Posted on 04/15/2005 4:28:49 PM PDT by Drew68
DETROIT (Reuters) - Lawyers for civil-rights pioneer Rosa Parks have settled a long-running dispute over the use of her name in song by the hip-hop group OutKast.
Under the out-of-court settlement announced on Thursday Parks, 92, will receive an undisclosed amount of money that means her "living and health needs ... will be secure," former Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, her guardian, said.
Medical records released earlier this year as part of the dispute revealed Parks is suffering from progressive dementia. She has rarely appeared in public in recent years.
The settlement came with OutKast, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Arista Records LLC and LaFace Records. Under it, Archer said, Sony BMG will produce a Parks tribute CD on which OutKast and other contemporary groups will perform, to be released on the 50th anniversary of her arrest.
In addition, he said, the parties who were sued will also produce an educational television show about her life and legacy, which will be distributed as a digital disc to U.S. public schools. Parks sued in 1999 saying she was defamed by the use of her name in the 1998 song "Rosa Parks." That suit was dismissed on freedom of speech grounds.
A second suit, seeking $5 billion in damages, was filed last summer targeting various versions of the song, some of which included what her lawyers said was highly offensive language.
Anyways, my image of Ms. Parks has been forever altered by the film Barbershop.
I was just wondering if she sued over that movie.
Against OutKast? "My baby don't mess around."
Never saw "Barbershop". What did it imply about her?
Huh? Wasn't all that secure before this?
The veteran barber played by Cedric the Entertainer went on a "debunking" rant in one scene, and he pointed out that other black people had been arrested previously for doing what Rosa Parks did (refusing to give up her bus seat), but that Rosa Parks, being a secretary in the local office of the NAACP did what she did to start a row that could be used to challenge the Jim Crow laws. She was portraying as an Everywoman heroine, when she was really an operative/provocateur.
Does it matter? Jim Crow laws did need to be challenged and done away with. I guess the point was that Rosa Parks wasn't really a heroine as she was portrayed in the mythology of the event.
The character of Eddie (played by Cedric the Entertainer) was basically a grumpy old black man who had been there, done that and pretty much was able to see the BS through all the revisionist black history. He claimed that many folks before Parks had taken seats where they pleased but Parks (who worked for the NAACP) was grandstanding.
Eddie: "There are three things that Black people need to tell the truth about. Number one: Rodney King should've gotten his ass beat for being drunk in a Honda a white part of Los Angeles. Number two: O.J. did it! And number three: Rosa Parks didn't do nuthin' but sit her Black ass down! "
Hilarious film! Rent it sometime.
Beat me by two minutes! I type slow.
I like OutKast as well. They are a refreshing diversion from the gangsta-rap that dominates the urban music scene. "Hey Ya" was immensly catchy as well as a straight up rock and roll song. The rest of their album brought back some of the funky grooves of 1980s Prince.
But you didn't make all the grammatical mistakes I did!
I am about sick of the word "legacy"
Get thee to your video store and rent it.
Yeah, "Hey Ya" did have a rather sixtyish rock feel, didn't it? I hated it at first, but it grew on me. The video is hillarious as well.
I've followed them since their Southerplayalistic... debut in '94. They were on the gangsta style then, but I was 22 and didn't give a rip. Since then, my style has changed. Outkast's style has changed. They dare to be different in the Hip Hop genre, and it has worked well for them.
I remember when Armstrong Williams stated that he ran into Andre 3000 at the GOP convention in New York. Yep. They do dare to be different.
I like that.
No wonder Rosa sued them!
Another civil rights icon turned profiteer. Some "legacy".
I think the Outkast song named after her had a chorus advocating moving to the back of the bus, implying that's where the party was. Pretty harmless I'd say, but I guess it offended her sensibilities-- and of course she saw an opportunity to make some money off of a record company. Normally I root for anyone suing a record company (greedy good music destroying !@$%!s!) in this case I'm not too sure there was a real merit behind it.
Anyway, here's the offending lyrics as far as I can remember:
"Ah, Ah, hush that fuss,
everybody move to the back of the bus
you don't want to bomp and stomp with us
we the kinda n%ggas make the club get bust"
Muchas gracias, amigos. Vaya con pollos! ;)
I wouldn't be surprised Parks was persuaded by lawyers and the former mayor of Detroit to become offended so everyone could get rich. She's 92 and has dementia. I doubt she listens to much OutKast. Somebody had to tell her about the song and how "offensive" it was!
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