Today, January 15th
IT’S MARTIN LUTHER KING JR’s BIRTHDAY (not to be confused with the national holiday). The civil rights leader would have been 91 today—a stark reminder that he was only 39 when killed in 1968. That he was able to accomplish so much— organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott; create the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; lead 1963’s “Birmingham Campaign”; be named Time magazine’s “Man of the Year”; and win the Nobel Peace Prize—speaks to his extraordinary gifts. And to a culture of activism that seems, thankfully, reignited.
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THE 6th SEASON OF “GRACE AND FRANKIE” IS NOW AVAILABLE ON NETFLIX. With season six in the can, you’d expect two eighty-something actresses to relax for a moment. But not Fonda and Tomlin. Jane Fonda has been arrested five times since moving to Washington, DC last fall to help lead weekly “Fire Drill Friday” demonstrations (inspired by teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg). Lily Tomlin’s arrest came on December 27th. And while both remain committed to “shaming the companies that are underwriting the fossil fuel industry,” future protests will have to wait, as they start filming their final season mid-January.
For an entertaining glimpse into their lives and activism, visit Marc Maron’s podcast, WTF.
“We’ve got to stop hugging and start saving the trees.”
SPIKE LEE MAKES HISTORY AS CANNES FIRST BLACK JURY PRESIDENT. Yes, the official announcement was made yesterday, but it seems fitting to note it on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. The director has sometimes seemed the lone barometer of change behind the camera, receiving his first Oscar nod (Best Original Screenplay) for 1990's “Do the Right Thing”; his second (Best Documentary Feature) for 1998's “4 Little Girls”; and a third (Best Adapted Screenplay) for 2019’s “BlacKkKlansman” (plus an honorary Oscar in 2015).
While the news—coming a day after Bong Joon Ho became Oscar's first Korean “Best Director” nominee—indicates strides are being made, a truly “new” day will come only with substantial increases in opportunities for women and people of color.