"My work is never finished," says actress, Civil Rights icon Ruby Dee, 87

3/8/2011

Actress and civil rights activist Ruby Dee, 87, smiles when she talks about the time she slapped Denzel Washington across the face in the 2007 film; American Gangster. She spoke to an audience exceeding 250 people at Chao Auditorium Tuesday.

In the film American Gangster, Dee portrays Mama Lucas, the disapproving mother of gangster Frank Lucas, played by Denzel Washington. She was nominated for an Oscar for her role in the film which was directed by Ridley Scott.

"Ridley Scott took me aside and said 'we just gotta spank the boy'," she said. "We didn't rehearse the scene because we wanted to be as candid and real as possible."

Dee says it was easy playing the role of a concerned mother in Harlem because she grew up in the neighborhood and her own mother was preoccupied with Dee's safety. She describes Harlem as a testing ground and says it was a university of hard-knocks where she first became enthusiastic about art and acting.

"All of our lives we're learning and parenting is an art, so you can't avoid being an artist," she said" Making someone feel bad is an easy task, but making someone feel good is an art."

As an activist, Dee befriended Civil Rights activists Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X and she remains active in the NAACP and is a member of Congress of Racial Equality. Ambassador Shabazz, the daughter of Malcolm X, was in the audience.

"When I think of the hell that was racism in the 60's, I think of what we have come through and how much work we have left to do." Dee said, briefly losing her composure.

A member of the audience handed Dee a handkerchief and some members of the audience became teary eyed as the 87 year old actress continued to deliver her speech.

"Everybody in this world has got to make change," she said. "We've got to get together as a community, change that lock on the door and then change that door."

She recalled the lynchings that occurred in the Southern United States when she was younger and talked about life during that time.

"I realize the younger people in this audience might not realize what African Americans have been through," Dee said. "But when I look at the hell that was racism, I have hope for where we are going and my work is never finished."

U.S. says Ghadaffi must go

James Calvert-Geneva, Switzerland

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for the immediate resignation of embattled Libyan leader Moammar Ghadaffi Monday at the United Nations human rights council in Geneva.

"Ghadaffi has lost the legitimacy to govern and it is time for him to go without further delay," Clinton told members of the council.

Clashes between Libyan soldiers and Libyan rebels have escalated in recent weeks in the nation's capital. France, Germany and the United States condemned the actions of the Libyan Government, which is believed to be controlled by Ghaddafi.

Clinton said the brutal attacks by the the Libyan leader on his own people are unacceptable and would not be tolerated by the international community.

Clinton told the council that the international community has come to the consensus that the attacks on the people of Libya are unacceptable. The United Nations voted unanimously to impose an arms embargo and freeze the assets of Ghadaffi and his family. The United States has frozen 30 billion dollars of Colonel Ghadaffi's monetary assets in the United States. His family's bank accounts have been frozen in attempt to further isolate the Ghaddafi regime.

"Our European allies have discussed specific measures that will increase the pressure, further isolating Ghaddafi and his regime," Clinton said.

Clinton added that The United States would impose its own sanctions in addition to UN sanctions.

Clinton drew similarities between the human rights abuses in Iran and Libya, citing the death of peaceful protesters at the hands of corrupt regimes.

“Iran, for example, has consistently pursued policies of violence abroad, and tyranny at home" Clinton said. "In Tehran, security forces have beaten, detained, and in several recent cases killed peaceful protesters, even as Iran’s president has made a show of denouncing the violence in Libya.”

The death toll in Libya is not known and foreign journalists have faced scrutiny from Ghadaffi's government. Thursday, a Belgian photojournalist was detained by Libyan soldiers while he was covering a protest led by Libyan civilians outside Tripoli.

Ghadaffi said he refuses to relinquish his position as leader of the embattled nation Wednesday but his whereabouts are unknown. Reports that he fled to neighboring Niger are unsubstantiated. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offered political asylum Friday to the embattled leader.

The best laid plans of Fouad 'Jorge' Goodman

Regime change, political coups and warfare have have interrupted the best laid plans of Faoud 'Jorge' Goodman and his life experiences are a testament to his resilience. His mostly Spanish speaking friends refer to him as 'Jorge', rather than his birth name 'Fouad'- Arabic for 'heart'.

Born in 1951 in Potrerillos, Honduras, to a Greek father and a Honduran mother, Goodman travelled the world, witnessing world changing events of the late twentieth Century. After having lived in eight countries and learning four languages, Goodman, 60, is today a citizen of The United States and permanent resident of Louisville, Kentucky.

Goodman says it was his family that brought him to Louisville, after he spent many of his formative years as a worldly nomad, frequently moving for economic opportunities.

In 1962, when Goodman was sixteen years old, his father bought a new Mercedes Benz while they were living in Antwerp, Belgium- they drove five thousand miles to Israel, where his grandfather owned a postcard printing company. His father would often put Jorge in charge of navigation which took them through Holland, Germany, The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Turkey and eventually to his grandfather's home in Israel.

"My father would ask me; 'where do you want to go today?' and I would often pick the zoo, or the museum," Goodman said. "It was more like a vacation."

While living in a Palestinian neighborhood in east Jerusalem, he attended an Anglican affiliated British school. While in school he befriended the son of former Libyan leader, King Idris. In 1969, King Idris was overthrown in Libya by Moammar Ghadaffi and his son left the school, never to be seen again.

Goodman says he attended a British school in Jerusalem because his father wanted him to learn about the Bible, in accordance to his upbringing in the Greek Orthodox church.

"It was the only school in Israel where I could learn about the Bible rather than the Koran or the Torah," Goodman said. "My father wanted me to be raised as Greek Orthodox and it was the only school where I could do that."

The Six Days War between Jordan and Israel began in 1967 when Goodman was sixteen years old, living in east Jerusalem. He vividly recounts the war that broke out and the scenes of war and chaos that followed.

"The dead were left in the streets with no one to clean up the mess," Goodman said. "Jordanian Army tanks were abandoned by soldiers who fled the conflict."

Goodman's grandfather's business was destroyed in the war and his father made the decision to move his family to the Dominican Republic and eventually back to his native country of Honduras.

He eventually left Honduras for Peru, and he says he often misses the food and culture in that country. After leaving Peru, he moved to Venezuela, which he describes as his least favorite country. He lost all of his life savings after Hugo Chavez took power in the 1990's which forced many businesses to leave the country.

"Most Venezuelan men are lazy and their wives have to work to support them while they are drinking with friends," Goodman said." It's a welfare state with the highest consumption of alcohol in the world."

In 1994, he moved to Argentina where he met his wife, Paula Prassolo-Goodman, a native of Argentina, they live in Louisville, Kentucky where Goodman is a representative for Cricket Mobile Phones.

Goodman became a citizen of he United States in 2007 after moving in with his family in Louisville, Kentucky. He describes having difficulty getting his citizenship after 9/11.

"I would get screened by the TSA whenever I would fly," Goodman said. "The name Faoud sends up red flags for some reason, I don't know why."

Goodman says he doesn't have any regrets about his life and his relaxed demeanor conveys some of his attitudes about life.

"Life gives you lemons, you make the lemonade, as you say here in America," Goodman says. "I have always managed to turn lemons into red wine."

Rest in peace, Brother Raphael.

I took this photo in 2005 at Gethsemani Abbey near Bardstown, Kentucky. The monks were preparing themselves for 'Vespers', Latin for 'evening prayer'. I was recently informed that Brother Raphael passed away last year and he's buried near Thomas Merton at the Abbey. Brother Raphael infored me that one of the pilots of the Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the "Fat-Man" bomb on Hiroshima, lived out the later years of his life at the Abbey. I believe what Brother Raphael told me and I'd love to know more about this individual. I doubt anyone will ever know the whole story...

The view from where I'm standing

The security Guard: "Don't take that picture, you can't take pictures here."

Me: "But this is a public sidewalk."

I was taking photos for a story about layoffs at Jewish Hospital, standing on the (public) sidewalk when I was aggressively approached by one of the security guards and a public relation representative from the hospital. As it turned out, I was on a public sidewalk and the hospital apologized for the mistake.

"Caught and sang the sun in flight"

Don't mind me, I'm just dusting off the old blog.

State Fair Comfort Food. copyright 2010 James Calvert

ANONYMOUS vs. THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY

Members of the hacker group known as "Anonymous" protest near the Church of Scientology on Bardstown Road in Louisville, Saturday. The protesters, who wore masks to conceal their identities, assailed Scientology as a "dangerous cult," according to one protester who did not identify himself. A Louisville Metro Police officer observed the protest in front of the Church of Scientology.

Searching for Henry Earl

left: Henry Earl of Lexington, Kentucky is an internet celebrity for being arrested nearly 1,000 times for public intoxication. (photos and text by J.B. Calvert)


It's not difficult to find Henry Earl. Googl(ing) the name 'Henry Earl' yields a homepage, dozens of fan sites and a Wikipedia article dedicated to his internet legend. In real life, finding him isn't difficult, he's either in jail or trying to get arrested.

In the past 13 years Henry Earl, 58 has been arrested nearly a thousand times by Fayette County Police for public intoxication and other non-violent charges.

Once while intoxicated at a free concert at The University of Kentucky, Henry interrupted the performance of a local band. The band agreed to allow Henry to stay on stage after he agreed to sing like James Brown. The rest as they say, is internet history. Today folks in Lexington call him 'James Brown'.

Henry got his first moments of internet fame when a user at Fark.com posted a link to a gallery of his mug shots from website of the Fayette County Corrections Facility. Hundreds of Fark users flooded the Fayette County Corrections facility website to see dozens of mug shots of Henry, depicting him in a range of emotions. Many of the mug shots circulating on the web depict Henry with bloodshot eyes, glowing with an infectious smile or frowning with a grim gesture. In other photos, he appears stunned like a deer in headlights-- or posed with a reflective, introspective expression.








above photos: Mugshots depicting Henry's range of emotions were linked to by users of Fark.com . (mugshots public domain.)

The high rate of internet traffic caused servers at The Fayette County Corrections Facility to crash. Henry became America's most famous alcoholic.

THE INTERVIEW

Henry Earl is the first internet celebrity I met. The Lexington jail Henry calls home is only 90 miles away from Louisville so I decided to arrange a meeting and photo op with Henry.

After a few phone calls to the media relations manager of the Fayette County Corrections Facility, I was able to get an interview with Henry.

The drive from Louisville to Lexington on interstate 64 is a trek through the gentle, rolling hills of an area referred to as 'Bluegrass Region', or 'Horse Country'. Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai owns a horse farm near Lexington. Kentucky is a slab of limestone, covered with rich, rolling soil. The limestone enhances the calcium the bones of grazing animals that graze in the bluegrass. As the saying goes; "Kentucky clay makes the boys tall and bright." Something went horribly wrong in Henry's case.

The Fayette County Corrections Facility stands in a commercial district of Lexington near light industrial factories and a slew of fast food restaurants. Built in 2000, the jail is a cutting edge facility and features aspects of traditional Kentucky architecture. The jail entrance resembles one of the many iconic horse stables from the Kentucky Bluegrass region.

left: The Fayette County Corrections Facility, on the outskirts of Lexington resembles one of the many iconic horse barns in the region.

As I arrived at the Corrections Facility the guard at the entrance searched through my camera bag as he contemplated the function of some of the instruments and placed them back in the bag. I couldn't stop smiling at the guard.

"I'm here to see Henry Earl," I said.

The guard didn't say anything. Either he knew Henry and was tired of hearing about him, or he probably didn't care why I was there.

"The media relations manager will be here to see you in a few minutes, please have a seat," the guard said.

The media relations person greeted me with the most cordial Kentucky hospitality and we walked and talked as we made our way to talk to Henry. I explained to the media relations person that I wanted to help Henry in some way. Donating cash to Henry is pointless, he owes the Fayette County Corrections Facility a pretty penny for his nearly 1,000 arrests. I gave Henry a 40 dollar gift card for Wendy's and a printed list of nearly every Alcoholics Anonymous Center in Fayette County.

"You can't control the actions of others, but you can always control your own," I said to the media relations person.

We neared the end of a florescent lit hallway, lined with bulletproof glass which gave brief glimpses into brightly lit, spacious common areas for inmates. Still bodies and shifty eyes of inmates seemed to follow our movements as we continued down the hallway.

Finally we arrived at Henry's window. Behind the bulletproof glass was Henry Earl, grinning like piranha in a goldfish bowl.

"Hi Henry!" I exclaimed.

Henry's grin was infectious, revealing missing front teeth. His hair was disheveled as it was in many of his mugshots but I could sense he was well fed and bathing regularly.

"Hi there!" Henry exclaimed through the window.

I felt like his guest.

The barrier between Henry and I was an inch and a half piece of thick piece of tempered bulletproof glass. The window through which we talked to each other muffled our words.

Inmate visitation stalls at the Fayette County Corrections facility exclude the stereotypical closed circuit telephones. Ventilation holes around the bulletproof windows are the only way to communicate with the inmates. Nevertheless, I managed to interview Henry.

We made our introductions and I explained what I was doing and why. Henry nodded and seemed to understand what I was saying, although I wonder how coherent he could possibly be. Henry is 58 years old, (2007) his nerves may be damaged by binge drinking nearly 1,000 times in the past 13 years.

"You're Henry Earl," I said.

Henry nodded, still smiling from ear to ear.

"And you've been in jail nearly 1,000 times..."

"Yeah!" Henry proudly proclaimed.

"Do you get along with the staff?" I asked.

"Police know me well, the guards cut up with me often."

"What have you been getting arrested for, Henry?"

"Drinkin'!" Henry exclaimed.

"They call you James Brown, I can see the resemblance," I said, joking.

Behind the bulletproof glass Henry jumped, knocking his plastic chair to the floor. He proceeded to dance and sing like James Brown until a guard told him to sit down and shut up. Seeing Henry dance behind the glass window was surreal. He resembled a performance artist rather than an institutionalized homeless alcoholic.

The next question seemed inappropriate, but I knew Henry would be interested in the topic.

"What do you like to drink?" I asked.

A prison guard standing nearby snickered at the question.

"I like drinkin' pints of Wild Irish Rose wine," Henry said. "It's all I drink."

Wild Irish Rose comes in 375 mL, 750 mL, and a 50 oz jug. The beverage is a low- end, fortified wine at 18 % ABV. After doing a quick Google maps search of liquor stores near The University of Kentucky I made some calls to try to determine where Henry gets his hooch.

In order to find out which liquor stores Henry patronizes I called stores and asked the clerk if Wild Irish Rose was in stock. If so, I asked how much they sell it for and in what size. After calling ten liquor stores in Lexington, only 2 of the clerks took the time to look up the price of Wild Irish Rose. Eventually I found the prices for Wild Irish Rose- $1.75 for a 1.5 liter and $3.99 for a fifth. One clerk remained on the phone long enough to mention "James Brown" is banned from his particular store.

"Henry hasn't been allowed in our store for 15 years," said the clerk. "He used to aggressively panhandle and harass the customers."

In Lexington Henry has been banned from liquor stores, an alcohol treatment center and once he was banned from jail. Guards at the Fayette County jail denied Henry admittance despite his plea to be re-arrested one particular frigid winter morning. Henry was sober and frustrated but determined to get out of the cold. Henry used every bit of his 130 lbs. of leverage to send a trash receptacle cascading through the window of a police cruiser in the jail parking lot. Henry was escorted just a few yards to jail.

In February 2006 Henry entered an alcohol treatment program where he was given a job and living space. His rap sheet for 2006 accounts for only 3 arrests, his First arrest in March was for criminal trespassing in the 3rd degree which he spent a week in jail. Kentucky Revised Statute 511.080 defines criminal trespassing in the third degree "A person is guilty of trespassing in the third degree when he knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in or upon premises." Henry was back in jail for a week after having been a free man for 3 months.

Exactly one day after being released from jail for trespassing, Henry was booked for alcohol intoxication and spent over a month in jail when a parole violation was added to the charge. Henry managed to stay sober for 7 months, but he was arrested again in December 2006 for alcohol intoxication. He returned to his old ways after being released a month later. Henry's single lapse in 2006 knocked him off the wagon. In 2007 Henry would be arrested over 25 times for alcohol intoxication.

Some see Henry Earl as Don Quixote- on an idealogical quest to passionately engage surrogate activities. Henry is more like Cool Hand Luke- overwhelmed by the system and dragging his feet the whole damn way. The image of Henry Earl as a rebel is appealing- It comforts me to know while people live lives of 'quiet desperation', Henry Earl is in Lexington wasting my Kentucky tax dollars, stirring up trouble and getting famous for it.

For what it was worth, I gave the jail guard a 40 dollar restaurant gift certificate to give Henry, a list of locations and meeting times of 20 alcoholics anonymous centers in Lexington and I said one last goodbye to Henry.

"Henry, stay out of trouble, okay?"

Henry raised his right hand and saluted like a cub scout.

"You know, I was doin' pretty good when I was sobered up, maybe it's time for me to slow down," Henry said. "I'm gonna stay out of jail for a while."

Less than a week after our interview Henry was picked up by Fayette County Police for alcohol intoxication.





Photos and text by James Calvert, copyright 2008. Prints available for sale, a portion of proceeds go directly to Henry Earl.

Introduction

Salutations, viewers!

I will occasionally update this blog with progress from my portrait work featuring internet celebrities. My goal is to explore the concept of internet fame, how it is different from 'old fashioned fame' and how the concept of celebrity will change (and already has changed) our culture.

I'm also interested in looking at how photojournalism will change in tandem with changes going on in media.