As the country grieved over the death of President John F. Kennedy, now President Lyndon B. Johnson was faced with some big decisions.  A Texan with a moderator reputation, Johnson chose to take a stand and passed Kennedy’s Civil Rights Act of 1964, and that was the beginning of Johnson’s Civil Rights crusade with the presidential pen.   Johnson worked hand in hand with Martin Luther King Jr. and pushed forward stellar, yet controversial bills throughout his career in office.  But as the war in Vietnam escalated, Johnson’s status among both the black and white communities began to falter.  Most know Johnson for his failures in Vietnam, and this documentary takes the time to focus on some of the great domestic things Johnson did for the country.

If you are interested and have Comcast, go to your OnDemand menu, select “Top Picks” followed by “Black History”, “Specials” and finally “Civil Rights Movement”.  I highly recommend it.

On the same note, Rev. Jessie Jackson will be speaking on my campus this upcoming Tuesday, and guess who’s going? Ah, yes, that’d be me.

On this day, in 1955, James Dean and his mechanic Rolf Wutherich set out for a race in Salinas in Jimmy’s new Porsche Spyder that he nicknamed “Little Bastard” (the name and number 130 was painted by George Barris just days before).  They had lunch with Jimmy’s father and a few hours later, just outside of Bakersfield, Jimmy got a speeding ticket – 65 in a 55 mph zone – it is the last time he will sign his name.  Then at 5:45, at the intersection of routes 46 and 41 near Cholame, Jimmy collided with a Ford that is turning, it was driven by Donald Turnupseed, who walked away from the crash, Wutherich was thrown from the car, surviving, but Jimmy died instantly.

There have been many stories surrounding James Dean and his infamous Porsche.  Some claimed the car was cursed, some say Jimmy had a death wish (while others strongly are against that claim, saying he was a young man who loved life).  But there are many ironic events surrounding the time of Jimmy’s death.  On September 17, while on the set of Giant, Jimmy did a commercial about driving safety for the National Highway Safety Committee.  The last thing he said was “Take it easy driving. The life you might save might be mine.”  Additionally, the last scene that he filmed was the “Last Supper” scene for Giant.

Born on February 8, 1931 in Indiana, James Byron Dean was the only child of Mildred and Winton Dean.  The family moved to California and in 1940, Mildred died of cervical cancer.  Jimmy accompanied his mother’s body back to Fairmount, Indiana and Jimmy then lived with his aunt, Ortense and uncle, Marcus who owned a farm.  During his growing up, Jimmy was involved with theatre, speech and debate, as well as being on the baseball and basketball teams in high school.

After graduating in 1949, he left for California were he attended Santa Monica City College and UCLA, participating in theatre and lands his first “professional” acting job – a TV commercial for Pepsi, where he drops a coin into a player piano and he and claps his hands while singing “Pepsi-Cola hits the spot”. He receives $30.00.  Jimmy did other theatre and TV movie specials while in California, but late 1951, on the advice of his acting coach, heads to New York.

In New York, Jimmy continued to do more bit parts for film and stage, including a Broadway production, See the Jaguar, which lasted three nights.  Meanwhile he also auditions  for and joins the esteemed Actor’s Studio.  This is where he met fellow actor Martin Landau.  In 1954, he took to Broadway again with The Immortalist, however he doesn’t spend much time there either, because he signs on for East of Eden, his first major role and heads back to California.  The role will also earn him an Oscar nomination – the first ever posthumous nomination in Oscar history.  In early 1955, he beagn shooting Rebel without a Cause, his most famous role and shortly after is signed for Giant, which earns him another posthumous Oscar nomination.

Jimmy’s road through Hollywood was also was tainted with his many difficult romances, most notably with Pier Angeli, whom many say was Jimmy’s true love.  Angeli broke off the relationship due to much pressure by her mother, since Jimmy was not Catholic.  Angeli married singer Vic Damone, and it is said that Jimmy went to the church where the wedding was being held and as the couple exited the church, he revved his motorcycle and sped off, though many friends, including Dennis Hopper believe Jimmy would not have done this.  Additionally, many have claimed that Jimmy was a homosexual or at least bisexual, but others believe that any homosexuality that Jimmy may have been involved with was only to chalk up with experience for future acting positions.

My fascination with James Dean began at an early age.  I had for a long while already been interested in oddities such as Jack the Ripper, and the Titanic, along with my passion for the 50s and 60s.  I think Jimmy fascinated me on the same level as the Titanic – each had such potential, each epic and their fates so ironic with their expectations and rumors surrounding them.  When I was eight, we went to the James Dean memorial, which is located at the crash site, where I bagged some dirt at the location.  The bag still sits on my bookshelf were I keep my Jimmy books (I own every biography of him published).  He had such an air of mystery about him, along with being a fantastic actor of a time period I love and he raced cars and was damn attractive to boot.

Obviously, I could go on and on about Jimmy…but I’ll end on this: James Dean’s short life was filled with complications and rumor.  Many who had brief encounters with him or actual relationships seem to enjoy embellishing upon them endlessly, each claiming to have know the “real” Jimmy.  His short, yet explosive, career has made him the stuff of legend, and will forever remain iconic.

If you’ve never heard of WASP, like my instructor, here is a brief explanation: created in 1941, during WWII, women were called to duty to perform non-combat, ferry missions.  This left men to perform strictly combat missions.  The women of WASP were the first women to ever fly military aircrafts.  Over 1000 women joined, and 38 of them gave their lives during missions.  Since these women were considered civil service employees they did not receive military benefits.  It wasn’t until 1977, with the G.I. Bill Improvement Act, under the Carter Administration, with the help of Republican Senator Barry Goldwater (and 1964 presidential hopeful), who was a ferry pilot himself, did these women get their benefits retroactively.

Fast forward to today, on July 1, 2009, President Obama awarded WASP the Congressional Gold Metal for their service.  Obama said these women “answered their country’s call in a time of need while blazing a trail for the brave women who have given and continue to give so much,” he continued to say “Every American should be grateful for their service, and I am honored to sign this bill to finally give me some of the hard-earned recognition they deserve”.  These women were certainly pioneers, and certainly don’t get enough attention.

Also on the same note of female pilots, the trailer for the Amelia Earhart bio-pic, Amelia is out!  Earhart has always been an icon of mine, she was one of the gutsiest ladies in history.  The film stars 2-time Academy Award winner Hillary Swank in the title role, and co-stars Richard Gere and Ewan McGregor.  Release date is set for 23rd of October.  You can bet I’ll be there!