Buffalo Soldier Gets the Blues

It being February, it has officially been not only acceptable but expected for teachers to educate our young people about black history for 26 days. Only three days left, people! We had better make the most of it. And thank goodness for leap year.


[Side note conspiracy theory: The reason we have February Break in February has nothing to do with heating costs or winter depression. It is so that students will have 7 fewer days in school during Black History Month. How are teachers supposed to truly explore such a complex history or truly delve into all of the important figureheads such as Malcolm X and Shirley Chisolm when there are only 18 days to work with? Factor in weekends and we're down to 16 actual school days. Factor in that we're only slated to teach "Social Studies" two days a week and we've dropped down to 8. Better stick to MLK and Harriet Tubman and then move on, suckas. Another victory for the white majority.]

But I digress... Back to brass tax. During our "official" celebration of Black History, my 4th grade class and I went to see a free children's concert of Toshi Reagon at The Town Hall earlier this month. She sang a variety of traditional black-American songs including "Juba," a slave-children's song, and "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around," by Sweet Honey and the Rock. Before singing a song in the style of traditional black-American blues, she decided to gauge the audience's prior knowledge. What follows is a transcript of that event.

Toshi Reagon: Who here has heard of the blues?
[About 75% of the audience, most of whom are children, raise their hands.]
 Toshi Reagon: Well, well, that's certainly impressive. So if you've heard of the blues, who here has the blues?
[About 50% of the audience, most of whom are children, raise their hands. This seems a surprisingly high number for a group of 7 to 10-year-olds. I notice that the student sitting next to me has his hand raised. Let us call him Marley.]
Me: You have the blues, Marley? What do you have the blues about?
[Marley looks at me as if I am completely dense. Apparently, the answer is terribly obvious. With a shrug of his shoulders and wiggle of his head he replies, clearly annoyed by my naivete.]
Marley: Slavery, of course!

I guess that's what I get for having taken the class to the African Burial Grounds two weeks beforehand. Watch out, white America, we've got some soldiers on our hands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYGdczGJTgY

Romantic Comedy Drinking Game

Last Friday night, my friend Aapta suggested we watch the terrible movie, "Something Borrowed." The movie was so terrible (and surprisingly disturbing in its views of female relationships) that it couldn't be finished soberly. We looked online for a Romantic Comedy Drinking Game, couldn't find one, were shocked and then made our own.

Now I share it with you:

(DISCLAIMER: This game is meant to be played with beer, wine or a responsibly mixed drink. Do not take shots; it will kill you. Also, drink responsibly, people. Always have a DD or live in a city with awesome public transportation.)

Take a sip whenever one of the following tropes occurs: 

* a montage                                                                     
* a flashback
* a flashback montage (2 sips)
* a pensive reflection with a weepy vocal arrangement accompaniment (2 sips if the character walks next to the water)
* voice over
* choreographed dance number
* magic
* token gay friend
* token black friend
* token white friend (I'm talkin' "Just Wright" here, people)
* there is no token friend/the movie is super racist
* no token friend because the movie is a mixed race wet dream (3 sips in celebration!!)
* token "chubby" friend (2 sips if she is clearly no bigger than a size 8)
* token kooky friend (i.e. a fat, pathetic brother; a hot mess co-worker with an obnoxious voice)
* a wedding (2 sips if it's overly-fancy)
* wedding dress shopping
* drunk/embarrassing wedding speech by best man/maid of honor/brother/sister
* confession of love (2 sips if it's raining or they are crying, 3 sips for both)
* realization of love
* running through crowds to confess love (2 sips if this is accompanied by a sweeping musical score)
* an actress who would clearly be a hottie in real life is playing the "Plain Jane" character (2 sips if it's because she's got brown hair or glasses, 3 sips if it's because she's got both)
* the BFF becomes the love interest/love of the protagonists life
* random shots of famous landmarks (i.e. Eiffel Tower, Empire State Building, London Eye)
* scene shot in currently trendy and recognizable "hot spot" (i.e. Rice to Riches, Magnolia Cupcakes)
* characters are in a loft space
* really rich people stuff is treated as normal, everyday behavior (i.e. shopping at Bergdorf Goodman's,  summer house in Hamptons, exotic vacation)
* a notoriously low paying job leads to that character somehow being able to do awesome stuff (related to above but can come up in various ways)
* a bet is made
* a challenge is accepted
* two women fight but never use their fists
* two women fight and use their fists (2 sips)
* a sassy black or Latina lady makes a quippy, quite stereotypical one-liner (i.e. "Not on my bus!" "That some white booty I'd like to tap, girlfriend! [eyebrow raise]" "Oh no she di-int!")
* someone sings bad karaoke
* a large fancy party is thrown
* a misunderstanding occurs that becomes a central problem in the movie but could have been easily avoided or resolved by the characters simply talking to each other
* a meddling family member/friend causes problems for the main character
* multiple story lines that eventually intermingle
* you feel terribly uncomfortable by whatever it is that you are seeing
* a sex scene that only goes as far as undies and then a fade-out
* frantic making out
* morning regret
* hot man abs
* a kiss (2 sips if it's the last shot of the movie)

Feel free to send any suggestions for things we missed. And add your own, people.

Drink happily.