- published: 12 Nov 2013
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The Hollywood blacklist—as the broader entertainment industry blacklist is generally known—was the mid-20th-century list of screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians, and other U.S. entertainment professionals who were denied employment in the field because of their political beliefs or associations, real or suspected. Artists were barred from work on the basis of their alleged membership in or sympathy toward the American Communist Party, involvement in liberal or humanitarian political causes that enforcers of the blacklist associated with communism, and/or refusal to assist investigations into Communist Party activities; some were blacklisted merely because their names came up at the wrong place and time. Even during the period of its strictest enforcement, the late 1940s through the late 1950s, the blacklist was rarely made explicit and verifiable, but it caused direct damage to the careers of scores of American artists, often made betrayal of friendship (not to mention principle) the price for a livelihood, and promoted ideological censorship across the entire industry.
Hollywood is a district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema. Today, much of the movie industry has dispersed into surrounding areas such as the Westside neighborhood, and the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys, but significant auxiliary industries, such as editing, effects, props, post-production, and lighting companies remain in Hollywood, as does the backlot of Paramount Pictures.
On February 16, 2005, California Assembly Members Jackie Goldberg and Paul Koretz introduced a bill to require California to keep specific records on Hollywood as if it were independent, although it is not the typical practice of the City of Los Angeles to establish specific boundaries for districts or neighborhoods. For this to be done, the boundaries were defined. The bill was unanimously supported by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the Los Angeles City Council. Assembly Bill 588 was approved by the Governor of California on August 28, 2006, and now the district of Hollywood has official borders. The border can be loosely described as the area east of West Hollywood, south of Mulholland Drive, Laurel Canyon, Cahuenga Boulevard, and Barham Boulevard, and the cities of Burbank and Glendale, north of Melrose Avenue and west of the Golden State Freeway and Hyperion Avenue. This includes all of Griffith Park and Los Feliz[citation needed] – two areas that were hitherto considered separate from Hollywood by most Angelenos. The population of the district, including Los Feliz, as of the 2000 census was 123,436 and the median household income was $33,409 in 1999.
Allow me, to break it down, ah
Yea, yea, yea, yea, yeah
Life
This is dedicated to all my folks
Diagnosed with a bad case of that proper upbringin'
And never took the time to fall in line or follow
Or swallow the thoughts
Of the recognized committees who lurk throughout ya cities
Ya hood, ya town, no matter which type
You from the same type of people try to hold you down
Just because you tailor made for bigger and better things
Never missed a chance to move ahead of things
And what does it bring? I tell you for me
It brought jealousy in back wounds from all the stabbin'
Cats posin' as my fan just to get grabbin' what's mine
I'm livin' in times where my daughters are found around
Kids who can't afford thinkin' caps
But always found drinkin' raps and eatin' off beats
Claimin' laws of the streets, but who made the laws?
Everybody playin' 'rebel' with no sign of a 'cause'
Well I, feel the world around me
I've found that others will bring you down just to be down
You've got to make up your mind where you wanna be
Where you wanna go with your life, with your life
Yo, I'm never singin' the blues but findin' the clues to maintain
And I been blessed to reign supreme over nearly every dream I had
And I made it come true, I'm an imperfect man
And I'm holdin' the clue to perfection
It doesn't seem to matter what direction I look
I find people settin' traps, tryin' to find the goal
Without havin' any maps, even friends of mine
Jumped on line just to become my adversary
They felt they were entitled to the dairy I made
They don't come to chill or behave
And they got, toast ready to burn
Not learnin' to live, but they yearnin' to take what you earn
Well I, feel the world around me
I've found that others will bring you down just to be down
You see, you've got to make up your mind, where you wanna be
And where you wanna go with your life, with your life
So quick to place blame and deny the shame
We bring upon ourselves so many names held
Accountable for my own account
When a large amount was weight that I made and shaped
When I climbed I found
It was hard to find others around to point my fingers at
Which made me realize the truth
The biggest suppressor could be your own ego
Lookin' for an excuse to plant roots, in a field of self sorrow
To sprout and follow the first thing you feel
Nourishes your hunger to be respected, it gets hectic
And when I'm watchin' the news and my daughter walks in
And choose to ask
"Why were all those people on the floor sleepin', covered in red?"
I told her that they were lookin' for God
But found religion instead
Well I, feel the world around me
I've found that others will bring you down just to be down
You see, you've got to make up yo' mind, where you wanna be
And where you wanna go with yo' life, with your life, with your life
[Unverified]
I need my space to live
Well I, feel the world around me
I've found that others will bring you down just to be down
You see, you've got to make up yo' mind, where you wanna be