In class we watched
a film about an “eccentric” and “quirky” man named Larry Hilbolm. His
professors and home friends knew him as the man who came to conclusions through different and unexpected angles and it is was this approach to life that helped
him realize that there was a gap in the market of mailing and posting. He thus proceeded to build one of the most efficient and most organized posting services
which had stations all over the world. But this was not the only thing that Larry
was known for, for he was as active in his business as he was in his sexual
pursuits/activities and escapades. His 'main thing' was cherry girls-these were
girls who had never been touched by another man. He preferred these sorts of girls,
virgins, because he knew that sexual intercourse with them would not result in
AIDs or HIV, as these girls had never had sexual interactions with other men.
But where in the
world would a man of 50 be able to buy the virginity of a 14 year old? Where in
the world would you find prostitutes who had just reached puberty? Larry knew
all the hotspots and never hid his sexual misdemeanors. He chose to live in
Saipan and travel to the Philippines and other Asian prostitute hotspots
because he knew in south-east Asia he could get away with what we, in the West, call
statutory rape. Whereas in America if he practice such activities he would be
up against the law and possibly be imprisoned.
But I want to focus
on the role of David Lujan, the lawyer for Junior Larry Hillbolm. He in some
ways reminds me of Maya Lin. He was ruthless in trying to prove that Larry
was the father of Junior Larry Hilbolm, not because he sought fame and glory or
money but because he refused to allow Junior be denied of his right. He
meticulously went through file upon file in order to prove that the team that
wanted Larry’s money to be used for medical research could not snuff Junior and
Larry’s other children out of what was rightfully theirs.
He reminds me of
Maya Lin because he, like her, was not ready to accept defeat. He was ready to
fight to the last straw...until he saw the case through. And this he did. In the
end he concluded that the he is just a simple lawyer and won the case not
because he was smart but because they [the other side] was stupid and dumb. It is true, they
were dumb and very stupid. They assumed that nobody would go through the files
with such alacrity and purpose. They were wrong. They thought nobody would check
on the huge amount of money that was spent on buying acid to rid Larry’s house
of DNA and in so doing defraud Larry’s children of his wealth.
In many ways the
film is a commentary on society, for we can all call Larry’s sexual misdemeanors
the act of a man in need of an hefty prison sentence at the very least, and
Jesus Christ at the most, but the system in which Larry so wholesomely indulged
is a system that was present before his arrival, a system that carried on when
he arrived and system that persists even after his death. Yes, Larry took
advantage of what poverty requires people to do in order to survive, but the film
is more about an elitist and racist society in which lawyers thought it is was alright
to deny Larry’s children what is rightfully theirs because they were born to
impoverished prostitutes who were supposedly "out to make a quick buck" and were of Asian descent.
They were even ready to go as far as committing a felony (they got rid of useful evidence), a crime worthy of a prison sentence in its itself.
We must remember, Larry chose who he
slept with, if it wasn’t a white women from a upstanding respectable family but
a poor Asian teenage girl from a farm who had to work the streets to make ends meet for her
family, well…it is was Larry’s choice. The girls never forced him and so the
produce of their sexual union, whether sought or not sought, thus deserve
everything that belongs to their father coupled with the respect that would be
given to Larry’s white children should he have married and had children with a
white woman. The film is about elite white lawyers who thought the Asians were
so stupid, so unqualified, so incompetent and so inept that they would not even
bother to pick holes or follow up with inquiries and challenge the legal system. The film is about the effects and
the cost of greed. Had the lawyers just reached an out of court settlement
with Junior’s family, shame would not have been their anthem. David insisted on
fighting because he wanted to prove these high and mighty lawyers were wrong, he wanted to make them work for what they wanted not just think it could be handed to them on a silver plate.
David saw this
project as a mountain that needed to be climbed “and I wasn’t about to give up
without raising the flag at the top. His battle was hard fought and thus his
victory was all the more sweeter. :D
David Lujan, the lawyer who fought tooth and nail.
Larry Hillbolm, 
Died: May 21, 1995, Saipan
American History X is a very touching and
emotive movie. I enjoyed watching it and was very touched by each and every
scene. But a number of things struck me. Firstly I was struck by how Derrick, a
brilliant scholar, could use his rhetoric and his impressionable character to exploit
the insecure, frustrated and highly impressionable white kids living on Venice
Beach. His message was simple blacks and “border jumpers” were sowing seeds of
discord. They had come to exploit America and had no desire to contribute to
its future development. They had come and now they have the governments’
undivided attention. For the government sorts out their problems first and
whist doing this neglects the problems of its own people. Derrick saw them as
freeloaders. They were robbing America of its green pastures and while they
were at it, they were bringing AIDS with them. Therefore he thought it was
contingent on him that he creates the DOC so that Whites would not be scared to
walk in their own neighborhood.
Derrick exercised hegemony over these
vulnerable kids, given that he was aware of their vulnerability when recruiting
them, he was able to use his stern and directive words to force them to act
against the tide and once again restore white power back in Virginia Beach.
He
was so easily able to manipulate and indoctrinate these kids; his brother even
admits that they [the kids] swallowed up every word he said. His rhetoric-he likened the neighborhood to a
battlefield and by doing so was able to rally his comrades to fight against change,
to take up weapons and be free and not to stand in the sidelines whilst “white”
America is raped-and the energetic manner in which he
spoke roused the kids to target a Korean shop, ransack the shop and abuse the
workers. His hegemonic power was so potent that the kids were compelled to act and do
something, anything, even if they didn’t really want to.
Secondly I was heavily struck by the excessive
profanity and “colorful” racist words that came out of the mouths of the White
Supremacists. Never before have had I heard the words “Niglet” or “Jungle Bunny”
used when describing black people. These words were new to me and shocked and
astonished me. Even though I laughed is not all that funny. That people could
be so wicked and so despicable to other just because of the color of their skin
isn’t funny at all.
Thirdly, I was struck by Derrick’s decision
to enact one of the most brutal deaths I have ever seen or imagined in my life.
I have never seen anything like that before. I am aware brutal murders of a racial
nature take place every day, Victor Chin, Steven Biko and Stephen Lawrence’s brutal
deaths are examples of this. But never before have I seen someone kill another
human in this way before. Even if a farmer killed his own animal like this, we
would all rise up and say that it was too much. Some of us would automatically
become vegetarians. How much more a
human committing this injustice against another human?
I have read about such deaths
happening in South Africa in Rian Malan’s “My Traitor’s Heart”. In this book a
white Boer stamps and jumps on the head of a black man (because he was sassy) and
thus causes his death. But never before
have I seen someone die in such a gruesome and horrible way. And Des is right I
don’t think anyone in the class carried on watching. I know I didn’t. It was too painful! We all
imagined it. We all imagined it was our heads caved in and we all wondered how
one could carry out such an act of violence. I saw Jonno bury his head and not lift
it up for a couple of minutes. I can’t even imagine what was passing through
his mind. At that moment I knew I had to stop messing around and laughing and
making light of these minorities’ plight. I had to take it seriously and view
this mess with the upmost respect. Jonno’s actions signified the importance of
this complex situation and what the black man in America and even in South
Africa was exposed to just because he was black. Just because of the color of
his skin. Jonno changed me.
In Derrick too, we witness his mind is
changing. He does not seek the fame and the glory he was once driven by. Neither
does he court or perpetuate a cult personality that is building around him.
He wants out. He wants to move his family
to a new “community” and become part of a new group representing
and meaning something else. He does not want to die slaving away in a group and
community mired in hate and loathing for blacks. But who will follow him? He
extends his invitation to is on/off girlfriend but she does not look like she
will take it.
One wonders did prison change Derrick? How?
And why was he susceptible to change? That we will find out in next class.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And I turn my
attention to one of my earlier blog, the blog about women. I would like to
respond to my views and notions of who a strong woman is. For me it goes
without saying Alex Haley's wife, was a strong woman and a woman of purpose.
She had a purpose and she driven, so driven that she, despite all the odds was
adamant that she achieve her aims.
She reminds me of my
mother who is as strong a woman as she is. While my grandmother went to work my
mother would look after her younger siblings and feed them through the night. This
she would do even though she had to wake up early to go to school and dress her
younger siblings.
My mother left Nigeria
in 1986, I think, to travel to a new and distant land and in doing so left her
brother and sisters and mother and father. She also left her grandfather, who
she loved dearly.
While pregnant with
my older brother, Alex, her grandfather died. She could not go to the funeral.
When pregnant with my younger sister, her father died and she once again
couldn't go to the funeral. She was so bitter but despite this she persevered
and continued to look after us all, she shed hopeless tears whilst remembering those
she lost.
Unfortunately her
passport was not order; this was a constant burden and meant we had to move from
one place to another so we could remain together. She would work hours and
hours to put food on the table, she would normally take the racist abuse and
comments her white employees dished out to her, just because she needed the
money so she could take care of us and send money home to her family.
She would tell me
her stories: how she would sleep on the floor during her breaks or put two
chairs together and attempt to sleep. She would also tell stories of how
she would eat her food in the toilet where she won't be bothered. I love my mother
very much and every time she tells these stories she makes me cry.
To know that she
would do anything, yes anything so my brother Alex and my sister Esther and I
can have a good education and a bright future affirms her good character and
her good nature. She is my inspiration apart Jesus she is the best thing I have
ever had and the best thing I have ever known. She is so wise and so beautiful.
And I miss her very much. My father is no different, I love him as much
but my mother, she has sacrificed so much and given her life so we can have a
better life, all of us and she continues to do this for us. For that I love her
all the more.
I think I and my
community fit very well into all we have learnt so far. I have learnt what it
means to be Black and then what it means to be an African-American. I have
learnt what it means to be a woman, a woman of purpose like Maya Lin and My
Haley. I have learnt what it means to be an African and to be an African woman through
Diouana in Black Girl. I feel that this class has brought out every part of my
community and that's why I am so happy that I am part of this class and part of
this community.
I propose that we,
as a class name and shame, in a good way, those who have inspired us and tell
our stories. Then we can make a pastiche, a collage of the great people in our
lives who have made us what we are today. I would love to know who inspired
Jonno's desire to become a professor or who inspired Guy to pick up his bass
guitar and play jazz. Or who inspired Sam, Nisha, Tam, Mayssa, Francis or
Nathan, Chris P, Jillian or Ivy etc. I would just love to hear stories that
would strengthen our ties and strengthen our unique and beautiful community. Love you guys loads. v
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