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

Nia Long, Tommy Sotomayor and why I won't go see 'The Best Man Holiday'...

Last night, I was watching my local PBS station, waiting for the start of the Tavis Smiley show. 

Now, usually I know from the night before who Tavis will have on his show; but being that I missed a couple of airings, I didn't know who his guest would be. 

To my surprise, it was Nia Long from the movies 'Friday' and 'Boyz in the Hood'.

Now, I kind of liken the popularity of Nia Long to that of Halle Berry; in that they're both considered exceptionally good looking because they have european facial features, but neither one of these women is an exceptionally good actress.

But, one thing I know about Tavis, is he's a masterful interviewer; on many a night he's talked with what I thought was a mediocre half-celebrity, and had a dynamite interview. So I kept watching. 

Now, Nia is starring in a upcoming movie called 'The Best Man Holiday', and the first movie of this series was pretty solid; there was some things I could take or leave, but overall, it was a decent movie about working class and upper-scale Black people. And I'm always for that. 

So, as is customary with Tavis, before the interview started, he rolled a clip of the film.

What came on the screen was a shot of Nia kissing some random white guy while Taye Diggs' character looked on. At one point, Nia and this white guy were kissing so much that Taye's character asked if they needed a moment alone. Nia's character said no, in an effort to rub the fact that she was kissing a white guy in his face. Then the clip ended.

Tavis held his head in his hands and asked, "Why is your character kissing this white guy?"

Nia replied, "Oh, well...she's dating him."

When Tavis continued to voice his dismay about it, Nia replied that he would piss off his white male viewers. 

Now, Tavis prides himself on being more politically correct than not, so when he openly said this, even I was kinda' shocked. 

Then Tavis asked emphatically, "So you're in a relationship with this guy throughout the film?"

And Nia responded in the affirmative. 

Now, I'm sorry if this is a spoiler alert to some, but this is exactly the reason why I won't see this film. 

And I can hear sistas now saying, oh, here's another Black man who's mad when we date white guys. 

Listen, my theory is this, go find love wherever you can; and if that's with a white person, so be it...here's my problem with that in this film though; 'The Best Man Holiday' is billing itself as a relationship movie made exclusively for Black people. 

Now, if they're gonna' introduce some inter-ethnic, jungle fever type stuff, they should put that on the flyer, or in the trailer.    

It's kinda' like the cinematic version of a retailer's 'bait and switch' technique. 

This is just another sign of the white elite getting their Black stooges to push inter-ethnic relationships, especially for our people, so we won't have a chance to rebuild Black families in this country or in the diaspora. 

You'd think the producers of this film would be especially sensitive to this kind of cinematic skullduggery, in light of the fact that Black people really enjoyed the first film and were eager to see a sequel. 

Nope, they're just content to take whitey's money and push whitey's agenda. Sad. 

This led me to think about Tommy Sotomayor. 'Cause recently, a fellow blogger e-mailed me a vid of his titled: 'Why men should boycott marriage', or something to that effect. 

The person who sent it said Tommy was waxing philosophic about 'gender superiority' and how men get the shaft in marital court disputes. 

Now, can the court system be favorable towards women? It can be; it can also be favorable towards whites (look up the court case of the Black actress Tonya Pinkins).

But that's not the point. The point is, this is another attempt by Uncle Tommy to keep Black people from marrying, period. 

Again, Tommy's a white supremacist stooge who's being well paid to do their bidding. That's why I stopped listening to that sell out in the first place. 

Now, I can also hear you guys thinking, c'mon bruh...you're asking people to boycott another film?

Actually no. On this post I'm not telling anyone what I think they should do, I'm saying I won't be going to see this flick. 

And it's a shame, 'cause this is a film I wanted to see. 

I remember watching an episode of the Wendy Williams show back in the day...yeah, I watched a couple of her shows too; and Wendy had on Chris Rock and Nia as guests. 

Wendy asked both of them about their early dating lives and Nia said that she and Chris went out on a date, she also said at the end of it, Chris gave her a wrong number.

Wendy asked Chirs if he'd done that purposely, and Chris announced emphatically that he did; which made the whole audience erupt with laughter. 

And the reason Chris said he did this was because he asked Nia if she was seeing anyone, and Nia said no, but she could get dick if she wanted it. 

Then Chris admonished the females in the audience not to do that on a first date. Good stuff Chris. 

That was several years ago and Nia's still unmarried. 

Beyond the reasons I've never been impressed with Nia, this movie is a prime example again, of the lengths the white elite are going through to keep Black men and women separated and hating each other.

And is it working?

Stats from the u.s. census bureau say that Black people are the least likely to marry, and the current marriage rate for us is at approximately 35%.

Now, even though these numbers might be exaggerated, we know, that not enough of us are married, and not enough of us come from two parent households. 

Nia even mentioned that in the cast of 'The Best Man Holiday', all of the Black men with lead roles are married and all of the black women in lead roles are unmarried. 

She also went on to say that cast members would have discussions about why Black men couldn't handle strong, independent black women. 

But this argument will ultimately lead to a stalemate. 

'Cause after Black men and women talk about everything they can't stand about each other, the real question is this: if Black men and women are conditioned to hate themselves, how can they love one another?

And like I've said in the past, the real, real question is: how do we heal the rift between Black men and women?

Until we talk about that, everything else will ultimately result in a moot point. And this is a topic I promise I'll bring up in a future blog posting. 

'Cause the solution is much like curing cancer naturally, in that it's simple, but it's not easy.  

So, this is one holiday flick I'll pass on. And if you're a 'conscious' or even a semi-conscious Black person, you might wanna' consider whether or not you'll give your money to a movie that promotes our division. 

'Cause someone saying they're kind of pro-Black, or kind of a Black nationalist, is like saying you're kinda' pregnant; either you are or you're not...there is no in between. 

And I know where I stand.

"...I'm an African...not an African-american."
--Dead Prez 

Kem Wesir,

MontUHURU Mimia