Cultural and Religious Information.

Dorothy Dandridge's role in Carmen Jones further solidified her legacy as one of the greatest actresses of all time. Back in 1953, a nationwide talent search came about as 20th Century Fox started to cast the all-black musical film adaption of Oscar Hammerstein II's 1943 Broadway musical of Carmen Jones. It came from Georges Bizet's opera Carmen updated to a World War II-era African American setting. Under consideration, but available to director and writer Otto Preminger to view for suitability was Dandridge's starring role from the previous year of the film Bright Road. Dorthy Dandridge had to fight for her role of Carmen. At first, Preminger didn't want Dandridge to play Carmen but the role of the quieter person Cindy Lou. Dandridge dressed down for her role in Bright Road. For Carmen Jones, Dorothy Dandridge worked with Max Factor to dress up for the part. She performed her case for the role of Carmen directly to the director Preminger in his executive office. Later, after giving appearances in the soundies material, Preminger gave her the role. Many of the cast were like a Hall of Fame of African American actors and singers like Pearl Bailey, Brock Peters, Harry Belafonte, Diahann Carroll, Olga James, Madame Sul-Te-Wan (born Nellie Crawford) and Joe Adams. Dorothy Dandridge was a singer, but the film wanted a more operatic voice. Dandridge's voice in the movie was dubbed by operatic vocalist Marilyn Horne. Carmen Jones opened to favorable reviews and a strong box office returns on October 28, 1954. It earned $70,000 during its first week and $50,000 during its second. Dandridge's performance as the seductive leading actress made her one of Hollywood's African American sex symbols. She earned positive reviews for her role. By November 1, 1954, Dorothy Dandridge was the first black woman featured on the cover of Life magazine. Carmen Jones was the worldwide success earning over $10 million at the box office and becoming one of the year's highest earning films.

Dorothy Dandridge was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. She was the first African American nominated for a leading role. During the 27th Academy Awards, which was held on March 30, 1955, Dandridge shared her Oscar nomination with actresses like Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Judy Garland, and Jane Wyman. Although, Kelly won the award for her performance in The County Girl, Dorothy Dandridge was highly popular. During the 1944 Oscar ceremony, Dandridge presented the Academy Award for Film Editing to On the Waterfront editor Gene Milford. On February 15, 1955, Dandridge signed a three movie deal with 20th Century Fox starting at $75,000 a film. Darryl F. Zanuck, the studio head, had personally suggested the studio sign Dandridge to a contract. Zanuck had big plans for her, hoping that should would evolve into the first African American screen icon. He purchased the film rights to The Blue Angle and intended to cast her as saloon singer Lola-Lola in an all-black remake of the original 1930 film. She was planned to play Cigarette in the remake of Under Two Flags. Dandridge agreed to play the role of Tuptim in a film version of the King and I and a neighbor The Lieutenant Wore Skirts. Her former director Otto Preminger suggested that she accept only leading roles. By this time, Preminger was committing adultery against his wife by having an affair with Dandridge. Dorothy Dandridge was an international star. She rejected the two other roles and they were given to the famous Puerto Rican actress Rita Moreno. On April 11, 1955, Dorothy Dandridge was the first black performer to open at the Empire Room inside New York's Waldorf-Astoria hotel. Her success as a headliner led to the hotel to book other black performers like Count Bassie Orchestra with vocalist Joe Williams, Pearl Bailey, and Lena Horne. In 1957, Dandridge sued Confidential for libel over its article about an incident. This incident never happened and by May 1957, she received an accepted out of court settlement of $10,000. She also testified at the 1957 criminal libel trial of Hollywood Research, Inc., the company that published Confidential as well as all of the other tabloid magazines from that era. Dandridge and O'Hara's testimony proved that Hollywood Research committed libel at least twice against both women. By the late 1950's, she was in many roles.



During this era of time, it is certainly right to present to the world the history of Secret Societies chronologically from the start of human history to the year of 2020. I did similar research a long time ago about this subject. Now, we live in a new generation with much more accurate information about how Secret societies function and the history of them. That is why it is important to get the facts right and to make sure that real facts are made available to the people. One common debate among Secret Societies are among Christian conservatives and the New Age crowd. Both groups accuse each other of being false. The big irony is that the New Age crowd claims to be so tolerant, but many of them are intolerant of Christians who disagree with occultism and paganism. The fact is that people have the free speech right to disagree with the agenda and dogmas of many secret societies like the Skulls and Bones and the O.T.O. Many people like Robert Hieronymus (who demonizes anyone who disagrees with Freemasonry and like-minded groups) omit that some of the strongest opposers of slavery in history were believers in God. Robert wants to promote the falsehood that conservative Christians (who research conspiracy issues) collectively view the Framers as worshipers of Satan which is ludicrous and hilarious. Although, many Framers were wicked slave owners and oppressors of black people. While I disagree with many conservative Christians on omitting the need to address and eliminate racial injustice, the need to end police brutality, the necessity to advance labor rights, and I disagree with them on other important issues (some, not all, conservative Christians are outright bigots and racists who support the overt racist Donald Trump. Loving your neighbor as yourself means the human race as all humans are created equal in the image of God), all of them aren't monolithic in their views. I do agree with conservative Christians on many issues like condemning adultery, exposing Scientology and other cults, disagreeing with the New Age movement, and believing in the existence of one God. Likewise, I don't agree with conservative Christians on every single issue as justice and human equality are meant for all regardless of one's background. Me personally, I don't agree with Freemasonry and witchcraft because of my personal reasons not because I want them to be oppressed. No one should experience oppression. What people from across the political spectrum do agree upon is that institutional racism, economic inequality (select families, world banks, and other entities have inordinate power in the world), corporate corruption, and imperialism are realities in the world that must end. Thousands of years ago, many secret societies had different functions. Many of these organizations were the keepers of the secrets of medicine, government, science, technology, and spirituality. They shared this knowledge to the next generation. These secret groups existed in Africa, Europe, the Americas, Asia, and other places of the world. Numerous Secret Societies followed the Universal Religion that teaches that man can use steps or rituals to rise to achieve higher consciousness from lower consciousness (which is taught in the modern day New Age Movement). It is the belief that humans can be God or like a god. This doctrine relates to the mysteries and paganism. This is what they call the "ancient wisdom," which is why many dominant religious institutions persecuted secret society members. For the record, I don't agree with persecution against anyone. This pagan concept has been preserved for thousands of years. This is why by the 1800's, there was a hijacking of numerous secret society movements. Many corporations and elite groups copied the symbolism of ancient secret societies and made them their own (when the origin of these symbols go back thousands of years). Also, you have extremists who view any symbol as of the Devil. Of course, that is not true as symbols have multiple levels of meaning (symbols can conceal or reveal hidden information). The Framers and architects of Washington, D.C. used many pagan and Masonic imagery in art, architecture, etc. in order to send a clear measure about what they believed in. Many Framers like Thomas Jefferson weren't Christians, but believed that Jesus Christ was a great teacher of morality and ethics. Christians believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of the living God and therefore God. New Agers believe that Christians are right that Jesus is God, but they believe that the human race is God too. I of course reject the idea of mere humans being gods or God. Jesus Christ was right to say that the Kingdom of God is within you. I do believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God.

The problem with the New Age crowd is that many of them blame Christianity collectively for the evils of the Inquisition, the Maafa, and the Salem witch trials when those acts of evil have nothing to do with the message of Jesus or true Christian doctrines. Murder, religious persecution, kidnapping people, controlling people against their wills, and coercion are evil. We know that Osama bin Laden is not representative of all Muslims. We certainly know that many Middle Eastern pagans were involved in the oppression of Hebrew people, and some Roman pagans were complicit in the murder of thousands of Christians during the first few centuries after the birth of Jesus Christ. Do I blame all pagans for these atrocities? No. Yet, I find it interesting that many New Agers don't talk about the massive persecutions that Bible believing Christians have gone through from Felix Manz to the early followers of Jesus Christ. The Catholic Church leadership hypocritically criticized Freemasonry for years (for accusing Masonry of promoting paganism and the occult. I of course disagree with Freemasonry for various reasons), but Roman Catholicism is filled with doctrines from the Mysteries and paganism like purgatory, the veneration of statues, and other doctrines. Therefore, sincere people have desired truth for the ages of time. The problem is that today America and other places of the world have been hijacked by international elitists, large corporations, and other geopolitical entities that desire centralized control, economic exploitation, imperialism, and corporate domination of our lives. That is the problem. Once you see the truth, you can live in the truth. Ancient religions found in Egypt, Etruscan lands, other places of Europe, Babylon, Mayan lands, etc. do have similarities with each other. The pagan concepts from the ancient world passed down into the Gnostics, those in the Renaissance, and other movements. While I don't believe that a human can be God or is God, I do believe in the greatness of human dignity, human curiosity, and human intellect. Our human greatness is not superior to God's divine power. The lie of many occultists is that every Secret Society is just good old wholesome fun. The reality is that many secret societies through the ages had human sacrifice, false doctrines, debauchery (as found in the Hell Fire Club), and rituals of a mock human sacrifice (like in the Bohemian Grove which will be exposed once again). The passing down of knowledge involving math, science, and other matters by the ancients was good. What was bad was the hijacking of legitimate wisdom by the elitists (made up of the super wealthy families controlling the majority of the wealth on Earth) and large corporate power bases in harming the lives of the common people. One example is that the nation of America is made up of righteous people and evil people. Secret Societies are very diverse. Yet, they are related heavily in human history. In the near future, I will write about Secret Societies in a chronological order.


The Ark of the Covenant is one of the most important religious objects of Judaism and other monotheistic religions. Originally, the Ark of the Covenant was housed in the Temple of Solomon. The Temple of Solomon was destroyed many times. It was destroyed completely by 70 A.D. by the Roman forces after the prophecy of Jesus Christ saying that Solomon's Temple will have all of its stones gone. The Bible stated that after Solomon's Temple was completed, as part of the dedication ceremony the Ark was seated within the Kodesh Hakodashim or the Holy of Holies. Within the Holy of Holies, there are two massive statues of the cherubim or angels who attend to God in the Abrahamic tradition, stood overlooking the Ark. The Old Testament of the Bible described many detailed depictions of how the Ark of the Covenant was to be built. Much of the ark was made up of acacia wood. The wood was covered with gold and a lid was fashioned with the Cherubim on the lid. Moses and Arron worked together as Aaron was Moses' brother. In the Bible, God commanded Moses that each of the 12 tribes would put forth a rod to determine which tribe would be the priests of the Ark of the Covenant. The tribe connected to the rod that bloomed over night would be the priests. Aaron put forth his rod for the Levites. Over the right, his rod was blooming and almonds came from it. Many traditions say that the Israelites used the Ark in Bible. The location of the Ark of covenant is unknown. For decades, researchers and scholars have tried to find the Ark in Ethiopia, Israel, and other places of the world. The symbol of the Ark of Covenant is found in synagogues, Churches, and in Masonic artwork (as Freemasonry copy concepts from the OT). The 2 cherubim images on the Ark represents God's glory. The Ark had the golden pot filled with manna (as a memorial for future generations about how God fed them in the wilderness as found in Exodus 16:32-33), Aaron's Rod (that was a sign of God's continued choice of Aaron as priest as found in Numbers 17:5), and the 10 Commandments. It was lost during the destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians.


The Golden Age of hip hop taught the world about many things. It has shown the world that regardless of the lies and stereotypes about hip hop in general, hip hop is an artform that is here to stay. The sounds of MC Lyte and the lyricism from Rakim during the Golden Age of hip hop expanded many people's minds about its value. Also, the time from 1986 to 1994 wasn't all filled with sunshine and roses. We witness racial injustices like the murder of our Brothers and Sisters by the police. We witness the Rodney King beating which led to the 1992 rebellion. We saw the growth of the prison industrial complex and the era of the Crime Bill. During the time, I was in elementary school. It was the time of my early childhood when I listened to many hip hop music. Also, it was a time where many progressive and freedom loving human beings stood up against racism, against economic injustice, and against oppression in general. Massive sampling of music existed during this time too. You can make the case that the Golden Era of hip hop had some of the most diverse forms of hip hop available of all time. Fore example, there was conscious music from Public Enemy, dance hip hop from MC Hammer, more hardcore songs from N.W.A., and music with universal praise from A Tribe Called Quest. It was a time of balance of music forms, and it had hip hop for people of every age, background, color, and nationality. That time wasn't a dull moment from the controversies to the awards given to artists. It was a time also of the growth of corporate control of mainstream hip hop. New record labels existed, and artists had to fight for their masters, publishing, and other components of their contracts. The end of this era saw the development of 2 great hip hop artists. They were born in the same city, and they were very popular. To this very day, people either hate them or idolize them. They represent legendary hip hop history. They are Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G.





You can't talk about hip hop without discussing about debates and controversies in hip hop. These debates continue to this day. The controversies of hip hop started during the birth of hip hop. Back in the 1970's, many people didn't view hip hop as music. A lot of people don't know that many R&B artists hated hip hop as a fad or not real music. We know that hip hop is music as it has sounds, lyrics, melody, poetry, and other components of musical expression. Later, hip hop's lyrical content would be criticized. It wasn't as scrutinized during the 1970's, because the vast majority of hip hop back in the day didn't have a lot of profanity. That would change by the 1980's. Groups like 2LiveCrew had to go to court over their content. Judges in the court ultimately permitted them to show their music in any fashion because of First Amendment protections. Uncle Luke said that he helped a lot of artists to say what they say on records. He also wanted southern hip hop to be respected, because as late as the 1990's, many narrow-minded people wanted to disrespect any rap music from the South. By the late 1980's, sexually explicit music became commonplace in hip hop. Artists, who show these lyrics, issue many justifications on why they do it. Some say that it's free speech, some say that they are reporters of what happen in the ghettos, they say that they talk about some women not all women, and other weak excuses. I have heard them all. The truth is that any musician or artist can easily describe the harsh conditions of poor neighborhoods without calling black women, black men, or black people in general every name under the sun. They may have free speech rights, but we have free speech rights to disagree with demeaning women or demeaning black people in general in music.

The irony is that corporate heads permitted this to happen. If the capitalists running the mainstream music industry said that they would not promote any album degrading black people, many musicians would not do it. C. Deloris Tucker, Rev. Butts, and Jesse Jackson criticized these types of anti-black, anti-black women lyrics in some (not all) hip hop music. These people aren't perfect. Many of them were not revolutionaries, but part of the old school, mainstream bourgeois civil rights institution. I don't agree with Tucker allying with a conservative extremist William Bennet. We know of their imperfections. Their views were caught up in generational debates among the black community. Yet, they are right that degrading black people in music is not a long term solution to develop our communities. Many children imitate these lyrics. The stickers on the albums are of course a joke. An adult can buy these albums and send them to a child. Now, these imperfections found in some music is not limited to hip hop. Many other genres had controversial lyrics. During the 1920's, many early jazz records had extremely sexual lyrics. Hip hop is not to be blamed for violence, crime, police brutality, racism, sexism, etc. We know that white racist, imperial control of capital and exploitation of Africans and people of the black African Diaspora contributed heavily to the bad conditions of many of our communities not hip hop. It would be silly for anyone to blame music for these issues, but anti-black lyrics have been the gasoline on a fire that perpetrates false stereotypes about black people. I will guarantee you that these musicians, who show anti-black lyrics, would never tolerate a person calling their sons or daughters those names. Back in the day, it was taboo to show these critiques in public. Today, it is more accepted to outline criticism of anti-black lyrics, because of the Black Lives Matter movement and other movements for social change. Large corporations make billions of dollars to peddle anti-black, anti-woman, and anti-community rap lyrics. This was said by C. Deloris Tucker, and she's right on that point. Also, it is important to note that hip hop is not monolithic. C. Deloris Tucker gave a powerful statement to the Senate in 1994 that advocated solutions in the midst of oppressed communities and the glorification of violence in music. Tucker was clear that she wasn't against rap. She was against gangster rap and misogynistic lyrics. C. Deloris Tucker was an elder in our community who sacrificed a lot. She didn't live to see her arguments readily praised, but her views are readily honored today. For that, we honor her as a courageous black woman. Now, we know that the corporate establishment hyped up gangster rap over more positive forms of hip hop. Hip hop originated with a positive sense of community, togetherness, and a love of musical expression.




Hip Hop from 1994 to 1997 has been every powerful and influential. The hip hop of 1996 included some of the greatest hip hop music of all time. By 1994, Nas, Biggie, Tupac, Lauryn Hill, and other artists were on the rise. Magazines like Vibe and The Source were key instruments of promoting hip hop culture. Also, the conflicts of hip hop grew with the attempted murder of Tupac Shakur in 1994 by cowardly gunmen  at Quad Studios. This propelled the conflict among Bad Boys Records and Death Row Records. Tupac and Biggie were the most powerful hip hop artists at the time. They had the biggest hip hop lyrical battle in history. Their conflict was personal with allegations shown by both sides. They were former best friends. The real truth is that outside influences expanded the tensions, and both men would have reconciled if not for the agitation by corporate funded record labels plus the mainstream media. The media fueled tensions for money basically. Cowards murdered both men unjustly in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Tupac was a poet who talked about a wide ranging amount of issues, while Biggie was a person who mastered the flow of rap in his lyrical wordplay. Tupac Shakur was the son of a Black Panther member, so consciousness was part of his upbringing. Biggie was the son of a very courageous mother from Jamaica who instilled in him the values of courage and resiliency. Also, 1994 to 1997 had an explosion of both mainstream and underground artists. Digiable Planets, Tribe, the Fugees, Coolio, Westside Connection, Busta Rhymes, Jay Z, Outkast, Scarface, Master P, Snoop, and other musicians flourished during this time period. Nothing would the same with hip hop by the time of 1997. The tragedy of 2 legends losing their lives was so great that many wondered if hip hop would survive. Now, we know that hip hop did survive. The stories of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. show us that life is very precious, and we have to make sure to live it filled with determination and righteousness.

 By Timothy