Audio Poetry
Thoughts
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
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Speaking of Racism..
I was recently watching a documentary called "the Farm", which was made 10 years ago about the Angola Prison in Louisiana, which is the largest maximum security prison in the U.S. In this prison, a man named Vincent Simmons has been given a life sentence for raping a woman 20 years ago. Yet he claims he is innocent, and during his time at Angola, Simmons has been collecting evidence in an attempt to prove his innocence. One piece of evidence he obtained was the original Doctor's Report which said that the woman was a virgin after she had accused Simmons of raping her. Also, the woman who identified him as being the rapist initially said that "all black people look alike," so she never would be able to point out the perpetrator. In addition, he has a photo of him next to all of the other suspects, and he is the only man in handcuffs, which is not a legal practice. In the following video, both Simmons and the woman are allowed to present their cases before three justices, as Simmons is up for parol. The woman presents her case first, and the justices tell her, "you can rest assured we'll keep this boy locked up." Yet they make this statement before looking at Simmons' evidence. As a result, Simmons is making an attempt to present his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, where he will hopefully be guaranteed a fair trial. Check out the video, and if you are interested in seeing him receive a fair trial please sign the petition Here. Unfortunately this was the only video I could find, and the subtitles are not in English...
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The Racist Barber
My barber comes across as a nice old man. He always remembers who I am, only charges $10 for a quality haircut, and likes to laugh a lot and joke around with his customers. However, I've counted twice now where his joking has crossed the line and made me feel uncomfortable. The first time this happened was when he was giving me a haircut and a black man walked past his front door. "He won't be coming in here," my barber said. "They like those strange haircuts." This made me feel uncomfortable and I ended up telling my barber that some of my close friends happen to be African Americans, and he changed his tone a bit. Even though I found his comment shady I decided to give him another chance. Yet a few weeks ago he told a story about a black man who tried playing a practical joke on him, and how he outsmarted the black guy and turned the joke around on him. Again, I felt uncomfortable. Why did he include the man's race in his story, as though it were an integral part of the story? And so I've come to the conclusion to not support him as a barber anymore. Why should I have to feel uncomfortable in his barbershop even though those times may be few and far between? Even so, this decision is bittersweet, simply because I usually enjoyed the community and conversation that I found in that barber shop.
Have you ever stopped supporting a business based on ethical reasons?
Sunday, 07 June 2009
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The Chicagoian Test...
Youse is about 66% Chicagoian
This is a test based on things uniquely Chicago. At some points a few things have changed or drifted over the years, but aren't widespread enough to be what's still considered mainly Chicagoian. You got partial credit for it though. Don't like it? Tough, we don't put 'Da' before every word either.
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