This our history

Crystal raised his hand and said he wanted to mention Harpo Productions, Oprah Winfrey’s organization. It takes two hours for Oprah’s people to put on her make up before she goes on television, two hours. I don’t know if it’s good or bad. I just know it takes two hours. Why? If you see Oprah in the hit movie Selma, you will see why. Whatever Oprah is doing it’s working for her, and that’s what counts. Oprah is getting paid big time from the “system” and this is very difficult to do when you’re Black in the Western world.
Absolutely raised his hand and asked Money, “How come you always make money?”
Money responded, “A good hustler always makes money. Life is not about how fast you run, or how high you climb, but how well you bounce, how you think… your thoughts… Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid. Study successful people. It’s all a hustle on difficult levels. Don’t hope – do itThere was an Amen.
White media still call racially mixed Blacks mulattos, or biracial, and naïve Blacks do the same. This is a very degrading word. I’ll tell you why.
Four hundred years ago Blacks were kidnapped from Africa and brought to the Western world (Human Cargo) against their will to do cheap labour and for the most part work for NOTHING from sun-up to sundown on a plantation. In the daytime there was racism and segregation, but at night the slave master or his son was in the barn with the female slaves – wives of Blacks or teenage Black girls.
Nine months later a baby was born, the Black baby was NOT Black anymore. The baby was lighter, because of the White slave master or his son.
When the slave master later took the family to sell at auction, nobody would buy the light-colored family, so the person in charge of the auction said the teenage boy or girl with the family were mulattos; they work hard like mules. Look in the dictionary, it says mulatto is a baby mule, not mixed or biracial – two colors mixed, White and Black, and the girl looks like actress Halle Berry.
You have to read Community Contact to read the truth.
When a Black tells a white man, “You’re a mother, this means you had sex by any means necessary with a Black female, and you had a child. Quite often the female was someone’s mother, why? Because white folks do not care. Ask Benjamin Franklin and Sally Hemmings. Google them… if you don’t know who they are.
One of the regulars of the Ways and Means Committee said the BCRC is doing a historical study on St. Henri/Little Burgundy; it’s too bad Richard Lord and Kenny Bernier are not around to talk about the deep, rich history of the area.
There was an Amen in the barbershop.
Professor said, “Listen to me carefully, I have an article from the New York Times, August 22, 1990 by filmmaker Spike Lee.”
Spike Lee writes, “Not every Black person is a pimp, murderer, prostitute, convict, rapist or drug addict, but that hasn’t stopped Hollywood from writing these roles for African-Americans…Negative images of Black people are presented on film and television everyday and there’s no great uproar. It’s sad, but most film critics don’t even recognize these images when they come across them… They surely don’t write about them.
The majority of film reviewers don’t accuse me (Spike Lee) of bigotry. But of those who do, have any ever written in-depth studies of Hollywood’s racism? Do they write long, critical articles every year about the art house and film festival revivals of “Birth of A Nation,” that so-called American classic by D. W. Griffith, The “Father” of Hollywood cinema, which was used as a recruiting tool by the Ku Klux Klan? Black men were lynched because of that film.
Has anyone written about the racist images in Walt Disney films like “Song of the South” and “Dumbo”? These critics probably grew up watching Disney movies and have internalized those images of shuffling, handkerchief-headed “Negros” so much that it probably never occurred to them that a lot of Disney’s images were offensive to Black people. Where were the articles when Disney re-released “Jungle Book” this summer? Not a word (a peep). Again, the double-standard.
I get asked questions by the White press that no other film director comes up against. When “Do The Right Thing” was released, it was, “Spike, when are you gonna have some White characters in your film?” At the time, I had only made two. How many of these journalists have asked White directors (who have made many more films than I have) why they don’t have any people of color in their films? Journalists ask me, “Spike, why aren’t there any drugs in your films?” As if African-Americans are the only people on earth who use drugs and African-American filmmakers are somehow the only filmmakers beholden to tackle that issue in their work.
Genius said, “We learned all about racism in Hollywood from actors who were Black, who came to Montreal to do films, they stopped off at the barbershop to get a haircut and broke down all the racism in Hollywood.
Bigmouth put up his hand; he wanted to know what Professor thought of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Ole Tymer raised his hand and said, “How can you talk about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and not Malcolm X?”
Bigmouth said, “One a time – I’m finding out about different ideological positions, because it divided African-Americans, which were 10 percent of the U.S. population. I’m trying to find out what path is correct. What path to social justice is correct? “By any means necessary,” or only non-violence? Integration or separation?”
Professor said, “I believe that if Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X had not been assassinated, they would have resolved their differences. Year after their deaths these questions continue to be relevant.
Blacks are still impoverished and the basic notion of Black equality still is a debatable one in the United States. There is much to be learned from both Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. There has been nobody since them. We are very fortunate that we all can read their speeches.
There was an Amen in the barbershop.
We are also fortunate that we Blacks, if we can hear or listen to a radio, or watch television, you would’ve seen, heard or listened to one of the greatest Presidents – ever – in the USA, Barack Obama. These are very interesting times we are in, 2015, and racism is still prevalent; it reared its head when many good white folks voted for a president to lead them, and he just happened to be Black. They loved him so much they re-elected him. Barack Obama is the most popular president ever.
Yes, JFK was popular, but there is only one Barack Obama.
People seem to forget, to become president of the USA it costs money, not millions, but billions. Barack Obama did not have any money, and he is Black and he can talk. He beat the best of the Republicans, and he beat the best of the Democrats. And no matter what he does, there are people – Black and White – who will never accept him because they cannot get past the color of his skin, Black.
If anybody in the USA, Black or White could bring the races together and help reduce racism, it is the President of the USA, Barack Obama. He did not; this is unfortunate.
Remember, the USA had city buses, and on the city bus, there was a section reserved for “coloreds”. This was the Rosa Parks story. December 1, 1955. Rosa Parks (Black) was arrested, for refusing to give up her seat to a White man. Barack Obama knows all of this, and understands all of this.
The President of the United States of America knows and understands why Montreal has only three, three city councilors who are Black. And there are over one hundred city councilors it’s called Institutionalized racism.
If Barack Obama were trying to get elected in Cote des Neiges or NDG, he would lose. Marlene Jennings (Black) was a winner, but “they” extended her riding to Lachine, because “they” knew nobody knew her, so she lost.
Fourteen years later it’s all “games” the “system” plays, and the President of the USA understands all of this. He expects this, but doesn’t accept it.
The President of the USA also visited Ottawa once. Everybody was on vacation in Parliament; if they were not he would’ve seen very few politicians who are Black, and it would have been a big embarrassment for Canada.
He would have called the barbershop and said, “What’s going on?”
I thought everything was cool up here because of Oscar Peterson and Jackie Robinson in 1946.
Singer Al Green had many hit songs; among them was one called “Let’s Stay Together.”
On a speaking tour in New York, the President of the U.S. broke out in song… “I’m so in love with you,” I doubt any other President will ever do this in New York and in Harlem. America will never be the same after his second term is over.

Professor said, “When you read that Bryan Bishop fella’s article “I am jealous,” he’s right on when he says “How little has changed in 50 years, or in the last hundred and fifty years for that matter.”
Genius put his hand up and said, “We were all humans until race disconnected us. Religion separated us, politics divided us, and wealth classified us.”
There was an “Amen” from everyone in the barbershop.