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Vol. 11 Issue 8…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…February 23, 2008
Venue for an Artist
Mr. Crump
By W.C. Handy
(Melody)
You want to be my man,
You gotta give me forty dollars down
You want to be my man,
You'll give me forty dollars down
If you don't be my man,
Your baby's gonna
shake this town
Mr. Crump don't 'low no easy riders here
We don't care what Mister Crump don't 'low
We gonna bar'l house any how,
Mr. Crump don't low
no easy riders here
Crump don't 'low it, ain't gonna have it
We don't care what Mr. Crump don't 'low
We gonna bar'l house and how,
Mr. Crump can go and
catch hiself some air
I'm goin' down the river goin' down the river
Goin' to take my rockin' chair
Goin' to the river
goin' to take my rockin' chair
Blues overtake me, goin' to rock away from here
Oh de Mississippi river,
Mississippi river so deep and wide
I said the Mississippi river's so deep and wide
Man I love he is on
the other side
About
Me: Originally, Memphis musical legend W.C. Handy titled this song
"Mr. Crump;" he later renamed it "Memphis Blues." Though
less than complimentary, it was performed in support of E.H. Crump during the
1909 Memphis mayoral race.
World Against War
The Stop the War Coalition is organizing a massive demonstration against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Coinciding with the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, the demonstration will highlight the fact that everything opponents of the war said would happen five years ago has turned out to be tragically accurate.
While US mainstream media has buried reportage of the carnage on the back pages of their newspapers and magazines and relegated the deaths and destruction to tidbits stuck between Obamamania and Britney Spears' latest meltdown, Iraq is a disaster. As many as one million are dead and four million are refugees as a direct result of the US occupation. According to the US based Afghanistan Survey Group, Afghanistan is 'becoming a failed state'.
Now, it is official -- the dodgy dossier that took the world to war was indeed 'sexed up'. Meanwhile, there has been no apology and no public accounting for the lies and deceit that took us into these dreadful wars. Those responsible must be held accountable. It is past time to cease the senseless warmongering and give peace a chance.
On March 15, there will be WORLD
AGAINST WAR demonstrations around the world. For more information about
demonstrations in your area and how you can get involved, see www.theworldagainstwar.org.
After a hiatus, even a brief one,
returning to your regular drudge can be cause for a blue Monday. The Dark
Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro is coming off a long weekend as part of Presidents'
Day. Since school is not one of his favorite places these days, on Tuesday, he
was down in the dumps - really blue. When queried for comments, the Dark
One/Ninja/Zorro groused, "The only good thing about going back to school
is this is a four-day week."
Boss Crump's Machine
The seeds of the turmoil in Memphis, Tennessee surrounding the sanitation workers strike in 1968 - the need to unionize by the AFSCME, the community demands for equality, an end to segregation, the emergence of black power/Invaders and the demise of the status quo symbolized by the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. - were planted a half century earlier. Prevailing attitudes, policies and political leadership of Memphis during that time can be attributed to political boss E. H. Crump and the influence of his machine. During the 1930s and 40s, Boss Crump's political power rivaled such bosses as William M. Tweed, James Michael Curley, Thomas J. Pendergas and Huey P. Long.
Penniless and with little education, Crump arrived in Memphis in 1893. No different from most whites from Mississippi, who felt bossing blacks was the key to success, Crump landed a straw boss job and worked his way up to bookkeeper. After marrying into a wealthy family, he used his wife's money to buy the business where he worked. Crump entered politics and became a Democratic Party official. He joined K.D. McKellar's reform slate in 1905 and was elected to the Board of Public Works. In 1907, Crump was elected to a vacant position on the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners.
Crump demagogued issues like gambling, after-hours drinking houses and prostitution, which gave him a narrow 79 vote victory to become mayor in 1909. Prohibition was not popular with Crump, who owned "speak-easies" and several houses of prostitution. He refused to enforce the Tennessee Prohibition law and fought the state on the issue. Forced to resign as mayor or face ouster by the state, Crump left office, and then used a series of hand-picked successors to maintain control of the city.
Out of office, Crump opened an insurance company; anyone seeking contracts with the city had to be insured by his agency. He also obtained a Coca-Cola franchise that made him wealthy. He became a statewide political boss thanks to black votes and the poll tax that gave him control of West Tennessee, the most populated area of the state.
In Tennessee, unlike most southern states, blacks could vote, and did so, particularly in West Tennessee, where the black population grew substantially during the Civil War. General Ulysses S. Grant made Memphis his Union Army headquarters. He set up camps for freed slaves, and by 1900, Memphis was 40% black. Prominent blacks like Ed Shaw and Robert Church built black political organizations and controlled black votes for Republicans during and after Reconstruction. Southern whites, on the other hand, were Democrats, and after Reconstruction ended, they controlled the "Solid South."
Crump used intimidation, segregation and the poll tax to subjugate, as well as break the hold of black leaders on the black vote. Much like "Bull" Connor in Birmingham during the 1950s and 60s, Crump's Police Commissioner ruled with an iron fist. With his boot of segregation on the necks of blacks, Crump's black ward bosses kept blacks in line. The police ruthlessly crushed any opposition to Crump. Blacks that spoke out against Crump were run out of town, if not killed out right. Fear was Boss Crump's ultimate weapon.
The 1890 $2 poll tax law gave Crump another weapon for controlling Memphis and eventually Tennessee politics. Crump bought large quantities of poll tax receipts, which had to be presented at the polls to vote. During elections, Crump's so-called black leaders gathered up truck loads of blacks and drove them from poll to poll to vote for Crump's candidates. Boss Crump always provided barbeque, alcohol and watermelons to blacks for their votes.
Two incidents -- barring A. Philip Randolph from speaking in Memphis to gather support for his March on Washington (1941) and supporting segregation in canceling a stop in Memphis by the American Heritage Foundation's Freedom Train (1947) -- weakened Crump's hold on the black vote. The serious blow to Boss Crump came with Pres. Harry Truman's 1948 Civil Rights proposal. Strom Thurmond ran for president as a Dixiecrat, splitting the Solid South. Crump's candidates for governor, US Senator and president lost; he suffered his first defeat in 20 years.
Although he died on October 16,
1954, Boss Crump's ghost lived on in his machine. For the next 23 years, the
old white guard fought on to preserve his iron fisted rule and segregation
until the sanitation workers strike in 1968. The militant attitude expressed by
the Invaders calling for black power during that strike took hold and helped to
break the oppressive grip of Crump's machine and the accommodationist status
quo of black leadership that benefitted from segregation. On Oct. 3, 1991, Dr.
Willie W. Herenton buried Crump's machine, becoming Memphis' first black mayor.
(Sources: www.cityofmemphis.org http://memphishistory.com
and www.rhodes.edu)
A Giant That Walks Among Men
"Well, I've been making music for 60 years that's all I
know how to do. If I don't do music, I'll just have to die, and I'm not ready
for that yet. See, I know everybody in Memphis who can play anything. I know
how well they can play, what they can and can't play. I've spent lots of time
seeing what they can do. ... That's how a town gets famous. There are people
who care and spend time understanding the talent that's around them."
Willie W. Mitchell
When "Poppa" Willie Mitchell was honored on February 9, 2008 by NARAS (the Grammy) with the Trustees Award, they recognized "a giant that walks among men!" One of the most prodigious and prolific pioneers of music, in general and soul music in particular, that America has produced, Willie W. Mitchell was born March 23, 1928 in Ashland, MS. Mitchell's family moved to Memphis around 1930. He learned to play the trumpet at the age of eight and continued as a standout trumpet player in his high school band. Mitchell fell in love with its high brassy sound, and the romance would last a lifetime. Fresh out of high school, he formed his fist band and began playing juke joints and "corn liquor" houses throughout the Mid-south until drafted by the US Army during the Korean War in 1950.
After his discharge and return to Memphis in 1954, Mitchell's reputation as a horn man grew as he played local spots. He became a prodigy of famed pianist Ozie Horn. A Memphis legend, Horn played keyboard and xylophone and studied with Billy Strayhorn and Quincy Jones. Horn also assisted Isaac Hayes during the writing and arrangement of the score for the movie "Shaft".
Working with bandleaders like Tuff Green and Al Jackson, Sr., Mitchell mastered the sounds and techniques of big bandleaders like Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Harry James, Lionel Hampton, as well as, vocalists Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne and many others. His growth in popularity as a trumpet-playing bandleader on the local scene raised his profile, even Elvis Presley sought him out to play several private parties.
Playing such high profile gigs, Mitchell became house musician and recording artist at the Home Of The Blues record label and record shop. Through engineer Ray Harris, Mitchell became an artist at Hi Records in 1961 and released his first single "The Crawl" with great success around the South. Mitchell is credited with creating the oft-copied and instantly recognized Hi sound (churning organ fills, sturdy horn arrangements, a steady 4/4 drumbeat, etc.).
Becoming a producer at Hi in 1960, Mitchell developed his own style and feel in creating music. He pieced together an eight track recorder from two Ampex four track machines, which operate on 'tube' technology rather than 'solid state'. Mitchell used feel to tune and mike the drums as the centerpiece of his tracks.
"I just heard music in my head, went into the studio, and tried to put it down. I just had an idea of my own and I tried to put it into shape. I use different chords from what a lot of people used. What I hear, I get musicians to accomplish. It's challenging, but I try to use the best musicians, and they understand what I'm trying to accomplish. We go for sounds. If I hear something I want to hear, we'll work on it," Mitchell confessed.
Backed up by musicians like Al Jackson, Jr. or Howard Grimes-drums, Bobby Eammons-organ, Reggie Young-guitar, Tommy Cogsbill-bass, Andrew Love, Ben Cawley, Charles Charmers, James Mitchell, Gene Miller and Wayne Jackson-horns, Mitchell created a new black musical style. Between 1964-69, Mitchell had eight R & B hits, including 20-75/Secret home, Bad Eye, Mercy, Soul Serenade, Prayer Meetin,' 30-60-90 and Uphard.
Reflecting on his success with great artist like Al Green, Ann Peebles, Syl Johnson, Otis Clay and O.V. Wright, just to name a few, Mitchell says, "I look for getting the best we can. How do I do that? I talk to the people, tell them what I feel, see how they feel and see can't we get the best out of them. It's communication. I'm looking to get the best music out of musicians to come through the radio that people can feel. Feeling is my biggest aspect. Rhythm, too, is important; so when you sing, you got to be rhythmic, you got to sing with a real rhythm feel."
The best testimony of Mitchell's value is reflected by Atlantic Records mogul, Jerry Wexler and the French prime minister who offered Mitchell a $1M a year salary to become Music Minister of France in the 1980s. Many have tried unsuccessfully to lure "Poppa" Willie away from Royal Studios in the heart of Soulsville. The City of Memphis honored the great producer, bandleader, musician, and 78-year resident, by naming Lauderdale, the street that runs pass Royal Studio, Willie Mitchell Boulevard in 2004.
Hoping to refocus national and
international attention on the city's musical legacy, the Memphis Convention
& Visitor's Bureau celebrated soul music in 2007. However, asked if he
feels Memphis appreciates its rich soul music legacy, Mitchell first howled
with laughter. "Memphis don't give a sh**! Man, you can call up and say
I'm Willie Mitchell, I need a hamburger. They'll say, 'Well, go buy the S.O.B.
yourself then. Memphis don't give a damn about nothing. They're not even going
to see the Grizzlies anymore. Memphis is a cold place, man!" (Sources: http://blogcritics.org/archives, http://redkelly.blogspot.com, and www.commercialappeal.com)
By John Burl Smith
Recently at the invitation of John Gary Williams, led singer of the Mad Lads, I visited Soulville USA in Memphis. Soulville USA was a phase coined by John Gary during the Mad Lads' heyday as one of Stax Records' top groups in the 1960's. The reconstituted Soulville USA is the brain child of Deanie Parker, who was a Stax Records executive when the Memphis sound topped the charts with such artists as Booker T & the MGs, Otis Redding, Issac Hayes, The Mad Lads, Bar-Kays, Staple Singers and many others.
Parker is the force behind reviving the legacy of Stax's glory days during one of America's most prolific musical eras. Her vision has turned the old dilapidated and abandoned Stax recording studio into a museum that now preserves and displays the historical development and artifacts of soul music, which would have otherwise been lost as a public legacy. She also collaborated with Lemoyne-Owen College to erect a Stax academy, a charter school dedicated to educating and training future musicians to carry on the traditions of soul music.
John Gary served as a tour guide through the museum, providing antidotal information that only someone who was there and intimately involved would know. Arriving, the first thing one notices is the facelift, which restored the facade of the turn of the century movie theater to its familiar look during the 1960's and '70s. Satellite Record Shop, which is where it all began, is now a souvenir boutique that offers vintage music on CD, T-shirts, jackets and other knick-knacks. The museum tour begins with an informative video about Stax's history and its many artists.
The walk through the museum is a trip down memory lane where the visitor explores the roots of black music. A country church, complete with rough wooden benches, a pulpit and a potbelly stove, is the portal to the past. Pictures and background information take one back in time as you read stories of those who pioneered gospel music.
Early Blues and Rock N' Roll serve as the transition period as they merge becoming forerunners of soul music. There are pictures of artists, stories of their rise to fame and memorabilia of all types. There are artifacts such as Tina Turner's famous golden mini dress and Ike's guitar, Rufus Thomas' hot pant suit and alligator boots and Issac Hayes as Black Moses and his gold trimmed Cadillac with its Superfly headlight. Today, gaudy or ostentatious to some, maybe even laughable to others, however, during that time customizing and individual expression were the new kind of freedom that said, "Take that Mr. Charley!".
Walking through the glass covered chambers, one is transported back to a time when black entertainers struggled to own their names, music and image. Each stage of development in black music reflects the socioeconomic, cultural and political advancement of black people in the broadest sense. Unlike Rock N' Roll, which symbolized white kids breaking away from the dominant social morays of their parents, black music was motivated by a deep internal drive tied to our African heritage. Beginning with the drum, chants, work cadence and religious rituals developed while hiding in swamps and fields, slaves kept alive a yearning for self-expression and freedom.
The need to express our pain, dread, frustration and humiliation without whites understanding our intent became the blues. That shared reality gave blacks a connection to music that transcends entertainment. The spirit in the music gave black people a release, allowing us to lose ourselves in its rhythm and escape the everyday pains of living. Memphis musicians and vocal artists always captured the essence of that feeling and created a tradition of a unique sound that became known as soul. It reflected our cultural struggle, not only for recognition as entertainers, but as people.
Parker's dream that rebuilt
Soulville USA not only symbolizes a new beginning for Stax Records, it
coincides with the rebirth of Memphis. Once before, after the yellow fever
epidemic of 1878, Memphis was given up for dead; but, it rose like a phoenix
from it ashes. Thought of by many as only a sleepy little river town, dreamers
like Parker are fighting to reawaken the pride city residents felt when they
heard the Memphis sound. Walking through the Stax Museum and listening to John
Gary tell of its past glory, I could hear a resurgent hope in his voice that
not only Soulville USA but Memphis would rise again to its former brilliance.
Cohen's 9th District Battle
By Dot
Memphis, Tennessee's 9th congressional district is majority poor and black. Raised and educated in Memphis, I grew up in this South Memphis district. Many members of my family and friends still reside there. I know from personal experience that much needs to be done to bring the 9th into the new millennium. It desperately needs infrastructure improvements and other economic developments to improve the lives of its citizens.
For years, the Ford family has held tight political reins on the district. In 2006, Harold Ford, Jr. ran for the US Senate, leaving the congressional seat vacant; no one in the prominent black family replaced him. Enter Steve Cohen, a white Jew. Cohen beat out a crowded field of black opponents during the primary to capture the Democratic Party's nomination. With no Republican opposition, he handily won the seat in November, beating an independent in the general election.
Cohen epitomizes the political left; he is a liberal. Since his 2006 election, Cohen has been true to his liberal leanings. He opposed the war in Iraq, proposed abolishing the Electoral College, signed on to legislation calling for the impeachment of Dick Cheney and the censure of Cheney and Bush. He recently endorsed Senator Barack Obama for his party's presidential nomination. Prior to making his endorsement, Cohen expressed a sense of kinship with the black candidate. As a Jew, he has felt the stings of senseless prejudice because of his religion.
The first term congressman faces an uphill battle in his bid to return to the House. This time around he has a single primary opponent, corporate attorney Nikki Tinker. Already race and religion, two of the most divisive issues, have reared their ugly heads. Some blacks supporting Tinker believe the district must have a candidate with a black face that claims to be a Christian to represent its interests in Congress. By inference, one must assume Tinker is a black liberal who, if elected, will provide representation decidedly different from what the Ford dynasty delivered.
Harold Ford, Jr., the former 9th district US representative, is a black political conservative and proud Blue Dog Democrat. If you recall, Blue Dogs voted for Ronald Reagan and supported George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. Ford may not have voted for either Reagan or Bush, but he aligned himself in Congress with these white conservative Democrats. As Ford has shown, a black face does not necessarily translate into support for issues that mean positive change for black people.
Another contemporary example of representation in black face that has not meant positive change for blacks is Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He has been on the wrong side of every issue that has been important to the black community from crime to education during his tenure. He and Ford are conservatives that support the status quo.
While Tinker is an unknown, I
have known Cohen for more than three decades. He has never allowed skin color
or religion to stand in the way of positive change and helping those in need.
He has demonstrated a commitment to positive change, which is what the 9th
district needs.
Disgruntled feels: Disconnected! Comptroller General David
Walker, head of the US Government Accountability Office, announced his
resignation, effective March 12. Since taking office in November 1998, Walker
has repeatedly warned of the nation's unsustainable fiscal situation. According
to Walker, the more than $9 trillion in federal debt is just the tip of the
iceberg, when one considers the more than $50 trillion in unfunded liability
the nation faces as the baby boom generation retires. While Walker's message is
alarming, it has failed to capture the public's attention; even candidates
running to replace George W. Bush are not talking about whittling down the
mountain of US debt. Rather than airing this important information, Hilary's
tears, Britney Spears, American Idol or some other garbage get more US media
coverage. In effect, Walker's warning has gone the way of the war in Iraq,
which is receiving very little news coverage of late; it is as if it never
happened. Thus, US citizens are totally disconnected from the nation's fiscal
instability; like the well-heeled passengers of the Titanic, they are unaware
of the iceberg ahead.
Disgruntled
wants to know: By no means do I profess to be a seer, psychic or
otherwise possess extra sensory powers, beyond my woman's intuition and a
lifetime of experience. For what it's worth, here is what I believe. The
Democratic Party candidate that could have won in November was John Edwards,
who is no longer in the race. As Senator Hilary Clinton shoots herself in the
foot trying to beat back Senator Barack Obama, Republicans are crossing over to
ensure Obama is the party's nominee. Call me paranoid, but I smell a rat and
sense a political wizard behind the scene pulling strings. Even the mainstream
media are giving Obama a bye, reminiscent of Bush 2000. Consequently, questions
abound, including why would the media treat Obama so gently, and is Karl Rove
the wizard behind the scenes?
Disgruntled
says: In the hood, the economy is depressed. While the Bush economic
team touted the resilient economy and tamed inflation, the hood grappled with
declining incomes and rising prices. Since Bush stole his way into the Oval
Office, many in the hood have been singing the blues about the falling dollar,
rising gas prices, etc. Even milk and bread, staples in some diets, have skyrocketed
and are slated to rise higher, as commodities, like corn and wheat, rise as
fast as gas, oil and gold, which have gone through the roof. On Tuesday, a
barrel of oil closed above $100 on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).
Part of the reason for rising prices is the declining value of the dollar.
Until and unless that situation changes, we can expect more blue Mondays in the
hood and elsewhere as the pain spreads to other more affluent communities.
Mailbox: E-Mails, Faxes and Phone Calls
Email www.infowars.com ...Willie Nelson: Impeach Bush, "Throw the Bastards Out"...By Paul Joseph Watson...American icon Willie Nelson says he supports efforts to impeach President Bush and "throw the bastards out," adding that the administration will do anything to stay in power, including staging an event to cancel the election. In his second appearance this month, Nelson told The Alex Jones Show, "If you break the law you have to pay for it one way or another and if these guys haven't broke the law nobody has. The deck's been stacked and we need to figure out a way to get a new fresh deck in there in the deal and I don't know how else to do it except throw the bastards out." But the award winning star of stage and screen was quick to clarify that he didn't see Democrats as any viable alternative.
Email www.naturalnews.com ...Thanks to a secret slaughterhouse video, the USDA has finally issued a massive recall for 143 million pounds of beef that may be contaminated with mad cow disease. Unfortunately, they forget to mention that most of the recalled beef has already been consumed by schoolchildren because it was sold at bulk-rate discounts to school lunch programs! Ya just gotta love these USDA num-nuts, huh? The best way to protect the profits of the beef industry is to wait until everybody has already eaten the beef before you issue the recall!
Email www.presstv.ir The Fall of the Dollar Empire...The following is an interview with Hamid Varzi an economist and banker based in Tehran about the US economic crisis. The crisis began in 2000 with Bush Jr.'s election that re-established the irresponsible "Supply Side" and "trickle-down" economic policies of the Reagan years. We are wrong to focus only on the subprime crisis, which has been conveniently blown out of all proportion in order to create the convenient and comforting impression that this is a manageable problem solvable through a simple reduction in interest rates and a 90-day government mandated delay on foreclosures (Hillary's recommendation). The subprime crisis presages far greater problems down the road. It is already spreading to other forms of commercial paper, and even if the damage can be contained the relief will be only temporary because a much larger danger is looming on the horizon: The US economy has grown largely on the back of speculative credit derivatives that have risen exponentially to $35 trillion, which is more than double the size of the entire US economy! This is an approaching iceberg, and all you've seen (in the sub-prime scandal) is the tip.
Email vikingjohn@juno.com ...We Stand For? By Paul Craig Roberts...Americans traditionally thought of their country as a "city upon a hill," a "light unto the world." Today only the deluded think that. Polls show that the rest of the world regards the U.S. and Israel as the two greatest threats to peace. This is not surprising. In the words of Arthur Silber: "The Bush administration has announced to the world, and to all Americans, that this is what the United States now stands for: a vicious determination to dominate the world, criminal, genocidal wars of aggression, torture, and an increasingly brutal and brutalizing authoritarian state at home. That is what we stand for."
Email www.reuters.com Sara Lee to raise bread prices again....Brad Dorfman...Sara Lee Corp, the second-largest U.S. breadmaker, said on Tuesday it would raise bread prices during the April-June period, its fourth price increase in the past year and a half, as it copes with soaring wheat costs. The increase will not necessarily be across the board, the company said. "We are going to think about it more surgically, market by market," CJ Fraleigh, chief operating officer -- North America, said during a news conference with reporters.