FILM(S) MONITORED
THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS 3: TOKYO DRIFT
WAIST DEEP

For this monitor, we saw “The Fast and The Furious 3:   Tokyo Drift” and “Waist Deep” and that information is farther down in this eNewsletter.   We’ve also got a really special transcript to share with you on the history of diamonds, so be sure to squeeze time into your schedule to read this one!   Amazing is all we can say.

There’s a cultural event going on, a book for children that’s new on the market, and a few Web sites and links that you may find interesting.

African Centered Museum Tours – in New York City :   Contact Shakka at 212-946-1445 or send an email to shakka1st@aol.com for tour schedule and prices.   There are private/individual and group tours.   Prices are very reasonable.   Educators and students are highly encouraged to attend.   All who attend the tour will learn about the connections between Ancient Egyptian history – which is really Ancient African (Kemet) history – and Black people.   Remember, you don’t want a regular tour guide because you won’t be told the complete historical facts!   And we all know that’s true.   Because of the centuries-old miseducation within the American school systems, there aren’t enough Blacks attending these exhibits, so come on out now that you know it’s happening.   Currently, the primary part of the tour is focusing on these two exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

Hatshepsut Exhibit (through July 9, 2006)

Egyptian Art (Permanent Exhibit)

Children’s Book :   “Don’t Call Me Nigga” by Zekita Q. Tucker ( http://zerichpublications.scriptmania.com/index.html ).   We’re still awaiting a copy of the book, so we have not read it yet, but based on the following articles by the author, we feel confident that the book is probably along the lines of what BN-W is all about.

Nobody's Nigga

Bamboozled and the G8

Web Sites/Links :

No N Word Campaign in Britain

Article:   The Journey of a Complaint About the N Word

Black Movie Oasis

Black Web Awards

Amsterdam News Articles:

City College – No Faculty Diversity?

Alton Maddox – Critical Thinking/Retreat for Children

As we mentioned in BN-W #54 the conclusion of Part II:   Black-Jewish Relations will be included with the Winter/Spring 2006 Music Monitor (it’s obviously late, but it’s definitely coming!).   As we also stated, we’ve got a lot of information, and, for that reason, until Part II comes out, we’ll be filtering stuff to you so it won’t be too overwhelming in the buildup to Part II’s conclusions.   Refer to BN-W #53/54 if you need a repeat of our feelings on the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).  

Jacob Arabo also known as Jacob the Jeweler (jeweler to celebrities and, especially, rappers) was recently arrested.   If you’ve been reading the eNewsletters consistently, then you should know his ethnic background.   See stories on his arrest below:

EUR - Arabo and Post Chronicle - Arabo

Someone loaned us a DVD on the history of the De Beers officially called The Diamond Empire, which originally aired on PBS’ Frontline in February 1994.   This is a very powerful piece on the company’s history, labor issues (conflict diamonds), and, for BN-W purposes, the hugely successful marketing campaign surrounding the “rarity” of diamonds – everyone knows their famous “Diamonds Are Forever” slogan.   By now, if you’ve been following BN-W, you know how we feel about the marketing of images and how successful that can be.   So, obtaining this information just shows more proof of the power of consistent, strategic, and manipulative marketing.   And, fortunately, we found a transcript of the piece online!   We’ll share some key quotes from it with you before providing that link as well as some background material links:

“Nobody’s aware that diamonds and all the associations we have with diamonds is a product of a marketing strategy….the myths associated with this advertising campaign have been deeply inculcated in people.”

“In 1930, a De Beers mining engineer warned, ‘The diamond market is dependent for its smooth function on the maintenance of the illusion in the minds of the general public that the diamond is a rare and valuable stone.’”

“Diamonds going out of Sierra Leone and other African diamond markets were going to what Anglo American described as ‘black markets,’ that is, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Germany, some parts of the United States and Israel.   Now, these people were labeled ‘black markets’ by Anglo American, but in their own countries, they were respectable diamond dealers.”   [NOTE:   Remember that word “respectable” for a future BN-W regarding the slave trade.]

“Here’s a ring that sells for $70.   There is $2 worth of diamond in this ring….This is a $90 ring.   There’s a $1 diamond in here.   It’s a white finish that makes it appear like diamonds.   There’s only one diamond in the center.”

“If a diamond cost[s] relatively nothing – say, $5 or $10, what a breakfast costs – it would have the same esthetic value, but not the same value in the imagination that it has.   So people like spending a lot of money on diamonds.   So like all deception, the person who’s deceived plays a part in the deception, as well as the deceiver.   It’s not a one-person act.   It’s two people, the deceiver and the deceived, acting in collaboration.”

Now can you just imagine how many entertainers (and others in the media and business spotlight) have been thoroughly ripped off and then us regular working folk trying to follow them?   It’s truly scandalous.   Here are the links:

Oppenheimer Background

The Diamond Empire (History of the De Beers Family)

NYT Article:   South African Industrial Giant Moving to London

Janine Roberts - Glitter and Greed:   The Secret World of the Diamond Cartel

De Beers

Purchase the DVD/VHS

If you missed any other BN-W monitors, just send an e-mail to bannword2@yahoo.com and request that it be sent to you.   As always, we highly encourage you to see these films for yourself and, if applicable, make your own judgment call on the N-word usage – appropriate/inappropriate? necessary/unnecessary? sensible/nonsensical? does it add to or take away from the film’s concept? does the N-word have to be used at all? is there a valid reason for doing so? is it mandatory for the scene(s) to be effective? what are the circumstances/situation that necessitate any use of the word? is it just thrown in for humor, fear, crime, insult? are other culturally insulting slang terms used as much as the N-word in the film?   Lots of questions and a whole lot of reasons to wonder what’s the real purpose and thought process behind why these entertainers, writers, directors, producers, executive producers, distributors, and studios/studio heads and executives give the “greenlight” for these crews to liberally use (or allow to be used) the N-word.

FEATURE FILM(S) :

T H E  F A S T  A N D  T H E  F U R I O U S  3:  T O K Y O   D R I F T 

[Release Date:   6/16/06]

Starring Lucas Black, Bow Wow ; screenplay written by Chris Morgan; directed by Justin Lin; produced by Neal H. Moritz; executive produced by Clayton Townsend; studio – Universal Pictures
 

NOTE :   Cornrows, do/doo rag, hustling products, and getting a beatdown best describes the core of the Bow Wow character; guess who wins the race, gets the girl, and gets the “cool” title?   Most of the film’s so-called high school students looked to be in their mid-late twenties.   Spoiler:   the film closes out with Vin Diesel, so does that mean Fast and Furious #4 will have him in the lead again?   Probably.

W A I S T   D E E P

[Release Date:   6/23/06]

Starring Tyrese Gibson, Meagan Good, Larenz Tate ; screenplay written by Vondie Curtis Hall, Darin Scott; directed by Vondie Curtis Hall; produced by Preston Holmes; executive produced by Ted Field, Trevor Macy, Marc D. Evans, Amy Kaufman, Russell Simmons, Stan Lathan, A. Demetrius Brown; studio – Rogue Pictures
 

NOTE :   Critic Kam Williams aptly describes the film as “excessive use of profanities and the n-word (over 200 by my count)…sadistic celebration of gratuitous gore….An unapologetic tribute to misogyny, bling, gratuitous violence, and black-on-black crime….An absurd, insult to the intelligence on the unsuspecting public.”   Read full review.   Very interesting how the actors and director/co-writer (Vondie Curtis Hall) while doing promotions tried to make this film about a man doing what he had to do for his child, but does it have to be surrounded by other Black men killing one another and hurling the word “nigger/nigga” around?   How about some brothers bonding and calling one another “brother/brotha”?   Is that really too much to expect from a film oriented around Black men?   It’s long overdue for this type of image to take a detour, and – more importantly – for Blacks to stop being major players in films and marketing campaigns that’s meant to corrupt their image.

BN-W Monitor Coming Soon:  “Idlewild” [Andre Benjamin, Antwan Patton, Terrence Howard]; “Shadowboxer” [Cuba Gooding Jr.]; “Little Man” [Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans]; “Miami Vice” [Jamie Foxx, Colin Farrell]; “Snakes on A Plane” [Samuel L. Jackson, Julianna Margulies]

Also Coming :   Part II:   Black-Jewish Relations; Winter 2006 Music Monitor; Spring 2006 Music Monitor; Summer 2006 Music Monitor