multibeautiful

Reginald D. Hunter is a black American comic who has made his name as a comedian performing in the UK. He often partners with Paul Merton on Have I Got News for You, and they make a great duo. I first saw him at a comedy club in Camden when he was just on the cusp of becoming quite well known. One of his favourite themes is contrasting US and UK culture.



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Racism in America v racism in the UK (YouTube, 01:06)
English swearing (YouTube, 00:26)
On the BBC Breakfast show talking about being an expat (YouTube, 03:38)

The last laureate of this week, Chilean poet, diplomat and feminist, Gabriela Mistral, was the first Latin American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1945. Born into poverty, she won recognition for her published poetry while working as a teacher’s aide. As she gained stature, her position in the Chilean education system became more influential and she was able to champion reforms to expand access to those not from the privileged classes. She traveled widely and guarded her personal life closely. She died of pancreatic cancer in 1957.

( Gabriela Mistral on beauty in art (translated into English) )



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And in breaking news, what a wonderful way to round off the week: The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to three women of colour. The winners are Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee of Liberia and Tawakul Karman of Yemen for 'their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work'. Live text-based coverage from the Guardian can be viewed here.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is the Burmese opposition leader opposition leader who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 while under house arrest after the ruling military junta in Burma refused to honour the results of general elections in which her party won majority votes. She was finally released from house arrest on 13 November 2010. She delivered the 2011 Reith Lectures, which were covertly recorded by the BBC and smuggled out of Burma.

“The value systems of those with access to power and of those far removed from such access cannot be the same. The viewpoint of the privileged is unlike that of the underprivileged.”

“It is often in the name of cultural integrity as well as social stability and national security that democratic reforms based on human rights are resisted by authoritarian governments.”



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Two posts in one day is unprecedented, I think, but I thought that members of this community might be interested in a series that will be airing on BBC2 in the UK starting at 9 PM on Thursday, 6 October. It’s called “Mixed Race Britannia” and it will be hosted by George Alagiah, who is Sri Lankan-British and in a mixed-race marriage.



Guardian interview with George Alagiah
BBC article by George Alagiah on mixed-race marriage

Persons outside the UK may be able to view the series through the BBC iPlayer using a browser that can feign a UK location. I don't, of course, suggest that anyone attempt this. *hands in pockets, whistling*

Herbert Jeffrey “Herbie” Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer.



( Are there photos of Herbie Hancock & Lang Lang inside? Who can tell. )

Herbie Hancock & Omar Hakim “Call it 95” (YouTube, 04:44)
Herbie Hancock’s oft-sampled “Watermelon Man” (YouTube, audio only, 06:32)

Wynton Marsalis is an exceptional musician even in a family of exceptional musicians. Trumpeter, composer and music educator.



( Dimples! )

Wynton Marsalis - Carnival of Venice (YouTube, 03:45, a dizzying demonstration of technical talent.)

Welcoming you to this week’s theme, Jazz Musicians, is Sidney Bechet, Louisiana Creole jazz clarinetist, saxophonist and composer. His temper landed him in hot water more than once, but it also helped form his distinctive, dynamic and soulful style.



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Sidney Bechet - Blue Horizon (YouTube, 04:22, a slow smoky hip-swinger.)

Carla Hohepa is a young New Zealand Black Ferns player who made her first big mark in last year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup, where she scored seven tries.



( Carla Hohepa even looks pretty when she’s wearing a mouth guard )

Carla Hohepa wins IRB Personality of the Year award. (YouTube, 01:37 - worth watching to see her score!)

Jonathan Ionatana Falafesa “Tana” Umaga is a former captain of the New Zealand All-Blacks. He played 74 test matches, in which he scored 36 tries, and under his captaincy the All-Blacks won 19 of their 21 games. He looks fierce in this first photo and, obviously, when doing the haka*, but most of the time he is smiling in his lovely crinkly-eyed way with his dreadlocks flying everywhere. ♥



( Tana Umaga doesn’t look that fierce all the time. )
Tana Umaga leads the haka before a rugby match. (YouTube, 00:55)

* Scary ancestral pre-battle war dance performed by the Maori that the All-Blacks always do before rugby matches. Other Polynesian groups have similar dances, such as the Tongan Sipi Tau.

Kicking off this week’s theme, which is in honour of the ongoing Rugby World Cup, is Sonny Bill Williams. He’s a Samoan-New Zealander rugby union international. He is distinguished both by his rugged good looks and by being the first professional athlete ever to pursue careers as a rugby player and a heavyweight boxer concurrently. A recent wardrobe malfunction during an All-Blacks match that forced him to change shirts on the pitch made a lot of people [not just the ladies, 3 News] rather happy.



( Sonny Bill Williams proves he’s not one of those Davidoff Cool Water adverts )

The infamous ripped shirt incident. (3 News on Demand, 01:22)