and yet make children cover their eyes when a man and woman embrace in a warm kiss. I am not promoting soft porn, but what I mean is a simple engagement of husband and wife is shielded from them, but the slicing off of a man’s head is not. We have taken away what is natural and subjected our children instead to the unnatural. If your child does not know not to participate in this game, if he or she does not understand the dangers involved, if he or she does not understand why this is not a good idea, then it is your fault as parent. You see it is time for parents to start taking responsibility for the mental, spiritual, and physical upbringing of their children. It’s not just about bad kids running around, it is about raising up a child in the way they should go. And if we are not doing this, then Charlie will become a permanent fixture in your child’s life and you will wonder how he or she became so wayward. It is because you allowed them to conjure up demons and wicked spirits and they have followed them around from childhood to adulthood. Yes, it’s this serious.

I’m not going to give the details of this portal opening experience because you really can just Google it. But whatever you do, please teach your children to just say no to Charlie.They do this by not giving energy to it. Do not mock it, and do not play around with it. Just stay away from it.

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