Indulging The Left’s Historical Revisionism Has Consequences
By promoting these false histories, we move from unpacking our flawed past to politicizing it to beat our ideological opponents.
A firefighter with the Memphis Fire Department in Tennessee is under investigation for a message targeting "white folks" that he posted to Facebook, but the department on Thursday would not disclose the firefighter's race to TheBlaze.
WHBQ-TV reported that firefighter Steven W. Chillis' Facebook post tags the 2022 movie "The Woman King," which IMDB says is "inspired by true events that took place in The Kingdom of Dahomey, one of the most powerful states of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries."
The message with Chillis' post reads, "I hope there are some white folks killed," the station added. TheBlaze's Facebook search for Chillis' account was unsuccessful Thursday.
The fire department "is conducting an internal investigation on the social media post made by Mr. Chillis," public information officer, Lt. Hunter Smith, told TheBlaze in an emailed statement Thursday.
Smith added that the department employed Chillis in March 2020 and that Chillis "remains on duty with pay pending the outcome of the investigation."
A LinkedIn profile of Steven Chillis of the City of Memphis Fire Department includes a profile photo that would seem to indicate Chillis is black, but Smith told TheBlaze he couldn't confirm that Chillis has a LinkedIn profile.
The educational experience on the LinkedIn profile — which was active Thursday afternoon — lines up with the educational experience on a resume for Steven W. Chillis of Memphis posted to SlideShare in September 2016.
Given that race is central to the controversy — particularly the race of the firefighter in question — TheBlaze asked Smith if he could confirm that Chillis is black, but Smith declined to do so. In fact, Smith told TheBlaze that the fire department "does not release any demographic information about employees, including age, race, date of birth, etc."
Smith did provide TheBlaze with a copy of the department's Social Media Policy, which affects all city employees. It prohibits "statements, comments, or images that disparage any race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or national origin." The policy also prohibits posting "remarks that would contribute to a hostile work environment (racial, sexual, religious, etc.)."
Sydney Gray, a reporter covering the story for WMC-TV, said in a video report that she spoke to Chillis on the phone Monday morning but said he wouldn't comment on the matter except to say there was "a hearing" and he "would not elaborate on what happened or when it took place."
Neither WMC's story nor WHBQ's story bring up Chillis' race. In fact, WMC's headline reads, "Memphis firefighter under investigation for hostile Facebook post."
A spokesperson for the Memphis firefighters union told WHBQ the group is waiting for the investigation to be completed.
Democrats recently dropped a new ad campaign outlining the future of the party, but for some reason chose not to brand it in strictly political terms.
It went by the title “The Woman King” and took the form of a historical epic film set in the 1800s about the Agojie, the all-female fighting force that defended the Dahomey kingdom in West Africa.
The movie stars Oscar winner Viola Davis as General Nanisca, the leader of the Agojie. It has already received glowing reviews as a testament to inclusion and female empowerment from the same types of people who wouldn’t even watch Matt Walsh’s "What Is a Woman?" documentary.
When a movie based on historical events lies about critically important details – the role the Dahomey kingdom played in the slave trade, in this case – the film should be seen for what it truly is: a work of cinematic propaganda.
What was the message of this fictional tale?
Black women lead and protect their communities and are the warriors needed to defeat white supremacy and the patriarchy. Nanisca spent the entire film fighting against the black men trying to oprress her as well as the white ones she said brought immorality to Africa in the form of the slave trade.
The rejection of male leadership is what makes Dahomey a feminist utopia. The Abojie were unencumbered by husbands or children and free to dedicate themselves completely to their job. They were strong, unemotional warriors who defended their tribe from the powerful Oyo kingdom and convinced their king that palm oil would be just as profitable as slave trading.
The men in the film were anything but honorable. In stark contrast, the men in the film were portrayed as either abusive and rapacious or effeminate, indecisive, and weak. King Ghezo, played by actor John Boyega, elevated Nanisca to woman king after she disobeyed his direct order not to go on a mission to rescue her troops.
Viewers learned early on that the only other man allowed to live in the palace was a eunuch, whose deep voice, sassy attitude, and outfit made him look like an extra from the show "Pose."
The political metaphor was crystal clear: Emasculated men are the only ones who can access power in the left’s vision of "Woman King" utopia.
Dahomey is a visual representation of how radical feminist ideology produced the modern Democratic Party. The message throughout the film and across recent decades has been consistent: Forsake your feminine nature, desires for companionship, and hopes for a family to serve the regime.
One character literally said, “I do not want a husband. I want to be a warrior.” In this twisted worldview, childbirth is a function of oppressive patriarchy, but death on the battlefield is a noble end to a life spent serving the kingdom.
The “woman king” is the dominant political philosophy on the left – unless “trans women” make a claim to the throne – which means it has particular salience within the black community.
It motivates MSNBC hosts who think disobedient black men who question the Democrat party should “get in line” with the black women fighting to save democracy.
It explains why police abolitionist organizations led by black women argue that “abortion care is essential to black liberation” as well as why a black man running for a U.S. Senate seat would go to a historically black college to convince black men to kill their offspring.
One reason for the film’s rave reviews is that Hollywood producers know there is a certain set of black people who are so desperate for cultural affirmation that they will accept anything, from music that celebrates murder and pimping to movies that lie about slavery, as long as there is a black face on it. This is especially the case if black women are in the lead.
The movie was not without a few redeeming moments. At one point, Nanisca told the child she conceived as a result of a brutal rape, “You are not the thing that hurt me.” Unlike abortion advocates on the left today, she chose to execute her rapist rather than her baby.
"The Woman King" was a BLM fantasy flick posing as entertainment. The “say her name” shout-out to Breonna Taylor after the initial round of credits served as confirmation of the movie’s political intentions. It is no more historically accurate than a sci-fi buddy film entitled "Freddie and Me," in which Thomas Jefferson rises from the grave and teleports to the future in order to assist Frederick Douglass in the abolitionist movement.
That project would be rejected as an overt work of propaganda that sanitized an ugly part of history for the sake of political gain.
True believers in equality will do the same here.
In this clip, Jason Whitlock and Delano Squires reviewed "The Woman King," a so-called American historical epic film about the Agojie. The film is about the all-female warrior unit that protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey during the 17th to 19th centuries. Still, during the credits, Delano observed a moment when he says propaganda peeked through the storyline.
"Fearless" host Jason Whitlock said he could not leave the movie theater fast enough, so he missed the dramatic pause when one of the film stars, Viola Davis, gave a shoutout to Breonna Taylor. Delano stayed through the credits and saw the Breonna Taylor reference. "This movie was BLM's dream," Delano said.
Watch the clip to hear more of the conversation.
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Sometimes a situation will arise where there are no winners, and nobody was right, or worse, when Black Lives Matter hijacks a tragic situation to exploit for political gain. Such is the sad case of Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police Department officers on March 13, 2020.
In this clip, Stu Burguiere took a thoughtful look at the case's known details from every angle, and he gave reasonable explanations for some actions while calling out the wrong that transpired that tragic night in March. Watch the video for more information.
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