Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics

I’ve been anticipating these games, as I do every two years, because of the choreographed national pride it beckons from everyone. It’s great to see people rooting for the athletes who’ve been training to represent their country of origin, although these lines are steadily being blurred more and more.

Funny enough, the blurring of these lines makes these games more of a test of human ability than a national display of physical hierarchy. I like that development. I like seeing those paradigms shifted.

“What the – was that Chinese-lookin’ person representing Canada?” is the kind of thing I can see the generation or two before me saying as they watch the 2008 games, and it makes me laugh a little, assuming that there are people (shut-ins) who are unaware of the fabric of Canada, and just how incredibly diverse it is.

The thing that got me writing this, the reason, the main thrust was about the hubbub being tossed around about the possibility of athletes wearing their political heart on their sleeve at the games. Joey Cheek (Olympic speed skating gold medallist) was refused entry into China because of his potential to make a political statement at the games in favour of his work with the group Team Darfur.

I think of the simple image, the powerful, indelible image of the US track athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos who made the gesture of the fist in the air. I think of how simple-yet-magnanimous this symbol was, and how it was “deemed a domestic political statement unfit for the apolitical, international forum the Olympic Games”.

The repercussions were harsh. The athletes themselves were targets of hate and anger after they returned home.

And I simply shake my head when I think of this. The Olympics are an apolitical event?! What? For who? These games have been used as olive branches, or roadblocks in political maneuverings from the beginning. And to think that the people in charge, the fatcats making big dough off of these games (IOC, Coke, McDonalds, Adidas, Nike, etc.), can say what is and what isn’t “couth” at a worldwide-staged event like this makes me audibly do a spit-take. “Ppppppffftt!”

Who are they kidding?

I have it from a good source, who I will not name, that was in the meeting room in Detroit with an unnamed mayor of Detroit and an unnamed mayor of Windsor over 10 years ago now…that the process was shown to be the corrupt money-grab that it is. At some point a long while ago, Windsor and Detroit wanted to make a bid for the Olympics to be held (for the first time) internationally, across borders, in Windsor, ON (Canada) and Detroit, MI (US). A great idea…before 9/11. When the big meeting began, the delegates sat at a big table and waited to see how this meeting would unfold. As I am told (which you can take with a huge grain of salt if you like) was that the Olympic representative simply stated to the group that if they were not prepared to pay outright, hundreds of millions of dollars to the “people that make decisions”, JUST TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE RUNNING for the games to be held in WIndsor/Detroit, that they might as well adjourn the meeting.

And that’s just what happened. Dumbfounded delegates collected their handsome breifcases, along with their jaws, and went their merry way back to business as usual.

As I was told, this was the story of the Olympic bid that never was…never existed…never happened.

This kind of story that can almost qualify as conspiracy theory to some of you readers does not surprise me in the least. I would not put it past this organzation to operate under these corrupt policies (secret that they may be). To paraphrase the historian and moralist Lord Acton, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Anyone in a position to weild the outcome of flow of that much money, the coin involved in hosting and earning from an Olympic Games in their country/city, is bound to be a bastard in the end. You know it. I know it.

So for those of you who are poo-pooing the idea of someone taking the podium, and from out of nowhere donning a flag representing Tibet in order to shine a brighter light on the subject of human right abuses, reconsider the event as a whole. This whole thing is a business. A giant, athletic show masquerading as a nationality-pride-bi-annual-glee-holiday. And folks, business IS politics. It oozes with it. And with politics comes statements, and disobedience, and displays, and demonstrations. And I expect nothing less than this from our athletes and more, if they feel so inclined, taking the opportunity to spotlight issues that the media has done such a piss-poor job of doing. Maybe if someone, a Canadian, makes a shocking display on the podium, the right questions will start being asked of our Olympic host, China.

Phil Donahue on Tavis Smiley

Tavis Smiley had Phil Donahue on his show tonight.

Phil Donahue has made a new documentary about the real people being hurt surrounding the war in Iraq. It’s called Body of War. It is centralized around a paralyzed soldier named Thomas, who wasn’t even out of the truck while in Iraq before he was shot in the shoulder, and spine (T-4).

Donahue has been outspoken about the war in Iraq, calling it a blunder that will be felt for the rest of this century.

One of his points was indelible. I was very pleased to hear it. He pointed out that according to right-wing media pundits, anyone opposed to the war, in the beginning or even recently, was un-American. If you were against the war, you were “with them”. The blind nationalism spouting from the mouths of people who speak of democracy and condemn others for thinking about the reality of the “campaign” in Iraq are laughably hypocrites.

Why are they hypocrites?

Because 50% of them don’t VOTE! If they are so pro-democracy, why don’t they vote? Do they think that having a yellow ribbon-magnet on their bumper is a substitute for voting!? They must! And I’m not foolish enough to be told that anyone outspoken about the war is a definite voter. Half is half. It means that half of the people denouncing the war are also not voting the way they should be. And I love Donahue for pointing this hypocrisy out for us. For people who care about their country, and their soldiers, and democracy, and their freedom of speech (and other Amendments), but not about the grand money-grab happening in Iraq, be equally vocal about your feelings about this war, but for goodness sake, vote. Show your utmost respect for the brave soldiers past, present, and future, by voting and taking advantage of your right to do so.

This also reminded me about the civil rights struggle. If I were someone involved in the civil rights movement, especially in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, I would make it a pointed issue that the people I fought for did everything humanly possible to stay informed about the political process and to cast their vote.

It can become a sticky subject, because I am a white guy talking about what black people “should do” when it comes to voting…or prodding people to vote. The truth is, anyone who’s anyone should be voting, especially those who feel that their interests have been marginalized by the people currently in government.
Really, I’m just echoing the voices of many black pundits who know what was fought for in the civil rights struggle, and who realize the importance of the turnout of citizens who have been and continue to be misunderstood.

I have way too many thoughts on this subject, ranging from voting rights to running for office yourself. Perhaps some other time.

Beginning of a voice on anniversary of MLK’s death

I’ve been putting this off for a while.

A long while. And for no good reason.

The problem with me, if you call it a problem, is that my interests are varied…almost too much so…

So I plan to do my best to post here, the things I think relevant, in order to propagate thought and recording of such thought in a way that it enriches my theoretical “future seer”. I want to be a better person, and perhaps through comments and discussion, I can become that better person.

And in the meantime, I hope to be a source of interest, hilarity, intrigue, and repose.

To begin with, today, on the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s death, I was taken with the Charlie Rose program on Detroit Public Television. On the show tonight, he had Tom Brokaw and Dr. John Hope Franklin, the 93-year-old professor emeritus of history at Duke University (among many, MANY other incredible/credible things).

There was one stand-out comment by Brokaw that I had to copy down.

Martin Luther King Jr. liberated whites as well as blacks from racism. He liberated whites from legal and institutional racism.

I had never thought about it like that before, but “for those who needed a reason” to behave the way they felt was right, they needed it to be legally and socially acceptable (unfortunately). The fact that it was the right thing to do was not reason enough. It was dangerous, without legal backing to fall back onto, to make decisions, unbiased and race-blind decisions without fear of retaliation from separatists, racists, red-hunters, etc. And King was instrumental in freeing the actions of whites to be courageous and righteous in the eyes of legislation to treat all people with human dignity.

It feels empowering to have learned this angle today/tonight.

I decided, after hearing them talk about King, that I wanted to know more about Franklin, and so I watched this video on Charlie Rose’s website.

As a six-year-old, in 1921 (approx), he was more than introduced to racism, being kicked off of a train for having sat in a white area of the train, and subsequently fearing his father’s death in the riots and burning of the black areas of Tulsa. It was the worst race riot in U.S. history, with close to 300 blacks killed by whites.

Clearly these events shaped the visionary that Franklin was to become.

His professor at Fisk, Theodore Courier, during 1935, was able to provide money for Franklin to go to Harvard when Franklin’s father was unable to adequately pay. The Depression was taking its toll. I was lightened to hear him talk about his white professor, in a time of turmoil, racial and otherwise, being able to make money the last issue that would keep Franklin out of school. The difference someone can make in the life of a friend or stranger simply makes my head spin. It causes me to pause and wonder why I have not taken every opportunity to leverage others against their hardships.

I was amazed at hearing the things this man was involved in that I had not heard before. How had I not heard about this man before? I seem to ask myself that frequently when I learn about a new civil rights or human rights figure who isn’t white. I mean, the man was asked by then-principal-attorney Thurgood Marshall (before he was a judge) to help him with the case of (Linda) Brown vs. Board of Education to desegregate schools in the United States! This is major stuff!

Just in the interview, hearing them discuss topics such as James Meredith trying to get into the University of Mississippi, made me say, “What the hell is that story about. I’ve never heard of that.” So I am making my entry here so that I might seek that story out. Shockingly, in getting the link to his wiki page, I see that he graduated August 18, 1963 in Political Science 16 years and ONE DAY before I was born. The reason this stands out to me is that I remember stupid things like, celebrities birthdays one day before or one day after mine (Prince, Madonna, Elvis’ death) but not something this pivotal. I know why I didn’t know this fact, but I wish I had. Now I do.

I was also startled to hear that racism began during the “Great Migration” in 1618. 1618!! And in my googling, I found out that 1.618 is the number commonly referred to as the Golden Proportion, a natural number of supernatural prowess. Perhaps this is one of the universe’s nudges to remind us of how important this event/advent/struggle is and will be.

I loved hearing him talking about reparations! Finally, I have an insight from someone reputable…and not white! Awesome!

Not only was listening to this eloquent man (then 90) wonderful, but it was eye-opening to see someone of this age with more than basic faculties…the man remembers more than I do! His strength of mind astonished me, really.

I love his story about his own version of a Rosa Parks-like event on a bus. He decided to stay in his seat in the late 40s and his description of the event…the frustration with the ridiculous notion of moving to the back of the bus…his courage and apex of discomfort over the whole thing mixed with his ability to react non-violently and with dignity (to a point of beauty) seems impossible for me…I could not have done it…and I have the utmost respect for those who did, whether or not they got the media attention that Parks did. I know others exist. I know others could not have continued with that kind of treatment.

I am now looking forward to eventually getting his book, Mirror to America, The Autobiography of John Hope Franklin.