Monday Updates in late January of 2019.

One of the most talked about and one of the greatest films of the 21st century is "If Beale Street Could Talk." It includes great actors and great actresses who perform in a movie about the African American experience during the 1970’s. Barry Jenkins wrote and directed the film. It is based on the novel of the same name by James Baldwin. Many people falsely assumed that James Baldwin reduced his revolutionary views by the time of his passing. That is false. Back in the 1950's, he temporarily rejected socialistic views, but he later became more revolutionary decades later. By the 1970’s, he became even more progressive on economic issues. By the early 1970’s, he broke with liberalism and became a socialist. In No Name in the Street, from 1972, he wrote that the American oil interests don’t care about human life. In the same book, he wrote the following words: “…Huey believes, and I do, too, in the necessity of establishing a form of socialism in this country...The necessity for a form of socialism is based on the observation that the world's present economic arrangements doom most of the world to misery; that the way of life dictated by these arrangements is both sterile and immoral; and, finally, that there is no hope for peace in the world so long as these arrangements obtain…” Now, the movie was released on December 14, 2018 in America and previously on September 9, 2018 (at the Toronto International Film Festival). The cast included Kiki Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Michael Beach, Dave France, Diego Luna, Pedro Pascal, Ed Skrien, and Brian Tyree Henry.  The film is about a young African American woman who supports her family and fights to try to clear the name of her lover. Her lover was wrongly charged with a crime. She wants to do this before the birth of her child. The movie combines the themes of hope and pain, of triumph and tragedy, and resiliency plus hope. It is a very emotional film with excellent acting. The characters detail the lives of Clementine Rivers and Alonzo Hunt. They are played by Kiki Layne and Stephan James respectively. Clementine or Tish Rivers narrates much of the movie. They were friends throughout their lives and develop a romantic relationship as time goes on. They live in Harlem, NYC during the 1970’s. This was when deindustrialization and massive economic changes come into New York City (along with the social and political movement growing in America). The film showed New York City landlords who refused to rent apartments to black people. They or the couple find a warehouse and convert it into an apartment. Levy is the Jewish landlord and rent to them at a low rate since he loves seeing couples in love, regardless of race. Clementine is harassed and assaulted by a man and then Alonzo pushes the man out of the store to defend Clementine. The police wanted to arrest Alonzo, but the woman who runs the grocery defends him. Alonzo is later arrested for being accused of raping a woman. There is no evidence for the rape, but Officer Bell wants the case to go forward. The victim is Victoria Rogers.

Clementine talks with Alonzo while he is in jail.  “I hope that nobody has ever had to look at anybody they love through glass,” laments Tish. Tish speaks to the plight of the black poor (as cited by Baldwin) in the following terms as Tish asserts: “Though the death took many forms, though people died early in many different ways, the death itself was very simple and the cause was simple, too: as simple as a plague: the kids had been told that they weren’t worth s___ and everything they saw around them proved it. They struggled, they struggled, but they fell, like flies, and they congregated on the garbage heaps of their lives, like flies.” Clementine is pregnant with a child. Most people are supportive of the pregnancy except Mrs. Hunt. Mrs. Hunt (or Alonzo’s mother) views the child and Clementine as being damned which caused Frank or Alonzo’s father to hit Mrs. Hunt. Sharon is played by Regina King. Sharon is the mother of Tish. Both families of Tish and Alonzo steal money from their employers in order to post bail for Alonzo. Sharon tries to convince Victoria to recant her story while she is in Puerto Rico. Victoria Rogers refuses to do so. Later, Alonzo accepts a plea deal instead of a long prison sentence. Years later, Clementine, and her son Alonzo Jr., come to jail as they wait for Alonzo’s release. The movie isn’t meant to harbor respectability politics. It is meant to emotionally outline the reality of many poor and working class black Americans during that era. The film has been critically acclaimed. The film won the best Independent Film for the African American Film Critics Association award. Regina King won the Best Supporting Actress award for the African American Film Critics Association and for the Golden Globe Awards. It has won many other awards too.


There has been much debate about the Gillette commercial, so I decided to see it for myself. Many sexists hate the commercial since they view it as attacking men and any form of masculinity. These are the same people who slander single mothers and believe in massive xenophobic rhetoric. So, I take nothing from them as serious. Therefore, here are my thoughts after looking at the commercial for myself. As a black man, I didn’t feel any offense by the commercial. The commercial didn’t make me feel like it was demonizing every single man. It was inspiring men to hold other men (who abuse people) accountable. It even showed great men who did the right thing in stopping violence and inspiring children. The commercial was about presenting the truth that the best in men doesn’t relate to harassment, abuse, rape, or mistreatment. It relates to upliftment, standing up for justice, and having great character. It exposed bullying as evil and unwarranted. Not to mention that it basically praised men who are doing the right thing while recognizing that we must end the epidemic of abuse and harassment of fellow human beings. The Gillette commercial was one of the most inspirational commercial of 2019. You can criticize corporate controversies involving Procter & Gamble (P&G), which owns Gillette, but the contents of this commercial is very powerful plus legitimate. Toxic masculinity is evil and should be gone while positive masculinity should be advanced.

 
Manly P. Hall was one of the famous occult writers of the 20th century. His works document the esoteric ties to Freemasons and other arcane societies. His books describe information on comparative religion, America, the occult, Freemasonry, philosophy, and other topics. Manly P. Hall was also a 33rd Degree Freemason who lived from 1901 to 1990. He was born in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada and passed away at Los Angeles, California. He promoted mysticism and his books told the truth about Freemasonry having ties to many esoteric concepts. That is why he was a 33rd Degree Freemason and he admitted in his books that many Masons praise Lucifer and that many in America wanted a secret destiny to promote a total transformation of society. He classified America as a new Atlantis which was influenced by Sir Francis Bacon. He also founded in 1934 an organization called the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles. His famous book was the Secret Teachings of All Ages plus the Lost Keys of Freemasonry. In 1944, he wrote the book of the Secret Destiny of America and he wrote the 1951 book of America’s Assignment with Destiny. His literature and lectures wanted to convey the message that the allegories and rituals of the ancients can be used in our time in order to build up modern humankind. He talked about alchemy, esoteric views, and Masonry. Universialism is one tenet of Manly P. Hall. Hall has mentioned, “The true Mason is not creed-bound. He realizes with the divine illumination of his lodge that as a Mason his religion must be universal: Christ, Buddha, or Mohammed, the name means little, for he recognizes only the light and not the bearer. He worships at every shrine, bows before every altar, whether in temple, mosque or cathedral, realizing with his truer understanding the oneness of all spiritual truth” (“The Lost Keys of Freemasonry”, p. 65). It was reported in 2010 that President Ronald Reagan adopted some ideas and phrasing from Hall’s book The Secret Destiny of America (1944), using them in speeches and essays. In fact, Ronald Reagan was an honorary 33rd Degree Freemason and a member of the Bohemian Grove. Hall’s book of the Secret Teachings of All Ages (which came about in 1928) outlined the New Age view of how spiritual illumination in the pineal gland or the third eye can cause the rising up of human beings. Hall dedicated The Secret Teachings of All Ages to the idea that “concealed within the emblematic figures, allegories and rituals of the ancients is a secret doctrine concerning the inner mysteries of life, which doctrine has been preserved in toto among a small band of initiated minds.” Hall didn’t sugarcoat his words. His literature outlines information about black magic and demonology. The Secret Teachings of all Ages outlined information about alchemy, the Rosicrucians, the Kabbalah, Shakespeare, etc. He married twice. His second wife was Marie Schweikert Bauer. Manly P. Hall believed that occult knowledge came from Atlantis. In legend, Atlantis was a powerful civilization that ended by the Great Flood. Later, this knowledge spread into ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, etc. according to Hall. There is Rosicrucian imagery in his works. Manly P. Hall believed in his ideologies. I don’t agree with all of the views of Hall. Likewise, we have to understand that Freemasonry is not some quaint, simplistic group. It has direct ties to the occult and other rituals as documented by Manly P. Hall’s research.


By Timothy