My Lunch With the Little Rock Nine
Hello out there...one of the cool things about working at a television station is that sometimes you get invited to pretty cool events. That was the case today as I got to attend a special luncheon honoring the famous "Little Rock Nine", the nine African-American students who were the first to desegregate Little Rock's Central High School in the infamous 1957 conflict.
I jumped on a chance to meet some of the people who made history and were a key part of the civil rights revolution of the 1950s and 1960s. Of course, none of them ever imagined that they would be viewed as heroes--they were just smart kids trying to go to school in Arkansas' best high school, chosen to desegregate Central because of their intelligence, maturity and poise. But the abuse they endured from furious white parents and students had to be greater than even they imagined growing up in the Jim Crow South. Nevertheless, they all graduated and went on to lead exceptional lives. In 1997, President Bill Clinton bestowed upon each member of the group a Congressional Medal of Honor.
Enough, enough you're saying, we could get this all from the Wikipedia. What about the luncheon? Well...it was a nice event, with the proper reverence and some very good (brief) remarks by some of the Nine, particularly by Ernest Green (the first African-American to graduate from Central) and Carlotta Walls LaNier (she helped organize the Denver event and has taught here at various colleges for nearly 40 years). But there were disappointing aspects too:
** The event, which was really a fundraiser for Denver's Iliff School of Theology, didn't lend itself to easy interaction
with any of The Nine (not to be confused with the short-lived ABC television show by the way). That's too bad, because
it would have been incredible to get a chance, if even only for a few moments, to talk face to face with one of these pioneers
about their experiences and the lessons they learned.
** I thought Hollywood loved to give awards! Politicians never cease to amaze me with their ability to take any
occasion and use it to a) make the location they govern look good and b) make themselves look even better. However,
I must admit I came away impressed with Colorado Governor Bill Ritter (D). If, heaven forbid, the Dems don't win the
White House this year, maybe they should think about running this guy in 2012.
But the food was good (a nice walnut-mango salad, pot roast and mashed potatoes and a parfait, for you foodies out there), the admiration was sincere and the event was important, because we should never allow anyone to forget that just by getting up and going to school every day, these nine men and women really WERE heroes. America is because they didn't quit, they didn't give up and they have gone on to triumph in a wide variety of fields.
The Little Rock Nine:
Minnijean Brown Trickey
Elizabeth Eckford
Ernest Green
Thelma Mothershed Wair
Melba Pattillo Beals
Gloria Ray Karlmark
Terrence Roberts
Jefferson Thomas
Carlotta Walls LaNier
Oscar...Oscar Oscar!
I don't have much to say about the Academy Awards this year, except that the ceremony lacked a certain...pizzazz is the best word I can think of. There were few, if any, YouTube moments, most of the expected favorites won in their categories (with three notable exceptions) and Jon Stewart was his usual capable, funny but somewhat bland self--although in his defense, he and his writing staff (all men, I noticed) did have only 11 days to "bring the funny" after the end of the WGA strike.
My rapid fire impression of things that stood out from the 80th Academy Awards:
--Montages featuring bad montages to highlight how bad the montages would be if the writer's strike hadn't ended
is a very Meta joke indeed.
--Diablo Cody winning the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (Juno): very cool and well-deserved. Diablo Cody dressed like
Betty Rubble with no underwear: not so cool.
--Does every honorary lifetime achievement Oscar winner have to be on or near their death bed to get the award?
--I've really got to get off my ass and see La Vie en Rose, Once, Taxi to the Dark Side and The Savages.
--When's the last time a Best Picture nominee received as universal a lukewarm reaction as Michael Clayton? I thought it
was thoughtful, moody and beautifully acted, but everyone else I know seems to think that it's slow, plodding and unremarkable.
--Red is the new black.
Final Thought of the Day
Amy Winehouse is coming out with her own line of fragrances reports entertainment blogmeister Perez Hilton. I have a few suggestions for possible names, but please take them with a grain of salt. Remember, I'm the guy that suggested that a cool new slogan for Major League Baseball would be "Baseball: Like Cricket, but Even Slower!" For some reason, they didn't like that...
POSSIBLE WINEHOUSE FRAGRANCE NAMES
Drunken Whore
Rehab
NoGood
Flatulence
Neo Retro
IHaveAGreatBackingBand
Pissed
Exposure
Cocaine
These are the jokes people, these are the jokes...
Finally, to my man Z, sorry I missed a chance to call in to your Oscar pool. I would have picked NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN for Best Picture. You believe me, don't you?
Peace...
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