I have to admit it, I have been in love with movies since a very early age. There's so many things to enjoy about the experience of going to the theater (sans the current ticket prices) from the big bucket of buttered popcorn; to memorizing the opening theme songs of every movie studio. I knew them all. Seriously, I will beat you if movie studio theme songs are part of trivia night.
The bottom line is, I love movies. And lately, I've been privileged to review a couple of new narrative films and documentaries for TheGrio.com. If you're not familiar with the site, check it out:
THE GRIO
http://www.thegrio.com
TheGrio.com, an NBC news site really does some great work. It's the, "first video-centric news community site devoted to providing African Americans with stories and perspectives that appeal to them but are underrepresented in existing national news outlets. TheGrio features aggregated and original video packages, news articles, and blogs on topics from breaking news, politics, health, business, and entertainment, which concern its niche audience."
And without further ado let's get on to the reviews.
TAKERS
http://bit.ly/9EXc0u
BLACK AUGUST
http://bit.ly/bqNNXm
IF GOD IS WILLING AND DA CREEK DON'T RISE
http://bit.ly/cL7eLK
LOTTERY TICKET
http://bit.ly/aFavWX
EAT PRAY LOVE
http://bit.ly/bqQyyx
HUGH HEFNER: PLAYBOY, ACTIVIST & REBEL
http://bit.ly/doBiXx
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
http://bit.ly/9gdDNw
See you at the movies!
~The Reluctant Journo
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
ARIZONA SB 1070: JUST PLAIN WRONG
Before I get into it, let me be fair. There are border issues. No one can sit and say that there aren't, and to downplay the problem is part of the reason why Arizona's SB 1070 came into existence. Arizona was fed up with waiting on the federal government to do something that they felt was "real" and "tangible" about border security so they took matters into their own hands.
SB 1070 was the "fix" that was created because of problems that were not "perceived" but rather the "reality" of everyday life in Arizona. That being said the "solution" of SB 1070 also known as the "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act" is a grossly inappropriate piece of legislation because of the negative consequences that it will create. I'm going to use a couple of simple parts from the bill to demonstrate why in my opinion, this is the case.
THE BILL ITSELF
The bill starts off like any other giving you your basic jargon of this is why we spent time writing this piece of legislation.
Essentially anyone can challenge whether a state entity has adequately enforced SB 1070 whether it's justified or not. The frivolous actions alone will tie up Arizona's courts for years to come if this law is allowed to take effect.
And let me not forget the most damaging part of all this.
THE FACTOR OF RACE
The above serves as the perfect segway to my last point, which is the matter of race. It's always a touchy subject amongst Americans, and it should be. Why you may ask? It is and will continue to be "touchy" because we still don't know how to adequately address race and will keep repeating the same mistakes until we do.
The reason why this bill immediately brings up that issue is because it essentially says if you don't "look" like you belong here or are a "foreigner" you can conceivably be stopped and questioned by the police and be forced to produce papers or documents to prove your citizenship, even if you're already a citizen.
So what does it mean to look like you don't belong here? What does a foreigner look like exactly? If you even start to answer any of the aforementioned two questions that's an issue and therein lies the problem. There is no list of traits or characteristics that can define what "not belonging" or a "foreigner" looks like. And when you try to create one and subsequently divide people based on their ethnicity when many of them are U.S. citizens it creates a cauldron that may boil over and wind up burning Arizona.
SB 1070 was the "fix" that was created because of problems that were not "perceived" but rather the "reality" of everyday life in Arizona. That being said the "solution" of SB 1070 also known as the "Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act" is a grossly inappropriate piece of legislation because of the negative consequences that it will create. I'm going to use a couple of simple parts from the bill to demonstrate why in my opinion, this is the case.
THE BILL ITSELF
The bill starts off like any other giving you your basic jargon of this is why we spent time writing this piece of legislation.
"The provisions of this act are intended to work together to discourage and deter the unlawful entry and presence of aliens and economic activity by persons unlawfully present in the United States."Honestly, with the above "idea" I can't find that much wrong with it because it's saying that we need to protect our borders, it's what comes after that creates the problem.
"A person may bring an action in superior court to challenge any official or agency of this state or a county, city, town or other political subdivision of this state that adopts or implements laws to less than the full extent permitted by federal law."Just from a purely legal standpoint, there have been complaints by Americans for years that the system is backlogged and flawed. So now, in essence part of this law will serve to add to that very complaint that many people had about the justice system to begin with.
Essentially anyone can challenge whether a state entity has adequately enforced SB 1070 whether it's justified or not. The frivolous actions alone will tie up Arizona's courts for years to come if this law is allowed to take effect.
And let me not forget the most damaging part of all this.
"For any lawful contact made by law enforcement official or agency of this state or a county, city, town or other political subdivision of this state where reasonable suspicion exists that the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States, a reasonable attempt shall be made, when practicable, to determine the immigration status of the person.""Where reasonable suspicion exists." What exactly is going to be the criteria that defines what reasonable suspicion means? And who's to say that the "officials" that get to decide what that criteria is won't abuse that at times and put people who are American citizens through the humiliating and discriminatory process of having to prove their citizenship? It's no wonder why people are up in arms about this creating a new form of "racial profiling." And it's not just activists and community leaders saying this but officials as well. When one of your own is questioning the validity of a bill, that's cause to reassess and make sure it's the right way to go. Arizona's own, Pima County Sheriff, Clarence Dupnik has called the law stupid and said that it will cause them to racially profile.
THE FACTOR OF RACE
The above serves as the perfect segway to my last point, which is the matter of race. It's always a touchy subject amongst Americans, and it should be. Why you may ask? It is and will continue to be "touchy" because we still don't know how to adequately address race and will keep repeating the same mistakes until we do.
The reason why this bill immediately brings up that issue is because it essentially says if you don't "look" like you belong here or are a "foreigner" you can conceivably be stopped and questioned by the police and be forced to produce papers or documents to prove your citizenship, even if you're already a citizen.
So what does it mean to look like you don't belong here? What does a foreigner look like exactly? If you even start to answer any of the aforementioned two questions that's an issue and therein lies the problem. There is no list of traits or characteristics that can define what "not belonging" or a "foreigner" looks like. And when you try to create one and subsequently divide people based on their ethnicity when many of them are U.S. citizens it creates a cauldron that may boil over and wind up burning Arizona.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
The Quest for Freedom
It is easy to take liberty for granted, when you have never had it taken from you. ~Anonymous
While many of us take for granted, the ability to sit in the comfort of our homes and in the presence of our families; three, young, American hikers have not been able to do just that since July 31, 2009.
Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal have been detained by the government of Iran without one single charge being presented in court against them. They have been held for nearly nine months in Evin prison and only allowed to contact their families once. Nine months. One phone call.
In September of 2009 Iranian President Ahmadinejad told an AP reporter he would request that the case be, "expedited and "examined with maximum leniency."" What is expeditious or lenient about nine months?
A recent visit by Swiss diplomats who reported that two of the three are in ill health highlights the increasing seriousness of further unabated detainment.
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_14941880
So all of this begs the obvious question: why have they not been released? And more importantly, why hasn't this been made more of an issue by the U.S. Government? Two former prisoners, Omid Memarian who was detained for 55 days in 2004 and Roxana Saberi who was detained for 100 days in 2009 correctly surmise that if this was a legal issue, formal charges would have already been brought. Instead, this has become a political and human rights issue where these three detainees are being used as pawns.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303960604575157880476050498.html
The bottom line is that we cannot allow that. People are not pawns to be used and played with in an international game of "gotcha." Iran must be held accountable and the United States must waste no more time in negotiating their release. Euna Lee and Laura Ling were released from North Korea after nearly five months of detainment following a diplomatic mission by President Clinton and others to secure their pardon. That can and should be done in this situation as well. Iran is a different "game" than North Korea but nevertheless it's one that can be won with the proper diplomatic approach.
The families of these three have been fighting this battle since the beginning to bring attention to their loved ones story and to plead for their release. http://freethehikers.org/ For nearly nine months they have been tackling this with dogged persistence and have longed to have them back home. If you even have to question why you should help bring attention to their story and implore our government to act quickly, look at your loved one and imagine them gone with no idea of when they might ever return. Then join in the call to bring them home so that they can again be free.
While many of us take for granted, the ability to sit in the comfort of our homes and in the presence of our families; three, young, American hikers have not been able to do just that since July 31, 2009.
Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal have been detained by the government of Iran without one single charge being presented in court against them. They have been held for nearly nine months in Evin prison and only allowed to contact their families once. Nine months. One phone call.
In September of 2009 Iranian President Ahmadinejad told an AP reporter he would request that the case be, "expedited and "examined with maximum leniency."" What is expeditious or lenient about nine months?
A recent visit by Swiss diplomats who reported that two of the three are in ill health highlights the increasing seriousness of further unabated detainment.
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_14941880
So all of this begs the obvious question: why have they not been released? And more importantly, why hasn't this been made more of an issue by the U.S. Government? Two former prisoners, Omid Memarian who was detained for 55 days in 2004 and Roxana Saberi who was detained for 100 days in 2009 correctly surmise that if this was a legal issue, formal charges would have already been brought. Instead, this has become a political and human rights issue where these three detainees are being used as pawns.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303960604575157880476050498.html
The bottom line is that we cannot allow that. People are not pawns to be used and played with in an international game of "gotcha." Iran must be held accountable and the United States must waste no more time in negotiating their release. Euna Lee and Laura Ling were released from North Korea after nearly five months of detainment following a diplomatic mission by President Clinton and others to secure their pardon. That can and should be done in this situation as well. Iran is a different "game" than North Korea but nevertheless it's one that can be won with the proper diplomatic approach.
The families of these three have been fighting this battle since the beginning to bring attention to their loved ones story and to plead for their release. http://freethehikers.org/ For nearly nine months they have been tackling this with dogged persistence and have longed to have them back home. If you even have to question why you should help bring attention to their story and implore our government to act quickly, look at your loved one and imagine them gone with no idea of when they might ever return. Then join in the call to bring them home so that they can again be free.
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