….I never heard of them….it was the first large-scale Black-owned record label in the U.S…..Harry Pace started it in 1921….but only lasted three years….but his legacy laid the groundwork for many black-owned labels….this is an article written by Ashawnta Jackson….and I’m only sharing part of it….Black Swan was designed to utilize the combined power of music and business as vehicles of uplift and racial justice….the label’s releases wouldn’t deal with stereotypical sounds and images of black performance of the time…..but would instead produce music that challenged them….after Black Swan….more black-owned labels started popping up during the 1920’s….Sunshine Records….run by the Spikes brothers out of L.A….which specialized in jazz and blues….Chicago’s Black Patti Records joined in 1927….founded by Mayo Williams….the label was named after a classical music singer named Matilda Sissieretta Jones….who went by the name Black Patti…they released jazz, blues, spirituals and vaudeville….it went out of business the same year it opened..…but they released nearly 60 records….and like all businesses….Black Swan took a hit during the depression….but because of them….during the 40’s and 50’s….more indie labels started appearing…due to the changes in technology and economics….and independent record pressing and manufacturing facilities during the post-war period..…in 1949..…music producer and club owner Don Robey began Peacock Records…..and had a hit with Big Mamma Thornton’s “Hound Dog”….John Dolphin.…a L.A. record store owner started Hollywood Records in 1950…..Vee-Jay Records….rock, jazz and R&B..…a label owned by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken..…a husband and wife team who would hit it big with their releases of early Beatles singles….and Black Swan’s idea led to one of the greatest black record producing companies in the history of the music industry…..Motown Records….but Motown wasn’t the only black-owned recording company in Detroit in 1959….Ed Wingate and Joanne Jackson Bratton owned Golden World….Carmen Murphy had House of Beauty and ran a recording studio in her beauty salon….Johnnie Mae Matthew’s Northern Records….started a year earlier before Motown….and believe it or not….there are way too many more to mention..…but one thing is for sure..…black owned label ownership has been happening for many years….and will continue..…and it has changed the musical landscape of America and the world….and it will continue to do so…. “Mass marketing, mass distribution and promotion of musical products based on Black music remains the industry’s most essential and salient features and components.”….if you want to know more….JSTOR…is a digital library for scholars, researchers and students.

BEST MOVIE VILLAINS: 15 GREATEST MOVIE VILLAINS OF ALL TIME….Says Marc Chacksfield…..anyway, let’s go….Darth Vader….yeah, D was cool..…but not villain enough for me….Hannibal Lector….yeah, major sicko….T-1000..…he was the Terminator 2 guy..…he was alright…..Hans Gruber….you mean the guy from the first Die Hard….really?…..my girl from The Bad Seed was scarier…..The Joker..…the Jack Nicholson one….come on man..…Jack was more crazier in The Shining…..Agent Smith..…he was pretty cool in The Matrix films….Tommy DeVito….my man Joe Pesci in the Goodfellas….no question!….Alex DeLarge….A Clockwork Orange….my man didn’t give a shit…..and the rest….this dude doesn’t watch too many films….Psycho….Ivan Drago in Rocky IV….De Niro in Taxi Driver….the Trainspotting guy….General Zod in the Superman films….really?…..Sexy Beast and Blue Velvet…..like I said….doesn’t watch too many films….here’s a few serious villains you missed…..Audition (Japan)…..I Saw The Devil (South Korea)….Ralph Fiennes in Schindler’s List….how could this guy forget….Heath Ledger in The Joker….wrong Joker man….Gary Oldman in Léon: The Professional…..Tom Berenger in Platoon…..ok,  I’ll throw Joan Crawford in there from Mommie Dearest….she was having a bad “wire hanger” day….Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl….I really hated her….and yes….I would’ve gone to prison….Bette Davis in Baby Jane…..not “THAT” girl was gone….Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction….a film that will make you think….before you cheat…..Bruce….the shark in Jaws…..there are more..…but I have to end with the sickest M.F. in filmdom…..my main  man…. “CHUCKY!”

14-YEAR-OLD FORCED TO DO HOUSE CHORES REPORTS HER FATHER TO THE POLICE FOR “ILLEGAL CHILD LABOR”…..To all the parents out there….who just read this….I’m also a parent….raised “Ol’” school…and if you were raised…. “Ol’” school….I know your face right now…..I see it….I read and feel your thoughts….and I agree with all of you….that kid?……moving on…..

HEY COVID…..I have to admit….you and your boyz….Delta and Lambda are seriously re-writing the script….Delta basically wiped out a hospital in Missouri….Florida, Texas and Missouri account for 40% of the new COVID cases…..some Florida hospitals have more COVID cases than ever before….the Olympics started today….and 1 in 6 American athletes competing in Tokyo are unvaccinated….Alabama Governor is saying it’s time to blame the unvaccinated for the pandemic….the CDC director says the Delta variant of COVID-19 is among one of the most transmissible viruses known…..Las Vegas workers are required to wear masks..…but the tourist are given a free pass…..Spain and The Netherlands are once again….coronavirus hot spots…..German cases are starting to rise again…. doctors are saying people who didn’t want the vaccine are begging for the vaccine in hospitals….and doctors are telling them…. “It’s too late”….now those who refused the vaccine….are telling people..…to get the vaccine..…the new mantra is…. “Just get the shot!”….the National Football League has a new rule now….if a team cannot play a game..…on the day they’re supposed to play it…..due to COVID reasons….they have to forfeit the game….Australian cities are being hit by anti-lockdown protests….a U.S. hospital just hit an all-time high in COVID cases….but the county fair that attracts thousands of people won’t be cancelled….and guess what COVID?….scientists have discovered a previously  unknown viruses….dating from 15,000 years ago….in ice samples taken from a glacier on a Tibetan plateau….so I guess another friend might be showing up soon,….maybe this one can introduce itself….to the Latitude Festival..…where 40,000 people partied through the night….had a great time….and not a mask in sight…..a Texas testing clinic is seeing an increase of positive COVID results among children…..North Carolina sees a spike in children….Houston hospitals report their first cases of the COVID Lambda virus…..and many classrooms won’t require masks for children this year….a COVID positive man boarded a flight dressed as his wife in Indonesia…..

TEXAS SENATE PASSES BILL THAT REMOVES REQUIREMENT TO TEACH KU KLUX KLAN AS “MORALLY WRONG”….Sure…and while we’re erasing history..…let’s just say..… “oh what the hell”…..Wounded Knee..…didn’t happen….the Alamo didn’t happen…..Pearl Harbor didn’t happen….the concentration camps didn’t exist….Hiroshima and Nagasaki didn’t happen…..slavery didn’t happen….Tulsa didn’t happen….Vietnam didn’t happen….and yeah I could go on….but what’s the point?…..Texas won’t get it.