It is now 7:30 A.M. I am up early reviewing the show rundown sheet for this morning. Checked in with Mtume on any updated topic deviations for the Show. Picked up Mtume a little after 9 A.M. and heading to the station. On the way, we chat about the topics for the morning. Mtume is especially animated about President Obama and his lack of respect and loyalty to Bill Thompson, the democratic mayoral candidate, during the recent mayoral election in NYC. Mayor Michael Bloomberg just barely won by 5% over Thompson - an unexpected close race given Bloomberg's $100 million dollar outlay versus Thompson's mere $10 million outlay for the race.

Mtume feels very strongly that President Obama should have paid more attention to the NYC mayoral election and just maybe Thompson could have won. He was disappointed that the President chose only to give Thompson, what he describes as a simple “drive by shout out” endorsement - - “My man, Billy Thompson”. The President devoted a lot of time and energy to assist NJ Governor Jon Corzine in his losing effort last week against former federal prosecutor, Chris Christie, and could not, in Mtume's view, come across the water to support Thompson. If Mtume sticks to his guns on this issue during the Show, it will be an interesting segment. We arrive at the station and head right to the on air studio and setup for the Show.

 

We greet the Sharpton folks as they hand off the mics to us. Bob Slade, Mtume and myself chat for a while to make sure we are in sync on the rundown sheet and how we approach each topic and segment for discussion. The first segment will feature a short discussion with mayoral candidate, Bill Thompson, as he looks back on his losing campaign. The second segment will feature an interview with attorney Ken Thompson, no relationship to Bill Thompson, regarding a recent lawsuit he filed against Rupert Murdock's News Corporation, the owner of the NY Post, about the firing of Sandra Guzman, a former editor with the paper.We are on the air at exactly 10 A.M. Slade opens the Show as usual with the usual intro of the crew and we are ready to rock and roll. Bill Thompson calls into the Show and immediately we congratulate him on his campaign and his great showing in the race for mayor. He seems genuinely appreciative of our remarks and humbled by the fact that he almost won this election.

 

Mtume goes right for the Obama jugular --- he asks Bill about the lack of Obama's presence in his campaign and he believes that had the President been a more active voice in the election instead of a spectator, Bill could have beat the odds and won the election. Bill keeps it upbeat and refuses to take the Obama bait and be critical of the President. Good for him. Thompson has a lot of class. We can read between the lines of what he is saying. We know how he really feels - although he was less charitable about the lack of support from the Democratic Party machine in Washington. A couple of phone calls from the audience seem to support Mtume on the Obama snub of the NYC mayoral election and echo the same sentiment.

 

Up next, attorney Ken Thompson. Ken's a familiar voice on the Show. He's an attorney and former Assistant U.S. Attorney. He handled the prosecution of the cops who brutalized Abner Louima back in the nineties. We talk to Ken about his latest lawsuit filed on November 9th on behalf of Sandra Guzman against Rupert Murdock's News Corp and the NY Post. Thompson recites a litany of discriminatory conduct by top management employees against Guzman, a smart woman of African American and Puerto Rican descent. Interesting that Ken is connecting the Post's editorial cartoon depicting two cops showing a chimpanzee who looked strangely like President Obama holding what looks like the stimulus bill in its hands and also suggesting in the caption “THEY WILL HAVE TO FIND SOMEONE ELSE TO WRITE THE NEXT STIMULUS BILL”.

 

The juxtaposition of this editorial cartoon following an actual article on the preceding page on the President signing the stimulus package on February 18, 2009. To Ken, this cartoon is emblematic of the racist character of Murdock's NY Post and the ongoing hostile work environment at the Post and NewsCorp. The lawsuit, unlike most suits, could have a larger impact on the NY Post and all of Murdock's media holdings, including his Fox Network, film and publishing interests. Ken talked up the suit and solicited information from anyone in the audience that might be helpful in the suit and also anyone who may have experienced any discrimination by Murdock and his corporate minions. We will keep an eye on this case for the audience. Ken committed to keeping us updated on the suit. Up next is a discussion about the movie Precious. As you probably know by now, the film opened in limited run in NYC last weekend and will open in wide release on November 20th. It is a film based on the book PUSH by author and poet Sapphire. It is the story of a morbidly obese, ill-literate dark skinned Harlem girl who is pregnant for the second time by her father.

 

The first baby was born with Down syndrome at the age of 12. The film depicts the reality of Precious' world where she is continuously raped, sexually and physically abused by both her father and mother all the while trying to get through the trials and tribulations of Junior High School. The film charts the real and fantasy journey Precious takes to finding herself, her motherhood and womanhood, eventually learning to read and write, coping with the fact that she contracted HIV from her father and getting away from her abusive mother. The film stars comedian Mo'Nique as the tragically abusive mother, Lenny Kravis as a compassionate male nurse who treats Precious with respect, Paula Patton as the well meaning lesbian teacher who comes to Precious' rescue and helps her understand that she is truly special and that she must learn to read and write and Mariah Carey as the social worker worn down by the horrors she sees everyday in her job. As you might guess the film has precipitated a great deal of talk in our community.

 

There has been a wide range of critiques of the film - both positive and negative. We have engaged two great guests to discuss the film: Entertainment reporter, Flo Anthony, and social activist and writer, April Silver. Both of these wonderful women have distinct views on the film. Flo loved the film and thinks that Lee Daniels, the director, is, in her words, “a great director”. She believes that the critics of the film are reading too much into it and should simply enjoy the film as art and nothing more. April made a point about the director, Lee Daniels, and suggested that he was being “twisted” with this film. She feels very strongly that the film betrays the humanity in our community and really does not address the underlying pathology exhibited in the film. She also feels strongly that film is designed to satisfy white audiences and make them feel good about themselves. April noted, “The themes in the film are not mere themes. The story represents real life for far too many people. Incest, sexual abuse, physical abuse, mental illness, and other hard situations are realities experienced by real live human beings. The African American experience on this planet includes these dark sides right along side our inspirational and feel good stories which are also valuable.” I also had an opportunity to see this film and agree with April's assessment. I remember sitting in the theatre at the end of the film wondering, “Is this it?” I was befuddled by Lee Daniels' abrupt ending (as Precious walks away from her abusive mother with her two kids in tow) that did not leave me with the feeling that Precious would escape the cycle of abuse and neglect with her own children.

 

You had to guess and project that she would overcome the many barriers standing in her way as she moves through life. I wanted to see that breakthrough. Also, the “color” issue in the film came front and center during our discussion. I pointed out that the director somehow interjected “color” into the film by portraying all the good people who treat Precious with some degree of humanity as very light skinned black people (I know that sounds like an oxymoron) and the evil and bad people were those of a darker hue. Why? This is explained, in part, by Daniels in the NY Times Magazine article published on October 25, 2009, that as a child growing up he always held light skinned blacks in high regard.

 

Here's what Daniels had to say in the Times Mag article about the color issue, “What I learned from doing the film is that even though I am black, I'm prejudiced. I'm prejudiced against people who are darker than me. When I was young, I went to a church where the lighter-skinned you were, the closer you sat to the altar. Anybody that's heavy like Precious - I thought they were dirty and not very smart. Making this movie changed my heart. I'll never look at a fat girl walking down the street the same way again.” I am not so sure about that, Lee. We took some really good phone calls. All in all the discussion was excellent. I hope that the audience will think more critically about this film and the issues that are raised by it. Time to lockout the Show. See you next week.