Congratulations to Aja Jackson
Ms. Aja Jackson, 8th Ward Young Democrat extrodinairre was accepted to the IWIL (Illinois Women's Institute for Leadership) program. We are very proud of Aja.
Young Democrats of Cook County Events
Please mark your calendars accordingly. The following are YDCC events, I hope to see you there.
YDCC Convention
Chicago Mart Holiday Inn
350 N. Orleans
June 24, 2006
Call Omar Williams (312) 296-4071
2nd Annual YDCC Picnic
Sunset Bridge Meadow
North Ave./ 1st Ave. Near Des Plaines Rives
Aug. 6, 2006
Call Tommy Hendrix, Jr. 312-520-4216
Who wants to live on Sesame Street
My good friend, Jennifer Poole (aka Big Bird) is a land baroness. She owns a home in the historic Englewood area. Many think this area is the next Bronzeville. She lives in a BRICK two-flat on 69th and Racine. The first floor is for rent! You can be the renter of this fine establishment for less than $800. per month. (I will provide pictures at a later date.)
Section 8 accepted.
If you are interested e-mail her,
jpoole105@yahoo.com.
An oppressed people
I never knew Albinos were portrayed in such a negative way. Let me know what you think.
Albinos condemn 'Da Vinci' assassin
DAVID GERMAIN-Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -
The notion of Christ as a family man is not the only raw nerve "The Da Vinci Code" has touched. Albinos are bothered that one of their own has yet again been depicted as a villain.
Dan Brown's best seller begins its worldwide debut Wednesday with Tom Hanks as the cryptologist pursuing a 2,000-year-old mystery that could reveal Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married and that the Vatican covered it up.
Among his co-stars is Paul Bettany, the British actor playing monk-assassin Silas, an albino with red eyes who carries out a series of bloody murders to secure the secret of the Holy Grail, a trove of lost Christian documents that could prove Jesus had wed.
Critics cite a long list of albinos cast as heavies by Hollywood: The dreadlocked twins in "The Matrix Reloaded," a powder-haired hit man in the Chevy Chase-Goldie Hawn crime romp "Foul Play," the pasty zombies in "The Omega Man," a sadistic killer in "Cold Mountain," even the wicked executioner in the fairy-tale comedy "The Princess Bride."
Michael McGowan, an albino who heads the National Organization for Albinism and Hypopigmentation, said "The Da Vinci Code" will be the 68th movie since 1960 to feature an evil albino.
"Silas is just the latest in a long string," McGowan said. "The problem is there has been no balance. There are no realistic, sympathetic or heroic characters with albinism that you can find in movies or popular culture."
People with albinism have little or no pigmentation in their skin, eyes and hair.
McGowan said his group asked "Da Vinci Code" director Ron Howard's production outfit, Imagine Entertainment, not to bleach Silas' hair or make his eyes red, but "that fell on deaf ears."
When offered the role, Bettany initially thought mainly of the makeup challenge, saying past attempts to lighten non-albino actors' pigmentation had not looked realistic.
Bettany said he looked at Silas not as an evil albino but as a man damaged by his harsh upbringing. In the book, Silas was an abused child who wound up on the streets, was scorned as an outcast, turned to violence and landed in prison.
"I thought, this man's a psychopath, and he's not a psychopath because he's an albino," Bettany said. "He's an amalgamation of everything that sort of happened to him in his life. How his father treated him and the things he saw his father do to his mother, and he happens to be preternaturally gifted at hurting people. ...
"I think it's no more a comment on albinos than it is on monks, and no more a comment on monks than it is on people who wear sandals," Bettany said.
Many readers found Silas a tragic character despite his misdeeds, viewing him more as a lost sheep than a villain.
McGowan said his group plans no boycotts or picketing. Instead, the group aims to use the movie's popularity to raise awareness about the realities of albinism. He said he enjoyed most of the book and plans to see the movie.
"We understand that millions read it and when they go to the movie, they're going to want to see the albino monk-assassin," McGowan said. "It's the cumulative effect of having one evil albino character after another that was disturbing to me."
Come take a walk with me
Saturday, May 20, the 8th Ward Young Democrats are hosting a Diabetes Walk. Come take a walk for your health and learn about the disease and the havoc it is wreaking in communities of color.
Care Packages
Thank you friends for helping me in my time of need. FINALS are over! Let's hope the raisins and cans of soup produced some A's.
So, Rose; Kim; Natomi and Jennifer P. thank you from the bottom of my heart.
For the rest of you slackers you can learn something from these ladies! :-)
Who gets to ride in the bulletproof limo?
If I become important and you want to roll in the motorcade with the police bikes and Suburbans do your duty. So far, only Rose and Kim get to ride. Why, do yo ask? Because they are the only ones who have sent me a care package! Rose was the first and she was unsolicited. Kim has proved her worth, between my two REAL friends I have received tuna, almonds, Munchies (c), soup, candle, raisins and other goodies. So, you have until my last Fri, May 12, to make your heartfelt contributions, :-)
~I know what you are thinking, just like a politician, hun.
