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As racial tensions simmer at an all-time high in this country, I certainly have many more questions than opinions on the subject because what I see and hear does not always make sense. But, as good documentaries should, Amadeuz ChristsOut of Darknessnot only answers many of my questions but broadens my understanding of the issues beyond what I imagined. The film rightfully challenged many of my original opinions and assumptions on being Black in America.

The film delves into the untold history of African people and the systemic removal of their history for supremacist reasons. The documentary consists primarily of archival photos, films, and artifacts with a series of talking-head interviews with Black historians, anthropologists, and activists. Those interviewed include Dr. Umar Johnson, Tony Browder, Dr. Claud Anderson, Tim Wise, Prof. James Small, and Dr. Joy DeGruy.

The films central assertion is that European culture and supremacy have, over the millennia, actively and effectively removed the African origins and influence from history books. Why? Because much of what we consider civilized and enlightened today finds its roots in Africa. The world has systematically devalued the contributions of Africans by taking away their history and language while interfering with psychological factors involving African values, interests, and principles.

delves intothe untold history of African people and the systemic removal of their history for supremacist reasons.

The experts interviewed throughoutOut of Darknessgo far back in time to the origins of man and the development of the Nile Valley Civilization. The Nile Valley created the first language (what Westerners refer to as hieroglyphics), the first use of paper, and the first documentation of events. Or what we now know as history. The valley was also the birthplace of the first government, a system of time, and the original calendar. It was also the first to discover the Earth was round and orbited the sun, unlike its Western counterparts. Africans were also the first to explore beyond their borders and travel across the Atlantic. Historians claim that Africans reached North America long before Native Americans.

Western education has robbed generations of Africans, particularly its children, of the pride of being true inventors, philosophers, and explorers. One point was that algebra and geometry were created in Africa, evidenced partially on the sciences root names. But, of course, these disciplines are credited as Western constructs.

You cant discuss race in America without talking about slavery.Out of Darknessgoes at length into the psychological damage of U.S. Slavery and the resulting post-traumatic slave disorder. Christ offers a detailed overview of systematic racism and an even more comprehensive definition of white supremacy and privilege.

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Out of Darkness - Film Threat

MARTIN, Tenn. The University of Tennessee at Martin has a large set of events for this years Black History Month.

The universitys news release says the 22nd annual Civil Rights Conference will feature four speakers, and will have both in-person and virtual events.

We are excited about creating a space for healthy dialogue and discussion during this years conference, said Anthony Prewitt, co-interim director for student life and multicultural affairs. We have some dynamic speakers, engaging topics and panels, and we look forward tocreating opportunities for broadening horizons intellectually.

UT Martin says on Feb. 3, LaTosha Brown, a social strategist and co-founder of the Black Votes Matter Fund, will speak at 6 p.m.

On Feb. 7, UT Martin says Cyntoia Brown Long, an author, speaker and advocate for criminal justice reform and victim of trafficking, will share her story at 6 p.m. in the Boling University Centers Watkins Auditorium.

On Feb. 17, Hannibal Johnson, an attorney, and author of Black Wall Street will speak at 6 p.m. in the Watkins Auditorium, the university says.

And on Feb. 24, Tim Wise, an activist and writer, will address the topic White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 24, in Watkins Auditorium.

Additional events at UT Martin include:

You can find and register for more events here.

You can find more local news through the WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News app.

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UT Martin to hosts multiple Black History Month events - WBBJ TV - WBBJ-TV

Loose group of white nationalist activists, provocateurs, and internet trolls

Political party

Groypers, sometimes called the Groyper Army, are a group of white nationalist and far-right activists, provocateurs, and internet trolls who are notable for their attempts to introduce far-right politics into mainstream conservatism in the United States, their participation in the 2021 United States Capitol attack and the protests leading up to that, and their extremist views. They are known for targeting other conservative groups and individuals whose agendas they view as too moderate and insufficiently nationalist.[3][4] The Groyper movement has been described as white nationalist, homophobic, nativist, fascist, sexist, antisemitic, and an attempt to rebrand the alt-right movement.[2][5][6][7]

While Groypers are a loosely defined group with no formal leadership structure, they are generally considered to be followers of Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist, far-right political commentator and podcaster.[8][2] Michelle Malkin, a conservative blogger and political commentator, has referred to herself as the "mommy" of the Groyper movement.[9][10]

In February 2021, the Groyper movement splintered between Nick Fuentes and Patrick Casey over fears of infiltration by federal informants and doxing at the 2021 America First Political Action Conference, held by Fuentes. Jaden McNeil of America First Students joined in support of Fuentes' conference and accused Casey of disloyalty to Fuentes.[11][12]

Groypers are extremely conservative and critical of more mainstream conservative organizations, which they believe to be insufficiently nationalist and pro-white. Groypers and their leaders have tried to position the group's ideology as being based around "Christian conservatism", "traditional values", and "American nationalism". Some Groypers downplay the extremism of their positions, and instruct others on how to engage in entryism and radicalization tactics such as slowly introducing their targets to increasingly extreme ideas. Despite attempts to brand themselves more moderately, the group is widely recognized as white nationalist, antisemitic, and homophobic.[1][15]

According to the Anti-Defamation League, Groypers blame the mainstream conservative movement as well as the political left for what they view as "destroying white America". They oppose immigration and globalism. Groypers support "traditional" values and Christianity and oppose feminism and LGBTQ rights.[1]

Describing the relationship between Groypers and the Republican Party, Nick Fuentes has stated, "We are the right-wing flank of the Republican Party." He summarized his political ambitions by stating, "We have got to be on the right, dragging [moderate Republicans] kicking and screaming into the future. Into a truly reactionary party."[16]

Groypers are named after a cartoon amphibian named "Groyper", which is a variant of the Internet meme Pepe the Frog. Groyper is depicted as a rotund, green, frog-like creature, often in a sitting position with its chin resting on interlocked fingers.[17][18] There is some disagreement around the specifics of Groyper: it is alternatively said to be a depiction of the Pepe character,[5] a different character from Pepe but of the same species,[19] or a toad.[17] The Groyper meme was used as early as 2015, and became popular in 2017.[20]

In 2018, a group of computer scientists studying hateful speech on Twitter observed the Groyper image being used frequently in account avatars among the accounts identified as "hateful" in their dataset. The researchers observed that the profiles tended to be anonymous and collectively tweeted primarily about politics, race, and religion. Similarly, they detected that the users were not "lone wolves" and the individuals could be identified as a community with a high network centrality.[21] The same year, Right Wing Watch reported that Massachusetts congressional hopeful Shiva Ayyadurai had created a campaign pin featuring a variation of the Groyper image, which RWW described as an attempt to appeal to the far-right activists on 4chan, Gab, and Twitter who had adopted the meme.[22]

Followers of Nick Fuentes began to be known as Groypers beginning in 2019. Fuentes' followers are also sometimes called "Nickers".[2][23] In September 2019, Ashley St. Clair, a "brand ambassador" for the conservative student group Turning Point USA, was photographed at an event featuring several allegedly white nationalist and alt-right figures, including Fuentes, Jacob Wohl, and Anthime Gionet, better known as "Baked Alaska". After Right Wing Watch brought the photographs to Turning Point USA's attention, the organization issued a statement declaring that it had severed ties with St. Clair, and condemning white nationalism as "abhorrent and un-American".[24][25] At the 2019 Politicon convention, Fuentes tried to access several of the Turning Point USA events featuring its founder Charlie Kirk, including a line to take photos with Kirk and Kirk's debate with Kyle Kulinski of The Young Turks. Security repeatedly barred him from being allowed anywhere near Kirk, with Fuentes accusing Kirk of deliberately suppressing him in order to avoid a confrontation, as Fuentes had grown critical of Kirk's positions, which he believes are too weak.[18]

In the fall of 2019, Kirk launched a college speaking tour with Turning Point USA titled "Culture War," featuring himself alongside such guests as Senator Rand Paul, Donald Trump Jr., Kimberly Guilfoyle, Lara Trump, and Congressman Dan Crenshaw.[1] In retaliation for the firing of St. Clair and the Politicon incident, Fuentes subsequently began organizing a social media campaign asking his followers to go to Kirk's events and ask provocative and controversial leading questions regarding his stances on immigration, Israel, and LGBT rights during the question-and-answer sessions, for the purpose of exposing Kirk as a "fake conservative". At a Culture War event hosted by Ohio State University on October 29, eleven out of fourteen questions during the Q&A section were asked by Groypers.[26] Groypers asked questions including, "Can you prove that our white European ideals will be maintained if the country is no longer made up of white European descendants?" and "How does anal sex help us win the culture war?"[27] Fuentes' social media campaign against Kirk became known as the "Groyper Wars".[5][17] Kirk and others at Turning Point USA, including Benny Johnson and spokesman Rob Smitha gay black veteran of the Iraq War, and Kirk's co-host at the Ohio State speaking eventbegan labeling the questioners as white supremacists and anti-Semites.[18][28]

Another Turning Point USA event targeted by the Groypers was a promotional event for Donald Trump Jr.'s book Triggered, featuring Trump, Kirk, and Guilfoyle at the University of California, Los Angeles in November 2019. Anticipating further questions from Fuentes' followers, it was announced that the originally planned Q&A portion of the event would be canceled, which led to heckling and boos from the mostly pro-Trump audience.[29] The disruptions eventually forced them to cut the event short after 30 minutes, when it was originally scheduled to last for two hours.[30][31][8]

Groypers' targets for heckling quickly expanded beyond Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA.[17] Groypers began targeting other mainstream conservative groups and individuals, which they sometimes collectively call "Conservative Inc.", including events hosted by Young America's Foundation and their student outreach branch Young Americans for Freedom, which included such speakers as Ben Shapiro and Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire, and Jonah Goldberg of The Dispatch.[3] Questions posed to their opponents often focus on topics including United StatesIsrael relations, immigration policy, affirmative action, and LGTBQ conservatives.[4][5] They regularly use anti-Semitic dogwhistles in their confrontations with other conservatives, including numerous questions about the USS Liberty incident, and references to the "dancing Israelis" conspiracy theory alleging Israeli involvement in the September 11 attacks.[35][1]

In December 2019, Fuentes announced and held the Groyper Leadership Summit in Florida. A small group attended the event in person, and attendees also joined via livestream. The event was held at the same time and in the same city as Turning Point USA's Student Action Summit (SAS); Groypers argued with SAS attendees outside of their venue, and Fuentes, Patrick Casey, and some Groypers were removed from the SAS venue after attempting to enter. At the Groyper Leadership Summit, Fuentes, Casey, and former InfoWars contributor Jake Lloyd spoke about the Groypers' strategy and ideology. While outside the venue where Turning Point's event was being held, Fuentes eventually crossed paths with Ben Shapiro, who was on his way to the event with his pregnant wife and two children. Fuentes confronted Shapiro over his Stanford speech, while Shapiro refused to acknowledge him.[37] Fuentes faced widespread condemnation from politicians and various punditsincluding Nikki Haley, Meghan McCain, Sebastian Gorka, Megyn Kelly, and Michael Avenattifor confronting Shapiro while he was with his family.[38]

In January 2020, Groyper and former leader of Kansas State University's Turning Point USA chapter Jaden McNeil formed the Kansas State University organization America First Students. The group, which shares a name with Fuentes' America First podcast, was conceived at the Groyper Leadership Summit, and Groyper leaders have helped promote the group. The America First Students organization, which states it was formed "in defense of Christian values, strong families, closed borders, and the American worker," is considered to push the Groyper movement.[6][7]

In February 2020, Fuentes spoke at several events that were held as rival events to the Conservative Political Action Conference. One such event, hosted by the online publication National File, featured Fuentes, Alex Jones of InfoWars, and Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes.[39][40] Fuentes hosted the first annual America First Political Action Conference, which included such speakers as Patrick Casey, former Daily Caller author Scott Greer, and Malkin.[41]

Groypers are very active online, particularly on Twitter, and have engaged in targeted harassment against opponents.[26] Financial Times reported that many Groypers use "deceptively anodyne" Twitter biographies, describing themselves in terms that downplay their extremism, like "Christian conservative".[42] In April 2020, The Daily Dot reported that Fuentes and other Groypers had begun to move to the video sharing platform TikTok, where they streamed live and used the "duet" feature to respond to Trump supporters. Groypers particularly targeted one left-wing teenage girl for harassment, which began on TikTok but spread across platforms.[42][43] Fuentes and some other Groyper accounts were banned from TikTok shortly after the Daily Dot article was published.[44]

The Groyper Wars earned widespread media attention after the UCLA incident with Donald Trump Jr. Chadwick Moore of Spectator USA commented that the ordeal revealed deep divisions within the American right among young voters, particularly with regards to the political beliefs of Generation Z, or "Zoomers". This divide, Moore claims, is due to the Groypers viewing Charlie Kirk and others in the mainstream conservative movement as "snatching the baton and appointing themselves the guardians of 2016's spoils", despite holding beliefs that Fuentes and his followers believe to be in conflict with then-President Trump's "Make America Great Again" agenda.[45] Another Spectator author, Ben Sixsmith, claimed that Turning Point's unwillingness to respond to controversial questions, and subsequent use of insults to dismiss their critics, revealed the organization's hypocrisy after having "promoted themselves as the debate guys".[46]

Several mainstream conservative commentators also weighed in on the matter. Addressing the increase in attention towards the far-right due to the aggressive questioning of Kirk, Ben Shapiro gave a speech at Stanford University in which he attacked Fuentes (without naming him) and his followers as essentially being a rebranded version of the alt-right.[47][48][49] Representative Dan Crenshaw similarly referred to the questioners as "alt-right 2.0" while American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp said that "there is no place in our conservative movement for those interested in fomenting hate, mob violence, or racist propaganda."[50] Conversely, conservative commentator Michelle Malkin wrote an article for American Greatness attacking Kirk for his immigration policies, and particularly his stance that green cards should be awarded to immigrants who graduate from American universities.[51] After defending Fuentes and his followers, Malkin was fired as a speaker for Young America's Foundation, a rival organization to Turning Point whose events had also been targeted by Groypers.[52] Malkin later would refer to herself as a mother figure among and a leader of the Groypers.[53]

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Groypers - Wikipedia

'Jackass Forever'

Jackass Forever is the first full piece of Jackass media I have consumed. I have no objections to the MTV show or the four movies (counting Bad Grandpa) which it spawned, but it was never at the top of my catch-up list. I checked out Jackass Forever last night partiallybecause my middle son (age ten) had an interest and I thought it would be valuable to see it through his eyes. Well, he cackled like a hyena for a good 90 minutes (that the terrific prologue satirizes his favorite sub-genre, the kaiju flick, was a bonus), andI didnt feel terribly guilty for taking him. I cant speak to the earliest Jackass shows or movies, but this implicit legacy sequel has running through it a strain of sincerity and a skewed wholesome sensibility.

Yes, this is an R-rated movie, complete with R-rated profanity (although not as much as I might have expected), some unapologetic gross-out gags and quite a bit of male nudity. But its also presented as a kind of a kind of old friends reuniting to relish each others company comedy, a warm, upbeat and guys supporting guys passing-the-baton saga. Maybe its because these merry pranksters have reached middle age and are generally sober, maybe its because the world outside has devolved into our current hellscape, with many of the earlier generations moral scolds now arguably leading the charge toward fascism. Whatever the reason, the self-mutilating antics that once stood for a nadir of kids these days junk food culture now plays like an almost healthy and non-toxic form of male bonding. They are only hurting each other.

The film again stars Johnny Knoxville (now greying and looking every bit his still-very-handsome 50 years of age) and Steve-O (now 13-years sober). Ryan Dunn died in a car accident in 2011, while Bam Margera was fired/disinvited due to personal issues. There are five newbies this time, including Eric Manaka, Davon Wilson and Rachel Wolfson. The film makes no grand statements about this, but they are the first not a white guy members. The picture gently acknowledges newfound cultural sensitivities without shaming fans of their earlier exploits.I chuckled as Wolfson screams Consent... Consent!! as Chris Pontius refuse to remove a creature from her breast without her permission. Im not sure why Jasper Dolphin's father, an ex-con, does his big stunt while dressed in what looks like an orange prison jumpsuit, but I digress.

Yes, we do see quite a bit of physical pain and arguable psychological torture in this latest go-around. Considering how often our diabolical ringmaster (Johnny Knoxville, mostly on the sidelines gleefully setting up the carnage this time) lies, deceives or misleads his friends for the sake of a gag, youd think that anyone on set would be walking around in a perpetual state of quivering anxiety. There are a few moments where I wondered how a major studio allowed them to stage a given scene or take a certain risk, as there were set pieces that could have absolutely gone wrong in a ghoulish fashion. No spoilers, but theres an unexpected injury so severe near the end that I wondered to myself if we were about to get a Kylo kills Han legacy sequel beat.

I preferred the stunt work and pratfalls a bit more than the extended endurance tests. And there is also some repetition, as even I recognized a few repeated gags and the films closing credits highlight some then and now comparisons. We do get some guest stars in the form of Eric Andre, Tyler the Creator and Machine Gun Kelly, all of whom remark that theyve gone from watching Jackass as kids to cameoing in this film as adults. That goes likewise for the younger, newer cast members, even if the film only subtly treats itselfas a possible series finale or new beginning installment. Whats impressive is how returning to this sandbox after 11 years (Jackass 3-D opened in October 2010) doesnt feel like a defeat, but rather just a reaffirmation of the groundbreaking franchises cultural relevance.

Its no secret that the do it yourself pranks and self-injuries that turned Jackass into a sensation paved the way for an entire genre of goofy folks doing silly things for our amusement online videos. The entire YouTube-specific epic fail genre, specially where the participants set out to hurt themselves or flame out in spectacular fashion (which makes this different from the more accidental likes of Americas Funniest Home Videos or the sports blooper industry), can be traced back to Knoxville and his merry pranksters. I cannot say whether Jackass Forever, arriving almost 22 years after the first televised episode of the show, accurately represents the franchise. But it is charming, funny and clever enough, with a live-and-let-live masculinity looking outright enlightened compared to the online troll/alt-right/incel industrial complex, tomake me want to find out.

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Review: 'Jackass Forever' Is R-Rated Fun For The Whole Family - Forbes

Until last week, Spotify-using fans of Neil Young could access a vast 54-year catalogue of songs, which attracted more than 6 million listeners a month. Now all that remains are appearances on compilations and, for some reason, a 1989 live album. Enraged by what he saw as the promotion of life-threatening Covid misinformation on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the Canadian singer-songwriter issued an ultimatum: They can have Rogan or Young. Not both.

As Young surely knew, Spotifys choice was a foregone conclusion. Rogans show, which the streaming service acquired for $100m in 2020, is its most popular podcast, with an average listenership of 11 million per episode. In its first month, it accounted for 4.5% of all podcast listening on Spotify worldwide. For Spotify, which is banking on podcasts to drive subscriptions, he is a star of the magnitude of Adele.

He has also become explosively controversial. Youngs walkout, followed later in the week by Joni Mitchells exit in solidarity, was prompted by an open letter calling on Spotify to counter Covid misinformation after Rogan recorded an interview with Dr Robert Malone, a virologist who has become a rightwing media star for his opposition to vaccines. The director general of the WHO tweeted in support of Youngs boycott: We all have a role to play to end this pandemic and infodemic.

Young, the most ornery of all boomer rock legends, is the perfect antagonist. He is an obsessive audiophile who temporarily removed his music from all streaming services in 2015 and a purist whose 1988 single This Notes for You decried licensing songs to commercials. As a survivor of childhood polio, he might also have particularly strong opinions about vaccines. Whats more, he can afford to take the considerable financial hit. He has a loyal fanbase that will pay for top-dollar boxsets and subscriptions to his website archive. Last year, he sold 50% of the rights to his song catalogue to the investment fund Hipgnosis for a reported $150m. For less comfortable artists, Spotify could be too big to quit.

In the opposite corner is Rogan, a former comedian and martial artist who has recorded close to 1,800 episodes since launching his podcast in 2009. His guests have included Kanye West, Elon Musk, Quentin Tarantino and Bernie Sanders. But he has also entertained figures from the alt-right such as the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, the Proud Boys co-founder Gavin McInnes and the provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos. Rogans politics are broadly contrarian with a rightward skew. He is a bullish libertarian who initially backed Sanders in the 2020 election but ended up preferring Donald Trump to Joe Biden.

Last April, Rogan said that if you are young, fit and healthy, then you do not need a vaccine, attracting criticism from Bidens chief medical advisor, Anthony Fauci. Im not an anti-vax person, Rogan responded. I believe theyre safe and encourage many people to take them. Yet he has still booked anti-vaccine guests.

Unlike Facebook or Twitter, Spotify has never claimed to have an ideological commitment to free speech. In 2017, following a white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville, it began removing music by hate bands. The following year, it introduced a somewhat incoherent hate and hateful conduct policy, designed to promote openness, diversity, tolerance and respect. Spotify may be deeply inconsistent but it has established a precedent that it takes responsibility for the material it serves up. Last week, a spokesperson boasted that Spotify had removed over 20,000 podcast episodes related to Covid since the start of the pandemic, a startling number.

Not Rogans though. Spotify CEO, Daniel Ek, has framed his hands-off approach as an anti-censorship issue, telling US news website Axios last year that Rogan was no different to a big-name rapper: And we dont dictate what theyre putting in their songs either.

Musicians have had an ambivalent relationship with Spotify since its US launch in 2011. Some are grateful to it for saving the music industry after a decade of digital piracy and plummeting sales while others claim its measly royalty rates favour only the megastar elite. The pandemic has re-energised its critics. Abruptly deprived of concert income, many artists looked again at their royalty statements and demanded a fairer deal.

The Young-Rogan contretemps is a PR headache of a different order, one that exposes the tensions inherent in Spotifys aggressive move into podcasting and decision to make music a subset of audio. Now artists and subscribers are effectively funding politically inflammatory content in the middle of a global health crisis. The rappers mentioned by Ek havent embraced Covid misinformation and would not reach 11 million listeners if they did. For a company proud of its progressive record, doubling down on Rogan on the pretext of a sudden dedication to free speech appears disingenuous, cynical and greedy.

While still the largest streaming service by far, Spotify has been slowly losing market share to its rivals. Podcasts were meant to reverse that slide but they could make things worse by thrusting Spotify on to the culture-war frontline. While the company has presumably calculated that the financial benefit of sticking with Rogan outweighs the reputational cost, many users have cancelled their premium subscriptions. The companys bullshit is just too much to bear now, tweeted the popular YouTube music critic Anthony Fantano.

The backlash is calling into question what exactly Spotify has become, or was all along. The US musician Damon Krukowski tweeted that Spotify are not in the music business, they are a tech platform, and however they can get people to spend more time on the platform, thats where they will go Spotify is not interested in the future of music.

Not for the first time in his maverick career, Neil Young has opened a can of worms. This one might be the biggest of them all.

Dorian Lynskey is the author of The Ministry of Truth: A Biography of George Orwells 1984

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Podcasts were meant to revive Spotify. Now its on the culture war frontline - The Guardian