The DISH

Unbossed and unbought news and information you can use

Vol. 11 Issue 45…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…November 9, 2008

Bit of History

James Arthur Baldwin (1924-1987)

"I knew I was black, of course, but I also knew I was smart. I didn't know how I would use my mind, or even if I could, but that was the only thing I had to use."

Born on August 2, 1924 in Harlem, New York, James Arthur Baldwin, American novelist, writer, playwright, poet, essayist and civil rights activist was the oldest of Berdis Jones' nine children. Jones married David Baldwin, a storefront preacher and factory worker when James Arthur was three. His stepfather was hard on and cruel to James, therefore their relationship was a difficult one.

Raised in this strict religious environment, James struggled early in life to find his way. Following his father, during his early years, James joined the Pentecostal Church and became a preacher at age 14. A voracious reader, Baldwin spent much of his time in libraries where he discovered a passion for writing. At age twelve, he published his first story in a church newspaper. Baldwin's ninth grade teacher, Harlem Renaissance poet laureate Countee Cullen, taught him French.

After graduating from prestigious De Witt Clinton Public High School in New York City, Baldwin, like most black boys in 1941, had few options. Casting about for a way to break out of poverty, seventeen was a pivotal age for Baldwin. Disenchanted with preaching, his decided to leave the pulpit; this also meant leaving home. On his own at eighteen, James worked several low paying jobs, while simultaneously launching his literary career. Baldwin rejected religion altogether and moved to Greenwich Village, famous for its freethinking artists and writers. His new surroundings allowed him to develop his writing skills, beginning with short stories, essays, and book reviews.

Life took another decisive turn for Baldwin in Greenwich Village, where he meet and became friends with Richard Wright, then one of the premier writers in America. Baldwin admired Wright, saying of him, "He was the greatest black writer in the world to me." Wright helped Baldwin secure the Eugene F. Saxon Memorial Award. Going aboard in 1948, the grant was crucial for Baldwin.

The strained relationship with his stepfather, problems over sexual identity, the suicide of a friend, and racism were driving forces in Baldwin's life as he left for Paris and London. American society juxtaposed against Europe gave Baldwin a different view of himself and the world. Publishing articles in a number of magazines his first years in Paris, Baldwin found his voice as a writer and decided to try his hand at becoming a novelist.

Armed with two Bessie Smith records and a typewriter, Baldwin moved to Switzerland where he wrote Go Tell It on the Mountain his first novel. This autobiographical reflection of his early life in Harlem proved to be a resounding success. The passion and depth Baldwin expressed in Go Tell It on the Mountain mirrored the struggles of black Americans unlike anything written previously. Though not instantly recognized as such, it has become an American classic.

Traveling between Paris, New York and Istanbul, Baldwin published Notes of a Native Son (1955) and Giovanni's Room (1956). Delving into taboo themes -- interracial relationships and homosexuality -- in both books, Baldwin enraged the sensibilities of most whites. His treatment of such socially relevant topics was so psychologically penetrating the exposé put American racism and bigotry on international parade.

Living abroad did for Baldwin what Richard Wright hoped. It gave him a new perspective on his life and the freedom to express it while pursuing his craft. "Once you find yourself in another civilization, you're forced to examine your own," Baldwin once confided. It seems the farther away Baldwin traveled from America the closer he came to the real social concerns of black people. The overwhelming temporal context and centrality of the civil rights movement, coupled with Baldwin's rage drew him home to the USA in 1957, like a magnet. Traveling through the South during the height of "sit-ins" and "freedom rides" in the early 1960s, he penned an explosive work about black identity and the struggle against racial injustice, The Fire Next Time (1963). For many, Notes of a Native Son and The Fire Next Time foreshadowed the black power movement and became megaphones of the black liberation struggle.

Stunned and disillusioned after the assassinations of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Baldwin saw little hope for racial reconciliation. He returned to France, where he worked on If Beale Street Could Talk (1974), a book about the frustration, disenchantment and anxiety of US blacks as they struggled to achieve liberty and racial equality. Encapsulating the anger of the times, critics responded to the harsh tone of If Beale Street Could Talk with accusations that Baldwin was bitter over charges he was too irenic and trying to appease radicals.

African-American painter, Beauford Delaney was another major influence on Baldwin. In The Price of the Ticket (1985), Baldwin said he was "The first living proof, for me, that a black man could be an artist. In a warmer time, a less blasphemous place, he would have been recognized as my teacher and I as his pupil. He became, for me, an example of courage and integrity, humility and passion. I saw him shaken many times and I lived to see him broken but I never saw him bow."

During the last ten years of life, Baldwin produced a number of important works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry; he turned to teaching as a new way of connecting with young people. By his death in 1987, James Baldwin was recognized as one of the most important and eloquent advocates for equality. From Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953) to The Evidence of Things Not Seen (1985), James Baldwin created works of literary beauty and depth that will remain an essential part of the African American legacy. (Sources: www.pbs.org, http://aalbc.com and www.bookwire.com)

"Post-Racial" or the Old Denial Syndrome

By John Burl Smith

The realization that Barack Obama would be elected president of the United States of America (USA) prompted a new code "post-racial" to describe the white denial syndrome in regards to America's racist history. No one has defined "post-racial;" they only insinuate that the election of president-elect Obama proves "America isn't a racist country." For this reporter, however, "post-racial" is just another way of saying "now that you have a black president, there is no need to talk about discrimination, disparate treatment and racism anymore. Now, black people can get over it."

The history of slave descendants is not intertwined in America's history books, so it must be talked about as an adjunct, less we be reduced to a footnote in America's story. One of America's top writers, James Baldwin is a good case in point. Baldwin is not spoken of in the same breath with Ernest Hemingway or F. Scott Fitzgerald. Like the aforementioned writers, who were of their time, Baldwin was a man of his time. He described America and the world as it appeared to him. To the contrary, in any discussion of American writers, an asterisk (black) is applied to Baldwin.

Prophetically capturing the minds, hearts and imagination of blacks beginning in 1953, Baldwin shocked and enthralled whites with his provocative autobiographical silhouette, The Fire Next Time (1963). Few writers truly foreshadowed and captured the essence of the Civil Rights movement as did Baldwin. Using American racism as a personal backdrop, Baldwin sought to warn Americans of impending doom, if the nation did not turn from its racial inequities. Also, equally enmeshed in Christianity, becoming a preacher at 14, Baldwin spoke to young black men, offering an introspective glimpse into religion, which he believed held the greatest sway over black people.

The book is composed of two letters Baldwin wrote to his nephew, also named James. The first is entitled, My Dungeon Shook: Letter to My Nephew on the One Hundredth Anniversary of the Emancipation and the second is, Down At The Cross: Letter from a Region in My Mind. While informing young James (who is 14) of his father's death, Baldwin tries to prepare him for the life awaiting him as a black man in the US. Baldwin points the finger at white "hatred" and "ignorance," which lie at the root of why his father and thousands of black men like him perish in such detestable and sub-human circumstances. Depicting black men basically as transparent, Baldwin's testament is a harbinger of Ralph Ellison's classic Invisible Man published a decade later.

The second letter is more complex and personal; it provides a window into Baldwin's Harlem childhood. Baldwin confides to his nephew, "Since I could not box, sing, or dance, I struggled to find something that would lift me up and give me a start. I turned to the church." Exploring religion, race and American society, Baldwin reveals how intricately these concepts are intertwined, and depending on how one approaches them, they can either uplift blacks or bring them down. Baldwin's discourse centers on thoughts of a God of love vs. a God of vengeance. For him this dichotomy illustrated the hypocrisy of white Christians, who are anything but Christ-like. He cites as examples Nazi Germany and the treatment of blacks in predominantly Christian America.

Lastly, meeting the Honorable Elijah Muhammed, Baldwin recognized the power, pride, and love that the Nation of Islam produced in black youths. He spoke approvingly and with a degree of awe at the positive things the Nation was doing in the community -- rehabilitating junkies, keeping ex-cons out of prison, and instilling peace and serenity in the faithful. However, Baldwin reserved a scathing critique for the Nation's dogma that taught what he considered detrimental separatism and the improbability of such goals.

The Fire Next Time ends on an encouraging but cautionary note. Stressing to his nephew the need to avoid defining himself by white standards, Baldwin contended "they are abhorrent because they are ignorant of who black people really are." He advised him to become his own man despite the adversity, and be open to love. That way he could learn to accept those who may not accept him.

Baldwin took on the role of prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who God sent to warn the children of Israel that He would destroy Jerusalem and Judah because of their failure to keep His covenant. Israel defied God after He commanded them to set their slaves free, which the Hebrews did, but later re-enslaved them. For this and other abominations, God sent Ezekiel with four signs that prophesied their destruction. Ezekiel proclaimed God said "I will not spare thee neither will I have pity, I will recompense thee in kind." Baldwin's sermon, The Fire Next Time, eluded to just such recompense for Americans for their emancipation transgressions against slave descendants.

During the 1960s, although Baldwin never surmounted the pulpit as a preacher, he rained fire and brimstone through his writings like an Old Testament prophet. However, Baldwin was marginalized with the designation "black" writer to ghettorize his status and demean his importance. He challenged whites to come to grips with their racist attitudes and avoid the consequences of their transgressions against slave descendants. Conversely, commentators, who reject such admonitions, use the "post-racial" label to deny the legitimacy of slave descendants' long-standing grievances. This whitewash of the "present-day racial" conditions endured by black people robs them of a voice in America's political discourse.

Racial labeling was imposed on our ancestors to limit their access and muzzle their expression. Our color is not our essence. It is neither a handicap nor a disallowance. Skin color, black and white signs, racial discrimination and disparate treatment are devices the term "post-racial" is designed to obscure so that such tactics can continue to divide people. If America does not recognize the need to purge itself of this racial/slave master mind-set and allow the present flood of "Obamaism" harmony washing over this nation to drown racial hatred, then it must be prepared for James Baldwin's prophesy "God gave Noah the rainbow sign, No more water, The Fire Next Time!"

Intuit's Vibe

Quotes by James Baldwin

Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor. Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them. Education is indoctrination if you're white - subjugation if you're black. Hatred, which could destroy so much, never failed to destroy the man who hated, and this is an immutable law. I am what time, circumstance and history have made of me, certainly, but I am also, much more than that. So are we all.

I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually. It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have. It is very nearly impossible... to become an educated person in a country so distrustful of the independent mind.

It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who had ever been alive. People who treat other people as less than human must not be surprised when the bread they have cast on the waters comes floating back to them, poisoned.

There is a "sanctity" involved with bringing a child into this world: it is better than bombing one out of it. Life is tragic simply because the earth turns and the sun inexorably rises and sets, and one day, for each of us, the sun will go down for the last, last time.

DISHing It Up Hot!

On the Day After!

By Dot

My daily bus rides provide time to read a little, if no one is talking loud on a cell phone, work a crossword puzzle or do a bit of Suduko, have a brief conversation with a fellow passenger or engage in quiet meditation. On Wednesday, November 5, 2008, the day after that historic election in which Senator Barack Obama soundly beat Senator John McCain for the presidency, none of those things were possible. There was electricity in the air. The euphoria of my people was palatable.

On this day, all the passengers and bus driver were people of color; their candidate for president had won and they were brimming with excitement and wanted to express their elation. So, it was too noisy to do anything quietly; everyone wanted to say something about the election. I mostly listened as the young and old rattled off statistics. It was wonderful! They have such high hopes; they are fully vested in the president-elect's message of change and hope.

All too soon we arrived in downtown Atlanta headed to various offices and shops where we had to mask our excitement. The reality is, while we elected a black president, whites still run the country; most of our bosses are white people. And, according to the election results for Georgia, a majority of the state's white folks voted for Senator McCain, who won Georgia's Electoral College votes.

Like most days, the vast majority of my bus' passengers disembarked at Five Points or Underground Atlanta. As they did, I remarked that everyone seemed so happy. One of the students said the word is "ecstatic." I agreed and said a quiet prayer that president-elect Obama provides plenty of reasons for them to remain euphoric.

Even though the bus was running a little late, as usual, what transpired on the bus ride on the day after the election left me feeling good all day. My people were happy -- no ecstatic! Everyone I met, except the obvious McCain supporters, had grins on their faces. Even the sour mood of some bosses could not dampen our enthusiasm; some of us grinned until I cheeks ached the day after Barack Obama became the president-elect.

News You Use

Unbossed and Unbought: The Opening of the Hosea L. Williams Papers

By Dot

On Sunday, November 16, 2008, the Atlanta-based Auburn Avenue Research Library on African American Culture and History will host Unbossed and Unbought: The Opening of the Hosea L. Williams Papers. An icon of the Civil Rights movement, Reverend Williams, whose legacy includes the Feed the Hungry and Homeless Program, died eight years ago.

Executrix of the Hosea L. Williams Estate, Dr. Barbara Williams Emerson, President of Emerson Consultants for Higher Education, Diversity, & Management, has graciously invited the community to attend this opening ceremony and exhibition in honor of her father. According to Dr. Emerson, "The Hosea L. Williams Papers has been assessed as 'one of the richest collections of its kind' and will join the papers of Honorable Andrew Young to make the AARL Archives a unique standard for scholarly research for everyone from young students to senior scholars."

The Hosea L. Williams papers include his writings, speeches, documents, photographs, and other memorabilia that Rev. Williams compiled over the latter half of the 20th century. The afternoon opening ceremony, which is scheduled from 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM, will feature Ms. Xernona Clayton, President and CEO, Trumpet Award Foundation, Inc. Following the official opening, there will be a soup-line reception. Reverend Williams believed in feeding our people.

Please mark your calendars and plan to attend this historic occasion. The Auburn Avenue Research Library is located at 101 Auburn Avenue, NE, Atlanta, GA 30303. For more, contact Dr. Emerson at bemersonltd@aol.com or visit www.afplweb.com/aarl/.

Hood Notes

Honoring the Legacy of Dr. Ernest C. Withers

By John Burl Smith

On Sunday, October 26, 2008, the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee honored Dr. Ernest C. Withers, famed photographer. Dr. Withers began documenting events in the Memphis black community during the early 1950s, after leaving the Memphis Police Department. He was one of the first eight black men to become policemen in the South in 1948. Along the way to becoming internationally known for his photographs, Ernest and his wife, Dorothy, established a documentary legacy recording events that cannot be found any place else. These photographs are now housed in the Ernest C. Withers Sr. Historical Photographic Foundation in Memphis.

During the turbulent times of lynchings and bombings of the 1950s and '60s, Dr. Withers photographed events the white news media refused to cover, and without him on the scene, there would be no historical record. Dr. Withers' work is not limited to the civil rights struggle; he was present at history-making events in sports, politics, economics, war and entertainment. His photographic collection includes pictures of such greats as Robert Church, Ida B. Wells, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rev. Hosea Williams, Otis Redding and Elvis Presley.

The Withers collection constitutes a tremendous contribution to society, and he deserves to be honored for a life spent serving humanity. The presentation included The Ernest C. Withers Photography and Journalism Award to honor other photographers who have passed (e.g., Richard Jones, Charlie Hooks, L.O. Taylor, B.T. McChristian, Lyle Jackson and Earl Williams).

The National Civil Rights Museum Award was followed by another ceremony that recognized Dr. Withers along with six other deserving individuals during the Keep the Dream Alive program on Sunday, Nov. 2 at Tom Lee Park in Memphis. Amnesty International partnered with the AFSCME Local 1733, NAACP, SCLC, Southwest Tennessee Community College and National Civil Rights Museum to pay tribute to "unsung heroes," a select group of Memphians who represent ordinary people bringing about extraordinary change. Tom Lee Park was selected as the site because of its historical significance. An ordinary man, Tom Lee rescued 32 people from drowning in the Mississippi River, "because it was the right thing to do." Dr. Ernest Withers demonstrated the same courage in his life and work.

The program included a memorial service for Withers International Photographers Guild (W.I.P.G.) member Dorothy M. Withers, wife of the late Dr. Withers, who was inducted into the W.I.P.G. prior to her death on August 28, 2008. Those who wish to support the W.I.P.G and Foundation or would like more information contact: Rome Withers at P.O. Box 40012, Memphis, TN 38174-0012. Telephone (901) 527-7476 or email: ernestcwithersfoundation@yahoo.com.

Disgruntled wants to know: As demonstrations of just how much the nation and the world desired change from the policies of the warmonger-in-chief, spontaneous celebrations erupted across the US and around the world when the major networks declared Obama the winner of the 2008 Election. According to the CBS news tracking polls, George W. Bush has the worst approval rating of any US president in recorded history. He is persona non gratia. Can we please impeach Bush now for war crimes, high crimes and misdemeanors and lying to the American people? For years, I have been saying the economic data published by the Bush administration do not reflect realities on the ground. Now that he is no longer concerned about how weak the US economy looks, we get a peak into his deception. All the numbers that should be positive for a healthy economy are decidedly negative. His deception alone should be reason enough to hang him by the thumbs. So, I repeat the question asked by so many others, how dare House Speaker Nancy Pelosi take impeachment off the table?

Disgruntled says: As the nation makes history by choosing its first black chief executive in a landslide election, the children of the leaders of the sixties squabble over their parents' legacies. The children of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King have fought several court battles over their parents' papers, speeches and other documents. In a similarly public and contentious fashion, the children of Memphis photographer Ernest Withers are fighting over the management and/or disposition of their father's impressive photography collection. There is a certain irony here. Rather than creating a legacy of their own to pass on to future generations, they cheapen what their parents have done by arguing over which one among them reaps the greater financial rewards of their parents' contribution. It is a disgrace and sad commentary on the selfish state of mind of those who inherited so much but have given back so little.

Disgruntled feels: Hopeful! By now, everyone has done some sort of postmortem on this historic election. Bottom line -- had black folks not turned out in record setting numbers, John McCain would be president. With that said, here are a few things I believe an Obama administration should do to show its appreciation for the outpouring of support he received from the black community. One -- end the "War on Drugs," a euphemism for war on the black community. Two, invest in rehabilitation and education, rather than incarceration. Three, put black men to work by providing jobs, jobs, jobs! If these three things are done, I will remain hopeful.

Mailbox: E-Mails, Faxes and Phone Calls

Email www.chuckbaldwinlive.com ..Conservatives Lost More Than An Election...By Chuck Baldwin...For all intents and purposes, conservatism- -as a national movement--is completely and thoroughly dead. Barack Obama did not destroy it, however. It was George W. Bush and John McCain who destroyed conservatism in America. Soon after G.W. Bush was elected, it quickly became obvious he was no conservative. On the contrary, George Bush has forever established himself as a Big-Government, warmongering, internationalist neocon. Making matters worse was the way Bush presented himself as a conservative Christian. In fact, Bush's portrayal of himself as a conservative Christian paved the way for the betrayal and ultimate destruction of conservatism (something I also predicted years ago). And the greatest tragedy of this deception is the way that Christian conservatives so thoroughly (and stupidly) swallowed the whole Bush/McCain neocon agenda. For example, Bush and his fellow neocons like to categorize and promote themselves as being "pro-life," but they have no hesitation or reservation about killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people in reckless and unconstitutional foreign wars.

Email www.legitgov.org ...Sarah Palin blamed by US Secret Service over death threats against Barack Obama 08 Nov 2008 Sarah Palin's attacks on Barack Obama's patriotism provoked a spike in death threats against the future president, Secret Service agents revealed during the final weeks of the campaign. The Republican vice presidential candidate attracted criticism for accusing Mr Obama of "palling around with terrorists." The attacks provoked a near lynch mob atmosphere at her rallies, with supporters yelling "terrorist" and "kill him" until the McCain campaign ordered her to tone down the rhetoric. But it has emerged that her demagogic tone may have unintentionally encouraged white supremacists to go even further. The Secret Service warned the Obama family in mid October that they had seen a dramatic increase in the number of threats against the Democratic candidate, coinciding with Mrs Palin's attacks.

Email www.legitgov.org...Mission accomplished: Shell secures 25-year access to Iraq's oil, gas...A joint venture between Royal Dutch Shell and Iraq's state-owned South Gas Co. could give Shell a 25-year monopoly on production and exports of natural gas in much of southern Iraq - the biggest foreign role in Iraq's oil and gas sector in four decades. The planned venture, spelled out in a 16-page document obtained by United Press International, goes well beyond descriptions provided by Iraqi and Shell officials on Sept. 22, when they held a public signing ceremony in Baghdad.

Email tabpatayu@yahoo.com "A Black Family in the White House that Slaves Built" Yesterday morning, several hours before the networks declared Barack Obama the new president of the United States, Michael Ratner, President of the Center for Constitutional Rights, wrote a short e-mail that captured the excitement of the historic election. "Lines are huge!" he wrote. "Obama will win. It is historic." A black family in the White House that slaves built. Yes, slaves were used in the construction of the White House. When I was a child this never could have happened. In the 50's when I visited Florida, even after Brown v. Board of Education, there were separate drinking fountains and bathrooms for Blacks. When Center for Constitutional Rights was founded in the 60's there were only three elected Black officials in the Black belt; today there are thousands. So we are seeing an amazing moment in American history. The sentiment would be repeated by many Americans over the course of the day, overwhelmed at the significance of the first African-American president. Today, where I live in Brooklyn, there was not a copy of the New York Times to be found. They'd sold out by 8am.