Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson

The CD done by Wynton Marsalis is very good as well.

 

It's coming down on satellite again at midnight and then again at three. We're playing both of them in College Station, chances are PBS in Houston is replaying them as well.

It's not on our lineup for tomorrow in CS, again I don't know for sure about Houston's playlist.

EDIT: Looking at the tv listings overnight, PBS in Houston is NOT showing it again early tomorrow morning.

 

Watching it great so far.

 

What an interesting story ~ everyone should check it out.

 

so far so good very good show.

 

This guy makes me proud to be a Galvestonian. Too bad they only dedicate sh*ty statues and lonely streets to the guy while trying to name steets after Tillman Fertita!

 

I wanted to watch this but I had a meeting I had to go to; however, I think my father watched it. I need to check with him on what he thought about it and if he can tape it for me tomorrow.

And NIKE, you know that the music that should have been played for this is Miles' "A Tribute to Jack Johnson" - the greatest Miles fusion CD ever, well according to me.

Miles really looked up to JJ.

 

I was wrong, PBS in Houston isn't playing it again overnight.

 

Jack Johnson is a trip, I think he would have been more at home during the 21st century than the 20th ~ way beyond his time.

He was a player.

 

Watched part 1 last night. Killer Ken Burns documentary, as usual. Can't wait to see part 2 tonight.

I really can't wait to see PBS' American Experience two-parter on Bob Dylan. Martin Scorcese directed it. It's supposed to be broadcast in July.

 

The show was awesome. A friend of mine collects old boxing memoribilia and he called to tell me to watch it. As many have said he was ahead of his time. One thing that really stuck out to me was the blatant racisim and bigotry, not only by the people but in the media. I cannot wait to see part 2

 

I was going to post this two or three days ago to give a better heads up. It was interesting. I knew about Jack Johnson and all that crap, but it was stuff I didn't know in there.

 

I'm really not trying to take a shot at you but I always find statements like this shocking. How did you think black people lived in those days? Johnson fought in a time when Jim Crow laws were being formed. When the South basically took their revenge out on Blacks for Reconstruction.

Maybe I just have a different perspective growing up black and always hearing how how tough people had it during those times from older family members. But I don't think anyone who has grown up in this country and knows its history should be surprised about what minorities had to go through, what women had to go through, or any other group who basically had no political power.

 

A tremendous first part, enjoyed it a whole lot. The Jack London clips they brought out were quite tame, actually, London could really amp up the racist rhetoric.

I thought Burns really messed up with his 'Jazz' docu, it was still very good and well-worth buying, but not as great as it could have been.

I know I'll probably be in the minority here, but I think the Miles soundtrack was great EXCEPT for when John McLaughlin and his wah-wah wank all over it.

 

Read in the Galveston paper that they used to have a statue of him up downtown somewhere in the 80s but had to take it down because people took potshots at it and scrawled epithets all over it. Pretty damn sad.

Predictably, the first half of this documentary was awesome. I thought it was great how Johnson would smile and chat with people sitting at ringside while his sadly overmatched white opponent did everything he could to make it to the next round. Even though he was constantly being ducked and demeaned by inferior boxers (as well as the general public), Johnson didn't seem bitter. He simply lived the life he wanted and beat down all comers.

Unfortunately, I don't believe the second half of his life will be nearly so thrilling. It's gonna be tough to watch the powerbrokers of his day take Johnson down.

 

Dont get me wrong, I understand what you were saying, but I was shocked at the blatant racisim perpetuated by the media back then. After hearing some of the columns that were printed and seeing the cartoons, I was surprised. I knew the general public acted like idiots but I was surprised the media was the same way. I had never been exposed to that and it was disheartning

 

No way man!! To each his own, though. But I don't think McLaughlin plays with a wah-wah pedal on that album, at least he doesn't on the 1st track, "Right Off". Now the 2nd track, "Yesternow", is a little different. He might be playing a wah-wah there but you also have an absolute monster in Sonny Sharrock playing with him using all kinds of weird effects plus Chick Corea using ring modulators (Miles' producer Teo Macero actually had cut and pasted some of "Willie Nelson" into that track).