The media is treating the death of James Brown as an event of national importance. Maybe he'll join plagiarist/whoremonger MLK as the only Americans to have a national holiday in their honor (just joking, I think).
Like so many black celebrities, Brown had a criminal record. In 1988 he was charged with domestic abuse. Later that year, he brandished a shotgun at an insurance meeting, demanding to know who had used his personal toilet. That led to the infamous interstate police chase, which ended only when police shot out the front tires of his jeep. In 1989 he was arrested for possession of PCP, assault,and possession of weapons. In 2002, a Los Angeles jury (probably similar in composition to O.J.'s) cleared him in a $2 million sexual harassment suit brought by a female employee.
Among Brown's Top 10 hits were: "Licking Stick -- Licking Stick," "Say It Loud -- I"m Black and I'm Proud," "Ain't It Funky Now," "Get Up (I Feel Like a Sex Machine)," "Hot Pants," "Make It Funky," "Soul Power," "I Got a Bag of My Own," "King Heroin," "My Thang," and "Stone to the Bone."
It says a lot about the "evolution" of America that James Brown will be memoralized with a conquering hero's treatment.But then againthis will all be seen as quaint and innnocent several decades from now, when the likes of Snoop Dog and Suge Knight begin to die from old age (assuming they make it to old age) and their deaths are given the same superstar treatment and importance. Edited by: Don Wassall
Like so many black celebrities, Brown had a criminal record. In 1988 he was charged with domestic abuse. Later that year, he brandished a shotgun at an insurance meeting, demanding to know who had used his personal toilet. That led to the infamous interstate police chase, which ended only when police shot out the front tires of his jeep. In 1989 he was arrested for possession of PCP, assault,and possession of weapons. In 2002, a Los Angeles jury (probably similar in composition to O.J.'s) cleared him in a $2 million sexual harassment suit brought by a female employee.
Among Brown's Top 10 hits were: "Licking Stick -- Licking Stick," "Say It Loud -- I"m Black and I'm Proud," "Ain't It Funky Now," "Get Up (I Feel Like a Sex Machine)," "Hot Pants," "Make It Funky," "Soul Power," "I Got a Bag of My Own," "King Heroin," "My Thang," and "Stone to the Bone."
It says a lot about the "evolution" of America that James Brown will be memoralized with a conquering hero's treatment.But then againthis will all be seen as quaint and innnocent several decades from now, when the likes of Snoop Dog and Suge Knight begin to die from old age (assuming they make it to old age) and their deaths are given the same superstar treatment and importance. Edited by: Don Wassall
