UNHIPNESS REPORT... THIS OPINION PIECE, BY YOURS TRULY, IS IN REGARDS TO ANTHONY BOURDAINS PORTAYAL OF DA BRONX LAST NIGHT (10/5/14) ON CNN... All of our time is very valuable. Yet once again, I have to spend MY valuable time defending my majestic borough, my home, my birthplace, a place that inspires me every freakin day of my existence, where I smile constantly because I say to myself, Im so lucky I was born and raised here. Yes Pilgrims, ground zero for the Multiverse, Da BX in Nujack City. Now, someone of privilege, who failed to mention his Mother was from the Morris Heights section of Da BX, so he has even MORE of a responsibility to get it right, and his crew of 20 to thirty somethings who are well intentioned yet lack the important aspect that all good reporters have - that is to do the research, have absolute common sense, respect the HISTORY, and reveal THAT HISTORY to the world, have reduced our mighty borough which has brought forth more forms of music, art, culture, dance, etc than other other place in the world other than Treme in Nawlins, to a one dimensional parody of itself. There was so much wrong with this skewered portrayal of our borough that anyone that says it was alright... there were some good things, etc. is drinking the Kool Aid and needs to get their I Love Da BX card revoked. Mediocrity is not acceptable in our home. Why? Because Da BX has ALWAYS championed excellence - not fakin the funk, posing, half steppin, jive, superficiality. If you do, most Bronxites will tell you, you wont survive. People have crapped on our borough for years. @SylviaPfeifenberger asked, Is there any way to do a story about the Bronx without pissing someone off? First off, NO ONE does stories on our borough. We have been the poster child for urban blight, the modern ghetto, for over 4 decades. Now we have the same story with a new storyteller. The BX has risen. Why wasnt that shown? From the Bronx Documentary Center, The Bronx Music Heritage Center, Hostos Performing Arts Center, Casita Maria, Rincon Criollo, the new burgeioning community of immigrants from West Africa and the Middle East (the Mexican community has already been in Da BX for YEARS and is thriving with incredible restaurants that were not depicted), I could go on and and on and on. The mighty contributions of the Puerto Rican community which not only transformed the borough into El Condado De La Salsa but NYC in general opening the way to every single Latino immigrant community in Nu Yawk to the jazz culture that once existed in Da BX, where you could hear and see world class artists like Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Nancy Wilson, Machito, Puente, Tito Rodriguez and others at places like The Savoy Manor, Concourse Plaza Hotel Ballroom, Freddys, The Royal Mansion, The 845, The Hunts Point Palace, The Tropicoro, etc., etc., etc.. A place that has produced 4 National Endowment of the Arts Jazz Masters (the highest award a jazz musician can attain) - Ray Barretto, Jimmy Owens, Lou Donaldson and Eddie Palmieri. A place where Thelonoiuis Monk, Herbie Hancock, George Benson and many more used to live - nuthin, nada. Were just a one dimensional place where only hip hop exists and MacDonalds and White Castle is the cuisine de jour. One must ask oneself, Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot (WTF)? The ultimate insult, they got a graf artist talking about graf and he aint even from our freakin borough!!! But they did make sure they portrayed our home as a place of overcrowding and dirt with the numerous crowded panning shots. According to this portrayal, Da BX is a place where yes Wanda, even the crackheads are loved and the food of choice again is McDonalds and White Castle, two corporate entities. Where were the residential neighborhoods? Where were the hardworking working class people that have middle class values and are raising a new generation of proud Bronxites who will contribute to the world? That patronizing look at those school kids at the end is indeed a wake up call as to how far gone our youth are in terms of absolutely having no knowledge of our majestic history here in Da Bronx. You mean to tell me that the shows producers couldnt even freakin go to the Grand Concourse and take a quick span of the names of note on the lampposts of the numerous Bronx Walk of Fame inductees. Musicians, artists, dancers, writers, actors, poets, playwrights, reporters, Broadway producers, Secretarys of State, that have contributed so much to the world. People like yes Wanda - Al Pacino, Eddie Palmieri, Colin Powell, Stanley Kubrick, Dion, Mary Higgins-Clark, The Chantels, you want me to keep going? There aint enough room and I dont have the time. What a waste, what a blown opportunity, what a freakin insult to we as Bronxites and our heritage. In a pre-broadcast interview that Mr. Bourdain did a few days before on CNN, he stated that our borough was neglected and that he wanted to give it just a little bit of love. What he did was sell us a woof ticket. I for one aint cashing it. Look at this short video. In less than 4 minutes you will learn more and see more positivity in regards to our borough than in Mr. Bourdains well intentioned, but misguided 1 hour piece... https://youtube/watch?v=ArrGZ31XJOc
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 22:18:06 +0000
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