Coonskin is a 1975 American film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi (pictured in 2009), about an African American rabbit, fox, and bear who rise to the top of the organized crime racket in Harlem, encountering corrupt law enforcement, con artists, and the Mafia. The film, which combines live action and animation, stars Philip Thomas, Charles Gordone, Barry White, and Scat Man Crothers, all of whom appear in both live-action and animated sequences. Coonskin makes reference to various elements from African-American culture, ranging from African folk tales to the work of cartoonist George Herriman, and satirizes racist and other stereotypes, as well as the blaxploitation genre, Song of the South, and The Godfather. Coonskin encountered controversy before its original theatrical release when the Congress of Racial Equality criticized the content as being racist. When the film was released, it had limited distribution and initially received negative reviews. Coonskin has since been reappraised. A New York Times review said that it could be Bakshi's "masterpiece" and Bakshi considers it his best film.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coonskin_(film)

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1555:

Giovanni Pietro Carafa became Pope Paul IV and had a short, but tumultuous papacy, during which the Papal States suffered a serious military defeat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Paul_IV

1618:

In the Second Defenestration of Prague, Protestant members of the Bohemian aristocracy threw Catholic regents of Emperor Ferdinand II out the third-storey window of Prague Castle, precipitating the Thirty Years' War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defenestrations_of_Prague

1844:

Siyyid `Alí-Muhammad Shírází proclaimed that he was "the Báb", after a Shi`a religious concept, marking the beginning of the Bábí movement, the forerunner of the Bahá'í Faith. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A1bism

1934:

American criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were ambushed and killed by police on a desolate road near their hideout in Bienville Parish, Louisiana. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_and_Clyde

2010:

Jamaica's military and police force began a manhunt for drug lord Christopher Coke, beginning three days of armed conflict with the Shower Posse cartel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Kingston_unrest

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

thagomizer: (anatomy) An arrangement of spikes found on the tails of various stegosaurs. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thagomizer

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Mercury has cast aside The signs of intellectual pride, Freely offers thee the soul: Art thou noble to receive? Canst thou give or take the whole, Nobly promise and believe? Then thou wholly human art, A spotless, radiant, ruby heart, And the golden chain of love Has bound thee to the realm above.   --Margaret Fuller https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Margaret_Fuller