NAACP criticizes use of Trail Maids in Inaugural Parade

[Flashermac]

Montgomery, Ala. (WSFA) -- They're part of a long standing tradition that will soon become a part of Presidential history.

 

The head of the Alabama NAACP, however, wants Mobile's Azalea Trail Maids to stay home on Inauguration Day, claiming the group reminds him of slavery.

 

"These are not just regular costumes. These are the costumes that remind someone of the plantation in Gone with the Wind," Edward Vaughn said in a phone interview.

 

Vaughn went on to say the group would be the laughing stock of the Inauguration. County leaders say nothing could be further from the truth.

 

"We want everyone to know that these young ladies do not need to be identified with slavery," said Mobile County Commissioner Stephen Nodine.

 

"I don't see what the dresses have to do with racism. I don't see it. It's just a regular dress to me. Just a dress they wore back in the day," said Carolyn Tius of Montgomery.

 

Organizers stand behind the tradition, but opponents say tradition is the problem.

 

"We needed something that could show Alabama's great progress rather than something that shows a shameful past," Vaughn said.

 

 

Maybe they should dress likes Crips and Bloods

 

 

[colorwolf]

absolutely fascinating!

meanwhile, in liechtenstein:

 

 

Martin Frommelt: Early and Recent Paintings on View at Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein

 

VADUZ - The Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein is showing the exhibition â??Martin Frommelt. Early and Recent Paintingsâ?Â, which presents works by Martin Frommelt, one of the most important painter and graphic artist in Liechtenstein after 1945.

 

Martin Frommelt is of outstanding importance both for the development and the under-standing of art in Liechtenstein. Frommelt was born in Schaan in 1933 and became inter-ested in art at an early age. He received his first training from his uncle, Canon Anton Frommelt, himself a painter and photographer, and also in charge of the estate of the artist Ferdinand Nigg (died 1949), who had brought modernism to Liechtenstein. Frommelt be-gan to go his own direction in the 1950s, while he was studying painting in Paris. Although his work was also marked by the Ecole de Paris, which still largely dominated the European art world, the influence of Nigg and Canon Frommelt still persisted.

 

On returning to Liechtenstein Martin Frommelt was involved for a long time in art for build-ings. In addition, he worked on three partly monumental print cycles which forced his paint-ing somewhat into the background. In 1970 he published the sequence of woodblock prints Apokalypse, in 1986 the folio of etchings Vähtrieb-Viehtrieb containing 122 sheets, and finally, in 1999, Creation â?? Fünf Konstellationen zur Schöpfung with 214 colour lithographs, which latter gained the artist remarkable international success. Frommelt continued to be interested in the enamel technique, in which he also created an extensive work cycle.

 

Yet Frommelt did not cease to paint alongside all these activities, and the aim of this exhibi-tion is to present this particular area of his oeuvre, which, paradoxically, is the least well-known. The works on show will include the early years in Paris as well as paintings he has produced over the past year and a half.

 

The exhibition demonstrates how Frommelt has always succeeded in combining his paint-ing with his preoccupation with graphic and other artistic techniques. It was precisely his experiences with these techniques that repeatedly led to a renewal of his painting, which has remained inventive and vigorous.

 

NOT TO BE MISSED

[Flashermac]

http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/tom/more/

 

 

 

[Steve]

I have a lot of issues with the NAACP. The problem they have is they are being marginalized.

 

By and large, the 'struggle' they were founded over is over. Yes, instances do exist and yes, 'we' (collectively as a nation) are not completely there, but only the most myopic can not say this country has made gigantic strides.

 

Anyway, one of the myriad of problems they have is the local heads. They are bored at times. They deal with local issues and sometimes differ greatly from the national body.

 

Several years ago the the local chapter in Los Angeles and the national body were on opposite sides with regards to the oscar awards. One wanted to boycott for the lack of recognition of black actors, directors, etc. and the other didn't as coincidentally that years Oscars were hosted by a black person (I think it was Whoopi Goldberg, cant' recall but remember the host was black).

 

They need something to keep them relevant. The media tends to view them as the 'voice of the community' and for the most part the vast majority of black folks couldn't give a flying f**k about maids and stuff like that. Just like every other American they have the same 'dinner table' issues: paying for health care, college for the kids, better school and neighborhood for my kids, my job.

 

There are plenty of ethnic organizations that became extinct because the world changed...for the better. Irish and Italian American organizations were aplenty decades ago. They prospered when many were discriminated against, etc. but died out, for the right reasons.

 

The good thing is we are becoming a world or an America specifically that NAACP and other such organizations can die out and it not be a bad thing. We should be striving for a world where there is no need for them as well as other groups such as gay rights groups, etc.