I’m reading a book on cosmic forces that was published in the 1970s but has some interesting insights that are still very relevant. It opens with an excerpt from a T.S. Eliot poem that I thought has cautionary wisdom for us living through the information revolution and potential overload.

Choruses from The Rock
T.S.Eliot,1934

The Eagle soars in the summit of Heaven,
The Hunter with his dogs pursues his circuit.
O world of spring and autumn, birth and dying!
The endless cycle of idea and action,
Endless invention, endless experiment,
Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;
Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;
Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.
All our knowledge brings us nearer to death,
But nearness to death no nearer to God.
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries
Brings us farther from God and nearer to the Dust.

Racial representation is something that I am certainly not afraid to call people out on. From Jar Jar Binks to “Soul Plane,” there are many offenders who have more than earned a wallop. Sometimes I feel like the Geico cavemen when I turn on the television or sit down to watch a movie.  But with all the racial critique being leveled against “District 9,” I have to say that I like this movie. I would actually see it again.

I realize that although it was set in South Africa, “District 9″ didn’t address apartheid, nor were there strong Black characters (the witch doctors and warlords were not exactly NAACP “Image Award” material). Nigerians got a bad rep, the aliens got more dimensions in their portrayal than Africans but even then only through two characters, etc.

The film had a few legitimate shortcomings and Nigerians are more justified than anyone in being ticked off. But, in the my opinion, the film created compelling challenges in re-thinking what people think about the “other” on a universal level, not just in the context of race. Could it have gone further? Yes. Might the original message in the filmmaker’s vision been simplified by Hollywood? Possibly.

Yet, there were powerful analogies for South Africa (for instance the real life District 6 story) and beyond (favelas, refugee camps, ghettos, immigrant detention centers, prisons, work camps, etc.). In fact, one the most compelling comparisons to make from the film in modern South Africa is not about race but ethnicity and nationality, in the form of how Zimbabweans who have been driven to leave their homeland are being targeted and mistreated.

While I think “District 9″ race dialogue is worthwhile, this film could be putting race in the background for a reason. The fact that people are responding so passionately means there must be some impact.

It might not have been perfect but “District 9″ made me think and also generated non-stop adrenaline. For that, I am grateful. These are the reasons that I have loved science fiction since I was a tot. Then again was all the scifi that molded my formative years perfect in their representations? Star Trek broke racial and gender barriers but what’s up with the miniskirts on Uhura? How come Billy Dee Williams’ Lando Calrissian was the only visible Black character in the original “Star Wars” (albeit with an Armenian-sounding name… but I digress) and why is he basically a hustler? Why are there often so few ethnicities in the “future?”

My point is we can all keep our racial critic caps on when we watch and appreciate these and other popular media. We should always want them to be better. However, that doesn’t diminish the impact and power of these films. And if “District 9” pushes your buttons and/or you thought parts of it were profound, that is a testament to its success as art.

I’m all for free speech. I like to exercise it regularly. The thing is that all this “death panel,” “communist,” and “birther” conspiracy stuff is reminiscent of other progress-fearing protests in U.S. history. We’re a young country with a diverse population but have long had a significant faction that doggedly resists change (particular as relates to equity and human rights), even when the time has clearly come and it makes logical sense.

If we could put the birthers and Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh and the random screaming people at the town halls in a time machine and plop them out in the sixties, it’s not hard to imagine them holding one of the these placards. I’m just saying that he/she who screams the loudest and the angriest is not always on the side that is most just. While these voices deserve to be heard, their volume should not be mistaken as a representation of the greater public.

Regina Holliday

Woman in DC paints murals for health care reform.

I just planted carolina jessamine in front of the house, hoping that it will climb up the side of the porch and frame our view with beautiful yellow, floral trails of fragrance. Can’t wait. But looking up info on how to take care of it, I learned that parts of the plant are poisonous if ingested. If plants that are deemed bad for human consumption become contraband, should the lovely South Carolina state flower in my yard also be illegal? Just something to think about.

la Chita

I’m looking through the roll call for the US Medal of Freedom honorees this year, and I must say that I like what I see. They’re like the dinner party invite list from heaven.

Special shout-outs to Mary Robinson and Desmond Tutu for being huge role models for human rights advocates coming up in the world. I also have to give a thunderous whoot to Chita Rivera. I crossed paths once with Ms. Rivera. It was my senior year of high school.  She’s just won a Tony for “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” My best friend, a Broadway fanatic, and I were walking through Times Square.

The shows were letting out and a huge crowd formed in front of “Kiss.” We figured it was for Chita. We sasheyed to the front of the crowd, boldly pretended we were in the audience, congratulated Chita on her Tony, asked her to autograph something (we didn’t have programs, obviously), and shamelessly fawned over her.

I’d recently dyed my hair (myself). It was supposed to be blond but looked like fire. It was red, brown and blond. It somewhat ressembled a floral print. Chita said, “I love your hair, darling.” I said, “Actually, it was a mistake.” Chita purred, “Darling, there are no mistakes.” Shazam! That was deep. My friend used it as her yearbook quote. What a lady. Que viva, Chita!

I’m a native NYCer currently living in Atlanta, which amounts to some degree of hilarity from time to time. My latest favorite moments, both from last weekend are:

1) Me trying to make a good effort to not drive everywhere and, therefore, choosing to walk three blocks from yoga class to the bank. Go me, except that the bank was “drive thru only.” What does this city have against people using their legs for anything other than getting low on the dance floor?

2) De La Soul concert on Friday night at Masquerade. The opening act, local indie hop Psyche Origami, featured the group’s two deejays doing turntablist battle to “Dueling Banjos.” I can’t make that kind of thing up. It was impressive though. Respect.

Speaking of De La Soul, this is the 20th anniversary of “3 Feet High and Rising.” Way to make me feel old.

The increasing instances of normal media reporting on the happenings of social media — sometimes even relying on those precocious little social media newbies for leads — has me thinking: How long will there be a distinction between new media, social media and just good ole regular media?

For instance, folks know that Twitter and Facebook were disrupted today, possibly by a coordinated attack. I’m just curious about what the implications might have been for the rest of media. Was today a slow news day for old school commercial media because there was scant tweeting and status updates?

How much of regular life and non-social media snafu’ed (yes, I made that word up)? If John Hughes hadn’t died (and I am old enough for him to have been an important influencer on my tween identity), would there have not been much for people to chat n’ post about?

And if there were major lags caused by the two social media giants of the year that reverberated throughout media, maybe we should start looking at these increasingly blurry lines of distinction. After all, other than the number of regular people with open access to broadcast whatever they want, is there anything inherently different about these forms of media?

They’re both just media, just like words, pieces of paper, pictures, etc. Do we need more adjectives for media or just a broader definition for what people typically think of as media?

Glenfiddich has just unveiled a $15,000 bottle of whiskey. A year ago, a bartender in Vegas introduced me to a $2,000 per shot whiskey (and by introduced, I mean he let me smell it for free). How long do you think it will take for this ultra pricey Glenfiddich to make its way into a hip hop lyric? With so many colorful words to rhyme with Glenfiddich, it probably won’t be long. Maybe the leather journal that comes with this bottle is for a book of rhymes.

In other news, did you know there is an internet tv channel devoted exclusively to the love of whiskey? It has mostly original programming beautifully filmed in HD.

You probably heard about last week’s controversy over NYC’s practice of sending homeless families off with one-way tickets to avoid the $36,000 a year cost of housing them in the city’s shelters.  Essentially, passing the buck on poverty. Is building more affordable housing units really that unreasonable? Seems like a much more stable and longer term solution that could also be more cost effective in the long run.

My favorite comment on the subject was the Huffington Post reader who quoted the Emma Lazurus poem inscribed on the Statue of Liberty:

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”