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Volume 7 Issue 52…Dedicated to the
Dialogue on Race…December 31, 2004
For My People
By Margaret Abigail Walker
For my people everywhere singing their slave songs
repeatedly: their dirges and their
ditties and their blues and jubilees, praying their prayers nightly to an
unknown god, bending their knees humbly to an unseen power;
For my people lending their strength to the years, to the gone
years and the now years and the maybe years, washing ironing cooking scrubbing
sewing mending hoeing plowing digging planting pruning patching dragging along
never gaining never reaping never knowing and never understanding;
For my playmates in the clay and dust and sand of Alabama
backyards playing baptizing and preaching and doctor and jail and soldier and
school and mama and cooking and playhouse and concert and store and hair and
Miss Choomby and company;
For the cramped bewildered years we went to school to learn the
reasons why and the answers to and the people who and the places where and the
days when, in memory of the bitter hours when we discovered we were black and
poor and small and different and nobody cared and nobody wondered and nobody
understood;
For the boys and girls who grew in spite of these things to be man
and woman, to laugh and dance and sing and play and drink their wine and
religion and success, to marry their playmates and bear children and then die
of consumption and anemia and lynching;
For my people thronging 47th Street in Chicago and Lenox Avenue in
New York and Rampart Street in New Orleans, lost disinherited dispossessed and
happy people filling the cabarets and taverns and other people's pockets
needing bread and shoes and milk and land and money and something -- something
all our own;
For my people walking blindly spreading joy, losing time being
lazy, sleeping when hungry, shouting when burdened, drinking when hopeless,
tied and shackled and tangled among ourselves by the unseen creatures who tower
over us omnisciently and laugh;
For my people blundering and groping and floundering in the dark
of churches and schools and clubs and societies, associations and councils and
committees and conventions, distressed and disturbed and deceived and devoured
by money-hungry glory-craving leeches, preyed on by facile force of state and
fad and novelty, by false prophet and holy believer;
For my people standing staring trying to fashion a better way from
confusion, from hypocrisy and misunderstanding, trying to fashion a world that
will hold all the people, all the faces, all the adams and eves and their
countless generations;
Let a new earth rise. Let
another world be born. Let a bloody
peace be written in the sky. Let a second
generation full of courage issue forth; let a people loving freedom come to
growth. Let a beauty full of healing
and a strength of final clenching be the pulsing in our spirits and our blood. Let the martial songs be written, let the
dirges disappear. Let a race of men now
rise and take control.
The Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro has always been partial
to the power and privilege exercised by super heroes. As the eldest among his brothers and sister, his parents recently
designated him the babysitter.
Obviously, he relishes his new super hero role of being responsible and
in control. When queried for comments
on his new duties, the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro smiled and responded, "I'm a
great babysitter."
Margaret Abigail Walker (1915-1998)
Margaret Abigail Walker was born on July 7, 1915, in Birmingham,
Alabama. Her father, a Methodist
minister, professor and linguist, and mother, a music teacher, provided an
environment in which her literary genius thrived. In 1925, her family moved to
New Orleans, Louisiana, where Walker completed her high school education at
Gilbert Academy. She attended New Orleans
University (now Dillard University) for two years before transferring to
Northwestern University in Illinois.
She received her B.A. in English in 1935.
In 1936, Walker began working with the Federal Writers' Project in
Chicago under Franklin D. Roosevelt's Works Project Administration. She worked
with numerous noted artists of that era and gained a firsthand glimpse of the
struggles of inner-city black people.
At the end of her tenure with the WPA (1939), Walker returned to school,
entering a creative writing program at the University of Iowa, where earned a
Master of Arts degree (1940) and later a Ph.D. (1965).
In 1941, Walker began teaching English at Livingstone College in
Salisbury, North Carolina. She taught
for a year at West Virginia State College (1942). Walker's first volume of poetry, For My People (1942), became
the first work by a black American to win the Yale Younger Poets award (1942).
Walker married Firnist James Alexander (1943) and the couple moved
to Jackson, Mississippi (1949), where Walker began teaching at Jackson State
College. During her tenure there,
Walker founded the Institute for the Study of History, Life, and Culture of
Black People (1968), which was renamed the Margaret Walker Alexander National
Research Center in her honor; she also organized the Phillis Wheatley Poetry
Festival.
Walker's doctoral dissertation Jubilee (1966), a slave narrative
based on the collected memories of her maternal grandmother, won the Houghton
Mifflin Literary Award (1968). In 1970,
Walker published Jubilee with Prophets for a New Day, a poetic treatment
of the civil rights movement. Her other
works include October Journey (1973), For Farish Street Green
(1986), This Is My Century: New and Collected Poems (1989), and How I
Wrote Jubilee and Other Essays on Life and Literature, which she coauthored
with Maryemma Graham. In 1997, with Graham as editor, Walker released On Being
Female, Black, and Free: Essays by Margaret Walker, 1932-1992.
Walker's accolades include six honorary degrees, a Rosenwald
Fellowship (1944), a Ford Fellowship (1953), a Fulbright Fellowship to Norway
(1971), a senior fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities
(1972), the Living Legacy Award, given by the Carter administration, the
Lifetime Achievement Award of the College Language Association (1992) and the
Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in the Arts, given by Mississippi
Gov. William Winter (1992)
Dr. Walker retired from Jackson State in 1979. She remained active until her November 30, 1998
death in Chicago, Ill. (Sources: www.english.uiuc.edu,
www.britannica.com and http://voices.cla.umn.edu)
Editorial Note
Changes Afoot
As the New Year dawns, changes are afoot. At The DISH, we are sad to
announce that our Windows '95 computer is kaput. Though "ancient," this technology provided fax
capability, which allowed us to share the newsletter with local readers. Due to a design limitation, Windows 2000
does not include fax software. Until we
acquire fax software for this operating system, we will not be providing this
local service.
On a happier note, this is the final issue for 2004. It culminates seven (7) years in which our
staff has worked tirelessly to provide a reliable alternative source of news
and information. Many of you have
expressed your heartfelt appreciation for what we do and have extended well
wishes for the coming year.
The DISH
staff and families look forward to an eighth year and would like to take this opportunity
to wish you a safe, healthy and happy New Year!
Disgruntled wants to know: Sci-fi buffs, weather watchers and anyone else that has seen a disaster
documentary or movie about the wrath of mother nature knows oceanic earthquakes
trigger tidal waves or tsunamis. All
over the world, scientists monitor seismic activity and issue warnings for the
affected areas. Since the deadly
tsunami in Indonesia occurred during the holidays, perhaps that partially
explains the lack of warning. Or, could
this be one of those horrific instances in which those that received the
information decided not to disrupt the "tourist" industry with a
warning of pending disaster?
Disgruntled feels:
Unprepared! According to preliminary
estimates, U.S. consumers increased their holiday spending over last year. While the increase was not as much as
retailers had hoped, bottom line is, consumers spent more. In fact, high-end consumers, those that
received the bulk of the Bush administration tax cuts, reportedly made upscale
retailers extremely happy, increasing their spending over last year by more
than seven percent. A majority of
consumers relied on credit for those holiday purchases, an indication that U.S.
citizens remain unprepared and ignorant about the tidal wave forecasters are
predicting. The nation's economy is
awash in a sea of red ink. Be prepared,
because sooner or later, there will be a reckoning.
Disgruntled says: On a
global scale, the greatest number of people exercise the least amount of power
and control over their destinies in every socioeconomic and political forum
established to make global decisions.
When one really thinks about it, this reality is anathema to the concept
of democracy. Third World proponents of
a "new world order" believe the first order of business in 2005 is
changing the status quo to correct this appalling situation. In fact, the Third World believes this new
world order change should start with elimination of the veto power exercised by
the West in the United Nations Security Council. The veto is an instrument of tyranny exercised by a slender
minority; it is not rule by a majority under a system of democracy.
Our New World Order: The Terminal
By John Burl Smith
Studies to establish the human genome, one haploid set of
chromosomes that are the archetype for all human beings, have produced one
irrefutable fact of existence. Although
there are billions of people on Earth, myriads of colors and features, there
are no races or there is only one race. Genetically, all people living today
are descendants of an old man from a village in Africa. Quintessentially, we are all brothers and
sisters under the skin. Your red blood,
though you think it is blue, comes from the same gene pool as mine.
This concept is an underlying theme of a 2004 movie The
Terminal, starring two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks and is directed
by legendary neo-iconoclast Steven Spielberg.
On a mission to complete a task began forty years earlier by his
deceased father, Hanks' character, Viktor Navorski, is placed in limbo at JFK
Airport, gateway to the US from Europe, Africa, Asia and all points East. Viktor becomes a citizen of The Terminal,
when war breaks out and erases his country from the political map, voiding his
passport. Hanks' nemesis and
antagonist, the acting Regional Director of Security, Stanley Tucci, exercises
ultimate power in the world of JFK.
Trapped in this time/space continuum, Viktor neither speaks nor
understands English well. Like most
Third World immigrants, he audaciously learns to negotiate, survive and escape entrapment
in this paperwork maze without a map.
Drenched in symbolism, existence in this JFK world is a rigid
caste system. Like the world outside The
Terminal, whites occupy the powerful positions and control the lives of the
darker skinned masses. These third
worlders hold all the low level jobs and perform the menial tasks, which keep
JFK running. A microcosm, Viktor's battle
with the all-powerful "Darth Vader-type" Regional Director endears
him to other third worlders inhabiting JFK's netherworld.
Too much a reality movie for critics and raters, who fail to
recognize the human connections the movie illuminated, The Terminal was
short-lived in movie theaters. Like the
human genome story, once it was clearly understood that white people are not
the founders of civilization and some old African is their great, great, great,
great, great grandfather, whites lost interest. They prefer the fantasy that Homo sapiens evolved from
Neanderthals, which makes them The Last Action Hero.
Life in the real world is very much like "The Terminal,"
a gritty, menial and powerless struggle for most people, who keep the world
going, but are not even footnotes in history.
It is the schemers, liars, pretenders to power and deceivers that
dominate the world, based solely on the color or colorlessness of their skin,
enforced by white supremacy.
The Terminal is
very edifying and illustrative of the "new world order" emerging in
the shadow of ostentatious consumerism.
It is a portal into how third worlders are slowly, but surely, realizing
the commonality of our one haploid genetic heritage. The Terminal is great family viewing, especially if you
are a third worlder or have no idea what the term means. Check it out on your next video store
run.
Threats, Challenges and Change
In 2003, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan commissioned
the 16-member High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change to assess
global threats and recommend policy and institutional changes to address
them. Chaired by former Prime Minister
Anand Panyarachun of Thailand, the panel issued its 95-page report at the end
of November 2004.
The report A More Secure
World: Our Shared Responsibility
contains 101 proposals for dealing with six areas that pose the greatest
threats to global security in the 21st century. These areas are: continued poverty and environmental degradation,
terrorism, civil war, conflict between states, the proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction and organized crime.
Because of globalization, the report views development as a first
line of defense, since this global connectivity means a major terrorist attack,
continued poverty or outbreak of disease anywhere affects every nation. The report recommends implementing the
development goals already outlined in the Millennium Declaration and the
Monterrey Consensus.
The report's recommendations include a major local and global
health initiative to prevent, treat and respond to infectious disease
outbreaks. On combating terrorism
specifically, the report calls on the General Assembly of the UN to forge a
counter-terrorism strategy that respects human rights and the rule of law.
For peacekeeping, the report recommends that more states place
contingents on stand-by for UN purposes.
And, it calls on the UN to devote more attention and resources to
post-conflict peace building.
To meet the challenges posed by global threats, the report calls
on existing UN institutions to work better and embrace reforms that reflect
current realities to restore their credibility. For Security Council reform, the report provides two models,
i.e., new permanent members with no veto power and new four-year, renewable
seats. These recommendations do not address
the veto power of the five permanent members (United States, Russia, Britain,
France and China).
The report also recommends creating a Peacebuilding Commission and
closer working relations with regional organizations. For more about specific recommendations, visit http://www.un.org/secureworld.
Hip Hopping Europe: Update Week 3
December 22: At times, hip hopping Europe on a shoestring has been
hard, but I'm trying to hold my own in this daily shifting reality. The declining US dollar has sucked all the
hope out of European dreams for artists, students and other cultural exchanges.
As such, I have had to remember those grueling grinds on the basketball court
and my hot scorching days at baseball practices, which taught me that I'm
stronger than I think. Ideas do not die;
they create their own fulfillment, if you are strong enough to sustain
them. So, I have challenged myself by
looking for ways to survive that is how all the struggle pays off.
December 23: Things are beginning to look up. Last night I met a beautiful Arab sister at
a club called Bitter Sweet, her name is Rajae. She is half Algerian and half
Moroccan, but she was raised in Amsterdam.
This sister is ready! She is a
singer/artist with a mind for business.
The great thing about being over here is everyone is working on his/her
game. Europeans have been pretty nice
to me. Brothers and sisters from the
Third World like Kia, Yodi, Azania and Rajae have really represented, showing
love and support, even opening up their homes to a stranger like me.
Third worlders I meet venerate me, like they did Tom Hanks'
character in the movie The Terminal.
Maybe it is because we are all immigrants in one way or another. Some of us may have never lived in our
native land, but we know we have one and when we see someone that looks like
us, we share that estrangement. Whether
it is jungles, mountains, island palms or sand and rocks, it is like the line
from the old Lou Rawls song, "It's home, the only life I've ever known,
Tobacco Road." The George Bushes
of the world don't understand why Iraqis, Afghanis and Palestinians keep
fighting what seems to them a hopeless battle.
It is because in the Third World hope of surviving is a desperate battle
against incredible odds.
Third worlders reside in a perpetual state of hope. Their only natural resource is an
inexhaustible wellspring that fuels their belief in the ability of its bottom
dwelling citizens to rise above their position at birth. Hope is an idea that powers their
world. In cities all over the earth,
they struggle, like dandelions growing up through concrete reaching for
sunlight. The third world will not be denied.
A world of love, Yohannes.
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