The Professor, @William Spivey, at Medium.com wrote a helluva piece on Isaac Woodard here, Fam. Please do read it! It’ll help you understand what came after that brutal beating.
Watch this PBS movie about Mr. Woodard — “The Blinding of Isaac Woodard,” — it expires 2/28, so hurry up! If you read this later than that, you can see it here on YouTube with an interesting discussion as well:
My mother’s best friend — Miss Dora — worked for the Waring family as a “domestic” for a large part of her life and mine. As a matter of fact, I think she still works for them off and on, on occasion. I remember finallywatching “The Help,” and after Viola Davis saying she’d not liked playing the part of Abilene, I was more than a little warm about that shit — just cuz I saw and grew up with Black women who did this work, that were heretofore a soft place to land for many of our families — both Black and white (hell, Ms. Dora put four kids through HBCUs on that shit!).
Here’s an interesting further discussion…(interesting how throwing around that whole racial reckoning bullshit, but not meaning a damned thing about it, produces not a damned thing, no?)
Thurgood was the Ben Crump of his day — I’m so damned happy he was!
As the Oscars loomed yesterday (I did not watch), this song just kept running through my head because it speaks volumes about how we still see ourselves having "to be and behave" in this country - even in 2012. As I've said before - some of our young people get it!
A little over a year ago, I read and bookmarked this piece from Thaddeus Russell at The Daily Beast - "Does Obama Embody the Best of MLK?" - and I did nothing with it. Why? Because even as I continue to rejoice in them being "more different, than alike" where it counted most (standing up for Black folk to the point of risking and losing a life - something I'm certain we'll never see from the Changeling) - Russell laid bare some inconvenient truths about our "Drum Major for Justice" that quite frankly, disturbed me in just how much, he and the Changeling were "more alike, than different" - at least in this particular arena (Look, I never said Dr. King was perfect).
So, as much as I love Dr. King (and as much as I dislike the Changeling), I have to concede that Russell made, at least a quarter of a point. But if you know anything about me at all from my writing here, you'll know that I simply must nit-pick - just a little:
During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama stunned many by attacking African Americans in ways that would have jeopardized the career of any white politician. He mocked blacks named “ Pookie,” “Ray-Ray,” and “Uncle Jethro” who feed their children cold Popeye’s fried chicken for breakfast, sit on the couch watching ESPN, don’t read books, let their children roam the streets, and are “ acting like boys instead of men.”
In A Renegade History of the United States, I argue thatthis bashing of blacks has its roots in the assimilationist politics of the Civil Rights Movement, which required that African Americans embrace the Protestant work ethic, sexual repression, and the nuclear family—norms that had been created by white Europeans and Americans and which were alien to Africans before they were brought to America as slaves. (emphasis mine)
Now we know the first paragraph is definitely on point. And we know that even since then, the Changeling has continued his affronts. I even agree with his observation about the "assimilationist politics of the Civil Rights Movement" (Hell, I lived through it!). But it is the emphasized portion of the second paragraph with which I take issue. While those norms were in fact, created by whites, who is Russell to say that they were "alien" to Africans before they were brought to America as slaves? How the hell does he know (sounds like more of that spoon-fed shit to me)?! I tell you, James Baldwin was on the money when he noted:
"I have said that the Civilized have never been able to honor, recognize, or describe the Savage. Once they had decided that he was savage, there was nothing to honor, recognize or describe."
First of all, that whole "Protestant work ethic" thing is such an illusion! Considering it wasn't whites out there doing the damned "work" that made them rich, I consider it quite a joke. And secondly, as for sexual repression, well - whites always pretended like they were repressing shit, but those trips to the slave cabins in the midnight hour, or white women sneaking Black men into their beds, sure enough gave the truth tothat lie. And thirdly, as for the whole "nuclear family" thing - puleeze! Talk about people trying to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse! White folk were then, as they are now, living in big-fat-lie situations, sharing two-parent households full of abusive men, and in more cases than they care to admit - in families, with more than 2.5 children (from one father) and a damned dog!
In the summer of 1957, a Baptist preacher in the segregated South issued a series of fiery sermons denouncing the laziness, promiscuity, criminality, drunkenness, slovenliness, and ignorance of negroes. He shouted from pulpits about the difference between doing a “real job” and doing “a Negro job.” Instead of practicing the intelligent saving habits of white men, “Negroes too often buy what they want and beg for what they need.” He said that blacks were “thinking about sex” every time they walked down the street. They were too violent. They didn’t bathe properly. And their music, which was invading homes all over America, “plunges men’s minds into degrading and immoral depths."
King recognized that black sexuality posed a special threat to his assimilationist project. “We must walk the street every day, and let people know that as we walk the street, we aren’t thinking about sex every time we turn around,” he told one audience.
Some of the other snippets further down in Russell's piece were definitely taken out of context (for example, his, “those who are giving their lives to a tragic life of pleasure and throwing away everything they have in riotous living”). What Dr. King said in "Conquering Self-Centeredness," was in reference to a visit he made to men on death row in Kilby prison: "As I look at those who have lost balance of themselves and those who are giving their lives to a tragic life of pleasure and throwing away everything they have in riotous living, I find myself saying, "But by the grace of God, I too would be here."
Now I don't know, but unless Kilby was an all-Black prison, with only Black men on deathrow - I don't see what Russell's talking about. But let's just say he did get the snippets from Dr. King's sermons - I submit that, if the blueprint upon which those snippets, and being a "good citizen," and integration itself were based (white folks' lives!) was flawed in the first place, so then were King's observations. And make no mistake, the blueprint was, and remains, definitely flawed as far as I can see - just like e'erybody else's. So can we stop already with that mega-lie of "American exceptionalism?"
Oh, and I'd venture a guess (much like Russell did, but with way more context) that, rather than Dr. King recognizing "that black sexuality posed a special threat to his assimilationist project" - what he actually recognized, was how white folk'sIDEAS about our sexuality posed a special threat.
Parallel: a: extending in the same direction, everywhere equidistant, and not meeting
I moderated a conversation on race on the occasion of the Freedom Schooner Amistad's visit to Key West for Black History Month nine years ago. During the discussion, Corey Malcolm (who'd extended the invitation to me as a result of the bi-weekly dialogues on race relations I'd been having) said quite candidly, "Despite our saying this is One Human Family here, whites and Blacks in this country still live parallel lives." This clip (full video in sidebar) instantly reminded me of that sentiment, shared so long ago.
Seems Corey's succinct observation has been tucked away in some nether recess of my brain, just so it could surface this Black History Month as I ruminated on things - things like that nerve of Tavis Smiley's that Viola Davis tap-danced on when she said this:
"I understand the argument with the film, to a certain extent. And then after a certain extent, I just kinda lose it, because my whole thing is - Do I always have to be noble? If I always have to be noble in order for, for, the African-American community to celebrate my work, that's when I say, that you're destroying me as an artist. That's what I'm saying. I'm saying that as an artist - you've gotta see the mess!"
Viola is, of course, right. We haveto see and face the "mess" - without having to make believe we are better than what we've been - as human beings; without having to feel that we should always be ashamed, or are less than; without always having to be perfect; and equally important - without somehow feeling that THEY don't have any mess!
Whites and Blacks do live lives that are extending in the same direction, though noteverywhere equidistant, but certainly not meeting. Yet,when you get right down to it, neither's"mess" is any better, or worse than the other. It's ALL "mess" people! But as long as racism remains that big ole elephant in the center of the room, guiding our every thought and action, and we keep on being bound by all that bullshit instead of being free - "never the twain shall meet."
Seems, as much as Tavis dogs the Changeling out, he is more like him than different regarding our "mess" as well. He ended the interview replying to Viola:
"...and then, let's move on, let's tell some other stories about the character, and the complexity, and the humanity of Black people."
That's just sad to me. Even though he gave a nod to the "domestics" in his family who made a way for him to be where he is today - it appears he missed out on theircharacter, complexity and humanity (seeing as he'd rather "move on" from the stories of those kinds of Black people). {smdh} As Aibileen explained to Minny in the movie, "We not doing civil rights - we just tellin' stories the way that they happened." Tavis would do well to keep that in mind, because sanitizing our stories - just so they fit into that warped portrayal of "American exceptionalism" - is a surefire recipe for the erasure, not only of a culture, but a people.
What I do realize now though, is that Stockett wasn't really telling the story of "The Help." She was telling the sordid stories of white folk - particularly white women - who, for all their preening, primping and bridge games, were living in their own "mess" - and taking it out on Black women who they never dreamed could, or would fight back.
While Mesdames Davis and Spencer didn't write the story, they certainly played the "stories the way that they happened" - uapologetically and without shame - and for that, I applaud them both.
Now I'll be the first to tell you - I've got little or nothing for the NAACP. They've been sucha great disappointment to me in so many ways - particularly since the selection of the Changeling. However, as I sat watching the "NAACP Image Awards" last night, I was so glad I'd not totally written them off.
I watched, because I thought there'd be a better tribute to Whitney Houston than that offered at the Grammys. Nothing against young sister, Jennifer Hudson, but I just felt a coming together of OUR people, would honor Sister Whitney in a way she truly deserved - and I was right.
Lawd ha' mercy! Yolanda Adams took my crisis-of-faith, back-slidin' self - TOCHURCH! And as they said the Lord said during creation - "It was good." Tears rolled down my face as she belted out "I Love the Lord." And as she wove in the sounds of praise like my Grandmama's old-lady-peopled, Edisto Island, Methodist senior choir, I must admit, my hands raised themselves up in the air as I sat at my table. Yolanda, I thank you for that my sister! It dealt with me in an extraordinary way.
My other joy, was my people's full-throated support of Viola Davis and "The Help" (I know, I know - I said I wasn't going to watch it, but did - on the plane to Africa). Though I had mega-issues with this white woman telling our story (including her treatment of the woman upon whom Aibileen was based), I found myself feeling pride in the way Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer paid homage to my now-gone-home, great-grandmother; grandmother; mother; my mother's sisters still here - and to my dear, dear, Miss Dora, all of them, at one time or another having been "The Help."
Ms. Dora was my mother's best friend who, spending most of her entire life being "The Help," sent all her children to college, owns her own home in Charleston and still managed to have a great time with my mother on their annual NFL bus trips, here, there and everywhere! I'm reminded of a church trip she made to DC when I was going to Georgetown back in 2008. I picked her up at her hotel, brought her to my little apartment in NE, and then - I took her to the Kennedy Center to see "The Color Purple." What a wonderful time we both had!
After I took her back to the hotel, we sat and talked about my Mama - and cried til it was time for me to go. Ms. Dora hugged me close and said, "Debi, you're gonna be alright Child." And that too, was good. Viola, Octavia, Miss Dora - all I can fix my mouth to say is - "Thank you all so very much for being our help!"
~#~
My cousin, Lesa at home, sent me this link last night and I just had to post it because it was wonderfully inspirational for me! You see, I've been following crumbs of my own for awhile now, trying to piece together my own ancestral heritage in the same way as Alex Haley and Ms. Polite's father in the following video (minus the help of Joe Opala of course - who I'm sure has no idea how much his research into my Gullah Culture kick-started my journey!).
My search, now centered on The Gambia, began as a serendipitous invitation from Gerald Pinedo saying, "You should come! Every Black American should go home at least once in their life!" But once I set foot on that soil, the absolutely striking similarities to my Edisto Island roots took over and now, they just won't let me go! Maybe Sierra Leone should be my focus, I don't know. But what I found in The Gambia so far, is surely a part of me as well. I'll be posting much more about it as time passes, but in the meantime, enjoy this wonderful education about "whose we are" which enables us to continue standing:
As did my favorite writer of all time, Mr. James Baldwin, August Wilsonhonored our lived experiences in these United States by speaking clearly, unashamedly and uncompromisingly to my growing up Black in America. "The Piano Lesson" rings particularly and painfully true for me. When it was made into a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie in 1995, I bought it - having no idea that within a year's time, my brother and I would be locked in our own kind of "Piano Lesson"-esque battle (but only over land) when my mother died in 1996.
Like Alfre Woodard (the sister in "The Piano Lesson"), the South Carolina-born, Viola Davis and Denzel Washington are, for me, cut from the same cloth as the afore-mentioned writers in their talent and integrity. I've not yet seen "The Help" for various reasons, chief among them - the women in my family were "The Help" on the Sea Islands of South Carolina when I was growing up (and yes, these Field Negroes were also cooks, maids, laundrywomen and wet-nurses). Consequently, there are times when balancing my rage - at the de-facto inhumanity and ignorance of white folk - with the courage, determination and selflessness it took, for generations of women in my life to put up with their asses ( for us) - is still, very challenging. I'll probably see it one day, just not ready to yet. (I do wonder what she felt, filming in Greenwood, MS - a hop, skip and a jump from where young, Frederick Jermaine Carter was found, hanging from a tree he supposedly got himself up on and committed suicide in December 2010). And while I did not like "Training Day" (the political motivations of those alabaster hands, guiding who gets an Oscar and why, are always suspect to me, because they also tend to shape what we think is good, and not - which isn't always good, IMHO), that Denzel Washington is a thespian of the highest caliber, cannot be denied (and I, for one, am so very glad he took Mr. Poitier's advice)!
This New York Times article, written upon Wilson's death, gives us a glimpse of the man and his message:
When a Hollywood studio optioned "Fences," Mr. Wilson caused a ruckus by insisting on a black director. In a 1990 article published in Spin magazine and later excerpted in The Times, he said, "I am not carrying a banner for black directors. I think they should carry their own. I am not trying to get work for black directors. I am trying to get the film of my play made in the best possible way. I declined a white director not on the basis of race but on the basis of culture. White directors are not qualified for the job. The job requires someone who shares the specifics of the culture of black Americans." (The film was not made.)
He was a firm believer in the importance of maintaining a robust black theater movement, a viewpoint that also inspired a public controversy when Mr. Wilson clashed with the prominent theater critic and arts administrator Robert Brustein in a series of exchanges in the pages of American Theater magazine and The New Republic, and later in a formal debate between the two staged at Manhattan's Town Hall in 1997, moderated by Anna Deavere Smith.
The contretemps began when Mr. Wilson delivered a keynote address to a national theater conference in which he lamented that among the more than 60 members of the League of Regional Theaters, only one was dedicated to the work of African-Americans. He also denounced as absurd the idea of colorblind casting, asserting that an all-black "Death of a Salesman" was irrelevant because the play was "conceived for white actors as an investigation of the specifics of white culture." Mr. Brustein referred to Mr. Wilson's call for an independent black theater movement as "self-segregation."
At the sold-out debate at Town Hall the friendly antagonists essentially restated their positions publicly. "Never is it suggested that playwrights like David Mamet or Terrence McNally are limiting themselves to whiteness," Mr. Wilson said. "The idea that we are trying to escape from the ghetto of black culture is insulting." (all emphasis mine)
