History
Science: Have You Seen The First Interstellar Visitor To Our Solar System Yet? (Video)
January 5, 2018
My brother and I were just talking about this: Soooo, an INTERSTELLAR object in our real view now… scientific FACT… like a few months ago at most… and we are not gonna talk about it anywhere near as much as a science-FICTION about some long-ago-far-far-away ish???
Astronomers recently discovered a bizarre-looking object in our solar system that’s unlike anything they’ve ever seen before. It’s so peculiar that astronomers think it’s not even from our solar system. They’ve dubbed this mysterious interstellar asteroid “Oumuamua.” Following is a transcript of the video.
This asteroid is not from around here. Turns out, it came from another star system. This is the first time humanity has observed an interstellar object.
– Tech Insider
– @ojones1
Posted in History, Science, Videos | 
Tags: asteroid, Interstellar, interstellar asteroid, Interstellar travel, Oumuamua, Tech Insider | 
No Comments »
Science: How Far Have Our Spacecraft Traveled So Far (Video)
January 1, 2018
New Year’s… on these occasions we usually look back and look forward at the same time. How about we do something like that here: As we boldly go into 2018, let’s take a look at how far we have boldly gone, into space as a human race, already.
2017 marks the 60th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik, the first satellite to orbit Earth. In those 60 years, we’ve gone much further, reaching new planets and even the edge of the solar system. Watch as the human race explores the galaxy around us.
– Tech Insider
– @ojones1
Dave Chappelle On A Low Country ‘Ride With Norman Reedus’ (Video)
November 28, 2017
Alright, that’s gangsta.
– Dave Chappelle
I’m a fan and faithful watcher of AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” but I have not made time to watch an ep. of star Norman Reedus’ show, “Ride,” yet. This one featuring Dave Chappelle looks like a great one to start with. Dave and Norman are already cool (and funny) in their own rights. But together – getting into some good food and great stops & historical sites – they go for a ride on a higher level.
Enjoy the clip above and the one after the jump. And here is the link to the full episode (need a subscription to watch).
WATCH: RIDE WITH NORMAN REEDUS (AND GUEST DAVE CHAPPELLE) [FULL EPISODE]
PBS To Feature “The Story of Black Colleges & Universities” On ‘Independent Lens’ (Trailer)
November 20, 2017
Last year, we got the new mind-blowing documentary from Stanley Nelson about the rise and fall of The Black Panthers. This year, like right now, we get a trailer letting us know about the new new documentary due out 1st Quarter 2018 – “Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges & Universities.”
Stanley Nelson, the preeminent storyteller of the African-American experience and Firelight Films, the award-winning production company committed to making films about pivotal events, movements, and people in American history, unveil a new full-length trailer for the upcoming documentary Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities. The trailer provides a fast-paced, rousing overview of the complex history of how HBCUs, havens for Black intellectuals, artists and trailblazers, offered a path of promise toward the American dream, educated the architects of freedom movements throughout the decades and cultivated leaders in every field.
Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges & Universities premieres on the acclaimed series Independent Lens on PBS on Monday, February 19th 2018 at 9p ET (check local listings). For more details on the film and #HBCURising campaign go to www.hbcurising.com
– Firelight Films
Posted in Activism, Call To Action, Education, Film, History, Investigation, Television, Trailer, Videos | Tags: Black Colleges, Essence, HBCU, Historically Black Colleges, Historically Black Colleges & Universities, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, INDEPENDENT LENS, PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, Public Broadcasting System, Stanley Nelson, Tell Them We Are Rising, Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story Of Black Colleges And Universities, The History Of HBCUs, The Story Of Black Colleges And Universities | No Comments »
A Look At The Upcoming “Betty” Davis Documentary (Trailer)
November 15, 2017
Hmmm. Now this is interesting! Scuttlebutt around the Interwebs is that this was supposed to come out as a project called “Nasty Gal” but is finally seeing the [Festival] light in this form. Above is the trailer for Phil Cox’s upcoming Betty Davis documentary, They Say I’m Different.
She dropped MAJOR names at the end (Miles, Jimi) and put her name right up there with them, didn’t she? Dope. But maybe some folks are not knowing about the funk for real… yet! Wait and watch for this. Like the rest of us. Should be well worth it.
Posted in Celebrity, Film, Funk, History, Trailer, Videos | Tags: Betty Davis, Nasty Gal, Phil Cox, They Say I’m Different | No Comments »
Activism/History: Theresa Burroughs Would Not Be Denied The Right To Vote (Video)
November 10, 2017
Being from Alabama, growing up in Tuskegee (and in the shadow of Montgomery and Selma), with Civil Rights figures (Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Attorney Fred Gray, Rosa Parks, Dr. Charles Gomillion) as neighbors, this story hits home… hard! Not even going to hit y’all with a ‘VOTE DAMMIT’ rant today. Just watch, and maybe stop taking our ‘privileges’ for granted. Folks had to FIGHT for our rights; and even then, others tried to keep us from exercising them.
When Theresa Burroughs came of voting age in Alabama during the Jim Crow era, she was determined to cast her ballot — but she had a long fight ahead of her.
– StoryCorps
(And I can recite the Preamble To The U.S. Constitution, too. Salute, Ms. Burroughs. Respect!)
– @ojones1
Posted in Activism, Animation, History, Politics, Videos | Tags: American Folklife Center, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, CPB, Library of Congress, National Public Radio, NPR, POV, Rauch Brothers, Rauch Brothers Animation, StoryCorps, Theresa Burroughs, W. K. Kellogg Foundation | No Comments »
Pablo Escobar’s Son Recounts His Time Growing Up In The Family Of A Drug Kingpin (Documentary)
November 10, 2017
Sweet Christmas… God’s Favorite is one thing, but daaaaamn. Escobar’s son said his dad was seeing over $400 million a week??? Daaaamn again!!!
Pablo Escobar’s Son Sebastian Marroquin Reveals What His Childhood Was Like And How He Feels About His Infamous kingpin Father.
– Bird Plan
Of course, this story is about more than drugs, money, and drug money. Watch.
(And this ‘Popeye’ cat… wowww!)
Posted in Cover Story, History, Investigation, News, Politics, Relationships, Television, Travel, Videos | Tags: 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes exclusive, Bird Plan, Cocaine, Colombia, Juan Pablo, La Catedral, making $420 million a week, MedellÃn Cartel, Pablo Escobar, Pablo Escobar's Son, Sebastian Marroquin, selling coke | No Comments »
Meryl Streep & Tom Hanks Expose Government Corruption In “The Post” (Trailer)
November 10, 2017
In our society, the press is supposed to function as a ‘watchdog on government’… to ‘comfort the afflicted and afflict to comfortable’… a very necessary role. But we have seen, time and again, how that can be a very DANGEROUS role for those in the press; who have dealt with threats on their lives and livelihoods to keep us all up in OUR government’s business (because it is OUR business).
Watergate. Iran Contra. The baseless war in Iraq (to take out weapons of mass destruction that were NOT there)… scandals uncovered by the press. When they do what they are meant to do, reporters serve a critical role in our democracy; holding those in power accountable.
This is an homage to those in the press who did their duty, at great risk, back in the day. “The Post” is looking like another incredible movie that tells a compelling real-life story about what some key figures in the press went through to keep America (and the world) informed about what the government tried to keep covered up.
Steven Spielberg directs Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks in “The Post,” a thrilling drama about the unlikely partnership between The Washington Post’s Katharine Graham (Streep), the first female publisher of a major American newspaper, and editor Ben Bradlee (Hanks), as they race to catch up with The New York Times to expose a massive cover-up of government secrets that spanned three decades and four U.S. Presidents. The two must overcome their differences as they risk their careers – and their very freedom – to help bring long-buried truths to light.
– 20th Century FOX
– @ojones1
Posted in Film, History, Politics, Thriller, Trailer, Videos | Tags: Alison Brie, Ben Bradlee, Bob Odenkirk, Bradley Whitford, Bruce Greenwood, Carrie Coon, David Cross, Jesse Plemons, Katharine Graham, Matthew Rhys, Meryl Streep, Michael Stuhlbarg, Sarah Paulson, Steven Spielberg, The Post, Tom Hanks, Tracy Letts, Zach Woods | No Comments »
Fashion: Fabolous Explains His Love For And The Hip-Hop History Of Nike’s Air Force 1 (Video)
November 3, 2017
Dude. Fab says he owns about 200 pairs of them 1’s… and you KNOW that they are the premium, in premium, condition sicknesses!! And speaking of sicknesses, watch F-A-B-O speaking on his obsession for the sneaks.
Posted in Fashion, Hip-Hop, History, Lifestyle, Videos | Tags: Air Force 1, Fabolous, GQ, History of the Air Force 1, History of the Nike Air Force 1, Nike | No Comments »
DJ Premier Speaks On His And Jay-Z’s Musical Partnership (Video)
November 1, 2017
Jigga knows what he wants in a beat, and Preemo always knew how to deliver it. That’s what’s up. And that’s why the two always made beautiful music together!
There have been a million and one producer and MC combinations over the years, but none are quite like JAY-Z and DJ Premier. The Marcy legend and Gang Starr icon have produced nothing but fire over their brief stint of collaboration, first exploring their chemistry in 1996 for ‘Reasonable Doubt’ (“D’Evils,” “Friend or Foe,” “Bring it On”) and again for Hov’s sophomore LP, ‘In My Lifetime,’ Vol. 1. That album’s multi-part opening, “Intro/A Million and One Questions/Rhyme No More,” is a favorite—a song that Premier broke down in the latest installment of MASS APPEAL’s new series, “Off The Record.”
– Mass Appeal
Watch A PBS Documentary On The Late Rock & Roll Pioneer, Fats Domino (Video)
October 30, 2017
Man oh man. Rest in peace to the legendary Fats Domino!
Fats Domino was one of the most popular rockers of the 1950s and early 60s. His achievements and record sales during that time were rivaled only by Elvis Presley. With his boogie-woogie piano-playing rooted in blues, rhythm & blues, and jazz, he became one of the inventors, along with Presley, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard of a revolutionary genre of music, rock ‘n’ roll.
– PBS
We might argue about that list of rock ‘n’ roll architects, but PBS is on point with this documentary. Good fodder for discussion and/or a primer for those who need to backfill knowledge about who the world just lost.
History: Stand For The Anthem, But Have You Really Listened To It? Does It Stand For ALL Of Us? (Video)
October 24, 2017
Respect shout to Morgan State alum Duane Saunders Jr. who is putting us on to the National Anthem’s [conveniently] forgotten third verse (quoted in the next block) with this documentary “What So Proudly We Hail.” Might make you feel a new different way about #TakeAKnee
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave
The breakdown: Hireling and slave. That slave part… that’s Black people enslaved in the U.S. Many made a deal with the Brits, to join their side, gaining freedom if the Redcoats won… and the ‘real Americans’ (not us “three-fifths” humans, just living in America) got salty and wrong a song about it. Wanna hear it? It’s in the 3rd verse of the National Anthem. And that Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution part… Yeah, our ancestors “betrayal” (imagine their gall, making a deal with their SLAVEMASTERS’ enemy) was a pollution that their spill blood had washed away. As in the song celebrated our ancestors’ deaths in battle (as opposed to beating, raping, and working us to death under the power of the lash and legislation). See, we (Black people) could not be saved from the terror of flight. The Americans’ valor, the flag waving in evidence of it, o’er the land of the FREE (not us) and the home of the BRAVE (nah, they thought us traiterous cowards)!
FOH!!
Real ‘Muricans are quick to tell us to love it or leave it… today. Why not let us ‘leave it’ back in the day when you enslaved us? We had to enlist and take up arms and FIGHT you, and this would not be the last time, to be FREE to LEAVE. And miss us with the “Why can’t we just drop it and move on?” argument. Drop it?!? Hell, like that 3rd Anthem verse, we have yet to ‘pick it up’ for real.
#TakeAKnee #NationalAnthemDoesNotStandForAll
Civil Rights Activist James Baldwin At Cambridge University Union In 1965… Speaking Like He Is With Us Today (Video)
October 17, 2017
Is 400 years of slavery building this country (and oppression thereafter) plus many wars of service not enough to justify our right to have some say in its running… without having to hear, “You can leave it if you don’t love it”… Well, isn’t it? Answer: YES! Moreover, we are not going to be ousted by anyone. We helped BUILD this place ‘they’ say we can ‘leave’ (like it isn’t OURS, too)! Sure, this declaration has an angry tone. So I will let activist/scholar James Baldwin say it. Words from so long ago. Could he have known they’d still be so applicable today?
Prior to the UK release of the Oscar-nominated documentary, I Am Not Your Negro, we take a look at a seminal speech by the film’s subject – writer, essayist, poet and civil rights activist James Baldwin. At Cambridge University Union in 1965, Baldwin debates whether the ‘American dream’ has been achieved at the expense of African-Americans.
– The Guardian
Yeah. And Baldwin even has something to say about the flag in this. So on point.
– @ojones1
Posted in Activism, Education, Film, History, Politics, Speech, Travel, Videos | Tags: activist, American Dream, Cambridge University, Cambridge University Union, Civil Rights, civil rights activist, essayist, I Am Not Your Negro, James Baldwin, poet, Respect for the flag, take a knee, TakeAKnee, The Guardian, UK, United Kingdom, writer | No Comments »
Watch The USA Network’s Official Teaser For “Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac & The Notorious B.I.G.” (Trailer)
October 9, 2017
Starring Josh Duhamel, Bokeem Woodbine and Jimmi Simpson, and no longer a ‘long-awaited’ or ‘maybe, strong maybe’… They kept snatching the clips down like someone was ‘hedging’ at the network. But okay. This Biggie-Tupac crime drama series is definitely coming to USA.
Watch the official trailer for Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac & The Notorious B.I.G., a new series coming to USA Network from a director of The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.
– USA Network
Posted in Celebrity, Film, Hip-Hop, History, Investigation, Series, Television, Trailer, Videos | Tags: 2pac, Biggie, Bokeem Woodbine, crime drama, Jimmi Simpson, Josh Duhamel, Marcc Rose, murders, Notorious B.I.G., Notorious BIG, Tupac, Tupac Shakur, Unsolved, USA Network, Wavyy Jonez | No Comments »
The History Of Sister Nancy’s “Bam Bam†(Video)
October 2, 2017
Wow! The origin/evolution story of one of the quintessential Hip-Hop melodies told in a dope montage. Respect Sister Nancy!
The music of reggae legend Sister Nancy has played a pivotal role in Hip-Hop for over 30 years, but she’s rarely seen profits from her influence. Recently, Jay-Z sampled Nancy’s “Bam Bam†for his track “Bam,†the same song Kanye West reworked for his ‘The Life of Pablo’ cut “Famous.†Genius decided to trace the song’s evolution from a local hit to a frequently-sampled component of Hip-Hop.
– Genius News
Posted in Dancehall, Hip-Hop, History, Reggae, Videos | Tags: Bam Bam, Genius News, Sampling, Sampling Documentary, Sister Nancy | No Comments »
Murs And HipHopDX Present “Rap’s Generation Gap: Old Heads Vs. Young Bucks” (Video)
September 27, 2017
Yeah, RUN-DMC gave the rap game its own dress code (post ‘borrowed from Disco’ style)… Maybe their predecessors thought that was a step too far. And those shots taken at RUN-DMC by their peers and ‘descendants’… Maybe the young’ns are just taking shots and throwing rocks just as every youthful element of our ever-aging art of rap does to the elders in the game. Overall, solid commentary/history on the evolution of Hip-Hop. Respect to Murs (who is no slouch on the mic himself).
The generation gap in the Hip-Hop community is wider than ever. Classic Hip-Hop has its own radio stations in a few major markets because the old heads don’t want to hear all that new Mumble Rap. A lot of new rappers can’t even name one song by any of the classic Hip-Hop greats because, in their opinion, none of them measure up to Drake. The more either side opens their mouth, the wider the divide becomes. Do we continue to let nature take its course or do we attempt to bridge the gap? Is the gap even bridgeable? Rap’s Generation Gap: Old Heads vs. Young Bucks. Let’s break it down…
– Murs
(But sometimes we really want go ‘full Rapaport‘ though, Murs. Hahahaaaa!)
Posted in Hip-Hop, History, Opinion, Videos | Tags: DX Breakdown, DXBreakdown, HipHop DX, HipHopDX, Murs, Old Heads, Rap’s Generation Gap, Young Bucks | No Comments »
Watch The Hatchfund Campaign Video For “Yasuke: Birth Of A Samurai” (Trailer)
September 27, 2017
Dude. DUDE! It’s legend meets line-and-ink in this animated Black Samurai joint in development. Gotta make this happen! If Tom Cruise can be “The Last Samurai,” can we please get the first Black Samurai project greenlit & funded… please?
(Watch above and see how YOU can help, too.)
Good feeling about this. Lionsgate Films AND the dude that brought the Kitana blade-swinging, head-decapitating ‘Duncan MacLeod Of The Clan MacLeod’ to life (Gregory Widen) are already attached. Dope!
Posted in Action, Animation, Comics, Film, History, Opportunity, Producers, Trailer, Videos | Tags: Birth Of A Samurai, fundraising, Hatchfund, Hatchfund Campaign, Yasuke, Yasuke: Birth Of A Samurai | No Comments »
Western History Vs. African History (Video)
September 24, 2017
Hmmm… How deep can deep get? Africans did not even see themselves as Africans, or being tied to the African continent… and even the name “Africa” is derivative of what Westerners / Europeans imposed. Watch Dr. John Henrik Clarke drop serious science and knowledge on that, and more, above.
An analysis of the history of Africa as compared to Western civilization. European scholars asserted that the so-called ‘Egyptians’ were non-African until C. Diop’s melanin pigmentation test on Pharaohs proved otherwise.
– InfoWerm
Posted in Activism, History, Interview, R&B, Science, Television, Travel, Videos, Vintage | Tags: Africa, Dr. John Henrik Clarke, History Of Africa, John Clarke, John Henrik Clarke | No Comments »
Watch The USA Teasers For “Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G.” (Trailer)
September 14, 2017
USA is finally getting in on the controversy. An ivestigative series on the Unsolved Murders of Biggie and 2pac. We got teaser trailers above and after the jump. Check ’em out!
Nas, 2 Chainz, Mike WiLL Made It, and T-Pain Speak On ‘The Life of Notorious B.I.G.’ (Video)
September 13, 2017
Did you catch the Biggie documentary debut on Labor Day? If not, keep checking TV listings for the A&E channel for rebroadcasts. On-demand listings, too. In the meantime, we have some snipped clips on the late great B.I.G. for you to see!
Start above. Continue after the jump.
Posted in Celebrity, Film, Hip-Hop, History, Interview, Television, Videos | Tags: 2 Chainz, A&E, A&E channel, A&E Network, Biggie, Biggie: The Life of Notorious B.I.G., Mike Will Made It, Nas, Notorious B.I.G., T-Pain, The Life of Notorious B.I.G. | No Comments »
