by John Burl Smith

ABC's The Century: Memphis Dreams presented "a new perspective" on two significant events that changed America. Peter Jennings' retrospective placed rock 'n roll and the 1968 sanitation strike in Memphis, Tennessee at the apex. As one who lived these events and participated in the project, this presentation simply recycles much of what is already known. Approached as if these events were fish bowls, the analysis seemed more an effort to reinforce old stereotypes, rather than establish factual clarity.

Having grown up on and around Beale Street, seeing Elvis Presley hawking black music for African Americans places him in a long line of pirates going back before Al Jolson. According Elvis such high status for biting the blues, robs African Americans of the only American musical art form: the blues. Perpetrating such a fraud denies thousands of black minstrels their due. For love of their music, they walked dark and dangerous backwaters. True artists, they performed in one room hovels for little or no pay. In black face, like grave robbers stealing coins from dead eyes, whites like Elvis plucked and savored the fruit from hundreds of nameless and faceless black men.

The sanitation strike was a pivotal event for Memphis and the South. It marked the crossroads for a way of life. The garbage workers' strike shattered the most hideous system this side of slavery. Disappointingly, this production showed a total lack of empathy for Dr. Martin Luther King's inability to control events in Memphis the day of the riot. Oblivious to documented facts implicating FBI operatives in manipulating events, Dr. King is portrayed as a flawed leader overreaching in an effort to salvage his tarnished civil rights legacy.

Dr. King is indicted as a deserter, who abandons his followers for the safety of a speeding Cadillac. Classic! Like Elvis, this blow blind-sided a man willing to step into the breach to guide a lost people. He offered leadership and direction. In Memphis, blacks did not expect a magician, pulling rabbits out of hats. What Memphis needed was his strength and vision. Dr. King even gained the trust of the most radical black activist, the Invaders.

FBI provocateurs started the riot to discredit Dr. King and create credibility problems for the "Poor People's Campaign." For African Americans in the South, no personal flaw or strategic setback could tarnish Dr. King's brilliance. Only descendants of slave masters could find comfort in presenting such a stereotypical perception. Dr. King stood before the grave. It was his finest hour.

Jennings' The Century is filled with such stark irony. To think, Elvis Presley, a cheap imitation is crowned a hero, while Dr. King, a real hero, is made to look like an imitation. Other Essays by John Burl Smith

The Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro returned to school this week with a field trip on the school calendar of events. The Dark One/Ninja/Zorro went to the zoo to see all the reptiles, birds and other mammals. Bat Cave

by Dot Smith

Born Arnaud Bontemps in 1902, this poet, novelist and children's author is also an historian and educator. An African American, the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920's and 1930's is enriched by Bontemps' literary contributions. Like his contemporaries Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison and James Baldwin, to name a few, Bontemps' work is rich in black heritage.

Bontemps received the Alexander Pushkin Award in Poetry for his poem "Golgotha is a Mountain," which echoes a dominant theme in black literature of the period. The black power movement of the 1960's and '70's brought about a renewed interest in the works of Bontemps and other Harlem Renaissance writers. The hip hop movement today is another awakening to works on black heritage. Arna Bontemps died in 1973.

Golgotha is a Mountain

by Arna Bontemps

 There are mountains in Africa, too.

Treasure is buried there: gold and precious stones

And moulded glory.

Lush grass is growing there

Sinking before the wind, black men are bowing

Naked in the grass

Digging with their fingers, I am one of them.

Those mountains should be ours.

It would be great to touch the pieces of glory with our hands.

Oh, brothers, it is not long. Dust shall yet devour the stones

But we shall be here when they are gone. Bits of Black History

 Awakening

by Yohannes Sharriff Smith

If this be God, then let this be a prayer:

i praise You

in all Your infinite wisdom.

i have come far to find You,

and here i pray that i remain,

forever basking in the light of Your gentle embrace.

oh, how i have longed for this connection.

shall it never end.

pray it holds me for all my days.

may i forever look to the heavens and know

You smile down upon me.

as You call me "child," my Father,

i hear with perfect clarity. Intuit

Note: With the writing of this poem, I laid to rest my wavering belief on the most high. I understand that the love of God was the only power that could pull me out of the abyss..." (reprint from T.H.I.N.C.)

Disgruntled wants to know: Who needs health insurance when you can't get an appointment to see a doctor when you need one?

Disgruntled feels: Out of sync with the universe.

Disgruntled says: Freaknik is not for the old in the closet freaks who want to get rid of it.

Disgruntled

On Bureaucratic Roadblocks

by Dot Smith

An elected representative's correspondence is ofttimes censored; calls are vetted and email auto-responded to and/or deleted. When this occurs, communication between representatives and their electorate ceases to exist. Bureaucrats who sever lines of communication in this fashion are the modern day spooks who sit by the door, in reference to a movie .

Spooks are roadblocks to representative democracy; these secretaries, aides and other office assistants are a layer of insulation between the electorate and their representatives. Instead of listening to and responding to the needs of the people, elected representatives are pawns of special interest groups and the moneyed people of consequence. Bureaucratic spooks keep the people out and special interests in, killing representative democracy, among other things.

Dona Woodham, a secretary with the Georgia General Assembly, is a spook; her actions exemplify bureaucratic road blocking. Woodham sent the following fax: "This is my second request to discontinue your faxing copies of The DISH to our office. I would very much appreciate it if you would DELETE THIS FAX NUMBER FROM YOUR LIST. Representatives in this office are: Frank Bailey, Bill Hembree, Ben Whitaker, Bob Smith, Bill Jackson and George DeLoach."

Contacted for clarification, Woodham admitted none of the representatives made the request. She claimed the fax machine is her personal business equipment. However, the fax number is listed in an official state house publication, and the machine is housed in the state office building. In reality, this office belongs to all Georgia taxpayers. However, none of us can plug in a fax machine in one of its offices and set up a private business. Who pays for the phone line, electricity, printer cartridges and paper for this fax machine? More important, why is Woodham, a secretary, conducting her private business in a public office building? Imagine how many tax dollars can be saved by putting spooks like Woodham out of business.

DISHing It Up Hot!

 Venue for an Artist

 Can you feel me?

by Keneatha Knight

Can you feel me?

I know you think you do, but do you really?

Can you really understand my plight?

Do you know where I'm coming from?

Do you ever wonder

Whether your man's coming home at night?

 Can you feel me? Just let me know.

Do you ever wonder

If you're gonna make it through the night?

Get high, contemplate some shit you did

And start thinking would it really matter?

Cause the life you living just ain't right

 Can you feel me?

I know you want to, but do you really

Do you see your life going fast with no place to go

Have you ever felt safe around fiends with schemes

But terrified when the police is at your door.

 Can you feel me?

I know you try to, but can you really

Can you really understand? Do you share the pain in my eyes,

When I look at my son and realize

He's gonna have to grow up in this prejudiced world

And still come out a strong black man

 Can you feel me? If you can't, there ain't no words of sympathy

My way you can throw. I don't need your pity and tears.

I need someone who can relate. Who's been in my shoes

Who understands my struggles and fears

Now I ask you, can you feel me?

 About Me: I write because, if I didn't I would die. I want to share it with the world because I'm tired of being silent. Renae Venue

 Atlanta Vibe

Rosa Parks, the woman who ignited the civil rights movement by refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a public bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, is considering a lawsuit against Outkast for exploiting the use of her name. The Georgian duo, whose album is called Aquemini, issued a public statement denying the accusation, even though a single on the CD is titled Rosa Parks

"Rosa Parks has inspired our music and our lives since we were children. The opportunity to use our music to help educate young people about the heroes in the African American community is one of the responsibilities we feel we have as music artist. It was nor ever has been our intention to defame a women who we consider a role model and a civil rights pioneer. We hope to be able to work out this situation amicably". Atlanta Vibe

NOT THE TIME FOR SWINE!

by LaTonya McNeil

The death toll has risen to 117 in Malaysia and Singapore from an epidemic believed to be caused by a newly detected virus, which is transmitted by pigs. According to the CDC, this virus is similar to the Hendra virus that caused illness among people and horses in Australia in 1994 and 1995. This new virus is responsible for most of the encephalitis-like illness of 247 people in Malaysia and Singapore since September 1998. In Malaysia, 236 people have been sickened, and 116 of them died. Most of the cases involved men who have had contact with pigs.

Malaysian authorities blame the illnesses on an outbreak of Japanese encephalitis harbored in pigs. Encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain. The symptoms are fever, headache, drowsiness and disorientation that can progress to a coma within a day or two. The risk for contracting the virus is greatest for those who come in contact with pigs. Take this tip from THE D.I.S.H: "LET'S ALL TRY TO EAT HEALTHY," BECAUSE IT'S BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY! Hood Notes

Kudos to the NAACP for filing the lawsuit and the Florida judge for preventing obvious discrimination against black college students in Daytona, FL. A similar suit should be filed in Atlanta to prevent Mayor Campbell and the city's police from rerouting traffic to keep our children out of certain areas.

For years, the city of Atlanta has kept blacks out of Piedmont Park during Freaknik. This is the same kind of blatant discrimination that was not allowed in Daytona, i.e., the city sought to limit access to the beach. It is time the black Mecca stopped its discriminatory practices. For one weekend out of the year, young blacks do what buck wild white kids do without the negative publicity all the time.

The vast majority of the students attending Freaknik are good kids; those who openly engage in lewd acts and commit crimes are local yokels, most of them are not even students. Much of the criminal activity during Freaknik would occur whether or not the event came to town. More important, if the police were not preoccupied with towing cars, setting up speed traps and rerouting traffic, real criminals could get caught, and there would be fewer occasions for traffic gridlock. Over-policing screws up Freaknik; the city's law enforcement goal seems geared toward letting our children know they are not welcomed in the city too busy to hate. Kudos

Garnering Business: This business is my business. Mixing government business and private business in Georgia is an accepted practice for some politicians, and apparently some of their assistants, too. For these public servants, business is business. Wayne Garner, Georgia Corrections Commissioner, thinks it is perfectly alright to use governmental resources to aid his personal business enterprise.

Imagine silence in the face of the revelations about his activities were he an African American. Can you imagine no resignation noise. Were he an African America, there would be an investigation, ethical charges, dismissal from office and public embarrassment! Double standard? You betcha!

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