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  1. #51
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jerry Oz View Post
    That's cool, Marv. You will never hear me encourage anybody to accept my views on anything. I will argue about a lot but never to try to coerce someone to do something that they don't want to do. On one of the Clubhouse threads, Jai, moe, ms_m and I discuss football and basketball and I haven't watched a football game at home all year. But I love those three enough that I want them to enjoy it. I feel the same way with you and Gladys. Never ever let somebody twist how you feel about someone or something.

    I'm a little special pissy with Ms. Knight because I'm pretty sure she appeared as the Bee on the "Masked Singer" a couple weeks ago and she knocked her song out of the park. I was happy to know that she still had pipes and looking forward to what she was going to do next. And then, she did this shit.

    I don't hate her because I don't hate too many people. But I just don't like her anymore. And that's just too bad. If you didn't see the show, here she is:
    Thanks Jerry. Yes, Gladys still has it. I last saw her in 2015 in Toledo, OH and she was awesome. After losing Aretha like we did, I just seem to appreciate people like Gladys that much more. Sometimes when people get to be her age, you come at them in a particular way especially if you are substantially younger. LOL! They ain't bugin' otherwise........

  2. #52
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    Here's the third and fourth verses of the Star-Spangled Banner for those who really wanna know but overlook because "BUT IT'S GLADYS KNIIIIIIGHT!?!":

    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 wash’d out their foul footstep’s 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.

    O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
    Between their lov’d home and the war’s desolation!
    Blest with vict’ry and peace may the heav’n rescued land
    Praise the power that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
    Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
    And this be our motto – “In God is our trust,”
    And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
    O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.


    ----

    What makes me think the lyric in bold was attacking slaves [[black people who fought with the British) was also due to this fact that is left out when talking of Francis Scott Key:

    The man was a slaveowner who thought black folks were "inferior" to him...

    So yeah, why should I claim this song as my own when we have our own [[which we don't sing enough):


  3. #53
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    Gladys sure has been taking a lot of L’s lately. Her perceived lying at Aretha’s funeral, to dressing up as a bee 🐝 on a singing competition show, to now being called a sellout. She would have been better off not saying anything and just sang the song. This would have blown over. She made it worse.

  4. #54
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    Why I think Gladys should know better is because she was THERE. Just because we have no more segregation and we have more freedom than we had before the end of the '60s, does not mean we've reached full acceptance in a country that our ancestors were dragged to, to begin with. Gladys isn't stupid. She knows and understands what Colin is doing but is foolish to think singing this anthem, especially in the traditional sense [[*rolling my eyes right now*) will "unite us". No it wouldn't.

    It'll be like when Sammy Davis Jr. [[and James Brown to some degree) thought it was a wise thing to think Nixon really cared about black issues only to get burned when they realized he didn't [[Brown later claimed Nixon put him on his enemies list because he actually helped a few of his band mates ditch the Vietnam War).

    Looking at current news, you know we're still divided. And not more divided, but now with the internet, our division is, in the words of Marvin, "live, in living color".

    And since some folks wanna give Gladys the benefit of the doubt... I'll break it down this way:

    Yeah, Gladys definitely contributed to race relations with her music, but that was her and several others. Even then, she wasn't in the "forefront" like that. James Brown, for all of his faults, was. Sam Cooke was. MOTOWN was! People who are not deep into Motown like we are, forget that during the Motortown Revues of the early '60s, the color line started to drop. It was still heavy in some areas in the south but they eventually got tore down at the end of the decade. Motown had their touring bus shot at by racist whites assuming they were Freedom Riders. THEY WERE SHOT AT! [[Temptations, Supremes, Mary Wells, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Miracles, etc.)

    Gladys did suffer from those same fronts as did all black entertainers in those days. Tina Turner told some stories of confronting a white woman who called her a "black b***h" and almost punched her. I have googled Gladys' so-called civil rights contributions and the only thing I really found was her performing at a concert where Stevie Wonder and Gil-Scott Heron pushed for King Day to be a national holiday in 1982.

    Other than that, what did she do? She didn't protest against segregated concerts like Sam and Aretha did in the early '60s, did she? Matter of fact, Aretha was the activist. Her contributions to civil rights are well known at this point. She was the only one that was willing to send money to Angela Davis when Angela was locked up on trumped up charges. Now you have the #MAGAts taking her word that she was an activist because she said so. None of her biographies ever mentioned anything groundbreaking she did except for winning Ted Mack's Amateur Hour on national TV in 1952, which got her in the NAACP at 8 [[this is according to one biography). But other than that, what else did she do? All she claimed in her statement that she was an activist. Did she ever mention her own activities?

    I'm sure if she had had her way when she and the Pips signed to Motown in 1966, she would've been okay with a black audience only since that was the only audience she was singing for. Still stuck in the chitlin' circuit. Going to Motown would be her ticket out. Less than a year after signing, they released "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", which did help to do its job as they promised: it welcomed Gladys Knight and the Pips to a white audience. Now was some of their stuff not as easy to catch on with pop audiences? Yeah, but they also desired, least Gladys did, for a crossover sound and found it near the end of their Motown tenure with "Help Me Make It Through the Night" and "Neither One of Us" [[both songs written by white songwriters). After they began to perform regularly in Vegas following their signing to Buddah Records in 1973, this is when Gladys began to bitterly complain about Motown claiming they were treated like second class citizens there despite the fact that most of the Motown heavyweights were having some chart troubles at the same time GK&TP's found their breakthrough there. Their success at Buddah wouldn't have been POSSIBLE without them being on Motown and y'all know this. People still call her a MOTOWN LEGEND.

    No one wants to ask why did she suddenly break from the Pips in 1989 when they were approaching 40 years together? It seems too simple than a simple "I want to go solo" thing. William Guest didn't wanna quit. Bubba didn't wanna quit. And Edward Patten didn't wanna quit. They had just come off of "Love Overboard" for chrissakes.

    No one wants to ask why in 1997, this lifelong Baptist suddenly converted to Mormonism, which for years were convinced BLACK PEOPLE WERE THE DEVILS. The same religion that her two eldest children were in before her.

    Why after Aretha's death, she suddenly claims she suffered the "same issues" as Aretha did and didn't correct folks quick enough to say she didn't have cancer?

    Gladys has done some questionable stuff in her life. It doesn't take away from her legacy, but she is not immune to criticism. She KNEW the reaction this would get... and did it anyway and then to rub salt in the wounds of those who protested against violence by cops on us, say she marched with social workers and the like. It's like if you work with a president known for being a bigot [[because Trump is not the only one who holds such views) and when criticized, they'll say "hey I was doing demonstrations back when cops firehosed us."

    OKAY but folks were getting firehosed in Ferguson, St. Louis and Baltimore when the Black Lives Matter demonstrations began and that wasn't in 1960s America but 2010s America... she knows what's going on but chose to stay quiet. Why suddenly is she so outspoken about THIS?

    That's why I feel it's HER that's being the hypocritical one IMHO. Because for her to mention her activism means SHE KNOWS what's going on but is trying to be egalitarian about it. There are things to be egalitarian about, this is not one of them...


  5. #55
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    Quote Originally Posted by khansperac View Post
    Gladys sure has been taking a lot of L’s lately. Her perceived lying at Aretha’s funeral, to dressing up as a bee �� on a singing competition show, to now being called a sellout. She would have been better off not saying anything and just sang the song. This would have blown over. She made it worse.
    I'm still confused by that one.

  6. #56
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    Quote Originally Posted by midnightman View Post
    OKAY but folks were getting firehosed in Ferguson, St. Louis and Baltimore when the Black Lives Matter demonstrations began and that wasn't in 1960s America but 2010s America... she knows what's going on but chose to stay quiet. Why suddenly is she so outspoken about THIS?

    That's why I feel it's HER that's being the hypocritical one IMHO. Because for her to mention her activism means SHE KNOWS what's going on but is trying to be egalitarian about it. There are things to be egalitarian about, this is not one of them...

    You see, this is why I wish we had a "like" button on SDF. Gladys isn't stupid or unaware of what's going on. She knows the issue and took a side.

  7. #57
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    If Cardi b can wax poetic on the state of the nation...surely Gladys has earned the right to do so as well...

  8. #58
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jerry Oz View Post
    You see, this is why I wish we had a "like" button on SDF. Gladys isn't stupid or unaware of what's going on. She knows the issue and took a side.
    Exactly.

    Stu, that's good and all, but she also earned the right to say "no comment" and keep it moving. Her trying to explain made it worse. Simple as that.

  9. #59
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    Might have been discretion as the better part of valor...however, we tend to encourage those who agree with us in these types of situations and criticize those who don't... Maybe it's just human nature....

  10. #60
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    It's funny Cardi was mentioned here because this is one of the posts going around:

    Name:  crownheights.bk_49997675_146160699716568_4848281494308005329_n.jpg
Views: 617
Size:  44.9 KB

  11. #61
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    Quote Originally Posted by StuBass1 View Post
    Might have been discretion as the better part of valor...however, we tend to encourage those who agree with us in these types of situations and criticize those who don't... Maybe it's just human nature....
    She's entitled to her opinion. I think the problem with this particular issue is so many have been impacted by it. She had the nerve to say she carried the flag so people who think she's wrong to sing can kiss her ass. Some of us have lost loved ones without answers and it's more than a typical political issue for us. People who think it can be broken down to a talking point about the patriotism of protesters rub salt into still festering wounds.

  12. #62
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    The few times I saw black artists use this song as some kind of protest [[in a sense) was Jimi Hendrix and Marvin Gaye [[probably accidental on Hendrix's part). Marvin did it in such a way that white folks got mad and threatened to blackball him [[according to Stevie Wonder) from performing because his version didn't evoke the "patriotism" they expected from it. But for those who watched him sing it in '83, it took the sting out of the nationalist, patriotic garbage we were fed. And some black b-ball players that participated in the game that day said "for the first time as a black man living in America, I was proud to be black and in America" because of Marvin's gospel version. Hendrix's version came in the middle of Americans being forced to go to a war most didn't wanna go because they saw war as unjust. Gladys takes it to the opposite direction when many of us who are in the "new generation" [[myself included) that claims she wants this song to "unite Americans". It's not gonna unite anyone. For her to say the issue with the song and the protests should be separate is taking away from the message. Do you think Stevie Wonder, who himself famously kneeled down onstage with his son as a means of supporting Colin, would agree with this? No. So why should we accept it because arguably the greatest female vocalist to record in Motown is doing it?


  13. #63
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    Im sorry i agree w gladys let her sing her t stsr spangled banner she paid her dues why should she miss hrr chsnce t shine because someone has issues w police brutality and racism enough alrready. The trump shutdown is enough lets have something t sing about gladys wont disaapoint

  14. #64
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    I've been reading this post,i'm asking did gladys make her statements about colin on her own or did someone ask her opinion?

  15. #65
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    Quote Originally Posted by arr&bee View Post
    I've been reading this post,i'm asking did gladys make her statements about colin on her own or did someone ask her opinion?
    Someone at another forum suggested Gladys' people released the statement because of people bringing up Colin's name. Colin never said a word about it. Guess that didn't work since her official IG is locked from comments.

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    Kaepernick is pulling down MILLIONS with his routine [[following his fall from grace as an NFL quarterback) and created his own money generating ATM which he can withdraw from for years to come which I admit was a smart financial move on his part, so I really don't think he gives a rats behind about Gladys or gives her a second thought...

  17. #67
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    Quote Originally Posted by franjoy56 View Post
    Im sorry i agree w gladys let her sing her t stsr spangled banner she paid her dues why should she miss hrr chsnce t shine because someone has issues w police brutality and racism enough alrready. The trump shutdown is enough lets have something t sing about gladys wont disaapoint
    Why are you sorry? You and she are entitled to your opinions. But if she was hoping to kick start a return to her career, she pretty much derailed it before it got out of the gate.

  18. #68
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jerry Oz View Post
    Why are you sorry? You and she are entitled to your opinions. But if she was hoping to kick start a return to her career, she pretty much derailed it before it got out of the gate.
    Gladys is a legend who as of this date is secure both financially and personally as she approaches her 75th birthday. I honestly don't think "kick starting" her career with the largely millennial crowd that may take issue with her message of what she views as "patriotism" is of prime importance to her... She is of the age and station in life where she can do pretty well what she pleases when she pleases...I look forward with her anthem rendition and hope it rises to the level of those great Anthem performances [[Whitney, Marvin, et al) before her...I still recall being present at Tiger Stadium in 68 at the World Series when Jose Feliciano gave the first public [[to my recollection) "non-traditional" version of the anthem...and was booed roundly for it... I expect Gladys will do a more traditional rendition, with perhaps one or two melismatic variances...
    Last edited by StuBass1; 01-21-2019 at 05:47 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by StuBass1 View Post
    Gladys is a legend who as of this date is secure both financially and personally as she approaches her 75th birthday. I honestly don't think "kick starting" her career with the largely millennial crowd that may take issue with her message of what she views as "patriotism" is of prime importance to her... She is of the age and station in life where she can do pretty well what she pleases when she pleases...I look forward with her anthem rendition and hope it rises to the level of those great Anthem performances [[Whitney, Marvin, et al) before her...I still recall being present at Tiger Stadium in 68 at the World Series when Jose Feliciano gave the first public [[to my recollection) "non-traditional" version of the anthem...and was booed roundly for it... I expect Gladys will do a more traditional rendition, with perhaps one or two melismatic variances...
    You were at the Tigers game when Jose Feliciano did that? Wow! I remember watching it sitting on the floor in our new house. We just moved at the start of the World Series that year.

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    Quote Originally Posted by marv2 View Post
    You were at the Tigers game when Jose Feliciano did that? Wow! I remember watching it sitting on the floor in our new house. We just moved at the start of the World Series that year.
    Yup...historic game 5 when Lou Brock forgot to slide into home plate and Willie Horton fired a strike from left field to home plate where Freehan tagged Brock out and changed the entire series outcome...I remember walking into the ballpark as Jose, seated on a stool in the outfield I think and was just starting singing and people started looking at each other like...WTF. The old Detroit sports announcer Van Patrick was in a box along the first baseline and held his nose... Jose's performance started a well publicized feud with Marvin Gaye who had performed a very traditional anthem [[Lord how things have changed LOL) at an earlier game and Marvin challenged Jose to a sing off calling the Puerto Rican Feliciano's version "unpatriotic"...https://youtu.be/aQkY2UFBUb4
    Last edited by StuBass1; 01-21-2019 at 08:23 PM.

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    She does not need to restart her career she's already a legend

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    I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by the myth of time; and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a “more convenient season.”

    - The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. [from “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” August 1963]

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    Quote Originally Posted by StuBass1 View Post
    Yup...historic game 5 when Lou Brock forgot to slide into home plate and Willie Horton fired a strike from left field to home plate where Freehan tagged Brock out and changed the entire series outcome...I remember walking into the ballpark as Jose, seated on a stool in the outfield I think and was just starting singing and people started looking at each other like...WTF. The old Detroit sports announcer Van Patrick was in a box along the first baseline and held his nose... Jose's performance started a well publicized feud with Marvin Gaye who had performed a very traditional anthem [[Lord how things have changed LOL) at an earlier game and Marvin challenged Jose to a sing off calling the Puerto Rican Feliciano's version "unpatriotic"...https://youtu.be/aQkY2UFBUb4
    Stu, you really took me back to one of the happiest times in my life with this post. The only name that would have complete the picture would have been Ernie Harwell. Remember him? I don't know if he was calling the Tigers games on WWJ by the time of the '68 Series. Thank you.

  24. #74
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    Quote Originally Posted by franjoy56 View Post
    She does not need to restart her career she's already a legend
    Fran, Gladys is like one of the all time greatest in music. This whole matter should have been discussed privately. Really there's been too many people that sung the National Anthem to just jump all over Gladys Knight now.

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    Quote Originally Posted by sansradio View Post
    I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by the myth of time; and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a “more convenient season.”

    - The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. [from “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” August 1963]
    Thank you for that Sansradio. Even Martin and Malcolm disagreed on the best way to achieve freedom and equality.

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    Quote Originally Posted by marv2 View Post
    Thank you for that Sansradio. Even Martin and Malcolm disagreed on the best way to achieve freedom and equality.
    Sure. But King was a lot more radical than he’s given lip service for. Same road, different vehicles.

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    Quote Originally Posted by midnightman View Post
    Her being a legend has nothing to do with her and any entertainer's/public figure's complacency. In making her statement, she put herself in the position to be judged even if she feels her intention is good. And again, what did Colin say???

    He said absolutely nothing about Gladys yet Ms. Knight jumped the gun to explain herself before she said anything. Colin only talked to Travis. Gladys wanted the headlines so that's why her people put out her statement.

    I have no issue with her doing it but don't rub it in people's faces and then say the anthem, with its controversial past and how the versions by Jose Feliciano, Hendrix and Marvin Gaye caused some whites to feel some type of way because they didn't perform it the way it was expected, and the social ills currently affecting us, to "be separate". This is not Whitney Houston singing it in the middle of the Gulf War. This is the era of "Black Lives Matter" and calling out racism and police brutality.

    And for Gladys doing it, why is anyone in this thread surprised at the reactions? Most of us in the black community are stuck mentally because we look at every opportunity offered to us as "progress" and sometimes it's actually regress. The reactions from prejudiced Trump voters speaks volumes that they can point to one of us and say "see, she ain't no uppity Negro" and say we should sit down and shut up and the black users just consigning it is making me sad.

    I'm not watching, as I said, but let's not act like those of us addressing what's wrong with this are being oversensitive.
    Perfectly stated midnightman. Im not watching her either. Its real cowardly of her to block posters on instagram who disagree with her. Shame on her for even bringing Colin Kaepernicks name into this. She knew exactly what she was doing. Maybe her concerts will now attract the MAGA bigots.

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    Quote Originally Posted by marv2 View Post
    Stu, you really took me back to one of the happiest times in my life with this post. The only name that would have complete the picture would have been Ernie Harwell. Remember him? I don't know if he was calling the Tigers games on WWJ by the time of the '68 Series. Thank you.
    Of course Baseball Hall Of Famer Ernie Harwell was calling the 68 series. Ernie announced until 2002 when he finally retired at the age of 84...Tigers retired Harwell in 1991 amid a massive protest and Mike Illich purchased the team and brought Ernie back in 93 where he continued broadcasting for another 8 years...

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    Quote Originally Posted by StuBass1 View Post
    Of course Baseball Hall Of Famer Ernie Harwell was calling the 68 series. Ernie announced until 2002 when he finally retired at the age of 84...Tigers retired Harwell in 1991 amid a massive protest and Mike Illich purchased the team and brought Ernie back in 93 where he continued broadcasting for another 8 years...
    I remember sitting out in the backyard on some summer nights and listening to Ernie over radio with my brother and Dad. I remember getting a Tigers Season calender from him for the 1974 season.

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    Quote Originally Posted by StuBass1 View Post
    Yup...historic game 5 when Lou Brock forgot to slide into home plate and Willie Horton fired a strike from left field to home plate where Freehan tagged Brock out and changed the entire series outcome...I remember walking into the ballpark as Jose, seated on a stool in the outfield I think and was just starting singing and people started looking at each other like...WTF. The old Detroit sports announcer Van Patrick was in a box along the first baseline and held his nose... Jose's performance started a well publicized feud with Marvin Gaye who had performed a very traditional anthem [[Lord how things have changed LOL) at an earlier game and Marvin challenged Jose to a sing off calling the Puerto Rican Feliciano's version "unpatriotic"...https://youtu.be/aQkY2UFBUb4
    Funny thing about that is 15 years later, Marvin had changed so much from the '60s Marvin that when he did the anthem again [[his fourth time), it changed the game far more than what even Jose did.

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    Quote Originally Posted by marv2 View Post
    Thank you for that Sansradio. Even Martin and Malcolm disagreed on the best way to achieve freedom and equality.
    You think King was docile in his day? He was a whole lot radical than you think!

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    Repeating what I said earlier because I accidentally deleted it while I was trying to edit through my phone:

    Her being a legend has nothing to do with her and any entertainer's/public figure's complacency. In making her statement, she put herself in the position to be judged even if she feels her intention is good. And again, what did Colin say???

    He said absolutely nothing about Gladys yet Ms. Knight jumped the gun to explain herself before he said anything. Colin only talked to Travis. Gladys wanted the headlines so that's why her people put out her statement.

    I have no issue with her doing it but don't rub it in people's faces and then say the anthem, with its controversial past and how the versions by Jose Feliciano, Hendrix and Marvin Gaye caused some whites to feel some type of way because they didn't perform it the way it was expected, and the social ills currently affecting us, to "be separate". This is not Whitney Houston singing it in the middle of the Gulf War. This is the era of "Black Lives Matter" and calling out racism and police brutality.

    And for Gladys doing it, why is anyone in this thread surprised at the reactions? Most of us in the black community are stuck mentally because we look at every opportunity offered to us as "progress" and sometimes it's actually regress. The reactions from prejudiced Trump voters speaks volumes that they can point to one of us and say "see, she ain't no uppity Negro" and say we should sit down and shut up and the black users just consigning it is making me sad.

    I'm not watching, as I said, but let's not act like those of us addressing what's wrong with this are being oversensitive.

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    Quote Originally Posted by midnightman View Post
    Funny thing about that is 15 years later, Marvin had changed so much from the '60s Marvin that when he did the anthem again [[his fourth time), it changed the game far more than what even Jose did.
    Quite true...Marvin was so traditional in 68, wearing a suit and tie looking so cool... He got PISSED at Jose, but don't forget, Berry Gordy would likely not have allowed Marvin back in 68 to do anything other than his traditional "acceptable" version. This was before What's Going On when Berry ultimately saw the commercial possibilities in going more non-traditional...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Roberta75 View Post
    Perfectly stated midnightman. Im not watching her either. Its real cowardly of her to block posters on instagram who disagree with her. Shame on her for even bringing Colin Kaepernicks name into this. She knew exactly what she was doing. Maybe her concerts will now attract the MAGA bigots.
    Thanks. Like I said, Colin didn't even say anything. Colin only talked to Travis Scott.

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    Quote Originally Posted by StuBass1 View Post
    Quite true...Marvin was so traditional in 68, wearing a suit and tie looking so cool... He got PISSED at Jose, but don't forget, Berry Gordy would likely not have allowed Marvin back in 68 to do anything other than his traditional "acceptable" version. This was before What's Going On when Berry ultimately saw the commercial possibilities in going more non-traditional...
    Marvin said something about how he hated "shucking and jiving" during his early Motown years...

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    Quote Originally Posted by sansradio View Post
    I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by the myth of time; and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a “more convenient season.”

    - The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. [from “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” August 1963]
    I have pondered this quote for years. Never more than in the last 10, when the US became more and more intolerant toward peoples of color after Obama was elected. I honestly think people who don't want to get involved on either side of the social justice divide believe they aren't part of the problem if they aren't actively holding back minorities. Their silence is necessary for racism to succeed. "Not taking a side" is an active choice and it is absolutely taking the side of oppression.

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    Quote Originally Posted by midnightman View Post
    Repeating what I said earlier because I accidentally deleted it while I was trying to edit through my phone:

    Her being a legend has nothing to do with her and any entertainer's/public figure's complacency. In making her statement, she put herself in the position to be judged even if she feels her intention is good. And again, what did Colin say???

    He said absolutely nothing about Gladys yet Ms. Knight jumped the gun to explain herself before he said anything. Colin only talked to Travis. Gladys wanted the headlines so that's why her people put out her statement.

    I have no issue with her doing it but don't rub it in people's faces and then say the anthem, with its controversial past and how the versions by Jose Feliciano, Hendrix and Marvin Gaye caused some whites to feel some type of way because they didn't perform it the way it was expected, and the social ills currently affecting us, to "be separate". This is not Whitney Houston singing it in the middle of the Gulf War. This is the era of "Black Lives Matter" and calling out racism and police brutality.

    And for Gladys doing it, why is anyone in this thread surprised at the reactions? Most of us in the black community are stuck mentally because we look at every opportunity offered to us as "progress" and sometimes it's actually regress. The reactions from prejudiced Trump voters speaks volumes that they can point to one of us and say "see, she ain't no uppity Negro" and say we should sit down and shut up and the black users just consigning it is making me sad.

    I'm not watching, as I said, but let's not act like those of us addressing what's wrong with this are being oversensitive.
    Thank you for this post. I co-sign to every word.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jerry Oz View Post
    I have pondered this quote for years. Never more than in the last 10, when the US became more and more intolerant toward peoples of color after Obama was elected. I honestly think people who don't want to get involved on either side of the social justice divide believe they aren't part of the problem if they aren't actively holding back minorities. Their silence is necessary for racism to succeed. "Not taking a side" is an active choice and it is absolutely taking the side of oppression.
    On the nose as usual, my friend.

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    Thanks for these posts Midnight Sans and Jerry

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    Quote Originally Posted by jobeterob View Post
    Thanks for these posts Midnight Sans and Jerry
    No worries, jr. Happy MLK Day from your friends in the States.

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    “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for enough good men to do nothing.”

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    Quote Originally Posted by luke View Post
    “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for enough good men to do nothing.”
    Tell it!!!

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    C'mon Glady's... Here's some inspiration for ya...https://youtu.be/HU0SZXcNNbY

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    Quote Originally Posted by luke View Post
    “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for enough good men to do nothing.”
    Amen, Luke.

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    Charlie Wilson's version:


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    Uncle Charlie making a pitch for the NBA Championship series perhaps...Gets my vote...Wisely avoids the political discourse...Some friends of mine spent the entire day hanging and boating with Charlie at a lake up north where he lives and had never heard of Charlie or the Gap band. They say he was a great guy to hang out with...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jerry Oz View Post
    The hypocrisy around the anthem is manifold, especially when it comes to it being sung before sporting events. I often ask the patriots who are enraged that Kaepernick chose to kneel if they stand when the anthem is sung at home. Most ignore the question and the others lie by saying that they do. I've grown up in a family full of veterans and I've never seen one of them stand when the anthem is sung before an NBA or NFL game. One guy on Facebook chose to lie and say that if he hears it played on the radio while he's driving his rig, he'll pull over and stand outside his truck in attention until it's over. BS for many obvious reasons, not the least that it takes five minutes to pull a semi over on the freeway and brake it down. So if you're such a patriot, why lie about it?

    There were two easy ways to handle Kaepernick's protest, one hard one and one deceptive way to view it. The easy ways to handle it would be to look at something else in a stadium with 60 thousand people or simply ignore it. The hard way would be to acknowledge that we are far away from having a country where there is liberty and justice for all by working to change a system that shrugged this week when three cops who were proven guilty of conspiring to cover up the murder of LaQuan McDonald by a fellow cop were acquitted by a judge who acknowledged their conspiracy. And a day later, the pig who pumped 16 bullets into him was given six years for the murder.

    God bless everybody who watches the Super Bowl this year, but I won't be one of them. And Gladys can choke on the anthem for all that I care. I wonder if she'd feel the same way if one of her sons was killed by a cop like my brother-in-law was?

    And if anybody reading this wonders what the anthem has to do with any of this, I ask what the hell it has to do with football? It galls me to see thousands of people who watch black players compete for their favorite teams, rooting and cheering when they score. But if those players were killed in error or malice by cops the day after they quit, most of those fans would be fine with it. They don't mind black players. But they'll be damned if they care about black people.

    "Land of the free" my ass. One day, look up the sentencing discrepancy rates of black people and white people who are convicted of the same crimes. In most cases, the same judge is much harsher about sending black people to prison in the exact same circumstances. This is America.
    You betta preach Jerry!!! I agree with this in it's entirety. I'll always love Gladys Knight for the impact her artistry has had on me for my entire lifetime thus far, but I don't respect her and she'll never get another dime from me. She's cooning for a position, and if Fox News is giving her airtime of praise, she can consider it a job well done. I'll await to hear of her "Knight At the White House: Gladys Performs For the President" Fox News special, presented by Sean Hannity, who accompanies Gladys on an emotional rendition of "Dixie". I'm done with her.

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    I always thought "America the Beautiful" was a much more appropriate anthem than the piece of crap written by a piece of trash. As a nation we have to ask ourselves why would we want to be associated so fiercely with a song written by a slave owner? That crap should've been replaced with something else decades ago. Of course the obvious answer to why some don't mind associating with that song...

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    Quote Originally Posted by RanRan79 View Post
    You betta preach Jerry!!! I agree with this in it's entirety. I'll always love Gladys Knight for the impact her artistry has had on me for my entire lifetime thus far, but I don't respect her and she'll never get another dime from me. She's cooning for a position, and if Fox News is giving her airtime of praise, she can consider it a job well done. I'll await to hear of her "Knight At the White House: Gladys Performs For the President" Fox News special, presented by Sean Hannity, who accompanies Gladys on an emotional rendition of "Dixie". I'm done with her.
    "We must tell our white brothers that the few Uncle Toms who will sill their souls for a mess of economic pottage do not speak for the Negro."
    The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
    [Address at Public Meeting of the Southern Christian Ministers Conference of Mississippi
    ;
    September 23, 1959]

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    Quote Originally Posted by sansradio View Post
    "We must tell our white brothers that the few Uncle Toms who will sill their souls for a mess of economic pottage do not speak for the Negro."
    The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
    [Address at Public Meeting of the Southern Christian Ministers Conference of Mississippi
    ;
    September 23, 1959]
    ...Amen...

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