Why the U.S. Should Merge With Canada

 

 

Why the U.S. Should Merge With Canada

 

Why the U.S. Should Merge With Canada By DIANE FRANCIS The United States and Canada are far more integrated than most people think. In fact, a merger between the two countries isn’t just desirable—it’s inevitable. We share more than just the world’s longest border. We share the same values, lifestyles and aspirations. Our societies and economies are becoming similar in significant ways. In 1966, I emigrated from the United States to Canada as a young woman. In the nearly 50 years since then, I’ve have seen Canada become more like America and America become more like Canada. Canada used to be controlled by a few families, banks and conglomerates. It’s now a more dynamic, multicultural country powered by free enterprise. At the same time, the United States has become more progressive on issues like civil rights, women’s rights, gay rights and, yes, universal health care. Canadians and Americans are so indistinguishable to the rest of the world that some Canadians put maple-leaf flags on their lapels or backpacks so as not to be mistaken for Americans. That’s easy enough to do, as we tend to marry, study, date, play, work, invest and travel alike. Put together, the United States and Canada would be a colossus, with an economy larger than the European Union’s—larger, in fact, than those ofChina, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea combined. We would control more oil, water, arable land and resources than any jurisdiction on Earth, all protected by the world’s most powerful military.   Far-fetched? Maybe. But consider this: Two Canadian prime ministers – one after the First World War and another after the Second World War – seriously considered proposing a merger with the United States. They did not proceed for political reasons. In the 1970s, Canadian tycoon E.P. Taylor, famed for his thoroughbred race horses, told a biographer: “If it weren’t for the racial issue in the U.S. and the political problems [Vietnam] they have, I would think that the two countries could come together … I’m against the trend of trying to reduce American ownership in Canadian companies. I think nature has to take its course.” Since then, “nature” has been taking its course, in both directions. Three million, out of 35 million, Canadians live full or part time in the United States. Most retire in Sunbelt states, but there are an estimated 250,000 Canadians working in Los Angeles, another 250,000 in Silicon Valley and an estimated 400,000 per day work in Manhattan. This doesn’t include the million or so Canadians who became U.S. citizens before 1976, before dual citizenship was allowed. This north-south brain drain has been constant throughout Canada’s history. In 1900, Canada’s population was only 5.37 million people, and by 2000 seven million had immigrated to the United States. Millions of Americans have Canadian roots – including well-known figures like Ellen DeGeneres, Alec Baldwin, Vince Vaughn, Madonna, Angelina Jolie, Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, Jack Kerouac, Walt Disney, Walter Chrysler and Thomas Edison. The flow of people has also drifted northward. More than 1 million Americans, like me, live in Canada, and our offspring, even if born in Canada, are entitled to U.S. citizenship. In addition, Canada’s 800,000 aboriginals, known as “First Nations,” are effectively American citizens by virtue of the 1794 Jay Treaty. Economically, the countries are one another’s biggest investors, customers and suppliers. Canada ships more oil to the United States than any other country, roughly 2.5 million barrels a day (out of the total consumed of 19.4 million barrels daily) and is an important source of electrical power, uranium, metals, minerals, natural gas and automobiles. In return, Canadians buy more U.S. products than does the entire EU. U.S. corporations own roughly 12 percent of Canada’s corporate assets, roughly half of its oil industry and most of its manufacturing. U.S. retail chains garner 60 percent of all retail dollars spent by Canadians at home. Canadian corporations are the third biggest investors in the United States, and Canadian foreign direct investment levels in the U.S. nearly match the amount invested by Americans in Canada. Since 2008, individual Canadians have been the largest buyers of real estate in the United States among foreign buyers, or 25 percent of the total. Given all this intermingling, why bother with a formal merger? If the United States and Canada were corporations, or European states, they would have merged a long time ago. Each has what the other needs: The United States has capital, manpower, technology and the world’s strongest military; Canada has enormous reserves of undeveloped resources and ownership of a vast and strategically important Arctic region. Countries are like modern businesses, and must constantly recalibrate their economic and political models. Unless winners adapt, they eventually lose out, in economic and political life as in nature. Today’s America or Canada could become tomorrow’s Portugal or Greece. In the competitive and interconnected world of the 21st century, standing still is losing ground. It’s been 26 years since the U.S.-Canada free trade deal. The border is worse, or thicker, than before. There are new regulations – due to U.S. concerns about security and drug smuggling out of Canada. The total cost of these barriers is unknown, but involves thousands of border guards, facilities, additional paperwork and regulatory requirements, inspectors and even drones in certain areas. Why have a border at all? It’s time to do what the Europeans have done, despite centuries of warfare, and eliminate this artificial boundary. Two options would be a currency union—both countries running on the U.S. dollar—or a customs union, which would further deepen our economic ties. More radically, the United States and Canada could merge into a single nation-state or an EU-style partnership, with certain powers allocated to a central governing body while others stay with each country’s own ruling structures. When I float this idea in Canada, I get a mixed and muted reaction. Canadians are very polite, and if they oppose the idea, they are rarely combative. If they approve, they won’t say much in deference to the feelings of their fellow Canadians who may oppose it. But south of the border, an increasing number of policymakers agree that deeper integration between the two countries makes sense. And for many, the strongest case may be geopolitical. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, a new economic Cold War has emerged, pitting free economies like the United States against the state-directed capitalism of China, Japan, Russia, the Gulf Arab states, South Korea, Singapore and others. These countries control, or own outright, their corporations, and back their efforts with an arsenal of economic weaponry — from subsidies and protectionism to diplomacy to bullying and bribery — to capture markets and resources. In this new world, bigger is better. Big countries can push back or reciprocate with duties, protectionism or restrictions. Big countries can insist on fair treatment, can impose non-tariff barriers and, if treatment is nasty, can threaten military or diplomatic sanctions. Smaller countries, or those without military might, have to take it on the chin. Another benefit would be the development of Canada’s north, an area larger than Australia, and largely empty. Roads, airports, railways, seaports, military outposts, bridges, power generation facilities and other infrastructure are needed to tap its vast buried treasure. An estimated $17 trillionworth of metals and minerals — such as copper, gold, silver, nickel, uranium, diamonds, phosphates, potash, lead, zinc, iron ore, and rare materials used in hybrid cars, solar panels and electronics — are known to exist already, according to estimates by an expert with the Canadian Geological Survey, but there’s more. Much of the territory has not been mapped or even been trodden by human beings, let alone explored for resource development. Only American capital, know-how and military protection can do it right. Despite the powerful logic of a U.S.-Canada merger, the obstacles remain daunting. Both countries are politically divided and heavily regionalized. Getting a budget passed in Washington is tough enough, but coordinating the wishes of regions and politicians on both sides of the border would be impossible unless, of course, there’s a crisis. To execute so audacious a move would require a level of statesmanship now lacking in both countries. But remember: The Europeans pulled off something far more dramatic, uniting populations that shared no language and had slaughtered one another for centuries. Other recent, albeit less dramatic, examples of deeper integration include the Eastern Caribbean Economic and Monetary Union and the Economic Community of West African States. They all did it by opening their borders to trade and travel—while at the same time leaving governments intact. Opinion surveys about an outright merger are rare but in 1964, a poll showed support from 49 percent of Canadians. In 2007, the World Values Survey Association, a research network of thousands of social scientists, found that about 77 percent of Americans and 41 percent of Canadians said they would opt for political union if it meant a better quality of life. In 2011, another poll by Harris/Decima showed that 65 percent of Canadians backed greater integration with the United States and supported a plan to eliminate the border by blending U.S. and Canadian customs, immigration, security and law enforcement efforts. We don’t have to become one country—say, the United States of America and Canada. But there’s a lot we can do, short of a full-on merger, to join forces.   Diane Macdonald/Getty   THE BIG IDEA   The Big Idea: Why Canada and U.S. Should Merge How to prevent us heading for a world of scarce resources, unfair competition, and geopolitical battles? U.S. and Canada should join forces, says Diane Francis, author of the new book Merger of the Century. What is your big idea? The United States and Canada should merge. Unfortunately, the reverse is happening. They share geography, values, and a gigantic border, but the two countries are on a slow-motion collision course—with each other and with the rest of the world. Since they signed a free trade agreement in 1987, the U.S.-Canada border has become more clogged than ever, hurting trade and tourism. While both countries wrestle with their internal and border problems, emerging economies, using a state capitalism model of development, flourish. By 2018, China’s economy will be bigger than that of the United States, and Asian economies will be bigger than the U.S., Canada, Germany, Britain, Italy, France, and Russia. A merged United States and Canada would have an economy larger than the European Union’s. The two would be an economic superpower, bigger than South America in size, with more energy, metals, minerals, water, arable land, resource potential, and technology than any other jurisdiction, all under U.S. military protection.    Merger of the Century: Why Canada and America Should Become One Country’ by Diane Francis. 336 pp. Harper. $28. () How would a merger help? By joining forces, the U.S. would improve national security, guarantee energy and resource independence, and create millions of jobs in helping develop Canada’s North; and Canada would be able to defend and develop its huge landmass, overcoming lack of capital, workers, technology, and military might. Size matters. A merged, or more economically and politically integrated, U.S.-Canada would counterbalance the fact that state-owned or controlled companies are on their way to dominating trade and access to resources. In 2000, seven of the world’s 10 largest oil companies were American or European multinationals. By 2010, 28 of the 50 biggest were government-owned or controlled, led by gigantic Saudi Arabia’s Aramco. China has targeted Canada’s resources and Russia has declared that all of the Arctic is Russian. Water, oil, and metals shortages will become issues going forward in these regions. For instance, China has 20 percent of the world’s population and only 7 percent of its water. The Middle East has 5 percent of the world’s population and 1 percent of its water. The U.S. and Canada have 15.5 percent of the world’s population and more than 25 percent of its water. State capitalists tip the playing field in their favor. China is now the largest owner of farmland in Africa, and this fall bought 5 percent of Ukraine’s arable land. South Koreans unsuccessfully attempted to take over half of Madagascar’s food lands and Arab monarchies have been buying huge tracts of farmland and gaining political influence by doing so. State capitalists tip the playing field in their favor. They have access to subsidized capital, exploration opportunities, and oil fields because their governments are partners or owners. These countries are, in essence, gigantic holding companies with “soft” weapons—unavailable to private sector companies—such as diplomatic pressure, foreign aid, market tradeoffs, cheap customer loans, weapons, or bribes. They impose non-tariff barriers against exports and buy foreign companies while denying foreign ownership in their own economies. In September, a Chinese government company bought Smithfield Foods, the world’s biggest pork producer, but is protected from any foreign takeover. The World Trade Organization is toothless, unable to prevent China from hoarding rare earths, Russia from driving out western investors or China from manipulating its currency downward. The United Nations’ Security Council is held hostage by Russia and China, who protect dictators and thugs from sanctions or interventions. Securities laws are unable to force gigantic sovereign wealth funds to disclose their holdings, ownership or trading activity. How would a merger work? Any merger, as the Germans and Europeans discovered, can be difficult. The U.S. and Canada have unique cultures, governments, healthcare, taxes, gun laws, and legal systems. But there are many ways to merge. One model would be a full-on merger as Germany accomplished in 1990, or a European Union-style merger involving the elimination of borders but not of governments. There are also other ways to integrate to realize synergies and keep the state capitalist “wolves” away from the door. Some nations create customs and monetary unions to allow the free flow of workers, capital, goods, and services. These two nations could create a bi-national energy strategy or sign a joint venture to develop Canada’s staggering, neglected, and untapped resources in the North, an area three times bigger than Alaska. They could also adopt strategies like the state capitalists use such as blocking foreign buyouts or getting tough on non-tariff barriers or trade cheating. Arguably, the two launched a merger process in 1987, but there’s slippage and there are more compelling reasons to accelerate integration. Both need to host national conversations about the benefits and challenges of becoming full-fledged partners. Clearly, the status quo is not an option.

LIFE AND TIMES OF SAMMY DAVIES

 

 

 

LIFE AND TIMES OF SAMMY DAVIES

 

He was known as Mr. Show Business, 'The Entertainer', and the only black, Puerto Rican, one-eyed Jew, to dance, sing and act his way to the top for over six decades. But Sammy Davis Jr. was never able to escape extreme racial bigotry - even at the hands of President John Kennedy - who refused to let him perform at his inauguration because Sammy had married a white woman, Swedish actress May Britt. After joining the army in 1942, Sammy was regularly beaten bloody, called ‘boy,’ ‘c**n’ and the N-word by white soldiers who tried to make him drink warm urine from a beer bottle, according to a new book by Sammy’s daughter Tracey Davis, Sammy Davis Jr.: A Personal History with My Father, based on conversations with her father during the final months of his life in 1990. +11 Mr Show Business: Sammy Davis Jr. achieved the pinnacle of success as an entertainer. But he always feared he would end up like one of his signature songs: Mr. Bojangles...drunk, alone and dancing in a jail cell +11 Postponed: Sammy Davis Jr. waited until a week after the 1960 presidential election to marry Swedish actress May Britt. Best pal Frank Sinatra asked Sammy to hold off on the marriage because he was afraid of the white backlash against his other bestie John F. Kennedy Sammy recounted his life stories to his daughter until the voice that took him to the top of the charts, left him unable to speak due to the advancing throat cancer and the carcinoma growing behind his vocal cords. The pigment of the skin on his throat, covering the insidious tumor, had faded out. He had become a caricature of his former self. While in the Army, he recounted to his daughter, Sammy was sent to the infirmary with repeated broken noses after repeated knock-down drag-out fights over the constant racial epithets. Then a Sargeant Williams taught the 5’6”, 120 lbs. 17-year old entertainer that he had to use his talent and not his fists if he was going to win the battle against humiliating racial ignorance. ‘Every night I would lay in bed, wondering what is it about skin that made people hate so much. But it was far deeper than skin; to these white cats, I was a different breed’, Sammy recalled about his Army days. ‘Sergeant Williams was my savior. You’ve got to fight with your brains, Sammy, not your fists’, the Sergeant told him. ‘He taught me to read and write. Sammy didn’t even attend one day of school growing up! +11 Left out: Although Sammy worked on behalf of JFK to help him win the election, he was not front-and-center the way Sinatra was +11 Best man: When Sammy and Frank shared a sandwich the day they met in Detroit in 1941 they bonded for life. Sammy was one of the 'Three Musketeers' of the infamous Rat Pack, along with crooner Dean Martin. ‘I owe him my life’, he said of Sergeant Williams. ‘He tempered all the humiliation I felt from my unit. He distracted me from all my rage, all my anger. I wouldn’t have survived the army without him’. But when the sergeant left the barracks, the soldiers wanted to turn Sammy into their slave. ‘I refused to do it and was teased as the ‘uppity n***r boy’. ‘I felt like I was on an island all alone’. A Corporal Edward and a soldier by the name of Jennings were the worst offenders, beating Sammy until bloody after his performances at the Officer’s Club. They stepped on and crushed the gold watch his father had given him. They took a can of white paint and wrote the N-word across his chest and asked him to ‘be a good little c**n and give us a dance’. In a faux gesture of friendship, Jennings invited him to have a beer that turned out to be a bottle of warm urine. The harassment didn’t stop until he was transferred into a Special Services unit where he performed for the entertainment regiment. ‘My talent was the weapon, the power, the way for me to fight. It was the one way I might hope to affect a man’s thinking – From then on, deep in my heart, soul and spirit, I knew I had to be a star.’ Frank Sinatra was the other man who helped Sammy through years of racial injustice. ‘Those cats saved the day for me’. +11 First Couple: Sammy expected to entertain JFK and Jackie Kennedy at the inaugural ball. He was crushed when he was shunned by the new president Sammy had been dancing and singing on the vaudeville stage from the age of three with his father, Sammy Davis, Sr., and Will Mastin, becoming the Will Mastin Trio. Sammy was billed as Silent Sam, the Dancing Midget, the freak of the show - a 44-year-old midget in black face - because it was illegal to be on stage under age 16. It seemed like a safe haven to Sammy as the Trio traveled across the country from Harlem performing in the 1930s and ‘40s – protected from the harsh reality of the color barrier by his father - until they got to the El Rancho Hotel, the largest hotel in Las Vegas at the time. The Trio was earning $500 a week but ‘colored’ entertainers weren’t allowed to book a room, use the dressing rooms, gamble in the casinos, dine or drink in the hotel. They had to stay in a ‘colored’ boarding house on the west side of Vegas that was made of wooden crates and run by a Ms. Cartwright. She capitalized on her establishment being the only place that colored entertainers could stay so she charged twice as much as the El Rancho. But she did press their clothes. His father told Sammy they were staying there because others were jealous of their act. Those ‘colored’ exclusions also applied to iconic entertainers Lena Horne, Nat King Cole, Billy Eckstine, the Mills Brothers. +11 Smitten: Sexy May Britt was Sammy's second wife and the love of his life. At the time that they wed interracial marriages were prohibited in 31 states ‘You would perform, get out of the casino by the side door, and head to the ghetto’. If they didn’t go out to the shack, they sat outside by the swimming pool’, explained Sammy. ‘I don’t know who made up the rules for ‘colored’ performers. But if you were colored you would never address the audience when you walked onstage. There was this invisible wall colored entertainers were not allowed to cross.’ So the ‘colored acts’ would come on stage talking to each other like, ‘Why ya yesterday say ta me…’ Sammy walked on stage and said, ‘Good evening, ladies and gentlemen…’ as Laurence Olivier would have said it. +11 Daddy's girl: Tracey Davis, daughter of Sammy and May Britt, was so riveted by the stories her father told her she turned them into a new book Years later, Sammy refused to entertain where racial discrimination was practiced. The first time he met Sinatra was in 1941 at the Michigan Theatre in Detroit when the Will Mastin Trio stepped in as an opening act for three days for the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra - and Frank. Sammy and Frank shared a sandwich between shows and they bonded for life, becoming best friends. Sammy was the entertainer, Frank the voice. ‘Nobody but Frank Sinatra could have put Sammy Davis where he was. Sinatra, first of all was never a racist kind of guy. He cared about everybody being equal. When Frank said, '“this guy’s great” – they all paid attention’, Sammy said. +11 And baby makes three: Tracey was born in July, 1961. Sammy and May also adopted two boys When Sammy hooked up with the glamorous blonde Swedish actress, May Britt and they fell hopelessly in love in 1960, the announcement of their wedding date inspired death threats and forced Sammy to hire a 24-hour armed guard. Frank was to be best man at the wedding but the racial tension conflicted with JFK’s presidential election and Frank asked him to postpone the wedding so that his association with Kennedy and Sammy in the press wouldn’t impact votes. Major threats and hate group demonstrations took place outside of places where Sammy was performing. Interracial marriages were forbidden by law in 31 states. After the wedding, the couple received more hate letters and death threats, and Sammy’s name was removed from the list of entertainers at Kennedy’s inaugural party Sinatra was hosting in Washington. Sammy’s feelings were hurt by the Kennedy slight that he was not invited to the inaugural celebration after working tirelessly for the campaign. Famed journalist Dorothy Kilgallen commented in her nationally syndicated column: ‘Big question: Since the nation’s capital isn’t very integrated will Sammy Davis, Jr., be allowed to share a suite with his bride, May Britt’? None of that changed Sammy’s feelings about Frank. ‘I wanted to be like him, I wanted to dress like him, I wanted to look like him, I took my hair and had it all done up, Sinatra style, with the little curl here and all. +11 Silent Sam: When Sammy performed with the Will Mastin trio as a three-year-old. His dad, part of the trio, put him in black face and claimed he was a 44-year-old 'dancing midget Silent Sam' +11 Early days: After the Army, Sammy performed with his father, Sammy Davis Sr. (left) and his uncle Will Mastin. They had to sleep in cardboard crates and couldn't speak directly to the audience ‘I watched Frank’s climb to fame, his fall, his comeback, his obsession with JFK, and through it all he was always the voice. Frank was a blessing from God. We got so in sync onstage, all I had to do was raise my eyebrow a certain way and he knew what I was saying. We honed our craft’. When 20th Century Fox studios found out that, May Britt, their actress under contract, was going to marry Sammy, they did not renew her contract. That didn’t put off May or Sammy. They had an undying love for each other. She was the love of his life. But Sammy couldn’t get off the treadmill of stardom and he was never at home. May asked for a trial separation after seven years. ‘I gotta be the biggest, I gotta be a megastar’, he said. ‘I was moving at breakneck pace. I had perhaps an unhealthy commitment to show business – for me there was always another mountain to climb, another movie to do, another place to play’. He was able to play Father Knows Best for two weeks  out of the year. ‘I was working forty weeks a year because that was my need, to work. It was ingrained in me from the day I started show business at three years old. Work, work, Work. Not to mention that I was spending more than I was making. Really, I was a fool, in my book. But that was me. I realized it too late’ Ironically Frank was also divorcing Mia at the same time. +11 Family history: Tracey David, the only daughter of Sammy and May Britt, used the stories her father told her for her new biography of the entertainment legend Sammy always performed the song, Mr Bojangles for every finale, dancing in sync with the lyrics. Jerry Jeff Walker of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band had written the song in the ‘60s about a white homeless vagrant he met in jail who called himself Mr. Bojangles who was drunk and alone in a jail. But Sammy had a love-hate relationship with the song and feared he’d end up like Mr. Bojangles, drunk, alone and dancing in a jail cell. ‘It was deep in my heart and soul, a spiritual journey through life’. Sammy’s last major public appearance was his sixtieth anniversary tribute taped at the Shrine Auditorium in Hollywood that aired in April 1990. Sammy Davis, Jr. did become a superstar as was his dream. He was presented to the Queen mother at a Royal Command Performance in London in 1961. He marched with Dr. Martin Luther King in the Civil Rights March on Washington in 1963. He slept at the White House as a guest of President Nixon in 1973. In 1987, he headed back to the White House as a guest of President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H. Bush. He received the Kennedy Center Honoree award in 1987. At the end, his daughter Tracey and newborn grandchild and his closest friends—Liza Minnelli and Frank--were by his side. Sammy’s daughter reveals that the cancer had ravaged his body and had to hold his trachea tube to speak. ‘There was a smell of sickness in the air’,  she writes. When he could no longer talk, he squeezed his daughter’s hand three times -- the code if something was up. He had lived to see his grandson born and now he was dying. He passed away on May 16, 1990.

Samuel George "Sammy" Davis, Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American entertainer. Primarily a dancer and singer, he was also an actor of stage and screen, musician, and impressionist, noted for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities. At the age of three Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father and Will Mastin as the Will Mastin Trio, which toured nationally. After military service Davis returned to the trio. Davis became an overnight sensation following a nightclub performance at Ciro's after the 1951 Academy Awards. With the trio, he became a recording artist. In 1954, he lost his left eye in an automobile accident, and several years later, he converted to Judaism.[1] Davis' film career began as a child in 1933. In 1960, he appeared in the first Rat Pack film, Ocean's 11. After a starring role onBroadway in 1956's Mr Wonderful, Davis returned to the stage in 1964's Golden Boy, and in 1966 had his own TV variety show, The Sammy Davis Jr. Show. Davis' career slowed in the late 1960s, but he had a hit record with "The Candy Man" in 1972 and became a star in Las Vegas, earning him the nickname "Mister Show Business".[2][3][4] As an African-American, Davis was the victim of racism throughout his life and was a large financial supporter of the Civil Rights movement. Davis had a complex relationship with the African-American community, and drew criticism after physically embracing President Richard M. Nixon in 1972. One day on a golf course with Jack Benny, he was asked what his handicap was. "Handicap?" he asked. "Talk about handicap — I'm a one-eyed Negro Jew."[5][6] This was to become a signature comment, recounted in his autobiography, and in countless articles.[7] After reuniting with Sinatra and Dean Martin in 1987, Davis toured with them and Liza Minnelli internationally, before he died of throat cancer in 1990. He died in debt to the Internal Revenue Service, and his estate was the subject of legal battles.[8] Davis was awarded the Spingarn Medal by the NAACP and was nominated for a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award for his television performances. He was the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 1987, and in 2001, he was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Will Mastin Trio: (L–R) Sammy Davis Sr., Sammy Davis Jr., and Will Mastin Davis learned to dance from his father and his "uncle" Will Mastin, who led the dance troupe his father worked for. Davis joined the act as a child and they became the Will Mastin Trio. Throughout his career, Davis included the Will Mastin Trio in his billing. Mastin and his father shielded him from racism. Snubs were explained as jealousy, for instance. When Davis served in the United States Army during World War II, however, he was confronted by strong racial prejudice. He later said, "Overnight the world looked different. It wasn't one color any more. I could see the protection I'd gotten all my life from my father and Will. I appreciated their loving hope that I'd never need to know about prejudice and hate, but they were wrong. It was as if I'd walked through a swinging door for eighteen years, a door which they had always secretly held open." Sammy Davis Jr. during the 1963 March on Washington During service in WWII, the Army assigned Davis to an integrated entertainment Special Services unit and he found that the spotlight lessened the prejudice. Even prejudiced white men admired and respected his performances. "My talent was the weapon, the power, the way for me to fight. It was the one way I might hope to affect a man's thinking," he said.[15] After his discharge, Davis rejoined the family dance act, which played at clubs around Portland, Oregon. He began to achieve success on his own and was singled out for praise by critics, releasing several albums.[16] This led to Davis being hired to sing the title track for theUniversal Pictures film Six Bridges to Cross in 1954,[17][18] and later to his starring role in the Broadway play Mr. Wonderful in 1956. In 1959, Davis became a member of the famous Rat Pack, led by his friend Frank Sinatra, which included fellow performers Dean Martin,Joey Bishop, and Peter Lawford, a brother-in-law of John F. Kennedy. Initially, Sinatra called the gathering "the Clan", but Davis voiced his opposition, saying that it reminded people of the Ku Klux Klan. Sinatra renamed the group "the Summit", but the media referred to them as the Rat Pack, the name of its earlier incarnation led by Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. The group made several movies together, including the original version of Ocean's Eleven (1960), Sergeants Three (1962), and Robin and the Seven Hoods (1964), as well as many joint stage appearances in Las Vegas and elsewhere. Davis was a headliner at The Frontier Casino in Las Vegas, but he was required (as were all black performers in the 1950s) to lodge in a rooming house on the west side of the city, instead of in the hotels as his white colleagues did. No dressing rooms were provided for black performers, and they had to wait outside by the swimming pool between acts. Davis and other black artists could entertain, but could not stay at the hotels where they performed, gamble in the casinos, or dine or drink in the hotel restaurants and bars. Davis later refused to work at places which practiced racial segregation. Sammy Davis Jr. (left) with Walter Reuther (center) and Roy Wilkins (right) at the 1963 March on Washington. In 1964, Davis was starring in Golden Boy at night and shooting his own New York-based afternoon talk show during the day. When he could get a day off from the theater, he would be recording new songs in the studio, or performing live, often at charity benefits as far away as Miami, Chicago, and Las Vegas, or doing television variety specials in Los Angeles. Davis knew he was cheating his family of his company, but he could not help himself; as he later said, he was incapable of standing still. Although he was still a draw in Las Vegas, Davis' musical career had sputtered by the latter 1960s, although he had a No. 11 hit (#1 on the Easy Listening singles chart) with "I've Gotta Be Me" in 1969. His effort to update his sound and reconnect with younger people resulted in some "hip" musical efforts with the Motown record label.[20] But then, even as his career seemed at its nadir, Sammy had an unexpected #1 hit with "The Candy Man" in 1972. Although he did not particularly care for the song and was chagrined that he was now best known for it, Davis made the most of his opportunity and revitalized his career. Although he enjoyed no more Top 40 hits, he did enjoy popularity with his 1976 performance of the theme song from theBaretta TV series, "Baretta's Theme (Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow)" (1975–1978), which was released as a single (20th Century Records 2282). He occasionally landed television and film parts, including cameo visits to the television shows I Dream of Jeannie, All in the Family (during which he famously kisses Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor) on the cheek) and, with wife Altovise Davis, on Charlie's Angels. In the 1970s, he appeared in commercials in Japan for Suntory whiskey. Davis performing in 1966. On December 11, 1967, NBC broadcast a musical-variety special entitled Movin' With Nancy. In addition to the Emmy Award-winning musical performances, the show is notable for Nancy Sinatra, daughter of Frank Sinatra, and Sammy Davis, Jr., greeting each other with a kiss, one of the first black-white kisses in U.S. television history.

Six of the strangest Easter traditions from around the world: New York's Easter Parade decades ago

 

 

Six of the strangest Easter traditions from around the world:New York's Easter Parade decades ago

Six of the strangest Easter traditions from around the world Christians nailed to crosses in the Philippines in reenactment of Jesus's suffering 'Penance processions' through the streets of Spain performed by Catholic religious brotherhoods Women whipped with branches and thrown into rivers in Slovakia And underground procession in Poland's oldest working mine As Christians around the world gather to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, MailOnline looks at some of the more unusual religious ceremonies and Easter traditions happening across the globe this week. From real-life reenactments of the crucifixion in the Philippines to the lavish wedding of a cow and bull in India, there is certainly no shortage of bizarre traditions to mark this important spring holiday...   Christians are nailed to crosses in the Philippines every year in a real-life Good Friday reenactment of Jesus's suffering. The annual ritual, dating back to the 1950s, takes place across the country - often attracting a crowd of thousands of people. Last year, nine men were crucified in Pampanga province's San Pedro Cutud village, while at least eight others were crucified in neighbouring villages. Many take part to atone for sins, pray for the sick or for a better life, or to give thanks for what they believe were miracles. +36 Grim reenactment: Three Filipinos are nailed to crosses in a Good Friday crucifixion in Barangay Cutud, San Fernando. The event last year attracted a crowd of around 10,000 people +36 Agony: Penitent Bobby Gomez grimaces as a nail is hammered into his hand in the Good Friday celebration Ruben Enaje, a painter, 51, last year took part in the crucifixions for the 26th time. He began taking part in the annual event to give thanks after he survived falling from a building. He added that despite the crucifixions being condemned he still took part because the Church 'stay at home during Good Friday instead of reaching out to penitents to explain their side'. He had three-inch steel nails hammered into his palms during the ceremony. The spectacle is a unique brand of Catholicism that merges church traditions with Philippine folk superstitions. More than 80 per cent of the Philippines' estimated 90 million population are Catholic. Extreme worship: A Filipino devotee has his hands nailed to the cross. Penitents also have nails pushed through their feet as they re-enact the crucifixion   Traditional marches take place throughout Spanish towns and cities to mark Holy Week - the last week of Lent, attracting tourists from around the world. The 'penance processions' through the streets are performed by Catholic religious brotherhoods who wear different coloured robes to tell themselves apart. They also don conical hoods for the haunting processions as they carry life-size effigies of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary accompanied by dramatic drum beats and mournful music. Traditionally these hood maintained their anonymity. Oath of Silence: Penitents from the 'Cristo de las Injurias' brotherhood fall silent for Holy Wednesday Catholic celebration: A Christ of the Hearsay brotherhood member holds her hooded baby during 'Procesion del Silencio' in Zamora Procession of silence: Brotherhood members stand in front of a statue of Christ during the Holy Week procession Candle-lit procession: Penitents march in the 'Procesion del Silencio' to mark Holy Week in Spain The sobriety of the processions varies during Holy Week, from the quiet El Silencio march in the early hours of Good Friday to more celebratory, musical processions to celebrate Christ rising again. Up to a million visitors head to Seville for Holy Week (known as Semana Santa in Spanish), collecting programmes of the varying processions and following them through the city. The tradition dates back to the Middle Ages when penitents would be dressed in the robes before walking through the streets. Uniform: The fraternity is identifiable only by the colour of its hood and dress - which shows the badge of the brotherhood on their chests Colourful procession: The brotherhood wears red hoods and white tunics to take part in the Holy Wednesday procession A penitent falls with his horse as they take part in the 'Procesion del Silencio' by the 'Cristo de las Injurias' brotherhood during Holy Week in Zamora +36 Church selfie: Penitents take their photos inside a church in Malaga, Spain, as part of Holy Week celebrations It is still an annual event throughout Spain and many who take part walk barefoot while others have shackled feet as penance. Others carry ceremonial candles or wooden crosses. Every brotherhood carries floats which depict different scenes from the gospels related to the Passion of Christ or the Sorrows of Virgin Mary and there is great pride in taking part. Malaga-born actor Antonio Banderas tries to return to his hometown each year to take part in the processions for his brotherhood 'Tears and Favours', becoming quite the star attraction. +36 Religious fervour: Penitents of the San Gonzalo brotherhood take part in a Holy Week procession in the Andalucian capital of Seville +36 Paying penance: The San Gonzalo brotherhood marched through the night, their red candles leaving their hoods stained with wax Countrywide: While Seville has the most famous Semana Santa processions, villages and towns across Spain stage their own Holy Week events +36 Everyday event: Children play in the background as a penitent watches a march from 'Jesus en su Tercera CaiŒda' brotherhood during a procession in Zamora, Spain +36 Spectacle: A woman and a boy look from a window as a penitent of San Gonzalo brotherhood walks past them during Holy Week in Seville Underground procession in Poland Polish miners mark Good Friday by staging their own celebrations underground at the Wieliczka Salt Mine. A procession known as the Underground Way of the Holy Cross takes place, with miners donning ceremonial uniforms and marching to a salt monument of Pope John Paul II in the underground Kinga Chapel. The Wieliczka Salt Mine is one of the oldest known salt mines of the world and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1978. The Kinga Chapel lies at some 318ft underground and tourists can visit on organised tours to discover the underground town created by the miners, complete with lakes passages and the chapel itself. Pop John Paul II is just one of the important historical figures to have visited this unusual religious site, where mining has continued since the Middle Ages. With nine levels, the original excavations stretch for nearly 186 miles reaching the depth of 1,000ft. +36 Deeper underground: Polish miners in ceremonial uniforms carry a wooden cross during the Underground Way of the Holy Cross procession +36 Sacred celebration: Miners mark Good Friday with a procession through the historic Wieliczka Salt Mine, in the town of Wieliczka +36 Holy hideaway: A statue of Pope John Paul II has been erected in the iconic Kinga Chapel which is located 318ft underground +36 Sacred duty: The ceremony is one of the most unusual Easter celebrations to take place in the world due to its unique location Self-flagellation in the Philippines With their bare backs covered in blood and their faces hidden by hoods, devoted Catholics in the Philippines atone for their sins by taking part in gory Maundy Thursday self-flagellation rituals. The barefoot penitents walk through the streets whipping themselves or with pointed wooden sticks tied to their arms as they take part in the rituals to atone for their sins, seek a better life or give thanks. Every year thousands of foreign and local visitors line the streets to watch the rituals in San Fernando, north of Manila, and the suburban Mandaluyong, to the east of Manila. +36 Ritual: Hooded penitents in the Philippines flagellate themselves as part of the Maundy Thursday rituals to atone for sins in Mandaluyong, east of Manila Painful: Devotees with wooden stakes tied to their arms pray during a painful ritual as part of the observance of Maundy Thursday in Mandaluyong city +36 Wounds: A penitent lies on the ground after flagellating himself during a Holy Week ritual to atone for his sin, on a street in Mandaluyong City +36 Disapproval: The Catholic Church disapproves of the rituals and warn such expressions of faith could actually take away from the real meaning of Lent +36 Prayers: Flagellants pray in front of the altar while performing their ritual during the observance of Maundy Thursday in Mandaluyong +36 Tradition: Every year thousands of foreign and local visitors watch the rituals in San Fernando, north of Manila, and the suburban Mandaluyong, to the east of Manila The hooded and barefoot penitents in San Fernando lash their backs as they make their way along narrow roads which lead to a dusty hill, where other men dressed as Jesus Christ are nailed to wooden crosses. The Catholic Church in the country disapproves of the rituals and warns such expressions of faith could actually take away from the real meaning of Lent. According to UCANews.com, Catholic bishops in the Philippines this week warned penitents not to carry out the rituals of self-flagellation and crucifixion as part of this year's Good Friday observances. An Easter whipping in Slovakia You wouldn't want to be a woman over the Easter weekend in Slovakia. The fairer sex can expect to be whipped with willow branches and doused in water, but it's all good fun and actually performed with the aim of making women more beautiful and healthy. The folk custom, once believed to purify the soul and body, predates Christianity, which arrived in Slovakia in the ninth century but became intertwined with Easter traditions as history passed. +36 Folk festival: Men and women wear traditional dress over the Easter weekend in Slovakia as they follow the unusual custom of whipping women with branches   Festive fun: Men and boys take great delight in pouring buckets of water over the women of the village as part of a celebration to help them become more beautiful Take a dip: Some of the more enthusiastic boys take the opportunity to throw girls into a nearby river +36 Choose your weapon: Hand-made wicker-rods, (in Slovakia known as 'kourbash') are used by men to whip women as part of the old Easter custom According to ethnographer Viera Feglová, the unusual tradition originated as part of folk beliefs based on nature's cycle and spring being a time of rebirth. The practice used to be seen across the whole country, but died out somewhat uder Communist rule in the late 20th century. Now in bigger cities, women tend to be sprayed with scented water. However, in smaller towns and villages, women can still expect to have buckets of water poured over them, be playfully whipped with decorated branches and even thrown into the local river by some over-enthusiastic males. Crucifixion at a Jesus theme park in Argentina It is the ultimate kitsch theme park dedicated entirely to telling the story of Jesus and during Easter this Argentinian attraction goes into overdrive. With a plastic Jesus who is resurrected every 60 minutes and plastic statues depicting the Passion, it is already a must-see attraction for the devout, with hundreds gathering each hour to watch the statue emerge from a rocky outcrop to survey the crowds. During the Easter weekend, actors take up the role to bring the passion to life, carrying the cross through the park and being crucified by Roman soldiers. The attraction is a huge hit with Latin American tourists, who travel from miles around to come and see what is billed at the world's first religious theme park. +36 Holy Land: The Tierra Santa attraction is promoted as the first religious theme park in the world and draws visitors from across Argentina and Uruguay, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Bolivia Passion of the Christ: During the Easter weekend actors tell the story of the Crucifixion and Jesus' resurrection   Unusual attraction: Every 60 minutes a plastic Christ is 'resurrected', emerging from a rocky outcrop, and during the Easter weekend the Passion is played out by actors

Every Easter, in the Greek village of Vrontados, members of rival churches sitting across a small valley stage a "rocket war" by firing thousands of homemade rockets towards each other while services are held. The objective for each side is to strike the bell of the opposing church. The festival, called Rouketopolemos, has been celebrated by the churches of Agios Markos and Panagia Erithiani for at least 125 years, its exact origins a mystery. Gathered here are images of this rocket war from the past few years. Rockets fly over bell tower of Agios Markos church during Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations on the eastern Aegean island of Chios on April 26, 2008. Two rival parishes of Vrontados village fire thousands of rockets every Easter Saturday aiming at the opposing church's bell tower in a centuries-old tradition. (Reuters/Yiorgos Karahalis) 2 Yannis, left, and Stavros, right, load handmade rockets on a truck, in front of Agios Markos church, on the Aegean island of Chios, on April 19, 2014. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) # 3 Rockets are arranged before being fired at the Panagia Erithiani church during Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations on the Aegean island of Chios, on April 19, 2014. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) # 4 Hand-made rockets are prepared before being fired at the Agios Markos church during Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations in Vrontados on April 26, 2008. (Reuters/Yiorgos Karahalis) # 5 A participant fires a rocket against the target, the Panagia Erithiani church, from a launching platform in the village of Vrontados on April 19, 2014. (Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images) # 6 A woman walks out of her screen-protected home during Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations in Vrontados village, on April 26, 2008. (Reuters/Yiorgos Karahalis) # 7 People ignite homemade rockets during aimed at a rival church in Vrontados on April 19, 2014.(Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images) # 8 A youth ignites homemade rockets during a traditional Easter celebration in Vrontados on April 19, 2014.(Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images) # 9 Rockets fly through the sky targeting the churches of Agios Markos, left, and Panagia Erithiani, right, during Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations on April 19, 2014. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) # 10 Homemade rockets streak through the sky targeting a church of Panagia Erithiani on April 19, 2014.(Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images) # 11 A rocket strikes the bell tower of Agios Markos church on April 26, 2008. (Reuters/Yiorgos Karahalis) # 12 Rockets fly over the church of Agios Markos as worshippers hold candles during Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations on the eastern Aegean island of Chios, on April 19, 2014 in Vrontados, Greece. (Milos Bicanski/Getty Images) # 13 A youth ignites homemade rockets during Easter celebrations in Vrontados on April 19, 2014.(Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images) # 14 Young men ignite rockets during Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations on the island of Chios on April 19, 2014.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) # 15 Rockets fly towards the church of Agios Markos during Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations on April 19, 2014.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) # 16 Homemade rockets streak through the sky above Vrontados on April 19, 2014. (Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images) # 17 A man ignites rockets in Vrontados on April 19, 2014. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) # 18 Rockets fly over the bell towel of Panagia Erithiani church on April 19, 2014. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) # 19 Rockets fly over Vrontados village on April 26, 2008, as rival parishes of the village fire thousands of rockets at each other.(Reuters/Yiorgos Karahalis) # 20 A reveler looks on during Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations in Vrontados on April 19, 2014. (Milos Bicanski/Getty Images) # 21 Revelers ignite rockets during Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations on April 19, 2014 in Vrontados, Greece.(Milos Bicanski/Getty Images) # 22 Homemade rockets streak through the sky targeting the church of Panagia Erithiani, on April 19, 2014.(Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images) # 23 Participants ignite homemade rockets in the village of Vrontados late on April 19, 2014. (Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images) # 24 Young men launch rockets during Greek Orthodox Easter celebrations on the Aegean island of Chios on April 19, 2014.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) # 25 Rockets fly over Panagia Erithriani church on April 26, 2008. (Reuters/Yiorgos Karahalis) # 26 A woman walks near scores of burned-out homemade rockets on the ground, and stuck in a protective metal fence at Panagia Erithiani church, following a traditional Easter celebration the night before in Vrontados, on April 20, 2014.(Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images)         New York's Easter Parade decades ago In one black-and-white image, dated 1948, screen stars Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis are seen strolling along in top hats, cravats and striped blazers with canes to hand. While another captures billionaire oil magnate John D. Rockefelle Jr. on his way to church dressed in his Sunday best. Joining the A-star line-up is a 15-year-old Judy Garland riding in a horse and cart wearing furs. Ironically, nine years later she would be responsible for immortalizing Manhattan's famous pageant by staring in Irving Berlin's hit film Easter Parade opposite Fred Astaire. +23 Star smile: Joining the A-star line-up is a 15-year-old Judy Garland riding in a horse and cart wearing furs in 1939. Ironically, nine years later she would be responsible for immortalizing Manhattan's famous pageant by staring in Irving Berlin's hit film Easter Parade opposite Fred Astaire Other 'celebrity sightings' at the event during the mid-20th centurt included TV comedian Milton Berle, screen star Bette Davis and surrealist artist, Salvador Dali, who first visited New York in 1934. The event, which takes place on Easter Sunday, started out as a spontaneous event in the 1870s and soon became an annual tradition. By the 1950s it had an attendance rate of close to one million and other cities developed their own versions. Philadelphia and Boston were among these, as were Coney Island and Atlantic City, where the parades became tourist attractions. By the mid-20th century, the parade's religious aspects had faded, and it was mostly seen as a demonstration of American prosperity. It reportedly only attracted 30,000 bystanders in 2008. In 1988, Albert Baragwanath, a then senior curator at the Museum of the City of New York, told the New York Times that the parade's deline in populatity was due to a 'general decline in the refinements of life'. He continued: 'I feel that the whole elegance of Fifth Avenue has deteriorated. The elegantly dressed people aren't there anymore.' However, the event remains on the calendar and is less about style and more about having fun. This year the area along Fifth Avenue from 49th to 57th Streets will be closed to cars from 10am to 4pm to make ways for the annual parade of Easter bonnets and costumed pets. +23 Swagger: Dean Martin (left) and Jerry Lewis attracted much attention in the Easter parade on Fifth Avenue when they appeared in 'new' Easter outfits that hark back to the old days in 1948   Bonnets on! One woman lets her enthusiasm for General Dwight Eisenhower go to her head in 152 (left) while in 1944 actress  Lisette Verea opted for a quirky headpiece complete with a red felt lips and a protruding cigarette +23 Quite a buzz: TV stars Steve Allen, (L) and Eva Gabor, interview Surrealist Salvador Dali, (C) in front of St Patrick's Cathedral during the Easter Parade in 1951 Family affair: Easter Sunday on Fifth Avenue in 1922 the wife of famed American philosopher C.S. Pierce, walks with her children (left) while financier George Jay Gould's brood step out in matching outfits and bonnets +23 Attracting the rich and famous: Prince George of Russia and Miss Jane Erdmann were snapped as they took part in the annual Easter Parade along Fifth Avenue in 1933 while walking their dogs Wearing the latest fashions: The parade which takes place on Easter Sunday, started out as a spontaneous event in the 1870s and soon became an annual tradition - here two couples are seen wearing their finest in 1922 A child's delight: Milton Berle, stoops to hug his daughter in the midst of New York's Easter parade in 1950 while motion picture star Bette Davis and her artist husband William Grant Sherry were spotted taking a leisurely stroll through Central Park with their daughter Barbara the previous year +23 Rammed! Spectators crowd the streets around Rockefeller Center for the Easter Parade in 1945 +23 Piece of history: Dressed in the traditional Easter fashion, a Paramount newsreel cameraman trains his camera on the crowds in 1948 Growing in popularity: Church-goers seen at St. Thomas' Church in 1915 (left) on Fifth Avenue and in 1922 (right) Dressing like a billionaire: Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller, Jr. steps out in his Sunday best before going to Easter service at church in 1922 (left) and 1924 (right) Stepping out in style: Three women model the latest fashions in 1922 - wide-brimmed hats, low heels and calf-length skirts appear to have been in vogue +23 Change of scenery: Easter morning in 1900 in New York with horse-drawn traffic and two motor cars +23 Community spirit: Russian costumes on Fifth Avenue in 1922 - this this year the area along Fifth Avenue from 49th to 57th Streets will be closed to cars from 10am to 4pm to make ways for the annual parade of Easter bonnets and costumed pets