The Library of Congress to Preserve Gloria Gaynor’s Anthem – “I Will Survive”

Gloria Gaynor was made famous by her huge hit song in 1978 “I Will Survive” Most people didn’t know it, but her backstory was pretty rough, and the song really is about her survival though horrific circumstance. The original studio version of this (which I would have to go back in my vinyl collection to find) is by far and away the best. Sometimes in the process of re-mastering, or re-recording a song for 12″ or digital distribution the artist’s emotion and energy behind the song gets lost.

Gloria Gaynor on the lasting legacy of “I Will Survive”

When you’re in Gloria Gaynor’s recreation room, listening to her jukebox, what song do you think you’re gonna hear?

Her 1978 hit “I Will Survive,” of course.

The Library of Congress has just chosen her disco anthem for preservation as a key artifact of american culture.

“That song taps into the inherent survival instinct, and it taps into the tenacity of the human spirit,” Gaynor told CBS News.

Gaynor wasn’t singing lyrics off a sheet of music — she was singing her own life story.

Growing up in poverty, the victim of childhood sexual abuse, she had an accident six months before recording the song that left her temporarily paralyzed from the waist down as she headed to the studio.

She was in a back brace while recording the song. “That is why I was able to sing that song with such conviction.”

The song changed her life. Number one in five countries, “I Will Survive” won Gloria Gaynor a Grammy, while becoming the universal anthem for those struggling to overcome challenges.

“With this song, and only with this song, I am able to give people something that they take home with them, something that they make a part of their lives,” Gaynor said. “It is absolutely a blessing.”

A blessing for the singer, and for everyone who’s ever needed to hear her message.

This is the video version…

This is the best live version I could find, which is close to the level of intensity of the original pressing. It was recorded in Argentina in 1980, and includes both the English and Spanish versions.

 

Donezal Part Deux?

Hmmmm… If we only knew how prevalent this being black thing is, it would have erased a lot of angst!

Black Lives Matter’s Shaun King Is Not Biracial

Prominent Black Lives Matter activist Shaun King said for years that he is biracial, because he was born to a white mother and a black father, but Kentucky public records reviewed by The Daily Beast show that King’s father is white. Jeffery Wayne King, born Nov. 11, 1955, is listed as Shaun King’s father on his birth certificate. Criminal records identify Jeffrey King’s ethnicity as white. After Breitbart News questioned King’s race, the activist tweeted that he “did not concoct a lie” about his race. King also said, “If you have known me from when I was in elementary school at Huntertown Elementary until now, you’ve known me as black or bi-racial.”

Not just cultural appropriation…

Native Americans have the same issue…Although the number of white folks claiming to be “Cherokee” over the years to explain away that “one drop” is no revelation, anymore. After all we have Elizabeth Warren.

Andrea Smith—an associate professor at University of California, Riverside, the founder of INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, and a leading Native American studies scholar and activist—may not, in fact, be a Cherokee woman, despite repeatedly presenting herself as such since at least 1991.

I first saw Andrea Smith in 2013 when she delivered a keynote at the Southeastern Women’s Studies Association (SEWSA) conference and, although her program biodid not explicitly mention that she was Cherokee, she was widely understood by conference goers to be a Native American speaker.

After all, she was the author of Conquest, a landmark text about state-sanctioned acts of violence against Native American women, she had been involved with the Chicago chapter of the organization Women of All Red Nations (WARN), and when she was denied tenure by the University of Michigan, students and facultyrallied around her, suggesting discrimination on the basis of her Native American descent.

She had a long history of speaking as a Native American woman on issues affecting Native Americans. Her tenure controversy, in particular, was legendary in academic circles. At the time, Inside Higher Ed referred to her as “[a] Cherokee,” adding that “she is among a very small group of Native American scholars who have won positions at top research universities.”

Dayam! Who can you trust anymore! 🙂

And why exactly does it matter?

Update!

There appears to be more to this story. It started with Brietbart – which is in of itself questionable because of their history of making up news for the racist right. The other source is The Daily Caller – which is nothing but a white Supremacist front along with the National Review.

Conservative media outlets have convinced themselves that they’ve found yet another white advocate for racial justice wearing blackface, but unlike Rachel Dolezal, who cut all ties with those she knew growing up, Daily Kos’ Shaun King has remained in touch with friends and teachers from high school — an important fact, becauseThe Daily Caller and Brietbart’s Big Government both use as evidence of his whiteness contradictions between his and the official police account of a “brutal beating” that occurred in 1995.

In his book “The Power of 100,” King writes about being “harassed almost daily by a growing group of self-proclaimed rednecks,” which culminated in a racially motivated mob-beating that left him “a bloody mess on the floor” and “physically ruined.” According to The Blaze’s Oliver Darcy, while there was a fight on that day in 1995, and while it did involve King and a trip to the hospital, it was neither racially motivated nor as brutal as King has claimed. As evidence, he provided police reports which downplayed the brutality of the beating, and called into question whether it was racially motivated or the result of a disagreement over an $8 debt.

There could, however, be another reason why the police and school board played down the severity of the incident. As Shea Gold, a witness to it, wrote on Facebook:

When a minority gets almost beaten to death in a small rural town’s high school, it is every civic leader’s nightmare. In 1995, in Versailles, it could have potentially made national headlines, had the story gotten out. But unfortunately, it did not, and no residents of Versailles, Kentucky should be surprised. By this point in the reading, you should have surmised that any investigating officer would have felt heavy, intense pressure from all sides. The last thing Woodford County High School wanted was for this story to be on the front page of the local paper.

Another witness, Nathanael Carter, a teacher at the time, corroborated Gold’s account:

Shea Gold, you are correct. This incident did occur. I was one of the teachers getting students to clear the hallway and get to class. Shaun King was also one of my students at that time. He did spend time in the hospital if I remember correctly. I am proud of you coming forward like this. I am also proud of Shaun King for fighting for what he believes in. The Woodford Co. High School Alumni Band has a lot of great people! Love the WCHS Band!

In his rush to find to the next Rachel Dolezal, Darcy offered the witness statements of the students likely involved in the fight as evidence that it didn’t occur as King claimed. However, he neglected to notice how coached the statements sound. “I didn’t see what happened,” one alleged eyewitness told police, “but I do know that no one else touch the boy but [redacted]. It was one on one.” If the usage of the word “boy” by a white Southerner to describe a tenth grader isn’t indicative enough of a racial component to this beating, the confession by the alleged “one on one” attacker comes straight from the racist playbook…More…

 

In Black and White – Rachael Dolezal

Hmmm…This one is strange. Rachael Dolezal, currently head of the Spokane, Washington NAACP is being questioned about her racial authenticity…

 

Race of Spokane NAACP head Rachel Dolezal comes under question

The racial identity of one of the most prominent faces in Spokane, Washington’s black community is under question after her parents produced a birth certificate that showed she is white.

Rachel Dolezal, 37, is the head of the local chapter of the NAACP and has identified herself as African-American. But her Montana birth certificate says she was born to two Caucasian parents, according to CNN affiliate KXLY, which also showed an old family photo in its report.

CNN tried to reach Dolezal for comment by emailing and calling her late Thursday night, but was unsuccessful. Likewise, CNN was also unable to reach Dolezal’s parents.

Identifies as African-American

Dolezal has represented herself as at least part African-American in an application for the police ombudsman commission.

And she has presented the public with a different family photograph posted to the local NAACP chapter’s Facebook page. When she announced her father was coming to town for a visit, she showed herself standing next to an older African-American man.

Dolezal’s public racial identity came under scrutiny on Thursday, when a reporter from KXLY held up that photo asked her a simple question.

This is how the conversation went:

“Is that your dad?”

“Yeah, that’s…that’s my dad.”

“This man right here’s your father? Right there?”

“You have a question about that?”

“Yes ma’am, I was wondering if your dad really is an African-American man.”

“That’s a very — I mean, I don’t know what you’re implying.”

“Are you African-American?”

“I don’t understand the question of — I did tell you that, yes, that’s my dad. And he was unable to come in January.”

“Are your parents…are they white?”

Dolezal walked away from the microphone, leaving her purse and keys, and took refuge in a nearby clothing boutique.
Read more: http://www.wjla.com/articles/2015/06/race-of-spokane-naacp-head-rachel-dolezal-comes-under-question-114708.html?google_editors_picks=true#ixzz3ctC11Lu4

Now, Rachael’s actual race doesn’t make any difference to the NAACP. Some of the organizations founding members were white, as are some of the current members. The organization also does not discriminate by race on awarding scholarships.

 

 

Was Columbus Jewish?

One of those historical mysteries was the actual background of Christopher Columbus, the European credited with “finding” the Americas. Some scholars now believe that Columbus was actually Jewish, and hid his background and religion to escape persecution common in Europe at that time. This would be interesting, as Columbus is also widely seen as opening the “New World” to Christianity.

Artist depictions of Columbus landing often include Christian Symbols and the presence of the Church in the form of a Priest carrying the Cross.

Was Columbus secretly a Jew?

Today marks the 508th anniversary of the death of Christopher Columbus.

Everybody knows the story of Columbus, right? He was an Italian explorer from Genoa who set sail in 1492 to enrich the Spanish monarchs with gold and spices from the orient. Not quite.

For too long, scholars have ignored Columbus’s grand passion: the quest to liberate Jerusalem from the Muslims.

During Columbus’s lifetime, Jews became the target of fanatical religious persecution. On March 31, 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella proclaimed that all Jews were to be expelled from Spain. The edict especially targeted the 800,000 Jews who had never converted, and gave them four months to pack up and get out.

 

Lawrence O’Donnell Shreds Cain!

This was an ass kicking! O’Donnell takes Cain to task on his “brainwash” statements…

Herman is a Lawn Jockey. This poster is younger than Cain – and I marched in 1963 at 11 years old at the March on Washington. I participated in other Marches, including several far South of my native Virginia before I went to College.

Indeed – Cain’s dodge about being a “High School Student” is bullshit buckdancing. Herman entered college in 1963…

April 2, 1960 – Following the February sit-ins at Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina, sixteen high school students try to use the all-white Danville Memorial Library, only to have the city close the facility.

This image from Life Magazine in the 1963 Birmingham Demonstrations shows 4 High School Students being hit by a high pressure water hose –

 Now perhaps while Cain was running to the back of that bus, he missed the “Childrens Crusade” in Birmingham Alabama in 1963 –  On May 2, more than a thousand students skipped school and gathered at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. The principal of Parker High School attempted to lock the gates to keep students in, but they scrambled over the walls to get to the church.^[58] Demonstrators were given instructions to march to the downtown area, to meet with the Mayor, and integrate the chosen buildings. They were to leave in smaller groups and continue on their courses until arrested. Marching in disciplined ranks, some of them using walkie-talkies, they were sent at timed intervals from various churches to the downtown business area.^[59] More than 600 students were arrested; the youngest of these was reported to be eight years old. Children left the churches while singing hymns and “freedom songs” such as “We Shall Overcome“. They clapped and laughed while being arrested and awaiting transport to jail. The mood was compared to that of a school picnic.^[60] Although Bevel informed Connor that the march was to take place, Connor and the police were dumbfounded by the numbers and behavior of the children.^[61][62] They assembled paddy wagons and school buses to take the children to jail. When no squad cars were left to block the city streets, Connor, whose authority extended to the fire department, used fire trucks. The day’s arrests brought the total number of jailed protesters to 1,200 in the 900-capacity Birmingham jail.

In 1957, 9 High School Kids braved desegregating Little Rock High School…

Fact is, and always was – Cain is a Uncle Tom punk.

Part II of the interview…

In this one Herman lies about his draft status. The Draft “lottery” started in 1969, in which all men born between 1944 and 1950 were eligible. It was the best year to enter the Draft, as the pool of men was larger, covering 6 years instead of one – as did all the subsequent lottery drafts. Cain’s Birthday, December 13th put him at 163. The highest number drafted that year was 195. Meaning Cain got a deferment. There is nothing wrong with that part, although I know several folks who were enlisted in the Military who did exactly what Cain claims to have been working on.  He says he graduated in 1967, which means he would have been eligible in 1967 and 1968. I am not sure how he earned a deferment in a job he would have been working on, less than 4 months, armed with nothing but a Bachelor’s degree – nor how in 4 months he became “critical to the war effort” doing some very basic math in what essentially would have been an entry level position.

He mentions the fact he got a deferment earlier in the conversation, but then claims he put his name in for the 1969 lottery…

At 163…  He would have been on a fast freight with a rifle to Vietnam. Which means, more than likely – he got a second deferment because of his job. His “put my name in” comment infers he would have gone if drafted – that’s a lie.

 

Increasing Number of Latinos Identify as Native American

In some Latin American countries – being Native American is a definite negative. Discrimination, such as that experienced by Native American people in Southern Mexico is common. So historically, a lot of Hispanics have run away from their Native American background (Not unlike the disappeared black folks in Mexico). So this is interesting…

Taino Festival in Puerto Rico

More Latinos identify as Native American, census shows

When Ana María Tekina-eirú Maynard filled out her census form last year, she checked the box for Latino, and for the first time, she also checked the box for Native American.

It had taken her more than 30 years — plus research and genetic testing — to discover her ties to the indigenous Taínos of Puerto Rico, to claim her identity and re-learn what she thought she knew of her history.

She’s not the only one. Since 2000, the number of Hispanics who identified themselves as Native American grew from 407,073 to 685,150, according to the 2010 census.

Some attribute the increase to immigration from parts of North and South America where there are large indigenous populations. In some cases, it’s because of recently discovered ties to native cultures.

Growing up in the Bronx, New York, and spending summers in Puerto Rico, Maynard said she had no words to identify who she was. She just felt “different.”

“It is one thing to know that you have indigenous blood,” Maynard said. “And I have always known it. I look at the faces of my mother and grandmother, and that reality is undeniable.”

But Maynard had long been taught that Taíno Indians, the indigenous people of Puerto Rico, were “gone, dead and buried” for centuries, decimated by Spaniards who arrived on the island in the 16th century.

“Why would you question what you have always been taught and what was considered as common knowledge?” she asked.

Still, 14 years ago, Maynard founded the Puerto Rican Folkloric Dance & Cultural Center in Austin, Texas, to preserve the culture of indiginous Puerto Ricans. Today, Maynard gives dance and singing classes as a volunteer at the center, in addition to her full-time job as an engineer with IBM.

Four years ago, Maynard heard about the work of Dr. Juan Carlos Martinez Cruzado, a geneticist from the University of Puerto Rico. In an island-wide genetic study, he found that at least 61.1% of those surveyed had mitochondrial DNA of indigenous origin.

Cruzado’s findings eventually cast doubt upon the notion that the Taínos of Puerto Rico had been completely extinguished but suggested that they assimilated.

“When I learned about (Cruzado’s) work, my life changed,” Maynard said. “It was an awakening that the Taíno heritage was not extinct.”

 

 

Libyan Birthers…

Yeah… They got “Birthers” in Libya too!

The Mystery Behind Gadhafi’s Birth: Some Say He’s Jewish

What if the biggest mystery surrounding Col. Moammar Gadhafi had nothing to do with his long, brutal reign as the world’s most eccentric and violent leader turned pariah?

And what if a long-lost letter from a Catholic cardinal who knew Gadhafi’s true identity was evidence that could have solved the mystery?

To many Libyan people, the biggest question mark about Gadhafi does not involve his repressive and dictatorial rule, delusional statements or brazen lies. Behind closed doors, for years, they’ve wondered if he is Jewish. Last week the issue came out in the open, asNBC’s Richard Engel reported from Libya that one in five rebels was fighting Gadhafi because he believes the leader is Jewish.

Conflicting reports surrounding Gadhafi’s birth have circulated since about 1970, two years after a Gadhafi-led coup made him the de facto leader of Libya.

In a handful of biographies from years ago, mostly written by Europeans, Gadhafi is almost always described as being born in a tent in Sirt, the son of a poor, illiterate Bedouin sheepherder and his wife.

But the hushed-up rumors in Libya about Gadhafi’s parentage involved his mother being Jewish. The stories have conflicted over the years, and the narratives are different. One had her converting to Judaism at age 9. In another, Gadhafi’s grandmother is Jewish but leaves her husband for an Arab sheik.

A more specific claim, backed up by a Libyan historian, is that Gadhafi was born out of wedlock to a Jewish woman and an Italian soldier in a village east of Tripoli. Because of the shame surrounding the birth, the baby was given to a Catholic cardinal who in turn gave the child to the sheepherder and his wife.