The Murder of George Floyd and the Response To It

[Inanna]

Up to 4 "Suicides" now in at least 3 states in the last week/week and a half? All black men hanging from trees? Yeah. "suicides" my arse. 2 in California, 1 in Oregon, 1 in I think New York. That's just the ones I've seen so far.

Ohmigod

[Frelga]

And one in Houston.

[Dave_LF]

Geez. So what are we dealing with; a traveling serial killer or some sort of organized murderers? And at the same time, if this is being done to make some sort of point, why even try to make it *look* like suicide? I don't know what to think.

[RoseMorninStar]

Sounds like white supremacist 'inspired' (*gag*) copy-kat murders.

[Frelga]

It didn't look like a suicide, it looked like a lynching. Why they were declared a suicide will be left for the reader to decide.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Sadly, that is correct.

Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk

[Inanna]

Regarding “defund the police”, I found this post by JC’s Mayor very insightful:

[elengil]

Regarding “defund the police”, I found this post by JC’s Mayor very insightful:

It is possible that this is the reason why some have suggested laying off everyone and having them reapply for their jobs. You aren't stuck with keeping them by hire date. I forget where I read this had been done, but I have read it being suggested elsewhere as a way of moving forward and ensuring that seniority was not unduly rewarded above performance.

[Inanna]

I guess that is behind the complete disbanding of some police departments.

[River]

Regarding the Jersey City PD, my dad's been involved with a long-running case involving a railroad right of way in Jersey City. He's made, over the past two decades, multiple trips out there. On one of the more recent ones (i.e. within the last five years) he drove past a white cop just shooting some hoops with some black kids. It was a heartening scene at the time and something he's brings up whenever police reform comes up. This cop had both the time and the will to play with the local teens and the local teens were willing to play with him. Also, my dad's contacts have said things similar to Inanna regarding the level of unrest in Jersey City. Seattle, in contrast, has lost its damn mind, but the Seattle PD also ended up under a consent decree back when we had a DoJ that cared about such things.

There's another way, guys. Camden and Jersey City are showing us.

[Sunsilver]

Re. the removal of Confederate statues as a result of George Floyd's murder, I just saw this, and it gladdened my country-lovin' heart! (With apologies to those who don't like Johnny Cash...)

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing ... on-capitol

Johnny featured many black musicians on his T.V. show - everyone from Louis Armstrong to Stevie Wonder, - and received death threats from the Klan as a result. He just ignored them, and kept on inviting whoever he wanted to invite!

Cash was especially proud of bringing Louis Armstrong onto the Ryman stage, where the jazz great had once been barred from performing because of his race. On the show, Armstrong re-created the trumpet solo he’d played on a Jimmie Rodgers recording of “Blue Yodel No. 9” in a 1930 session in Hollywood; Cash was thrilled to sing Rodgers’s part. By celebrating that historic pairing, Cash wasn’t just saluting his heroes; he was subtly underscoring his message of unity and tolerance.

Cash and Armstrong play together. This was less than a year before Satchmo's death from a heart attack, but that trumpet of his sounds as sweet as ever!

[RoseMorninStar]

That's how it's done!!

[Voronwë the Faithful]

There are people who don't like Johnnie Cash?

[Sunsilver]

Well, it's usually just country music in general they don't like. I don't blame them - there are only certain artists I listen to: Cash, Kristoffersen, Carter Family, Statler Brothers, Roy Clarke, Roger Miller, John Denver and a few others I can't think of off the top of my head.

One thing I loved about Cash's show was his strong sense of history. His weekly 'Ride this Train' segment usually focused on some aspect of the country's history. In addition to that, many of the people he invited to play on his show were part of the foundation of country music. He got his mother-in-law, Maybelle Carter to perform with her sister, Anita, for the first time in over 30 years. The original Carter Family, which is regarded as the First Family of country music, was Anita, Maybelle and A.P. Carter. They then sang several songs, with Johnny taking A.P.'s part.

Anita never sang in public again.

In the segment above with Armstrong, he does the same thing, while celebrating the influence the blues played by black musicians had on country. Jimmie Rodgers, who sang the original song, was considered the Father of Country Music. He was not black, of course, but the roots of country music mix together blues, jazz, and folk. Rodgers was heavily influenced and mentored by black musicians.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I don't particularly like country music in general. I don't really consider Johnnie Cash to be a "country music" artist (anymore than I consider Tolkien to be a "fantasy" author).

[RoseMorninStar]

I don't particularly like country music in general. I don't really consider Johnnie Cash to be a "country music" artist (anymore than I consider Tolkien to be a "fantasy" author).

I agree.

There are some who I consider to be in a genre all their own (as V so eloquently states). Johnny Cash would be one. John Denver isn't really 'country' either. They fit somewhere between folk, bluegrass, country, pop.. and doing their own thing. I don't care for country but I enjoy folk & bluegrass (and Johnny Cash & John Denver).

What struck me about the post you shared Sunny is how, in a gentle, everyday sort of way using his celebrity and influence, Johnny Cash was able to bring dignity, equality, and humanity to his stage through music. Mr. Rogers did much the same on his platform in his own way.

[Sunsilver]

Beautifully put Rose! Thank you.

I hesitated at putting that video up, thinking it might not be that relevant to this thread, but you've show that it is.
Two men who were all-time greats in their particular genre of music, finding common ground despite their difference races and backgrounds. And for me the capper is that this is happening in the South, and in a place where Armstrong had previously not been allowed to play due to the color of his skin.

[Maria]

I don't particularly like country music in general. I don't really consider Johnnie Cash to be a "country music" artist (anymore than I consider Tolkien to be a "fantasy" author).

Then what genre would you consider Tolkien's work to be in, then?

[elengil]

I don't particularly like country music in general. I don't really consider Johnnie Cash to be a "country music" artist (anymore than I consider Tolkien to be a "fantasy" author).

Then what genre would you consider Tolkien's work to be in, then?

(Not to speak for Voronwë) Tolkien certainly altered the very genre of Fantasy, but I believe even Tolkien himself considered LoTR to be a medieval Romance in the classical sense, not in the modern sense of a romance novel. I'm not sure where some of his other works would fall in the genre spectrum.

[Maria]

If I were looking for a Tolkien book in a library, I'd start in the fantasy section.