Another part of my childhood has now passed into history:
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Another part of my childhood has now passed into history:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local...=.66a3bdd48dd7
Massive loss. When I was 7, my dad and I flew from Savannah to Minneapolis for the National Education Association conference. I sat out most of the meetings and hung out with my brother and cousins who lived there. Lo and behold, my dad revealed that one of my heroes would be doing the keynote the final evening...Stan Lee! My little comic-book-nerd heart skipped a beat! Needless to say, I went with bells on for the final meeting and a chance to meet my idol...only to be crushed to hear that he canceled. Never got over that. Thanks for your vision, Stan; maybe we’ll meet on another plane sometime.
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were the real superheroes of comics. They created the X-Men to mirror the struggles minorities endured during the Civil Rights Era and even developed Professor X and Magneto to add a Yin/Yang element to reflect the different perspectives of Dr. King and Brother Malcolm toward how to lead black people out of troubled times. They were woke before it was cool to even side with people fighting for equality.
And then they created T'Challa, the Black Panther. My brother introduced me to him via an Avengers book in the very early '70s and he became my favorite hero. I was the first one that I knew who went nuts when the Black Panther trailer dropped because the character meant so much to me. Suffice it to say, I wasn't alone. Lee and Kirby were on the front of supporting the Movement because it was right, not because it was trendy or going to make them any money.
The following illustration is from an editorial he wrote in 1968 about racism and xenophobia. Sadly, he's describing everything that is happening in the US 50 years later. These words could have turned off a lot of his readers at a time when Marvel was battling for its life but he wrote it because he believed it. I love this man and I'm sadder than most outside of his family to hear that he's passed. Rest in peace, Stan. Thank you for so much.
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I remember my brother and I use to compete to see who could collect the most comics. Then we had to pick sides. He took Marvel and I had to take D.C.! I loved all the Marvel Superheroes and comics. I too remember the first time I read the Black Panther comic way back in the 60s. I can't explain what it meant to a little black kid in those days to see a black superhero in a comic book. Kids today would not understand. It was special. I liked all the characters and hadn't given thought to their color or race, but when the Black Panther and then later Luke Cage came out, it was just special to me.
I remember always seeing the name "Stan Lee" on the cover of the Fantastic Four, Spider Man, X-Men, Silver Surfer ,etc, etc and understood even then that he was the man making all these great comics. Rest in peace Mr. Lee and thank you so much!
Marv
Jerry that is great and thank you for sharing that. It makes me remember another icon in the comic/cartoon World, the late Charles Schultz! It has taken me all these years to finally understand the somewhat hidden messages he was trying to impart through his Charlie Brown cartoons. It sounds silly,but go back and think of the story of "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and you will see that what Mr. Schultz was really doing was telling a story to children of faith and basic Christian beliefs. You had Linus being ridiculed by even those closest to him for "wasting his time" waiting for "The Great Pumpkin" [[the Lord) to appear and no matter what you could not change his faith or beliefs. [[He eludes to the Resurrection when talking about the Great Pumpkin rising from the pumpkin patch and bringing great joy.......) He was going to wait every year until he showed up. He even preached to Charlie Brown about the virtues of "The Great Pumpkin",etc. There's a lot more hidden in the story,but the overall theme was to have faith in your beliefs no matter how kooky they may sound to others or how much they ridicule you for having them. I learned after Charles Schultz's death that he was a devout Christian. He created "Franklin" the little black kid's character as his way of showing inclusiveness.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry Oz
Thanks for letting me know about that, Marv. Charles Schulz was a wonderful man but I didn't pay attention to the allegories of "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and now I want to watch it to see those references. The world is finally learning about Mr. Rogers, too. Fred Rogers taught so much about how to be a decent human being and now it appears that people learned those lessons as if he only shared them with them. Almost like a favorite teacher or uncle.
You're welcome. Now consider what todays children and youth are being taught via the media and you could easily conclude that we're in trouble!Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry Oz
Sorry for calling you *Rob... WTF is "Rob"?Quote:
Originally Posted by marv2
Anyway, a law was passed that required every broadcast station have a certain number of hours of educational content in their weekly lineup. That's why you don't have cartoons on Saturday mornings anymore. I would have hated transitioning from Bugs Bunny and Loony Toons to shows about dog whisperers. I can't imagine any kid is excited to wake up on Saturday morning like I used to be. I remember how excited I was when the networks had their annual shows that previewed all of the new season's cartoons. Such a different world.
I used to get my educational programming from watching "Sesame Street" and "The Electric Company" on PBS which did a fantastic job of teaching kids not just about spelling, math and grammar but also social skills. My fourth grade teacher had an easy hour when "Sesame Street" came on because she just pulled up the TV and we kids all quieted down for once in the day. Lazy, but effective.
I don't know who Rob is either, but that's ok. Since you mentioned The Electric Company [[we watched it regularly in school), I was wondering if you might remember a segment where they used these wood like puppets. The puppets were believe some type of Islander, Hawaiian tribe. One of the puppet characters was name Micah. Does any of that ring a bell?Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry Oz
I remember watching PBS in the early 70s. I'd watch Sesame Street and even Masterpiece Theater programs like Elizabeth R, etc.
Jerry, I had no idea about most of this. Thank you so much for sharing. What a great man. Rest in peace Stan.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry Oz
I don't remember Micah. I most remember the segments where they put the beginnings and ends of words together for kids to understand how to correctly pronounce things that they read [["Sh" "Op" "Shop"). That will always be in my head. I also remember Morgan Freeman before he was Morgan Freeman.Quote:
Originally Posted by marv2
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg6zfiydTkc
I also remember Bill Cosby, Irene Cara and Rita Moreno being on the show.
It's something how things we saw nearly 50 years ago stay with us.
Just like with music and how it sparks specific memories for people.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry Oz
That's 100% right. And combining both of those posts, I still enjoy listening to old "Schoolhouse Rock" songs. Some of those play like hits in my mind when I hear them. And the amazing thing about them is the fact that I actually did learn about conjunctions, math, history and how a bill travels through Congress to become a law!
I am lucky. I listen to CKLW out of Canada growing up and all through my teenaged years. The original station is long gone now, but another station bought their old studios and pretty much now play most of the music that CKLW did. I listen to CKWW 580 AM on the internet now and hear the music I would never hear again anywhere else.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry Oz
I'm pretty much reduced to listening to talk radio and mp3s when I'm driving. The last things I heard on my way home this evening were "Hey DJ" by World's Famous Supreme Team and "Holding On" by LTD. There are 140+ songs on the mp3 that I'm listening to so it'll be almost a month before the songs play again. I made a gospel mp3 for my folks when they went to the family reunion last Summer and one disc took them all the way to Charlotte and most of the way back. That's a far cry from listening to 8-tracks in my Pop's old Coupe DeVille in the '70s. Especially when we only had about four or five, so we had to either hear them four or five times before we got back or listen to old time country music when we were way out in the boonies.Quote:
Originally Posted by marv2
On a side note, listening to those old time country songs gave me a heck of an appreciation for it. I'm not a huge fan of country music but when certain songs play, I make sure to turn them up. I'm pretty sure it's because we could only pick up those static filled AM stations in the open spaces of West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Like you, music imprints on me and certain songs evoke certain memories decades later.
Did hear that Bill Maher wants to know why so many people, so many adults are mourning the loss of Stan Lee?
Don't get me started on Bill Maher. The man is a turd of the highest order. He knows it, too and does his best to make sure the world concurs.
I cannot stand Bill Maher. I have boycotted him and his show for over a year now every since he used the N-word on his show.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry Oz
Yep. I was already off of him for his comment about the US being cowards for its use of cruise missiles in the Gulf War. He may not have been wrong, but is that what I need to hear from a "comedian"? His politics aren't far from my own but he's too big of a dick for me to support or watch.Quote:
Originally Posted by marv2
Here's an article about Bill Maher dismissing Stan Lee's fans. It makes me wonder why, with all of the things in the world for him to sharpen his knives over, he chose this? Dude is a class A asshole.
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/...152832289.htmlQuote:
Stan Lee's company responds to Bill Maher dis: The way you minimized his legacy is 'disgusting'
Suzy Byrne 3 hours ago
Bill Maher‘s comments dissing Stan Lee’s legacy didn’t go over well on the internet — and they’re not popular with the Marvel legend’s company either.
Days after Lee’s death at the age of 95, the Real Time With Bill Maher host took to his blog in a post titled “Adulting” to say comic books are partially to blame for the dumbing down of America. He also minimized Lee’s accomplishments, writing, “The guy who created Spider-Man and the Hulk has died, and America is in mourning. Deep, deep mourning for a man who inspired millions to, I don’t know, watch a movie, I guess.” Lee’s many fans quickly came for Maher — reminding him that he actually shot a scene in a Marvel movie, Iron Man 3 [[it was cut) — and now Lee’s POW! Entertainment company is responding to Maher.
The statement from “Team Stan” was addressed directly to “Mr. Maher.” It said: “Comic books, like all literature, are storytelling devices. When written well by great creators such as Stan Lee, they make us feel, make us think and teach us lessons that hopefully make us better human beings. One lesson Stan taught so many of us was tolerance and respect, and thanks to that message, we are grateful that we can say you have a right to your opinion that comics are childish and unsophisticated. Many said the same about Dickens, Steinbeck, Melville and even Shakespeare.”
It continued, “But to say that Stan merely inspired people to ‘watch a movie’ is in our opinion frankly disgusting. Countless people can attest to how Stan inspired them to read, taught them that the world is not made up of absolutes, that heroes can have flaws and even villains can show humanity within their souls. He gave us the X-Men, Black Panther, Spider-Man and many other heroes and stories that offered hope to those who felt different and bullied while inspiring countless to be creative and dream of great things to come.”
The message went on to note that those “are but a few of the things we the fans of Stan Lee also consider ‘adulting,’ because life both as a child and grown-up can indeed be a struggle.” It also pointed out that Lee “is the author of millions of happy childhood memories” and the “provider of so many of the positive tools of adulthood.”
The last part was the one-two punch, complete with a comic-book lesson. “Our shock at your comments makes us want to say ”Nuff said, Bill,’ but instead we will rely on another of Stan’s lessons to remind you that you have a powerful platform, so please remember: ‘With great power there must also come — great responsibility!'”
Lee died on Nov. 12 and was buried in a small private ceremony on Friday. Lee had said he did not want a public memorial, but a tribute is in the works by his POW! Entertainment family. For now, fans are sharing messages — “Excelsior! — on a tribute wall on Lee’s website.
Thanks Jerry and I totally agree with your assessment of Mr. Maher! Why did he wait until Stan Lee died to basically trash him? Could it be that Maher is the true coward? I was also done with him over his Bill Cosby comments. Kick 'em when they're down seems to be his way of thinking.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry Oz
Wow. As if that earlier commentary wasn't deep enough. I saw this on Twitter today. The love many feel for Stan Lee was well-deserved.
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He was a great man in many ways. No perfect but shared what he had with the World and try to do the right thing!
I haven't read a lot about his early life, but I know that he was Jewish. Makes me wonder if his experiences during and after the war had something to do with his promotion of tolerance.Quote:
Originally Posted by marv2
From what I've heard, it had a lot to do with it. Also the Civil Rights struggle of the 60s in America.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry Oz
And Marvel has done very well with Panther. Gearing up for another dose! Can the movie industry contain another Black Panther release? We'll have to stay tuned.Quote:
Originally Posted by marv2
Regarding Cage, "Hero for Hire", "Power man",
he transitioned nicely to the small screen. The
theme music produced by Adrian Younge was
dope. Especially that cut with William Hart's of the Delfonics!
Since you had a thread about soundtracks, the music played in Harlem's Paradise was great in both seasons. I don't even have Netflix but it ticked me off immensely when they cancelled the Marvel shows because Daredevil and Luke Cage were must see TV for me.Quote:
Originally Posted by nativeNY63
Attachment 15993Quote:
Originally Posted by Jerry Oz
ALL Jews believe in tolerance because our people have been treated so terribly, especially in Christian nations [[for the last 2000 years), but also [[to a lesser extent, but still atrocious in many cases) in most Moslem nations [[for the last 1400 years).
We've always had our bags packed, ready to flee for our lives [[yes, that thought has been in the back of our minds[[EVEN in USA and Canada). That is why Jews are always in the forefront of civil rights movements in every country in which they live. They were involved in Communism for that reason, [[everyone should be treated the same by having equal rights under the law). They were totally against how Communism went bad.
So, Stan Lee learned as a young child that tolerance was extremely important.