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Their “blackface” acting mark in Black History

When I started to pay attention to the movies on the black and white television in our family room, I loved to watch the “silly” negro actors who occasionally showed up in the old black and white movies from the 1930s and 40s. At the time, as a young child, I liked them just as much as the “silly” white actors in the movies. The only difference that I saw in the acting of the comedians was that most of them were white, with the exception of the few black actors.

It wasn’t until I was older and my father began to teach me my Black and Cherokee history on his family side and my mother taught me my Black and “possibly” white history on her side that I realized that the negro actors that I had been watching, and laughing at, when I was a youth were wearing “blackface.”

That’s right! The black people who already had “brown skin” were forced to wear “blackface” in order to get a “part” in a movie or in the theatre. Let’s look at a few of the Black actors who had to play the “role” to get a part in the 1930s and 40s:

WV White and Psychic Wheels Album Reviews

I really wanted to write that Columbus band WV White got their name from the documentary the Wonderful Whites of West Virginia. But I just read an interview with band in Agit Reader that stated they took their name from a butterfly. I am using that as an intro just so we both know the first idea that comes to mind when you read their name, and new album title West Virginia White is a wrong assumption. I also wanted to write they are a Dustin White tribute band but that is not true either. WV White’s self-titled album on Anyway Records starts off with “Angela Lapper, Pregnant,” the title of which does reference the Marc Quin Sculpture of the limbless British artist who was featured in the 2012 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony. But it is not an inspirational “Wind Beneath My Wings” type track, nor is it a strange acrotomophilia love song.

Concert Review -- John Turck Trio at Woodlands

An often overlooked ravage of age is the diminished capacity to attend late night musical events, especially those beginning past midnight. I can still pull it off, but usually pay for it with an episode of the yips the following morning, along with an inexplicable craving for Pepperidge Farm Goldfish and orange blossom tea. It's weird, frankly, and tends to creep out friends and family. I was delighted, therefore, to learn that the John Turck Trio was playing a happy hour show at Woodlands Tavern Thursday night. A chance to see one of Columbus' best bands play for free in a venue that takes sound quality seriously is too good to pass up, especially with $2 drafts available. I headed over directly after work. In a town of musical copycatting, the JT3 is singular -- they don't sound like anybody. An attempt to describe their music with adjectives invites disaster. The best I could come up with is “cosmic piano ballads,” which sounds like Billy Joel lurking in the back of a planetarium, waiting to spring “Uptown Girl” on a class of unsuspecting fifth graders. I retreat, therefore, to a more functional description.

Take 5 with Brian “Clash” Griffin

Brian “Clash” Griffin has been writing songs since the age of 15 and performing in the central Ohio area since 2000. As an activist, he has passionately performed at many rallies, demonstrations and protests over the years promoting the causes of human and animal rights. He has recorded 3 albums of original music (Late Bloomer (2003), HomeFront and LoveLoss (both 2005)). Recently, Brian formed a new group, Brian Clash and the Coffee House Rebels and has been working with Columbus Rock and Blues Legend Willie Phoenix on a new album (Morning Soldiers) to be released in spring 2014. More information and samples of his music can be found at  Band Camp and on FaceBook

FP: Put together your fantasy band, dead or alive.

Jimi Hendrix and his long magical mystery fingers

As we come to the close of Black History Month, may we add a special one-time Lifetime Cosmic Eternity award for Greatest Electric Psychedelic Black Man with Cherokee Blood, namely Mr. Sir Jimi Hendrix? Inarguably Jimi's blackest album in the traditional Afro-American music stylings would be Band of Gypsies, with Jimi's super-soul power drummer Buddy Miles and Jimi's old army buddy on bass, the very supple and dependable Billy Cox. It was Jimi's psychedelic blues-funk-soul with the particularly tremendous song, “Message of Love,” carrying a gospel-like under-groove as well as message of positivity. What his recent collection, Valleys of Neptune, made clear was Hendrix was indisputably the greatest funk guitarist who ever lived. The compilation of late period-Hendrix--mostly funk-meets-soul with his outer limits blues playing--is entirely of studio material and sound great. Band of Gypsies is Jimi playing similar material live and on fire, it was a special New Year's Eve/New Year's Day quartet of performances and the dvd of it is utterly, unbelievably, unfathomably amazing.

Vaping is sweeping the nation

Dr. Lawrence Salata doesn't vape. He does, however, encourage his patients who smoke to take up the new craze that is sweeping the smoking world. Salata stopped by the Vapor Station adjacent to his dental practice to talk to the owner about the recent flooding in front of the building. But he left the store with two armfuls of ecigs. “I've seen a significant reduction in burning and staining in the mouths of my patients who have switched from cigarettes to ecigs,” he said. “I think it's a good option for them.” For those who are wondering, those vapor trails crisscrossing Columbus aren't coming from CMH. They are coming from the legions of ex-smokers who are indulging in the alt-smoke craze that is sweeping Columbus and the entire country. The result is a booming multi-billion dollar industry that didn't even exist just a few years ago. For the non-smoker and non-vaper who wants to know, vaping is the new Rock and Roll for the millions of smokers who are trading in their Marlboros and Camels for Blu and Njoy. Vaping involves a mixture of propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin, nicotine and flavoring which is then vaporized in a small battery powered atomizer.

Old Town residents organize for zoning meeting, temporarily derail development plan.

More than 50 residents and business owners packed a Board of Zoning Adjustments hearing on Tuesday night February 25th group seeking seven different zoning variances needed to build an upscale forty unit apartment complex at 122 Parsons avenue. The hearing was the last green light needed by the development group to push the project forward over a groundswell of opposition from within the neighborhood. The hearing began with the lead developer, Michael Woods of Woods Development Group, being asked to name his actual partners in the project, not just their corporate identities. The identities of the owners of the interlocking maze of development companies caused the Board Chairman to recuse himself and leave the hearing room at once. The chairman claimed he did business with one of the owners, Brian Higgins, and could not legally be involved.

I'd like to talk more about fetishes.

I found out that a close (platonic) friend apparently has a foot fetish. Should I avoid being around him when I'm barefoot or wearing sandals or sexy high heels?

Dear Reader,

Thank you for writing in with your question.

Your friend shows that he trusts you, revealing his fetish towards feet. Your friend obviously trusts you enough to tell you about their fetishes and desires. He may not be coming on to you, just being forthright and honest.

I am curious to know why you would want to limit yourself regarding your footwear after hearing this confession. Why do you want to deny yourself the pleasure of being barefoot, wearing sandals or sexy high heels? Wear what pleases you, makes you feel good. Do you worry about what others will think, if you are turning them on? Do you feel shame or is it exciting?

I would like you to rephrase your question and ask me, “My friend loves boobs. Should I avoid being around him when I'm wearing a low-cut top with a push-up bra or a sexy dress?” Any part of the body can turn another person on – the back of the neck, lips, a haircut, hands, etc.

Is he turned on by crying?

There are times my boyfriend is mean to me, makes me cry, and then makes love to me. It has happened several times, so I see a pattern emerging. Do you think he is turned on by crying? Dear Reader, If you did not say that he is first mean to you, then I would suspect something else. However, because he is mean to you, it is my opinion that he is not turned on by crying. He is turned on by pain and control. He is abusive. This is not about love or sex, it is about hurting you and your feelings. The more control over you your partner feels, the more it turns them on. This is not consenting behavior. You are being taken advantage of and abused. Domestic violence does not discriminate. It can happen to any person in any kind of relationship – heterosexual, homosexual, friendships, marriages, family, elder care, children, professional, etc. There are no boundaries between class, ethnicity or region either. It can happen to anyone. It usually catches a partner off-guard. A relationship begins rosy and then the darkness emerges. An abusive partner seeks control and sometimes the easiest way to feel in control or bigger is to tear down their partner.

DeWine hates democracy

Why is Attorney General DeWine making unfair and untruthful statements to Ohio voters? DeWine recently rejected the petition language for the citizen’s initiative entitled the “Voters Bill of Rights.” The proposed amendment would have granted Ohioans the same rights recognized in the European Union – making voting a Constitutional right. DeWine was quoted in the Columbus Dispatch as saying he rejected the petition’s language because it failed to provide “fair and truthful statements” about matters concerning voter identification practices and voters being purged from the voting rolls due to failure to vote. Here are the facts now denied by Mike DeWine. In 2012, the Free Press obtained public records from all 88 of Ohio’s county Boards of Elections (BOE) documenting that 1,092,392 voters were removed from the voting rolls since the 2008 presidential election. Cuyahoga County, which includes Democratic-rich Cleveland, led the Buckeye State with 267,071 purges. Franklin County which includes the capital of Columbus, removed 93,578 voters. Franklin County went 58% for Obama in the 2008 election.
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