News on January 1, 2018 (New Year Day)

McCarthyism and the Red Scare harmed the democratic rights of humanity back during the 1950’s. That agenda was not only is nefarious, but it was based on one pernicious lie. That lie is that every Communist on Earth is out to get people and make a worldwide, totalitarian empire to rule the world in a brutal fashion. We know today that Communism is not monolithic. We know of the crimes of Stalin. Also, we know of the many socialists and communists who disagreed and opposed the totalitarian and vicious actions of Joseph Stalin too. Stalin even murdered communists and socialists in the USSR who opposed him. Stalin was right to oppose Hitler during World War II, but he was wrong for his actions of dictatorship. McCarthy believed that Communists infiltrated Hollywood, the government, and other aspects of society in a plot to take over American society. He was a far right conservative who was funded by the big banking elite. As early as the 1930’s, the House Un-American Activities Committee at first first targeted Nazi sympathizers (who were evil people) and then later target was the Communists. The Smith Act in 1940 made it illegal for anyone to teach, advocate, or encourage the destruction of the government of America via force or violence. Many American communists would be charged with violation of the Smith Act. After Roosevelt passed away, the Cold War existed. Truman and Eisenhower were ardent anti-Communists. Truman promoted a loyalty oath among federal employees that wanted to oppose Communism. During the Red Scare, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were convicted and executed for the accusation of passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union during the 1950’s. On April 22, 1954, McCarthy started the Red Scare hearings live on ABC television. The establishment supported him initially. When he targeted the military and became so anti-civil liberty, even media leaders like Edward R. Murrow opposed him (because he or McCarthy is advocating the violation of the freedom of speech and the freedom of conscience). In other words, a Communist or a non-Communist shouldn’t be violated of his or her human rights because of his or her political views. By June 9, 1954, Joseph Welch (an army attorney) told the senator, “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last?” He wanted to criticize McCarthy’s attacks against his own assistant counsel. McCarthy was censured by the United States Senate on December 2, 1954. His was reprimanded by the Senate since he had done “conduct contrary to senatorial tradition.” Many innocent Hollywood people were victims of McCarthyism. Some had their careers ruined because of a sick campaign to suppress free speech. Dalton Trumbo was a screenwriter and novelist. He wrote many screenplays like Spartacus, Exodus, and Roman Holiday. He was part of the Communist Party, USA and he was part of the Hollywood Ten. They were charged with contempt of Congress and the Hollywood 10 were blacklisted from the motion picture industry. The reason was that they refused to testify before the House of Un-American Activities Committee in 1947. Trumbo continued to fight for freedom and write screenplays via pseudonyms. He gave credit to Spartacus to 1960.  Ronald Reagan was a Hollywood actor himself. By the 1950’s, he became a conservative (from being a liberal) and since that time to the day of his death, he was a dedicated anti-Communist. He worked with the FBI as a way to stop Communists in Hollywood. He was once head of the Hollywood actors’ union the Screen Actors Guild. He testified against the Hollywood Ten before the House of Un-American Activities Committee. The McCarthyite era was a dangerous time for democratic rights and human expression.


There is a long history of the Civil Rights Movement and Hollywood. Many people in Hollywood supported civil rights back then and some didn’t. Howard Hughes was one of the most racist Hollywood producers in history. He never supported true civil rights. John Wayne overtly said that he believes in white supremacy back during the 1970’s in an interview. He was another supporter of the Vietnam War too. John Wayne was an enemy of truth and a male that I don't respect. The paradox is that Hollywood has a long history of movies showing stereotypical images of black people and even overtly racist imagery and many other people in that world also resisted racism. Also, it is important to mention that civil rights grassroots activists inspired many Hollywood stars to be more progressive not vice versa. Ultimately, the civil rights movement was headed by grassroots mostly black people (and people of other backgrounds) fighting for justice. Harry Belafonte, Josephine Baker, Hollywood producer Frank Mankiewicz, Ruby Dee, Lean Horne, Sidney Poitier, Diahann Carroll, James Garner, Marlon Brando , Burt Lancaster, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Charlton Heston and other supported the 1963 March on Washington (which called for civil rights and equal rights for all. It had many speakers including the "I Have A Dream" speech made by the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.). In May of 1961, Heston had picketed a segregated Oklahoma City lunch counter. Heston became more conservative by the late 1960’s because of the Vietnam War and changing social realities in America. By the 1990’s, he was the leader of the NRA and became a right wing activist. Heston was right to oppose segregation, but his support of Reagan’s Presidency and other right wing positions are views that I obviously don’t agree with. It is what it is. Also, it is important to recognize the actors and actresses who stood up for the human rights of black people. Many actors, actresses, and entertainers worked overtly and behind the scenes in the Civil Rights Movement. Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Sammy Davis Jr., Dick Gregory, and other many other people gave funds, participated in protests, and had discussions in fighting for equality. Other activists like Theodore Bikel, Dorothy Dandridge, Eartha Kitt, Elizabeth Taylor, and others were visible to send support to organizations and activists in the cause of human freedom. Many of these celebrities inspire modern day Hollywood celebrities in the diverse causes of immigrant rights, opposing genocide, fighting environmental problems, and other legitimate social causes.

It is no secret that the Mafia had links to many in Hollywood. Movies show it. Some movies depict the Mafia in a diversity of ways like in the Big Heat (1953), On the Waterfront (1954), The Godfather Trilogy (1972, 1974, 1990), Scarface (1983), the Untouchables (1987), Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995), Donnie Brasco (1997), Road to Perdition (2002), and the Departed (2006). Documentaries document it and books reveal it. One example was how Mikey Cohen (a member of the Mafia) lived in Los Angeles. Before, he was a boxer and he worked with Lou Rothkopf or the associate of the Cleveland gang leader Moe Dalitz. Al Capone hired him for a time during Prohibition. The Kefauver hearings caused him to be in prison for tax evasion from 1951 to 1955. He used blackmail involving unions. He worked in the Los Angeles underworld. Frank Sinatra’s godfather was Mafia boss Willie Moretti. Moretti was the underboss of the Genovese crime family. Moretti helped Sinatra with kickbacks. Sinatra was present at the Mafia Havana Conference in 1946. He was with Lucky Luciano. Kelley wrote that Sinatra and mobster Joseph Fischetti were good friends since 1938 onward. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) kept records amounting to 2,403 pages on Sinatra, becoming a natural target with his alleged Mafia ties, his ardent New Deal politics and his friendship with John F. Kennedy. I have no problem with the progressive attributes of the New Deal. The FBI kept Sinatra under surveillance for almost five decades beginning in the 1940's. The documents include accounts of Sinatra as the target of death threats and extortion schemes. The FBI documented that Sinatra was losing esteem with the Mafia as he grew closer to President Kennedy, whose younger brother Attorney General Robert Kennedy was leading a crackdown on organized crime. Sinatra denied Mafia involvement, declaring that "any report that I fraternized with goons or racketeers is a vicious lie.” His son, Frank Sinatra Jr. was kidnapped and released unharmed.


Decades ago in Hollywood, black women actresses and entertainers experienced racism and sexism. They had to go through a lot, but they still persisted to captivate humanity with their strength, intellect, beauty, and creative talent. In our age, more and more people know about the many contributions of black women. We are owed black women our lives, because black women are the mothers of the human race. From the 1940’s to the 1960’s, tons of unsung black actresses and musicians were not just in Hollywood, but in locations worldwide to show their gifts to the world. Ethel Waters was a famous singer and actress. She was in Broadway, big bands, jazz, and pop music. She was in movies too. Katherine Dunham was an innovator of black dance. She was a dancer, choreographer, author, educator, and social activist. She fought Jim Crow segregation and wanted democracy plus tolerance to be made real in the world. She lived for 96 years on this Earth from 1909 to 2006. Lena Horne performed worldwide too and broke down many barriers. She was a long time singer, dancer, actress, and civil rights activist. She appeared in television, theater, and film for over 70 years. She is a famous for singing “Stormy Weather” in a movie. By 1997, she was in the GAP commercial and she looked very young being 80 years old back then. She lived to be 92 years old. Hazel Scott fought for civil rights and was slandered by the House of Un-American Activities Committee during the McCarthy era. She left America and returned to America from Paris in 1967. She was a Trinidadian-born jazz and classical pianist and singer; she also performed as herself in several films. In addition to Lena Horne, Scott was one of the first Afro-Caribbean women to garner respectable roles in major Hollywood pictures. She performed as herself in several features, notably I Dood It (MGM 1943), Broadway Rhythm (MGM 1944), with Lena Horne and in the otherwise all-white cast The Heat's On (Columbia 1943), Something to Shout About (Columbia 1943), and Rhapsody in Blue (Warner Bros 1945). In the 1940's, in addition to her film appearances, Scott was featured in Café Society's From Bach to Boogie-Woogie concerts in 1941 and 1943 at Carnegie Hall.  She was the first African American to have their own television show, The Hazel Scott Show, which premiered on the DuMont Television Network on July 3, 1950. Sister Rosetta Sharpe promoted gospel music constantly. Pearl Bailey and Eartha Kitt sang, danced, and were in many movies. Joyce Bryant during the 1940’s and the 1950’s was a singer, actress, and she became very religious afterwards. She supported civil rights. To this very day, people send tributes about her life. She still lives in America. Before Pam Grier, before Beyoncé, before Halle Berry (who are women who made strong contributions in their own right), there was the beautiful black woman Joyce Bryant. She was the originator. Other heroic black women during that era from the 1940’s to the 1960’s (who broke down barriers and done Black Excellence for real) include: Dinah Washington, Laverne Baker, Sarah Vaughn, Carmen McRae, Leslie Uggams, Diahann Carroll, Claudia McNeil, Leontnye Price, Rudy Dee, Cecily Tyson, and so many other glorious Sisters.



2017 will go down as one of the most important years in human history. For all of my days of my life, I will always remember this year. This year started with the unfortunate inauguration of the bigot Donald Trump. Immediately, courageous protesters from the Resistance (which included heavily black women and women of color) came out in the streets worldwide to oppose the evil agenda of Donald Trump. The Women's March inspired a new generation of people to speak up in favor of justice for all. We have seen the crisis of North Korea when it has launched missile tests and Trump has subsequently threatened fire and fury against North Korea. We have seen the racists in Charlottesville, Virginia (assaulting protesters plus clergypeople and one white supremacist murdered an innocent woman) and the callous reaction of the far right as it relates to its derogatory attitudes about immigrants, black people, and refugees. Also, we have seen the compassionate face of humanity. Folks have came out to help the Hurricane victims found in Texas, Louisiana, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, the Florida Keys, and other locations in the Caribbean. We have seen more people stand up in favor of what Colin Kaepernick is doing (in opposing police brutality and wanting racial justice). We have seen black women once again show the world that they are not going anywhere and they are strong with their spirit of opposing evil (with them making sure that reactionary politicians were defeated in Virginia and in Alabama). Black women should always be honored. History has been made with more black people and others of diverse backgrounds being elected in various political offices for the first time in American history. The solar eclipse brought people together worldwide in unison. More women have courageously came out to tell their stories of sexual assault and sexual harassment (which must end period). The historic #Me Too movement was created by a black woman, who is Tarana Burke. Also, Terry Crews was heroic to tell his story too which shows that anyone has the right to speak up and make sure that criminals who do such abhorrent acts should be held into accountability. The Mueller investigation continues with some Trump officials being indicted and the great possibility of Donald Trump himself being indicted. At the end of 2017, we are more committed in advancing the sacrosanct cause of social justice. So, 2017 has been a year of dynamic changes. 2018 is here now and we will always believe in justice forever.


By Timothy