One of the things I like about “Dancing With the Stars,” aside from its lively entertainment value, is that when the stars are partnered with the professional dancers, ethnicity is not a factor.
White man/Black woman, Hispanic woman/White man, Black man/White woman, Hispanic man/Black woman, Middle Eastern man/Asian woman, etc. Or they might be the same race. None of it seems to matter, which is a good thing.
Mankind would be further along, and racism would not be such an underlying — or overt — factor if people would realize that we are far more alike than we are different.
People are what they are, period — Black, White, Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, straight, gay, thin, large, quiet, talkative, aggressive, passive, etc. In the greater scheme of things, these things are not what count most.
But one negative thing about “Dancing With the Stars” was Bristol Palin making it to the finals when Brandy (Norwood) and her Ukrainian partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, did not. What a travesty!
This has obviously been an organized effort to make Sarah Palin’s daughter last longer in the competition than she deserved to. The well-organized, misguided Tea Party and others of their type strike again!
Maks and Brandy are incredibly good.
SOMETIMES people make what is basically a good point, but go a little too far with it.
Russell Simmons, entertainment industry entrepreneur, recently declared that society is largely responsible for hard-core rap/hip-hop stars like T.I. and Lil Wayne ending up in jail because society and the industry glorify crime and other bad behavior.
True, they do, but no one makes anyone do anything, and if these artists are as smart and essentially decent under the surface as Simmons says they are, they should have sense enough to “act right.”
No intelligent, enlightened person is going accept any of the blame for what hoodlums do. If they choose to be “thugs,” then that’s on them. Leave us out of it.
KUDOS to songstress Angie Stone and actor/comedian Anthony Anderson for all the work they have been doing to help people who are dealing with diabetes.
The artists, who both have type 2 diabetes, have been going around the country spreading the word that eating right can improve the lives of those with diabetes and even lessen the chance of people getting the disease.
Praise also to rock singer/rapper Kid Rock for standing up for Detroit. He recently said in a national publication:
“The city’s been devastated, but there’s a lot of hope here, a lot of people who really care. I believe when you have that, things can only get better, and I am confident that things will get better. I’ll always live here.”
Thanks, Kid! But I wouldn’t say the whole city has been “devastated.”
SPEAKING OF exaggeration for effect, I stumbled upon a vintage quote from Michael Jackson that brought a smile.
“Let me put it this way,” he said. “If all the people in Hollywood who have had plastic surgery went on vacation, there wouldn’t be a person left in town.”
Beyoncé’s commercials for her “Heat” perfume have been banned from British television because the people who make such decisions decided it was too steamy.
It has been reported that Fantasia was prepared to settle out of court with Paula Cooke, the woman who filed a lawsuit claiming that Fantasia interfered with her marriage to Antwaun Cooke. (Even though they were estranged.)
As part of the settlement, the plaintiff wanted Fantasia to acknowledge that she was aware of the fact that Cooke was married. But Fantasia insists she didn’t know, and therefore the proceedings came to a halt.
David Hyde Pierce, 51, best known for his long run on the TV series “Frasier,” made a wry observation about being older: “I look at the reruns and I realize that we (his character, Niles Crane) are no longer the same age. There’s nothing crueler than syndicated television!”
BETCHA DIDN’T KNOW… That the legendary Jackie Wilson’s full name was Jack Leroy Wilson Jr.
MEMORIES: “Can I Get a Witness?” (Marvin Gaye), “Now That We Found Love” (Heavy D & the Boyz), “Walkin’ in the Rain With the One I Love” (Love Unlimited), “Them Changes” (Buddy Miles), “A Fool in Love” (Ike & Tina Turner), “Show and Tell” (Al Wilson), “Funkytown” (Lipps, Inc.), “Take Me Home” (Cher), “I Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love” (the Emotions), “Love Won’t Let Me Wait” (Major Harris).
BLESSINGS to Carl and Liza Walton (congratulations on your recent 50th wedding anniversary!), Michael Wimberly, Stefanie Worth, Gisele Caver, Stephen Singleton, Michael Vargas, Nick Hood III, Daphne Andrews Williams, Bud McQueen and Jim Burns.
WORDS OF THE WEEK, from self-growth author Mike Moore: “You don’t exist to be someone’s personal garbage dump.”
Let the music play!
(Steve Holsey can be reached at Svh517@aol.com and PO Box 02843, Detroit.
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