ghostdogg1169

Latest Posts by ghostdogg1169

It’s all uphill from here #lamolecomiccon (at Pyramid of the Moon)

Had a blast at the E3 2016!!!

#SavePorn

Charlie Murphy vs. Prince

Shaun King And Why We’re So Quick To Believe White Folks

As I write this, activist Shaun King’s name is trending on Twitter…nationwide. If you are unfamiliar, with all the incidents of police brutality plaguing our nation, King has been a voice within the Black Lives Matter movement. And he doesn’t just have swift Twitter fingers, he’s about that work in real life as well.

King was also set to launch a new organization called the Justice Coalition, which seeks to end police brutality in this country by forming policy teams and launching an additional website to tell the true stories of how police brutality effects its victims.

But he’s not trending because of these new initiatives. He’s trending because people want to know if he’s really Black like he claims to be. They want to know if he’s “the next Rachel Dolezal.” And we all know how she dominated the news cycle for a good two weeks.

Breitbart, a right-winged, conservative news aggregation site named after its founder, Andrew Breitbart, alleged that King, who has said  he has a White mother and a Black father, not only lied about being bi-racial. They claim he lied about his ethnicity to get a scholarship to Morehouse from Oprah Winfrey. They also claim he lied about being in a car accident and being attacked by racists during his high school years in rural Kentucky.

Breitbart claims to have obtained a copy of his birth certificate that seems to list a White man as his father.

The story blew up from there. You know folks love to have the tea. And in their quest to join the hashtag or unearth a scandal, many never even took the time to consider the source.

As a journalism major we were taught to question everything. When I was interning for a copywriter at MSNBC, she told me, “If your mother tells you she loves you, get a second opinion.” That’s the mindset we were trained to adopt when attempting to process new information.

Today, when I heard that it was Breitbart that was trying to call Shaun King a liar, I immediately doubted the notion. Not so much because I question everything I hear and read. Admittedly, I’ve become more and more lax on that front, but because I know the recent history of the publication.

For those who were paying attention to the news during the summer of 2010, you may remember Breitbart was the same publication that infamously cost Shirley Sherrod her job with Department of Agriculture.

Breitbart obtained excerpts from a speech Sherrod gave at the at an NAACP event. The site chopped and screwed the video and painted Sherrod as a racist. When in actuality, her speech warned people not to let their personal prejudices stand in the way of helping someone and developing quality friendships.

But everyone trusted Breitbart. Instead of watching the whole video for themselves, the story spread like wildfire. FoxNews led the way and then a New York CBS affiliate picked it up and then the Atlanta Journal Constitution. By that afternoon, Sherrod received numerous emails from government officials asking her to submit her resignation. The NAACP stepped forward saying they condemned her remarks. And her superiors told her The White House requested that she resign immediately.

And it was all a lie, for nothing. A conservative, White publication said something was true, put up a few video clips and a Black woman, who wasn’t even given the opportunity to tell her side of the story, lost her job because of it.

In all honesty, the Shaun King receipts seem plausible, just like the Sherrod receipts did five years ago. A White man on your birth certificate is pretty convincing.

But Breitbart is something like a MediaTakeout for conservative White folks. The story looks good on the surface, but when you do your own investigation, it’s bullshit. And for whatever reason, their rumors don’t just stir up drama and kick up mess, they cause emotional and psychological damage. Sherrod lost her job and was publicly shamed by her people and the government. At the end of the day everybody looked like fools, had to issue apologies, including The White House, and Breitbart, the site and the man, likely revealed in the exposure and visits to their website.

Judging by the way the story about Shaun King took off, their credibility didn’t even suffer.

And that is the very problem King is fighting against. We talk about Black Lives mattering and having value. But when it’s our word against a White man’s we discover we’re still less credible, inferior.  It’s devastating when people, particularly Black people, are so ready and willing to believe something just because a White man said it.

I know I’ve referenced this before, but the same thing happened when Barack Obama was running for President. Black folks wanted to vote for him but didn’t think he stood a chance of winning. But when he took Iowa, when they saw that White folks were cosigning him, then all of a sudden we felt comfortable to support our own.

Y’all we don’t need the White man’s cosign anymore.

And we need to question the coverage of Black people on all media platforms, particularly when the only time Black people are mentioned is when someone is attempting to discredit us.

By now you might be wondering did Shaun address his racial makeup. He did, via his Twitter page.

Later, another Twitter user posted this picture as a response.

Boom.

If you can’t tell that that’s a Black man, then I’m going to need you to just click out and have a nice day.

It was a friend of King’s who offered a bit more explanation about his background on Facebook. You can read the whole thing here; and you should, but this part seems to be of particular importance.

And to question his race? Since the third grade, Shaun has had to deal with whispers as to his racial make-up. Whispers that no adult helped him deal with or process. Yes, that includes his mother. Shaun got called “Nigger” just as much, if not more, than myself or any of my black friends and family while growing up in Versailles. Do you think an 8 year old would volunteer for that type of treatment? A funny colored, wavy haired child just trying to navigate life? To have anything from racial slurs to cups full of dip-spit (chewing tobacco) hurled at you from confederate flag covered pick-up trucks? And then 20 years later have some right wing assholes question whether it ever happened and go as far as to call you a fraud and try to de-bunk years of social justice work that you’ve put under your belt? We grew up in a town where white mothers were constantly dis-owned by their families for having relationships and making children with black fathers. Where even into the 2000’s, the racial identities of mix-raced children were a taboo topic. Shaun was a direct victim of that. 20 years later, much progress has been made in my town of Versailles, but we are proving we have much further to go if people from my home town don’t speak the fuck up.

Honestly, at first I was wondering why he didn’t just explain explicitly. But this made it clear for me. He doesn’t owe us his story. He’s not another Rachel Dolezal trying to get shine by identifying with an oppression she willingly adopted. He’s about this life.

And it’s a shame that instead of riding for Shaun like he’s been riding for us, we were quick to start making memes, questioning his work and retweeting a story that was meant to undermine and distract from the very issues that are killing us.

I don’t believe in supporting unscrupulous people simply because they’re Black, but when White folks start going hard against Black revolutionaries, we should question the source, the motives and make sure the receipts check out.

Uzumasa Limelight's run at the Edwards Westpark 8 in Irvine, CA has been extended until Dec. 25. Treat yourself to an early present by going to see Ken Ochiai's latest emotional drama. http://www.uzumasalimelight.com/theater/

Sword of The Stranger sketches by  Saito Tsunenori and superbly animated by one of my animation idols Yutaka Nakamura. Good lord. 

Here’s the peaceful side of the Ferguson protests the media isn’t showing you 

Groups like Hands Up United and Millennial Activists United have been committed to community building and nonviolent protest since day one, and their work in the months since August 9 proves it.

In fact, most demonstrations in Ferguson unfold peacefully — assuming the police don’t escalate them with wrongful arrests and chemical-spewing teargas canisters. But you’d never know it from the billowing smoke clouds and flashing police sirens you see plastered across your TV screens.

[ZERO1 News] The teams and matches have been announced for this years Furinkazan Tag League. Announced Teams… ・Masato Tanaka & Takashi Sugiura (Reigning NWA Intercontinental & GHC Tag Champions) ・Shinjiro Otani & Yoshikazu Yokoyama ・Kohei Sato & Hideki Suzuki ・Takuya Sugawara & “brother” YASSHI ・Ryoji Sai & TARU ・Ikuto Hidaka & Fujita “Jr” Hayato ・KAMIKAZE & Daemon Ueda ・Kankuro Hoshino & Masato Inaba ・Akebono & Yusaku Obata ・Atsushi Onita & Masashi Aoyagi Announced Matches ZERO1, 12/11/2014 [Thu] @ Shinkiba 1stRING in Tokyo (-) Tag Tournament First Round: Kohei Sato & Hideki Suzuki [FREE] vs. Kankuro Hoshino [BJW] & Masato Inaba [FREE] (-) Tag Tournament First Round: Ikuto Hidaka & Fujita “Jr” Hayato [MichiPro] vs. Takuya Sugawara & “brother” YASSHI ZERO1 “Furinkazan Special Fighting Festival 2014 in Tahara”, 12/14/2014 [Sun] @ Tahara City General Gymnasium in Aichi (-) Tag Tournament First Round: Atsushi Onita [Jadogun] & Masashi Aoyagi [FREE] vs. Daemon Ueda & KAMIKAZE ZERO1 “Furinkazan 2014 ~ Sendai”, 12/14/2014 [Sun] @ Sendai Miyagino Ward Cultural Center in Miyagi (-) Tag Tournament First Round: Shinjiro Otani & Yoshikazu Yokoyama vs. Ryoji Sai & TARU ZERO1 “Hitachi nokuni Dai Hanabi & Furinkazan 2014 Special”, 12/19/2014 [Fri] @ Ibaraki Prefecture Sports Center (-) Tag Tournament Second Round: Masato Tanaka & Takashi Sugiura vs. (Winner of Onita/Aoyagi vs. Ueda/KAMIKAZE) (-) Tag Tournament Second Round: Akebono & Yusaku Obata vs. (Winner of Hidaka/Hayato vs. Sugawara/YASSHI) ZERO1 “Furinkazan Christmas Special 2014”, 12/24/2014 [Wed] @ Korakuen Hall in Tokyo (-) Tag Tournament Semi-final: (Winner of Masato Tanaka & Takashi Sugiura vs. (Winner of Onita/Aoyagi vs. Ueda/KAMIKAZE)) vs. (Winner of Shinjiro Otani & Yoshikazu Yokoyama vs. Ryoji Sai & TARU) (-) Tag Tournament Semi-final: (Winenr of Akebono & Yusaku Obata vs. (Winner of Hidaka/Hayato vs. Sugawara/YASSHI)) vs. (Winner of Kohei Sato & Hideki Suzuki [FREE] vs. Kankuro Hoshino [BJW] & Masato Inaba [FREE]) (-) Tag Tournament FINAL:

[WRESTLE-1 News] First look at the WRESTLE-1 Tag Team Championship belt. W-1 will be looking to crown their first ever champions on November 30th, as they will be holding the “First Tag League Greatest” from November 15th to the 30th.

WRESTLE-1 “Keiji Mutoh’s Debut 30th Anniversary Show ~ HOLD OUT”, 11/1/2014 [Sat] 17:00 @ Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo 7,200 Spectators

(1) WRESTLE-1 vs Novus 8 Man Tag Match: Yasufumi Nakanoue, Daiki Inaba, Seiki Yoshioka & Hiroki Murase vs. Yusuke Kodama, Koji Doi, Jiro “Ikemen”...

Jack Kirby Interview 

Uzumasa Limelight is ready for a limited release in select U.S. theaters starting Dec. 5! Take a look at the latest trailer for this heartfelt story of passion and honor! http://www.uzumasalimelight.com/

You Go, Ghoul! part 1 of 3 by John Byrne. 2001.

In 2001 I flew up to my old home town of Calgary, Alberta, for a visit with my parents and a College reunion. I also set up an appearance at one of the local comic shops. Between signing comics I doodled on some scraps of paper, and as I did I found myself thinking, for no apparent reason I could detect even at the time, about the old Universal movie monsters I’d grown up watching on the Late Late Show. I doodled a Karloffian Frankenstein monster. A mummy. A vampire in the Dracula mold. Then I started thinking about female versions of these. Almost immediately the ball started rolling, and within a couple of minutes I had drawn some preliminary sketches of characters and jotted down a few story ideas. Before I was done, I even had a title.

When I got home to Connecticut I decided not to let this float around in my head, and took a week off from my regular work to commit the concept to paper. A 24 page story emerged, in regular comicbook format. I offered this to a few publishers, but my lawyer was never quite satisfied with what they had to offer — he is notorious for never taking “Yes” for an answer — and when the idea of producing a webcomic for ByrneRobotics.com was lofted, I wondered if it would be possible to “cut and paste” scans of the pages into a more web-friendly format. Not only was it possible, some of the pages even looked better that way!

I still plan to see YOU GO, GHOUL! published in paper form — and I’ll be asking for money when I do! — but for now, here it is free and in glorious black and white. Enjoy!

Part 2 here

Part 3 here

Main Title Sequence for our new season of Black Dynamite!

Black Dynamite’s Season Opening Title was done byStudio Trigger (Kill La Kill, Little WItch Academia) and Sanzigen (Kill La Kill Op2/Cyborg 009) (Ultra Super Pictures). Directed by none other than big homieHIroyuki Imaishi (Kill La Kill). 

FUN PRODUCTION FACT: 10 of the 22 cuts in this sequence were hand drawn illustrations (Still images& some Key animation like the foot gas pedal). The rest is all 3D animated / toon shading (Sanzigen). Frames were removed and shot on 1s, 2s and 3s to give the impact of classic Imaishi, 2D style timing.  During my hangout in Japan, meeting with Matsuura-san, president of Sanzigen, he told me the crew had an absolute blast producing the Main Title and felt it was one of the more creatively liberating projects they’ve worked on. Imaishi felt the show was so cool because the style looked inspired by Takeshi Koike, which he later admitted was his stylistic inspiration for Dead Leaves. :-)

Black Dynamite x Trigger x Sanzigen = :-D Be sure to catch our new season of Black Dynamite Saturday nights at 10:30, only on Adult Swim. See you next weekend! SSUUUIII!!!!

[KENTA Update] Following the WWE contract signing in Osaka, Japan on July 12th, KENTA was part of a public press event today at the Hard Rock Cafe in Roppongi, Japan. He first stated that he was a bit nervous to attend the public contract signing with the Hulk Hogan and he tried his best to “keep his composure”. It was a great honor to stand in the ring with him and very special moment as well for himself. KENTA said that he is working on “setting up his residence in Orlando, Florida and is looking forward to training in the WWE Performance Center.” That it is a “great facility with a lot of great equipment” and one that he does not mind starting from the bottom if that is what he gets to work with. He mentioned that he is still quite “inexperienced with the English language”, but it is currently his “biggest hard work in progress”. As for his name, KENTA mentioned that is “solely in the WWE Headquarters hands.” He said that there is a “possibility” that his ring name will be changed, but stated with a smile that “any number of names with do”. Even something like a “TANAKA or TOYOTA” which he mentioned himself. He is prepared for anything. He also mentioned that he knows he will have to adjust his in-ring style and adapt to the changes. But that he will do his very best. He also mentioned the names of Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson) and Cesaro (Claudio Castagnoli) who have been in Japan and who have reached the top front of the WWE. He said that it it is reassuring to himself that there are talent that he personally knows in the WWE. He also mentioned John Cena and Rey Mysterio as wrestlers that the entire world knows, but at this time he has little expectations of being on that same level, he said with a laugh. He then said that WWE is the top of the wrestling organizations in the world and that it has been his dream to stand on the big stage, if just at least once in his life. He currently does not know what to expect now that the doors are open, but he will do his best from day one.