Rome Capitol Theater' s Showing of Birth of A Nation: Educational?

At 7:00p.m. on April 17th Rome's Capitol Theatre will be host to a viewing of D.W Griffith's controversial 1915 film: Birth of a Nation.
For those of you in the dark, Birth of a Nation, filmed in 1915, is the first epic Blockbuster in American History. Noted by film scholars for it's technical breakthroughs in directing and editing it is equally reviled by civil rights activists and older African Americans for it's stereotypical depictions of Black folks at their worst.
Due to the subject matter, centered around the civil war and reconstruction, many consider it a lightning rod for old school southern racist.
The images of too dumb to know any better, happy slaves and chicken eating, toe picking black Congessman is just too much for some to handle.
Many blame the movie for attributing to a climate of violence during the times (20's). When it was released in 1915 lynchings were on the rise and would eventually reach a statistical peak several years after. The early 20's were also wrought with race riots all over the United States . These were not typical riots. They were attacks on Black communities by armed white people. The theme was always the same, domination of the 'uppity' black community.
What gets lost is the subject of the film: Reconstruction. Reconstruction, a few years after the Civil War was the first time Black Americans were on any type of equal footing with white people. Blacks held office taught in schools served as Postmaster, you name it.
What happened?
The Federal troops left and the dominant planter class, ex-plantation owner waged war with prosperous black ex-slaves to 'set things right'. This began a bloody terroristic campaign that would forever taint the image of The South to African Americans.
To racist whites it was called Redemption.
It is natural for people who have witnessed the outcomes of these events to feel a little uncomfortable with any imagery that reminds them of the causes.
For those lined up in protest against the showing, their reasons are simple.
It's racist.
"Why now" asks Utica's Loretta Johnson, a longtime member of the NAACP.
"Why do they have to show it now? I mean, look at the current climate, people are freaking out over health care and there seems to be an unusual amout of veiled racism". Johnson was reffering to the historic passage of healthcare legislation that has been the source of intense debate for almost a year.
"Now that it's over some people are angry, especially around here(Mohawk Valley)".
On March 22 a group of African Americans along with mayor James Brown of Rome met to discuss alternatives to showing the film.
The group, with the Mayor in agreement, want the showing moved or cancelled.
"Cancelling is out of the question, we have put too much into planning this, we have been thoughtful with our planning as well" said Art Pierce the artistic director at Rome Capitol Theatre.
Pierce has invited Hamilton College Professor of Film History Scott Macdonald to introduce the film and he has also assembled a multi-cultural panel of Mohawk Valley residents to keep it all in perspective.
"We are also going to play a live musical score, the original" Pierce said.
Despite his care in planning Pierce said they were unable to reach a compromise.
Sharing his emotions Pierce said "I think emotions are high right now, we tried to have discussion but we could not get anywhere...they walked out, a few stayed, but most of them left".
Those that stayed were able to share their fears and discuss possibilities. Never the less, Pierce feels he is misunderstood, but sees a positive in establishing a dialog with the Black community in Rome.

Why Now?

The Rome Capitol Theatre has been doing a silent film series since 2002. "We have been getting a lot of requests for this film, in fact it is the most requested movie since we started this" Pierce said.
One could wonder why this movie? Why do soo many people want to see it.
"Well, it is a materpiece" Pierce added.
Morbid curiosity? A reminiscence of times past perhaps? Let us all hope it is all about how far we have come from the dark days of ignorance and violence. Let us all hope it is about learning from our mistakes.
"It is a racist film" admits Art Pierce, the man responsible for organizing this viewing.
"It also has a lot of value as an educational tool"
Yeah I agree but we need to know our history before we can learn anything from it.

Op/Ed Gotham City News

You Can Get it Somewhere Else-

Tearing down the walls of Corporate media is hard work. Especially if you have no money or power to speak of.

This grand idea - a local media source unencumbered by the financial obligations of leveraged business owners - is a refreshing situation for anyone looking for some real objectivity in Mohawk Valley Media (MVM).

Gotham City News is the result of frustration. Frustration with the status quo. The lack of tough questions, the blatant agendas overshadowing the pursuit of truth.

The idea of what is news, worthy of reporting, being routinely decided by a handful of people. And lets be honest, when Topix is referred to as a legit source of information, we need to clear the air.

We, the people, need clarity.

The tacky jingle,'You can't get it anywhere else' trumpeted on WKTV news, will no longer be true.

You can get it somewhere else.

Some stories need more attention than others. Social justice, fairness and equality are our measuring sticks. We will keep it real simple at Gotham City News. We will go to the Legislator meetings , we will attend The Utica Common Council meetings, we will try to get information from the very people we are reporting on, that includes our governor and even POTUS.

If something is printed about you, rest assured we gave you a phone call or approached you first. Our primary focus is politics. As a fledgling news outlet, we are limited in our ability to cover every aspect of Mohawk Valley life and it is our hope your interest grows with our ability to bring it to you. With some help, we will expand our scope and give all issues their fair share of print.

There are cases, like our current Mayoral Administration and bombshell health code issues, that just beg to be probed.

But first things first.

Personal Attacks

You won't see them here. At least not the type of orchestrated political grudge articles we are so used to reading lately in the MVM.

Elected officials will be held accountable (even the ones we have voted for). The personal attacks that do nothing but retard the progress of a place (Utica/Rome)who's development was arrested a long time ago are not a part of our formula for success. Grass roots involvement is (a part of our formula).

It is our job to remember and document what is said and hold them (elected officials) to it, not use it against them.

For Utica, the variables are the same. A small market rust-belt town with nothing to offer, or to lose, comes up short again and again and again.

To knock us out of this social malaise, this lack of awareness, we will be sure to wrankle some feathers. And just like an elected official we are definitely going to be the object of criticism. That goes with the territory.

We are big boys and girls.

Players in a Small Market

But lets think about the immediate impact of yet another source of news in this small market.
Advertising plays a huge role in the delivery of news. We all know that if an advertiser does not like something that is printed they will often times remove their advertising from that publication.

In MVM it is a discomforting reality and an effective tactic, especially in hard economic times. I can't remember how many times during a marketing stint at the O-D I heard, first hand, about knee-jerk cancellations due to something the O-D printed. to The O-D's credit it was usually some very accurate, badly timed expose on someone or something that got an entire demographic up in arms.

Utica , unlike New York City and Syracuse does not have a lot of businesses to begin with so if you are unpopular and you rely on business to support your operation than you have to tread lightly.

We will undoubtedly take some of the pressure off the O-D so they can go back to printing fluffy articles about South St in the 70's and James St when there was no black people, or crime (what a crock). Their advertising revenues should go up even if they continue to lose subscribers.

We won't bend. We rely on business owners in the community who care , people who , regardless of what is printed, believe in a free and open forum that is beholden to the ethics of journalistic integrity.

Third World vs. Utica

People angry at a newspaper is nothing new. Journalist have been the subject of scorn nearly as often as lawyers and car salesman. In third world countries reporting the news is a dangerous occupation, one of the quickest ways to find oneself on a slab in the morgue.


Utica has lot in common with the Third World. Little economic development. Exploitive business climate that is reliant on low wages and undereducated workforce. Land distribution favoring a small minority of people who lord over the population. The list is long. We challenge the reader to come up with a few more comparisons.
But at the end of the day we all love this city. We love it enough to try and transform it to something better. And we cannot do it without you.

Thankfully, for all of us, Utica is not a Third World Country so the cup is officially half-full.

Where The Brothas At?

It is obvious that Utica is a homogenous community.
A non-minority, white community.
Some say anti-minority.
If you were to look at the employment stats for Private and Public sector jobs you will find minorities are not working anywhere.
If you were to look at all the non-profit boards you won't find many non-white people on them. The local school board...not one minority.
The DA's office, maybe one or two.
The Mayor... City Hall...who are we kidding.
Often times the decision makers, the people at the Round Table, happen to be white. The people that do the hiring the firing; the people who consult and suggest...are white.
The standard bearers, endorsers of all that is good and productive in The Mohawk Valley are WASPS with a sprinkling of Italian to add spice.
The WASPS say The Italians run everything.
Everyone else agrees that white folks wether Italian or Wasp pretty much run it.
"It" means The Police Department, Fire Department, 98% of private business, property and just about everything else of value in The Mohawk Valley.
Congressman Arcuri, State Senator Griffo, Assemblywoman Destito, County Executive Picente, Mayor Roefaro...the list is actually much longer than that but who's nitpicking.
It is the reality.
It is not a good or bad thing.
Anyone of Italian descent that makes a mark in Utica should not be maligned because of their monopoly on political power.
They should be studied and admired.
In the past all this power in the hands of one group was definitely a bad thing. People in these positions of power used their privilege as a leverage against any fair and honest competition. That certainly is not the case now right?
Newspaper, radio all at their (the elite) disposal to subtly mold a consensus on any issue, usually at someone's expense.
I am not surprised about white people's attitudes towards minorities. We do not exist on any tangible, visible level of relevance. Most of their contact is from what they see on television, hear in the news or witness working as a prison guard.
Historically, most of the news on or about black people has always been full of condemnation at it's worst patronizing at it's best.
I remember reading a passage from Ethnic Utica ( a must read for anyone interested in local lore) from the old Utica paper. Without researching a quote I will tell you the people, the black people, were depicted as a bunch of shiftless and dirty bunch of alcoholic degenerates who work to drink and drink to work.
That was news.
Totally unfair. Like Jim Crow.
Playing against the rules. Like Cheating.
Now, all we apparently do is sell drugs.
What about the decline of James St.?"
The O-D (months ago) did a story chock full of quotes from old Italians reminiscing on how nice it used to be on James St when: "we were so close every store would give you a tab".
Obviously the reporter did not speak to any of the current residents or business owners who run tabs now and have store credit that has nothing to do with Visa.
Community.
Separate, soon to be equal.
Just ask the Italians.
Ask Bushy Graham (not his real Italian name).
The Italian Americans who reside here weren't exactly welcome. In fact they did not enjoy to much political or economic success until Rufie Elefante and the second World War.
This is not a history lesson I'll leave that for the O-D.
The fact is there are no Black or Hispanic People in any high profile municipal jobs.
It is our collective fault(minorities). We quake in the presence of authority happy for any type of acknowledgment. We give thanks for things that everyone else takes for granted. We privately gripe and publicly smile patiently awaiting some well spoken firebrand to take the words out of our collective mouths.
Someone to represent us for real.
Utica New York is a community dominated Politically and Economically along cultural divides.
Blacks, Hispanics and Asians are on one side of the divide with little resources and no say so.
But there are those that had resources that tried to break through in this land of opportunity called Utica. They got their asses and wallets handed to them one by one. Leaving the city like soo many have before them.
The multicultural market has been ignored here forever. There are recent signs of growth but I am a cynic I have seen too much.
The sad fact is...
It didn't just get this way. It has been like this for a long time.
Ever since these rolling green hills were home to nothing but deer and The People of The Upright Stone (Oneida Nation) a few lucky people happened to settle down in the right place at the right time and have taken advantage of that good timing to this very day.
You would probably be sitting pretty too if your great great great great great great grandfather Angus purchased a few hundred acres of land for glass beads and wine.
Now it is time to share or at least get out the way.

Tiger Woods Re-Tread (You are not alone)

The original post is about Guv Spitzer but there are so many parallels I had to repost. I keep thinking about it and I think Tiger is getting the worst of it.
He had me fooled.
I thought he was kinda prudish.
Lame, probably a dick.
But honestly at the end of the day I really never even thought about how much T-Woods was getting laid.
I still don't give a...
The lesson here is simple. If you are gonna be good at something,
the best,
get in front of what you like.
What You Really Like.
Your Weakness
Get Out In Front Of It
The public will understand,
look at Hasselhoff.
As for Tiger?
I'm a Huge Fan Now.




I Tried
I tried to stay out of this. I tried to let it go.
As an official observer and loyal participant of the blogotronosphere.
I can't let it go.
You probably know what current bombshell scandal I am alluding to. If you already OD'd on it...sorry.
I must continue this sordid conversation.
Give my fresh perspective.
As a resident of New York State and a practicing member of the armchair sociologist society, I am obligated to not only offer my two cents but to also include my perverse view of the whole mess.
It is a clash of unrealistic standards, outdated ideas and fundamentalist puritan mores smashing up against reality.
We live in a sex charged society that supports a multi billion dollar porn industry but buying sex illegal?
What about the loophole that makes it legal if it is on film. So basically I can pay a ho and film it and it is all perfectly legal but if I want a little privacy, like a hotel room for instance, it is suddenly an illegal act.
I wonder how many porn producers got busted as johns before they decided to make a buck.
Stupid just like our drug laws.
O.K. back Spitz
Governer Spitzer, who once compared Upstate New York to Appalachia, is a penny pinching john who warns his ho's 'there may be some danger involved'.Do you ever wonder exactly how many businesses sell nooky like the one he was using.
What is the point?
Who are we fooling. Prostitution is here to stay.
What is the big deal?
I don't want to hear any utopian rap about a perfect world where everything is free. Bullshit- we won't see it in our lifetime.
I don't want to hear about your daughters, if you keep a eye on them chances are they won't end up a prostitute, the same goes for sons.
Wake up, there is nothing wrong with sex. I don't care what anyone says there is always someone who is going to charge.
Male or female.
I am not like everybody...people who pay a couple of grand for a nice time are in my envy file. I think it is one of the hallmarks of true freedom to be able to do that along with whatever else you can lump in (as long as ther is no bloodshed).
I can't help it...I like him more now.
Before I was rather indifferent I knew his political affiliations in my part of the state were pretty much limited to the Oneida Indian's Land into Trust issue and the New York Regional Interconnect power line issue.
In defense of spitz's crack about Upstate Appalachia; I had the opportunity to ask Tom Brokaw what he thought of the comments when he visited Hamilton College on a lecture tour. In his signature voice, smooth as a shot of 100yr old scotch, he replied: "The dairy industry has taken quite a hit here(upstate) and cruising some of these backroads I have observed incredible rural poverty, there needs to be some creative economic development...."
He agreed.
But thats expected.
I love it when people act human.
McGreevy has to be mentioned in the same sentence.
Spitzer bought ass, McGreevy...another story.
I think the American people's expectations are low enough to actually accept that type of behavior and I am surprised he resigned.
He should have played it down, minimized it .Fucked with the whole cult of public conscience. He should have compared himself to McGreevy and asked our mostly hetero populace what they think.He should have cried on T.V.
My Belgian girlfriend told me: "In Europe the men applaude that shit".
I would have rode that shit out...'hey, I'm only human ova here'
But wait a minute.
The actual minutae of the situation has not reached us yet...all the gritty details. Spitzer's penis size, what type of sex he liked and his incessant haggling over price. The shit they would have a hard time editing unlike the Mike Tyson rape trial that included the most x-rated testimony I have ever heard shared in the paper or on television.
He could not escape the fact that he is an asshole...after everyone forgives him for buying nooky they have sit through the evidence that the multi millionaire, or is it billionaire, governor haggles a working girl over price.
You cannot spin out of that (republican shit).
Dude you are rich as hell- pay the girl.
Spitzer was not exposed because what he did was wrong he was exposed because he is a dick.

Gangs?

Another Re-tread: I wrote this in response to a Mid-Atlantic Great Lakes Organized Crime Law Enforcement Network Conference held at the Radisson Hotel in Utica New York somewhere around the time I first posted. I covered the two day event in true Hunter S. Thompson style.
The most telling aspect of conference was the so-called experts did not have a clue of contemporary gang culture.
They referenced Chicago gangs that no longer exist.
They wooed and wowed the crowd with graphic tales of gang violence.
"These kids do not care" was the mantra.
"They will kill you in a second" they warned.
"Beware" they said.
The absurdity was something close to humorous, tragic. I laughed out loud a few times stifling the last chuckles with a cough. The end result of the whole event was a lot of scared Principals and social workers. There was no real talk about why gangs are an option for so many kids. No real talk about a system's failure to educate many of it's charges resulting in a one way ticket to jail, probation and back to jail.
Everyone agreed they were at war with a new cunning enemy dressed in saggy pants and bandanas. A desperate entity born out of our worst nightmares. More often than not, he is black and young.
Beware.

Gangs: Who's problem is it?
When I think of streetgangs in Utica the first question I ask myself: Do I know a gang member? The answer: I don't think so.
Crips, Bloods MS13 don't seem to have a chapter here.
I think even the Freemason's may have problems recruiting in Utica. I could be wrong, but I do not think there is practical way to measure gang activity outside of jail. Drug dealing, murder and drive-bys are the informal earmarks law enforcement looks for. But what do you do in a community that already had those earmarks sans the gang graffitti?
I think it is a matter of perception. There have been people in Utica combatting streetgangs for fifteen years. They thought there was a gang problem then.
Crime and Gangs are nothing new to Utica what is new is the awareness. It is not as if Utica suddenly woke-up and the Gangs snuck in over night.
Gangs were, that is , they used to be, a by-product of disenfranchisement, during a time of rampant institutional racism the average black man was condemned to the inner city by segregation forced to compete amongst his own for few meager scraps (limited living wage jobs).
Different groups of men from the same neighborhood, with nothing to do all day, began to hang together, a charismatic member of the group gave them a name, then they began to talk about their dreams and their realities and , most important, their struggles. This scenario played out all over the American inner cities during the civil rights era.
The revolutionary rhetoric, the dream of total freedom,was being lived through these groups. They didn't fear police, they lived according to and created their own set of rules and laws. They created their own governing bodies.
The original mission of many 'Nations' was independence from 'the man', protection from the police and peace of mind.
Police behaved a lot differently in the city back in those days. The noose of racism has loosened its death grip but the marks remain, gangs account for the societal scars endured by generations of people cheated out of their dreams.
Gangs are by-product of poverty, illliteracy and indifference.
They survive on cynicism, hopelessness and greed.
Now they are profitable.
Not only on the streetcorner but Wallstreet as well.
Gang culuture has gone corporate, just look around at all the products our young people are wearing. The gang symbolism is rampant everywhere and for the well informed, it appears to be a mainstream phenomenon.
What are your kids wearing? Do they know the 'crip walk'? Do all their friends wear the same colors and do funny hand shakes?
The sciences of sales and marketing has been applied to 'do-rags' , bandanas, and even prison apparel. The street culture has redefined what it means to be a 'gangsta'.
They are after your kids, corporate America says: "there is money in this gang thing just like the grunge thing".Stay tuned for Crips cereal"
Crips are for kids!!!!
The suits of 'The Dapper Don', the traditional gangster image, have been replaced with oversized jeans, giant chains, and even bigger medallions. The richest and most successful thugs in American history on the wrong side of the law will never be known; that is gang culture.
Do all these things exist in Sin City er' Utica?

Do we know anything else

I had to re-post this. In fact I will be doing a Dancy's Corner review. All re-posts will be titled as retreads.


RETREAD
Do we know anything else?
Life is hard.
From the moment we leave the womb we are forced to breath.
Each breath allowing us to continue our concious existence.
Allowing us to feel.Pain.Pleasure.
What is painful to some is pleasurable to others.But isn't it about the feeling?Isn't it all about the sensation?I told my mother when I was seven I did not know I was alive until I bumped my head.
I just ate, played, cried, slept , shit, and then ate again.
My first sensation of pain made me value feeling nothing. It made me value eating, playing, sleeping and shitting without slipping and busting my head.
Pain was a warning.
There is no warning for pleasure.
There should be.
Do we know anything else?
Outside of my singular existence there are billions of other singular lives. We all share what we know in every way we can but we can never ever really share ourselves...only stories.
We live in a made up world.
Some of us picked our own part in the story(life) others are bit players in someone elses.
Some of us refuse to act and are kicked out of the play.
All of us are limited by our singularity. We are limited by our vessel, unable to really walk in anyone elses shoes, yet, we are all connected.
Connected by the physical rules we agreed to when we took breath.
Connected by our gut instincts.
If we get on a quantum level there is no seperation.
Period.
DNA and stories.

Stories of love, war, hate and growth.
Ending is beginning.
Winning is losing.
The point is there is no point.
If you understand you shouldn't beause I know I don't.
I love it.
I cannot think of a better way to exist in this life.
I am.

ClimateGate-Obama Backlash Leaving Welts

Who out there would like their vote back?

Who feels John McCain, Ron Paul, Ron Reagan or Ron McDonald should be steering the American ship?

Honestly McCain looked capable until you saw Palin, with her signature icy grin, standing behind him sharpening something.

McCain looks capable because he is not President.

Obama is...still President

You are... still pissed.

It is not his fault.

The pressure of his office is starting to show.

We knew he was human when we chose him right?

We also knew he was poised to inherit the most fucked up America in world history.

Incredibly Obama has not lost his swagger, but he has lost his semi-fake political smile.

Like a 'game pit' he wilingly steps into the bullseye ready for a fight. He has simplified a complicated American tragedy by addressing two things.

Healthcare and Afghani-Talibanistan.

Where are the other candidates?

Who is running in (let me dumb it down) 0-12'?

Ron Paul? Destroyed by Bruno, Ron Reagan...dead.

Ronald McDonald? He actually is a member of American Monarchy an unseen hand in the political poker game.

Why join the race and play by the rules?

Like always, our Presidential choices were limited .

It is way to early to be thinkin about 2012 anyway (yeah right).


In 08' we were given the option of a shiny new model for the tweny first century leader over the old, reliable, well tuned, gas guzzling battering ram that defined our twentieth century.


We were given (elected) a proven salesman with an understanding for common rhetoric that would unite demographics. We were given a clear choice between doom and gloom war hedgefunds and a more practical, frugal, creative economic model based on innovation and emerging technology.


The people need to be prodded now. Pushed in the right direction. Stripped of their wasteful borrowing ways.


Worried about global warming?

The message is clear: Don't waste your time worrying. The Chinese aren't.

Nothing good will happen until we invest in widespread infrastructure change.
We need to store a lot of carbon folks...a lot of carbon.


Invest in Infrastructure Change.


Invest in Infrastructure Change.


Invest in Infrastructure Change.


It will ignite a movement that will line the deepest pockets of the most daring venture capitalists.


I used to Imagine, Dream...now I prepare, braced for the worst.


I have to reference the Industrial Revolution to bring this home.


There was a time when American cities that had municipal electricity got it courtesy of direct current D-C. At the time the patent for direct current generators and components were owned by a very influential Thomas Edison. Commonwealth's brother.


In fact, Edison was so influential he singlehandedly retarded our technological progress by about twenty-five years by cock-blocking innovative ideas that did not originate in his lab.


Sound familiar?


A proven scientist by the name of Nikola Tesla actually perfected the DC generators for Edison he also had a more efficient alternating current (AC) that could be boosted (by transformer boxes) and service a much larger area easily and cheaper. He was labeled a fanatic, hoax and kicked out of Edison's lab until the Chicago World Fair. Teslas technology was showcased and subsequently purchased by, let me see...EVERYONE.


It was simply better.

"Dirty deeds... done dirt cheap"


Can you think of any contemporary situations where these types of business practices prevail? Delorean, Tucker....right now believe me there is a good idea being purchased and shelved for the benefit of the bank account.

"Dirty deeds"

Cars that run on water, batteries that recharge instantly, 100miles per gallon for an SUV.

"done dirt cheap"

We went to the moon right?

"Dirty deeds"

All that shit exists (in my innovative dreams).

"done dirt cheap"

Edison did not own or have any financial interest in Tesla's patents and he enjoyed what was referred to as a monopoly with his.


The proof is in the pudding.


Keep moving forward no matter how slow or frustrating it may seem.


Obama knows this.


So do venture capitalistst.

"DIRTY DEEDS AND THERE DONE DIRT CHEAP"