Lawman Bass Reeves, US Deputy Marshall | Food for Thought

Posted on April 24, 2011 by Rio

U.S. Deputy Marshall Bass Reeves

“The First African American US Deputy Marshall West of the Mississippi River”

I was browsing at Borders Books and Music, and I found this book about a famous lawman named Bass Reeves who was a black man; and who was so efficient that survived 14 gunfights without a scratch. He brought in more than 3,000 felons in 32 years of service under Judge Parker (the hanging judge). 

How many movies has Hollywood made about Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday? We have been given a very distorted view of history, haven’t we? Food for thought.

I found a movie about Reeves that was released on 2010, and I missed it because I didn’t even hear about it.  Although I have to admit I don’t go to the movies that often. I guess I’ll get it on itunes later. 

“He was the most famous lawman the west ever had.  During his thirty-two years of service he fought in fourteen shoot-outs and was never wounded once.  He brought in over three thousands outlaws, was an expert tracker and marksman and often wore disguises to enter outlaw sanctums.  Yet to this day, his name is only known to a handful of historians.  Why is this so?  Because Bass Reeves was a black man.”

More info at: The Black Art Depot Today  or just google his name.

Advertisement

Filed under: Books and Movies | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

The Matrix | The Eye of the Dragon | The Challenge

Posted on June 2, 2010 by Rio

At last, I saw The Matrix. I liked the analogies (the Wachowskis must have read Carlos Castaneda) and implications. For although The Matrix is not produced by artificial intelligence (machines), it actually exists. It is here, limiting human beings, holding us in bondage, and rendering our intelligence useless − it creates a petty and cruel species that preys on its own kind.

What actually pulls the wool over our eyes, however, and forces us to take reality for what is not (and act like nitwits) is our own reflection − that is the part the movie misses. But, of course, being science fiction it is entitled to. I wonder, however, if it will help us realize that we are boundless beings trapped in a crippling system. And we can actually fly!

The Matrix is indeed everywhere, we are trapped in a bubble of perception, but so is the way out, the eye of the dragon, the knowledge to destroy our chains. We have a challenge in our hands, a challenge worthy of us.

There comes a moment in our lives when we are struck by a gut feeling that something is wrong, something is out of kilter. From that moment on it is our responsibility to accept the challenge and take action, do our search. Not doing so will extract from us an extremely high toll.

Be advised.

**********************

Morpheus: … you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind.

Buddha: Regard this fleeting world, as a star at dawn, a bubble in a stream,  a flash of lightning in a summer cloud, a flickering lamp, a phantom and a dream. − The Diamond Sutra

Morpheus: I’m trying to free your mind, Neo. But I can only show you the door. You’re the one that has to walk through it.

For me there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length. And there I travel, looking, looking breathlessly. –Don Juan

Filed under: Books and Movies | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments »

Door to Door | Movie | Bill Porter

Posted on April 10, 2009 by Rio

I had heard people talk about the movie Door to Door and recently came across a post at the Mawhinney blog,   reviewing the movie. I was impressed!  Bill Porter was born with cerebral palsy and against all odds became the top salesman for the Watkins company.  So I did a search in Wikipedia to corroborate the facts and this is what I found:
“Porter had been told for many years that he was not employable, but he threw all of his effort into working as a salesman for Watkins. Despite the pain of his medical condition, he would walk eight to ten miles a day to meet his customers. Porter has been able to support himself, and continued to work as a salesman at the age of 69 at the time of the film’s showing.”

At the age of 76 Mr. Porter is still working; you can visit him on the web.

The season of failure is the best time for sowing the seeds of success.– Paramahansa Yogananda

Filed under: Inner growth | Tagged: , , | Comments Off on Door to Door | Movie | Bill Porter

%d bloggers like this: