The Monster That Nearly Ate Cambridge

For those of you who don’t know, I’m from Cambridge. Born and raised there. I grew up in the Jefferson Park housing projects a stone’s throw from Harvard. Never a Dull Moment in JP I can tell you! Even today. Knew lots of CPD cops like Officer Crowley too, but never in a good way. Like when a fellow punk projects friend of mine drove a stolen car through a fence and into the deep end of the local MDC kiddie pool. They wanted us real bad that night! I was guilty as sin, too. All wet, in fact. Rode shotgun the whole way. Front row seat. Yee-ha! Island Kingdom, eat your heart out.

My whole childhood was like that. A lot of crazy stuff, a lot of running from police. Was a local sport, like train-hopping. But that’s all just the gritty side of Cambridge. And even though I’m a rank Righty today, I still love Harvard University all the way, the Square especially. It’s the Crossroads of the World. I was a total Harvard Square rat growing up. Harvard is the Bright Light of Olde Cantabrigia. Harvard was also very active in the community back then, and most likely still is today. Harvard hosted field trips to the campus from schools all over Cambridge. The Agassiz Museum was my favorite. Lots of dead bugs and dinosaur bones. That was Heaven to me. Still is. (more…)

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Tags: ACLU, Al Sharpton, AMPAS, Barack Obama, BET
Posted Aug 4th 2009 at 5:37 pm in News, Politics | 19636689 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jtsimpson/2009/08/04/the-monster-that-nearly-ate-cambridge/The+Monster+That+Nearly+Ate+Cambridge2009-08-05+00%3A37%3A12John+T.+Simpson

Racism’s Cure Found in Private Sector

This week’s Washington Times column:

The most unsettling news story of the last week came out of Philadelphia, where a group of black and Hispanic children of elementary-school age paid for the right to swim at a private suburban club and were denied the experience without cause and publicly humiliated in the process.

While the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton cry racism too often and make a mockery of their cause by exploiting events for their personal gain, sometimes old-fashioned bigotry does rear its ugly head in America.

In this instance, the Valley Club’s president confirmed our worst fears when he offered something far from an exculpatory explanation. “There was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion … and the atmosphere of the club,” John Duesler said in his initial statement.

Some campers claim to have overheard at least one parent fretting about the sudden influx of 65 minority children at the mostly white club. (more…)

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Tags: Al Sharpton, bigotry, Jim Crow, John Duesler, NAACP
Posted Jul 12th 2009 at 5:02 pm in Featured Story, News | 181802178 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/abreitbart/2009/07/12/racisms-cure-found-in-private-sector/Racism%27s+Cure+Found+in+Private+Sector2009-07-13+00%3A02%3A23Andrew+Breitbart

Did You Hear the One About President Obama?

You know, people, it’s a damn shame. I remember when great comedians like Richard Pryor and Lenny Bruce held nothing sacred. I know I don’t. And so many comedians, especially late-nighters, are really missing the boat with President Obama. There’s a wealth of material just waiting to be tapped, and I’m really not looking forward to four more years of lame Bush and Palin jokes. Are you?

All it takes is one person to break the ice. Example. Twenty years ago, my brother won tickets to a Journey concert in Worcester, Massachusetts on the radio. We rode a packed WBCN Party Bus out of Boston, but everyone was kind of uptight and kept to themselves, like there were cops in the crowd. So I took a risk and lit up a big fattie anyway. Within minutes, it was like a Cheech and Chong movie. You couldn’t see out the windows. Everyone was laughing, joking, hacking and toking. (more…)

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Tags: al qaeda, Barack Obama, Bermuda, Chinese Uighurs, gitmo
Posted Jun 21st 2009 at 3:04 pm in Political Humor | 16034216 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jtsimpson/2009/06/21/did-you-hear-the-one-about-president-obama/Did+You+Hear+the+One+About+President+Obama%3F+2009-06-21+22%3A04%3A12John+T.+Simpson

Keeping our Eyes on the Prize

This week I had the honor of participating in a panel discussion on Civil Rights in the Age of Obama sponsored by the Milken Institute. Appearing with me on the panel were Ben Jealous, current President of the NAACP, Wade Henderson, President of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and Myrlie Evers-Williams, Civil Rights Icon and former President of the NAACP. The panel was moderated by Dr. Beverly Tatum, President of Spelman College. I was, as my father used to say, “Steppin’ in some pretty high cotton.”

I can think of no better proof of the victory of the traditional civil rights movement than that these distinguished individuals (and myself) were gathered together under the auspices of the Milken Institute to ponder what to do next. The battles of the civil rights movement so hard fought have been won. To those heroes, on whose shoulders my generation stands I say, “job well-done.” That is not to say that we need not be jealous of our civil rights. It is to say that it is time to shift our focus toward those things that will best guard our victories and secure those blessings for future generations. (more…)

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Tags: Beverly Tatum, Civil Rights, failed schools, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King
Posted May 4th 2009 at 1:41 pm in Politics | 126094No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jphillips/2009/05/04/keeping-our-eyes-on-the-prize/Keeping+our+Eyes+on+the+Prize2009-05-04+20%3A41%3A42Joseph+C.+Phillips