Weapon X.

“It’s time for you and me to stop sitting in this country, letting some cracker senators, Northern crackers and Southern crackers, sit there in Washington, D.C., and come to a conclusion in their mind that you and I are supposed to have civil rights. There’s no white man going to tell me anything about my rights. Brothers and sisters, always remember, if it doesn’t take senators and congressmen and presidential proclamations to give freedom to the white man, it is not necessary for legislation or proclamation or Supreme Court decisions to give freedom to the black man.” Along with the world taking stock of Hunter’s sad fate, yesterday was also tragic and memorable for being the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X. (In recognition of the occasion, a special edition of Spike Lee’s underrated biopic will be released today on DVD.)

The Proud Highway’s End.

“And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting—on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—the place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”

R.I.P. Hunter S. Thompson 1937-2005. Ugh, this is terrible news. Yes, his writing had been inconsistent in recent years, but Thompson at his take-no-prisoners best was a brilliant, lacerating voice that pierced through the platitudes and hypocrisy of so much of this world. This final succumbing to the Fear and Loathing, especially at this dark political hour when we need him most, is tragic.

I had several links to catch up on after my trip, but frankly right now my heart isn’t in it. Godspeed, HST.

MLK 2K5.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. The chain reaction of evil…must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.“
— Martin Luther King, Jr (1929-1968)

A Trailblazer’s farewell.

Unbossed and unbought to the end, R.I.P. Shirley Chisholm 1924-2005.

Aunt Joan.

Hello all. I just received word that my aunt Joan passed away this morning after a long struggle with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. She was a warm, funny, and brave individual. I miss her already.

At any rate, I’m flying home to be with my family and attend the services, so updates here will be infrequent to nonexistent over the next couple of days. Have a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving. Update: As of now (Tuesday night), I’m back in NYC…thanks much for the condolences sent over e-mail and in the comments. They were much appreciated.

He liked it raw.

R.I.P. ODB 1969-2004, definitely the strangest of the Wu.

The Final Sessions.

R.I.P. John Peel 1939-2004…The music world is smaller without him.

Last Son of Krypton.

R.I.P. Christopher Reeve 1952-2004.

Last Respects.

“When I was born, the doctor came into the waiting room and said to my father, ‘I’m sorry. We did everything we could, but he pulled through.'” Pull through he did…until today. R.I.P. Rodney Dangerfield 1921-2004.

A sad and shocking hiatus.

Many condolences to the family and friends of Aaron Hawkins, a.k.a. Uppity Negro, who tragically took his own life sometime last week. While his site wasn’t in my daily blogroll, I eventually found myself there a number of times over the years, and his posts and commentary were consistently funny, passionate, and well-written. Aaron was an inspired individual, and his loss is tragic. (Discovered on All About George.)