Chic Speaks!

Archie made the perfect choice!

My sister has over 300 Archie comic books so I have been immersed in the Veronica, Archie, Betty love triangle since I was a wee child in the 80's. I was always a fan of Veronica. And now, over thirty years of back and forth, the kids have graduated from college and Archie has finally made a decision. Veronica it is! I wish them the best of luck and hope they enjoy a wonderful fictional cartoon marriage. Can't wait to see the wedding pics!

Quote of the Day

 

"When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

Prom Night in Mississippi

About a week and a half ago I saw my first Hot Docs film. Hot Docs is a Toronto film festival that showcases nothing but documentaries. I am a big fan of docs and bios but for some reason I've never remembered when it was happening until it was already almost done. This year the same thing happened but a friend of mine had an extra ticket and gave me a call. The film I saw was called Prom Night in Mississippi,and happily enough it is exactly the sort of film I would have picked myself.

The film follows senior students at a Charleston High School. Even thought the schools were integrated in 1970, up until 2007 they were still having segregated proms, one for the black students, another for the white students, organized privately by black parents and white ones. The main reason for this was the demands of many white parents and the school board. About 10 or so years ago actor Morgan Freeman, who is from Charleston, came to speak to the students and first learned from those seniors that they held segregated proms. Freeman so aghast that this was happening in 1997, offered to pay for a prom if they made it integrated. For whatever reason his offer was ignored. Now ten years later, Filmmaker and Activist, Paul Saltzman and his film crew were in that part of town taping a separate doc, when they came across this story. They called Freeman and asked if his offer was still on the table, Freeman said yes and the documentary, Prom Night in Mississippi, was born.

The doc did a great job exploring the lives of both white and black students. Though the weakness lied in the fact that not many black parents were interviewed yet you hear a great deal from the white parents. Thankfully, the students were very articulate and very honest about the race dynamics in the school and community. It was quite a dramatic film at times, especially when a group of white parents and students refused to take part in the mixed prom and began actively planning a very hush hush white prom. One of the students behind a lot of the drama is a girl who at first agrees to take part in the board to create the prom. During the meeting she is seen saying, in the most innocent voice, "People can bring in pills and stuff.." referring to the possibility of black students (probably male) drugging the girls at the prom. When Chasidy Buckley, a popular stellar student and athlete who is black, shakes her head in clear shock at what the white student is saying, the girl turns to Chasidy and says, "What?" as if she could not understand why someone would be offended by her insinuation. Gathering that this student may not have the best intentions towards this prom the principle tells the students that if they feel they do not want to be part of the board they are free to drop out. The girl drops out and that's when the white prom initiative begins with a fury. Later a white girl, I believe the same one, speaks up in class that she believes integrating the prom is wrong. When a black student, also girl, speaks up against her she later accuses the girl of threatening her with a gun. The teacher and students who witnessed the dispute supported the black student, and spoke on camera, all stating that the black student never threatened the white student. But the teacher confesses that the principle clearly sympathized with the white student and she found it difficult to encourage her black students to speak up when their views are consistently negated and not supported by the principle and board.

It was funny seeing some parts, like when a teacher requests that everyone attending the integrated prom write their names and the names of their date down and submit it to the principle. The audience chuckled because it was very clear that many of the white parents and board members were afraid of their children bringing black dates. Someinteresting moments takes place with the board members and teachers and the strong ambivalence and awkwardness they feel towards this huge change. They too are battling with personal feelings about integrating this teenage rite of passage. One white male student, who didn't feel comfortable showing his face, spoke eloquently about the struggle the older generation and some of the younger ones are having with the changes in the town. He admits that he has dated both white and black girls but his parents are racist so he has hidden the fact that he is not only not racist but interested in girl's outside of his race. He says, "They're not going to change the way they are but they're not going to let the whole world know how they are either," referring to the fact that many of these parents refused to be taped, hired a lawyer to prevent any information about the white prom from leaking out to the film crew, and also held meetings where they used the "N" word like it was hello.

T.J. and Jessica, a young gorgeous couple who were engaged, (I called them the Pam Anderson and Tommy Lee of the movie) discussed the harassment they have gotten because T.J.'s best friend,Calvin,  is black. Jessica takes care of her mother and sister and hopes to get out of Mississippi one day and become a star. She shared how her stepfather threatened to beat her if she continued to hang around her black friends (her step-dads in jail so she no longer has to worry about that). She even had trouble getting jobs in the neighborhood because of this. The one thing I found odd, so did my friend, was that Calvin sat there barely speaking, he looked almost like he had no voice or self-esteem. The camera kept including him in the shot, which only further highlighted that he was not contributing anything and his two white friends were doing all the talking on his behalf. It upset me because it seemed to be showing the stereotype of the inarticulate black person who relies on whites for a voice. Finally towards the end he talks briefly about police officers strip searching him on the side of the road, a humiliating experience clearly done because of his race. My friend and I were so relieved when he finally spoke up.

In the end the white prom went on, some students felt pressure to attend because some of their friends were taking part in it. But what was wonderful many of these students attended both proms. One white student said she was wearing her old dress to the white prom and her really special new dress to the integrated prom. The entire audience laughed at that one. So in 2008 the first united prom went off wonderfully and what is great is that the filmmakers said that this year they again had a mixed prom and the board actually paid for it. Morgan Freeman contributed a little but he was very happy that the board was now taking ownership of this themselves. A white prom also continued in 2009 but apparently it was much smaller, one day it will be nonexistent. It still shocks me to know that this kind of separatism still exist in North America and I am soooooooo grateful I was raised in a very multicultural world, school, friends, boyfriends. But I must say I am so proud that these students had the guts to make a change, a change that is most definitely having a trickle down effect in the community.

Quotes of the Day

 

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.  The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.  ~Sylvia Plath

You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.  ~Ray Bradbury

Brave New Voices, RuPaul's Drag-race...Great TV!

I just watched the finale of the HBO series, Russell Simmons presents-Brave New Voices. It was a documentary, narrated by Queen Latifah, showcasing talented young spoken word poets from all over the U.S. 500 youths divided into over 45 teams compete in this wonderful competition.

Now I'm normally not a fan of spoken word. I've had too many experiences where I found myself stuck in a small dark cafe somewhere, listening to over indulgent earth mothers waxing about,"I'm the sun and he's the moon," in breathy over enunciated voices. But I became captivated by this series because it was authentic, no posing, and cliche poems about love. These kids tackled everything from police violence, food addictions, self-esteem issues, to break-ups, and disabilities.

My favorite teams were Philly, Chicago, New York, and San Francisco but they were all so good. Some poems brought tears to my eyes. I am currently a jury member for the Toronto Deaf and Arts Film Festival and after immersing myself in films by deaf filmmakers, addressing deaf issues, I have become very sensitive to the hurdles they face in a hearing society. In one of the poems a young man apologizes to his deaf sister for never learning sign language, he ends it by saying, "Tamara, I am sorry for my silence." He signs the last sentence and I found it so powerful. Two girls on the Philly team performed a wonderful poem about a youth who is trans-gendered. It was brave and raw and real. I have a lesbian character in the novel I am working on now that is dealing with some issues of trans-gender, and I love that it is being openly and sincerely spoken about without shame. Another young man from the New York team did a moving poem called, Queen, that blew me away. I have to say I am jealous of these kids. How wonderful it would have been for me, when I was a teenage writer, to be around other young and spectacular writers that could have encouraged me, push me, criticize me, and help me become better. They are light years ahead of where I was at that age. Wow. I would love to be a judge for the Brave New Voices competition one day in the future. I'm putting that out in the universe.

Another TV enjoyment of mine is RuPaul's Drag race. It's a competition for America's Next op Drag Queen, and what a competition it is.

I grew up with Rupaul and have always enjoyed his look and attitude. I find Rupaul a gorgeous mix of a little Vanessa William, a teensy bit of Vivica Fox, and everything else is completely unique.

Some of my favorite parts of the show is the clever phrases he's created. For instance, "Chante u stay," which he says to the girls left in the competition or "Sashay away," to the one voted out.  The theme song  is so catchy, it goes, "Cover girl put your face in your walk. Head to toe let your whole body talk." The bottom two women at the end of each episode must, lip-sync for their lives. It is really entertaining watching these over the top ladies sing to Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston. They take Diva to the max, weirdly enough you realize how over the top Mariah Carey already is. At the end of the day all the women are vying to be the, "Last Queen standing."

Now my absolute favorite is Shannel (Bottom row, left hand corner of pic). She has killer eyes, style, and a absolute gorgeous face and body in drag, better looking than when she looks like a man. There is something so wonderful about her that I wish she could adopt me, be the dad I've never had. But I have a feeling she's not going to win. I think Rupaul and the judges find her too cocky, no pun intended, and not vulnerable enough.

This week the drag queens got paired up with real women, girl fighters, who were so butch that the drag queens looked petrified for a moment. The drag queens had to take their little butch babies and make them over into little versions of themselves. It was so cute. My Shannel got the butch-est woman of all but made her look fabulous. It was amazing. So I'm cheering her on and all the women. Watching the show makes you really appreciate what an art form and tribute to women drag really is.

As Rupaul says, "May The Best Woman Win"...Go Shannel!!!