Tag Archives: Black Lives Matter

A modern Girl Guide

Posted on December 1, 2022 by odeboyz
Posted in education, Humour | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Black History Month, 2022: Lyrics of ‘I wish’

Posted on October 6, 2022 by odeboyz

I wish I knew howIt would feel to be freeI wish I could breakAll the chains holding meI wish I could sayAll the things that I should saySay ’em loud say ’em clearFor the whole round world to hear I … Continue reading →

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Miles Davis on racism in classical music, 1940s

Posted on September 26, 2022 by odeboyz

“…I knew that no white symphony orchestra was going to hire a little black motherfucker like me, no matter how good I was.” Note Miles attended the Julliard School of Music, which is world renowned and for a black student … Continue reading →

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Hitler copied the USA’s segregation policies…and then some

Posted on September 12, 2022 by odeboyz

‘Segregation Forever’ documents the legal establishment of a racial purity regime as strict as any of its 20th-century European competitors. North Carolina required not only separate schools for black and white children but segregation of textbooks (‘Books shall not be … Continue reading →

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Frank Sinatra’s fight against racism

Posted on September 5, 2022 by odeboyz

Sometime in the late 40s, before either man was famous, Frank Sinatra appeared in a theater in New York. After his show he went to Harlem to see the Will Maston Trio led by a young Sammy Davis Jr. Frank … Continue reading →

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Black Lives Matter: Billie Holiday’s song ‘Strange Fruit’

Posted on June 13, 2022 by odeboyz

Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” is now recognized as one of the greatest recordings of all time, being named to the Songs of the Century list by the National Endowment of the Arts. But this powerfully mournful song was almost never … Continue reading →

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Black Lives Matter: Jesse Owens Olympic Champion 1936

Posted on April 18, 2022 by odeboyz

Jesse Owens on the podium after winning a gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics. A month after the Olympic Games, Owens told a crowd, “Hitler didn’t snub me—it was [Roosevelt] who snubbed me. The president didn’t even send me … Continue reading →

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Mocking white supremacist ‘fears’

Posted on March 24, 2022 by odeboyz
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Institutional Police Racism and Section 60 ‘Stop and Search’

Posted on March 24, 2022 by odeboyz

In a bid to help the police tackle knife crime, in 2019 the government relaxed guidance on Section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, enabling police to stop and search people without suspicion or ‘reasonable grounds’. … Continue reading →

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Black Lives Matter: Miles Davis 1959: New York City

Posted on October 7, 2021 by odeboyz

Background Miles Davis was a jazz superstar. In this encounter, with a red neck policeman in New York City, it made no difference. All that mattered was white supremacy and the power of the badge. The officer wasn’t sacked for … Continue reading →

Posted in Autobiography, History, Literature, photography, Politics | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments