Criticism/ Self-Criticism

Joseph Stalin introduced the concept of self-criticism in his 1924 work The Foundations of Leninism.[4] He would later expand this concept in his 1928 article "Against Vulgarising the Slogan of Self-Criticism".[5] Stalin wrote in 1928[6] "I think, comrades, that self-criticism is as necessary to us as air or water. I think that without it, without self-criticism, our Party could not make any headway, could not disclose our ulcers, could not eliminate our shortcomings. And shortcomings we have in plenty. That must be admitted frankly and honestly."[7] For Stalin self-criticism was not supposed to be "temporary and transient"[8] but an "indispensable and permanent weapon in the arsenal of Bolshevism".[9] However, Stalin posited that self-criticism "date[s] back to the first appearance of Bolshevism in our country". Stalin stated that self-criticism was needed even after obtaining power as failing to observe weaknesses "make things easier for their enemies" and that "without self-criticism there can be no proper education of the Party, the class, and the masses". Vladimir Lenin wrote in One Step Forward, Two Steps Back (1904) that the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party engages in "self-criticism and ruthless exposure of their own shortcomings". Lenin further discussed the idea in "Left-Wing" Communism: An Infantile Disorder (1920), "Frankly admitting a mistake, ascertaining the reasons for it, analysing the circumstances which gave rise to it, and thoroughly discussing the means of correcting it—that is the earmark of a serious party".[10] Lenin again further elaborated at a later date (1922) that "All the revolutionary parties that have perished so far, perished because they grew conceited, failed to see where their strength lay, and feared to speak of their weaknesses. But we shall not perish, for we do not fear to speak of our weaknesses and shall learn to overcome them".[11] According to the official history of the October Revolution and Soviet Union produced under Stalin, The History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks), the concept is described briefly in the twelfth chapter, In order to be fully prepared for this turn, the Party had to be its moving spirit, and the leading role of the Party in the forthcoming elections had to be fully ensured. But this could be done only if the Party organizations themselves became thoroughly democratic in their everyday work, only if they fully observed the principles of democratic centralism in their inner-Party life, as the Party Rules demanded, only if all organs of the Party were elected, only if criticism and self-criticism in the Party were developed to the full, only if the responsibility of the Party bodies to the members of the Party were complete, and if the members of the Party themselves became thoroughly active.[12]

AOC ! AOC ! AOC !

Doctor is out Norway | A prominent Norwegian gender clinician, Esben “Esther Pirelli” Benestad, who identifies as a woman, has lost the right to practise, the magazine Reduxx has reported, noting that, “Benestad had previously been scrutinised for giving puberty-halting drugs to adolescents under questionable circumstances, and for falsifying medical diagnoses in order to recommend underage girls for double mastectomies.” In March 2023, Norway’s independent Healthcare Investigation Board concluded that medicalised gender change for minors was “experimental”. The medical directors of Norway’s four health regions agreed with this verdict in February this year.

Gender beat Prosecuting the Dutch protocol; still waiting for evidence in NZ; Texas whistleblowers; Chile's treatment pause; US lawfare; post-Cass Denmark; UK counsellors in conflict; Norway's gender doc loses

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more Gender beat Prosecuting the Dutch protocol; still waiting for evidence in NZ; Texas whistleblowers; Chile's treatment pause; US lawfare; post-Cass Denmark; UK counsellors in conflict; Norway's gender doc loses BERNARD LANE JUN 25 READ IN APP Just the news Photo by Peter Lawrence on Unsplash GCN in brief First lawsuit Netherlands | The Amsterdam gender clinic famous for the “Dutch protocol” is being taken to court by two detransitioners who say they were misdiagnosed. The story of “Sam”, a young man who identified as a woman and had hormonal and surgical interventions at the VU University Medical Centre, has been broadcast by the high-profile TV current affairs program EenVandaag. At age 16, Sam said, he was introduced to trans identity by a TV program about a trans boy. “I was already feeling very unhappy,” he said. “I also found out I was attracted to men… I really didn’t want that.” At 22, “very obsessive” about his body and contemplating the next surgery, he decided this would never end with him happy. He detransitioned. Looking back, he believed he had been misled and that the VU gender clinic failed to consider the full extent of his problems. “From the moment I signed up there, it was just one-way traffic. There was only talk about medication, operations… other solutions didn’t get mentioned.” A spokeswoman for the Dutch group, Genderpunt, which seeks open debate about the implications of gender ideology, told GCN that the joint civil action by the two detransitioners was the first such litigation in the Netherlands. “Gender-affirming care can be discussed in newspapers and questions may be asked in parliament, but a case like this from patients themselves who regret their transition is far more powerful.” The lawyer for the detransitioners, Johan Oosterhagen, who is reportedly handling 10 gender medicine cases, said such clients “struggle with all kinds of issues” and they saw medicalised gender change as a solution. “Sometimes, they have problems for which [transition] is not a solution… some have a history of sexual abuse and a resulting trauma, [some] struggle with depression and [some with] their sexual orientation.” Mr Oosterhagen said the patient’s body could be changed in the way desired, but if all the problems in the background were ignored, “then the patient is essentially no happier.” In the case of Sam (not his real name), VU has rejected liability and insisted that its gender clinicians work carefully in line with professional standards. There are more than 2,000 minors on the waiting list for gender medicine in the Netherlands, according to the Dutch Ministry of Health. Video: “I was again very obsessive about my body, I was looking for new things to change. I thought, if I keep going, it will never come to an end”—Dutch detransitioner “Sam” Just too young New Zealand | New Zealand’s acting prime minister, Winston Peters, has cast doubt on the capacity of minors to consent to medicalised gender change. Asked about the issue in the context of England’s Cass review, Mr Peters expressed concern about young people mistakenly making irreversible decisions. “And they’ll be living their life with that mistake, because adults didn’t have enough courage or common sense to ask them to wait until they could make a decision at an age of maturity,” he said earlier this month in an interview with Bob McCoskrie, founder of the Christian watchdog group Family First NZ. Mr Peters said: “Young people unable to make up their mind are being destroyed for life, by what I might call loose, liberal views of their entitlement to make decisions at an early time when their minds are not [fully developed]. Go and ask any criminal lawyer—and the first thing they say when somebody is under a certain age is that this person is not fully mature yet.” Mr Peters’ New Zealand First New Zealand party is a member of the country’s governing centre-right coalition. New Zealand awaits the long-delayed results of an “evidence brief” on puberty blockers from the Ministry of Health. In 2022, the ministry quietly abandoned its public website claim that blockers were “safe and fully reversible.” That change recognised the shift to caution on gender medicine in Europe. The latest delay in publishing the verdict of the NZ evidence brief on blockers has been attributed to April’s Cass report. Harming not healing America | The identity of a second whistleblower at the Texas Children’s Hospital—home to a controversial gender medicine program—has been revealed. Vanessa Sivadge, a nurse, came to believe that the underlying problems of minors—such as depression, addiction and discomfort with puberty—were being ignored in favour of gender medicalisation. She told journalist Christopher Rufo: “In the cardiac clinic, we were taking sick kids and making them better. In the transgender clinic, it was the opposite. We were harming these kids.” Last year, Sivadge said, FBI agents came to her home and told her she was a “person of interest” in their investigation of the whistleblower later identified as surgeon Eithan Haim. At the hospital, Sivadge said she had noticed discrepancies in paperwork suggesting that gender medicine was being billed to the government-funded Texas Medicaid program, which was not supposed to cover such procedures. Texas Attorney-General Ken Paxton has announced an investigation into possible Medicaid fraud. Meanwhile, indictments against Dr Haim, brought by the Biden Administration’s Department of Justice, have been unsealed. They accuse the surgeon of unlawfully obtaining patient information. Dr Haim has said that only de-identified information was passed to Mr Rufo in order to confirm that, contrary to its public statements, the hospital was continuing to practise gender medicine. Dr Haim faces penalties up to 10 years in prison. The case against Dr Haim has been condemned in various quarters. In a letter to US Attorney-General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray, Republican Senator Josh Hawley said the prosecution was “an unconscionable abuse of legal process, in service of shoddy and irresponsible gender ideology.” In the magazine National Review, lawyer Ed Whelan, who holds the Antonin Scalia Chair in Constitutional Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, wrote: “If a whistleblower did what Dr Haim is alleged to have done to expose, say, that a hospital had committed racial discrimination or Medicaid fraud, it is unfathomable that [the Department of Justice] would threaten the whistleblower with a life-destroying criminal prosecution. The only reason that Dr Haim is being targeted is that he has run afoul of the transgender ideology that dominates the Biden Administration. Without any supporting allegations, the indictment contends that Dr Haim acted with ‘malicious intent’ and sought ‘to cause malicious harm’ to the hospital’s physicians and patients. I am not aware of an iota of evidence that would suggest that Dr Haim acted with malice. In his own words, ‘I knew that it was my moral responsibility to expose what was happening to these children’.” Gender Clinic News is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Upgrade to paid Hold off for now Chile | The Ministry of Health in Chile has suggested there be no new treatment of minors with puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones in the public health system while an expert committee draws up new national guidelines. The shift in position follows breakthrough coverage of the gender medicine debate—including the Cass report—by journalist Sabine Drysdale on the news site BíoBíoChile. At a June 15 media conference, the undersecretary for public health, Andrea Albagli, said: “The current evidence available is of a low level of certainty, so there is no scientific consensus regarding the long-term consequences of hormone therapy and that is why we have convened a roundtable with more experts to expand the literature review.” Ms Albagli also stressed that clinical work had to continue “in the face of scientific uncertainty” and that specialist clinical experience had to be included in new treatment recommendations. In a June 14 statement, the ministry said it “suggests deferral” of new hormonal treatment until new guidelines are published. Treatment of current patients would continue. The statement does not mention the Cass report, but coverage in the newspaper El Mercurio makes the link. The ministry said the expert guideline committee included representatives of the Chilean Society of Paediatrics and the Chilean Society of Child and Adolescent Gynaecology. After their first meeting, a photo of the committee was released, but without names or positions of members, leading some parents to fear a pro-affirmative bias and call for transparency. On June 13, the Chilean Society of Endocrinology and Diabetes issued a statement flowing from an analysis of the Cass report. In part, the statement said: “We agree that hormonal interventions [should not be] first-line treatments and that not all adolescents need these pharmacological therapies. We agree that we need better quality scientific evidence about the effects of hormonal treatments and that more studies are needed to clarify the long-term benefits and adverse effects.” Video: Emma Thomas gives voice to children of parents who transition Take it to the top America | The US Supreme Court has agreed to weigh in on the judicial conflict over state laws restricting gender medicalisation of minors. The court, the highest in the US, will hear the Biden administration’s appeal against a decision upholding Tennessee’s law banning puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. “The eventual ruling, expected in the [northern] spring of 2025, could be a landmark precedent on the scope of the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause, which guarantees people equal treatment under the law,” The Wall Street Journal reported. In the Tennessee case, a federal appeals court held the state law to be constitutional. The chief judge of that court wrote: “The unsettled, developing, in truth still experimental, nature of treatments in this area surely permits more than one policy approach, and the Constitution does not favour one over the other.” Half of America’s 50 states have banned or limited “gender-affirming” medical interventions. A “friend of the court” brief filed by Alabama says that the case for invalidity of Tennessee’s ban depends on the reliability of treatment guidelines issued by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). The brief says: “From what can be gleaned from the public record, WPATH is no normal medical organisation. Its guidelines purport to be evidence-based, but WPATH admits it skipped the foundational step of conducting a systematic evidence review when it crafted its treatment recommendations for adolescents. It routinely suppresses scientific inquiry, silencing scholars who question the WPATH standard of ‘care’ and censuring members who go public with their concerns. And many clinicians don’t follow the WPATH standards anyway, as a survey of WPATH’s own doctors shows—and as story after tragic story of inadequate care at gender clinics confirm.” Denmark | Journalist Dorte Toft surveys the post-Cass scene Inspecting Gender What's Going on in Denmark? A Critical Look at Gender Identity in Education and Public Institutions The dominant trans lobbyist organization, LGBT+ Danmark, ignored The Cass Review. No public statement was made even though the Cass Review pointed out that the quality of the research underlying gender reassignment treatment for children and young people is "remarkably low" and that thousands of children have been let down… Read more 6 hours ago · 8 likes · 3 comments Memo of misunderstanding United Kingdom | The UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) faces a test of leadership following its decision to withdraw from an “anti-conversion therapy” memorandum of understanding (MoU). The MoU, signed by many therapy associations and employers such as England’s National Health Service (NHS), was reportedly updated to cover children without the UKCP being consulted. The anti-conversion remit of the MoU was also extended from sexual orientation to the more nebulous concept of “gender identity”. An “anti-transphobia” group of therapists objected to the withdrawal from the MoU, and a vote of confidence in the UKCP board of trustees is being held until July 3. Peter Jenkins, of the group Thoughtful Therapists, has written a defence of the withdrawal decision. He said the MoU, influenced by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, had been used “to justify the widespread use of gender identity affirmative therapy” at the London-based NHS Tavistock paediatric gender clinic. Mr Jenkins cited the interim report of the Cass review and its warning against “diagnostic overshadowing”, whereby “a self-declared gender identity meant that further exploratory therapy would be considered unnecessary in many cases. This led to rapid medicalisation and potentially devastating longer-term health consequences for many young clients.” More at this webinar with Mr Jenkins and existential psychotherapist Tamara Sears in discussion. Doctor is out Norway | A prominent Norwegian gender clinician, Esben “Esther Pirelli” Benestad, who identifies as a woman, has lost the right to practise, the magazine Reduxx has reported, noting that, “Benestad had previously been scrutinised for giving puberty-halting drugs to adolescents under questionable circumstances, and for falsifying medical diagnoses in order to recommend underage girls for double mastectomies.” In March 2023, Norway’s independent Healthcare Investigation Board concluded that medicalised gender change for minors was “experimental”. The medical directors of Norway’s four health regions agreed with this verdict in February this year. Thank you for reading Gender Clinic News. This post is public so feel free to share it. Share You're currently a free subscriber to Gender Clinic News. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. Upgrade to paid SHARE LIKE COMMENT RESTACK © 2024 Bernard Lane 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 Unsubscribe Get the appStart writing

“I don't understand why anybody would want to be that man's VP considering he tried to kill the last one!”

DOLLY PARTON : All-American Mother of the Movement , down home

With a career spanning over fifty years, Parton has been described as a "country legend" and has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time.[2][3] Parton's music includes Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)-certified gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards. She has had 25 singles reach no. 1 on the Billboard country music charts, a record for a female artist (tied with Reba McEntire). She has 44 career Top 10 country albums, a record for any artist, and she has 110 career-charted singles over the past 40 years. She has composed over 3,000 songs, including "I Will Always Love You" (a two-time U.S. country chart-topper, and an international hit for Whitney Houston), "Jolene", "Coat of Many Colors", and "9 to 5". As an actress, she has starred in films including 9 to 5 (1980) and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), for which she earned Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress, and Rhinestone (1984), Steel Magnolias (1989), Straight Talk (1992) and Joyful Noise (2012). She has received 11 Grammy Awards out of 50 nominations, including the Lifetime Achievement Award; ten Country Music Association Awards, including Entertainer of the Year and is one of only seven female artists to win the Country Music Association's Entertainer of the Year Award; five Academy of Country Music Awards, also including Entertainer of the Year; four People's Choice Awards; and three American Music Awards. She is also in a select group to have received at least one nomination from the Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, Tony Awards, and Emmy Awards. In 1999, Parton was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2005, she received the National Medal of Arts and in 2022, she was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a nomination she had initially declined but ultimately accepted, and was subsequently inducted. Outside of her work in the music industry, she also co-owns The Dollywood Company, which manages a number of entertainment venues including the Dollywood theme park, the Splash Country water park, and a number of dinner theatre venues such as The Dolly Parton Stampede and Pirates Voyage. She has founded a number of charitable and philanthropic organizations, chief among them is the Dollywood Foundation, which manages a number of projects to bring education and poverty relief to East Tennessee where she grew up. Early life and career edit Dolly Rebecca Parton was born on January 19, 1946, in a one-room cabin on the banks of the Little Pigeon River in Pittman Center, Tennessee.[4] She is the fourth of twelve children born to Avie Lee Caroline (née Owens; 1923–2003) and Robert Lee Parton Sr. (1921–2000). Parton's middle name comes from her maternal great-great-grandmother Rebecca (Dunn) Whitted.[5] Parton's father, known as "Lee", worked in the mountains of East Tennessee, first as a sharecropper and later tending his own small tobacco farm and acreage. He also worked construction jobs to supplement the farm's small income. Despite her father's illiteracy, Parton has often commented that he was one of the smartest people she had ever known with regard to business and making a profit.[6][7][8] Parton's mother cared for their large family. Her 11 pregnancies (the tenth being twins) in 20 years made her a mother of 12 by age 35. Parton credits her musical abilities to her mother; often in poor health, she still managed to keep house and entertain her children with Smoky Mountain folklore and ancient ballads. Having Welsh ancestors, Avie Lee knew many old ballads that immigrants from the British Isles brought to southern Appalachia in the 18th and 19th century.[9][10] Avie Lee's father, Jake Owens, was a Pentecostal preacher, and Parton and her siblings all attended church regularly. Parton has long credited her father for her business savvy, and her mother's family for her musical abilities. When Parton was a young girl, her family moved from the Pittman Center area to a farm up on nearby Locust Ridge. Most of her cherished memories of youth happened there. Today, a replica of the Locust Ridge cabin resides at Parton's namesake theme park Dollywood.[11] The farm acreage and surrounding woodland inspired her to write the song "My Tennessee Mountain Home" in the 1970s. Years after the farm was sold, Parton bought it back in the late 1980s. Her brother Bobby helped with building restoration and new construction.[6] Parton has described her family as being "dirt poor".[12] Parton's father paid missionary Dr. Robert F. Thomas with a sack of cornmeal for delivering her.[13] Parton would write a song about Dr. Thomas when she was grown.[14] She also outlined her family's poverty in her early songs "Coat of Many Colors" and "In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)". For six or seven years, Parton and her family lived in their rustic, one-bedroom cabin on their small subsistence farm on Locust Ridge.[15] This was a predominantly Pentecostal area located north of the Greenbrier Valley of the Great Smoky Mountains. Music played an important role in her early life. She was brought up in the Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee),[16] in a congregation her grandfather, Jake Robert Owens, pastored. Her earliest public performances were in the church, beginning at age six. At seven, she started playing a homemade guitar. When she was eight, her uncle bought her first real guitar.[17][18] Parton began performing as a child,[19] singing on local radio and television programs in the East Tennessee area.[20] By ten, she was appearing on The Cas Walker Show on both WIVK Radio and WBIR-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee. At 13, she was recording (the single "Puppy Love") on a small Louisiana label, Goldband Records,[21] and appeared at the Grand Ole Opry, where she first met Johnny Cash, who encouraged her to follow her own instincts regarding her career.[22] Billboard advertisement, September 4, 1965 After graduating from Sevier County High School in 1964, Parton moved to Nashville the next day.[6][21] Her initial success came as a songwriter, having signed with Combine Publishing shortly after her arrival;[23] with her frequent songwriting partner, her uncle Bill Owens, she wrote several charting singles during this time, including two Top 10 hits for Bill Phillips: "Put It Off Until Tomorrow," and "The Company You Keep" (1966), and Skeeter Davis's number 11 hit "Fuel to the Flame" (1967).[24] Her songs were recorded by many other artists during this period, including Kitty Wells and Hank Williams Jr.[25] She signed with Monument Records in 1965, at age 19; she initially was pitched as a bubblegum pop singer. She released a string of singles, but the only one that charted, "Happy, Happy Birthday Baby", did not crack the Billboard Hot 100. Although she expressed a desire to record country material, Monument resisted, thinking her unique, high soprano voice was not suited to the genre. After her composition "Put It Off Until Tomorrow", as recorded by Bill Phillips (with Parton, uncredited, on harmony), went to number six on the country chart in 1966, the label relented and allowed her to record country. Her first country single, "Dumb Blonde" (composed by Curly Putman, one of the few songs during this era that she recorded but did not write), reached number 24 on the country chart in 1967, followed by "Something Fishy", which went to number 17. The two songs appeared on her first full-length album, Hello, I'm Dolly.[26] Music career edit 1967–1975: Country music success edit Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton in 1969 In 1967, musician and country music entertainer Porter Wagoner invited Parton to join his organization, offering her a regular spot on his weekly syndicated television program The Porter Wagoner Show, and in his road show. As documented in her 1994 autobiography,[27] initially, much of Wagoner's audience was unhappy that Norma Jean, the performer whom Parton had replaced, had left the show, and was reluctant to accept Parton (sometimes chanting loudly for Norma Jean from the audience).[28] With Wagoner's assistance, however, Parton was eventually accepted. Wagoner convinced his label, RCA Victor, to sign her. RCA decided to protect their investment by releasing her first single as a duet with Wagoner. That song, a remake of Tom Paxton's "The Last Thing on My Mind", released in late 1967, reached the country Top 10 in January 1968, launching a six-year streak of virtually uninterrupted Top 10 singles for the pair. Parton's first solo single for RCA Victor, "Just Because I'm a Woman", was released in the summer of 1968 and was a moderate chart hit, reaching number 17. For the next two years, none of her solo efforts – even "In the Good Old Days (When Times Were Bad)", which later became a standard – were as successful as her duets with Wagoner. The duo was named Vocal Group of the Year in 1968 by the Country Music Association, but Parton's solo records were continually ignored. Wagoner had a significant financial stake in her future; as of 1969, he was her co-producer and owned nearly half of Owe-Par,[29] the publishing company Parton had founded with Bill Owens. By 1970, both Parton and Wagoner had grown frustrated by her lack of solo chart success. Wagoner persuaded Parton to record Jimmie Rodgers' "Mule Skinner Blues", a gimmick that worked. The record shot to number three, followed closely, in February 1971, by her first number-one single, "Joshua". For the next two years, she had numerous solo hits – including her signature song "Coat of Many Colors" (number four, 1971) – in addition to her duets. Top 20 singles included "The Right Combination" and "Burning the Midnight Oil" (both duets with Wagoner, 1971); "Lost Forever in Your Kiss" (with Wagoner), "Touch Your Woman" (1972), "My Tennessee Mountain Home" and "Travelin' Man" (1973).[30] Although her solo singles and the Wagoner duets were successful, her biggest hit of this period was "Jolene". Released in late 1973, the song topped the country chart in February 1974 and reached the lower regions of the Hot 100 (it eventually also charted in the U.K., reaching number seven in 1976, representing Parton's first U.K. success). Parton, who had always envisioned a solo career, made the decision to leave Wagoner's organization; the pair performed their last duet concert in April 1974, and she stopped appearing on his TV show in mid-1974, although they remained affiliated. He helped produce her records through 1975.[27] The pair continued to release duet albums, their final release being 1975's Say Forever You'll Be Mine.[31] In 1974, her song, "I Will Always Love You", written about her professional break from Wagoner, went to number one on the country chart. Around the same time, Elvis Presley indicated that he wanted to record the song. Parton was interested until Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, told her that it was standard procedure for the songwriter to sign over half of the publishing rights to any song recorded by Presley.[32] Parton refused. That decision has been credited with helping to make her many millions of dollars in royalties from the song over the years. Parton had three solo singles reach number one on the country chart in 1974 ("Jolene", "I Will Always Love You" and "Love Is Like a Butterfly"), as well as the duet with Porter Wagoner, "Please Don't Stop Loving Me". In a 2019 episode of the Sky Arts music series Brian Johnson: A Life on the Road, Parton described finding old cassette tapes and realizing that she had composed both "Jolene" and "I Will Always Love You" in the same songwriting session, telling Johnson "Buddy, that was a good night." Parton again topped the singles chart in 1975 with "The Bargain Store".[33] 1976–1986: Pop transition edit Parton in 1977 Between 1974 and 1980, Parton had a series of country hits, with eight singles reaching number one. Her influence on pop culture is reflected by the many performers covering her songs, including mainstream and crossover artists such as Olivia Newton-John, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt.[27] Parton began to embark on a high-profile crossover campaign, attempting to aim her music in a more mainstream direction and increase her visibility outside of the confines of country music. In 1976, she began working closely with Sandy Gallin, who served as her personal manager for the next 25 years. With her 1976 album All I Can Do, which she co-produced with Porter Wagoner, Parton began taking more of an active role in production, and began specifically aiming her music in a more mainstream, pop direction. Her first entirely self-produced effort, New Harvest...First Gathering (1977), highlighted her pop sensibilities, both in terms of choice of songs – the album contained covers of the pop and R&B classics "My Girl" and "Higher and Higher" – and production.[34] Though the album was well received and topped the U.S. country albums chart, neither it nor its single "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" made much of an impression on the pop charts. After New Harvest's disappointing crossover performance, Parton turned to high-profile pop producer Gary Klein for her next album. The result, 1977's Here You Come Again, became her first million-seller, topping the country album chart and reaching number 20 on the pop chart. The Barry Mann-Cynthia Weil-penned title track topped the country singles chart, and became Parton's first Top 10 single on the pop chart (no. 3). A second single, the double A-sided "Two Doors Down"/"It's All Wrong, But It's All Right" topped the country chart and crossed over to the pop Top 20. For the remainder of the 1970s and into the early 1980s, many of her subsequent singles moved up on both charts simultaneously. Her albums during this period were developed specifically for pop-crossover success.[35] With Carol Burnett, 1979 In 1978, Parton won a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her Here You Come Again album. She continued to have hits with "Heartbreaker" (1978), "Baby I'm Burning" (1979) and "You're the Only One" (1979) all of which charted in the pop Top 40 and topped the country chart. "Sweet Summer Lovin'" (1979) became the first Parton single in two years to not top the country chart (though it did reach the Top 10). During this period, her visibility continued to increase, with multiple television appearances. A highly publicized candid interview on a Barbara Walters Special in 1977 (timed to coincide with Here You Come Again's release) was followed by appearances in 1978 on Cher's ABC television special, and her own joint special with Carol Burnett on CBS, Dolly & Carol in Nashville. Parton served as one of three co-hosts (along with Roy Clark and Glen Campbell) on the CBS special Fifty Years of Country Music. In 1979, Parton hosted the NBC special The Seventies: An Explosion of Country Music, performed live at the Ford Theatre in Washington, D.C., and whose audience included President Jimmy Carter. Her commercial success grew in 1980, with three consecutive country chart number-one hits: the Donna Summer-written "Starting Over Again", "Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You", and "9 to 5", which topped the country and pop charts in early 1981.[27] She had another Top 10 single that year with "Making Plans", a single released from a 1980 album with Porter Wagoner,[36] released as part of a lawsuit settlement between the pair. Dolly Parton holding a baby in Honolulu, Hawaii, 1983 The theme song to the 1980 feature film 9 to 5, in which she starred along with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, not only reached number one on the country chart – in February 1981 it reached number one on the pop and the adult-contemporary charts, giving her a triple number-one hit. Parton became one of the few female country singers to have a number-one single on the country and pop charts simultaneously. It also received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. Her singles continued to appear consistently in the country Top 10. Between 1981 and 1985, she had twelve Top 10 hits; half of them hit number one. She continued to make inroads on the pop chart as well. A re-recorded version of "I Will Always Love You", from the feature film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) scraped the Top 50 that year and her duet with Kenny Rogers, "Islands in the Stream" (written by the Bee Gees and produced by Barry Gibb), spent two weeks at number one in 1983.[27] In the mid-1980s, her record sales were still relatively strong, with "Save the Last Dance for Me", "Tennessee Homesick Blues", "God Won't Get You" (1984), "Real Love" (another duet with Kenny Rogers), "Don't Call It Love" (1985) and "Think About Love" (1986) all reaching the country Top 10 ("Tennessee Homesick Blues" and "Think About Love" reached number one; "Real Love" also reached number one on the country chart and became a modest crossover hit). However, RCA Records did not renew her contract after it expired in 1986, and she signed with Columbia Records in 1987.[27] 1987–2005: Country and bluegrass period edit Along with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt, she released Trio (1987) to critical acclaim. The album revitalized Parton's music career, spending five weeks at number one on Billboard's Country Albums chart, and also reached the Top 10 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart. It sold several million copies and produced four Top 10 country hits, including Phil Spector's "To Know Him Is to Love Him", which went to number one. Trio won the Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. After a further attempt at pop success with Rainbow (1987), including the single "The River Unbroken", it ended up a commercial let-down, causing Parton to focus on recording country material. White Limozeen (1989) produced two number one hits in "Why'd You Come in Here Lookin' Like That" and "Yellow Roses". Although Parton's career appeared to be revived, it was actually just a brief revival before contemporary country music came in the early 1990s and moved most veteran artists off the charts.[27] Dolly Parton at a recording session c. 1989 A duet with Ricky Van Shelton, "Rockin' Years" (1991) reached number one, though Parton's greatest commercial fortune of the decade came when Whitney Houston recorded "I Will Always Love You" for the soundtrack of the feature film The Bodyguard (1992). Both the single and the album were massively successful. Parton's soundtrack album from the 1992 film, Straight Talk, however, was less successful. But her 1993 album Slow Dancing with the Moon won critical acclaim and did well on the charts, reaching number four on the country albums chart, and number 16 on the Billboard 200 album chart. It would also become Platinum certified.[37][38] She recorded "The Day I Fall in Love" as a duet with James Ingram for the feature film Beethoven's 2nd (1993). The songwriters (Ingram, Carole Bayer Sager, and Clif Magness) were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and Parton and Ingram performed the song at the awards telecast. Similar to her earlier collaborative album with Harris and Ronstadt, Parton released Honky Tonk Angels in the fall of 1993 with Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette.[39] It was certified as a gold album by the Recording Industry Association of America and helped revive both Wynette and Lynn's careers. Also in 1994, Parton contributed the song "You Gotta Be My Baby" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization.[40] A live acoustic album, Heartsongs: Live from Home, featuring stripped-down versions of some of her hits, as well as some traditional songs, was released in late 1994.[41] Parton's recorded music during the mid-to-late-1990s remained steady and somewhat eclectic. Her 1995 re-recording of "I Will Always Love You" (performed as a duet with Vince Gill), from her album Something Special won the Country Music Association's Vocal Event of the Year Award. The following year, Treasures, an album of covers of 1960s/70s hits was released, and featured a diverse collection of material, including songs by Mac Davis, Pete Seeger, Kris Kristofferson, Cat Stevens, and Neil Young. Her recording of Stevens' "Peace Train" was later re-mixed and released as a dance single, reaching Billboard's dance singles chart. Her 1998 country-rock album Hungry Again was made up entirely of her own compositions. Although neither of the album's two singles, "(Why Don't More Women Sing) Honky Tonk Songs" and "Salt in my Tears", charted, videos for both songs received significant airplay on CMT. A second and more contemporary collaboration with Harris and Ronstadt, Trio II, was released in early 1999. Its cover of Neil Young's song "After the Gold Rush" won a Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals. Parton also was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999.[39] Parton recorded a series of bluegrass-inspired albums, beginning with The Grass Is Blue (1999), winning a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album; and Little Sparrow (2001), with its cover of Collective Soul's "Shine" winning a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. The third, Halos & Horns (2002) included a bluegrass version of the Led Zeppelin song "Stairway to Heaven". In 2005, she released Those Were The Days consisting of her interpretations of hits from the folk-rock era of the late 1960s and early 1970s, including "Imagine", "Where Do the Children Play?", "Crimson and Clover", and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?"[39] 2005–2020: Touring and holiday album edit Dolly Parton introducing Coat of Many Colors in 2009 Parton earned her second Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for "Travelin' Thru", which she wrote specifically for the feature film Transamerica. (2005) Due to the song's (and film's) acceptance of a transgender woman, Parton received death threats.[42] She returned to number one on the country chart later in 2005 by lending her distinctive harmonies to the Brad Paisley ballad, "When I Get Where I'm Going".[39] In September 2007, Parton released her first single from her own record company, Dolly Records, titled, "Better Get to Livin'", which eventually peaked at number 48 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. It was followed by the studio album Backwoods Barbie, which was released on February 26, 2008, and reached number two on the country chart. The album's debut at number 17 on the all-genre Billboard 200 albums chart was the highest in her career.[43] Backwoods Barbie produced four additional singles, including the title track, written as part of her score for 9 to 5: The Musical, an adaptation of her feature film. After the death of Michael Jackson, whom Parton knew personally, she released a video in which she somberly told of her feelings on Jackson and his death.[44][45] Parton at the Grand Ole Opry in 2005 On October 27, 2009, Parton released a four-CD box set, Dolly, which featured 99 songs and spanned most of her career.[46] She released her second live DVD and album, Live From London in October 2009, which was filmed during her sold-out 2008 concerts at London's The O2 Arena. On August 10, 2010, with longtime friend Billy Ray Cyrus, Parton released the album Brother Clyde. Parton is featured on "The Right Time", which she co-wrote with Cyrus and Morris Joseph Tancredi. On January 6, 2011, Parton announced that her new album would be titled Better Day. In February 2011, she announced that she would embark on the Better Day World Tour on July 17, 2011, with shows in northern Europe and the U.S.[47] The album's lead-off single, "Together You and I", was released on May 23, 2011, and Better Day was released on June 28, 2011.[48] In 2011, Parton voiced the character Dolly Gnome in the animated film Gnomeo & Juliet. On February 11, 2012, after the sudden death of Whitney Houston, Parton stated, "Mine is only one of the millions of hearts broken over the death of Whitney Houston. I will always be grateful and in awe of the wonderful performance she did on my song, and I can truly say from the bottom of my heart, 'Whitney, I will always love you. You will be missed.'"[49] In 2013, Parton joined Lulu Roman for a re-recording of "I Will Always Love You" for Roman's album, At Last.[50] In 2013, Parton and Kenny Rogers reunited for the title song of his album You Can't Make Old Friends. For their performance, they were nominated at the 2014 Grammy Awards for Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance.[51] In 2014, Parton embarked on the Blue Smoke World Tour in support of her 42nd studio album, Blue Smoke.[52] The album was first released in Australia and New Zealand on January 31 to coincide with tour dates there in February, and reached the Top 10 in both countries. It was released in the United States on May 13, and debuted at number six on the Billboard 200 chart, making it her first Top 10 album and her highest-charting solo album ever; it also reached the number two on the U.S. country chart. The album was released in Europe on June 9, and reached number two on the UK album chart. On June 29, 2014, Parton performed for the first time at the UK Glastonbury Festival, singing songs such as "Jolene", "9 to 5" and "Coat of Many Colors" to a crowd of more than 180,000.[53] On March 6, 2016, Parton announced that she would be embarking on a tour in support of her new album, Pure & Simple. The tour was one of Parton's biggest tours within the United States in more than 25 years.[54] 64 dates were planned in the United States and Canada, visiting the most requested markets missed on previous tours.[55] Parton performing at the Thompson–Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee, 2014 In the fall of 2016 she released "Jolene" as a single with the a cappella group Pentatonix and performed on The Voice with Pentatonix and Miley Cyrus in November 2016.[56] Also in 2016, Parton was one of thirty artists to perform on "Forever Country", a mash-up of the songs, "Take Me Home, Country Roads", "On the Road Again" and her own "I Will Always Love You". The song celebrates fifty years of the CMA Awards.[57] At the ceremony itself, Parton was honored with the Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented by Lily Tomlin and preceded by a tribute featuring Jennifer Nettles, Pentatonix, Reba McEntire, Kacey Musgraves, Carrie Underwood and Martina McBride. In 2017, Parton appeared on Rainbow, the third studio album by Kesha performing a duet of "Old Flames Can't Hold a Candle to You". The track had been co-written by Kesha's mother Pebe Sebert. It was previously a hit for Parton and was included on her 1980 album Dolly, Dolly, Dolly. She also co-wrote and provided featuring vocals on the song "Rainbowland" on Younger Now, the sixth album by her goddaughter Miley Cyrus. In July 2019, Parton made an unannounced appearance at the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island, and performed several songs accompanied by the Highwomen and Linda Perry.[58] In 2020, Parton received worldwide attention after posting four pictures, in which she showed how she would present herself on social media platforms LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The original post on Instagram[59] went viral after celebrities posted their own versions of the so-called Dolly Parton challenge on social media. On April 10, 2020, Parton re-released 93 songs from six of her classic albums: Little Sparrow, Halos & Horns, For God and Country, Better Day, Those Were The Days, and Live and Well.[60] On May 27, 2020, Parton released a brand new song called "When Life Is Good Again". This song was released to help keep the spirits up of those affected by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. She also released a music video for "When Life Is Good Again", which premiered on Time 100 talks on May 28, 2020.[61] In October 2020, Parton was featured on the single "Pink" alongside Monica, Jordin Sparks, Sara Evans and Rita Wilson. The single was released in aid of Breast Cancer Research.[62][63][64] Parton released A Holly Dolly Christmas in October 2020.[65] On December 6, CBS aired a Christmas special, "A Holly Dolly Christmas", where Parton performed songs from her album.[66][67] Since 2022: Rock album edit Parton performing "Peace Like a River" with Dionne Warwick. In early 2022, Parton was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[68] Parton initially declined the nomination believing that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was "for the people in rock music",[69][70] but after learning that this was not the case Parton said she would accept her induction if she were chosen for the honor.[70] In May her induction was announced, and finally on November 5, 2022, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[71][72] In October 2022 Parton stated in an interview that she would no longer tour, but would continue to play live shows occasionally.[73] On December 31, 2022, Parton co-hosted NBC's New Year's special Miley's New Year's Eve Party.[74] On January 17, 2023, Parton announced she would release her first rock album, titled Rockstar, later that year, during an interview on The View.[75] Lead single "World on Fire" was released on May 11, 2023.[76] It went on to peak at number 1 a week later.[77] The album was released on November 17, 2023, and features collaborations with Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Sting, Elton John, Sheryl Crow, Miley Cyrus, and Lizzo, amongst others.[78] The album received generally positive reviews from critics and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200, becoming Parton's highest-charting solo studio album as well as topping the Country and Rock Albums charts.[79] The soundtrack single "Gonna Be You" from the movie 80 for Brady was released January 20, 2023. The song was written by Diane Warren, and performed by Dolly Parton, Belinda Carlisle, Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry and Gloria Estefan. The official music video shows Parton, Carlisle, Lauper, and Estefan performing while wearing football jerseys similar to the ones worn by the women in the film, interspersed with clips from the film.[80] Public image edit The way I look and the way I looked then was a country girl's idea of glam, just like I wrote in my "Backwoods Barbie" song. People wanted me to change, they thought I looked cheap. But I patterned my look after the town tramp. Everybody said, "She's trash." And in my little girl mind, I thought, "Well, that's what I'm going to be when I grow up." It was really like a look I was after. I wasn't a natural beauty. So, I just like to look the way I look. I'm so outgoing inside in my personality, that I need the way I look to match all of that. Dolly Parton, 2022[81] Parton had turned down several offers to pose nude for Playboy magazine, but did appear on the cover of the October 1978 issue wearing a Playboy bunny outfit, complete with ears (the issue featured Lawrence Grobel's extensive and candid interview with Parton, representing one of her earliest high-profile interviews with the mainstream press). The association of breasts with Parton's public image is illustrated in the naming of Dolly the sheep after her, since the sheep was cloned from a cell taken from an adult ewe's mammary gland.[82][83] In Mobile, Alabama, the General W.K. Wilson Jr. Bridge is commonly called "the Dolly Parton Bridge" due to its arches resembling her bust.[84] The thickened appearance of the turret frontal armor of the T-72A main battle tank led to the unofficial Army nickname "Dolly Parton"[85] - and later the T-72BIs got the "Super Dolly Parton" nickname.[86] Parton is known for having undergone considerable plastic surgery.[87][88] On a 2003 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, Winfrey asked what kind of cosmetic surgery Parton had undergone. Parton replied that cosmetic surgery was imperative in keeping with her famous image.[episode needed] Parton has repeatedly joked about her physical image and surgeries, saying, "It takes a lot of money to look this cheap."[89] Her breasts have garnered her mentions in several songs, including "Dolly Parton's Hits" by Bobby Braddock, "Marty Feldman Eyes" by Bruce Baum (a parody of "Bette Davis Eyes"), "No Show Jones" by George Jones and Merle Haggard, and "Make Me Proud" by Drake, featuring Nicki Minaj.[90] When asked about future plastic surgeries, she famously said, "If I see something sagging, bagging or dragging, I'll get it nipped, tucked or sucked."[91] Parton's feminine escapism is acknowledged in her words, "Womanhood was a difficult thing to get a grip on in those hills, unless you were a man."[92] Parton said in 2012 that she had entered a Dolly Parton lookalike contest and lost.[93] Artistry edit Influences edit Parton, though influenced by big name stars, often credits much of her inspiration to her family and community. On her own mother Parton, in her 2020 book Songteller: My Life in Lyrics, wrote "So it was just natural for my mom to always be singing. My mother had that old-timey voice, and she used to sing all these songs that were brought over from the Old World. They were English, Irish, Welsh, folk songs where people tell stories." Parton calls her mother's voice "haunting". "Lord you would feel it", she wrote.[94] Her biggest influence however was her Aunt Dorothy Jo: "People often ask me who my influences were, they think I'm going to say some big names, and there were a few 'stars' I was impressed with. But my hero was my aunt Dorothy Jo. Mama's baby sister. She was not only an evangelist, she played banjo, she played guitar, and she wrote some great songs."[94] Of course, fellow singers also had an impact on Parton, describing George Jones as her "all time favorite singer",[95] and recognizing her love for other artists such as Kitty Wells, Roy Acuff, and Rose Maddox.[96][97] Musicianship edit Though unable to read sheet music, Parton can play many instruments, including: the dulcimer, autoharp, banjo, guitar, electric guitar, fiddle, piano, recorder, and the saxophone.[98] Reflecting on her multi-instrumental abilities, Parton said, "I play some of everything. I ain't that good at none of it, but I try to sell it. I really try to lay into it."[99] Parton has also used her fingernails as an instrument, most evident on her 1980 song "9 to 5", which she derived the beat from clacking her nails together while backstage on the set of the film of the same name.[100] Other ventures Acting career edit Acting breakthrough edit In addition to her performing appearances on The Porter Wagoner Show in the 1960s and into the 1970s, her two self-titled television variety shows in the 1970s and 1980s, and on American Idol in 2008 and other guest appearances, Parton has had television roles. In 1979, she received an Emmy award nomination as "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Variety Program" for her guest appearance in a Cher special.[123] During the mid-1970s, Parton wanted to expand her audience base. Although her first attempt, the television variety show Dolly! (1976–77), had high ratings, it lasted only one season, with Parton requesting to be released from her contract because of the stress it was causing on her vocal cords. (She later tried a second television variety show, also titled Dolly (1987–88); it too lasted only one season). In her first feature film, Parton portrayed a secretary in a leading role with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in the comedy film 9 to 5 (1980). The movie highlights discrimination against women in the workplace and created awareness of the National Association of Working Women (9–5).[124] She received nominations for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress.[17][125] Parton wrote and recorded the film's title song. It received nominations for an Academy Award for Best Song and a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.[125] Released as a single, the song won both the Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and the Grammy Award for Best Country Song. It also reached no. 1 on the Hot 100 chart and it was no. 78 on the "AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs" list released by the American Film Institute in 2004. 9 to 5 became a major box office success, grossing over $3.9 million its opening weekend, and over $103 million worldwide. Parton was named Top Female Box Office Star by the Motion Picture Herald in both 1981 and 1982 due to the film's success.[126] In late 1981, Parton began filming her second film, the musical film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982).[17] The film earned her a second nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.[125] The film was greeted with positive critical reviews and became a commercial success, earning over $69 million worldwide. After a two-year hiatus from films, Parton was teamed with Sylvester Stallone for Rhinestone (1984). A comedy film about a country music star's efforts to mould an unknown into a music sensation, the film was a critical and financial failure, making just over $21 million on a $28 million budget. Continued roles edit In 1989, Parton returned to film acting in Steel Magnolias (1989), based on the play of the same name by Robert

I'M TIRED OF THE BIDEN HATE. BIDEN HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE PRESIDENTS AMERICA HAS SEEN IN MANY DECADES. HE'S NOT JUST "BETTER THAN TRUMP." HE IS SOMEONE WHO HAS DELIVERED HUGE POSITIVE CHANGES FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AND WILL DELIVER MORE IF GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY. @MICAH_ERFAN

The glue that holds the Republican Party and especially MAGA together is _racism_ better termed _white supremacy_

The glue that holds the Republican Party and especially MAGA together is _racism_ better termed _white supremacy_. This is the result of a decades long strategy started by Richard Nixon as a "Southern Strategy . "

It was initially an appeal to racist Southern Democrats who were disillusioned with President Lyndon Johnson's historic conversion from segregationist to champion of anti-racist federal laws and programs - the Civil Rights Acts, Great Society and War on Poverty . He instituted policies that responded to the demands of the Civil Rights Movement and Urban Protests . The "Southern" Strategy worked in the North , too.

With rise of Ronald Reagan , the shift of racists to the Republican Party expanded . Black People voted 94% against Reagan , recognizing Reagan's and _Reaganism's_ white supremacist essence, though Reaganites denied it , worked through dog whistles .

The New Racism became denial that racism . existed anymore . And so since racism supposedly didn't exist anymore , a post-racist society , Black people continuing to fight actually existing and perpetuating racism were now "racist" ! socalled "reverse racists" , playing the illegitimate race card , racebaiting . Believe it or not . True story . Can you imagine a bigger racist lie ? Well believe it because it's been happening for 40 years - Reaganite racism , the glue that holds the Republican Party and MAGA together .

MAGA are lying when they blame Democrats , not Republicans for plantclosings and runaway shops in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin ,Pennsylvania, etc. The big corporations support Republicans and vica versa. The MAGA motive is to vote racist Republican , but coverup the motive . It is actually Republican and Reaganite policies that have reduced "Middle" class incomes , caused wages to be stagnant for decades, taxed Social Security , undermined unions . (" white supremacist" is preferable to racist because it prevents usage of "reverse" because "reverse white supremacy " is obviously a nonsense accusation against Black People ).

LBJ , WHO WAS A RACIST CONGRESSMAN AND SENATOR FROM TEXAS KNEW WHY HIS RACIST VOTERS VOTED FOR HIM . This is straight from the horse's mouth:

( to be continued )



WHITE BOY SUMMER https://youtu.be/DTy8BaFq0EA?si=-GHTYNd7Tw2AGtLF

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Monday, February 27, 2023

Only white people can end racism and yes, they can do it !

Only white people can end racism and yes, they can do it ! By Charles Brown There is a paradox of Black History. It's biggest liberation events are in the conduct of White people, not Black people. Victories against white supremacy are changes in the conduct of white people, not changes in the conduct of Black people and other people of color ; changes in the conduct of white people toward Black people as in no longer abusing them as slaves when slavery was abolished. Ceasing and desisting from Jim Crow . That's Black History, but it's mainly White people acting differently.

Black people may have fought them or inspired the White people to do it , but the change was in White people's conduct. Black liberation history is made when white people give up portions of their white supremacy.

So, Obama inspired a large minority of white people to overcome their racism , or take their anti-racism to a new level, take affirmative action, change their conduct and vote for a Black man for _President_, a major symbolic position of leadership in American politics and culture . This is the Black historic achievement of Obama, a big one.

Consider Lyndon B. Johnson , major historical actor in the achievements of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's . We celebrate Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks, Little Rock Arkansas high school children facing mobs. Johnson had been a segregationist Senator. The change in his conduct was extraordinary. This is not to praise him as a man so much as to point out the objective fact that it is _change_ in _his_ conduct that is critical.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150272821854944&set=a.194636964943.26841.16832619943&type=1&theater Today in Black History: In 1966, Andrew Brimmer is the first African American to be appointed to the Federal Reserve Board

In a sense, white people are the only ones who can dismantle racism, because racism is something they do. Black people don't do racism. How are Black people going to go make white people stop doing racism ? They can't. Can't go over and put your hands on them and make them stop. Only white people can end racism. The choice is up to White people, and yes, they can do it !

Lecture 1 on white skin supremacy or racism Carlos Linnaeus (Chapter 2; page 32 of the text ) wrote _Systema Natura_, first Tree of Life classification or taxonomic Tree of Life _without_ underlying Darwinian thesis that all life ( including humans) is related to all other life by “descending” from common ancestor species . In other words, Linnaeus’s Tree of Life was a Taxonomy , not a Phylogeny. Linnaeus gave humans the genus- species name “ Homo sapiens”. Linnaeus classified Homo Sapiens based on skin color as indicators of residence in different geographical regions , but did _ not_ seem to include the pernicious element of white supremacy; that white skin signaled superiority in white people over peoples of color – moral , inherent , biological superiority of some type. (See attachment of section of text which explains the range of skin colors as selected for by different levels of sunlight in different geographical regions of the Earth as discovered after Linnaeus ) It was evidently one Blumenbach who wrote a hierarchy of skin colors with the false idea of _white supremacy _ or racism . Blumenbach also originated the term “Caucasian “ still in prominent use as a name for Europeans or white people today. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Friedrich_Blumenbach ). Page 146 of the Text : “The German physician Johann Blumenbach (1752-1840) introduced a significant and pernicious change in the hierarchy of human types. Considering the skull of a woman from the Caucasus Mountains (located between the Black and Caspian Seas of southeastern Europe and southwestern Asia) the most beautiful in his collection, Blumenbach saw it as a reflection of nature's ideal form: the circle. Surely, he reasoned, this "perfect" specimen resembled God's original creation. Moreover, he thought that the living inhabitants of the Caucasus region were the most beautiful in the world. Based on these criteria, he concluded that this high mountain range, which included lands mentioned in the Bible, was the place of human origins. Blumenbach concluded that all light-skinned peoples in Europe and adjacent parts of western Asia and northern Africa belonged to the same "variety." On this basis, he dropped the label "European" and replaced it with "Caucasian." Although he continued to distinguish American Indians as a separate variety, he regrouped dark-skinned Africans as "Ethiopian" and split those Asians not considered Caucasian into two separate groups: "Mongolian" (referring to most inhabitants of Asia, including China and Japan) and "Malay" (indigenous Australians, Pacific Islanders, and others). Convinced that Caucasians were closest to the origi nal ideal humans supposedly created in God's image, Blumenbach ranked them as superior. The other "vari-eties," he argued, were the result of "degeneration"; by moving away from their place of origin and adapting to different environments and climates, they had degenerated physically and morally into what many Europeans came to think of as inferior races. Political leaders have used this notion of superior and inferior races to justify brutalities ranging from repression to slavery to mass murder to genocide.” (End of quotation from the text) Prof. Brown: HOWEVER ! , this was in the context of European capitalism expanding in conquest of colonies and slave enterprises around the globe starting about 500 years ago. These “explorers” collected information on describing the bodies/phenotypes of different peoples they invaded ; and brought these back to Europe where these early biologists also collected it from them. Blumenbach’s white supremacy-racist thesis “rationalized” the fact of the conquerors’ material and military superiority ( but ignoring the conquerors’ moral inferiority to those whom they conquered) White supremacist colonialism and slavery were the “chief momenta” of the original (primitive) accumulation of the capital of Capitalism ( See era of capitalism on Scientific Cosmological Timeline handout) “The discovery of gold and silver in America, the extirpation, enslavement and entombment in mines of the aboriginal population, the beginning of the conquest and looting of the East Indies, the turning of Africa into a warren for the commercial hunting of black-skins, signalised the rosy dawn of the era of capitalist production. These idyllic proceedings are the chief momenta of primitive accumulation ( at the beginning of capitalism circa 500 years ago –CB). On their heels treads the commercial war of the European nations, with the globe for a theatre. It begins with the revolt of the Netherlands from Spain, assumes giant dimensions in England’s Anti-Jacobin War, and is still going on in the opium wars against China, &c. (In the 1860’s –CB) The different momenta of primitive accumulation (original accumulation of capital –CB) distribute themselves now, more or less in chronological order, particularly over Spain, Portugal, Holland, France, and England. In England at the end of the 17th century, they arrive at a systematical combination, embracing the colonies, the national debt, the modern mode of taxation, and the protectionist system. These methods depend in part on brute force, e.g., the colonial system. But, they all employ the power of the State, the concentrated and organised force of society, to hasten, hot-house fashion, the process of transformation of the feudal mode of production into the capitalist mode of production, and to shorten the transition. Force is the midwife of every old society pregnant with a new one. It is itself an economic power. Of the Christian colonial system, W. Howitt, a man who makes a speciality of Christianity, says: “The barbarities and desperate outrages of the so-called Christian race, throughout every region of the world, and upon every people they have been able to subdue, are not to be paralleled by those of any other race, however fierce, however untaught, and however reckless of mercy and of shame, in any age of the earth.” [4] The history of the colonial administration of Holland — and Holland was the head capitalistic nation of the 17th century — “is one of the most extraordinary relations of treachery, bribery, massacre, and meanness” [5] Nothing is more characteristic than their system of stealing men, to get slaves for Java. The men stealers were trained for this purpose. The thief, the interpreter, and the seller, were the chief agents in this trade, native princes the chief sellers. The young people stolen, were thrown into the secret dungeons of Celebes, until they were ready for sending to the slave-ships. “ https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1867-c1/ch31.htm; _Capital_ by Karl Marx See also _The World and Africa__ , by W.E.B. Dubois ; https://files.libcom.org/files/w-e-b-du-bois-the-world-and-africa-and-color-and-democracy.pdf And _Guns, Germs and Steel_ by Jared Diamond;https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns,_Germs,_and_Steel Anthropologists Ashley Montagu and Franz Boas were leaders at debunking the concept of race as white supremacy . As was leading biologist , Richard Lewontin ”A turning point in debates on race was marked in 1972 when, in a paper titled “The Apportionment of Human Diversity,” Harvard geneticist Richard Lewontin showed that human populations, then held to be races, were far more genetically diverse than anyone had imagined. In The Apportionment of Human Diversity" is a 1972 paper on racial categorisation by American evolutionary biologist Richard Lewontin.[1] In it, Lewontin presented an analysis of genetic diversity amongst people from different conventionally-defined races. His main finding, that there is more genetic variation within these populations than between them,[2] is considered a landmark in the study of human genetic variation and contributed to the abandonment of race as a scientific concept.[3][4][5] Our text, at pages 147 and 148 says : “ Race as a Biological Concept To understand why the racial approach to human variation has been so unproductive and even damaging, we must first understand race in strictly biological terms. Biologists define race as a subspecies, or a population of a species differing geographically, morphologically, or genetically from other populations of the same species. As simple and straightforward as such a definition may seem, three factors complicate its use. First, it is arbitrary; no scientific criteria exist on how many differences it takes to make a race. For example, if one researcher emphasizes skin color while another emphasizes fingerprint differences, they will not classify people in the same way (> Figure 7.2). Second, no single race has exclusive possession of any particular variant of any gene or genes. In human terms, the frequency of a trait like the type O blood group, for example, may be high in one population and low in an-other, but it is present in both. In other words, populations are genetically "open," meaning that genes flow between them. The only reproductive barriers that exist for humans are the cultural rules some societies impose regarding appropriate mates. As President Obama's family illustrates (Luo father from western Kenya and Anglo-American mother born in Kansas, who, incidentally, was an anthro-pologist), these social barriers change through time. third problem is that the vast majority of genetic variation exists within a so-called racial group. In the 1970s, right on the heels of the civil rights movement, evolutionary biologist Richard Lewontin demonstrated that a mere 7 percent of human genetic variation exists among racial groups. As the science writer James Shreeve puts it," most of what separates me genetically from a typical African or Eskimo also separates me from another average American of European ancestry" (Shreeve, 1994, p. 60). ( End of quotation) This argument has been cited as evidence that racial categories are biologically meaningless, and that behavioral differences between groups are not caused by genetic differences.[7] One example is the "Statement on 'Race'" published by the American Anthropological Association in 1998, which rejected the existence of races as unambiguous, clearly demarcated, biologically distinct groups.[11]” Youtube link on Lewontin’s thesis : https://youtu.be/JvG1ylKhzoo Preview YouTube video The Concept of Race with Richard Lewontin The key pernicious concept is WHITE SUPREMACY. (per·ni·cious having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way. “the pernicious effects of air pollution"; white supremacy’s harmful effect is often not subtle to People of Color) European capitalist society not only divides the species homo sapiens into invalid biological sub-species based on skin color; but it perniciously puts those “races” into a hierarchy with white as falsely SUPERIOR in morality, spirit, soul, intelligence and other important characteristics. Detroit’s late, great Black Mayor extraordinaire explains white supremacy in his autobiography _Hard stuff_ with a story he heard from his grandfather. “When I was old enough to begin contemplating the dynamics of labor unions, it was one of my Grandpa Young's Alabama tales that illustrated for me the fundamental racial dilemma inherent in collective bargaining. The way we had it figured at Maben's barbershop, racial unity in organized labor was the only way for blacks or whites to gain any leverage in the workplace. For the white man, however, the notion of rubbin shoulders with black men, while to his economic advantage, required him to surrender his sacred myth of superiority---- as i clearly understood when my grandfather' told me the story o fthe honey dippers. In the old South, honey dippers were the men who drove the s--- wagons and had the job of cleaning outhouses, which was done by removing buckets that had been placed in the holes or where there were no buckets, dipping out the waste with cups. Often, honey dippers came in pairs, one black and one white, the black one doing the dipping and the white one driving the mule team. When the black dipper had a bucket of shit, he would hand it up to the white driver, would fill the wagon with buckets to be hauled out to the dump. I one instance, however --according to my grandfather --- the driver suddenly had a change of heart and said to the dipper, "Tom, get up here in this wagon. " So Tom sat in the wagon and the white guy proceeded to hand him the bucket. When Tom's curiosity, finally got the better of him and he asked why they had swapped jobs, the white fellow told him, "I ain't ginna have no n-word handing me no s---" Here’s an analysis I wrote a few years ago: Charles Brown: You see, in this Reaganite era a change we must make is in the media defaming those anti-racists speaking out against racism as "playing the race card". For decades, anti-racist speech has been censored by the Press through this sleight of hand. We live in a "post-racial" society, supposedly. So, the word "racist" is never used ,except perhaps rarely to describe some person of color protesting _against_ racism. Things are so twisted that almost the only thing called "racism" by Big Brother Press are acts or statements of anti-racism. For corporate journalists, that is "playing the race card", "reverse racism". In the infamous US Supreme Court case of _University of California vs Bakke_ , way back in 1978, affirmative action to attain racial equality, the only way equality can be achieved, was slandered as violating protections of racial equality that are provided in the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution (wow, that's a mouthful; I'm a lawyer; smiles) .This began more than 30 years of denying the existence of racism anymore. The narrative has been that the racial playing field is now level , and we have achieve a "post-racial" or colorblind society , in no need of affirmative action remedies to overcome historically instituted inequality between whites and people's of color. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Yet , People of Color continue to rise ! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Attachment on Skin Color Selection: “Skin Color: A Case Study in Adaptation: Page 157 to 159 of Text Several factors impact variation in skin color: the transparency or thickness of the skin; a copper-colored pigment called carotene; reflected color from the blood vessels (responsible for the rosy color of lightly pigmented people); and the amount of melanin (from melas, a Greek word meaning "black"—a dark pigment in the skin's outer layer. People with dark skin have more melanin-producing cells than those with light skin, but everyone (except albinos) has a measure of melanin. Exposure to sunlight increases melanin production, causing skin color to deepen. Melanin protects skin against damaging ultraviolet solar radiation, conferring less susceptibility to skin cancers and sunburn on dark-skinned peoples compared to those with less melanin. Dark skin also helps to prevent the destruction of certain vitamins under intense exposure to sunlight. Because the highest concentrations dark-skinned people tend to be found in the tropical regions of the world, it appears that natural selection has favored heavily pigmented skin as a protection against exposure where ultraviolet radiation is most constant. The inheritance of skin color involves several genes (rather than variants of a single gene), each with several alleles, thus creating a continuous range of expression for this trait. In addition, the geographic distribution of skin color tends to be continuous (> Figure 7.7 and > Figure 7.8). In northern latitudes, light skin has an adaptive advantage related to the skin's important biological function as the manufacturer of vitamin D through a chemical reaction dependent upon sunlight. Vitamin D maintains the balance of calcium in the body essential for healthy bones and balance in the nervous system. In northern climates with little sunshine, light skin allows enough sunlight to penetrate the skin and stimulate the formation of vitamin D. Dark pigmentation interferes with this process in environments with limited sunlight. (melanin A dark pigment produced in the outer layer of the skin that protects against damaging ultraviolet solar radiation.) Cultural practices can contribute to avoiding the severe consequences of vitamin D deficiency (> Figure 7.9). In the middle of the 20th century, parents in northern Europe and northern North America fed their children a spoonful of cod liver oil, rich in vitamin D, during the dark winter months. Today, pasteurized milk is fortified with vitamin D. Given what we know about the adaptive significance of human skin color, and the fact that, until 800,000 years ago, members of the genus Homo were almost exclusively “Creatures” of the tropics, lightly pigmented skins are likely a recent development in human history. Conversely, and consistent with humanity's African origins, darkly pigmented skins likely are quite ancient. Human skin, more liberally endowed with sweat glands and lacking heavy body hair compared to other primates, effectively eliminates excess body heat in a hot climate. This would have been especially advantageous to our ancestors on the savannah, who could have avoided confrontations with large carnivorous animals by carrying out most of their activities in the heat of the day. For the most part, tropical predators rest during this period, hunting primarily from dusk until early morning. Without much hair to cover their bodies, selection would have favored dark skin in our earliest human ancestors. Thus, all humans have a black ancestry, no matter how white some of them may appear to be today. One should not conclude that its relative newness makes lightly pigmented skin better or more highly evolved than heavily pigmented skin. Darker skin better suits the conditions of life in the tropics or at high altitudes, although with cultural adaptations like protective clothing, hats, and more recently invented sunscreen lotions, lightly pigmented people can survive there. Conversely, the availability of supplementary sources of vitamin D allows more heavily pigmented people to do quite well far away from the tropics. In both cases, culture has rendered skin color differences largely irrelevant from a purely biological perspective.”

It's the economy, Mary, Tom, Patty and John