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What's
Happening by
Todd Mangatal
todd@ariousentertainment.com
Greetings to my on-line
family:
Today
October 23rd is a special day because 40 years ago my parents Emmanuel
& Janice Mangatal were
married back in 1963. We at Arious Entertainment would like
to say happy Anniversary and may you have many, many more.
You’ve shared & achieved much over the last 40 years.
You’ve created 2 strong willed children who thru your nurturing
& guidance have followed their dreams and ambitions no matter
where it may have taken us. Yes, presently we are apart,
Shana’s way out
West living the star studded life she loves, and I’m in the
heart of Babylon trying to slay a dragon and find a few who’s
hearts are pure, and spread some of the beliefs, messages and
values that you've instilled in me. You taught us "If
we can conceive it, We could achieve it." This is what
I live by today. Also,
I remember the golden rule "Do onto others as you would have
others do onto you," and I wonder... do parents of today take
the time to instill these types of values in there children, or do
they leave it to MTV or BET? I remember the little things
like sitting down at the dinner table as a family every evening
and talking to each other while eating. I remember the
weekend trips and summer vacations. I admire many things
about your relationship, but what I think was most important was
the fact that you spent time with us. You never once (that I
can remember) left us with a babysitter and went out to the club.
You made a commitment to our family and stuck with it, that is
something to be proud of. So again, happy anniversary and
enjoy your special day! Clearly you have made such an
impression in my life that I am following in your footsteps with
my marriage, because we are almost half (1/2) way there. We
are approaching our 19th, so thanks for the guidance, and
instilling strong family values in our relationship. Happy
40th once again!
Things
have changed a lot in the last forty years. Many have
forgotten or want to forget, but I believe if we don’t know
where we’ve been, we will not know where we are going . So
lets look back at 1963, this was a time of change for all people,
it was the center of the civil rights movement where many
sacrificed and some died in the name of freedom. This was a
time of change, but it was also a violent and oppressive time with
lots of violence taking place in Birmingham Alabama.
NAACP field director Medgar Evers was murdered outside his home,
schools in the south were ordered desegregated by the Federal
Government, and Alabama Governor George Wallace defied this order
and mobilized state troopers to prevent desegregation. This
sparked major violence and rioting, so much so that the Governor even called in the National Guard to maintain his views on this
desegregation issue, which in turn forced President Kennedy to
federalize the guard resulting in Alabama being forced to
desegregate their schools thru the use of Federal troops.
Clearly, this created more tension in Birmingham, and one of the
worst acts was the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church,
where 4 children were killed and 22 people injured. Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. expressed to Gov. George Wallace “The
blood of 4 little children …is on your hands. Your
irresponsible and misguided actions have created an atmosphere
that has induced continued violence and now murder." (Well,
they say the Lord works in mysterious ways, and in 1972 Gov.
Wallace while campaigning for the presidential office was shot in
Laurel MD, and spent the rest of his life paralyzed in a wheel
chair. Thank God he didn’t become president, because I'm
sure his views had not changed in 9 years.)
1963
was
the year of many Civil Rights Marches, the most famous being the
March on Washington where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his
famous “I Have a Dream” speech, at the foot of the Lincoln
Memorial. This march brought together over 250,000 people of many
races to stand up for Civil Rights and Freedom for All.
Also, this was the year that one of Americas most loved presidents
John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22nd.
To
escape the reality there was TV, which was becoming more and more
popular. The first color broadcast has transmitted by satellite
in 63'. The Top 5 TV shows were The Beverly Hill Billies (CBS),
Bonanza (NBC), The Dick Van Dyke Show (CBS), Petticoat Junction
(CBS), and The Andy Griffith Show (CBS). Notice there were
only 2 networks... can you imagine that?
One of the most risqué and expensive movies
of 63' was Cleopatra, and this movie almost broke 20th
Century Fox Studio’s, which prompted them to sell off most of
there back lot (now known as Century City.) Some other
movies of 63' were the “Longest Day”,
“Lawrence of Arabia”, “How The West Was Won” &
“ To Kill a Mockingbird”.
Sidney Poitier won an Academy Award for Best Actor, and musically,
Motown was in it’s infancy about to take black Music to the next
level. Just think 40 years later, the top 10 songs on the
Billboard Charts are by Black Artist. Times have really
changed!
Many
things have changed, Martin Luther King’s Dream is a reality, we
all can live, shop, eat and
go to school together. However, we still have a long we to
go because we are taking the freedoms that people died for,
granted, and we are loosing many of those freedoms daily.
For example, because of the 911 incident traveling has become a
nightmare. Of course, it's not new to us (African
Americans), because what currently goes on at the airport is
normal since we have endured this throughout most of our life, and
currently go through it every time we go to a nightclub or
concert. There are cameras on every corner watching our
every move, if you are arrested you are not read your rights and
is not granted the 1 "so-called" phone call you are
suppose to have. People are being held and picked up just
because they fit a profile of a terrorist (whatever that is), and
anyone of us could fit that profile if they say so. Some of
our freedoms are being taken away in the name of convenience, such
as going to work and not receiving an actual pay check, instead
they give us no choice but to use direct deposit (this is a way
they can track every dime you make, and could possibly take it
before you can get to the bank (if they so choose.) I
really think the young people of today must realize the
opportunities that they have before them, and don't get caught up
in the violence on the streets, because if we look back 40 years
ago we were fighting for freedoms and being killed for the color
of our skin. Now we are killing each other for who knows
what reasons. Again, I'm not going to keep
"harping" on this, but it's an issue that needs to
really be thought about, or else before we know it the next
generation will be right back where we were 40 years ago.
Last
night we started our evening having dinner at a nice quaint pub in
College Park, Maryland (home of the University of Maryland).
After dinner we decided to stick around and have some cocktails,
at this point the restaurant slowed down and turned more into a
drinking establishment, which catered to the college
students. We had an opportunity to witness a few things, and
we noticed there were no security guards at the gate searching
everyone who walked in, I don't even think they checked ID's, (but
I'm sure the bartender checked it before he served them
drinks). Secondly, the drink prices were very reasonable,
unlike in African American oriented establishments where
everything is outrageously expensive and over-priced. For
example, when we were in Miami we noticed a club selling
bottles of Hypnotic for $250.00 (which actually cost $30.00
retail), but it goes back to us paying for it, which is something
we really need to think about. Why
is this the case? We make the least amount of money, but we
are charged more. Does that make any sense?
Fact: African
Americans spend more money on goods, consumable items and flashy
things, than any other group, and get the least respect from the
establishments. Think about the black neighborhoods, we
spend the most money, but we do not have any Macy's, Nordstrom's,
or any of these fancy stores in our neighborhoods, so again we
take the money/tax base out of our neighborhood and in to other
areas.
After
dinner and cocktails we decided to check out the Bounty Killer
show at the Crossroads, we arrived at 10 and to my surprise the
crowed actually started to build early, the line was around the
building before the gates even opened (at 10), which is unusual
for a Caribbean crowd. Clearly, this was not a Caribbean
crowd, we normally arrive at 1:00 am. Question:
Why do we do that? Anyway, this
goes to show how reggae music is really starting to cross-over,
because it seemed like the majority was Young Americans. Of
course, there were 2 long lines (as Buju says "one for Tom, I
change to Todd (male) and one for Sue (female). As normal we
walked up and said respect due and sure enough respect was granted
and we passed thru. As usual we headed to the bar where one
of our favorite bartenders Leon greeted us with a smile and beers
(Heineken) which always makes me happy. To my surprise the
DJ's were actually playing music with some vibes, and the crowd
got thicker and thicker. By the time Bounty came on at 1:15
am, we were getting kind of tired since we had been out
enjoying ourselves since 7:00 pm. Question:
Why does our reggae artists feel it necessary to come out and do
their performance so late?
(They must have known the crowd was patiently waiting since 10 am,
and besides I'm sure people must have to work the next
morning.) After Bounty cursed out the sound man, who
proceeded to work out the sound problems, the show went on and
Bounty put on a great performance. I really think Bounty
Killer has a lot of potential to be the next big artist, as long
as he realizes this is a business and don't get caught up in
"now-a-days" dancehall customs.
Well,
maybe you
can give me some answers to my questions, and before I close I
want to say that by the end of last night I realized why we get
put through extra scrutiny when we go to a club or a concert...it
has a lot to do with the image that we portray. For some
reason, maybe through music or marketing, this image of being
"a thug" or "a gangster" has become
popular. We watch videos and the artist are dressed and act
"thuggish" and the youths emulate them, but what the
youths fail to realize is, it's just a video. You may think
the artists on these videos live the life they portray, (no doubt
some do, and they are the ones who are in and out of jail,)
however, in most cases many of them don't. What these
artists have created is bad PR for the black youths, because if
you look like a thug, act like a thug, what's going to
happen? You will certainly be treated like a thug! Hit
me back with you comments. I'm getting old so maybe it's a
generation gap, let me know what you think.
"Peace
Out" to all of you!
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