Two of the US Olympic bobsledders grew up right here in sunny SoCal, to wipe past pot offenses people must go through the courts, deconstructing "Black Panther."
Mendoza sues, Garcia stews: Sacramento's #MeToo takes some unexpected turns
This week, on Take Two's State of Affairs:
- State senator Tony Mendoza is suing the California Senate. Mendoza was suspended earlier this month after allegations that he sexually harassed three female aides. In a suit filed Thursday, Mendoza calls the move “unconstitutional" and racially motivated.
Claremont McKenna's Jack Pitney calls the lawsuit "lose-lose."
Mendoza's probably not going to come out ahead. Certainly, the institution of the California legislature looks bad in this entire incident. Kevin DeLeon, now under attack from his former friend, Mendoza, is running a campaign for the U.S. Senate and this certainly doesn't help him either.
Also in State of Affairs:
- Former aides speak out. More harassment fallout as Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia faces new allegations.
- New gubernatorial candidate. The California governor's race just got a little more crowded, as former Clinton aide Amanda Renteria files papers to run.
Guests:
Carla Marinucci, senior editor for Politico's California Playbook
Jack Pitney, Roy P. Crocker professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College
From SoCal kids to elite bobsledders: 2 Olympians share their stories
In this winter's Olympics, there are a lot of California athletes hoping to bring home the gold for Team U.S.A. and the Golden State.
Bobsledders Lauren Gibbs and Carlo Valdes, are two of those competitors with Southern California roots. Gibbs grew up in Pasadena and Valdes is from Newport Beach, so we wanted to know what their journeys to the Olympics were like.
What's it like to ride in a bobsled?
Gibbs is a brakeman, which means she pushes the sled to start each run and pulls the brake at the end. She said riding around the track in the sled was a unique experience.
"It was kind of like being kicked off a cliff in a trashcan. Imagine if someone threw you in the back of an SUV blindfolded and drove you around town. You would have no idea where you're going and you'd be jostled back and forth, that's kind of what it's like. So when I sit in the bobsled my head basically goes down in between my knees and then I just get shaken back and forth as we go around the track for a minute," Gibbs said.
How did you get started as a bobsledder?
Gibbs was a volleyball player at Brown University, which she says is an unusual background for a bobsledder. Most athletes come to the sport from track and field so Gibbs says she faced a steep learning curve, but she worked hard to improve.
"I think the biggest thing to being an elite level bobsledder is grit. You have to really want it. It's a very blue collar sport. We do a lot of the work ourselves; we sand the runners, we wash the sled, we help maintain the sled. Obviously, we have a sled mechanic that travels with us but a lot of the work we do ourselves. So you have to really want it and you have to really want to get better at it," Gibbs said.
Valdes was javelin thrower on the track and field team at University of California, Los Angeles. His coach suggested he try out for bobsled. At first, Valdes said he thought it was a crazy suggestion but it ended up working out well.
"It was a perfect fit because bobsled is a sport where it's speed and power. And I've always had the speed and then once I started throwing javelin I got a lot stronger in the weight room and that translates over to bobsled perfectly," Valdes said.
How do you train from Southern California?
Valdes said it isn't easy to recreate the feeling of pushing a bobsled without a track with ice and ice can only be maintained during the bobsledding season, which lasts from about October to April.
There is a dry-land track in Lake Placid, New York, Valdes said, but when he's home in Newport Beach he mainly trains by running and lifting weights.
Once barred from practicing religion, North Koreans find faith and family in LA church
Dissecting ‘Black Panther’ with the guy who literally wrote the book on black superheroes
On Friday, one of the most anticipated films of the year is in theaters: "Black Panther."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjDjIWPwcPU
Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, the film follows the newly crowned king of the fictional African country of Wakanda, which on the surface, appears to be a third world country, but in actuality is one of the most technologically advanced nations on earth.
Take Two wanted to know how authentic the movie is to the original series from the '60s, when it was the first mainstream comic to feature a Black title character.
So with the release of "Black Panther," we're bringing you the first installment of our ongoing series...Movies with Experts.
Here's how it works: A Martinez watches a movie that centers around a particular subject and an expert on that subject tags along. Afterwards, we discuss.
For "Black Panther," we brought along Adilifu Nama. He literally wrote the book on black superheroes. It's called "Super Black: American Pop Culture and Black Superheroes."
Last week, A Martinez and Nama met in Burbank for an advanced screening of "Black Panther."
The Black Panther comic vs. "Black Panther" the movie
For a lot of people, this film is going to be their first exposure to the story of Black Panther. So how much of the original material will they be seeing in the film?
According to Nama, it stays "pretty true" to the source material.
"In many ways, the film, I think was reaching for a type of Godfather-esque drama of betrayal and who one can trust and who has interests that can run counter to the family. There's also tension around tradition and how tradition can be counterproductive...
It was a highwire act in terms of the ideological and racial themes in the film."
The film builds on themes the comic established back in the '60s but also works to elevate present-day matters.
"I think what it elevates is the familial tensions, but I think most importantly, the film tries to establish his philosophical approach to being a superhero. There's a line in the film where his father says, 'It's very difficult for a good man to be king...'
It is, I think, the framework for how the film plays out in terms of the choices that people make and can you reconcile power with morality?"
Tensions in identity
In an effort not to give too much away, we'll try to be as vague as possible in this setup. In the film, someone from Wakanda is left behind in the United States.
Through that, the film builds heavily on this theme that people from Africa feel disconnected or abandoned in some way when it comes to the United States. There's a role those two places play in history from each other.
"Right. You're on your own and in being on your own, the character takes a very destructive, pathological identity and expresses this in terms of wanton violence and when we can examine this against the backdrop of the violence in Chicago, in certain communities, some of this is real and some of this may be exaggerated.
But the notion that the African American experience is wrought with hyperviolence and destructive in terms of how it socializes young African American men, the film really does touch on some third rails in terms of black racial identity and the black experience."
Because the film touches heavily on this theme, Nama predicts there may be some debate around the depiction of the African American experience symbolized by Killmonger's character [played by Michael B. Jordan.]
"Given the African American tropes of basketball of a certain type of hip-hop swagger and a type of even thug persona that the character articulates against the noble, regal, thoughtful African prince/king T'Challa."
The women of Wakanda rule the film
The role of women in the film is powerful, from the all-female Dora Milaje, who guard the king, to the head technology officer for the whole country of Wakanda who is T'Challa's little sister.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgX_StgXGF0
"There was a lot of black girl magic in this film. I really appreciate it in terms of putting that at the foreground, and I think that might be one of the most interesting and progressive and dynamic parts of the film.
The very interesting, funny, conflicted, black female characters that were just as dynamic as their male counterparts and I really think that hopefully that won't go unnoticed."
Any upcoming movies you think we should go see with an expert? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us your suggestion.