Barbara Venkataraman's Blog: A Trip on the Mobius Strip - Posts Tagged "josh-venkataraman"
The power of a book!
Speaking of the awesomeness of books (we were speaking about that, weren’t we?), my son Josh is a student at UF in Gainesville, FL and really isn’t much of a reader (much to my dismay), but he was required to read a book for his history class which had a profound effect on him.
The book was the Pulitzer-Prize winning“Devil in the Grove” by Gilbert King which dealt with a horrible racist event in Florida from 1949. Four black men were falsely accused of raping a 17 year old white woman. They didn't even know each other, had alibis and there was no evidence of a rape but within 24 hours, a posse of 1,000 men led by the Sheriff hunted down one of the men and killed him. The others were brutally tortured to make them confess, although two of them refused. In a rigged trial, they were sentenced to death & the 16 year old, Charles Greenlee was sentenced to life in prison. The KKK came in and burned down black homes and businesses; the National Guard came in to control the KKK. Thurgood Marshall came down to represent them, one of his early cases. He lost, but won a retrial after appealing to the Supreme Court. After the retrial was granted, the sheriff transported the 2 prisoners, Shepherd and Irvin, drove down a dirt rode and shot them both, claiming they tried to escape. One of them played dead and lived to tell the story. Nothing ever happened to the sheriff. The 16 year old eventually got out of prison as did the wounded man, Walter Irvin, although he didn’t live long after that.
Josh was very disturbed by this book and one day while driving back to school he passed the sign for Groveland. He said it was like a punch in the gut—suddenly, it was a real place with real people who had been terribly mistreated. He called me and said he wanted to help exonerate the men since he knew their families had been trying to do that for decades. He thought about making a documentary (he is a film & tv production major), but decided to start a petition. He contacted the author through e-mail and the author was very nice, but said they had tried a petition before & it wasn’t successful. Then Josh tracked down Charles Greenlee’s daughter Carol in Tennessee and introduced himself and said he wanted to help. She was uncertain at first, but he convinced her. He started a petition on change.org last March and it only garnered 200 signatures. Then Josh contacted Leonard Pitts, a nationally syndicated columnist for the Miami Herald, and convinced him to read the book. After that, Pitts interviewed Josh and Carol by phone and wrote a great article. The petition took off and, since then, there have been a dozen articles in various papers and magazines and Josh and Carol have appeared on radio shows, although they still hadn’t met. Today, the petition has 8,330 signatures and many powerful comments by the signers. https://www.change.org/p/exonerate-th...
Josh has been in regular contact with the author, Gilbert King and many other family members of the Groveland Four have reached out to him. Josh had to go to NY for a job fair and met up with Gilbert King there. They made a plan for Gilbert to come speak at UF for Black History Month by partnering with the Levin School of Law and the history dept.
Then a big surprise happened, the mayor of Groveland, Florida announced that he would publicly apologize to the families! After 69 years, this was so huge! They invited the families, as well as Gilbert King and Josh to Groveland last Tuesday and in front of 100 people and lots of press, the mayor gave his heartfelt apology to the families. It was incredible!! http://www.clickorlando.com/news/hist...
Two days, later, Gilbert King spoke at UF about his book and the Jim Crow South and then there was a panel made up of two of the family members, Gilbert King, and Josh. It was so emotional to hear the family speak about what they went through. (And Josh met Carol Greenlee finally!). And then an even bigger surprise came during the question and answer session. A blond man in his 30’s stood up and said that his great-uncle WAS the devil in the grove, his great-uncle was Sheriff Willis McCall and that he had come today to apologize to the families and then he started crying and the whole room gasped and started sniffling and crying, even the moderator. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever been through. My husband and I were so glad we drove up for that. http://www.alligator.org/news/local/a...
The hope for exoneration has grown stronger and the fight goes on, but I thought you would appreciate learning about the power of a book.
The book was the Pulitzer-Prize winning“Devil in the Grove” by Gilbert King which dealt with a horrible racist event in Florida from 1949. Four black men were falsely accused of raping a 17 year old white woman. They didn't even know each other, had alibis and there was no evidence of a rape but within 24 hours, a posse of 1,000 men led by the Sheriff hunted down one of the men and killed him. The others were brutally tortured to make them confess, although two of them refused. In a rigged trial, they were sentenced to death & the 16 year old, Charles Greenlee was sentenced to life in prison. The KKK came in and burned down black homes and businesses; the National Guard came in to control the KKK. Thurgood Marshall came down to represent them, one of his early cases. He lost, but won a retrial after appealing to the Supreme Court. After the retrial was granted, the sheriff transported the 2 prisoners, Shepherd and Irvin, drove down a dirt rode and shot them both, claiming they tried to escape. One of them played dead and lived to tell the story. Nothing ever happened to the sheriff. The 16 year old eventually got out of prison as did the wounded man, Walter Irvin, although he didn’t live long after that.
Josh was very disturbed by this book and one day while driving back to school he passed the sign for Groveland. He said it was like a punch in the gut—suddenly, it was a real place with real people who had been terribly mistreated. He called me and said he wanted to help exonerate the men since he knew their families had been trying to do that for decades. He thought about making a documentary (he is a film & tv production major), but decided to start a petition. He contacted the author through e-mail and the author was very nice, but said they had tried a petition before & it wasn’t successful. Then Josh tracked down Charles Greenlee’s daughter Carol in Tennessee and introduced himself and said he wanted to help. She was uncertain at first, but he convinced her. He started a petition on change.org last March and it only garnered 200 signatures. Then Josh contacted Leonard Pitts, a nationally syndicated columnist for the Miami Herald, and convinced him to read the book. After that, Pitts interviewed Josh and Carol by phone and wrote a great article. The petition took off and, since then, there have been a dozen articles in various papers and magazines and Josh and Carol have appeared on radio shows, although they still hadn’t met. Today, the petition has 8,330 signatures and many powerful comments by the signers. https://www.change.org/p/exonerate-th...
Josh has been in regular contact with the author, Gilbert King and many other family members of the Groveland Four have reached out to him. Josh had to go to NY for a job fair and met up with Gilbert King there. They made a plan for Gilbert to come speak at UF for Black History Month by partnering with the Levin School of Law and the history dept.
Then a big surprise happened, the mayor of Groveland, Florida announced that he would publicly apologize to the families! After 69 years, this was so huge! They invited the families, as well as Gilbert King and Josh to Groveland last Tuesday and in front of 100 people and lots of press, the mayor gave his heartfelt apology to the families. It was incredible!! http://www.clickorlando.com/news/hist...
Two days, later, Gilbert King spoke at UF about his book and the Jim Crow South and then there was a panel made up of two of the family members, Gilbert King, and Josh. It was so emotional to hear the family speak about what they went through. (And Josh met Carol Greenlee finally!). And then an even bigger surprise came during the question and answer session. A blond man in his 30’s stood up and said that his great-uncle WAS the devil in the grove, his great-uncle was Sheriff Willis McCall and that he had come today to apologize to the families and then he started crying and the whole room gasped and started sniffling and crying, even the moderator. It was the most amazing thing I’ve ever been through. My husband and I were so glad we drove up for that. http://www.alligator.org/news/local/a...
The hope for exoneration has grown stronger and the fight goes on, but I thought you would appreciate learning about the power of a book.
The Joker Journal...
The Joker Journal
Before he became the iconic Joker, Heath Ledger spent a month in a hotel room trying to find the character. This 15 minute film explores that event. Well worth watching, but not for the faint of heart...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3saW2...
Please feel free to share the link if you like it. :-)
Before he became the iconic Joker, Heath Ledger spent a month in a hotel room trying to find the character. This 15 minute film explores that event. Well worth watching, but not for the faint of heart...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3saW2...
Please feel free to share the link if you like it. :-)
Help correct a terrible injustice by signing a petition...
Check out this article by Pulitzer Prize winner Leonard Pitts and help correct this terrible injustice by signing the petition. Thank-you!!
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op...
Here's the petition link: https://www.change.org/p/exonerate-th...
http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op...
Here's the petition link: https://www.change.org/p/exonerate-th...
I Art New York! (Video for artsy people) :-)
My son Josh and his friend Diego made a short documentary about people in the arts in NYC. The film has been accepted to three New York film fests (so far). Woo hoo! It's fifteen minutes long and very enjoyable. If you like it, you can follow Josh on Vimeo. Here is the link:
https://vimeo.com/165617998
https://vimeo.com/165617998
Great interview about "The Joker Journal"!
For those of you not familiar with the creepy indie film, "The Joker Journal", check out this interview and then watch the film--if you dare! It's only 15 minutes long, but it will stay with you longer than that. Ba ha ha!
http://www.comicbookandmoviereviews.c...
http://www.comicbookandmoviereviews.c...
The Joker Journal--Perfect for Halloween!!
In case you haven't seen it yet, you should check out "The Joker Journal" on YouTube. Only 15 minutes long and perfect for Halloween! Sweet dreams! Ba ha ha!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3saW2...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3saW2...
Pet adoption video that will make your day! :-)
My son, Josh, made a very sweet video about pet adoption for an NYC rescue group called Pillows for Paws©, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The mission of the RescueMen© campaign is to raise awareness to adopt, not shop for companion animals and showcase how wonderful and loving shelter/rescue animals can be.
Here is the link to the video on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RescueMenUSA...
Donations to the campaign are used to bring essential material items needed on a monthly basis to NYC homeless cats, dogs, and rabbits at the city's animal shelters. This includes, beds, toys, treats, grooming and behavioral enrichment supplies.
Homeless animals come into a shelter having been abused, abandoned, or neglected, with most of them beyond frightened. Supporting their emotional stability is important to the overall well-being of an animal as they spend time in a traumatic shelter environment. Healthy, stimulated and relaxed shelter animals are more likely to be adopted. This is everyone’s goal!
Here is the link to the video on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RescueMenUSA...
Donations to the campaign are used to bring essential material items needed on a monthly basis to NYC homeless cats, dogs, and rabbits at the city's animal shelters. This includes, beds, toys, treats, grooming and behavioral enrichment supplies.
Homeless animals come into a shelter having been abused, abandoned, or neglected, with most of them beyond frightened. Supporting their emotional stability is important to the overall well-being of an animal as they spend time in a traumatic shelter environment. Healthy, stimulated and relaxed shelter animals are more likely to be adopted. This is everyone’s goal!
Check out the new blog, "Oscar Buzzed"
Check out the new blog, "Oscar Buzzed", and enjoy the latest news and commentary about Oscar-worthy movies and the actors who appear in them. Every year, a select few are nominated to win the highest honors for film-making. And every year, we cinephiles-on-a-budget must decide what's worth it and what's not. This is your guide to the award season films.
https://academyawards.tumblr.com/
https://academyawards.tumblr.com/
What would you do for a Klondike Bar? :-)
I think we could all use a laugh at least once a day, so here's your Thursday laugh:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBfmE...
Then ask yourself, what would YOU do for a Klondike Bar? :-D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBfmE...
Then ask yourself, what would YOU do for a Klondike Bar? :-D
Halloween Tradition :-O
In what has become my Halloween tradition, allow me to share with you a creepy little film that you shouldn't watch alone...
Before he became the iconic Joker, Heath Ledger spent a month in a hotel room trying to find the character. This film imagines that transformation...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3saW2...
Before he became the iconic Joker, Heath Ledger spent a month in a hotel room trying to find the character. This film imagines that transformation...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3saW2...
A Trip on the Mobius Strip
Whenever I see something funny or weird that you can relate to, I will share it. Anything that will make you smile, or shake your head, or wiggle your ears. I'd like to see that, by the way...
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