Incognegro VII: Dwayne Johnson

First off, I did not initially smell what “The Rock” was cooking.

For one, I hated wrestling. Back when I first discovered Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (who is now just Dwayne Johnson) about seven years ago when I was dating a guy who loved wrestling. I thought that was just about the tackiest thing in the world. I tried not to hold it against the dude, but man, fake sports? Lame.

His favorite wrestlers were The Rock, aka “The People’s Champion” aka “The Brahma Bull” aka “The King of Ridiculous Nicknames,” Stone Cold Steve Austin and some dude who would hit his crotch with his hands in a V-formation. I didn’t like that guy. But The Rock seemed like a charismatic enough fellow. I just couldn’t get over the wrestling thing.

Thank God he quit wrestling.

Johnson is not the greatest actor, but he’s the closest thing we’re going to get to an heir apparent to Ah-nuld Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger, also a mediocre actor, had a certain something, a look that said, “I could fuck shit up or be really hilarious, because, seriously, I’m ridiculous looking. I mean, look at these muscles and the thickness of my neck. I’m utterly ridiculous.”

Johnson is utterly ridiculous with “The People’s Elbow” and that crazy arching eyebrow thing he does. He’s Ah-nuld with an American accent, a more handsome and warm face and a lovely incognegro brown covering. He’s essentially delicious.

While he has to share some of his bona fides with fellow incognegro and potential Schwarzenegger clone, Vin Diesel, Johnson definitely gets more work or (more likely) he’s willing to take on more crappy work in-between the good stuff.

Johnson was supposed to be an NFL pro-baller. He was an incredible football player for the University of Miami, but a back injury killed his chances at a career. After poking around in the Canadian League (and getting cut from his team), he ditched his legitimate sports dreams altogether and hit the wrestling arena where his father, Rocky Johnson, had once reigned supreme.

His incognegro status comes from being one part black Canadian and one part Samoan. While it is obvious that Johnson is “brown,” as both black people and Samoans are known for their “permanent tans,” Johnson doesn’t quite look like a black American. Maybe it’s the nose or his protruding brow or his hairline or the overall, not-quite-black look of his facial area. I just didn’t see him as a Negro or even a half-Negro. I still don’t. But while searching for photos of him on the internet one site had his pictures tagged with the ethnicity of “black.” So, whatever. I don’t know if anyone ever asked the dude what he was since he seems pretty down with his black and Polynesian roots.

In most of his films he’s your racial “everyman.” Latino? Pacific Islander? North African? Negro? Who the fuck knows? In Disney’s “The Game Plan” they made sure to cast his “daughter” with a child actress who also fell into the “who the fuck knows” category. And Johnson will probably remain in on-screen racial limbo for the rest of his career.

I mean, how many roles are there out there where you can play 6’3″ Samoan?

He, quite famously, got $5.5 million dollars to star in “The Scorpion King,” and has starred in mostly action flicks, remakes and video game adaptations (“The Rundown,” “Doom,” “Walking Tall”) and even popped up in the highly anticipated Richard Kelly’s surrealist/sci-fi flick “Southland Tales.”

Like Schwarzenegger, Johnson is a Hollywood Republican. Unlike Schwarzenegger, Johnson is royalty. His mother, Ata Johnson, nee Maivia, came for a royal Samoan bloodline, leading Samoan King Malietoa Tanumafili II to bestow Johnson with the title of “Seiuli, Son of Malietoa” during a visit to Samoa in 2004.

Johnson dropped “The Rock” from his name in 2006 wanting to leaving wrestling behind completely and be seen solely as an actor. That was probably a good thing, but the not-quite Polynesian face with a quasi-black American name (I don’t know a lot of white dudes named “Dwayne,” but black guys? Hoards.), there’s still a bit of cognizant dissonance. But never mind. I’ll still go see “Get Smart” this summer anyway. He may be ridiculous, but he’s a hot, chiseled, royal incognegro sort of ridiculous and that’s something which everyone can partake.

daniellebelton

26 responses to “Incognegro VII: Dwayne Johnson”

  1. mynameismyname Avatar
    mynameismyname

    Good morning Snob,Now this one is surprising. You couldn’t tell Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was black?!?!?!?! Shit ….for me and everyone else I know, it was actually the opposite. We were all surprised to find out he was partly “something else”. If you look at pictures of him from his college football days or generally, before-the-fame, he didn’t look anything else BUT black. But, you know, a lot of black folks are known to magically become, ahem, “ambigious” looking, once they hit Tinstletown. It’s actually nothing that a good surgeon and a good ass hair texturizer can’t fix. (Johnson had a nice, healthy ‘fro back in the day).And Samoans? The brillant, immortal Paul Mooney once proclaimed “Somoans ain’t nothing but some mo’ niggas!”.I’d have to say that I agree with that statement to a degree!Samoans, Fijans, Tongans, and many other Pacific Islander types look identical to any West African-derived person in the world. Depending on which Out Of Africa theory one follows, these people, along w/ the Australian Aboriginals, derive from Africa like everyone else. (Of course, not without some relative ‘mixture’, in many Pacific Islander types, they have Asiatic influence …but then again, so do many West Africans).Sorry for the anthropological lesson here, Snob. It’s just that when you live in such a wacky society with its weird limiations and misconceptions when it comes to classifying and acknowleding people, I have to “clear” some things up. But you know what time it is, so I’m sure you can see where I’m coming from.Oh, and about D.J.’s blackness, his Cuban wife’s family damn weren’t questioning it. Her parents originally heavily discouraged their daughter to marry him because he was black. (Nevermind the fact that his wife has clear black features her gotdamn self…). D.J. has also recounted many of his brushes with anti-black racism that he still faces. So people DO seem him as a brotha despite Hollywood’s “pseduo-racially amigious” blinders! And if you want more proof, look at pictures of his very cute daughter! She’s a BLACK girl, through and through. That’s what happens when you have two parents with SIGNIFICANT (or predominate, even?) African blood!!! 🙂

    Reply
  2. The Black Snob Avatar
    The Black Snob

    mynameismyname: I’m with you on the similarities between West Africans and Polynesians, but Johnson just didn’t seem black to me for some reason. I don’t know why. I believed that he was Samoan, it was obvious he wasn’t white, but I just didn’t see the black. There is some weird dissonance there for me that I can’t exactly explain.But when he wore an afro wig on “That 70s Show” and played his dad that helped some. And I was genuinely surprised when I saw a picture of him with his parents. I have a similar issue with Rosario Dawson, who also doesn’t look like anything in particular. I don’t know. I can’t really explain it.

    Reply
  3. Andrea Avatar
    Andrea

    Is his name really Dwayne Johnson? Come on? Dwayne? Well…anyway…well…I don’t know about this guy.Most Samoans I met rather be around Black People and they tend marry Blacks. So I am not surprised by his genetic make-up. However…what is up with the straight hair in this picture? Did he have straight hair all this time?

    Reply
  4. mynameismyname. Avatar
    mynameismyname.

    Andrea, that’s called a texturizer! That explains the ‘straight hair’. And yeah, Dwayne Johnson?! How can’t one tell that he’s a brotha with a name like that. Just like with Quincy’s daughter, Rashida. Rashida Jones??? How could anyone think she was actually a white girl with such a obviously-sista name?!In fairness, I have known a couple white Duanes(notice the difference in spelling. Concidentially, I’ve also known of a white girl named Keisha.Andrea’s right, a lot of Samoans and other Pacific Islanders do befriend and date/marry/procreate with (other?) black folks. I personally know a Tongan woman who had a baby with a black buddy of mine. Physically, their son is a full-blooded black boy. His unambigiously black apperance should tell us something.Rosario’s ethnically ambigious to you, too Snob? A few others seem to agree. She’s basically an Afro-Latina a la Zoe Saldana, Gina Torres, Irene Cara, Lauren Velez, etc. But then again, you know how hard it is for many people to know that “Latino”, while not a race, is a demographic term. It just means that one descends from a Latin American country. The vast majority of blacks in the African Diaspora live in Latin America. (Dominican Republic and Cuba are both majority-black; Brazil is on it’s way to become majority-black as well.)It’s funny, I was watching that wretched Spike Lee adaption of Michael Beinoff’s “The 25th Hour” on cable one night. My female friend who was over that night, saw Rosario on screen (she played Edward Norton’s girlfriend). She goes “Wow’s she so pretty. She’s black, right?”. I answered back, “Yup. Black hispanic”. For the record, Rosario’s maternal side is Afro-Latino (PR/Cuban), she rarely discusses her father, but according to people who I know who are part of the NYC entertainment world-the world in which Rosario descends from- he’s black too.

    Reply
  5. The Black Snob Avatar
    The Black Snob

    mynameismyname: It may be a regional thing for me (the Midwest is not known for its ethnic diversity) or it could be because they usually aren’t cast as black people in their films but I just didn’t see either that way.I knew Rosario had Afro-Cuban roots since “He Got Game,” but in St. Louis I didn’t know any black girls who looked like her. I didn’t even know many biracial girls who looked like her. And it was The Rock’s real name that originally tipped me off that he was likely black. Once again, I just didn’t see him as anything when he showed up on the scene. And I know I can’t be the only person, considering he’s in the same racial Hollywood limbo Dawson, Rashida Jones, Jennifer Beals and countless other half-black actors who don’t solely identify themselves as black are in.There’s just a mental block there with Dawson and Johnson for me. And Central/South Americans run the gamut when it comes to looks and what they think they are. I’ve seen plenty who look black but don’t want to be identified as such and I’ve met some who don’t look black but are perfectly comfortable claiming their African roots. Then there are the individuals who look like a mixture of the indigenous people of the region.So, he just didn’t look like anything to me. Really. He didn’t. I didn’t know what he was. Until I learned his name was Dwayne Johnson and learned about his parents his box was checked “other” in my mind.And Dawson looked Latina, but I knew with Latino people that can often mean absolutely nothing when it comes to determining their ethnicity.

    Reply
  6. mynameismyname Avatar
    mynameismyname

    Oh, you’re a native Midwesterner. That explains it all. Yeah, it’s famously segregated out there. It’s pretty much “blacks” over here, “whites” over there. That explains our differences in physical racial perceptions.Life experiences and environmentdefintely play a part in how we percieve race. Based on random comments I’ve read on the internet, I know that for some white people, their ideas of what a black person looks like is EXTREMELY limited. If they see a black person’s who of lighter brown skin or non-broad features, their racial identity is questioned. It’s ignorant but if you’re white and you’ve dwelled in a virtually all-white world for all your life, then your ideas of a black person, or a Mexican, or shit, a Cambodian will be distorted. See, I grew up in the Mid-Atlantic/East Coast (I’m originally from Southern Maryland, right outside of D.C. Have also live in Northern Jersey, currently live in Connecticut). I’ve literally grown up with EVERY ethnicity you can think of. From Filipinos down to Bangladeshis to …hell, I even knew quite a few real-live Native Americans!This point hits home dramatically when it comes to my perception of who’s black. A lot of that has to do with my mother’s side of the family (she’s African American, from Georgia with Gullah roots). As I’ve mentioned before, I have many relatives from that side of the family who appear white at first glance. I also have relatives from that side of the family who look really Native. I also have relatives who are damn near blue because they’re so brown, in terms of complexion. So, the phentopyes of my mother’s very-black Southern family has deeeppp range as do many AA families.Add to that, the fact that I have a Ghanaian father. Half of the black folks, I know are NOT African American. Ghanaian, Nigerians, Togolese, Kenyans, (lots of) Ethiopians, Somalis, Eritreans, some black Europeans, a gang of West Indians, and of course, many black Latin Americans. Then of course, there’s the different ‘subsets’ of black Americans: Louisana Creoles (my uncle is married to one), Lumbee people, We-Sorts, and of course black folks who derived from interracial marriages (growing up in MD, I live in a big military area so I knew a lot of kids who were spawned from AA soliders and their Asian wives).Now, maybe this background,describes how my physical and cultural perception of black people got to be so unusually broad.I’ve literally seen it all.Hell, my very-AA sister resembles Rosario in a way. Latin America is a very mixed society. And their take on race is warped in comparsion to our equally jumbled yet much more cut-and-dry perception of race.Out here in the East, there’s a bijillion Puerto Ricans. As well as Dominicans. Most of the Dominicans are African American, until they open their mouth. Most of the PRs show clear traits of African hertiage (they are considered “mulata” [hence where that archaic, racist term comes from; it derives from a Spanish term] in their country, meaning of black and white hertiage). Now, in terms of their racial identity, most of the Dominicans and PRs I knew defintely acknowledged their African roots. Quite a few of them were black and proud. (I personally know three Dominican brothas who are quite militant). But then again, a lot of them, for various reasons, may be reluctant to identify as black or even acknowledge their visible African or indigeious roots. So, all in all, I can see how someone who’s grew up in a less ethnically diverse area could have their mind boggled when they witness a black person who speaks Spanish or a little black kid with their white mother. Or a guy who looks white yet defiantly proclaims his blackness. Or being freaked out of the sight of a lighter-skinned West African (like my pure-breed Ghanaian father).

    Reply
  7. The Black Snob Avatar
    The Black Snob

    mynameismyname: In the Midwest (I’m in St. Louis) we have lots of biracial people, but they tend to only come in one flavor — black/white. As for diversity, by and large, most people I knew were either white, black, Middle Eastern or Asian, specifically Korean. But there wasn’t a lot of intermarriage.And because America is so jumbled up on race people can be increasingly hard to define. I didn’t get a crash course in racial diversity until I moved to California where everyone was all over everyone.But even the biracial people in St. Louis tended to look rather generic with wavy to curly hair and light tans and smaller noses, almost making them indistinguishable from light skinned black people I knew.And I have/had relatives who looked “white,” but what stumped me on The Rock specifically were his eyes and nose. He was too dark compared to most biracial people I knew (who were primarily just mixed black/white Americans), but his nose and brow didn’t look right. So strangely enough, if The Rock were lighter, he’d look black to me. (In the black and white pictures I have of him he does register as a Negro in my mind.) But he’s a golden brown like me and about every Mexican I met in California, so I had a huge “WTF” going on in my head until the whole “Dwayne” thing came out.

    Reply
  8. Renee Avatar
    Renee

    I was first exposed to him as “the rock” in wrestling. I will have to admit that I did not like his persona one little bit. It was not until I saw an interview with him out of character that he kind of grew on me. I am glad to here that he has left wrestling behind. Violence for entertainment purposes is just disgusting. I will agree with you on one thing, he is hot as hell and has more going on for him than vin diesel.

    Reply
  9. madame z Avatar
    madame z

    Dwayne was always a dead giveaway for me. LOL. He’s gorgeous; beautiful and sexy as hell! I really don’t have much to add. Too busy salivating over that last image. 😉 LOL

    Reply
  10. The Black Snob Avatar
    The Black Snob

    renee: I had trouble with the wrestling thing too (obviously). I just don’t “get” it. But once he wasn’t “The Rock” anymore he became far more engaging. Johnson is much, much better than Diesel, but I’ve liked Diesel’s voice and gritty charm. So I guess I’m a fan of both and I wish they’d both make more action/adventure films. (Well, I wish Diesel would. That dude straight up disappeared.)And at some point someone’s shirt should come off in those movies because, you know, maybe the shirt is in the way or something. God knows Ah-nuld took every excuse he could to be naked if only to show off his former Mr. Universe physique. You don’t work that hard in the gym and keep your shirt on. Hasn’t nearly 15 years of <A HREF="http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/167/shemarmooreec3.jpg“ REL=”nofollow”>the vanity of Shemar Moore taught us nothing?

    Reply
  11. philosopher Avatar
    philosopher

    I always could tell he was black. And he is GORGEOUS and just seems like a great guy.

    Reply
  12. mynameismyname Avatar
    mynameismyname

    Yeah, it’s all a matter of what we’ve seen, that forms racial perceptions or just general perceptions of the world around us.See, there is no “biracial” (black/white) look. Some black people who come from such an interracial union look white. Some look “ethnically ambigious”. Some take on equalAfrican/European traits. Most look black. Do you know why? Because they overlap physically and culturally with all of the black people who didn’t come from first generation interracial unions (but are surely mixed, genetically). Hence, why I do not seperate such black folks, no matter their physical appearance, as “biracial” and “mixed”. It’s too much of a contradiction. AAs are mixed by default (some are actually predominately European but still identify as black) and calling recently-mixed black folks something else just seems …incorrect. This isn’t South Africa. Or the UK, where the vast majority of people are “pure”. Hell, even in those two countries where they did/doimplement a separate category for recently-mixed blacks (“mixed race” in the UK; “Cape Coloureds” in South Africa)…it didn’t quell the anti-black racism that these people faced. And it didn’t change the fact that most people in those countries see these “mixed” people as black, or at the very least, not “white”. But I digress. It’s funny, you mentioned a dilemma that certain ‘ambigious’ black actors face. But Johnson, Dawson and Jones have actually turned up at black events. Jones appeared at a Essence magazine’s Black Woman In Hollywood event recently. She pretty much goes through what every other black woman in Hollywood goes through, despite the fact that she’s “ambigiously black” in many people’s eyes. Dawson has won Black Reel awards and like, Johnson, does black press when she has a film out. Also in many of Dawson’s films, there’s ethnic cues that point to her blackness.Hence, her as the “token black” in Josie & The Pussycats; her role in “Light It Up” and of course, her in the indie pysch-drama “Descent”. (A white character calls Dawson’s character a “nigger” and a “monkey” while raping her.) Remember, these people casting these Hollywood films are unexposed white folks whose views of blackness and just non-whitness in general are extremely biased and dangerously limited.Now …of my soapbox. LOL. I never was a Diesel fan (another one who I never found to look ‘ambigious’-looking either) but he did have some celloiud appeal. I guess his career went the way of Wesley Snipes …except Wes was far more successful.

    Reply
  13. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    One day I will stop being lazy and stop being anonymous…LOL But yeah..I was one of the women who grew up watching wrestling…Sorry but I used to love it…It would be degrees where I would stop watching it, then after a few years would go back to watching it and it was around the time the Rock started to become big that I started watching it again. Anyway I already knew who his family was because they wrestled themselves, but even still if I didn’t know I could tell he was mixed with black and something else. And again the name gave it away also..LOL Concerning Vin Diesel It was the “Voice” that turned me on about him…That deep voice that can make a woman cross her legs..LOL

    Reply
  14. The Black Snob Avatar
    The Black Snob

    mynameismyname: Yeah, I’ve noticed that both Johnson and Dawson do their fair share of black press and obviously identify with black people, but Hollywood (and America) tends to want to put people in boxes and when they can’t find a box everyone gets a little flustered.In America who is and isn’t black historically was easy to answer. If you had no African lineage you weren’t. If you had any African lineage, despite skin color, you were black. So it’s weird trying to navigate modern times where people feel they have a choice other than blackness.Some people are obviously very comfortable with their background are are immersed in it, re: Johnson, Dawson, Kimora Lee Simmons, Rashida and Kidada Jones, etc.Others are down right skittish of it all.But as you pointed out, that doesn’t exactly protect you from racism or from you being lumped in with the rest of the Negroes anyway.And it is “confusing” considering the fact that all black Americans are “mixed” in one way or another, but considering one (not)racially ambiguous looking woman almost took my head off for assuming she was black. Even though we were the same color, had pudgy noses, frizzy hair, people thought I was her daughter and she was married to a black Puerto Rican, who was lighter than her but considered himself to be a black American.She was complaining to me about her hair and how unfair it was that everyone else in her family had straight hair and I said, “Oh, so you got the black girl hair.” And it was like I called her a bitch. She dialed it back some considering I’m black and her husband was black and neither of us appreciated her response. She wasn’t the first black woman I met like this (or last), but I quickly determined that some people just didn’t want to be black, even if they were black by America’s traditional definition of the term.

    Reply
  15. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    I’m from NYC, and I honestly believed that Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson was hispanic. Of course this is when I knew him as “The Rock” and not as incognegro “Dwayne”. Well. At least he’s not hiding it.In New York City Hispanics here want to be identified as ANYTHING other than black. Hispanics in today’s New York are way less culturally conscious than they were in the seventies. Today’s Hispanic act “new new” when it comes to them being a part of the African Diaspora.They’ll admit that they’re mixed with Native American, White Cuban and Spain, but a hush falls over Jerusalem when it comes to owning up to their African ancestry.Nevertheless…Dwayne is hot fiyah; but usually those chiseled types have small peens.

    Reply
  16. starrie Avatar
    starrie

    i sorta felt dwayne “the rock” was atleast part black before i knew his lineage, afterall he had a fro at one point…this is what sealed the deal for me…a white dude at my job a few years was talking about wrestling and how some other wrestler insulted the rock by calling him a slur (you know which one)…the dude at work said “i don’t know why that wrestler would call the rock that, he’s not even black…i knew then that i need to investigate the rock’s background further…

    Reply
  17. Deedlelee Avatar
    Deedlelee

    I loves me some DJ!!!Mmmm, Mmmm, MMMMM!

    Reply
  18. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Secretly I liked those silk shirts, dress shoes, and chain on bare chest. *looks around* He seems like a down to earth dude from everything I gather. I never doubted the black.

    Reply
  19. MarilynJean Avatar
    MarilynJean

    mynameismyname completely spelled it out, and I have to also second the anonymous poster from NYC. I’m Afro-latina and I will get into some serious grudge matches with family about the Black Factor. They will swear that Puerto Ricans are Taino and Spanish. That’s it. Cracks me up when a majority of Carribean culture can be traced back to the coasts of Africa. Puerto Rico was a huge slave ship port. How can you deny Africa’s rich influence over our people? And yet they do all the time.

    Reply
  20. SolShine7 Avatar
    SolShine7

    He’s one of my favs.

    Reply
  21. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    ohh i love dwayne “the rock” johnson! i don’t know where you were born and raised but where i live there are numerous “white dwaynes” spelled various ways. i am white and my son’s name is duane. his father is Mulungan. i am in upper east tennesse. don’t know if you are familiar with Mulungans. they are an ethnic group specfic to our area of Appalachia, a racial mixture believed to be of Black, Turk, Native American, White, and Portugese. they lived (live) in the mountains of upper east tennesee, southwest virginia, and west virginia. believed to have orginated due to the isolated conditions of our area in the early days. most lived in the mountains to escape from bigotry and persicution and as a result intermarried among themselves and the native americans, freed black people and poor whites. racial features are very, very diversified. my son actually resembles “the rock.” brown skin, thick coarse curly dark hair, same build and facial features. on the other hand, my daughter ( same father) has very pale skin, red coarse curly hair( due to the irish thrown in the mix) with broad black facial features. their father’s mother ( from southwest virginia) was very light brown in skin tone with obvious black facial features. when i was growing up ( i am 50 now) it was a very derogatory thing to call someone a Mulungan and most people tried to hide it, portraying themselves as just one ethinticity. now, it seems a lot of people embrace the heritage and well they should. fact is, most of us in this area are a mixture of something! to me, it just goes to show that we are all just people, regardless of our racial make-up.

    Reply
  22. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    I will freely admit that I’ve watched wrestling since I was a child. However, when Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock appeared on the scene, I had stopped watching it. A guy I was dating was very into wrestling and begged me to watch with him, so I did. One look at The Rock and I was hooked! He was handsome, witty, intelligent and when out of the character of The Rock, he was exceptionally humble and endearing. The guy I was dating is now history, but I’m still a huge Dwayne Johnson fan. From the moment I first saw (and heard) him I knew he was Black. The walk, talk, style of dress, etc… had a definite nod to Black culture. Actually, it was even more pronounced then than it is now. I think that’s probably due to the current influence from Hollywood. They want this “any man” identity for him. Because of that fact, I was quite surprised when his character in “Gridiron Gang” had a Black mother. However, all his other roles have had a certain racially ambigious quality to them. As a biracial woman, who identifies as Black, I find this regretful. The discussion on his race and ethnicity will always be there. To try to ignore it does both Dwayne Johnson and the Black community a disservice. At least DJ acknowledges both his Somoan and Black heritages and seems comfortable in his own skin. I hope this remains the case in the future. Finally, for my own peace of mind, I just have to say it: Dwayne Douglas Johnson is one FINE brother!

    Reply
  23. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Nice to be here Snob. Thanks for posting the topic!!First of all when I first saw Dwayne Johnson I didn’t care WHAT he was because he was before anything to me a fine and sexy ass man. Then hearing folks say he was Puerto Rican, American Indian, and so forth, I did a bit of research into his bio to find he was half black and half Samoan. I was proud of his blackness in the werestling circuit because there were not too many black men headlining the Championship but I have to say, Dwayne Johnson was the one who brought me to that whole wrestling thing in the first place. I never missed an episode he was on since March 2000 because he has that special charisma and fortitude that could only in my eyes be possesed by a man of color who’s ancestors have endured racism, oppression and hatred from other non color races. It may have been scripted or choreographed but his attitude was not. He made history by exposing his obvious strength and intelligence. Unlike Booker T, his real name I have no idea and don’t care, who was more like a buffoon than an athlete and a couple other black men in the business who either were stereotypes or unaatractive goons with limited speech. Dwayne evolved in the business on the premises of making both his African American and Samoan ancestors proud and there was no doubt he was a black man and no doubt he was Samaoan. Now growing up in a black family, a black neighborhood, and a black man’s mentality is a whole different thing. He was practically raised by his Samoan mother as his father spent a lot of time on the road. He never mentions any of his black family members other than his dad, and he spends most of his time with his Samaon side of the family but lots of his friends and associates are black. He still seemes balanced and despite his background and his past run-ins with the law, he showed that you don’t have to allow life to make you a statistic. But still, his crisp features and his approachable demeanor have gotten him this far in Hollywood but I do believe he wouldn’t be working as much if he hadn’t have made certain changes to his appearance. He used to be a lot more massive and threatening and his voice was powerful and forceful. Now he’s about 220 lbs, limits the facial hair and is so metro-manicured that he fits in more with those stereotypes. Perhaps a part of his plan, I don’t know but he gets work and everybody seems to like him. As for Rosario, I not too long ago learned of her heritage and for a long time just thought she was an ordinary black woman with that old adage cherokee background. As a matter of fact, she and Dwayne are good friends and when together have a beautiful mix of color between them. Now it seems to me that men like Dwayne who have a bit more than an average gage of handsome going on I mean, recently , as he graced my tv on the Jay Leo Show in that cream suit and a lavender mauve shirt enveloping his caramel sexiness, that whole European thing started nagging at me. His demeanor and presentation just urks me to not just speaking intelligently but in that “tone” some folks of color seem to have when talking to white people. I’d stomach those interviews a lot more if he had a lot more confidence in his intelligence to be more himself. When he’s around his own people he is more laid back and uses a lot more slang and urban dialect. I mean he’s an educated man, there’s no need to perpetrate. I suppose he hates stereotypes to some degree as he refuses to let society designate and restrict him into Arnold’s shoes by doing all these quirky out of the ordianary roles he does. just like he refused for a time to play te black goon, or buffoon type in his wrestling days, well after he got more clout that is. All in all he is still fighting a battle in Hollywood as changes are slowly making a career like his possible for a black man or woman. Not to mention Samoans whom he generously brings in on his projects such as his cousin Tanoai Reed who I’ve met. He is all Samoan and as down as any brother I know.

    Reply
  24. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    I can’t believe nobody’s mentioned this before, but Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been on several covers of both Ebony and Jet. He’s never denied being Black and Samoan and while he might take racially-ambiguous movie roles, he’s still a NOICE BIG piece of the Diaspora.

    Reply
  25. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    Yea he's been on Ebony & jet. But will the Rock Date a Black woman?? I don't know .

    Reply
  26. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    WOW! Another jabroni trying to get publicity off dwayne johnson. People like Shaq, Mike Tyson, Karl Malone, Dennis Rodman, Ken Shamrock people who have reached the pinnacle of their ‘real’ sports think wrestling is fun to watch and have participated in it too. BY THEY WAY. It’s not real!!! IT’s sports ENTERTAINMENT. Learn to distinguish. How old are you? 12? pfff. another dumb bitch.

    Reply

Leave a reply to SolShine7 Cancel reply

Live Your Best Life.