Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Black Boys Under the Gun
A day after the Thanksgiving holiday, 17-year-old Jordan Russell Davis was shot by a 45-year-old assailant, Michael David Dunn. Dunn claims that he unloaded his gun into a vehicle full of teens in “self-defense” after stopping the youths to order them to turn their music down. Davis was Black. Dunn is White. Lest the public too…
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One Cold Day In Paradise
On my way to talk to a group of students about homelessness, the wind chill on this day made what was already a bone chilling 5 degrees. Even though I was dressed for the occasion, I still couldn’t feel my face. As I walked through the Commons I saw something shocking. There is a homeless…
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Django Unchained: A Review
Django Unchained directed by Quentin Tarantino (Weinstein Company, $29.99) I expected the epithet “nigger” to be overused in Django Unchained. It is a Quentin Tarantino film after all, and Tarantino is proficient in hyperbole. I was not prepared, however, for the countless eruptions of laughter following those scenes — and there were many — in which “nigger” was used…
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Nothing but a Man: A Review
Nothing but a Man directed by Michael Roemer (Studio V, $26.95) Nothing but a Man was released in 1964, directed and written by Michael Roemer, a Jewish man who fled Germany after the “night of broken glass”, which took place in 1938 and was called Kristallnacht, just as the Jews were getting set up…
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The Whimsical Soul of Gregory Porter
With signature Kangol with ear flaps pulled over his head—looking more the vagabond than the genius—Gregory Porter would have cut a figure in any era; but it is his voice—as original as they come—that surely arrests everyone’s attention. Gregory Porter is among a generation of Black male jazz singers, including Jose James and Dwight…
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Transit of Venus: A Review
Transit of Venus by Three Days Grace (RCA, $11.88) The Canadian rock band, Three Days Grace, is back with another album! Transit of Venus was released October 2, 2012 with Adam Gontier’s brilliant vocals welcoming us to this beautiful sound. You may be more familiar with their songs “Never Too Late,” “I Hate Everything About…
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Local Bands Making Things Hot This Winter
Ryan Lee Crosby by Ryan Lee Crosby Ryan Lee Crosby, former leader of Cancer to the Stars, once again reinvents himself musically with his newest release. Recorded and mixed entirely analog, the album sounds like a lost psychedelic gem from the late 60s, with a deep sonic diversity that combines the guitar heroics of…
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Reflections From The Road
I cannot sleep tonight stars scream in my eyes the train horn tosses and turns in my bed invisible children stomachs as empty as their dreams whimpering in the rush of night homeless clutching cardboard resumes and coffee cups void of hope fragile voices asking my nightmares for change —Jake St. John
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Life After Murder: A Review
Life After Murder: Five Men in Search of Redemption by Nancy Mullane (PublicAffairs, $26.99) Will the stain of murder ever be removed from the soul of the perpetrator? There are many people in our society who are responsible for the death of another human being, and never face a judge or experience the confinement of a…
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Argo and the Roots of U.S.-Iran Tensions
News in November 1979 that U.S. diplomats had been taken hostage in Tehran shocked the United States. Students stormed the U.S. embassy, blindfolding 52 Americans and threatening them at gunpoint. The hostages, held captive for 444 days, immediately became the nation’s top news story and dogged President Jimmy Carter’s unsuccessful re-election campaign. Argo traces the…
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