The triumph(s) of Terrance Howard...

Terrance Dashon Howard was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 11, 1969. His parents Tyrone Howard and Anita Williams moved young Terrance to Cleveland, Ohio where he was raised.

Terrance comes from a long line of stage actors and actresses; his great grandmother and several uncles were known in local theater circles, and I think this had more than a small influence on a young Terrance. 

Unfortunately, the artistic temperament of his household, couldn't shield him from the bigotry of prejudiced whites and the american social order. 

One christmas evening, at the tender age of two, Terrance's live would be changed forever.

21 year old Tyrone Howard took his three sons and his pregnant wife to see santa claus at a local department store called 'Higbee's' in Cleveland, Ohio's Public Square. 

Also there, was a 36 year old white guy named Jack Fitzpatrick who was shopping with his pregnant wife. 

Now, there are differing accounts of what happened between these two men, but from what I've researched and surmised, this is what took place: Tyrone had left his wife and children in 'santa's waiting line' while he looked for a certain product; when he couldn't find it, he returned to his family. 

Mind you, Terrance's father Tyrone is a Black man with a very light-skinned complexion, and in a lot of circles he could pass for white. So when he returned to his family, and his wife especially, who was darker-skinned, Jack the inbred asked Tyrone, "...why'd you let some ni@gers cut you in line?"

After an argument ensued, several witnesses say Jack pinned Tyrone up against a wall, kicked him in the groin and started chocking him. 

Tyrone retaliated by grabbing some sort of sharp instrument and stabbing Jack several times in the neck and thighs. Later, Jack perished from his wounds.

Initially, Tyrone fled the scene to avoid the cops who were called; but after a change of heart, Tyrone turned himself in and was incarcerated shortly afterwards.

It's said that the life of Terrance and his family was turned upside down as they had to leave their middle/working class home to reside in a tenement in a rough part of town. 

All thanks to the bigotry of inbred Jack.

This incident was broadcast in Cleveland's local paper as the 'Santa Line Slaying'. 

This was also the reason Terrance's home became completely unstable after his father was jailed; so much so, that Terrance emancipated himself from his parents at the age of sixteen. At eighteen, he moved to New York City to pursue an acting career. 

Originally, Terrance had aspirations to be a science teacher and was attending the Pratt Institute to pursue that course of study; but once he accompanied his brother to an audition for the 'Cosby Show' and got a part, his life was forever changed once more.

Now, when I originally set out to write this post, I was gonna' call it 'The real triumph of Terrance Howard'; but after doing a bit of research on this man, I saw I couldn't limit his triumphs to just one. 

And it's no secret that Terrance is one the Black Diaspora's finest actors. Along with thespians like Don Cheadle and Jeffery Wright; Terrance's seeming ease at conveying pathos and depth of emotion is nearly unparalleled. And his difficult childhood is what gives him such access to the gravitas and range of sentiments he displays so well; so essentially, he took something negative, and made it positive. 

This is Terrance's personal triumph; now I'd like to talk about his professional one. 

The movie 'Hustle and flow' was an indie film released in theaters in 2005. It was written and directed by Craig Brewer and produced by John Singleton of 'Boys in the hood' fame. 

I couldn't imagine anyone out there hasn't seen this film, but for those who haven't, Terrence plays the protagonist 'Djay', a small town pimp who basically becomes dissatisfied with his life and tries his hand at getting into the music industry. 

I remember my conversation with a middle-aged co-worker who said she saw the movie and wasn't very impressed with it, even though it had garnered so much praise. I gotta' admit, I didn't think the movie itself was so hot either, even though Terrance was nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars. 

And then, what made the film so exceptional hit me. 

But before telling you what aspect of the film made it great, let's explore the person behind this film's script. 

Criag Brewer said this film was dedicated to Sun records founder Sam Phillips. 

And good 'ole Sam was quoted as saying, "...if I could get a white boy who sings like a ni@ger, I could make a million dollars." 

Shortly thereafter, he began working with a young elvis presley. 

Now, this film is set in Memphis, Tennessee, and I remember one of it's white characters saying, in reference to the rise of southern Hip-Hop, "...this music is coming home..."

Like the american south was ever a home for the Black Diaspora; for centuries, up to and including today, the temperment of the american south has its Black citizens feeling like they're behind enemy lines. But just like elvis, this is another attempt at white guys saying they had something to do with the creative ingenuity of Black culture. The next step is to basically claim it as their own (reference Rock and Roll).

'Cause everybody knows, or at least should know, that the birthplace of Hip-Hop is and was in the South Bronx of New York City. 

But, Craig is acting just like every other neo-liberal, white supremacist, fair-skinned guy infatuated with Black culture (reference Quentin Tarantino). 

Side note: Hustle and flow takes place in Memphis, Tennessee and Quentin Tarantino was born in Knoxville, Tennessee. Coincidence? 

Anyway, the reason I'm calling Craig a white supremacist, is he scripted one of the most stereotypical scripts I've seen in years. He talks about how Hip-Hop music is coming home to the american south, but his main Black character is a pimp...surely, if you have so much reverence for the culture, you could have scripted a different vocation for its main character. 

But no matter how 'down' with Black culture white people are, their true feelings will come to the surface about how they always feel superior to us. 

Now in order to get the accolades for this film, and a boost into real celebrity circles, Terrance had to play some sort of low life, (reference Denzel Washington's 'Training Day' and Halle Berry in 'Monster's Ball'); but what made this film so exceptional, in spite of it's third rate, bigoted script, is Terrance's powerhouse performance, and the humanity he brought to this lowly character. 

Terrance almost singlehandedly pulled an extraordinary performance out of a script and a film that had no business being 'green lit' in the first place. 

I remember the scene where Terrance is sitting in a church listening to music while tears streamed down his face; it was a testament not only to his acting prowess, but his ability to call up the gut-wrenching feelings involved with music being 'Djay's' salvation; and it spoke to the day that Terrance's father was plucked out of his life indefinitely. 

Terrance's ability to transmit this kind of primal energy radiates off the screen; and it had little or nothing to do with Craig's bigoted, mediocre script. 

A lesser actor couldn't of pulled off this kind of vocational coup.

I'm glad to see Terrance get his shot at real acting stardom; of course, again, he had to do something self-debasing to do it (reference also Chris Rock's joke about ni@gers and Black people), but it's a rare man who can up-end this ritual and keep an almost regal aire about himself in the process.

So I say kudos, Hotep and Sutekh to the Netcher/Neter/Negus/God Terrance Howard; keep it Black and strong bruh!

Later...

MontUHURU Mimia

The defiling of Denzel Washington...

The other day, I watched the movie 'Flight' starring Denzel Washington.

For the uninitiated, this movie is about Denzel being a drug-addicted, drunk of an airplane pilot, and how a botched flight he was at the helm of goes down and crashes. After surviving the accident, Denzel's character is hospitalized and told by his airline's officials that not only is everything alright, but because only six people out of 109 perished, Denzel's character, will be hailed as a hero (or Heru--the word 'hero' comes from our ancient Black deity 'Heru').

Moreover, when Denzel is piloting the plane, his co-pilot is portrayed by some emotionally constipated looking white guy. Now, this fellow not only looks like the poster child for sobriety, but his starch-pressed, ultra-bright, white shirt, is used to symbolize how whites have a higher moral standard than us dastardly Black people (Cinematic Symbolism).

Unfortunately, the Heru/hero worship is short lived.

The cocaine and drinks in Denzel's character's system, shows up in a toxicology report before Denzel has a chance to fully convalesce from his wounds, and he sees the public's hero worship turn to hatred for his having flown impaired.

Now, I'll admit that I haven't seen this flick in it's entirety. So maybe some set of circumstances redeems Denzel's character and he gets his good name back, but I wouldn't bet on it. And in the first two minutes of this film, we see Denzel in bed with a woman while talking on the phone with his ex-wife, about child support payments. This is meant to cast him from the gate as an unscrupulous low-life.

Now, there's another scene in this film where Denzel is in a hospital robe, and he literally shows his ass. This inevitably reminds us, or is meant to remind us, of when Denzel was shot in the ass in the movie 'Training Day'.

You see, for the white elites, Denzel was a little too virtuous for a Black man. So his image had to be tainted. 

When Denzel did such a fantastic job in Malcolm X, which is my favorite role of his (and it's my favorite Spike Lee film, by the way), Denzel was seen as much too morally upstanding.

The fact that he was also on People magazine's cover as the 'Sexiest Man Alive', meant his image had to be soiled, less he makes white guys look less desirable.

But beyond these things, here's what really made Denzel so abhorrent to white elites:

1.) Denzel is a rich Black man who married a Black woman. 

If for no other reason, this is why the elitist inbreds had to assassinate Denzel's character. 'Cause white fascists definitely don't want the Black diaspora sharing resources with themselves. They want EVERY rich Black man to share his wealth with a white woman, so eventually, that money goes back to their community.

2.) Denzel was a Black father who produced Black children and stayed with his kids. 

White fascists really don't want Black men and women producing any more pure bred, or pure-bred looking, Black children, cause they'd have the most genetic power to breed whites out of existence.

3.) In the movie 'Pelican Brief' where Denzel starred alongside Julia Roberts, he said he wouldn't kiss Julia, because he didn't want to upset his Black female fan base.

THIS WAS BEYOND RIGHTEOUS!

'Cause not only was Denzel saying he was completely down for Black women, he was also making white women look less desirable to Black men. 

And you know white fascists can't have Black men looking at white women for the pale-skinned, stringy-haired, flat-assed, less curvaceous, superficial, and less intelligent women, they really are. Black men have to be kept doting on white women, less a trend starts where every rich Black man would want to marry a Black woman. Heaven forbid. 

And notice how in the majority of his films, Denzel's love interests are usually white or fair-skinned women. Again, these inbreds don't sleep when it comes to their agenda.

So films like 'American Gangster' are being used to criminalize Denzel's once squeaky clean image. And linking him to an infamous drug peddler was a win-win as far as white fascism goes, 'cause it not only knocked Denzel off his moral high horse, but it kept a Black face on drug dealing. Cause any sane person should know how Black people don't own or operate the planes and boats that fly and float these drugs into the country.

American Gangster's Frank Lucas character also portrays a Black man going to southern asia to get a more potent drug product. So this makes it look like Black men are the ones who actually have a strong hold on the international trade. But if you wanna' find out the truth about the people who mostly run the drug trade, you might wanna' rent a documentary called 'Cocaine Cowboys'...and I'll give you a hint about the people in it...they're not Black.

You could also reference another of this Blog's posts, 'Frank Lucas, Nicky Barnes and the cult of american patriotism'. There, you'll hear about Jean Jehan, the real life inspiration for the movie 'The French Connection'. And if you're too young to remember this flick, google it. 

This man was said to control the largest heroin dealing monopoly in the world from France...thus, the 'French Connection'.

So, that real question still stands, you know, the one I keep posing over and over again...and that's: How do we heal the rift between the Black man and woman? 'Cause whether we realize it or not, we're under constant attacks and pressure to hate and hurt one another. And this is the question no one wants to answer in the diaspora. 

The solution involves the Black Diaspora reconditioning ourselves out of the self-hatred bred into us, by white fascists. And as far as making Black people hate themselves, this is especially true of every book Black people are mandated to read in pre, middle and high schools. These books are meant to keep us in a perpetual self-loathing, by fomenting boatloads of shame in the Black psyche. 

Now, doing this is gonna' be a long, arduous task, but it's one we MUST undertake if we as Black people are going to survive and thrive, globally or locally. 

So again, let's get to work. 

Later...

MontUHURU Mimia

P.S.

You can read the Blog post where I mention Jean Jehan here.