World Cup Of Women's Love

Last year, I was on South Africa time for a month during the World Cup. This year, it's Germany. My Nigerian ladies were eliminated during the Group phase. Sigh. I just finished watching the Germany v Japan quaterfinal match of the FIFA Women's World Cup 2011. Japan pulled the upset and eliminated Germany (1-0), the defending champions and the host country. It was a great game! Japan was the underdog coming in and they played hard. This was after France and England played to penalty kicks (and England's squad was peppered with hobbled players)! France missed their first PK and I didn't know how it was going to play out. I stood the entire time. But then England missed a PK and,well, France didn't. This sets up a pretty interesting semi-finals.

Obama Is A Grinch

What the hell is wrong with Barack Obama? Five weeks into his term and he’s actually doing something? He made all these promises during his presidential campaign and now he has the nerve to follow through! Preposterous! He’s taking away all the joy of bashing a new President; a politician. They seldom keep their word. What are the naysayers to do now? Debate how quickly his hair is graying? Suggest he walk with less swagger?


He’s spending too much money on this stimulus bill. Oh yeah? Well he has to undo the mess that the previous President caused, or saw happening and didn’t have the intelligence or balls to do anything about. As a leader, you have to do what has to be done. You won’t always be understood or have a lot of support (Guiliani, Bloomberg), but beyond listening to your constituents and taking into account their concerns (health care reform!), it still boils down to a leader doing what has to be done.


Five weeks into his administration, Obama has a plan and a date set to have combat troops home from Iraq: August 31, 2010. A war that frankly shouldn’t have been started. I’m not a fan a war, wasn’t a fan of George Bush. But I remember standing in the lobby of LIU, watching the Twin Towers crumple and thinking, “They just declared war…” So I understand the US going after who was responsible, Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.Saddam Hussein, I think, was a red herring that Bush willingly chased. WMDs were never found in Iraq. Instead we’ve had 35,000 total casualties (Iraq & Afghanistan combined). 


Obama’s campaign rival, John McCain, agrees with his plan to pull out from Iraq. And I think deep down, many other Republicans agree with Obama’s policies. But to just admit that and move on with running the country would be too easy. Red state citizens who can’t stomach the fact that their fellow Americans and the Electoral College put Obama in office won’t admit it either even when they start to reap the benefits. So what’s left to do? Pick on the Black man. Compare him (and all African-Americans, Africans, or people of African descent) to a chimp and shoot him up in cartoon form. Or bake drunken negro face cookies in the West Village or display books about the President and one about monkeys in the window of a Barnes and Noble (Coral Gables, FL). No worries, Obama isn’t consulting with Doctor Zaius over a plate of ribs and watermelon. It’s a shame that these comparisons and stereotypes, these attacks, have been going on for centuries. But you gotta feel sorry for the “other guy” if that’s all he’s got after all these years.

 

Find this blog entry elsewhere on the web on Mahogany Butterfly.

The African Silver Screen

Back in 2006, I did a Masala Bhangra workout taught by Sarina Jain. It was great! Loved the dance moves and I got to shake my head and roll my neck as much as I wanted. I was so ready to go to an Indian wedding. Sometimes I still break out some of the moves when I’m watching the Punjabi Playboy make his way to the ring. Now after the great showing Slumdog Millionaire had at the Oscars, folks are decreeing “Hollywood goes Bollywood!”
Next stop, Nollywood?

For those that aren’t aware, Nollywood is the term coined to describe the Nigerian movie industry (one of my homelands). They’re known for producing movies on very limited budgets in record time. Quality  can suffer in some of the films, but the stories are always full of drama, twists and turns and comedy. And it’s a $250 million dollar industry. In the US, we have “Black Cinema” so to speak, Tyler Perry being the most recent addition. And in most movies we have the same cast of characters played by the same actors. Let’s list them together, shall we (past & present): Sanaa Latham, Taye Diggs, Boris Kudjoe, Angela Bassett, Morris Chestnut, Gabrielle Union, Omar Epps, Blair Underwood, Kimberly Elise, Larenz Tate, Nia Long etc. plus the musician/singer/rapper turned actor.

What made  Slumdog Millionaire a household name? Hollywood was willing to take a chance and spend money on it. Distributors had to pay to get it on screens across the US. Would Hollywood invest in Africa the same way? Does Nollywood want Hollywood’s help?