This, That, and so on…February 2017 with Hamp. 
The movie, “Fences.” I finally got to see “Fences” the movie. Denzel Washington and Viola Davis are the stars. Denzel also directs the movie. He plays the Oscar Nominated part of Troy Maxson. The movie’s based on August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play. In fact, Denzel states that it would have been much more difficult to play the part without having performed the part on stage. So far he has chalked up numerous critics acclaim for performance included winning a SAG Award (Best Actor) and a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture.
After listening to Troy passing on what he thinks are wisdom anecdotes to his sons and wife. You reach the conclusion that the guy has more of a mental problem than his mentally challenged brother played by Mykelti Williams. But then again he is representative of the black man working to support a family in the fifties. Many people of color, especially black folks were immigrants from Jim Crow’s South. Most joined the big migration during the late forties during and after World War II. They arrived in these Northern and West Coast cities looking for a better life that being say a sharecropper in the South. They pretty much had to rely on their guild and common sense rather than a basis or extended educations. The movie portrayed the tussle of individuals misdiagnosed world view, especially men, with other family members. They may not have known how to articulate it, but they loved their offspring and wanted them to avoid the barriers they had to faced simply to carve out a life for themselves and family. In that context, one can understand where Troy is coming from, even if you don’t agree with his summation of life. Or for that matter, how he tries to pass on knowledge to his son. Check it out; the picture is well worth your time.
Super Bowl winning Patriots and the White House: I am not surprised at more and more Patriots players are not going to the normal White House ceremonial visit with the president. Given the rhetoric, he has espoused during the presidential campaign. The people he has chosen to run various government agencies. Steve Bannon and a host of advisors the Donald has chosen to work with him. The Moslem Travel Ban that was not a Moslem Travel Ban. Add the constant half-truths, twisting the truth with “Alternative Facts” and outright lies that emanate from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue these days. Who wants to association with that? Maybe the real question is who these people whose used as a prop by the Trump Admiration are?
Black History Month: When you have the capacity to read a book or look at a film and imagine the period depicted in the media. Seeing yourself as a character portrayed in the storyline. That is when you know that you, your family, your race is a part of the history of this world. Suppose you are a kid with their unbridled imagination. The point is that Black History matters.
Bill Withers quote on the times we are living in today: Just in case you didn’t know, “Still Bill” as we called him back in the day father and other men in his family were coal miners. His take on the politics of today as explained by him. He gave the following quote to Joy Reed on AM Joy (Sunday, February 12, 2017). “The times we are living in now are described as synonymous with a slang description of someone who has intimate relations with someone mother.” Whoa! You feel him? His overall thought was people are predisposed to believe what they are led to believe.
Al Jarreau Dead at 76: Another Jazz or R&B great is gone. A fellow Milwaukeean, All was had a unique style that captures the music world. An Ebony article stated that he’d just announced his touring retirement. He’d done so just after being hospitalized for exhaustion. He will be missed by me and all his many fans.
NAACP Image Awards: For me, the sight of so many stars of color in attendance at the NAACP Award Night is pleasing to see. Some other winners included Moonlight for Outstanding Independent Motion Picture, Queen Sugar for 
Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series and Black-ish’s Kenya Barris Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series. Viola Davis won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for Fences. For Outstanding Host in a News, Talk, Reality, or Variety Program (Series or Special) – Individual or Ensemble, Roland S. Martin of NewsOne Now with Roland S. Martin was the winner. He was up against Joy Reid. AM Joy brings in the largest MSNBC audience ever for a weekend. Her time-period is the 10 a.m. to Noon Eastern Time-period.
The Weekends Hairstyle: Look, what is up with The Weekends hair? I’m sure that some will look at me and say, you are out of touch, don’t know what you are talking about dude. Or what’s up with my hairstyle? All that may be valid, but I still ask the question. Is it a tribal style, or some heritage tradition? Or is it something that is designed and groomed (or ungroomed) by the wearer? Okay, I will say it, how does it look to other people. Is it an attractive look? Without me giving an opinion, does it make people notice him? Yes, it does. But then what do onlookers take away from the artist and style? I’m just saying.
Peace, yet stay vigilant for our American rights. Make it a day in which Jesus Christ would be proud of you,
Codis Hampton II
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“In my latest book, Remember Moz, Gracie & John Hampton’s First-Born, I wanted to tell the world about a unique individual. Not because he happened to be my father but to explain who he was, where he came from, and how he evolved into the man he became up until his death. In doing so, I wrote of his ancestor’s roots back to and through the Civil War. The inclusion of his birth and upbringing in the heart of Arkansas, or Jim Crow country, add southern reluctance to learn why our country involved itself in a bloodthirsty four-year exercise in the first place? Then you begin to understand why our parents behaved the way that they did. See if I captured the essence of this paragraph.” Get the book via the Authors Page at http://outskirtspress.com/webPage/isbn/9781478766056
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Hamp's Corner of America 