"Teddy and Booker T." by Brian Kilmeade (2025)

 

This is a remarkable book about two remarkable men. Born within 2 years of one another, Booker, born a slave; and his birthdatdate has never really been established; while Teddy was born a child of great privilege in 1858. But from that point onward both were on parallel courses and each would have an impact on the nation as a whole, as well as upon their individual races, and one another.

Booker is most remembered for founding Tuskegee Institute, while Teddy is remembered for his charge up San Juan Hill. But these are both narrow views of each of their lives. They were friends and colleagues who both worked to bring the nation forward in an attempt to bridge the gap between their races. And both were battling their own races in their attempts to do that. (Booker was the first African-American to have dinner with the  President and his family in the Executive Mansion, as it was called back then. The reaction, from both sides, was enormous. And controversial.)

The author alternates the story, with a chapter about one following a chapter on what the other was doing during the same period. As the book progresses that story becomes one.

You will find this an informative and well paced read. And several popular images of both men will be shown to be surprisingly different than what we have previously been taught.

"The Pygmy Hunt" with The Captain and the Kids - (1938)

Okay- get ready to label me politically incorrect with this posting of the next cartoon in The Captain and the Kids series from MGM studios. I said I was going to post all 15 and I really am going to do that. The Christmas one is special- it's in color. But this one is in black and white; in more ways than one.

The title alone should kind of warn you. I mean "Pygmy Hunt"? Well, the Captain has a safari business and boasts that “He brings ‘em back alive.” He has every species of animal in his menagerie except for a Pygmy. Now there’s a thought; a Pygmy is considered an animal in this cartoon. But let’s see what happens here.

The Captain follows his hound into the jungle trying to pick up the “scent”; on the way the dog is slightly confused and it takes him a while to figure out just what the Captain is looking for. Then, when he finally does encounter a real Pygmy he is completely outwitted mentally and a poor match physically. The Captain is of no real help as he has been relying on his hired help for so long that he is clueless.

Even when their luck changes and the Pygmy is trying make a quiet getaway by “passing” as one of them; they manage to screw that up and wind up with a full scale rebellion on their hands. The cartoon closes out with the Captain and his friends being driven from the land by thousands of angry Pygmies.

Looking at it closely it is easy to see who comes up short here. The white colonialist is portrayed as ignorant and the natives are the ones who win in the end. Kind of like what was happening in real life; or about to; when this cartoon was made. By the time the Second World War was over, colonialism was dead, never to return as it once was. 

You have to wonder about the people who wrote this cartoon; and then wonder again at the people who have only viewed it as politically incorrect for all these years. As with most things, the meaning is subjective not only to the context of both the time and place when the cartoon was made, but also to the interpretation of the historical winds associated with them. It’s just a thought.

"Against All Odds" by Eddie Ray (2012)

News Release

                                                       

Contact:  
Elyshia Brooks                                              
Kreative Group, Inc.
elyshia@ElyshiaBrooks.com
T: 800-511-5410

For Immediate Release

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—He has been called a “national treasure.”  North Carolina native, Eddie Ray, the grandson of a former slave, gives readers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the burgeoning record industry of the 1950s and early 1960s in his newly released memoir “Against All Odds—The Remarkable Life Story of Eddie Ray.” 

Ray, now in his mid-80s, started as a stock boy for Decca Records in Milwaukee, Wisconsin when he was 18 years old and eventually rose to become vice president of Capitol/Tower Records in Hollywood, California, one of the top major record companies in the U.S., the first African-American in such a decision-making role.

But prior to this top post, he was first an extraordinary record sales and promotions man whom acquaintances still describe today as having “an ear for what would sell,” and “a commercial mind.”  It was during some 60 years in the commercial music business that Ray had a significant   impact on the careers of rising stars such as Rick Nelson, Fats Domino, Allen Toussaint, Ernie Freeman, Mike Curb, Irma Thomas, Ernie K-Doe, Sandy Nelson, Pink Floyd, and many others.

Ray also founded one of the first commercial music schools in the country and subsequently was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to serve as a Commissioner of the U.S. Copyright Royalty Tribunal in Washington, DC.

 

“Against All Odds—The Remarkable Life Story of Eddie Ray” takes readers on a journey from the rural foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains in western North Carolina to the top executive suites of the dynamic music industry of the ’50s and ’60s. The book opens with a prologue dated October 3rd 2009 at the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony, where Ray was one of the first inductees.   He notes that the unusual venue of the ceremony is symbolic, indicative of the out-of-the-ordinary events in his life.

Readers will immediately be drawn in from the first chapter, which doesn’t start with his childhood, but a description of his life as a tapestry with people being threads woven through his experiences.  Readers will also learn about the behind-the-scenes operations of independent record companies—hundreds of them formed after World War II, opening the recording door for many artists, especially minority performers.  And most of all they will be inspired by Ray’s courage to take risks from his young life all the way through to his current years.

Robert Williams of “Rooftop Reviews” said of the book, “It was fantastic. In understated tones, he has delivered a living portrait of a time, though long gone, which still influences us until this very day. The book is all about taking chances and trusting your instincts in order to help make your dreams come true. It's the story of a family, raised in segregation, and yet still successful by virtue of hard work.”

Baby Boomers especially will enjoy this book that will evoke feelings of nostalgia as they think back to where they were when certain songs of the early Rock and Roll era became hits.  They will be fascinated by Eddie Ray’s connection with the success of mega-stars such as Fats Domino and Rick Nelson and names they may not immediately recognize, but whose works they certainly will. 

Music historians will appreciate learning about Ray who can be added to the “untold stories” of influential African Americans.  And African Americans will be inspired by his quest to open doors, courage to break racial barriers, and audacity to ignore the status quo. Even music students will find this book enjoyable as they read about the people who laid the foundation for the music business today.

“Against All Odds—The Remarkable Life Story of Eddie Ray” will inspire, inform, and immerse readers as they peer into the personal and professional experiences of his life.

This “living history” makes the book an important autobiography in that it preserves little-known facts about an industry that has had such a tremendous impact on American culture. 

“Against All Odds—The Remarkable Life Story of Eddie Ray,” written with Barbara Jackson Hall, is approximately 200 pages and available in paperback from Amazon.com.

__________________________________________

Note from RT: This is the book which I reviewed here on December 5th. You can imagine how proud I am to have been included in this release, which will be going to many of the major newspapers across the country. My original review can be viewed at the following link;  

http://robertwilliamsofbrooklyn.blogspot.com/2012/12/against-all-odds-by-eddie-ray-2012.html

"The Dozens" by Elijah Wald (2012)

To most white people the game known as “playing the dozens” is somewhat of a mystery. Most of us (I’m white) think of it only as a variation on what we used to call “ranking out” one another, which usually involved such witticisms as “You’re mother’s so ugly she can make a freight train take a dirt road”; that’s a very generic example; which would immediately be answered with another, and hopefully worse, reply, thus “outranking” your foe. In this book by Elijah Wald, the author sets the history of “the dozens” in its true historical context. The funny thing is, he’s a white guy! But that should be no surprise, as “The Dozens” spread over into the white community many decades ago.

For instance, when I reported for duty aboard the USS Neosho, my first ship, I was confronted by a big white guy from the Midwest who asked me point blank, “Is your mother still menstruating?” He was clearly looking for a fight. I was not.  So, I replied that my mother “was flowing like the Nile.” The tactic turned the table on him, ending the game, while giving me a reputation as a quick thinker. In the parlance of the game, I had successfully “slipped him back in the dozens”, meaning that I had turned the table on him.

In the 1950’s and ‘60’s the Russians even got in on the deal. The usual starting point for them was to tell the other party that his “mother wore army boots.” The only problem with that was that at the time everybody’s mother in Russia wore army boots!

Exploring the African roots of “the dozens”, as well as the cultural influences which shaped the genre over many decades, and countries, Mr. Wald sheds light on a subject which has often been misunderstood; or over simplified; by people the world over. Although we have all have undoubtedly played some version of this game during our lifetimes, the author has done an excellent job in chronicling the art form, from its earliest beginnings, to its influence on today’s rap culture.