Tag: Arts

Caribbean Roots: Esther Rolle of ‘Good Times’

Posted on December 30, 2016 in Ethos, Industries, Social

Go Lean Commentary

The movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean recognizes the significance of the TV Show “Good Times”, 1974 – 1979.

cu-blog-esther-rolle-caribbean-roots-photo-3The show – the first episode titled Too Old Blues aired on February 8, 1974 – was a situation comedy about the African-American Evans Family; led by father James, mother Florida or “Flo”, sons J.J. and Michael and daughter Thelma. There were other supporting characters as well, like Willona Woods and her adopted daughter Penny. (Penny was the first acting role for music superstar Janet Jackson, the youngest sister of Michael Jackson of the Jackson 5 fame).

The show was produced by legendary TV producer Norman Lear and recorded on a “sound stage” in Hollywood, California. (There was no “live studio audience”).

What made “Good Times” notable was the ensemble cast of African American actors. But what kept viewers tuning in was the recognition of themselves in the faces on the screen. During the tough economic struggles of the seventies, many families struggled like the Evans family to put food on the table and a roof over their heads. While the subject matter was often bleak, the family had a way of making viewers forget their own troubles for at least 30 minutes. …

Despite the canned laugh tracks, we fell in love with the characters. More importantly, we fell in love with the actors and actresses who brought the show to life. Forty years after the show ended, we are just as interested in the actors as we were when the show was on the air. Chances are good that another 40 years can pass and the show will still hold interest. The actors who brought the show to life may leave this world but their characters will live in our memories and on our television screens for decades to come. It is rare for a show to last longer than a few seasons; [this show lasted 6 seasons]. It is rarer still for a show to generate new fans decades after it went off the air. For whatever reason, “Good Times” accomplished that rare feat, and the actors who starred in the show will always have us wondering -where are they now? – Depost.com Ad-supported Website

The focus of this show for the Go Lean movement is the composition of its cast, and the Caribbean roots of one of the main characters, Esther Rolle. The full cast is as follows:

BernNadette Stanis  Thelma Evans / … (133 episodes, 1974-1979)
Jimmie Walker  James ‘J.J.’ Evans, Jr. (133 episodes, 1974-1979)
Ralph Carter  Michael Evans (132 episodes, 1974-1979)
Ja’net DuBois  Willona Woods (124 episodes, 1974-1979)
Esther Rolle  Florida Evans (108 episodes, 1974-1979)
John Amos  James Evans, Sr. (59 episodes, 1974-1976)
Johnny Brown  Nathan Bookman (57 episodes, 1975-1979)

The  Go Lean book identifies that film, television, theater and the arts can greatly impact society; in addition to the entertainment value, there is also image and impression. People can override many false precepts with excellent deliveries and contributions of great role models. This show, “Good Times”, was frequently recognized for a positive Black image.

So this great American TV show also had a great Caribbean contributor, Bahamas-bred Esther Rolle. Wow!

Esther Rolle became the first woman to receive the NAACP Chairman’s Civil Rights Leadership Award.

See the encyclopedic details here:

Title: Esther Rolle as Florida Evans in “Good Times”

cu-blog-esther-rolle-caribbean-roots-photo-1

You may remember Esther Rolle for her portrayal as the loving but strict mother of three children in the hit television show “Good Times.” Rolle was born 10th in a family of 18 children whom all dreamed of becoming actors and actresses. She began her career as a dancer and played many of her earliest roles on stage. Fans of the hit television show “Maude” may remember her introduction as Findlay’s housekeeper, which is how the popular spin-off show “Good Times” was introduced.

As the show progressed, Rolle became unhappy with the writer’s creative direction and felt that Jimmie Walker’s character was frivolous. Fans of the show might remember her heartbreaking performance as Florida Evans when she received news that her husband had died in a tragic car accident. The series went on with Rolle as a single mother struggling to make ends meet without his income, insurance, or support.
…
After her contract had ended, Rolle quit the show, and moved on to win an Emmy for her performance as a maid in the 1979 television movie “Summer of My German Soldier.” Her successful return to the stage also included a role in “A Raisin in the Sun,” and “Down in the Delta,” which was directed by Maya Angelou. She gained notoriety once again for another Maya Angelou classic, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.”

Esther Rolle’s later works included film work in “Driving Miss Daisy,” in 1990, and “Rosewood” in 1997.  She was recognized as the first woman to receive the NAACP Civil Rights Leadership Award for raising the image of African Americans through her work on stage, television, and film. The same year, Rolle fell ill and was placed on kidney dialysis. She passed away, on November 17, 1998, shortly after her 78th birthday, from complications of diabetes. Rolle was married once but had no children.
Source: Retrieved December 30, 2016 from: http://deposts.com/cast-good-times-now/3/

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Early Life Biography:
Esther Rolle was born in Pompano Beach, Florida, to Bahamian immigrants Jonathan Rolle (1883–1953),[2] a farmer, and Elizabeth Iris Rolle (née Dames; 1893–1981).[3] Her parents were both born and raised in Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas[4][5][6] and moved to Florida some time after their marriage. She was the tenth of 18 children (children who included siblings and fellow actresses Estelle Evans and Rosanna Carter).[7] Rolle graduated from Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach, Florida.[8] She initially studied at Spelman College in Atlanta, but she moved to New York City.[8] While in New York, she attended Hunter College. Rolle transferred to The New School and, finally, Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.”[9] For many years, Rolle worked in a traditional day job in New York City’s garment district.[10]
Source: Retrieved December 30, 2016 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esther_Rolle#Early_life

Though she died over 18 years ago, on November 17, 1998, we still feel her impact. She proved to be an iconic TV character for 20th Century America; she fomented and fostered a great image not just for Americans or Bahamians or Caribbean people, but for the entire African-descended race, for their entertainers. For this reason, she received the first ever NAACP Civil Rights Leadership Award given to a woman.

Caribbean Girls rock!

As specified in a recent blog-commentary and in the Go Lean book, the American Civil Rights agency, the National Association for the Advancement for Colored People (NAACP), was established in 1915 and immediately campaigned to elevate the status and image of Black people in America and beyond.  This “image” precept is also an important factor in the roadmap to elevate Caribbean society. So the Go Lean book details a plan to monitor defamations against the Caribbean image; this includes recognition and appreciation for Caribbean achievement as well. As  follows, this excerpt (Page 133) from Go Lean book highlights this “Image Quest”:

The majority of the Caribbean population descends from an African ancestry – a legacy of slavery from previous centuries. Despite the differences in nationality, culture and language, the image of the African Diaspora is all linked hand-in-hand. And thus, when Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali and Bob Marley impacted the world with their contributions, the reverberations were felt globally, not just in their homelands. It is hard for one segment of the black world to advance when other segments have a negative global image. This is exemplified with the election of Barack Obama as US President; his election was viewed as an ascent for the entire Black race.

Over 100 years ago, the NAACP came to understand the power and influence of the then new medium of film and added the mandate to their charter to confront the misuse of media to influence negative public attitudes toward race. … Today, the NAACP Hollywood Bureau continues to monitor the industry for offensive and defamatory images in film and television. It also sponsors the Image Awards Show to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature, as well as those individuals or groups who promote social justice through their creative endeavors.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This CU strives to advance Caribbean image and culture with these 3 prime directives:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improve Caribbean governance.

This roadmap recognizes that a prerequisite for advancing society is a change in the Caribbean community ethos. Early in the book, the contributions that culture (music, film, theater, dance and artistic expressions) can make is pronounced as an ethos for the entire region to embrace, (opening Declaration of Interdependence – DOI – Pages 15) with these statements:

xxxii. Whereas the cultural arts and music of the region are germane to the quality of Caribbean life, and the international appreciation of Caribbean life, the Federation must implement the support systems to teach, encourage, incentivize, monetize and promote the related industries for arts and music in domestic and foreign markets. These endeavors will make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play.

Esther Rolle – an American of Caribbean descent – was the embodiment of all of these above values. She impacted the image and culture of African Americans in her country, and thusly  impacted the Black image to the rest of the world. Like another Caribbean musical icon, Bob Marley, Esther Rolle set a pathway for success for other generations of talented, inspirational and influential artists to follow. Other artists of Caribbean heritage are sure to emerge and “impact the world”. We are preparing for it, as specified in the same DOI – Page 13:

xxi. Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

The CU represents the change that has come to the Caribbean. The people, institutions and governance of the region are all urged to “lean-in” to this roadmap for change. We know it is important to highlight the positive contributions of Caribbean people, even their descendants and legacies.

We salute those ones from our past, people like Esther Rolle whose parents left their Bahamas home for job opportunities in the agricultural fields of Florida. We know there are “new” Esther Rolle-types throughout Caribbean member-states, waiting to be fostered. We salute them as our future and pledge to create the local-domestic opportunities … without leaving home.

The following list details the community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster future entertainers in the Caribbean:

Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius Page 27
Community Ethos – Promote Intellectual Property Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness Page 36
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Caribbean Vision Page 45
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Patents & Copyrights Page 78
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Culture Administration Page 81
Implementation – Ways to Impact Social Media Page 111
Advocacy – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Hollywood Page 203
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts Page 230
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Music Page 231

Esther Rolle also impacted the world as a role model for Senior Citizens. In her last movie, Down in the Delta, she played the role of an aging wife-mother who suffered from Alzheimer’s Dementia. She played that role with dignity; she showcased to the world the challenge  and honor associated with families fulfilling their obligations to their aging parents and spouses. This movie was written and directed by famed African-American poet Maya Angelou; (also a familiar role model for the Caribbean). See the highlights of the movie here:

VIDEO – Down in the Delta TRAILER – https://youtu.be/IOij6VZrBWE

Published on Jul 19, 2013 – Sometimes The Best Place To Be…Is The Place You Least Expected. Down In The Delta brings together an outstanding cast of stars in an uplifting story of family, community and friendship! In a desperate attempt to change her life, Loretta a troubled single mother from a tough Chicago neighborhood – is sent to spend a summer at her family’s ancestral home in rural Mississippi. In The Delta, with the support and wisdom of her hardworking uncle Earl, Loretta finally begins to see a way to provide for her young children and reverse the downward slide of her life!

Esther Rolle also provided a fine example of retirement and estate planning:

cu-blog-esther-rolle-caribbean-roots-photo-2

When she died in 1998 – at age 78 – she left an estate valued in excess of $1.7 million including $200,000 in cash a $400,000 home, $1,072,000 in treasuries. In addition, she owned 1,000 shares of Bethdames Corporation, several Mutual Funds, and 2% interest in El Toro (Restaurants), Ltd.. – Source: IMDB.com.

Esther Rolle came, saw and conquered! The same was said of Sammy Davis Jr. in the previous blog. See an interview in the Appendix below between Davis and Rolle. They both fit the definition of role models – as defined here by Booker T Washington – where they overcame obstacles and made an impact to benefit more than just themselves.

“I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.”[B].

Previously, this blog-commentary identified other role models in these obituary submissions:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10015 E. R. Braithwaite, Author of ‘To Sir, With Love’ – RIP
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9948 Role Model and Caribbean Roots of Sammy Davis, Jr.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8724 Remembering Marcus Garvey: A Role Model; Still Relevant Today
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7682 Frederick Douglass: Role Model for a Single Cause
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6593 Dr. Mobley – Role Model as a BusinessSchool Dean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2726 Caribbean Role Model – Oscar De La Renta – RIP
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2297 Role Models in Contrast: Booker T Washington -vs- W.E.B. Du Bois
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1037 Role Model and Humanities Advocate – Maya Angelou – R.I.P.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=866 Caribbean Musical Icon and Role Model: Bob Marley

The world is a better place because of Esther Rolle. Her contribution were on the stage and the screen; as an actress she was known for her dramatic roles and stage presence; but she had great “comedic chops” as well. Her days were truly “Good Times”, as her TV show portrayed.

She died 18 years ago; that’s a long time as celebrities die every year – 2016 has been an especially bad year; see list here – and yet we are remembering this one from 1998; this is because of her Caribbean roots. She helped to elevate the Caribbean image; to reinforce the message that we are just as good as anyone else; or maybe even better with our diverse passions. We carry on without her but we are better off for her role model; and forever impacted by her legacy. We urged all Caribbean stakeholders to lean-in to the Go Lean … Caribbean roadmap and the fine role model-example of Esther Rolle. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Appendix VIDEO – Sammy Davis Jr. Interviews Esther Rolle – https://youtu.be/npHzc6CBGp8

Uploaded November 4, 2010 – Clip from the 1970’s Variety-Talk Show: “Sammy & Company”

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E. R. Braithwaite, Author of ‘To Sir, With Love’ – RIP

Posted on December 16, 2016 in Ethos, Social

Go Lean Commentary 

The movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean asserts that one person can make a difference in society; that one can engage a hero’s journey and overcome obstacles to impact society to benefit themselves and others. The book posits that such a hero can function in a lot of different areas of specialty; in fact the book identifies 144 different advocacies, therefore portraying that there a lot of ways to help our Caribbean society. This aligns with this principle:

“ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves”.

braithwaite-photo-1We come to this reckoning today … as the Caribbean mourns the passing of Guyana-born author Edward Ricardo Braithwaite; (June 27, 1912 – December 12, 2016); he published under the name E. R. Braithwaite. In his long and accomplished lifetime he excelled as a novelist, writer, teacher, and diplomat, best known for his stories of social conditions and racial discrimination against Black people. He was the author of the 1959 book To Sir, With Love, which was made into the highly acclaimed 1967 British drama film of the same title, starring Sidney Poitier and budding musical artist Lulu. May he “Rest In Peace”.

See the New York Times story here and an excerpt VIDEO from movie below:

Title: E. R. Braithwaite, Author of ‘To Sir, With Love,’ Dies at 104
E. R. Braithwaite, a Guyanese author, diplomat and former Royal Air Force pilot whose book “To Sir, With Love,” a memoir of teaching in London’s deprived East End, was adapted into a hit 1967 film starring Sidney Poitier, died on Monday in Rockville, Md. He was 104.

Mr. Braithwaite’s companion, Genevieve Ast, confirmed his death to The Associated Press. He had taught English at HowardUniversity, in Washington, and lived in the area for many years.

Mr. Braithwaite, who became a diplomat and represented Guyana at the United Nations and in Venezuela, wrote several books, many about racism in countries like South Africa and the United States, where he lived much of his life. But he is best known for “To Sir, With Love” (1959).

The book chronicled his efforts — as a courtly, Cambridge-educated military veteran who had been denied employment as an engineer because he was black — to motivate a group of unruly adolescents raised in a slum in early-1950s Britain, which was still slowly recovering from the austerity of the war years.

The students’ antisocial behavior, casual racism, penchant for violence and, worst of all, self-hatred horrify the new teacher, whose colleagues expect little of the pupils.

He takes them to museums and tells them about his childhood. Slowly, he gains their trust by showing respect and affection, which, for most of the students, have been in short supply. (The title of the book comes from an inscription his appreciative students wrote on a pack of cigarettes they gave him.) He also develops romantic feelings for another teacher, who, like the students, is white.

The memoir was praised for offering a sympathetic account of race and class without naïveté or excessive sentimentality.
Source: New York Times – Daily Newspaper; Posted 12-13-2016; retrieved 12-15-2016 from: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/13/books/e-r-braithwaite-author-of-to-sir-with-love-dies-at-104.html?_r=1
braithwaite-photo-2

VIDEO – Excerpt: ‘To Sir With Love’ (1967) – The Ending – https://youtu.be/nXaEf4ktpPA

Published on Apr 2, 2014 – The rather mawkish, sentimental ending of ‘To Sir, with love’ – Thackeray (Sidney Poitier) tears up his letter of acceptance for an engineering job, and decides to stay at the school.

See the link for the Full Movie in the Appendix below.

That book – To Sir With Love – in 1959 and the subsequent movie in 1967 was a great depiction of the struggles of Black people that migrated to America and the UK; (all of Western Europe for that matter). This was autobiographical. Despite the colonial heritage and the “One Empire” precept, Black immigrants were not treated kindly – “K.B.W.” was a popular phrase at that time: Keep Britain White – they were rejected and resisted in all corners of society of their new homes. These media works helped to convey that pain and suffering for the ordinary (Black) man who tried to move there.

These works were acclaimed and recognized with many awards:

Awards and honors

Laurel Awards

Nominations

Directors Guild of America

Laurel Awards

10th Annual Grammy Awards

Other honors

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

Source: Retrieved December 13, 2016 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Sir,_with_Love

That world of 1959 (or 1967) was a hard existence for a Black man … of Caribbean heritage in America or in the UK. For E.R. Braithwaite to be so accomplished, despite the overbearing racism of the day, is a testament to his devotion to excellence and accomplishment.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean defines that the struggle and effort of this great media work – To Sir With Love – and its Author, a Guyana Diaspora-member, aligns with our movement. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This CU strives to advance Caribbean image and culture with these 3 prime directives:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improve Caribbean governance.

A celebration of life for E.R. Braithwaite is also a celebration of Sidney Poitier (age 89), the starring actor of the movie ‘To Sir With Love‘. As Braithwaite was a Caribbean Diaspora-member – from Guyana – so too is Poitier, who is from the Bahamas. Poitier is equally accomplished; as reported in a previous Go Lean commentary, in 1964, Poitier won an Oscar for his performance in the movie ‘Lillies of the Field‘. Hollywood Star and Actress Ann Bancroft, presenting him the award during the telecast and gave him a peck on the cheek. Racial conservatives were outraged. Interracial marriage was still widely outlawed in different communities (think Southern US) and civil rights workers were being killed. Poitier’s Oscar was a symbol that things were changing.

This Go Lean roadmap seeks to change … the Caribbean (not the UK or the rest of the world), so that men (and women) of accomplishment do not have to leave their Caribbean homes to work their craft; they should be able to “work” at home. Our region has to be reformed and transformed to provide such advanced opportunities. The roadmap recognizes that a prerequisite for advancing society is a change in the Caribbean community ethos. Early in the book, the contributions of the arts and artists (music, film, theater and artistic expressions) are pronounced as an ethos for the entire region to embrace; this is identified in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 15) with this statement:

xxxii. Whereas the cultural arts and music of the region are germane to the quality of Caribbean life, and the international appreciation of Caribbean life, the Federation must implement the support systems to teach, encourage, incentivize, monetize and promote the related industries for arts and music in domestic and foreign markets. These endeavors will make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play.

E.R. Braithwaite elevated the culture and image of African Caribbean people in refuge countries (UK and US), and thusly  elevated the Black image to the rest of the world. Perhaps this is his greatest legacy, presenting the viability that anyone, from anywhere, can impact his home and the rest of the world. Other Caribbean artists have thusly followed – think musical icon Bob Marley – and more will follow suit going forward. The Go Lean book has prepared a pathway for success for future generations of talented, inspirational and influential Caribbean artists. These ones are sure to emerge, and we want them to have the greatest impact on the world and on the Caribbean image further. We are thusly preparing for this, as specified in the same Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13) with this statement:

xxi. Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

The CU represents the change that must be made in and to the Caribbean. The people, institutions and governance of the region are all urged to “lean-in” to this roadmap for change. We know it is important to highlight the positive contributions of Caribbean people, even their Diaspora.

The following list details the community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster future artists in the Caribbean:

Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius Page 27
Community Ethos – Promote Intellectual Property Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness Page 36
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Caribbean Vision Page 45
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Patents & Copyrights Page 78
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Culture Administration Page 81
Implementation – Ways to Impact Social Media Page 111
Advocacy – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Hollywood Page 203
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora Page 217
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts Page 230
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Music Page 231

Previously, this blog-commentary composed other obituaries of role models whose life and legacy made an impact on Caribbean life. These are the previous submissions:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9948 Caribbean Roots: Sammy Davis, Jr. – RIP
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9813 Fidel Castro – RIP – Is Dead. Now What?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8165 Role Model Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight – RIP
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6593 Dr. Mobley – Role Model as a BusinessSchool Dean – RIP
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2726 Caribbean Role Model – Oscar De La Renta – RIP
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1037 Role Model and Humanities Advocate – Maya Angelou – R.I.P.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=866 Caribbean Musical Icon and Role Model: Bob Marley – RIP

E.R. Braithwaite impacted the world of popular culture … and then some. There was the book, movie and song all entitled To Sir With Love. We felt his impact on the world and we will all miss his presence; RIP. The world is a better place because he was here. He came; he saw; he conquered.

We must now carry on without him, but we are empowered by his role model. We now know that any Caribbean stakeholder, resident or Diaspora, can impact the world and their homeland to make it a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———-

Appendix VIDEO – ‘To Sir With Love’ (1967) – Watch the Full Movie – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89yJ6rIdibs

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Caribbean Roots: Sammy Davis, Jr.

Posted on December 8, 2016 in Ethos, Industries, Social

Go Lean Commentary

cu-blog-sammy-davis-jr-caribbean-roots-photo-1The movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean recognizes the significance of this day, December 8th as the 91st birthday of the late great American entertainer Sammy Davis, Jr..

The Go Lean book identifies that music and the arts can greatly impact society; in addition to the entertainment value, there is also image, impression and advocacy – music can move people to change. People can override many false precepts with excellent deliveries and contributions of great role models, despite any handicaps.

“Talk about handicap. I’m a one-eyed Negro Jew.” – Sammy Davis Jr. Quote

Here’s a little known Black History fact:

The mother of Sammy Davis Jr., Elvera Sanchez, was an Afro-Cuban tap dancer.[A]

So this great American entertainer actually had Caribbean roots. Wow! See the encyclopedic details here:

Title: Elvera Sanchez
Elvera Sanchez (September 1, 1905 – September 2, 2000) was an American dancer and the mother of Sammy Davis Jr..

During his lifetime, Davis Jr. stated that his mother was Puerto Rican and born in San Juan; however, in the 2003 biography In Black and White, author Wil Haygood wrote that Davis’ mother was born in New York City, of Afro-Cuban descent, and that Davis claimed she was Puerto Rican because he feared anti-Cuban backlash would hurt his record sales.
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Title: Sammy Davis Jr.
Samuel George “Sammy” Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American entertainer. Primarily a dancer and singer, he was also an actor of stage and screen, comedian, musician, and impressionist, noted for his impersonations of actors, musicians and other celebrities. At the age of 3, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father and Will Mastin as the Will Mastin Trio, which toured nationally. After military service, Davis returned to the trio. Davis became an overnight sensation following a nightclub performance at Ciro’s (in West Hollywood) after the 1951 Academy Awards. With the trio, he became a recording artist. In 1954, he lost his left eye in a car accident, and several years later, he converted to Judaism.

Davis’s film career began as a child in 1933. In 1960, he appeared in the Rat Pack film Ocean’s 11. After a starring role on Broadway in 1956’s Mr Wonderful, he returned to the stage in 1964’s Golden Boy. In 1966 he had his own TV variety show, titled The Sammy Davis Jr. Show. Davis’s career slowed in the late 1960s, but he had a hit record with “The Candy Man” in 1972 and became a star in Las Vegas, earning him the nickname “Mister Show Business”.

Davis was a victim of racism throughout his life, particularly during the pre-Civil Rights era, and was a large financial supporter of the Civil Rights movement. Davis had a complex relationship with the black community, and drew criticism after physically embracing President Richard Nixon in 1972. One day on a golf course with Jack Benny, he was asked what his handicap was. “Handicap?” he asked. “Talk about handicap. I’m a one-eyed Negro Jew.” This was to become a signature comment, recounted in his autobiography, and in countless articles.

After reuniting with Sinatra and Dean Martin in 1987, Davis toured with them and Liza Minnelli internationally, before he died of throat cancer in 1990. He died in debt to the Internal Revenue Service,[9] and his estate was the subject of legal battles.

Davis was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award for his television performances. He was the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 1987, and in 2001, he was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Source: Wikipedia Online Encyclopedia – Retrieved December 6, 2016 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammy_Davis_Jr.

cu-blog-sammy-davis-jr-caribbean-roots-photo-3Though he died over 26 years ago, we still feel his impact. Sammy Davis Jr. was one of the most iconic characters in the American 20th Century. But his shadow spread across the entire African-descended world, not just America. He fomented and fostered a great image for African-descended entertainers. For this reason, the annual Soul Train Award for Best Entertainer of the Year has been renamed the Sammy Davis Jr. Award. (Soul Train refers to the weekly 1-hour TV program showcasing African-American Musicians and Dancers).

Since its inception in 1915, the American Civil Rights agency, the National Association for the Advancement for Colored People (NAACP), campaigned to elevate the status and image of Black people in America and beyond.  This “image” precept is also an important factor in the roadmap to elevate Caribbean society. So the Go Lean book details a plan to monitor for defamations against the Caribbean image; this includes recognition and appreciation for Caribbean achievement as well. As  follows, this excerpt (Page 133) from Go Lean book highlights this “Image Quest”:

The majority of the Caribbean population descends from an African ancestry – a legacy of slavery from previous centuries. Despite the differences in nationality, culture and language, the image of the African Diaspora is all linked hand-in-hand. And thus, when Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali and Bob Marley impacted the world with their contributions, the reverberations were felt globally, not just in their homelands. It is hard for one segment of the black world to advance when other segments have a negative global image. This is exemplified with the election of Barack Obama as US President; his election was viewed as an ascent for the entire Black race.

Over 100 years ago, the NAACP came to understand the power and influence of the then new medium of film and added the mandate to their charter to confront the misuse of media to influence negative public attitudes toward race. … Today, the NAACP Hollywood Bureau continues to monitor the industry for offensive and defamatory images in film and television. It also sponsors the Image Awards Show to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature, as well as those individuals or groups who promote social justice through their creative endeavors.

Sammy Davis, Jr. was awarded the NAACP Image Award in 1989.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This CU strives to advance Caribbean image and culture with these 3 prime directives:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improve Caribbean governance.

This roadmap recognizes that a prerequisite for advancing society is a change in the Caribbean community ethos. Early in the book, the contributions that culture (music, film, theater, dance and artistic expressions) can make is pronounced as an ethos for the entire region to embrace, (opening Declaration of Interdependence – DOI – Pages 15) with these statements:

xxxii. Whereas the cultural arts and music of the region are germane to the quality of Caribbean life, and the international appreciation of Caribbean life, the Federation must implement the support systems to teach, encourage, incentivize, monetize and promote the related industries for arts and music in domestic and foreign markets. These endeavors will make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play.

Sammy Davis Jr. – an American of Caribbean descent – was the embodiment of all of these above values. He impacted the music, culture and image of African American in his country, and thusly impacted the Black image for the rest of the world. Like Caribbean musical icon, Bob Marley, Sammy Davis Jr. set a pathway for success for other generations of talented, inspirational and influential artists to follow. Other artists of Caribbean heritage are sure to emerge and “impact the world”. We are preparing for it, as specified in the same DOI – Page 13:

xxi. Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

The CU represents the change that has come to the Caribbean. The people, institutions and governance of region are all urged to “lean-in” to this roadmap for change. We know it is important to highlight the positive contributions of Caribbean people, even their descendants and legacies.

We salute those ones from our past, people like Elvera Sanchez who left Cuba as a youth for opportunities in the world of entertainment. We know there are “new” Elvera Sanchez-types and “new” Sammy Davis-types throughout Caribbean member-states, waiting to be fostered. We salute them as our future.

The following list details the community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster future entertainers in the Caribbean:

Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius Page 27
Community Ethos – Promote Intellectual Property Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness Page 36
Community Ethos – Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Caribbean Vision Page 45
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Patents & Copyrights Page 78
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Culture Administration Page 81
Implementation – Ways to Impact Social Media Page 111
Advocacy – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage Image Page 133
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Hollywood Page 203
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts Page 230
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Music Page 231

Sammy Davis, Jr. also impacted the world of politics and civil rights. See here:

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Davis was a registered Democrat – [as most African Americans] – and supported John F. Kennedy’s 1960 election campaign as well as Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 campaign.[43]

However, he became a close friend to President Richard Nixon and publicly endorsed him at the 1972 Republican National Convention.[43] Davis also made a USO tour to South Vietnam – during the Vietnam War – at Nixon’s request. Previously, Davis had won Nixon’s respect with his participation in the Civil Rights Movement. Nixon invited Davis and his wife, Altovise, to sleep in the White House in 1973, the first time African Americans were invited to do so. The Davises spent the night in the Queens’ Bedroom.[44]

Davis was a long-time donor to the Reverend Jesse Jackson‘s Operation PUSH organization. Jackson also performed Davis’s wedding.[45]

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Sammy Davis Jr. came, saw and conquered! He fit the definition of a role model, where he overcame obstacles and made an impact to benefit more than just himself.

“I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.”[B] – Booker T Washington.

Previously, this blog-commentary identified other role models in these submissions:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8724 Remembering Marcus Garvey: A Role Model; Still Relevant Today
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8495 NBA Greatness and Caribbean Roots: Tim Duncan Retires
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8328 YouTube Role Model with Caribbean Roots: ‘Tipsy Bartender’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7682 Frederick Douglass: Role Model for a Single Cause
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6593 Dr. Mobley – Role Model as a Business School Dean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2726 Caribbean Role Model – Oscar De La Renta – RIP
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2297 Role Models in Contrast: Booker T Washington versus W.E.B. Du Bois
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1037 Role Model and Humanities Advocate – Maya Angelou – R.I.P.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=866 Caribbean Musical Icon and Role Model: Bob Marley

The world is a better place because of Sammy Davis Jr.  being born on this day in 1925. Thank you “Candy Man” for all the love you showed for your craft, your country and your people. See the VIDEO here of his 1987 Kennedy Center Induction:

VIDEO – Sammy Davis, JR. “Honoree” – 10th Kennedy Center Honors, 1987 – https://youtu.be/ii3XpjCOlXo

Published on Jan 20, 2015 – LUCILLE BALL introduces honoree SAMMY DAVIS, JR. Excellent performances for Sammy by RAY CHARLES “Birth Of The Blues” & tap dancers, in order of appearance onto stage: 1 & 2) The NICOLAS BROTHERS (HAROLD & FAYARD), 3) CHUCK GREEN, 4) JIMMY SLYDE, and 5) ‘SANDMAN’ SIMS.

We carry on without Sammy Davis Jr., but we are better off for his role model and forever impacted by his legacy. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————-

Appendix Reference A

“Elvera Sanchez Davis, obituary, September 8, 2000”. The New York Times. September 8, 2000. Retrieved September 18, 2009.

————-

Appendix Reference B

Harlan, Louis R (1972), Booker T. Washington: volume 1: The Making of a Black Leader, 1856–1901. The major scholarly biography.

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Art Walk – Its a ‘Real Thing’ in Wynwood

Posted on December 4, 2016 in Economics, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Forget the theory, this is real …

… the arts are empowering the economy in the Miami District of Wynwood. This can be measured … by “boots on the ground” and in dollars and cents.

Though we have been reporting that “the community rallies around the arts creating a unique energy; and art ‘dynamises’ the community, in a very unique way”, this was hard to visualize in practice. And then … we made a visit to Wynwood during Art Basel Art Week 2016 and wow! We felt the energy; see here in the following VIDEO:

VIDEO – CU Blog – Art Walk – It’s a Real Thing in Wynwood – https://youtu.be/iwuMUUFuXvs

Published on Dec 4, 2016 – Art Week 2016: “The community rallies around the arts creating a unique energy; and art ‘dynamises’ the community, in a very unique way”.

This commentary completes the 3-part series on the power of the visual arts. The series depicts how the arts can forge change in a community, where it can be an effective messaging tool to convey many important points. In the Caribbean, we need the type of transformation that can come from this power. The full entries in the series are as follows:

  1.  Forging Change: Arts & Artists
  2.  ENCORE: Art Basel 2016 – A Testament to the Business of the Arts
  3.  Art Walk – Its a Real Thing in Wynwood

This commentary goes further, conveying that there is also a good business model in the arts. This blog considers the model of a Miami-based company, branded WynwoodArtWalk.com. They promote the arts in this one district, and transact in the aligning tourism trade:

Website Title: Wynwood Art Walk
About WynwoodArtWalk.com

cu-blog-art-walk-its-a-real-thing-in-wynwood-photo-1“Wynwood Art Walk” is a tour company providing art tours in the Wynwood Art District. We advertise tours for groups but also provide customized private tours per request. Furthermore, we seek to support the Wynwood art community through our art directory and through banner advertisement space, our blog, and our community page.

WynwoodArtWalk.com has also an online directory showcasing art institutions operating within Wynwood. Wynwood is a section of Miami just north of Downtown, south of the Design District, east of I-95, and west of Biscayne Boulevard. There are currently over 60 art galleries, art complexes and art collection in Wynwood. Wynwood Art Guide provides advertising to institutions that exhibit/promote contemporary visual art (paintings, sculptures, installations, photography, multimedia, ceramics, etc.) in Wynwood. Advertising is available through the use of banners. Companies servicing the arts (eg. art dealers, framing companies, art supply sellers, etc.) are welcome to advertise through the use of banners exclusively.
———-
General Area

The main area of the Wynwood Art Walk is between 20 St & 36 St and from NW 2nd Ave to NE 2nd Ave. Prime hours are between 7pm and 11pm. Parking is best before 7pm.

The food trucks are located in a field on the corner of NW 23 St & NW 2nd Ave. Great food and drinks!
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History
Wynwood – originally spelled Wyndwood – is an old inner city neighborhood of Miami surrounded by Edgewater, Overtown, Liberty City… Wynwood was built as a working class residential neighborhood, connected to the Garment District just south of it. It attracted manufacturers from New York and elsewhere and retained some jobs, fueled by immigrant labor, but struggled against competition from cheap labor overseas. According to a different source, in the fifties, it was a white neighborhood of professionals, but a remembrance on History Miami’s website indicates that Cuban immigrants were moving into the neighborhood in the early sixties.
Source: Tour Company Website – Retrieved 12-03-2016 from: http://wynwoodartwalk.com/wynwood-art/

This commentary – from the publishers of the book Go Lean … Caribbean – is trying to forge change in the Caribbean region and advocate that the arts can be a great tool-tactic for societal elevation. As previously related “…there’s a transformative power to the arts”.

This commentary is urging Caribbean stakeholders to explore the production of artists and the effect their art can have on society. Considering that tourism is the primary industry in the entire Caribbean, there are a lot of benefits to examining the business model of the Wynwood Art District. Imagine an array of murals in Caribbean port cities – for our Cruise tourism. Imagine too, the “Walking Tours”, Art Galleries and Art Sales. Notice the manifestation of this plan in the photos here from the Art Walk (Tour) in Wynwood:

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Feel the energy! Excitement enough?

Local media has often reported on the huge economic impact of Art Basel and Wynwood; see the links here to full stories:

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/biz-monday/article45702225.html – Art Basel has been great for Miami, CEOs agree (Miami Herald Newspaper; November 20, 2015).

http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2015/06/22/tristar-capital-turns-huge-profit-on-13m-sale.html – TriStar Capital turns huge profit on $13M sale in Miami’s Wynwood (South Florida Business Journal; Jun 22, 2015).

https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/florida/articles/miami-culture-guide-wynwood-s-10-must-visit-art-galleries/ – Culture Trip Web Portal (Retrieved Dec 4, 2016).

Count the profits! Commerce enough?

This commentary confirms that there is energy and money in the visual arts, whether it is murals or graffiti, (commissioned street art). While the messaging of the visual arts can be impactful, visual expressions can depict imagery and tales – fact or fiction; artists often “use fiction to tell the truth” – the business elements of the arts can be even more impactful. The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The CU is set to elevate Caribbean society through empowerments for the economic, security and governing engines in society. Therefore the Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the economic engines.
  • Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The Go Lean book posits that the genius qualifier to excel in the arts should be identified early in Caribbean youth and then their development should be fostered up to adulthood. The book thereafter details the mechanics of incubating a business climate for this and all areas of culture. This quest is detailed as an advocacy in the book (Page 230) as:

10 Ways to Improve the Arts

1. Emergence of the Caribbean Union Embrace the advent of the CariCom Single Market Initiative and the Caribbean Union Trade Federation. This will allow for the unification of the region into a single market of 42 million people. This size supports the proliferation of ‘art’ (visual/fine, music, performance & film) as an industry. The CU will promote the art exhibition eco-system – allowing marketplaces for artists to congregate and monetize their talents. Structures will also be deployed for media companies to monetize film & performance art. The CU will facilitate the marketing of travelling exhibitions, and touring companies of stage productions. For the region, art can be a business enabler, and expressions for civic pride and national identity.
2. CU Administered Museums Modeled after the Smithsonian, the CU “mother” (first-tier) museums will be placed in the Capital District. There will also be “child” museums scattered through out the regions with touring exhibitions.
3. Art, Music & Film Festival Tourism CU promoted events, utilizing the CU-owned fairgrounds, to encourage the development and advancement in artistic expressions. These events will be aimed at the foreign markets (US, Canada, Europe, Central and South America) so as to generate tourism traffic. The artists may be domestic but also foreign and world class performers. (Event examples include New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Art Deco in Miami, Cannes Film Festival, and Taos, New Mexico).
4. Fairgrounds as Arena and Theater Districts The CU Fairgrounds will fund, build and maintain civic arenas and theaters in local market Enterprise Zones. The designated areas fomented under the CU will qualify for tax (sales, property and income tax rebates) and economic incentives (low interest loans and grants) and stimuli (advertising and event promotions), empowering event tourism.
5. Electronic Payment Models The CU Central Bank will arrange for settlement of electronic payments transactions allowing electronic commerce to flourish in the region. Then music, film and other media can be paid for and downloaded legally from the internet.
6. Respect for Intellectual Property Any institutional disregard for the intellectual property of books, music, films and media will be severely prosecuted. The CU will also recognized and enforce the copyrights of other countries and work to have international markets respects the intellectual property rights of Caribbean artists. (This is a feature the of the Trade SHIELD principles defined in Appendix D (Page 264)). This effort requires close collaboration with criminal (Interpol) and civic enforcement agencies (ASCAP/BMI, MPAA). The end result would be that local/regional artists can make a “living” from their recorded works.
7. Art in Public Places The CU will spur initiatives to incentivize and directly commission artist to exhibit their creations (paintings, murals, sculptures, etc.) in public edifices. This will encourage national-state public-private deployments of themed sculptures like Bahamian Conch Shells, Barbados Flying Fish and Puerto Rico Tree Frogs. These can be modeled after US city examples, like “Painted” Bulls in Chicago, Mustangs in Denver, and Guitars in Nashville.
8. Performing & Fine Arts Schools A hybrid “Charter” school concept promotes the development and advancement in specific performing and fine arts while not forsaking the basic educational requirements. Similar to the secondary school (NYC Performing Arts) featured in the movie “Fame”. On the tertiary level, the CU will provide scholarships and endowments for programs in the Arts.
9. Agency for Public Broadcasting and National Touring Companies These public-private agencies will be chartered to produce and promote world class artistic companies (adult and youth) for Opera, Ballet, Modern Dance, Symphonic and Philharmonic Orchestras, despite whether they are popular or highly rated. The Arts must always be promoted as a necessary expression of a civilized society, despite profit or public acceptance. Likewise, a CU agency for Public Broadcasting will manage the region’s media efforts to bring world class art to the people, (with SAP-style options for all four languages) without considering popularity.
10. Professional Agents and Artists Management Oversight The CU will regulate, at the Cabinet level, and license the industry of Artists Agents/Managers, even though the artists can elect their own Agents & Managers. This management oversight is to be modeled after State Bars for lawyers. (This model is used for Sports Agents also).

While the Go Lean book relates (Page 291) the historicity of the pro-artist community in Taos, New Mexico, we now see a similar local model in Miami’s Wynwood District – a location with more Caribbean infusion. This Wynwood experience in particular and Art Basel Art Week in general is reinforcing that “art can drive” the economics, security and governance of a community.

While not everyone will be gifted artists, everyone can benefit from the accentuation of the arts and artists. So we should all work to make our homeland a better place to live, work and play by fostering the genius ability in Caribbean citizens. This is presented in the book as a “community ethos”:

“the fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a society; dominant assumptions of a people”. – (Page 20)

The Go Lean book presented the roadmap to imbrue the Caribbean region with new community ethos, plus new strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies to foster the business climate for the arts. The following is a sample of these specific details from the book:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Choose Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – The Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future Page 21
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Minority Equalization Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Cooperatives Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Intellectual Property Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-Arounds – Covering Urban Decay with Art Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate 30 Member-States Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Celebrate the Music, Sports, Art and Culture of the Caribbean Page 46
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – CU Federal Agencies versus Member-State Governments Page 71
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Deliver Page 109
Implementation – National/Federal Museum in the Capital District Page 110
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Enhance Tourism Page 190
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Events Page 191
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Cruise Tourism Page 193
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage – The business of fostering local culture Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts Page 230
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Music Page 231
Appendix D – Trade SHIELD Principles Page 264
Appendix M – Taos Art Colony – New Mexico‘s Landmark Page 291
Appendix W – Mediating as French Culture and Economics Collide Page 311

The empowerments in the Go Lean book calls for the elevation of the arts as a permanent change. We want our youth to put their hopes and dreams in a Caribbean future, especially our youth who prove to be gifted in the arts. From the outset, the book recognized the significance of successfully fostering the arts with these statements in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12 & 14):

xxi.  Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

xxxii. Whereas the cultural arts and music of the region are germane to the quality of Caribbean life, and the international appreciation of Caribbean life, the Federation must implement the support systems to teach, encourage, incentivize, monetize and promote the related industries for arts and music in domestic and foreign markets. These endeavors will make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play.

The Go Lean roadmap seeks to foster the eco-system for the business of the arts. This quest has been addressed in many previous Go Lean commentaries; see sample here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9151 The New Smithsonian African-American Museum
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4145 The African Renaissance Monument in Dakar, Senegal, Africa
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3292 Art Basel Miami – a Testament to the Spread of Art & Culture
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2415 How ‘The Lion King’ roared into Show-Business history

We can do our own “Wynwood” in the Caribbean. We have the artists and the talent waiting to be fostered. Let’s develop the business environment locally to fully explore the opportunities from the arts – the region should commission artists to paint murals.

We can do this; we can forge change here at home. This Go Lean roadmap is conceivable, believable and achievable. We can make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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ENCORE: Art Basel 2016 – A Testament to the Business of the Arts

Posted on December 2, 2016 in Economics, Ethos, Social

Go Lean Commentary

Dateline: Miami Beach – Its Art Basel time again. The events for 2016 are being conducted during the dates of December 1 – 4. This is the biggest event on the calendar for Miami’s art scene and it demonstrates the power of the arts and its ability to transform societies. So this commentary from December 9, 2014 is being encored here, but with these new photos:

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This Encore is Part 2 of 3 in a series on the ‘power of the visual arts’. The series depicts how the arts can forge change in a community, where it can be an effective messaging tool to convey many important points. The full entries in the series are as follows:

  1.  Forging Change: Arts & Artists
  2.  ENCORE: Art Basel 2016 – A Testament to the Business of the Arts
  3.  Art Walk – Its a Real Thing in Wynwood

This original commentary is as follows:

———

Art Basel Miami – A Testament to the Spread of Culture

There’s no business like ‘show business’. – Age Old Adage.

There is money in the ‘Arts’. – Go Lean…Caribbean precept.

And now, the subsequent news article posits: “the community rallies around art creating a unique energy. And art ‘dynamises’ the community, in a very unique way”.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean has a simple purpose: enable the Caribbean to be a better place to live, work and play. The book recognizes that the ‘genius qualifier’ is shown in different fields of endeavor, including the arts (fine, visual, performing, music, etc.). While the Go Lean roadmap has a focus on STEM [1] fields, it is accepted that not everyone possesses STEM skills, and yet many others can still contribute to society. Then when these other skills/talents are “gifted” beyond the extraordinary, they can truly impact their community, and maybe even the world.

The book relates that the arts can have a positive influence on the Caribbean. And that one man, or woman, can make a difference in this quest. We want to foster the next generation of “stars” in the arts and other fields of endeavor.

According to the following news article, the arts can truly ‘dynamise’ the community. The article relates to Art Basel, the movement to stage art shows for Modern and Contemporary works, sited annually in Basel (Switzerland), Hong Kong and Miami Beach. The focus of this article is Miami Beach:

Title: 13th Art Basel Miami Beach (December 4 – 7, 2014), a testament to the spread of culture
By: Jane Wooldridge, and contributed Ricardo Mor

CU Blog - Art Basel Miami - a Testament to the Spread of Culture - Photo 1If “more” equals better, the 13th edition of Art Basel Miami Beach and the surrounding art week events may go down as the best ever. More new art fairs and just-to-see shows. More record-breaking sales at Art Basel Miami Beach. More CEOs — from watchmakers Hublot and Omega, luggage brand Rimowa, hotel companies Starwood and Marriott — opening luxury properties. And if not more — who can keep track? — then certainly plenty of celebrities, including actors Leonardo DiCaprio, James Marden and Owen Wilson; musicians Usher, Miley Cyrus, Russell Simmons and Joe Jonas; supermodel Heidi Klum and the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt.

There was another kind of “more” as well — more spillovers, touch points and art for all manner of South Floridians, from entrepreneurs to pre-teen fashion designers, stretching from Pinecrest to Coconut Grove, Overtown to Fort Lauderdale.

If the aim is “to make art general,” as Knight Foundation President Alberto Ibargüen told attendees Monday at the foundation’s annual announcement of Knight Art Challenge awards, this year’s art week put South Florida well on its way. Proclaimed National Endowment for the Arts chairman Jane Chu on a whiplash art tour to downtown, Miami Beach and Opa-locka, “Art is entwined in Miami’s DNA.”

Even as the Pérez Art Museum Miami celebrated its first year anniversary, a new permanent museum building for the Institute for Contemporary Art Miami was announced for the Design District.

Overtown [historical Black neighborhood] hosted its first Art Africa fair of works created by artists from the African Diaspora. Joining it on the list of first-year events are an impressive exhibition of monumental works in the vast Mana-Miami Wynwood space on NW 23rd Street and Pinta, a fair focusing on Latin American art that moved from New York to Midtown.

The festivities reach far, far beyond the traditional art crowd. On the Mana campus, the Savannah College of Art and Design is presenting “i feel ya,” an exhibition that includes jumpsuits designed by André 3000 for Outkast’s reunion tour. The nearby ArtHaus tent is surrounded by food trucks and a sound program where Beethoven is definitely not on the playlist.

This year, more than a half-dozen student exhibits are on the art agenda. At FusionMIA, student photographs hang near works by masters Rashid Johnson and Al Loving; all were curated by Miami’s N’Namdi Contemporary gallery. A few blocks north, at Wynwood’s House of Art, a dozen students ages 5 to 15 from the DesignLab program showed off their creations at a Friday night “vernissage.”

Among them was 13-year-old Yael Bloom, wearing a flounced party dress she made from shrink wrap. No matter that the first-time event was a little-known spinoff. “Art Basel is pretty hard for adults to get into,” Bloom said. “For kids to get into it is very cool.”

As in years past, free events abound, from performances by Chinese artist Shen Wei at Miami-Dade College and artist Theo Jansen’s Strandbeest demonstrations on the sand to official Art Basel events, including films on the New World Center Wallcast and the Art Public sculptures in Collins Park. New is free Art Week shuttle service between Midtown and Miami Beach — a government cooperative effort — that dovetails with trolley service to art venues on both sides of Biscayne Bay.

In institutional quarters, Art Basel Miami Beach global sponsor UBS announced the creation of a $5 million loan fund for existing Florida small business owners. Sponsor BMW USA announced it would fund an “art journey” open to emerging artists exhibiting at Art Basel Miami Beach. And the City of Miami Beach and Miami-Dade County put out a call to artists, encouraging them to propose projects for the $4.33 million public art program associated with the Miami Beach Convention Center renovation. South Floridians are eligible to apply for all three initiatives.

Clearly, art week isn’t just about aesthetics, personal enrichment and community building. It is also about enterprise — which explains all those luxury CEOs, the ground-breaking of the Zaha Hadid-designed One Thousand Museum, and the announcement at Miami Ironside that designer Ron Arad will create the interiors for the revamped Watergate Hotel in Washington. (And no, there’s no real connection to Miami.)

Said Michael Spring, Miami-Dade’s cultural affairs director, “There’s a certain deepening, a realization not just that the Art Basel event but arts in general have a phenomenal effect on the image and economy of our entire region. We’ve talked about it before, but there seems to be more focus this year. It’s not an interesting footnote anymore; it’s the theme.”

That, says Miami Commissioner Keon Hardemon, was the thinking behind the city’s $50,000 grant supporting the Art Africa fair. “We need to encourage people to come now to Overtown. The cultural aspect helps them realize they can safely come here now. And then maybe they’ll come back later and spend money in the community, in our restaurants and stores,” he said.

In Miami, with commerce inevitably comes glamor, which is proving as glossy as ever. Hennessey V.S.O.P., Dom Perignon, Paper Magazine, Interview and B.E.T. have staged events all around town, at private “locations,” hotels, restaurants, the 1111 Lincoln Road garage and the ICA temporary space in the Moore Building. Developer Alan Faena threw a breezy beachside asado. Jeffrey Deitch, Tommy Hilfiger and V Magazine hosted a glitzy bash at the Raleigh featuring a performance by Miley Cyrus.

In the Design District, developer Craig Robins hosted a dinner honoring architect Peter Marino at a single, 142-yard candlelit table for 380 guests on a closed-off street amid the district’s luxury brand storefronts. Sculptor Jaume Plensa was the guest of honor at another long candlelit table — this one for 60 — in the Coconut Grove sales offices of Park Grove, which recently installed a series of his works along South Bayshore Drive.

Alas, once again, manners were not de rigueur among the glossy set. At some parties, guests of guests turned up with entirely uninvited guests. For other tony soirees, publicists emailed out “disinvitations” to previously invited guests, obliquely sending the message that someone more glamorous would be taking those seats.

Decorous or not, during art week, the energy all emanates from the week’s namesake fair, said Dennis Scholl, VP/Arts at the Knight Foundation. “The most important thing to remember is why this week exists, and that’s Art Basel in the Convention Center. If that wasn’t the core of what’s going on — if it weren’t a world-class event — nobody else would be interested in being involved. It continues to be the raison d’être of this week.”

In the Convention Center, at what Scholl called “the core of the nuclear reactor,” many gallerists were quite happy, thank you very much.

Veteran Art Basel Miami Beach gallerist Sean Kelly said Wednesday was his best first day ever at the fair. Newcomer Michael Jon Gallery also sold almost all of its available work — by rising stars like Sayre Gomez and JPW3 — on the first day.

For most dealers, sales remained lively, day after day. At Galerie Gmurzynska, co-CEO Mathias Rastorfer proclaimed it “successful indeed … . In terms of reception, it was an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from collectors and colleagues alike. In terms of sales, we did several over $1 million sales and many within the $100,000 to $500,000 range, with a Picasso’s Venus and Love selling at near the asking price of $1.2 million.

Said Art Basel Director Marc Spiegler on Saturday, “I’ve gotten nothing but positive response from galleries,” not only because of strong sales, but also because new hours for VIPs gave gallerists more time to meet new collectors. “A lot of people were here and buying for the first time. Many galleries said they had their best fair ever.”

But like this week’s weather, the upbeat atmosphere suffered from uncharacteristic clouds. In Wynwood, a police car hit and critically injured a street artist. An $87,000 silver plate crafted by Pablo Picasso was reported stolen from the Art Miami satellite fair in Midtown. A partygoer at PAMM’s first anniversary fête on Thursday accidentally damaged an artwork installed on the floor. And Friday night, would-be art goers were stymied by traffic shutdowns into art-centric areas of Wynwood, Midtown and Miami Beach by protests against nationwide police-involved killings.

Though unfortunate and sometimes tragic, Spring said, the unrelated events were “a product of the incredible level of activity.” At Saturday’s annual brunch at the art-rich Sagamore Hotel in Miami Beach, the theft and damaged artwork uniformly were brushed off as inconsequential. Said one art insider, “s–t happens.”

Miami Art Week’s merry-go-round nature is surely born from Miami’s appreciation of a good time. And increasingly, perhaps from something deeper.

Said Miami gallerist Jumaane N’Namdi, “Art Basel has put art on everyone’s mind. Everyone wants to be involved somehow.”

And that’s not just about the parties, said N’Namdi, who had galleries in Chicago, New York and Detroit before opening in Miami. “I don’t think you could find a city that enjoys really looking at the art the way this city does. I came through the airport, and even the TSA guys were talking about it, asking each other if they got their Art Basel posters. Every level of art you want is here.”

Outsiders agree. “Miami is very special for its link between art and the community,” said Axelle de Buffévent, style director at champagne house Martell Mumm Perrier-Jouët. “It goes both ways. The community rallies around art creating a unique energy. And art dynamises the community, in a very unique way.”
Miami Herald – Daily Newspaper – (Posted December 6, 2014) –
http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/visual-arts/art-basel/article4313255.html

VIDEO: Art Basel Miami Beach 2014 – http://youtu.be/StkzLiBtDis

Published on Dec 4, 2014
The international art fair Art Basel returns to Miami Beach for its 13th edition, taking place at the Miami Beach Convention Center from December 4 to December 7, 2014. Art Basel Miami Beach 2014 features 267 leading international galleries from 31 countries across North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa, which present artworks ranging from Modern masters to the latest contemporary art pieces. With this edition, the fair debuts Survey, a new sector dedicated to art-historical projects. In this video, we attend the Private View of Art Basel Miami Beach 2014 at the Miami Beach Convention Center on December 3.

This story aligns with the book Go Lean…Caribbean in stressing the economic impact of artistic endeavors. The book pledges that Caribbean society will be elevated by improving the eco-system to live, work and play; and that “play” covers vast areas of culture.

“Culture” has emerged as a central concept in anthropology, encompassing the range of human phenomena that cannot be directly attributed to genetic inheritance. Specifically, the term “culture” in North American anthropology has two meanings:

  1. the evolved human capacity to classify and represent experiences with symbols, and to act imaginatively and creatively; and
  2. the distinct ways that people, who live differently, classified and represented their experiences, and acted creatively.[2]

Anthropologist Adamson Hoebel best describes culture as an integrated system of learned behavior patterns which are characteristic of the members of a society and which are not a result of biological inheritance.[3]

The Go Lean book stresses economic benefits from classic cultural expressions and popular cultural productions, including Caribbean music, paintings/art, sketches, sculptures, books, fashion and food. All the “skilled phenomena” that makes Caribbean life unique and appealing.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). There is a lot involved in this vision; the prime directives are stated as follows:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

CU Blog - Art Basel Miami - a Testament to the Spread of Culture - Photo 2The foregoing article relates the economic impact that the Greater Miami area is enjoying for hosting the Art Basel event, for the 13th year now. At this point the benefits have spread throughout the community, (Art Fairs, museums, scholarships, foundations, etc.) not just one venue on Miami Beach. The spin-off benefit of art is a strong point of the Go Lean book, highlighting benefits as long as we keep the talent at home working in/for the community. This point is pronounced early in the following statements in the book’s opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 14):

xxi. Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

xxxii. Whereas the cultural arts and music of the region are germane to the quality of Caribbean life, and the international appreciation of Caribbean life, the Federation must implement the support systems to teach, encourage, incentivize, monetize and promote the related industries for arts and music in domestic and foreign markets. These endeavors will make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play.

The economic, cultural and image considerations for “show business” on a society have been well-detailed in these previous Go Lean blogs:

Caribbean Role Model – Oscar De La Renta – RIP
How ‘The Lion King’ roared into history
Forging Change – The Fun Theory
Role Model Berry Gordy – No Town Like Motown
Book Review: ‘Chasing Youth Culture and Getting It Right’
The Music, Art, Culture and Legend of Bob Marley lives on!

The Go Lean roadmap posits that change will come to the Caribbean “show business” (Visual and Performing Arts, Music, Film). This is due mostly to the convergence of a Single Market for the Caribbean region. If “size matters”, then the integration of 42 million people (plus the 10 million Diaspora and 80 million visitors) for the 30 member-states will create the consumer markets to promote and foster Caribbean artistic creations for their full appreciation. The first requirement in this goal is the community ethos of valuing intellectual property; to recognize that other people’s creations are valuable. (Then we can enforce on others to value and appreciate our creations).

This would truly be new for the Caribbean.

The CU is designed to do the heavy-lifting of organizing Caribbean society for the new world of art appreciation and “consumerization”. The following list details the ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster regional artists and showcase their wares to the world stage:

Community Ethos – Forging Change Page 20
Community Ethos – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos – Return on Investments Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius Page 27
Community Ethos – Help Entrepreneurship Page 28
Community Ethos – Promote Intellectual Property Page 29
Strategy – Caribbean Vision: Single Market Page 45
Separation of Powers – Central Bank – Electronic Payment Deployments Page 73
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Patents – Copyrights Page 78
Separation of Powers – Culture Administration Page 81
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better Page 131
Planning – Lessons Learned from New York City Page 137
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Education – Performing Arts Schools Page 159
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Hollywood Page 203
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts Page 230
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Music Page 231
Advocacy – Impact Urban Living – Art & Theaters Page 234
Appendix – New York / Arts / Theater Jobs Page 277
Appendix – Taos New Mexico Art Colony Page 291
Appendix – Caribbean Music Genres Page 347
Appendix – Protecting Music Copyrights Page 351

There is BIG money in show business and in the world of the Arts. For the 10th edition of Art Basel in Miami in 2011, there was a record number of fifty thousand collectors, artists, dealers, curators, critics and art enthusiasts – including 150 museum and institutions from across the globe – participating in the show.[4]

This event requires a lot of community investments. Every year, Miami’s leading private collections – among them the Rubell Family Collection, Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, the De la Cruz Collection Contemporary Art Space, World Class Boxing, the Margulies Collection and the Dacra Collection – open their homes and warehouses to guests of Art Basel. Additionally, the museums of South Florida organize exhibitions including shows at the Miami Art Museum, Bass Museum of Art, Norton Museum, Wolfsonian-FIU and MOCA North Miami.

The community investment has been there for Miami, and so has the returns [5].For 2014, the attendance figures were 75,000, with an increase in hotel occupancy of 30,000 rooms on the days the Art Fair is in progress. The conservative estimates are that the Art Fair brings close to $13 million a year in economic impact to the region. (This figure does not include the purchases of artworks, some of which fetch millions of dollars).

The subject of the Miami Metropolitan area is very relevant for a Caribbean empowerment discussion. A previous blog asserted that Miami’s success, in many regards, is attributable to Caribbean’s failures. Many of our populations (including artists) have fled their homelands and have taken refuge in the Miami area. Where at first this disposition was begrudged, eventually it transformed to tolerance, but now it is even celebrated.

CU Blog - Art Basel Miami - a Testament to the Spread of Culture - Photo 3

Miami has been greatly impacted by both the Caribbean Diaspora and its assimilation of the “Arts”. Whole neighborhoods have been elevated due to this strategy of catering to the arts; (see photo here). This is a great role model for the Caribbean to emulate; our whole society can be elevated.

The Go Lean/CU roadmap represents the empowerment for the Caribbean communities to elevate – we now want to keep our artists at home. The people, institutions and governance of the region are therefore urged to “lean-in” to this roadmap for change. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Appendix – Source References:

1. STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

2. “What is culture?”. Bodylanguagecards.com. Retreived 2013-03-29.

3. Hoebel, Adamson (1966). Anthropology: Study of Man. McGraw-Hill.

4. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/03/arts/design/art-basel-miami-beach-review.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

5. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/arts/international/art-fair-energizes-economy-of-region.html?_r=0

 

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Forging Change: Arts & Artists

Posted on December 1, 2016 in Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Hell on Earth.

cu-blog-forging-change-arts-and-artists-photo-3There are a few destinations that can be assigned that designation right now; the country of South Sudan is perhaps one of the most prominent. (Other candidates include ISIS-controlled Syria and the hurricane-ravaged Caribbean member-state of Haiti).

So what’s happening in South Sudan?

South Sudan became the world’s newest nation in July 2011. But in December 2013, fighting between rebel militia and the government escalated into a civil war.

With several thousand killed and over a million people displaced by violence, South Sudan is facing a looming famine and is at high risk of genocide and mass atrocities. – United to End Genocide

How to forge change in an environment like South Sudan? Ouch!

Will it be a military solution, diplomatic, humanitarian, religious campaign? So many approaches and yet the failures persist.

This is heavy-lifting! One approach being considered is through the arts.

This commentary is part 1 of 3 in a series on the power of the visual arts. The series depicts how the arts can forge change in a community, where it can be an effective messaging tool to convey many important points. Africa needs this power; so too the Caribbean. Both regions need the type of transformation that can come from the power of the arts. The full entries in the series are as follows:

  1.  Forging Change: Arts & Artists
  2.  ENCORE: Art Basel 2016 – A Testament to the Business of the Arts
  3.  Art Walk – Its a Real Thing in Wynwood

Consider the details of the effort in South Sudan in the VIDEO and news story here:

VIDEO – South Sudanese artists call for end to violence through art – https://youtu.be/YMYPitDuayU

Published on Mar 15, 2016 – South Sudanese artists are calling for an end to violence in the world’s youngest nation, through works of art. Painters, designers and poets have been holding an exhibition in Juba aiming to remind leaders of South Sudan of the suffering in the country. The artists also call on their leaders to empower women and young people in society and ensure their active participation in the peace process.
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Title: South Sudan Artists Protest Civil War With Peace Campaign
JUBA, SOUTH SUDAN — Musicians played lively tunes in South Sudan’s capital, and pedestrians and market shoppers watched the impromptu concert with curiosity. A soldier in desert camouflage walked around, surveying the scene.

As the drumming grew more insistent, the audience stood silent and motionless seemingly afraid to join the fun. Then the soldier started to breakdance.

That broke the ice and women swayed to the beat. Soon children and adults were dancing, enjoying a rare respite from South Sudan’s festering conflict.

For many in South Sudan, the arts have become a rare haven of peace in a young country that has known little but civil war. A group of artists are campaigning for peace, with pop-up street performances and murals across the capital, Juba. The activists have taken the name Ana Taban, or “I am tired,” in Arabic.

“We are tired of this, the constant fear, the war,” said Manas Mathiang, 32, a musician and artist who leads the movement.

Recently Mathiang met with nearly 30 artists who are part of Ana Taban. Members come from many of South Sudan’s main tribes. They say ethnicity has never been an issue, and they invite other artists “regardless of where they come from.”

The group has painted vibrant murals in Juba like one near the airport, a sky-blue wall depicting athletes, religious leaders and doctors under the slogan “Let us all do our part.” The artists also stage skits in street markets to promote reconciliation.

Ana Taban was started after fighting in Juba killed hundreds of people in July. A group of South Sudanese artists who had taken refuge in Kenya came together to create the movement. When it was safe to return to the capital, they brought home the campaign for peace.

Transcending tribe and politics, the artists use their work to try to unify South Sudan, the world’s newest nation, which won independence from Sudan in 2011. But then civil war broke out two years later, and tens of thousands have been killed amid concerns of ethnic violence.

A longing for an end to the fighting can be found in the country’s art and music. Some of the most popular songs on the radio are reggae because their lyrics of peace can be easily understood, said a local DJ, Daniel Danis.

Another member of Ana Taban, Deng Forbes, proudly held up his favorite work, a drawing of a child crying in the shape of a map of South Sudan.

“My people are diverse, 64 tribes,” Forbes said. “Art is a universal language, it’s a simple language.”

In some ways, South Sudan’s arts scene is like that in other countries, clustered in an offbeat section of the capital. Good equipment is rare. Artists say it is difficult to make money from their work. Feuds are common.

But much of South Sudan’s art is focused on the country’s political tensions.

Lual D’Awol, a popular rapper who appeared in an Ana Taban music video, said his songs about the lack of electricity and running water are banned from the radio by the government.

“It’s telling the truth that citizens of South Sudan feel, and I feel like I have to paint that picture and give a message that is genuinely happening,” D’Awol said.

Elsewhere in the capital, a nighttime concert a few weeks ago brought a rare feeling of ease. On a soccer field, roughly 1,000 South Sudanese danced and sang into the night, some climbing onto brick barriers for a better view.

On a makeshift stage, young women danced with men wearing the colors of South Sudan’s flag, members of the dancing troupe Sonzwgi, which roughly translates to “storytelling.”

The dance is a mashup of elements from different tribes across the country, said the group’s leader, Emmanuel Aban, saying it was choreographed to foster togetherness.

As Sonzwgi performed, women ran to the stage and danced, and men laughed freely. Aban smiled, saying: “It’s a way to send a message to the people.”
Source: Associated Press / Voice of America – Posted November 25, 2016; retrieved 12-01-2016 from: http://www.voanews.com/a/south-sudan-artists-protest-civil-war-with-peace-campaign/3611357.html

This commentary – from the publishers of the book Go Lean … Caribbean – is NOT trying to forge change in South Sudan, nor Africa for that matter; (though we would be elated to see peace there). This commentary is trying to forge change in the Caribbean.

We have Failed and Failing-States too!

How will we forge this change? How will we transform our society? Perhaps that same “arts &  artists” approach can work here. Accordingly …

“… the transformative power of art” – see VIDEO in Appendix B below.

The challenges and strategies for forging change have been identified in a series of previous Go Lean blog-commentaries over the past 2 years, this is the eighth submission. These were presented as follows, in reverse chronological order:

  1.    Forging Change – Arts & Artists (Today)
  2.    Forging Change – Panem et Circenses (November 15, 2016)
  3.    Forging Change – Herd Mentality (October 11, 2016)
  4.    Forging Change – ‘Something To Lose’ (November 18, 2015)
  5.    Forging Change – ‘Food’ for Thought (April 29, 2015)
  6.    Forging Change – Music Moves People (December 30, 2014)
  7.    Forging Change – The Sales Process (December 22, 2014)
  8.    Forging Change – The Fun Theory (September 9, 2014)

This commentary is urging Caribbean stakeholders to allow the production of artists and their art to work on society. (Artists should be identified early and their development fostered up to adulthood). While the actual participants may only be a handful of artists, those with genius qualifiers in the arts, the impact can be great on the whole community. This is an expression of the Greater Good. This is defined in the Go Lean book (Page 37) by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832, a British philosopher, jurist, and social reformer) as …

… “the greatest good to the greatest number of people which is the measure of right and wrong”.

While music is an art form, it is not the consideration in this commentary. Rather the focus  is on the visual arts. Think murals and graffiti, rather make that commissioned street art. These visual expressions can depict imagery and tales – fact or fiction. At times the fiction may just be portraying the ideal … the preferred landscape that would benefit the people. Artists often “use fiction to tell the truth”; see this point portrayed in the VIDEO in Appendix C. This is “art imitating life”!

The mechanics of “arts & artists” being used as a Change-Agent are already in place; there is an eco-system for the arts in the Caribbean, other than music or festivals, it is downplayed and subliminal, but there nonetheless.  The quest in the Go Lean roadmap is to do more than just subliminal. This was detailed as an advocacy in the book (Page 230) as:

10 Ways to Improve the Arts

That advocacy detailed the Business Model of Art Galleries, as follows here:

A contemporary art gallery, where contemporary art is shown for exhibition and/or for sale, is commercial or privately funded and usually has a second-tier status positioned between the first-tier status of a national, state-run or corporate museum, and the third-tier of minor galleries which include artist-run galleries, retail galleries, and artist’s co-operatives.

Commercial galleries are for-profit, privately owned businesses dealing in artworks by contemporary artists. Galleries run for the public good by cities, churches, art collectives, not-for-profit organizations, and local or national governments are usually termed Non-Profit Galleries. Many of these are arranged around a Trust or estate. Lastly, galleries run directly by artists may be temporary or otherwise different from the traditional gallery format. Contemporary art galleries are usually free and open to the public, however some are semi-private, more exclusive, and by appointment only. – sourced from Wikipedia.org.

Contemporary art galleries are often established together in urban centers, clustering for economic and practical reasons, mainly for the general public/buyers to view more art travelling by foot. This is the model of the Chelsea district in New York City, the center of the American contemporary art world. Other large urban areas have several art galleries, and most towns will be home to at least one. There are also successful models of small/remote locales attracting artist colonies [as in Taos, New Mexico].

In addition to the foregoing, the Go Lean book relates (Page 291) the historicity of Taos, New Mexico in the Southwest USA. This community is the most renown artist colony in the country. Art drives the economics, security and governance of that town.

The Go Lean book and movement presents this roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The CU is set to optimize Caribbean society through economic, security and governing empowerments. Therefore the Go Lean roadmap has 3 prime directives:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the economic engines.
  • Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The Go Lean/CU roadmap asserts that forging change in the Caribbean will be a hard, heavy-lift task and many alternate strategies – the 8 from above – may have to be engaged. Any one person – think artists – can make a difference and positively impact society; such a person can be a champion for our Caribbean cause. We can all work to make our homeland a better place to live, work and play. Fostering the genius ability in Caribbean citizens is presented in the book (Page 27) as a community ethos.

The Go Lean book presented the roadmap to imbrue the Caribbean region with new community ethos, plus new strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies to execute to forge change in the region. The following is a sample of these specific details from the book:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Choose Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – The Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future Page 21
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Minority Equalization Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Cooperatives Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Intellectual Property Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-Arounds – Mitigating Urban Decay with Art Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate 30 Member-States Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Celebrate the Music, Sports, Art and Culture of the Caribbean Page 46
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – CU Federal Agencies versus Member-State Governments Page 71
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Deliver Page 109
Implementation – National/Federal Museum in the Capital District Page 110
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better Page 131
Planning – Reasons Why the CU Will Succeed Page 132
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications – Community Messaging Page 186
Advocacy – Ways to Enhance Tourism Page 190
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts Page 230
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Music Page 231
Appendix – Taos Art Colony – New Mexico‘s Landmark Page 291

The empowerments in the Go Lean book call for permanent change. This is possible. The people of the Caribbean want opportunities; they want peace & security and to be able to provide for their families. This is the expectation of anybody in any modern society.

The Go Lean roadmap offers the technocratic execution of these deliverables. Imagine identifying and fostering the genius abilities of artists and entertainers (singers, dancers, musicians, performers, etc.). The end-product of their genius may be a good time, and good impressions for all Caribbean stakeholders – residents and tourists alike. Art should not only mitigate ugly visuals (eye-sores), it can be a successful business model as well. From the outset, the book recognized the significance of successful models for the arts in this roadmap with these statements in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 13 & 14):

xxi.  Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

xxxii. Whereas the cultural arts and music of the region are germane to the quality of Caribbean life, and the international appreciation of Caribbean life, the Federation must implement the support systems to teach, encourage, incentivize, monetize and promote the related industries for arts and music in domestic and foreign markets. These endeavors will make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play.

The Go Lean roadmap seeks to foster the eco-system for the business of the arts. The more lucrative the industry, the more participation from artists, the more impact the arts can have on society. This is a simple mission:

Forge change through the arts.

This quest – fostering the economic opportunities from artistic endeavors – has been addressed in many previous Go Lean commentaries; see sample here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9151 The New Smithsonian African-American Museum
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4145 The African Renaissance Monument in Dakar, Senegal, Africa
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3999 Sidney Poitier – ‘Breaking New Ground’ in the Art of Movie-making
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3292 Art Basel Miami – a Testament to the Spread of Art & Culture
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2726 Caribbean Role Model for the Arts/Fashion – Oscar De La Renta: RIP
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=866 Caribbean Musical Artist & Businessman: Bob Marley – The legend lives on!

Good luck to South Sudan and the rest of Africa for transforming their communities for peace. But let’s be successful in the Caribbean.

We can do this; we can forge change here. Our roadmap is conceivable, believable and achievable. We can make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Appendix VIDEO A – South Sudan – http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/12/ethnic-cleansing-south-sudan-161201042114805.html

Aljazeera December 1, 2016 – UN says South Sedan is on brink of catastrophe as ethnic violence rises.

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Appendix VIDEO B – Painting the town: Philly’s artful murals – https://youtu.be/OKemJytfNS0

Published on Jul 24, 2016 – Philadelphia has an iconic art museum but some of the city’s most impressive art is out on the street, thanks to the city’s mural program. Anthony Mason reports on how splashing some color on city streets has lifted the spirits of the community.
More info: Why Murals? | The Art Assignment | PBS Digital Studios – https://youtu.be/TS1oPqP2qyY

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Appendix VIDEO C – V for Vendetta – Artists Use Lies (Fiction) to Reveal the Truth – https://youtu.be/oncINP0OORQ

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Forging Change: Panem et Circenses

Posted on November 15, 2016 in Government, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

The dead language of Latin is alive-and-well for conveying some of the most intense perplexities.

Consider:

  • Habeas Corpus* = “There is a body…”
  • Carpe Diem = “Seize the Day”
  • Panem et Circenses = …

cu-blog-forging-change-panem-et-circenses-photo-1That last one is unfamiliar; the rough translation is “Bread and Circuses”. In all of these Latin expressions, there is more to the meaning than just the simple word-for-word translation. There is a deep thought-process underlying.

Bread and circuses or (more generally) food and entertainment, is regarded as typically satisfying the desires of the masses of people; hence used allusively of anything which pleases and pacifies the people, thus helping a government to further its political ends.

In other words, to some bad actors, they seek the opportunity to manipulate the public by first satisfying the shallow requirements of the populace – sustenance and amusement – while the actors pursue a more nefarious agenda; capitalizing on people’s selfishness that may ultimately provide for their own wider neglect.

That’s malevolence…

… there is also a benevolent strategy: First suffice the basic needs, a few social needs (amusement) and the approval of the people can be sought for heavy-lifting – to elevate all of society to a greater cause. (This alludes to Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs in which society’s needs are classified as elevating levels starting with #1-Biological, #2-Social/Security, #3-Belonging/Love … #8-Transcendence; see Appendix B below).

This is a recommended strategy by the movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean to forge change in Caribbean society: to satisfy the people’s needs for sustenance and amusement then urge the masses to adopt a new vision and new values.

So sustenance first. How do we ensure that the people have their means of survival – bread, food or sustenance – so that we can engage them further for higher level needs? This is a mission described in the Go Lean book (Page 162); there is an advocacy for food, its sourcing, supply and consumption:

10 Ways to Better Manage Food Consumption

Food - Photo 1

The mechanics for this Change-Agent are already in place, with the Caribbean tradition of Carnival. In a previous blog-commentary, it was related that festivals/events are important; they empower economics – see VIDEO here – and fortify cultural pride. See a full encyclopedic reference to Carnival in Appendix A below. All in all, they make the Caribbean a better place to live, work, and play. This is also a mission described in the Go Lean book (Page 191) in this advocacy for events:

10 Ways to Impact Events

VIDEO – The Business of Carnival – https://youtu.be/H90AfmQoRI4

Published on Mar 3, 2014 – Rio de Janeiro’s Samba Schools Parade is billed as the greatest show on earth, but Carnival is also a multimillion dollar business that generates thousands of jobs and injects big money into the local economy. CCTV’s Lucrecia Franco has more.

The Go Lean book and movement serves as a roadmap for the introduction of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The CU is set to optimize Caribbean society through economic empowerment, yes, but there are security and governing dynamics as well. Therefore the Go Lean roadmap has 3 prime directives:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the economic engines.
  • Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The Go Lean book presents a plan to reboot economic engines (jobs, educational and entrepreneurial opportunities), optimize the security apparatus (anti-crime and public safety) and accountable governance – through regional alliances – for all citizens (including many minority factions). The majority of the population must acquiesce and accept the new values in order to allow the societal empowerments – the new vision – to take hold.

All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy. All play and no work makes Jack a dumb boy – Old Adage

Caribbean society have traditionally featured a preoccupation with fun and amusement: “Fun in the Sun”; have a great time; party!

  • No Problem, Mon
  • Don’t Worry, Be Happy – (Song has an island beat and rhythm).
  • Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot
  • Come to Jamaica and feel alright

The Go Lean roadmap seeks to forge change, to elevate the Caribbean’s societal engines, with a proper balance of work and play. We want to provide great options for meaningful and prosperous work (jobs); plus we want to have fun. The Go Lean quest is to make the region a better place to live, work and play. How do we forge this change?

The challenges and strategies for forging change have been identified in a series of previous Go Lean blog-commentaries over the past 2 years, this is the seventh submission. These were presented as follows, in reverse chronological order:

  1.      Forging Change – Panem et Circenses (Today)
  2.      Forging Change – Herd Mentality (October 11, 2016)
  3.      Forging Change – ‘Something To Lose’ (November 18, 2015)
  4.      Forging Change – ‘Food’ for Thought (April 29, 2015)
  5.      Forging Change – Music Moves People (December 30, 2014)
  6.      Forging Change – The Sales Process (December 22, 2014)
  7.      Forging Change – The Fun Theory (September 9, 2014)

This commentary is urging Caribbean stakeholders to work to please and pacify their people, then work – behind the scenes – to further the societal elevation goals. This strategy to forge change is not presented to be nefarious or malevolent, but rather to pursue the Greater Good. This is defined in the Go Lean book (Page 37) by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832, a British philosopher, jurist, and social reformer) as …

… “the greatest good to the greatest number of people which is the measure of right and wrong”.

Why “behind the scenes”?

There must be the hard and heavy-lifting process of identifying and fostering those in the community with “genius” capability. A genius is different from everyone else, although they maybe fairly easy to spot, defining exactly what makes one person a genius is a little trickier.

Everyone who loves sausage, should not look at it being made; the process is ugly; but the end result is delicious. – Old Adage.

The Go Lean/CU roadmap asserts that forging change in the Caribbean will be a hard, heavy-lift of a process; many alternate strategies – the 7 from above – may have to be engaged. Any one person can make a difference and positively impact society; such a person can be a champion for any Caribbean cause, though the cause may be different from one champion to another. There are many different strengths among different people, many which may even be considered genius capability. While not everyone can be a genius in terms of mathematics or the sciences, many more do possess genius qualifiers in different endeavors. According to the Go Lean book (Page 27), some researchers & theorists argue that the concept of genius may be too limiting and doesn’t really give a full view of intelligence; they assert that intelligence is a combination of many factors; thereby concluding that genius can be found in many different abilities and endeavors.

This is the community ethos – fundamental character/spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of society – of fostering genius. The Go Lean book explains (Page 20) that this and other community ethos are not easy to imbrue on a society. It likens the process to an individual attempting to quit smoking. Not only are there physiological challenges, but psychological ones as well, to the extent that it can be stated with no uncertainty that “change begins in the head”. In psycho-therapy the approach to forge change for an individual is defined as “starting in the head (thoughts, visions), penetrating the heart (feelings, motivations) and then finally manifesting in the hands (actions). This same body analogy is what is purported in this Go Lean book for how the Caribbean is to forge change – following this systematic flow:

  • Head – Plans, models and constitutions
  • Heart – Community Ethos
  • Hands – Actions, Reboots, and Turn-arounds

The Go Lean/CU roadmap involves doing this heavy-lifting “behind the scenes” with identifying and fostering genius, while the masses enjoy Panem et Circenses.

Employing – all of these 7 – strategies to forge change in the Caribbean will be worth it in the end. This is not nefarious nor malevolent. This only makes our homeland a better place to live, work and play.

The Go Lean book presented the roadmap to imbrue the Caribbean region with new community ethos, plus new strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies to execute to forge change in the region. The following is a sample of these specific details from the book:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Choose Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – The Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future Page 21
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Minority Equalization Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Cooperatives Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Intellectual Property Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Research & Development – Social Experiments Page 30
Community Ethos – Ways to Bridge the Digital Divide Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact Turn-Arounds Page 33
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate 30 Member-States Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Celebrate the Music, Sports, Art and Culture of the Caribbean Page 46
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – CU Federal Agencies versus Member-State Governments Page 71
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Deliver Page 109
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better Page 131
Planning – Reasons Why the CU Will Succeed Page 132
Planning – Lessons from Omaha – College World Series Model Page 138
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications – Community Messaging Page 186
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Libraries Page 187
Advocacy – Ways to Enhance Tourism Page 190
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Events Page 191
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Fairgrounds Page 192
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts Page 230
Advocacy – Ways to Promote Music Page 231

The empowerments in the Go Lean book calls for permanent change. This is possible. The people of the Caribbean only want opportunities; they want to be able to provide for their families, and offer a future of modernity to their children. Plus they want amusement, entertainment, happiness and fun. They want Panem et Circenses. This is a feature of Caribbean culture.

CU Blog - Caribbean must work together to address rum subsidies - Photo 1The Go Lean roadmap offers the technocratic execution of these deliverables. Imagine all the great cuisine and food options in the region. Imagine the rum options. Plus, imagine identifying and fostering the genius abilities of entertainers (singers, dancers, artists, musicians, performers, etc.). The end-product of their genius is good times, an elevation of Caribbean culture … to be consumed by all of the Caribbean stakeholders – residents and tourists alike. This is not a distraction; this is a business model. From the outset, the book recognized the significance of fun and festivities in this roadmap with these statements in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12 & 14):

Preamble: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness …

xxi.  Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

xxxii. Whereas the cultural arts and music of the region are germane to the quality of Caribbean life, and the international appreciation of Caribbean life, the Federation must implement the support systems to teach, encourage, incentivize, monetize and promote the related industries for arts and music in domestic and foreign markets. These endeavors will make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play.

CU Blog - Post-Mortem of Junkanoo Carnival - Photo 2Success from the Go Lean roadmap on the Caribbean will not make it unique in the business model of fun and festivities. There are many other communities that have flourished in this strategy; think Carnival/Mardi Gras in Rio De Janeiro, New Orleans even the Caribbean member-state of Trinidad. By extension, the Caribbean Carnival tradition have been exported to Diaspora cities: the largest examples being Caribana in Toronto and Notting Hill in London. The Go Lean roadmap wants to extend these initiatives and harvest even more economic benefits from events; we welcome the new Carnival tradition in the Bahamas – see photo here – and long for a resurgence of the Cuban tradition; see Appendix A below.

These Carnival-“Circenses” events are not presented as distractions, rather they are among the business model for a new Caribbean. The Go Lean book details that 9,000 jobs can be created from this strategy. There is even a role model for the Caribbean to emulate, that of the City of Sturgis in the US State of South Dakota. See Bottom Line details in the Appendix C below.

The movement behind the Go Lean book asks and answers the question: How to forge change in the Caribbean? There are many options; one is Panem et Circenses. The whole Caribbean region is urged to lean-in to this roadmap. Success in this regard is conceivable, believable and achievable. We can make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play through “food and amusement”. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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* Citation Reference – What is Habeas Corpus

https://ccrjustice.org/home/get-involved/tools-resources/fact-sheets-and-faqs/faqs-what-habeas-corpus

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Appendix A – Carnival

Carnival is a Western Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent.[1] The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typically involves a public celebration and/or parade combining some elements of a circus, masks, and a public street party. People wear masks and costumes during many such celebrations, allowing them to lose their everyday individuality and experience a heightened sense of social unity.[2] Excessive consumption of alcohol,[3] meat, and other foods proscribed during Lent is extremely common. Other common features of carnival include mock battles such as food fights; social satire and mockery of authorities; the grotesque body displaying exaggerated features especially large noses, bellies, mouths, and phalli or elements of animal bodies; abusive language and degrading acts; depictions of disease and gleeful death; and a general reversal of everyday rules and norms.[4][5]

The term Carnival is traditionally used in areas with a large Catholic presence. …

Rio de Janeiro‘s carnival is considered the world’s largest, hosting approximately two million participants per day. In 2004, Rio’s carnival attracted a record 400,000 foreign visitors.[10]

Caribbean
Most Caribbean islands celebrate Carnival. The largest and most well-known is in Trinidad and Tobago. The Dominican republic, Guyana, Antigua, Aruba, Bonaire, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curaçao, Barbados, Dominica, Haiti, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Saba, Sint Eustatius (Statia), Sint Maarten, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts, Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Saint Vincent, and the Grenadines hold lengthy carnival seasons and large celebrations.

Carnival is an important cultural event in the Dutch Antilles. Festivities include “jump-up” parades with beautifully colored costumes, floats, and live bands as well as beauty contests and other competitions. Celebrations include a middle-of-the-night j’ouvert (juvé) parade that ends at sunrise with the burning of a straw King Momo, cleansing sins and bad luck. On Statia, he is called Prince Stupid.

Carnival has been celebrated in Cuba since the 18th century. Participants don costumes from the island’s cultural and ethnic variety. After Fidel Castro’s Communist Revolution, Carnival’s religious overtones were suppressed. The events remained, albeit frowned upon by the state. Carnival celebrations have been in decline throughout Cuba since then.
Source: Retrieved 11-15-16 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival#Caribbean

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Appendix B – Quotation: Bottom Line on the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Models of human behavior have been undisputedly cataloged by Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The hierarchy, shown as a pyramid, is a visual representation of the order in which humans are innately drawn towards fulfilling personal needs. At the bottom, or base level, are basic, survival elements (food, water, shelter and security/safety). As these are obtained, there are natural urges for emotional stability (belongingness, self-esteem, social acceptance) and, according to Maslow’s 1943 version, the top level of the pyramid was defined as complex understanding (beauty, justice, realizing one’s full potential). Maslow later revised his original work (1967) and subsequently added “transcendence” to the pyramid’s peak, which is to help others to achieve self-actualization. – Book: Go Lean … Caribbean, Page 231.

The full list is as follows:

Level 1 – Biological and Physiological needs
Level 2 – Security/Safety needs
Level 3 – Belongingness and Love needs
Level 4 – Esteem needs
Level 5 – Cognitive needs
Level 6 – Aesthetic needs
Level 7 – Self-Actualization needs
Level 8 – Transcendence needs

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Appendix C – Quotation: Bottom Line on the Sturgis, South Dakota
Sturgis is a city in Meade County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 6,627 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Meade County and is named after General Samuel D. Sturgis. Sturgis is famous for being the location of one of the largest annual motorcycle events in the world, which [started in 1938 and] is held annually on the first full week of August. Motorcycle enthusiasts from around the world flock to this usually sleepy town during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. The focus of a motorcycle rally was originally racing and stunts. Then in 1961, the rally was expanded to include the “Hill Climb” and Motocross races.[145]

The attendance was tallied in excess of 600,000 visitors in the year 2000. The City of Sturgis has calculated that the Rally brings over $800 million to South Dakota annually. (The City of Sturgis earned almost $270,000 in 2011 from just selling event guides and sponsorships). Rally-goers are a mix of white-collar and blue-collar workers and are generally welcomed as an important source of income for Sturgis and surrounding areas. The rally turns local roads into “parking lots”, and draws local law enforcement away from routine patrols. [The City frequently contracts with law enforcement officers from near-and-far for supplemental support-enforcements during the rally]. (See Appendix J of Sturgis City Rally Department’s Statistics [in the Go Lean book on Page 288]).

[Sturgis generates a lot of media attention]. Annual television coverage of the festival by the [cable TV network] VH1 Classic includes interviews and performances as well as rock music videos. Also, the Travel Channel repeatedly shows two one-hour documentaries about Sturgis.

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ENCORE: Snowden – The Movie. The Role Model.

Posted on September 30, 2016 in Government, Social

This is a re-distribution of the blog-commentary published on June 8, 2015, now that a movie has been released chronicling this advocate, Edward Snowden; his life story and impact. The movie is powerful … in dramatizing the risk the man endured and the impact that this one person fostered on his homeland, all in pursuit of the Greater Good.

The movie portrays a consistent theme of a Whistleblower.

The movie is directed by renowned film director Oliver Stone. See the trailer-preview of the movie here and the ENCORE of the blog-commentary below:

VIDEO Movie Trailer – SNOWDEN – Official Trailer – https://youtu.be/QlSAiI3xMh4

Published on Apr 27, 2016 – Academy Award®-winning director Oliver Stone, who brought Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, Wall Street and JFK to the big screen, tackles the most important and fascinating true story of the 21st century. Snowden, the politically-charged, pulse-pounding thriller starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley, reveals the incredible untold personal story of Edward Snowden, the polarizing figure who exposed shocking illegal surveillance activities by the NSA and became one of the most wanted men in the world. He is considered a hero by some, and a traitor by others. No matter which you believe, the epic story of why he did it, who he left behind, and how he pulled it off makes for one of the most compelling films of the year.

  • Category – Entertainment
  • License – Standard YouTube License

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Go Lean Commentary

Edward Snowden: Friend or Foe?

Snowden Photo 1This will be a subject of debate for the weeks, months, years and decades to come.

What is not debatable is the fact that he has been impactful. Yes, one man has made a difference.

The publishers of the book Go Lean…Caribbean recognize the contributions that Edward Snowden has made to the discussions of democratic principles: privacy versus security. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The CU seeks to empower a security apparatus for the Caribbean region. The issues of data monitoring and eavesdropping will be a big consideration here as well. We thank Mr. Snowden for bringing many of these issues to the fore; as the Go Lean roadmap also seeks to employ leading edge technologies to interdict domestic and foreign threats that may imperil Caribbean societal engines – without an “abuse of power”. We therefore want to study the dramatic events of this episode so as to apply best-practices in the formation of our own administration.

See the following news article (and VIDEO in the Appendix below) that summarizes the Snowden drama into 8 lessons:

Title: The Snowden Effect: 8 Things That Happened Only Because Of The NSA Leaks
One year ago Thursday, one of the most consequential leaks of classified U.S. government documents in history exploded onto the world scene: The first story based on documents from former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden was published. Americans finally knew the spy agency was sucking up virtually all of the data about who they called and when.

What followed was a torrent of articles based on the Snowden documents, as well as political and diplomatic reaction. Public debate was transformed by a new level of knowledge about the NSA — which Snowden himself said was mission accomplished. And in some modest ways Congress, companies and other countries also took concrete action. Here are the most consequential reactions to Snowden’s leaks.

1. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper had to admit he lied to Congress.
Three months before the Snowden leaks began, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) asked the nation’s top intelligence official if the NSA collected data on millions, or hundreds of millions, of Americans.

“No, sir,” Clapper replied. “Not wittingly.”

By that point, of course, the NSA had quite wittingly been running a massive bulk telephone metadata collection program for years. The government had repeatedly asked a secret surveillance court for permission to do so, and it deemed every American’s phone record “relevant” to terrorism in the process.

Wyden fumed in secret about Clapper’s lie — but felt he could not reveal it because the metadata collection program was classified. That all changed after the publication of the first story on June 5, 2013, based off a Snowden leak.

Days later, Clapper gave the most halfhearted, or perhaps least forthcoming, admission that he had lied: “I responded in what I thought was the most truthful, or least untruthful manner by saying no.”

2. The House passed a bill (ostensibly) meant to stop bulk collection of phone metadata.
Americans were furious about the NSA’s sweeping phone metadata collection program. Even the man who wrote the original Patriot Act, Wisconsin Republican Rep. James Sensenbrenner, said the program went too far.

So last month the House passed a bill that its sponsors said would end bulk collection. Whether it actually does is a matter of dispute, since the White House and the spy agencies appear to have stripped out many of its toughest provisions. But its passage is nonetheless a clear signal that nobody in Congress wants to look like they’re doing nothing about the NSA.

3. A federal judge said the NSA phone surveillance program is unconstitutional.
In December, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon issued a ruling in a lawsuit against the NSA program that said its technology was “almost-Orwellian” and that James Madison “would be aghast.”

Because other judges in other districts have found differently — one in Manhattan dismissed an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit citing the threat of terrorists’ “bold jujitsu” — the program still stands. And it had previously been approved, though behind closed doors, by the special Foreign   Intelligence Surveillance Court. But with Leon’s ruling on the books, the program could eventually wind up before the Supreme Court.

4. Tech companies finally got serious about privacy.
Big tech players had been paying lip service for years to the idea that they protect their customers’ privacy. But after the Snowden revelation that the NSA was accessing company servers via its PRISM program, privacy suddenly became a very tangible good. Cloud providers stand to lose $35 billion over the next three years in business with foreign customers afraid of storing their data with U.S. companies.

So the companies are responding by adding encryption measures such as Transport Layer Security. Google even announced on Tuesday that it is testing a new extension for the Chrome browser that could make encrypting email easier.

5. Britain held its first-ever open intelligence hearing.
If you thought intelligence oversight was weak in the United States, you won’t believe how it works with our closest ally. The powerful British spy agencies MI5 and GCHQ had never faced a public hearing in front of Parliament until Snowden’s stories dropped.

The November hearing was hardly confrontational. But it was a step forward for a country that has generally reacted to the Snowden leaks with little more than a shrug. And that step matters for Americans as well: In April, The Intercept revealed that the GCHQ had secretly asked for “unsupervised access” to the NSA’s data pools.

6. Germany opened an investigation into the tapping of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cell phone.
The revelation that the NSA was monitoring the German chancellor’s cell phone came as a surprise to her — and to Senate Intelligence Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Merkel was so outraged that she reportedly compared the surveillance to that of the Stasi, the former East German spy agency. (And she would know, having grown up in East Germany.)

On Wednesday, GermanFederalProsecutorHaraldRangeannounced that he is opening an investigation into the monitoring of Merkel’s phone calls. The investigation is proof positive that the Snowden leaks have frayed some U.S. diplomatic relations, but also that people the world over are starting to take surveillance seriously.

7. Brazil scotched a $4 billion defense contract with Boeing.
In another example of soured relations abroad, Brazil gave a massive fighter jet contract to Saab instead of the American company Boeing. Opinions varied as to how much that had to do with Snowden’s leaks, with one government source telling Reuters that he “ruined it for the Americans.” One analyst believed, however, that the Boeing jet simply cost too much.

The jet aside, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff was clearly steamed, taking to the podium at the U.N. General Assembly to denounce the surveillance on her. Snowden’s leaks also helped propel the passage of an Internet bill of rights meant to protect privacy in the South American nation.

8. President Barack Obama admitted there would be no surveillance debate without Snowden.
In a major speech in January, Obama said he was “not going to dwell on Mr. Snowden’s actions or his motivations.” But he essentially acknowledged that the roiling, yearlong debate over surveillance would not have happened without him.

“We have to make some important decisions about how to protect ourselves and sustain our leadership in the world, while upholding the civil liberties and privacy protections that our ideals — and our Constitution — require,” Obama said.

The secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court also nodded toward the “considerable public interest and debate” that Snowden’s leaks created. And even Clapper acknowledged, “It’s clear that some of the conversations this has generated, some of the debate, actually needed to happen.”

The surveillance court finally started publicly posting some filings from its major cases. And in further acknowledgement of the need for a debate, the NSA and other agencies have posted declassified files to a new intelligence Tumblr — revealing for the first time aside from Snowden’s leaks documentary evidence of the inner workings of mass surveillance.
Source: Huffington Post Online News Source; posted June 5, 2015; retrieved June 7, 2015 from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/05/edward-snowden-nsa-effect_n_5447431.html

s Difference - Photo 2An important consideration related to Mr. Snowden is the priority on human/civil rights. The motive for mass surveillance from the US Patriot Act was national security, but in its execution, it became abusive to human and civil rights. That is the formula for tyranny! Yet the authorities refused to “stop, drop and roll”; there was no remediation.

The Patriot Act went into effect in 2001 (effective for 4 years), then re-authorized in 2005 and 2011 (for 4 years only) with little debate. But thanks to one man, Edward Snowden, the 2015 renewal was stalled, debated, re-visited, re-considered and eventually defeated. People asked questions, challenged disclosures, protested and resolved … to do better.

One man … made a difference!

This one man impacted his country … and the whole world.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” – Edmund Burke; 1729 – 1797; an Irish statesman, member of the British Parliament and supporter of the American Revolution.

Edmund Burke! Edward Snowden! These two men – one from history and another of contemporary times – have more in common than what may have been obvious. Another expression Edmund Burke is credited for, is perhaps more apropos:

“People crushed by laws, have no hope but to evade power. If the laws are their enemies, they will be enemies to the law; and those who have most to hope and nothing to lose will always be dangerous”.

There is now a new security monitoring legislative provision!  Credit or not, this is a direct impact of the actions of Edward Snowden! This law allows for security monitoring, without the privacy violations. (The USA Freedom Act was passed on June 2, 2015 with a new expiration of 2019;[5] however, Section 215 of the law was amended to stop the NSA from continuing its mass phone data collection program.[6]). This end-product is better all around. In fact, “a White House investigation found that the prior NSA program may have never stopped a single terrorist attack”. This new provision is an elevation for society.

Like Edward Snowden’s advocacy, the prime directive of the book Go Lean…Caribbean is to elevate society, but instead of impacting America, the roadmap focus is the Caribbean. In fact, the declarative statements are as follows:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant societal engines again foreign and domestic threats.
  • Improvement Caribbean governance – with appropriate checks-and-balances – to support these engines.

Edward Snowden is hereby recognized as a role model that the Caribbean can emulate. (He disclosed that telephone data for one Caribbean member-state, the Bahamas, was also being collected and analyzed by the NSA). He has provided a successful track record of forging change, resisting the “abuse of power”, managing crises to successful conclusions and paying forward the benefits for a tyranny-free society to all peoples; see his letter in the Appendix. The Go Lean book relates that Caribbean member-states do have a tyrannical past, considering examples of Cuba (236), Haiti (238), and the Dominican Republic (306).

The book posits that one person, despite their field of endeavor, can make a difference in the Caribbean, and its impact on the world; that there are many opportunities where one champion, one advocate, can elevate society. In this light, the book features 144 different advocacies, so there is inspiration for the “next” Edward Snowden or Edmund Burke to emerge and excel right here at home in the Caribbean. We need vanguards and sentinels against the dreaded “abuse of power”.

The roadmap specifically encourages the region, to lean-in to open advocacy with these specific community ethos, strategies, tactics, and implementations:

Community Ethos – Security Principles – Privacy vs Public Protection Page 23
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Whistleblower Protection Page 23
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Anti-Bullying and Mitigation Page 23
Community Ethos – Security Principles – Intelligence Gathering Page 23
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Minority Equalization Page 24
Community Ethos – Governing Principles – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Intellectual Property Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederate all 30 Member-states Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Enact a Security Apparatus Against Threats Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Protect Homeland with Anti-crime   Measures Page 45
Anatomy of Advocacies – Examples of Individuals Who Made Impact Page 122
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Defense / Homeland Security Pact Page 127
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices Page 134
Planning – Lessons from East Germany – Bad Checks-and-Balances Page 139
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage the Social Contract Page 170
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Leadership Page 171
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Remediate and Mitigate Crime Page 178
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Homeland Security Page 180
Advocacy – Ways to Mitigate Terrorism Page 181
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Intelligence Gathering & Analysis Page 182
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Technology Page 197
Advocacy – Ways to Protect Human Rights Page 220

The Caribbean region wants a more optimized security apparatus.

The region wants to mitigate human rights and civil rights abuses; in general all “abuse of power”.

This book posits that “bad actors” – even tyrants – will emerge to exploit inefficient economic, security and governing models.  Early in the book, the pressing need to streamline protections – for citizens and institutions – was pronounced in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12), with these opening statements:

x. Whereas we are surrounded and allied to nations of larger proportions in land mass, populations, and treasuries, elements in their societies may have ill-intent in their pursuits, at the expense of the safety and security of our citizens. We must therefore appoint “new guards” to ensure our public safety and threats against our society, both domestic and foreign.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes, including … forms of terrorism, can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

The Go Lean book explicitly acknowledges that optimizing the needs for security, justice and privacy are not easy; they require strenuous effort; heavy-lifting. There needs to be a better balance of public protection versus privacy concerns. Balance? That is the quest of the CU/Go Lean roadmap: an optimized society with better checks-and-balances.

Other subjects related to civil/human rights checks-and-balances for the region have been blogged in other Go Lean…Caribbean commentary, as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5304 Mitigating the Eventual ‘Abuse of Power’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4809 Using Surveillance to Interdict Americans Who Aided ISIS
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4447 Abuse of Power Example: Ferguson-Missouri biased cops & courts
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4360 Dreading the American ‘Caribbean Basin Security Initiative’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3881 Intelligence Agencies to Up Cyber Security Cooperation
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1554 Status of Forces Agreement = Security Pact
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=960 NSA records all phone calls in Bahamas, according to Snowden
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=535 Remembering and learning from Boston
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=341 American Human Rights Leaders Slams Caribbean Poor Record

With a heightened focus on balanced justice institutions and the participation of many advocates on many different paths for progress, the Caribbean can truly become a better place to live, work and play.  🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———-

Appendix – Edward Snowden Letter – June 5, 2015 – “This is the power of an informed public”

Dear XXXXXXX,

Simple truths can change the world.

Two years ago today, in a Hong Kong hotel room, three journalists and I waited nervously to see how the world would react to the revelation that the National Security Agency had been collecting records of nearly every phone call in the United States.

Though we have come a long way, the right to privacy remains under attack. Join me in standing up for our rights: Tell President Obama to log off.

Last month, the NSA’s invasive call-tracking program was declared unlawful by the courts, and it was disowned by Congress. And, after a White House investigation found that the program never stopped a single terrorist attack, even President Obama ordered it terminated.

This is because of you. This is the power of an informed public.

Ending mass surveillance of private phone calls under the Patriot Act is a historic victory for the rights of every citizen. Yet while we have reformed this one program, many others remain.

We need to push back and challenge the lawmakers who defend these programs. We need to make it clear that a vote in favor of mass surveillance is a vote in favor of illegal and ineffective violations of the right to privacy for all Americans. Take action to ban mass surveillance today.

As I said at an Amnesty event in London this week, arguing that you don’t care about the right to privacy because you have nothing to hide is no different than saying you don’t care about free speech because you have nothing to say.

We can’t take the right to privacy for granted, just like we can’t take the right to free speech for granted. We can’t let these invasions of our rights stand.

While we worked away in that hotel room in Hong Kong, there were moments when we worried we might have put our lives at risk for nothing — that the public would react with apathy to the publication of evidence that revealed that democratic governments had been collecting and storing billions of intimate records of innocent people.

Never have I been so grateful to have been so wrong.

In solidarity,

Edward Snowden, for Amnesty International

———-

APPENDIX VIDEO – HuffingtonPost Analysis Video – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/05/edward-snowden-nsa-effect_n_5447431.html

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The New Smithsonian African-American Museum

Posted on September 19, 2016 in Government, Social

Go Lean Commentary

cu-blog-new-smithsonian-african-american-museum-photo-1

The human psyche is consistent; when we have been victimized, we want everyone to remember. But, when we have been the perpetrator – the bully – then we want everyone to forget. This applies to individuals and nations alike.

This experience relates to the history of the New World. Upon the discovery of the Americas by the European powers – Christopher Columbus et al – the focus had always been on pursuing economic interests, many times at the expense of innocent victims. (This is why the celebration of Columbus Day is now out of favor). First, there was the pursuit of gold, other precious metals (silver, copper, etc.) and precious stones (emeralds, turquoise, etc.).  Later came the exploitation of profitable agricultural opportunities (cotton, tobacco, sugar cane, etc.), though these business models required extensive labor. So the experience in the New World (the Caribbean and North, South & Central America) saw the exploitation of the native indigenous people, and then as many of them died off, their replacements came from the African Slave Trade.

This summarizes the history of the economic motivation of slavery. The champions of that era may want to be considered as heroes, but with the long train of victims in their wake, are rightly labeled villainous by some. Thusly any population in this drama – consider the United States of America – may not want to be remembered in a negative light. This is why the new museum opening in Washington, DC, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, is such a milestone. It chronicles, commemorates and spotlights this dark episode of American history. (Some consider this history to be not so distant, that vestiges still permeate the nation’s social fabric, especially considering the Criminal Justice system today).

See a full story on this new Museum here from CityLab, the Online Magazine profiled in Appendix A; (posted September 15, 2016; retrieved September 18, 2016 from http://www.citylab.com/design/2016/09/how-the-new-smithsonian-african-american-museum-works/500246/):

Title: How the New Smithsonian African American Museum Works
Sub-Title: A floor-by-floor preview of the most anticipated—and last—museum to come to the National Mall.
By: Kriston Capps

One of the most difficult lessons to learn about racism today is one of the first to be gleaned at the Smithsonian Institution’s new National Museum of African American History and Culture, which opens to the world on September 24. On the lowest concourse, deep in the museum’s basement levels, exhibits about slavery explain that the trans-Atlantic slave trade was not motivated by racism.

Racism came after. This is not new information, but it is not conventional wisdom in America today. “Enslaved Africans, European indentured servants, and Native Americans worked alongside one another as they cultivated tobacco,” reads an exhibit on life in the Chesapeake region. Planters grew fearful of the interracial friendships, marriages, and alliances—and rebellions—that characterized life in the colonies. “Africans were ultimately defined as ‘enslaved for life,’ and the concept of whiteness began to develop.”

The design of the museum, from the bottom up, which is the direction in which it is intended to be seen by visitors, reflects that history. The lowest-level galleries on the slave trade and the Middle Passage are tight and narrow. They eventually open up to an expansive concourse that sets the stage for the fight for freedom that extends even to today. Exhibits in this majestic hall range from a statue of Thomas Jefferson framed by bricks bearing the names of slaves who built Monticello to a house built in a freedmen’s settlement in Montgomery County, Maryland.

The Smithsonian’s new museum—the last to be built on the National Mall—follows the African-American experience through slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the Civil Rights era. The museum proceeds chronologically, escalating from African and pre-colonial history (in the third and lowest basement level) to contemporary art (on the fourth floor). It is a massive undertaking, sometimes breathtaking. And the architecture of the museum both builds and hinders its narrative.

Some 60 percent of the building is below grade; the historical galleries all fall along three underground mezzanine levels. To create exhibition space so far below ground, Davis Brody Bond—the same architecture firm responsible for the largely subterranean National September 11 Memorial and Museum—had to build a concrete container in which the museum sits, a bucket with walls rising 75 feet high that frame the entire historical experience.

“The largest challenge was water,” Anderson says. “Everything west and south of the Washington Monument was infill. It was all swampland. When you dig down 12 feet, you hit the water table. We had to build essentially an inside-out bathtub in order to keep the water out of the building.”

cu-blog-new-smithsonian-african-american-museum-photo-3Visitors pass from the narrow hall on slavery into this major space, following a ramp that shepherds them by several iconic exhibits: the pointed Monticello statues, a slave cabin, the Jones-Hall-Sims House, a segregation-era railcar, and a prison tower from the notorious Louisiana State Penitentiary (nicknamed Angola) among them. This fairly linear course then deposits viewers at a Reconstruction gallery, on the second mezzanine level, with information-heavy exhibits that characterize most of the rest of the museum.

“We thought the added volume made sense,” says Phil Freelon, one of the principal architects responsible for the building’s design, discussing how the area of the history galleries doubled during the museum buildout. “As you move through history, you’re able to see different aspects of the exhibits from varying perspectives. Which adds another layer of understanding to the overall sweep of history.”

One of the great strengths of the National Museum of African American History and Culture is its heavy emphasis on place. There are rich maps scattered throughout the museum that showcase the many migrations that have defined black history: from the domestic slave trade (after the trans-Atlantic slave trade was abolished in 1807) to the Great Migration during the early- and mid-20th century to subsequent returns to the South. These maps explain how the African-American experience shifted within the states, and how states and the nation changed inalterably as a result.

Where the museum may lose viewers, however, is in its sweeping chronology, which is lost over too many side-by-side displays. Many of the exhibits (designed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates) serve as portals, with a chunk of text paired with images, or often a video screen, alongside some essential artifacts. Unfortunately, atomic exhibits about the constituent people, places, and moments from Reconstruction and the Civil Rights era do not add up to clear and comprehensive categories.

cu-blog-new-smithsonian-african-american-museum-photo-4Problems are few in number, but the museum’s biggest ones start with the entry procession. It isn’t immediately clear that viewers ought to take one of two elevators down to the lowest concourse to begin. And it isn’t exactly clear how the escalators connect from one level to the next—though these passages offer some of the best vistas within the building and through its exterior filigree, which looks as delicate as lace when seen from the inside.

From design to execution, the largest changes to the museum happened inside the museum’s central hall. The dipping, timber-lined ceiling initially envisioned for the atrium fell off along the way. (The architects say that the space is now more suitable for performance and static art.) Still, one of the museum’s most important metaphors was maintained in the form of its grand vistas: Floor-to-ceiling windows comprise the four walls of the building’s entrance level, opening the museum to the world outside. Portals throughout the the upper floors emphasize the effect.

“What you’re getting is the journey from the very soil—the very depths, the crypts, the chamber—right through to getting a panoptic lens, a panoptic reading of this important juncture of the National Mall and the Washington Monument,” says David Adjaye, the primary architect of the museum. “When you’re going into the upper galleries, you’re getting these windows that are framing the context and bringing [the Mall] into the content of the story.”

The community and culture galleries make up the third and fourth floors of the museum. (The Earl W. and Amanda Stafford Center for African American Media Arts, on the museum’s second level, was not yet finished at the time of the preview.) The exhibits in the community section range widely. There is a display on the legacy of Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman elected to Congress and the first black woman to run for president (her awesome call reading, “unbought and unbossed”). There is an exhibit on Mae Reeves, a legendary Philadelphia milliner. And there is an exhibit on Ben Carson—that guy. This corner of the museum gives an impressionistic overview of community (a rather broad theme to begin with). While these exhibits are, again, very atomic—only loosely interconnected—they offer by and large the most satisfying insights into the lives and achievements of everyday black Americans.

There is no directionality to these floors, no wrong way to do them. Doing them right will take hours, maybe even days. The culture galleries include snippets of film, television, spoken word, and theater that may add up to hours of programming time. (This, in addition to reams of wall text.) With so much media on display—the number of screens seems to rise as a factor of the floor level—the fine art galleries on the fourth floor offer a welcome reprieve to information overload. (The art galleries are stacked, too, with a smart selection of paintings from across American history. In fact, this corner of the museum arrives as one of the finest art collections in the District.)

The museum’s most impressive visual remains its iconic “corona,” which the architects say they drew from a West African caryatid design of Yoruban origin—a column with a base, a figure, and a capital or crown.

“Our general approach to the design of cultural facilities is to try to imbue the architecture with meaning,” Freelon says. “So that it’s contributing to the stories and the vision and mission of the institution. We did that sort of research to say, ‘What would be an appropriate expression, formally, for the building?’ We looked at a lot of different ideas and settled on the corona notion as a strong and powerful idea.”

cu-blog-new-smithsonian-african-american-museum-photo-2There are many smaller moments of design excellence, however, that give the museum its grounding. One thoughtful gallery on the lowest level is a simple sidebar, a triangular cutaway space off the main corridor, that surveys the São José Paquete de Africa. The vessel was a slave ship bound from Mozambique to Brazil that wrecked, killing most of the 500 slaves it held as human cargo. Several ballast bars, which balanced the light weight of their bodies, are on display in this dark and intentionally haunting space. That the shape of this gallery reflects the trapezoidal edges of the museum’s exterior is no accident.

There are enough moments like these throughout the National Museum of African American History and Culture to make it a building that demands criss-crossing, back-and-forth viewing. It is not simple to say what the museum offers in the form of answers about progress or freedom or justice. It may be fair to say that it has none. Or that the museum is “making a way out of no way,” to paraphrase Martin Luther King Jr. (as this museum does).

According to Adjaye, the windows and cut-outs are key to ensuring that building is not static, but dynamic and responsive to the history around it.

“The idea is to laminate the experience of the outside world with the inside world, so you’re not disconnected from it,” Adjaye says. “It is not a narrative or a fantasy that is hermetically sealed. It’s a real history, that is relating to things that are around you and in you. And that is a very new idea.”

There are many lessons for the Caribbean to glean from this consideration of the ‘National Museum of African American History and Culture’ in Washington, DC: good, bad and ugly lessons. This will hopefully elevate a national discussion to the fore on the full measure of American history with African-Americans. The hope is for more reconciliation.

Here in the Caribbean, we have the same needs. As history relates, the people of our region were also victimized in the Slave Trade; but we were villains too, considering the lessons from the 1804 Massacre in Haiti, as related in a previous blog-commentary:

  • It was an illogical solution that killing Whites (of 3000 to 5000 White men, women and children) would prevent future enslavement.
  • The Natural Law instinct was to avenge for past atrocities – “an eye for an eye”.
  • It was used in a good way to escalate the abolition of the Slave Trade in 1807. It was also used in a bad way to justify further oppression of the African Diaspora in the New World.

This discussion of museums and reconciliations align with the objections of the book Go Lean…Caribbean, in that it serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The purpose of this roadmap is to elevate the economy in our Caribbean region, while harnessing the individual genius abilities – as in the arts. This Go Lean/CU roadmap employs strategies, tactics and implementations to impact its prime directives; identified with the following 3 statements:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

While the Go Lean book is primarily an economic elevation roadmap for the Caribbean, it also details the eco-systems surrounding the business of the arts; there is consideration for jobs and entrepreneurship. The book declares (Page 230) that “art can be a business enabler, [while also serving as an] expression for civic pride and national identity”.

There is even a plan to foster museums that commemorate Caribbean history and culture in a new Caribbean Capital District. (The roadmap calls for a neutral location, among the 30 member-states, to host leaders of the Federation’s Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of government). See the quotation here from the book (Page 230):

CU Administered Museums
Modeled after the Smithsonian, the CU “mother” (first-tier) museums will be placed in the Capital District. There will also be “child” museums scattered through out the regions with touring exhibitions.

The Go Lean book identified this vision of reconciliations-museums-art early in the book (Page 10 – 14), as implied in the following pronouncements in the opening Declaration of Interdependence:

Preamble: As the history of our region and the oppression, suppression and repression of its indigenous people is duly documented, there is no one alive who can be held accountable for the prior actions, and so we must put aside the shackles of systems of repression to instead formulate efficient and effective systems to steer our own destiny.
As the colonial history of our region was initiated to create economic expansion opportunities for our previous imperial masters, the structures of government instituted in their wake have not fostered the best systems for prosperity of the indigenous people.

xii. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law.

xiii.  Whereas the legacy of dissensions in many member-states (for example: Haiti and Cuba) will require a concerted effort to integrate the exile community’s repatriation, the Federation must arrange for Reconciliation Commissions to satiate a demand for justice.

xxi. Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

xxxiii. Whereas the cultural arts and music of the region are germane to the quality of Caribbean life, and the international appreciation of Caribbean life, the Federation must implement the support systems to teach, encourage, incentivize, monetize and promote the related industries for arts and music in domestic and foreign markets. These endeavors will make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play.

The commentaries in the Go Lean blogs have previously addressed the wisdom of museums and monuments showcasing the historic sacrifices of the African sons and daughters that have contributed to the great societies of the Western world (Western Europe and the Americas). The people of the Caribbean are all part of this African heritage. We have been affected by events that took place in Africa, the Atlantic Slave Trade and subsequent national histories in the New World. So much of that history is soaked in the blood, sweat and tears of African people, the ancestors and the children. Any symbolism or artistic expression of any country commemorating this history should be acknowledged, promoted and celebrated.

This subject also aligns with the book Go Lean…Caribbean and its plans to better promote World Heritage Sites (Page 248) in the Caribbean region. This goal is for the very same purpose of acknowledging, promoting and celebrating the special history of Caribbean people to the world’s cultural landscape. The Go Lean book asserts many benefits from these types of initiatives, including economic, cultural and ambassadorial.

  • Imagine the flow of tourism that can result from our own museums and monuments.
  • Imagine the commissions to regional artists.
  • Imagine the positive image the world over of our region reconciling our pasts and forging a bright future despite the historic experiences.

The foregoing news story on the Smithsonian effort to curate the history of the African-American experience and culture presents this project as transformative. Many people in America did NOT want a federal-government backed effort to create a monument of this “dark topic” in America. (The Smithsonian eco-system is funded under the National Parks Service of the US Department of the Interior).

Despite the Emancipation of Slavery in 1863 and the Civil Right Act in 1964, only now in 2016 is America coming to grips with the need to commemorate the history of its African-American people in a formal museum. There have been many museums in the past, but all through private efforts or that of non-governmental organizations (NGO’s). The first African-American museum was the College Museum in Hampton, Virginia, established in 1868.[2] Prior to 1950, there were about 30 museums devoted primarily to African-American culture and history in the US. These were located primarily at historically black colleges and universities or at libraries that had significant African-American culture and history collections.[5]

See the full list of museums in Appendix C below.

As of 2010 the largest African-American museum in the United States was the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, Michigan. It will be exceeded in size by this Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture [9] when it opens on Saturday September 24, 2016. This will be the first time there is a formal American Federal Government effort.

The subject of fostering the economic opportunities of artistic endeavors in the Caribbean region have been discussed in other Go Lean blog/commentaries; consider this sample as follows:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4145 The African Renaissance Monument in Dakar, Senegal, Africa
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3292 Art Basel Miami – a Testament to the Spread of Art & Culture
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2726 Caribbean Role Model for the Arts/Fashion – Oscar De La Renta: RIP
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=866 Caribbean Music Man: Bob Marley – The legend lives on!

This subject of the Slave Trade, Slavery and Civil Rights – how it related to economic, security and governing functioning in a society – have also been addressed by previous Go Lean blog-commentaries. See a sample list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8724 Remembering African Nationalist Marcus Garvey: Still Relevant Today
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7682 Frederick Douglass – Pioneer & Role Model for Single Cause: Abolition
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7221 Street naming for Martin Luther King reveals continued racial animosity
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5695 Repenting, Forgiving and Reconciling the Past Bad Deeds
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4971 A Lesson in History – Royal Charters: Truth & Consequence
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2297 A Lesson in History – Booker T versus Du Bois
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=451 CariCom position on Slavery/Colonization Reparations

This subject of Slavery and the Slave Trade is a “dark topic” to curate in a museum. But this is necessary. Around the word, the Holocaust memorials – remembering the Nazi’s Jewish annihilation in World War II – help to keep the lessons fresh in the minds of the world’s populations that the horrors were real and should never be allowed again. A similar museum on the African-American experience in the Americas should have a related effect: tell the world the truth, and then try to reconcile between the villains and the victims. Many positive lessons can be gleaned from these dark topics.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean provided thorough lessons from this history, in its compilation of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies. See a sample list here:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification – African Diaspora Experience Page 21
Community Ethos – People Respond to Incentives in Predictable Ways Page 21
Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future Page 21
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius – High Art Intelligence Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations Page 34
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategic – Vision – Integrating Caribbean 30 member-state in to a Single Market Page 45
Strategic – Mission – Celebrate art, people and culture of the Caribbean Page 46
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Culture Administration Page 81
Tactical – Separation of Powers – CaribbeanParks and Fairgrounds Administration Page 83
Implementation – Design Requirements for the Capital District – Museum Model Page 110
Planning – 10 Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better Page 131
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Libraries – Creative Exhibits & Archives Page 187
Advocacy – Ways to Enhance Tourism – Eco-Tourism Page 190
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage Natural Resources – World Heritage Sites Page 183
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora – Foreign consumption of Arts and Culture Page 217
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts Page 230
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living – Access to the Arts and Culture Page 234
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Rural Living – Access to the Arts and Culture Page 235
Advocacy – Ways to Promote World-Heritage-Sites Page 248

There are lessons to learn from the past; see VIDEO in the Appendix B below. There are benefits – for the future – to many stakeholders for any attempt to reconcile the past with the present.

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people and governing institutions, to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean…Caribbean. This is a big deal for our region. It allows us to organize into a Single Market and leverage the industrial output for regional artists and art institutions, like museums. This book provides the turn-by-turn directions for how to create this Single Market, forge the Capital District, establish the federal museum and monetize the entire artists eco-system.

The Caribbean needs these empowerments; we need to remember the great sacrifices of our African ancestors and the blood, sweat and tears they spilled in forging the New World. Though these ones never got to see the fruit of their labors, we can, in a testament to their sacrifice, fulfill the promise of these Caribbean lands being a better place to live, work and play.

This is my island in the sun
Where my people have toiled since time begun
I may sail on many a sea
Her shores will always be home to me

Oh, island in the sun
Willed to me by my father’s hand
All my days I will sing in praise
Of your forest, waters,
Your shining sand …

Song: Island in the Sun by Harry Belafonte

🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———————–

Appendix A – What is CityLab?

CityLab – previously known as The Atlantic Cities – is dedicated to the people who are creating the cities of the future — and those who want to live there. Through sharp analysis, original reporting, and visual storytelling, our coverage focuses on the biggest ideas and most pressing issues facing the world’s metro areas and neighborhoods.

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Appendix B – VIDEO – John Lewis revisits civil rights history at new African American museum – http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/john-lewis-revisits-civil-rights-history-at-new-african-american-museum/

September 18, 2016 – Saturday marks the official opening of the new Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture. CBS’ “Face the Nation” visited the museum with a man who spent 15 years working on its establishment, Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia. (VIDEO plays best in Internet Explorer).

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Appendix C – List of museums focused on African Americans

Source: Retrieved September 19, 2016 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_museums_focused_on_African_Americans

  City State

Founded
A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum Chicago Illinois

1995
African American Civil War Memorial Museum Washington D.C.

1999
African American Firefighter Museum Los Angeles California

1997
African American Multicultural Museum Scottsdale Arizona

2005
African American Museum Dallas Texas

1974
African American Museum and Library at Oakland Oakland California

1994
African American Museum in Cleveland, The Cleveland Ohio

1956
African American Museum in Philadelphia Philadelphia Pennsylvania

1976
African American Museum of Iowa Cedar Rapids Iowa

2003
African American Museum of Nassau County Hempstead New York

1970
African American Museum of the Arts DeLand Florida

1994
Afro-American Historical and Cultural Society Museum Jersey City New Jersey

1984
Alabama State Black Archives Research Center and Museum Huntsville Alabama

1990
Alexandria Black History Museum Alexandria Virginia

1987
America’s Black Holocaust Museum Milwaukee Wisconsin

1988
Anacostia Museum Washington D.C.

1967
Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum Lynchburg Virginia

1977
Arthur “Smokestack” Hardy Fire Museum Baltimore Maryland

1995
August Wilson Center for African American Culture Pittsburgh Pennsylvania

2006
Baton Rouge African American Museum Baton Rouge Louisiana

2001
Banneker-Douglass Museum Annapolis Maryland

1984
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute Birmingham Alabama

1992
Black American West Museum & Heritage Center Denver Colorado

1971
Black History 101 Mobile Museum Detroit Michigan

1995
Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia Richmond Virginia

1988
Bontemps African American Museum Alexandria Louisiana

1988
Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site Topeka Kansas

2004
Buffalo Soldiers National Museum Houston Texas

2000
California African American Museum Los Angeles California

1981
Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History Detroit Michigan

1965
Clemson Area African American Museum Clemson South Carolina

2010
Creole Heritage Folk Life Center Opelousas Louisiana

1970’s
Delta Cultural Center Helena Arkansas

1991
Dorchester Academy and Museum Midway Georgia

2004
Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American History Museum St. Petersburg Florida

2006
Du Sable Museum of African American History Chicago Illinois

1960
Frederick Douglass National Historic Site Washington D.C.

1962
George Washington Carver Museum, The Tuskegee Alabama

1941
George Washington Carver Museum Phoenix Arizona

1980
George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center Austin Texas

1980
Great Blacks in Wax Museum Baltimore Maryland

1983
Great Plains Black History Museum Omaha Nebraska

1975
Harvey B. Gantt Center Charlotte North Carolina

1974
Idaho Black History Museum Boise Idaho

1995
International African American Museum Charleston South Carolina

2019
International Civil Rights Center and Museum Greensboro North Carolina

2010
Isaac Scott Hathaway Museum at Lexington History Center Lexington Kentucky

2002
John E. Rogers African American Cultural Center Hartford Connecticut

1991
John G. Riley Center/Museum of African American History and Culture Tallahassee Florida

1996
Kansas African-American Museum Wichita Kansas

1997
L. E. Coleman African-American Museum Halifax County Virginia

2005
La Villa Museum Jacksonville Florida

1999
Legacy Museum of African American History Lynchburg Virginia

2000
Louisiana African American Heritage Trail Various locations Louisiana

2008
Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site Visitors Center Atlanta Georgia

1996
Mary McLeod Bethune Home Daytona Beach Florida

1956
Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site Washington D.C.

1979
Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum Culver City California

2010
Mississippi Civil Rights Museum Jackson Mississippi

2017
Mosaic Templars Cultural Center Little Rock Arkansas

2008
Muhammad Ali Center Louisville Kentucky

2005
Museum of African American History & Abiel Smith School Boston Massachusetts

1964
Museum of the African Diaspora San Francisco California

2005
Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture Natchez Mississippi

1991
National African American Archives and Museum Mobile Alabama

1992
National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center Wilberforce Ohio

1987
National Center for Civil and Human Rights Atlanta Georgia

2014
National Center of Afro-American Artists Roxbury Massachusetts

1969
National Civil Rights Museum Memphis Tennessee

1991
National Museum of African American History and Culture Washington D.C.

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National useum of African American Music Nashville Tennessee

2013
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Cincinnati Ohio

2004
National Voting Rights Museum Selma Alabama

1991
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Kansas City Missouri

1990
New Orleans African American Museum New Orleans Louisiana

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Nicodemus National Historic Site Nicodemus Kansas

1996
Northeast Louisiana Delta African American Heritage Museum Monroe Louisiana

1994
Northwest African American Museum Seattle Washington

2008
Old Dillard Museum Fort Lauderdale Florida

1995
Oran Z’s Black Facts and Wax Museum Los Angeles California

2000
Paul R. Jones Collection of African American Art Newark Delaware

2004
Reginald F.Lewis Museum of Maryland African-American History & Culture Baltimore Maryland

2005
River Road African American Museum Donaldsonville Louisiana

1994
Slave Mart Museum Charleston South Carolina

1938
Smith-Robertson Museum and Cultural Center Jackson Mississippi

1984
St. Rita’s Black History Museum New Smyrna Beach Florida

1999
Southeastern Regional Black Archives Research Center and Museum Tallahassee Florida

1976
Tangipahoa African American Heritage Museum Hammond Louisiana

2005
Tubman African American Museum Macon Georgia

1981
Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site Tuskegee Alabama

2008
Weeksville Heritage Center Brooklyn New York

2005
Wells’ Built Museum Orlando Florida

2009
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Lessons from China – Size Does Matter … for Hollywood

Posted on August 26, 2016 in Economics, Industries, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

In a previous commentary, the assertion was made that “movies are an amazing business model; people give money to spend a couple of hours watching someone else’s creation and then leave the theater with nothing to show for the investment; perhaps only a different perspective”. There is no consumption of resources or exchange for chattel goods; the consumer is simply buying an intangible.

There are other industries based on intangibles; consider telecommunications for example. For deliveries in this industry, mass consumption could be a detriment, as quality is degraded with more and more consumption.

CU Blog - Lessons from China - Size Does Matter ... for Hollywood - Photo 1But the movie industry is different; this is one where larger audiences are preferred. This is due to the delivery dynamics: quality is not degraded with frequent delivery of the end product; the quality considerations are embedded in the production, not the delivery. After the production of a movie, all the costs becomes historic; (there is only marginal costs associated with marketing and distribution). The hope is that enough people will buy tickets to see the movie and recoup the investment. After the break-even, all additional revenue is “gravy”; the “more the merrier”.

For Hollywood – a metonym for the film-television-video industry – any access to large markets is a win-win.

Enter China…

… this country has 1.3 billion people. That’s a lot of “eye-balls”. This country, considering its history, used to be closed to western commerce and movie distributions. Now, its open … and advancing. Those 1.3 billion pairs of eye-balls are presenting a lot of opportunities and now starting to wield power. Consider the details of this news article here:

Title – Why China will soon be Hollywood’s largest market
For the hundred years that the movie industry has been around, the United States has been the largest market for films. But as early as next year, a new country may hold that distinction.

Indeed, some analysts expect China’s yearly box office revenue to exceed that of the U.S. by the end of 2017. And even if that’s an optimistic estimate, China will almost certainly have overtaken the United States by the end of 2018.

For proof, just take a look at the growth rate in the China film market over the past few years. In 2014, China’s box office grew 27% from the previous year to $4.55 billion. In 2015, it grew 41% to $6.78 billion.

Due to a weak crop of films and a slowdown in China’s GDP growth, 2016 may not see such a remarkable uptick. However, even with the speed bump, by the end of 2018 China’s film market should surpass the $10.7 billion in yearly box office revenue that the United States has averaged over the past five years.

“North America will probably play second fiddle to China within the next two years,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior analyst at Comscore . “And by the end of the next decade (2030), China’s film market could generate double the revenue of North America’s.”

That’s an incredible result, considering that China was barely a box office factor not too long ago. “The only reason you would talk about China 20 years ago would be to learn about piracy,” said James Schamus, a veteran film producer in the industry. “It is night and day, the difference between China then and now.”
…

Source: The Street – Finance & Economy Journal; posted August 12, 2016; retrieved August 26, 2016 from:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/savingandinvesting/why-china-will-soon-be-hollywoods-largest-market/ar-BBvyTtL

See the remainder of the news article in the Appendix below.

The US domestic market is 320 million people. The Chinese domestic market is 1,300 million or 1.3 billion. Size does matter!

China is a lot of people for Hollywood to cater to; the amazing business model becomes even more amazing. The reality of that market size is starting to manifest in production planning and distribution; (think language translation). This is being recognized finally as the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group bought into Hollywood “royalty” by acquiring movie studio Legendary Entertainment this past April – see VIDEO in the Appendix below. This scenario furnishes a lot of lessons, good and bad, for onlookers to glean.

The promoters of the book Go Lean…Caribbean is looking, listening and learning the lessons from China. We are seeking to apply these lessons in the development of the Caribbean region. Though our population is no way near 1.3 billion, there is still the enlightenment that “size does matter“. As an integrated Single Market, the Caribbean is 42 million people; much more significant a market than any one Caribbean member-state alone.

This is the lesson learned.

This commentary is 2 of 6 from the Go Lean movement, in consideration the good and bad lessons from China. The other commentaries detailed in this series are as follows:

  1. History of China Trade: Too Big to Ignore
  2. Why China will soon be Hollywood’s largest market
  3. Organ Transplantation: Facts and Fiction
  4. Mobile Games Apps: The new Playground
  5. South China Seas: Exclusive Economic Zones
  6. WeChat: Model for Caribbean Social Media – www.MyCaribbean.gov

All of these commentaries relate to nation-building, stressing the community investments required to facilitate the short-term, mid-term and long-term needs of our communities. This blog entry however relates more to the art and science of movies.

Imagine a time – only recently – when Chinese people did not have access to Hollywood’s movies. That is not a world that the Caribbean wants to contemplate. We want to consume this art-form, yes, but we want to produce and distribute as well. We want to have access to our full Caribbean market, the North American market and to China as well.

We know that a few hours at the movies can entertain, engage and transform. Sometimes even, movies can change the world. This art-form can wield great power.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean presents an empowerment plan for the Caribbean region, stressing the arts as equally as it does the sciences. It may be easier for us to excel in the arts than the sciences. Think: we have no Nobel Prize winning scientist in the Caribbean, but we do have (or had) Grammy Award-winning musical artists and Academy Award winning actors. We can still impact the Greater Good in the Caribbean and the rest of the world – including China.

This point was pronounced in the Go Lean book, in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Page 14) with these statements:

xxviii. Whereas intellectual property can easily traverse national borders, the rights and privileges of intellectual property must be respected at home and abroad. The Federation must install protections to ensure that no abuse of these rights go with impunity, and to ensure that foreign authorities enforce the rights of the intellectual property registered in our region.

xxxii. Whereas the cultural arts and music of the region are germane to the quality of Caribbean life, and the international appreciation of Caribbean life, the Federation must implement the support systems to teach, encourage, incentivize, monetize and promote the related industries for arts and music in domestic and foreign markets. These endeavors will make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play.

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) to help the region become a better place to live, work and play. There is a role for the arts (including film-making) in this empowerment roadmap. The book posits that a unified Caribbean Single Market of 42 million people and a GDP of $800 Billion can foster a “domestic” film industry, must like the formations of Bollywood in India (Page 346) and Nollywood in Nigeria. While this is no Hollywood, nor China for that matter, there could still be positive returns on movie industry investments within the Caribbean market. Jobs may be involved, as this amazing business model (movies) can create jobs and garner local returns from the necessary investments.

The quest is to elevate Caribbean society with many industrial developments, including the arts. This was stated in the same Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13) with this statement:

xxi. Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

This impact and overall benefit of this roadmap is pronounced in the Go Lean/CU‘s prime directives, identified with these 3 statements:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines.

These previous blog/commentaries drilled deeper on this quest to better foster the arts-show-business with these examples:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7950 Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival – Long road to Legacy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7685 Music – songs & concerts – have and do change the world
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7082 The Art and Science of ‘Play’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3999 Role Model Sidney Poitier – The Power of Film
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3641 ‘We Built This City …’ on Music and Show-business
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3568 Forging Change: Music Moves People
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2726 Caribbean Role Model for the Arts/Fashion – Oscar De La Renta: RIP
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=866 Caribbean Music Man: Bob Marley – The legend lives on!

The roadmap specifically encourages the region, to lean-in and foster the industrial eco-systems for the arts with these specific community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies:

Community Ethos – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future Page 24
Community Ethos – Minority Equalization Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Intellectual Property Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing Page 35
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Celebrate the arts, people and culture of the Caribbean Page 46
Tactical – Separation-of-Powers – Tourism and Film Promotion & Administration Page 78
Implementation – Integration of Region in Single Market of 42 million people Page 95
Anatomy of Advocacies Page 122
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Caribbean Single Market Page 127
Planning – Ways to Better Manage Image Page 129
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Education – Foster Performing Arts Page 159
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Justice Page 177
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Communications – Simultaneous Languages Page 186
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Hollywood Page 203
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage Page 222
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Youth Page 225
Advocacy – Ways to Improve the Arts Page 230
Appendix  –  A Summary of Bollywood Movies Page 346

The Go Lean book posits that the CU should foster the genius potential in Caribbean artists and incubate the movie industry in the Caribbean; and related show-businesses. The roadmap pronounces that with the participation of many advocates on many different paths for progress, the Caribbean can truly become a better place to live, work and play.

The business axiom is “build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door”. The lesson from China is that larger markets are available … for quality products – “better mousetraps”. If we build a better mousetrap of a film, the world – China included – will beat a path to our door.

Hollywood is seeking out opportunities in China. The Caribbean must also seeks out opportunity in the movie industry. While China is out-of-scope for this roadmap, the lessons learned are very much in scope. The Caribbean must look, listen and learn; then we must change and empower, and foster  … and adapt to this changing world. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————-

Appendix VIDEO – China’s Wanda Buys Into Hollywood – https://youtu.be/dsJjkp2I-MY

Published on Jan 12, 2016 – Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda snapped up U.S. film firm Legendary for $3.5 billion and now owns the rights to popular blockbuster hits such as The Dark Knight, Inception and Straight Outta Compton. (Photo: AP)

————-

Appendix Title – Why China will soon be Hollywood’s largest market … CONT’D

…

The increased importance of revenues from China is in keeping with the globalization of the film market over the past few decades. For instance, the highest-grossing film of 1989, Tim Burton’s “Batman,” saw 61.1% of its worldwide box office total come from North American theaters, with the other 38.9% coming from foreign territories.

The latest film starring the Caped Crusader, however, shows how the tides have turned. “Batman v. Superman” grossed only 37.9% from North America and saw 62.1% of its total revenue from international markets–almost an exact reversal of the 1989 “Batman.”

What’s behind the spike in international grosses in recent years? According to Daniel Loria, editorial director at Box Office Media, the trend can be attributed to technological innovation within the film industry.

“Exhibition didn’t start to boom overseas until digital cinema took over analog,” he says, referring to the fact that movies are now largely delivered to theaters via digital files rather than physical reels of 35-millimeter film. “At that point, it became significantly more affordable to deliver prints of movies, and so distribution became democratized.”

Ever since that important shift to digital cinema, exhibitors and studios have capitalized on the facility with which they can now show films to global audiences. Movie theaters are being constructed at a historically quick rate across the world. For example, 8,035 screens were erected in China in 2014 alone, which is more than 20% of the 39,000 screens that the United States currently has. And audiences are attending the newly constructed theaters in large numbers, propelling films such as “Batman v. Superman” to international grosses that are competitive with those from North America.

And “Batman v. Superman” is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to films making the majority of their money overseas. In recent memory, 2013’s “Pacific Rim” made 75.2% of its total gross overseas, with its revenue from China ($111.9 million) outstripping revenue from North America ($101.8 million). “[Fast and] Furious 7” was even more impressive last spring, making 76.7% of its whopping $1.5 billion worldwide gross from international territories. Again, China box office ($390.9 million) surpassed North American box office ($353 million).

CU Blog - Lessons from China - Size Does Matter ... for Hollywood - Photo 3The recent release of “Warcraft” perhaps best exemplifies how international revenues are now able to determine a film’s overall success. “Warcraft,” which cost a hefty $160 million to make, was a domestic bomb, grossing only $47.2 million in the United States. Twenty years ago, that result probably would have meant game over for distributor Universal. However, that $47.2 million was only 10.9% of the film’s worldwide total gross. “Warcraft” made a whopping $385.8 million, or 89.1% of its total box office, from international territories. That figure includes a stunning $220.8 million from–you guessed it–the People’s Republic of China.

It is important to note, however, that “Warcraft” did have a bit of help over its massive run in China. The film was partly produced by Legendary Entertainment, which was bought by the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group in April of this year. According to Jonathan Papish, film industry analyst at China Film Insider, Wanda Group is perhaps best known in China for its real-estate development. “They’re known for their shopping complexes, their Wanda Malls,” says Papish. However, the conglomerate also owns a theater chain, Wanda Cinema Line. Wanda has also expressed interest in buying stakes in both Lionsgate and Paramount Pictures. The corporation was founded and is owned by Wang Jialin, now one of the richest men in the country.

In order to ensure the success of “Warcraft,” Wanda took steps to make sure the film was well-positioned to do well among Chinese audiences. The corporation rolled out a major promotional campaign for the film, supplying moviegoers with promotional seat covers that allowed them to choose the side of either the Horde or the Alliance, the two rival groups in “Warcraft.” And it’s likely that the film’s ties to Wanda allowed it to secure a release date that lined up with the rest of the film’s international rollout.

And China is not the only country where Wanda holds sway. Indeed, the conglomerate has deep ties to U.S. movie-going, through its majority stake in AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. . That means that Wanda owns all AMC Theaters and will soon own Carmike Theaters if the proposed deal goes through. AMC’s recent deal to acquire the European cinema chain Odeon & UCI Cinema Group gives Wanda a true global footprint.

However, an arsenal of movie theaters across the globe does not mean uniform movie-going habits at all of those theaters. For example, in the U.S., it is more difficult to get younger audiences to come to the movies than older. The opposite is true in China.

“China now has the youngest average age of moviegoers out there,” says Schamus. “And it’s getting younger all the time.”

Another difference between the two markets is evidenced in ticket-purchasing trends. In North America, audiences rarely buy tickets before arriving at the movie theater, although exceptions are often made for movies with high anticipation (such as the latest “Star Wars”). It’s estimated that about 20% of the tickets sold in North America are sold online.

In China, however, 57.5% of all tickets are purchased online, mostly through ticketing apps–financed by companies such as Alibaba –that often give discounts to those who use their services (compare that to Fandango, which charges a convenience fee). A price discount will usually be subsidized by the company that is bankrolling the ticketing app, in order to gain a leg-up on the ticketing competition and collect information on what kinds of audiences are drawn to a particular movie. The company will often then partner with a distributor to gain information about the demographic that is buying tickets.

Usually, these discounts will be for domestic films, which is one of many advantages that homegrown content enjoys in China’s film market. Chinese regulators maintain control over when foreign films get screened, and often stack the release calendar to give domestic films a leg-up over Hollywood blockbusters. For example, in 2012 Chinese regulators scheduled superhero movies “The Amazing Spider-Man” and “The Dark Knight Rises” for release on the same day in China. Both ultimately put up decent numbers, but it was a clear attempt to cross-cannibalize Hollywood productions so that domestic films could thrive. Censors also reserve the right to block a film’s release because they object to content, as was the case with “Ghostbusters” recently (because the film promoted superstition!).

Another way that the Chinese government ensures that homegrown movies do well is by maintaining a quota of foreign films that are allowed to release in China. Only 34 films that aren’t released by a Chinese distributor can screen in the Middle Kingdom per year, and 14 of those films have to have a premium format release (3D, IMAX, etc.). These movies are released under a revenue-sharing model where the studio retains the rights to the movie in China (as well as 25% of the box office) but concedes scheduling rights to Chinese censors.

China has shown a willingness to accommodate more Hollywood content in the future, however. This year, the country shortened its annual blackout period, wherein foreign films are barred from showing in theaters in the interest of promoting local content. That period, which typically lasts from late June to early August, was cut off early this year when “The Legend of Tarzan” received a July 19 release date. Additionally, the foreign film quota is expected to expand next year, as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) is going to re-negotiate its deal with the Chinese government.

There is another, seldom-discussed way that foreign content can get through Chinese regulators outside of the 34-film quota. Studios can sell their film to a Chinese distributor that collects all revenue that the movie makes in the country. For example, Lionsgate sold last year’s “The Last Witch Hunter” to China Film Group, which released the film in China in January to solid box office results.

Currently, the number of foreign films in China that are allowed to be sold into release is limited to 50. However, that quota could expand even sooner than the revenue-sharing one. “I predict that the number will change very soon,” says Papish. “When that happens, you’ll see smaller movies from Hollywood coming over.”

Currently, Chinese audiences usually only get to see big-budget Hollywood productions that are dependent on revenue from China to succeed. Sure, margins are smaller for these studios in China — they get 50% of ticket sale revenue in North America compared to the 25% they receive in China — but that 25% is often integral to a movie’s success. Lionsgate’s recent film “Now You See Me 2” made a huge $97.1 million in China, meaning that the studio will likely see about $24 million in revenue. That’s not a far cry from the $32.5 million that the studio is likely to receive from North American ticket sales, which are petering out at about a $65 million total take.

In fact, “Now You See Me 2” proved so popular in China that Lionsgate is working on a Chinese-language spinoff of the film that will be co-produced with Beijing-based film company Leonus Pictures. What’s more, Leonus Pictures reportedly advised Lionsgate on how best to produce content for the Chinese market when in pre-production on “Now You See Me 2.”

Such partnerships will increasingly become the norm as the Chinese film market grows into the world’s largest. “Kung Fu Panda 3,” released earlier this year, was a co-production between Dreamworks Animation and Oriental Dreamworks, a Shanghai-based production company founded by Dreamworks and Chinese investors. A third of the movie was made in China, and the lip movements of the characters were animated twice, once to synchronize to English voice-acting, and again to synchronize to Mandarin voice-acting. The film, perhaps unsurprisingly, grossed more in China than it did in the U.S., $154.3 million to $143.5 million.

CU Blog - Lessons from China - Size Does Matter ... for Hollywood - Photo 2The financiers of the upcoming film “The Great Wall” will hope for the same kind of success between North America and China. The film, which was filmed entirely in China, was funded by a mixture of American and Chinese financing companies, and it features an ensemble of American stars (Matt Damon, Willem Dafoe) and Chinese stars (Andy Lau, Wang Junkai). The film will be released in the People’s Republic in December and in the United States in February of next year.

“The Great Wall,” which cost $135 million to make, could be the first blockbuster to target both North American audiences and Chinese audiences in such an intentional fashion. The director, Zhang Yimou, recently told Entertainment Weekly that the film is using “Hollywood filmmaking to introduce Chinese culture.” The film will be a healthy dose of diversity for American audiences that rarely see Asian actors in anything but small roles on the big screen. If the movie is successful, more Chinese-American co-productions could be on the horizon.

Though pirated films in China primed audiences there for wide exposure to Hollywood blockbusters, the booming economy and surging population in the People’s Republic have left American studios with an attractive market to target with their movies. The theater infrastructure growth in China and advanced technology facilitated distribution in China, and studios are tapping into that opportunity by gearing their productions toward audiences in Shanghai or Beijing instead of New York or L.A.

That’s left some disgruntled. Richard Berman, the executive director of the Center for American Security, fears that China is wielding its box office power to control the film industry in America.

“I’m worried that the people of China are implicitly or overtly controlling our content,” says Berman. “The government might be forcing studios to inject pro-Chinese messages into films.”

Berman’s Center for American Security recently staged a protest outside of an AMC theater in Times Square, citing the belief that Wanda’s “true desire” was to sell “Communist propaganda as well as popcorn.”

Though this paranoia may be a minority opinion, the Chinese influence on Hollywood is something that studios are going to have to get wise to in order to boast big numbers at the box office. And as some fear flagging box office revenue in North America — amid the popularity of streaming services that has dropped theater attendance — China can be the shot in the arm studios need to keep their profits robust, if only they can tailor content to attract the movie-going public there. A country that was barely given a second thought in Hollywood 20 years ago is now, perhaps, the most significant market in the world. Although China’s expansion may be the most meteoric, every foreign market has grown in significance, which means only one thing.

“You’re going to see more co-productions, strategic partnerships, and a shift towards utilizing the resources of China,” says Dergarabedian. “Ultimately, it’s all about creating movies that resonate not only with the China culture, but also with a global audience.”

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