If You Could Make the Movie of Your Dreams About Black Women, What WOuld it Be About.

The Winner of Our Fill in the Blank Movie review of "Not Easily Broken" was Zabeth. Her winning word was "emasculate" Zabeth, your book is on the way! We managed to go the whole day with only one person popping off in the comments section about how its God's will that Black people make mediocre motion pictures. Some actually read the post and echoed my sentiments that until Black women start creating the vision of what we want to see on the big screen and making it happen the same way Black men are portraying their fantasies, we are going to continue to be dissatisfied. So that brings up the question... If you could make a movie of your dreams what would it be about? Do TRY not to tear down the hopes, dreams, and fantasies of others. (*looking at Al From Bay Shore*) Consider this brain storming.

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BlkSeaGoat's Counter Protest and Dunbar Village in Today's Chicago Tribune- Black Bloggers "Virtual Civil Rights Movement"

Hey guys. Shane told me he spoke with Clarence Page yesterday, the editorial is out. I think Clarence is syndicated so this might show up some other places as well. Keep an eye out:

Here's one from the "Taste of His Own Medicine" department: When the Rev. Al Sharpton led a recent Washington rally to protest what he called lax federal prosecution of hate crimes, at least one local black resident was waiting with a protest of his own....

Johnson is part of a new "netroots" movement of black-oriented Web sites that has created a virtual civil rights movement. SOURCE

Thanks for the shout out to Black bloggers Clarence. I keep telling y'all this is bigger than a few folks behind some keyboards. You ought to already be registered for Blogging While Brown, it is our Niagra Movement.

Be there next July 25-27 in Atlanta, GA and find out how we can leverage our online activity to create offline results. All the WAOD readers who keep saying that they are going to register for the conference... y'all better get in now while you still can.

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Video of March in Washington - WATCH LIVE!- BLKSeaGoat on CNN.com Video

BlkSeaGoat doing well. You can still head over. CNN has video of the march online. Attorneymom will be making updates throughout the day.

Civil rights leaders were rallying Friday outside Justice Department headquarters in the nation's capital to demand the government crack down harder on hate crimes. SOURCE

You can watch the march live.

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We'll Survive This

In case you have not heard, there is a protest scheduled today in front of the Department of Justice in Washington, DC about hate crimes. A WAOD reader, Shane, has organized a “counter protest” of the protest. But “counter protest” is an inartful way to describe what is going to take place today because “counter” implies that Shane is against the stated goals of the original protest. That is not true he probably agrees with the folk getting on charter buses to march in DC. So instead of “counter protest” a better way to describe what Shane has organized is “a very public CONVERSATION.” Folks are coming to DC for a monologue well Shane just made it a dialog and some people are in a uproar that he would dare have such a dialog on the streets of DC during their carefully crafted protest. You see, with the same fervor that some folks hundreds of years ago believe that the earth was flat, they believe that Black folks can't have a VERY PUBLIC CONVERSATION without the whole of Black America imploding on the spot, instantaneously. We survived the Middle Passage, Slavery, Jim Crow and flavor of Love, but what we cannot survive, to some folks, is a VERY PUBLIC CONVERSATION!

Shane's planned “CONVERSATION”got a write up in USA Today maybe someone will even take a picture of the CONVERSATION and spend some ink on the CONVERSATION in a paper. Maybe a news camera will capture the CONVERSATION I don't know. But guess what. Not matter what happens today, tomorrow Black America will still be here. We'll still be breathing. Life will go on. A crevice isn't going to open on the street outside DOJ and swallow all of the protesters and the CONVERSAT-ORS whole because Black folks appear to be calling out other Black folks in public. It's not a bad thing, it is a good thing

People have said what Shane is doing is creating disunity. That is intellectually dishonest because the counter protesters and the protesters are unified. They are both talking about the same thing: human rights.

He's not taking anything FROM the protest with the counter protest. What he is doing is adding to it. If you are truly concerned about human rights and civil rights of all people, you will go over and embrace him today and say “I know. I care. I am concerned too” and have a CONVERSATION with him and what other brave souls dare to stand with him today

We will all be judged on Judgment Day for what we DID on earth, but we will also be judged for what we DID NOT DO. For those that have been following WAOD, you know I didn't plan any of this ( Yes. Yes. I know Rev. Renita, you told me to stop saying that, but it is true) I have extreme doubts and fears about WAOD. Each post is an act of FAITH (I guess I am not a cynic after all). I wonder sometimes if I am doing the right thing in the right way. I am engaged in a perpetual internal struggle with what this blog has become and terrified of what it could become.

There is a lot I do not know right now, but one thing I DO KNOW is that Black American can survive a CONVERSATION. In fact, we'll be better for it. What we cannot survive is continued SILENCE. This craving for SILENCE for the sake of UNITY is killing us literally.

So everybody chill out. Today is a great day for Black America. Today we will have concrete proof that we can have a public CONVERSATION and a public “engagement” and Black America will survive and thrive.

Let that marinate.

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DUNBAR VILLAGE COUNTER PROTEST MAKES USATODAY! - Picture of BlkSeaGoat Included - YOU GO BOY!

Y'all go out and cop a copy of USA Today tomorrow. BlkSeaGoat's protest is in there. YOU GO BOY!
Now read Rev. Sharpton's response. Maybe "Tamika the Terrible " the temper-tantrum-throwing-tiny-tot ( ain't alliteration something) drafted this one for him ( it has a certain TONE):

"If the victim in Florida would have called me, I would have come. … Justice is justice, no matter who the victim is, no matter who the victimizer." Rev. Al Sharpton on why he couldn't issue a two line statement about Dunbar Village.

If you are in the DC area, show up and keep BlkSeaGoat company. My readers continue to amaze me!

Here is more information from BlkSeaGoat's blog Black Sapience:

Date: Friday, November 16, 2007

Time: 11:15 am EST

Place: National Archives Building Sidewalk between

7^th and 9^th Streets, NW

700 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Contact: Shane Johnson, 404.246.2677

Purpose: Counter-protest to Al Sharpton Rally

Housekeeping:

Please meet at the Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter Metro Station (Green Line) at 11:15am. I will be wearing a red hooded sweatshirt with INSPI(RED) written across the back. I will also have signs, placards, brochures and a megaphone. Contact me at 404.246.2677 if you get lost or need directions. I am encouraging people NOT to drive.

Staging Location:

We have a permit for the sidewalk in front of the National Archives Building with is across the street from the Justice Department. We will be as close to 9^th street and Penn Ave. NW as possible. We will assemble between 11:30am and 11:45 am. I would like for us to be in position no later than 11:55am. We will disperse by 2:30 pm.

Please dress in warm clothes and layer your outfits. I expect the weather to be cool. Please also bring an umbrella or rain slicker.

Talking points:

I am not a fan of telling people what to do, but this is about DUNBAR VILLAGE and Black leaders' silence about black on black crime, especially when the victims are black women. Please keep your statements to the media in context, let’s remember why we are doing this.

Behavior:

This a peaceable assembly. Please respect yourselves and respect others.

Finally, YOU make all of this happen. Thank you for all of your hard work and your commitment.

“When I dare to be powerful, when I use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important, how much I am afraid.” – Audre Lorde

Be careful out there.

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