Black Presidents Not New to Hollywood

"The Man"
When the President and Speaker of the House are killed in a building collapse, and the Vice-President declines the office due to age and ill-health, Senate President pro tempore Douglas Dilman (James Earl Jones) suddenly becomes the first brother in the Oval Office. The events from that day to the next election when he must decide if he will actually run challenge his skills as a politician and leader.

"24" (Seasons 2 and 3)
President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) had his work cut out for him, working with Jack Bauer to save Los Angeles from the threat of terrorist thugs, dealing with traitors, knocking heads with his shady ex-wife Sherry Palmer (played brilliantly by Penny Johnson Jerald) and dodging attempts on his life.

"24" (Season 6)
David Palmer's death paves the way for his younger brother Wayne (D.B. Woodside) to move into the Oval office. He helps free Jack Bauer from the Chinese government, fakes a nuclear bombing, is severly injured by an explosion at a press conference, and ends up in a coma by the season's end.

"The Fifth Element"
250 years in the future, ex-soldier, cab driver Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis) works to save the planet from extinction with the help of Ruby Rhod (a whacky role played by Chris Tucker). Dallas saves the world, but only because President Lindberg (Tommy 'Tiny' Lister) said so.

"Deep Impact"
A comet is set to collide with planet Earth, and President Beck (Morgan Freeman) has devised a plan to save a million lucky people to keep the human race going.

"Head of State"
Mays Gilliam (Chris Rock) gets his party’s nomination for presidency. But after speaking his mind about society’s ills (as well as hiring a Klan member to endorse his White opponent).

"2012"
Coming in July 2009, Danny Glover will play preisdent Glover in a fight to counteract the apocalyptic events that were predicted by the ancient Mayan calendar.

Idiocracy”
Terry Crews plays President Camacho. Imagine President Obama with that hair.


Hollywood, despite all its stereotypical crap, has often been ahead of the national curve and was ready for a Black president long before America was. On television and in movies, Black actors such as acclaimed as James Earl Jones to the other end of the spectrum as Tommy Lister have played commanders-in-chief. Sammy Davis Jr. was only 9 when he assumed the POTUS in 1933’s "Rufus Jones for President."

A Black man in the Oval Office has provided ample joke routines for comics such as Richard Pryor and Chris Rock. On one episode of "The Richard Pryor Show," he played a president hosting a press conference. During the sketch, he tells reporters that he'd seriously consider Black Panther Huey Newton for the job of FBI director -- and nearly decks one journalist who inadvertently insults his momma. And when he's asked about his fetish for white women, he jokes, "They don't call it the White House for nothing."

In the 2003 film "Head of State," Chris Rock's president, Mays Gilliam, is an even more exaggerated character. His language is filled with slang and he is partial to baggy jeans and Kangol caps and looks less like the leader of the free world than the latest star of Def Jam Records. His running mate, played by Bernie Mac, thinks NATO is a person. Gilliam is catapulted onto the public stage after the sitting president dies in a plane crash.

It is not the first time a Black man on screen has risen to power through calamity. In "The Man," James Earl Jones becomes the POTUS after the entire cabinet perishes in a series of freak accidents. It's not on DVD, but if you can find it on VHS it is well worth the search. In "Deep Impact," Morgan Freeman has to calm the nation as he contends with wayward comets threatening to destroy the planet. Morgan Freeman looks and sounds conventionally presidential in the way that only a Visa pitchman can. And in "The Fifth Element," set in 2263, Tommy “Tiny” Lister's President Lindberg has to battle asteroids and an enemy named The Great Evil. Lister—a 300-pounder best known for playing a larcenous thug in Friday—Lindberg is not a suitable role model. Too "angry." Too "hostile." Too much "bestial grunting." That said, his menacing glare somehow suggests he'd stand firm against lobbyists.

It's not until the hit series "24" that things start looking up for the Black president. Dennis Haysbert's character, David Palmer -- in the first season a senator running for the presidency -- is handsome, composed and ready to lead on Day One. We were in good hands with David Palmer who radiated dependability. His race is a non-issue as he struggles with modern-day threats such as terrorism, bomb scares and a social-climbing wife. Yes, he's eventually assassinated, but only after he leaves office. And Palmer's equally self-confident younger brother, Wayne, takes the reins shortly thereafter. Another “24” alumni Roger Cross, who played Agent Curtis Manning from 2005-2007, was the President in a Sci-fi Channel made for TV movie, “Polar Storm”, this past weekend which started me thinking about this post.

Taylor the Tailor Helps Celebrities Dress for Success

As millions of people are searching for work and business owners struggle to attract consumers, Ryan Taylor may be better positioned than most to weather the economic crisis. Taylor is a custom tailor who brings his showroom to clients' homes and offices. The day before singer Johnny Gill left for a U.S. concert tour in March, Taylor sat in the musician's condo taking measurements for a customized shirt and suit that needed to be completed and shipped in a few days. Even on short notice, "Taylor the Tailor," delivered on his promise -- and made Gill a loyal and satisfied customer.

Ryan Taylor says he wants to change the apparel business model by personalizing a customer's needs, instead of having large inventories and high overhead costs that can quickly put someone out of business in a bad economy. His recipe for success: virtually no inventory and prices competitive with brand name department stores.

His story in the apparel business began with the word "wardrobe" itself. He wondered why would a word associated with business suits or casual attire have such a negative prefix? He decided to remove the word "war" and create a brand called DROBE that would offer professionals and smaller mom-and-pop boutiques his personalized custom style. But his first foray into the apparel business began and ended about 10 years ago at a trade show in Las Vegas. He borrowed money to pay for a booth, but like many entrepreneurial designers getting started, Taylor found out that buyers were not interested in clothing without established brand names. Soon after, Taylor was broke.

Several months later, Taylor was surprised that some of his personal customers were coming back for more shirts because of his attention to size and detail. "I discovered that clothes off the rack fit less than 50 percent of the consumer population," he said, "and that my custom clothes can be generally close to the same price as those on the rack." He also began visiting his clients in their living rooms or offices for custom fittings and offering a range of fabrics, textures and designs favorable to an individual's style.

Although he discovered his custom-tailored clients looked great in his shirts, he noticed that most Main Street customers wore pants and suits that did not properly fit, so Taylor saw that as another opportunity to expand. With no inventory and a small staff on commission, Taylor's reputation spread throughout the Los Angeles, Chicago, and Atlanta business communities, partly with the help of fellow Hampton University alumni. He said television shows and celebrities began to take notice, and soon he found himself in the fitting rooms of major motion picture and recording studios.

His first celebrity clients was the late Bernie Mac. Some of his other celebrity clients include Al Pacino, Martin Lawrence, Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel, George Lopez and musician and multi-Grammy winner Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men. But his reputation did not change his business style. The vast majority of men and women who make up Taylor's clientele earn a living on Main Street. Ryan Taylor eliminates the cost to have your clothes tailored and eliminates the time it takes to go shopping.

His business has expanded to include custom-tailored dresses, ties, shoes and accessories. What began as a small loan has turned into 1,300 loyal clients. He averages close to $30,000 per month in revenue, and sales are down by only about 15 percent this year. In a volatile economic climate, Taylor is not cutting back. He recently opened a second DROBE office in Pasadena, California, and wants to add 200 clients before the end of the year. "To survive in this tough economy, you have to be willing to customize your product as well as your service for the specific tastes of individual people so they will talk about you with glow -- with a feeling of excitement about your product," said Taylor.

The Choice is Clear

In my own personal poll I have not met anyone who thinks that Senator John McCain would make a better president than Senator Barack Obama. Then why are most national polls showing the race so close with Senator Obama holding a narrow lead over Senator McCain throughout the summer.

Over the last month Senator McCain has repeatedly been on the offensive against Senator Obama by questioning his experience, criticizing his opposition to most new offshore oil drilling and mocked his overseas trip.

Even a good friend of mine is feeding on the lack of experience “BS”. In my opinion, we are in the mess we are in today because the people with experience are running the country. What we need is toss the whole executive branch of the government out and replace them with people with fresh ideas. We have had a president with a gunslinger mentality for the last eight years and now a guy who even calls himself a maverick wants to take over. The dictionary defines maverick as a nonconformist, eccentric, individualist, rebel. Sounds like a person who is out for himself instead of what is good for the country.

We are almost done with unintelligent leader in the White House and here is Senator McCain who was in constant conflict with higher-ranking personnel at the U.S. Naval Academy for not obey the rules. He did well in subjects that interested him, such as literature and history, but studied only enough to pass subjects he disliked, such as math (and a class rank of 894 of 899). Attending high school at a private preparatory boarding school should have prepared him for the curriculum of the academy. He probably only got into the academy because his father and grandfather were both graduates. After the naval academy he began training as a naval aviator at Pensacola, Florida. There he earned a reputation as a partying man (lots of alcohol like the current president). He crashed twice while serving as a naval aviator and once collided with power lines. (How he managed to keep his wings is a mystery to me).

Senator McCain seems to think that being a former prisoner of war qualifies him to hold the office of president. Then why didn’t the other POW run for office. In truth Senator McCain turned down early release as a POW because it would help him later in life. The senator likes to say how much of a hero he was, but in truth he tried to commit suicide while being held as a POW and made an anti-American propaganda confession.

Senator McCain like to portray himself as a great family man while in truth while his first wife was suffered from a crippling automobile accident, he became a celebrity of sorts as a returned POW. During this period he had extramarital affairs. In 1979 he met Cindy Hensley and they began dating, and he urged his wife to grant him a divorce, which she did. McCain and Cindy Hensley were married in 1980. McCain’s children did not attend the wedding and several years passed before they reconciled. John and Cindy McCain entered into a prenuptial agreement that kept most of her family's assets under her name; they would always keep their finances apart and file separate income tax returns.

He went to work for Hensley & Co., his new father-in-law large Anheuser-Busch beer distributorship. As Vice President of Public Relations at the distributorship, he gained political support among the local business community, meeting powerful figures such as banker Charles Keating, Jr.. He was later investigated in a political influence scandal of the 1980s as a member of the “Keating Five”. Between 1982 and 1987, Senator McCain had received $112,000 in lawful political contributions from Charles Keating Jr. and his associates at Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, along with trips on Keating's jets that McCain belatedly repaid two years later. In 1987, McCain was one of five senators whom Keating contacted in order to prevent the government's seizure of Lincoln Savings and Loan. In the end, McCain was cleared by the Senate Ethics Committee of acting improperly or violating any law or Senate rule, but was rebuked for exercising "poor judgment".

In 1997, McCain became chairman of the powerful Senate Commerce Committee; he was criticized for accepting funds from corporations and businesses under the committee's purview, but in response said the restricted contributions he received were not part of the big-money nature of the campaign finance problem.

And for all you Black folks who think Senator McCain is so great, in 1983, he opposed creation of a federal Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. This year (in the midst of a presidential campaign) he admitted: "I was wrong and eventually realized that, in time to give full support (not until 1990) for a state holiday in Arizona." Yeah right; only after being forced to do so under threat from the U.S. government of pulling federal money from the state and the treat from the NFL of not bring the Super Bowl to Phoenix.

Senator McCain mocked Senator Obama as a “Rock Star” on his on Obama’s overseas trip when in truth McCain visited the same countries and more and acted like he was the head of state as he accused Senator Obama of doing. McCain himself urged Obama to visit Iraq and when it turned out that Senator Obama was received very much better than Senator McCain, he began to whine. Senator Obama’s overseas trip killed any notion that he is not ready to lead.

Senator Barack Obama is a true American story. In no other country could the child of a single mother who was raised by his grandparents grow up to be at the doorsteps of the highest position of that nation. No I’m not telling you who to vote for. I’m just telling you not to be doped by the routine U.S. political attack machine. We cannot afford another four years of the same policies as the last eight years. In the words of Bernie Mac, "Who You Wit".

Bernie Mac Hospitalized with Pneumonia

While Bernie Mac (real name: Bernard Jeffery McCullough) remains in a Chicago hospital with pneumonia, his publicist, Danica Smith, said in a statement that the 50-year-old actor/comedian is responding well to treatment and should be released soon.

The pneumonia is not related to an inflammatory lung disease known as sarcoidosis which causes inflammation in the lungs, lymph nodes and other organs. That condition has been in remission since 2005.

Most recently Mac made headlines when he attended a Barack Obama fundraiser and made a few lighthearted comments about the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. "I'm proud of him because politics is dirty, especially with Republicans," he said. "People like rumors. They are going to say things like, you know, 'You was in the club with Lil' Kim, and you and Kanye West got in a fistfight.' "

In addition to his appearance in last year's hit "Transformers," Mac has recently been working on the TV series "Starting Under," as well as several films, including the Samuel L. Jackson flick "Soul Men" (slated for release later this year) and the John Travolta comedy "Old Dogs," which is scheduled for a 2009 release.