Here is a clip about him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLQAx-sw0zI
Additional info on the National society of black physicists http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nY_72cJgX4 On Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 3:03 PM, Martin Baxter <truthseeker...@lycos.com>wrote: > Mr Worf, that mistake about the series does bug me, but doesn't surprise me > in the least. I've noticed, in the past few weeks, that a lot of SF articles > written have had glaring errors of fact. > > And that bit about the brother building a time machine makes me want to > lend him a hand. > > > > > > ---------[ Received Mail Content ]---------- > > Subject : Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why > is it so white? > > Date : Tue, 2 Jun 2009 05:15:49 -0700 > > From : "Mr. Worf" <hellomahog...@gmail.com> > > To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com > > > Anyone bugged by the article mentioning that star trek was the 1970s? > > Black astronauts and other scientists are marginalized even though their > contributions are great. The Science channel has several experts on > astrophysics that are black. (thank god!) One is currently working on a > time > machine. > > On Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 4:30 AM, Liggins Bill wrote: > > > > > > > What about true life? When was a black astronaut part of the resident > crew > > of the International Space Station? How about never. Black astronauts > were > > among the crews that chauffeured them to the ISS. They stayed a few days > > then had to leave. But when comes to those resident crews, the ISS is > still > > restricted housing when it comes to blacks. Because of that, black > > astronauts are not getting the endurance training needed for a mission to > > Mars. So when it comes time to chose a crew for that Mars mission, black > > astronauts may be at the bottom of the list. Hopefully this will be > reviewed > > by the new NASA director and changed before NASA loses its leadership in > the > > international space race. > > > > > > > > > > *Bill Liggins* > > > > *Author of "WARNING," a Sci-Fi Novel* > > > > http://www.authorsden.com/visit/author.asp?authorid=4905 > > > > bill_ligg...@yahoo.com > > > > > > --- On *Mon, 6/1/09, Curtis, Jr. * wrote: > > > > > > From: Curtis, Jr. > > Subject: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Space: If sci-fi is the future, why is it > > so white? > > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com > > Date: Monday, June 1, 2009, 11:58 PM > > > > Blacks in Space > > > > If sci-fi is the future, why is it so white? > > > > Danielle C. Belton | May 29, 2009 > > > > > > Star Trek's Lt. Uhura was a science-fiction pioneer in the 1970s -- a > black > > woman answering the phone, I mean computer, in space. Uhura, played by > > actress Nichelle Nichols, was the communications officer, a role that > would > > go on to be a popular one for futuristic minorities. While she was > > groundbreaking in that she was a black woman who survived quite well in > > space, her story lines were few, her adventures were stunted, and her > > romances were nonexistent. The philandering Capt. Kirk had to be forced > to > > kiss the comely Uhura -- apparently in the future, interracial lip-lock > is > > just as controversial as it was in the 1970s. > > Nichols paved the way for Kandyse McClure's character Petty Officer > Dualla, > > a black woman who also starts out answering the phone, on the critically > > acclaimed Battlestar Galactica series remake that wrapped this year. > Dualla > > fares better than Uhura in that she gets her own story line, experiences > a > > real romance, and has some adventures. But she commits suicide in the > final > > season of the series. > > > > And these are the two primary options for blacks in space: Either you're > > marginalized or killed off. (Or, in the worst-case scenario, you're > > marginalized and still die.) > > > > So when word got out that director J.J. Abrams was set to re-envision the > > original Star Trek, with a big-budget film released last month, I was > > looking out for Lt. Uhura. And she is certainly there, played by actress > Zoë > > Saldana. She's right where we left her in the 1970s, still answering the > > phone. > > > > Science-fiction story lines might take place in the future, but they are > > written in the now. They reflect the mind-set of the creators and the > times > > they live in. If most science-fiction films are to be believed, in the > > future English is the main language. Not only do human beings still > exist, > > they are almost all white and they have mastered quantum physics. I'm > sure > > none of this has anything to do with the genre being dominated by the > > American film industry and predominantly white, male writers. They've > merely > > looked into their crystal ball and seen the future. And the future is > white! > > > > > > Actor Joe Morton, who appeared in both writer/director John Sayles' 1984 > > cult classic The Brother From Another Planet and 1991 blockbuster > Terminator > > 2: Judgment Day, recalls an old Richard Pryor joke. "Hollywood didn't > think > > we'd be around in the future," Morton says, "so why put us in the sci-fi > > movies?" > > > > He continues, "If you are a 50- to 60-year-old white producer in > Hollywood, > > for the `heroic image' you're not going to think of a black man or woman. > > Consequently, black roles in sci-fi are tokens. He was the communications > > expert. The communications expert would also then be the first one to be > > killed. First one to die." When George Lucas offered Samuel L. Jackson a > > role in the final Star Wars prequel as the Jedi Mace Windu, Jackson > agreed > > on the condition his character not die "like some punk." > > > > This is understandable coming from an actor who dies in many films, > > including a few sci-fi flicks (Jurassic Park and Deep Blue Sea), often a > few > > minutes after his opening scene. And Jackson is not alone. Actress Bianca > > Lawson only lasted for three episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer before > her > > character, a Jamaican vampire-slayer named Kendra, is killed off. Charles > S. > > Dutton is heavily featured in the third film of the Alien franchise, but > his > > character dies a horrid, painful death. In the bug-killing, utopian/ > fascism > > parody Starship Troopers, all the minority characters are purposeless and > > peripheral. The lone black female washes out of boot camp after > accidentally > > killing a fellow recruit. > > > > The controversial death of Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje' s character Mr. Eko > on > > ABC's Lost at the hands (does it have hands?) of the "smoke monster" led > > many minority fans to believe there was a conspiracy to cleanse the show > of > > all its black and Latino characters. Before Eko was gobbled up by the > dark, > > bilious puff, minority actors Harold Perrineau and Michelle Rodriguez had > > also been written off the show. > > > > This isn't to say that minorities are always relegated to minor guest > > characters who are doomed to die a purposeless death. In Terminator 2, > > Morton's character dies trying to save the world. Morpheus, the rebel > leader > > played by Laurence Fishburne in The Matrix, guides the hero to his true > > path, and Capt. Benjamin Sisko of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was the > first > > African American actor to lead a starship on the long-running franchise. > > While his character was thin the first few seasons, eventually the > writers > > gave Sisko well-rounded stories and a passionate personality that > separated > > him from the more stoic but popular Capt. Jean Luc-Picard from the > previous > > series. Sisko was an improvement over the castrated black characters of > Star > > Trek: The Next Generation, which included Giordi LaForge, a blind > > desk-jockey played by LeVar Burton, and Guinan, an advice-giving > bartender > > played by Whoopi Goldberg. > > > > And then there's Lando. Darius James, a pop-culture writer and author, > says > > it wasn't until Star Wars that all big questions about blacks, space, and > > "the future" were finally answered in the form of a wavy-haired playboy. > > "Lando Calrissian," James says, referring to Billy Dee Williams' > character > > in the Star Wars movies. "The big question had always been -- would black > > people survive into the future? He was there." Lando was not the > > communications officer. He did not suddenly die offscreen. He was not > > disabled and had free license to flirt with the princess, even if she > didn't > > reciprocate. > > > > There is also what might be called the Will Smith exception. This > > phenomenon, in which Smith and Smith alone is able to fully transcend the > > stereotypes that most often befall black characters in sci-fi movies, is > > most clearly illustrated in Independence Day, the 1996 mega-hit. The > movie > > features a classic moment: two fighter pilots, one black and one white, > off > > to save the world from aliens. They are a jovial, ebony-ivory duo, a > classic > > casting combination that pops up in American movies from Blazing Saddles > to > > Lethal Weapon. In any other film, it would have been Harry Connick Jr., > who > > played Smith's best friend and fellow fighter pilot, celebrating the > > "fireworks" at the end, and Will Smith would have entered the cannon of > > black actors who died valiantly so their white co-stars would have > someone > > to fight for in memory. But in this movie, it was Smith who was launched > to > > fame after punching out an alien and announcing, "Welcome to Earth." He's > > since gone on to star in two Men in Black films, I, Robot, I Am Legend, > and > > other blockbusters. > > > > "Will Smith has been very smart about all that stuff," Morton says. "As > his > > star began to rise he began to research what movies did best. A lot of > the > > time those movies were sci-fi. The more CGI [computer generated images] > in a > > movie, then that movie did even better." > > > > Most Hollywood sci-fi presents a "post-racial" world in which we've moved > > from fighting each other over cultural differences to fighting some > bigger > > intergalactic evil. On its face, this type of film should allow for more > > color-blind casting and minority roles. Yet even in the Star Wars and > Star > > Trek universes, where the humanoids are "beyond race," black and other > > minority actors are rare. Morton calls such tokenized roles the "new > Mammy" > > -- only instead of the slave taking care of the white protagonist, blacks > > are now in roles of authority, the captain or head of the FBI, but still > > exist to prop up the white character, who is usually more central to the > > plot. Films like Deep Impact and the Star Wars franchise, as well as TV > > shows like Star Trek, Dollhouse, and Firefly, feature substantial black > > characters who are in a position of power but largely function as a > helpmate > > to their white counterparts. > > > > This is why Sayles' The Brother From Another Planet, in which Morton > plays > > a dark-skinned alien who crash-lands in Harlem, was so groundbreaking. > "What > > John had in mind was to realize there were all these black people in New > > York, in the world, who had these tremendous amounts of talents and no > place > > to exploit them," Morton says. "Here we have a guy who can cure things by > > touch but has no place in the world to go." > > > > The key to how minority characters are presented is in the hands of the > > writers. And all the most celebrated filmmakers, from Buffy the Vampire > > Slayer's Joss Whedon and the new Star Trek film director J.J. Abrams to > > oldsters like George Lucas and Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, are > white > > men. Most of the second- and third-tier screenwriters are, too. > > > > James, the author and film critic, says these writers are delusional > about > > our inevitable, multiracial future. "There's a state of denial about > their > > own extinction," he jokes. "They're gone. Past history!" The reality is > if > > humans are still around in another 3,000 years, there are only going to > be > > more brown people. Shouldn't there be a Jamaican fleet captain? A Samoan > > first officer? A Chinese-Aborigine scientist? These writers have chosen > to > > portray a nearly all-white world. What do they think happened to the > > billions upon billions of Earth's brown people? > > > > Perhaps they are all there in this future but, just as in the past, you > > can't see them. Like the black elevator operator of yesteryear or your > > Ecuadorian maid, they are there but not in the foreground. Still > answering > > the phone in space. If you went to the bowels of the Battlestar, would > you > > find a kitchen filled with young black and Latino men? If you searched > for > > those bathrooms on the Enterprise would you find a black woman scrubbing > the > > floor? > > > > In 1992, author Derrick Bell wrote the terrifying book Faces at the > Bottom > > of the Well, in which he argues that "racism is an integral, permanent, > and > > indestructible component of this society" -- even in the future. In his > > short story, "The Space Traders," filmed by brothers Warrington and > Reginald > > Hudlin for their short-lived HBO series Cosmic Slop in 1994, Bell tells > of > > an alien race that offers riches to a cash-strapped, polluted America if > it > > will just fork over all its black people. For what purpose, no one knows. > > But it's only a matter of time before all black people are rounded up to > be > > shipped off to space. Blacks plead their case, but whites, blinded by > wealth > > and power, conclude that offering up an entire race is simply the most > > logical thing to do. > > > > Cosmic Slop, which was meant to be a minority-filled, Twilight Zone–style > > show, only aired one episode and was pronounced a failure. The show did > not > > usher in a belle époque of black sci-fi. Black characters were soon back > to > > answering the phone and playing caretaker roles. > > > > "If science fiction is supposed to be a metaphor for something much > greater > > than the world we live in, what we have now is what it will be unless we > > tell the story," Morton says. "On some level, we've kind of done it to > > ourselves. If we want to change what those images are, we have to do > > something to make those changes come to fruition." > > > > Danielle C. Belton is a freelance journalist, satirist, and editor of the > > blog, The Black Snob. > > > > http://www.prospect .org/cs/articles ?article= blacks_in_ space > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > Bringing diversity to perversity for 9 years! > Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/ > > > > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds > -- Bringing diversity to perversity for 9 years! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/
