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Volume 9 Issue 18…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…May 5, 2006
Hood Notes
A Memphis Wonder
By John Burl Smith
Blindness is something I have always wondered about but never truly understood. However, Mr. Elbert C. Haynes taught me to appreciate the condition as just another aspect of life. A wonder to behold, years before he became my friend, he was known in South Memphis as the "Hot Tamale Man." Undaunted by his condition, riding the bus unassisted, Mr. Haynes traveled the city better than some sighted individuals. Ferociously independent, the only time I saw someone assist him was shopping and pushing his cart through the busy streets as he sold hot tamales.
We became friends when he and his
wife Virginia moved in the house adjoining my mother's property. During the
years as I went from elementary through high school, E.C., as we fondly
referred to him, dilated my world with fascinating conversations and insights
about inner and outer space. A wonderful person to know, not only did he teach
me to see what was right before my eyes, but to visualize things that could not
be seen.
He freely shared his experiences of growing up and the difficulty of trying to
fit into a world designed for sighted people. Being black in America was
difficult enough, but adding blindness as another handicap increased the
possibility of exploitation on all fronts. The amazing thing about Mr. Haynes
is, none of that ever seemed to bother him. He would always say, "The
world is the size it is. It's up to you to grow enough to fit it." Years
later, I came to see the wisdom of his observation.
Mr. Haynes was never one to deny himself anything because of his condition.
When I entered high school, his wife Virginia, who also happens to be blind and
equally amazing, gave birth to their daughter, Deborah. I watched them with
wonder as they raised her with all the care and love of any parents. An
educated man driven by unselfish devotion, when he did not have a full- time
job, Mr. Haynes continued to brave the cold, dark and dangerous streets of
South Memphis selling hot tamales.
A wonderful student, Mr. Haynes graduated with honors from LeMoyne College (now
LeMoyne-Owen) in 1953. A master of Braille and a member of Omega Psi Phi, he
refused to depend on anyone other than himself. He felt sighted aids and guide
dogs would limit his competitiveness in the real world. At the time, I had no
idea his sense of independence would have such an influential impact on my
life. A blind man is not the typical hero of sighted people, but the image of
Mr. Haynes' determination, dedication and persistence has served me in good
stead throughout my life.
The entrepreneurial spirit Mr. Haynes exhibited when I first encountered him
still drives him today. Well past seventy, he manages a concession business
with 18 machines for the Tennessee Business Enterprise for the Blind at the
Post Office Bulk Mail Center. He has been president of the Tennessee National
Federation for the Blind on three different occasions. He is also a member of
the Tennessee Advisory Council for the Blind. A phenomenal person, who always
danced to his own music, Mr. Elbert C. Haynes is a Memphis wonder.
The Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro is displaying typical teen behavior
from talking on the telephone with friends while pretending to do homework,
acting up by displaying his command of the language when you do not wish to
hear it, and being a class clown. Because he is always drawing cartoon
characters, his mother bought him some art books, sketch pads and paints,
hoping these would replace television and video games. It just might! After
completing his first cartoon frame, the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro rhetorically
exclaimed, "See? I am an artist!"
Seen
By Lisa Detweiler
Seeing takes away the obvious
And the obvious causes strife,
Take away the obvious
And what's left are mysteries of life.
Seeing takes away instinct
And the instinct creates a defense.
Take away the defense,
And you'll find offense was your pretense.
Seeing takes away a conscience
And a conscience gives a heart.
Take away the conscience and your "self"
Will fall apart.
Blindness gives a strength
And strength gives esteem.
Take away the strength
And weaknesses are seen.
Blindness gives caution
And caution gives comfort.
Take away the comfort
And in will come the hurt.
Blindness gives a vision
And a vision gives a dream.
Take away the dream
And an emptiness is seen.
For the emptiness is caused
By all the strife in life
And no defense in a pretense
And a heart falling apart
That come with
being...Seen.
By John Burl Smith
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
Conservative Christians see dogma about ultimate reality as the substance of faith. The evidence of their faith is belief about it. This makes faith mutually exclusive and not involved with knowledge, reason, science or mathematics. For them, faith is not complementary to logical rationality and cannot be contained within the same mind without contradiction. Contrary to those assumptions, faith is an anticipatory principle that underlies the acquisition of all human knowledge.
The expression, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained," is a faith-based concept. Man did not begin by knowing. His quest for substantive knowledge began with doing. He learned by failure as well as success. Man made assumptions about life and acted on them, evidenced by the knowledge gained. Thus, faith is not just an article of religion; faith is an article of belief about life.
Blind and blindness are not synonymous. On the one hand, blindness is an actual physical condition. On the other, blind can be an allegory. Physically, blindness relates or pertains to sightless persons or the lack of sight. Allegorically, it refers to the lack of insight, something performed without preparation, forethought or knowledge, an unwillingness to understand or the inability to anticipate or something intended to conceal the true nature of things, etc. As a fact of life, blindness does not preclude faith as a reality, however blind-faith in fact can preclude the acceptance of reality.
Currently, faith-based fundamentalist fervor is sweeping the US. Conservative fundamentalists treat faith as though it is the total substance of belief and to question faith is heresy or blasphemy. Conservatives have established hard and fast lines between knowledge and belief like a wall of truth. They deny that rationality and science involve faith. Conversely, reason includes the discovery of true premises and logical deduction of consequences from them that are logically linked by faith. Given that premise, faith is distinguishable from credulity. Open mindedness is not defiance, and "childlike" docility does not personify fidelity.
Faith-based fundamentalist zealots condemn
insight. Demanding blind-faith that holds fast to beliefs even though their
substance has been proven false, they are unwilling or unable to speak truth to
power. Lies intended to conceal the true nature of conditions are held up as
facts, and truths, which unmask such lies, are drowned out by prayers. Faith
has become a blind from behind which fundamentalists snipe at truth bearers.
They dismiss any evidence that contradicts their beliefs as partisan attacks.
Thieves and robbers, like those Jesus Christ chased from the temple, are
celebrated as saints and true believers "doing the work of God."
Unlike Christ, who gave sight to the blind because they had faith, today,
conservatives take sight with blind-faith.
Stevie Wonder
Born prematurely on May 13, 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan, Steveland Hardaway Judkins, lost his sight as an infant. According to conflicting biographies, the infant lost his sight as a result of exposure to too much oxygen when he was placed in an incubator or premature development of his eye, causing the blood vessels to detach from the retina.
Steveland displayed an uncanny awareness of sound and ability to create music. He began playing the piano at age 4 and mastered it by age seven. By age 9, he added drums and the harmonica to the musical instruments he learned to play.
In 1954, Steveland's family moved to Detroit, where the young man joined his church's choir. Already musically inclined, the church experience enhanced his musical interest.
In 1962, Ronnie White of The Miracles took eleven year-old Stevie to Motown, and Berry Gordy signed him to Motown's Tamla label as Little Stevie Wonder. Released in 1962, neither of his first two albums-- A Tribute to Uncle Ray, about his idol Ray Charles, and The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie, which showcased his piano, harmonica and percussion skills, was a commercial success. Critics claimed the albums, which displayed Stevie's immense music talents, lacked clear musical direction.
His first commercial success came with the release of the single Fingertips (Pt. 2) (1963), which featured Little Stevie on vocals, congas, and harmonica, and a young Marvin Gaye on drums. The song topped the US pop charts as Number 1 and launched the musical career of Little Stevie Wonder.
After dropping "Little" from his name, Wonder went on to create a number of hits, as well as compose songs for himself and others, including "The Tears of a Clown" by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, "It's a Shame" by The Spinners, " "I Can't Help It" by Michael Jackson, and "You Are My Heaven" by Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway. He has collaborated with Quincy Jones, Barbra Streisand, Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, B.B. King, The Supremes, The Temptations, Dionne Warwick, Julio Iglesias, Paul McCartney and others.
On his twenty-first birthday (1971), Wonder left Motown over creative control of his music. He independently recorded and released two albums before returning to Motown in March 1972. Beginning with the album Music of the Mind (1972), Wonder used modern recording technology to allow him to play most of the instrumental accompaniments. He experimented with synthesizers and was one of the first musicians to make extensive use of electronic music in songs by black artists.
Socially conscious, Wonder has been active in such causes as the anti-apartheid movement, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and the Retinitis Pigmentosa Foundation. An advocate of civil rights, he spearheaded the effort to institute a national holiday in honor of the birthday of slain civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Singer, songwriter, producer, musician, humanitarian and social activist, Wonder has recorded more than 30 Top 10 hits, won 24 Grammy Awards, including lifetime achievement, and he has been inducted into the Rock and Roll and Songwriters Halls of Fame. Twenty-six of Stevie Wonder's singles reached the Top Ten in either the United States or the United Kingdom. With nine U.S. #1 hits to his credit and album sales totaling more than 100 million units, Wonder received Kennedy Center Honors in 1999, and was awarded the highest honor to be received at the Billboard Music Award for the Century Award in 2004.
Wonder has been married several times. He is the
father of seven children. (Sources: www.stevie-wonder.net/,
www.aaregistry.com and http://en.wikipedia.org)
Disgruntled
feels: Preferential! Conservative radio talk jock Rush Limbaugh is
hugely popular among people that believe what he says no matter how ridiculous.
Critical of illegal drug users, Limbaugh has long advocated punishment for
addicts and pushers. In 2003, it was reported that Limbaugh illegally obtained
prescription drugs; he sought treatment for his affliction and hired a
high-powered lawyer. Limbaugh acknowledged he had an addiction to painkillers,
including OxyContin or 'hillbilly cocaine;' he maintained his innocence of
doctor shopping, a felony that could carry a five year prison sentence. Medical
records show Limbaugh received about 2,000 pain pills prescribed by four
doctors in six months. Technically, that is doctor shopping. On Friday,
Limbaugh entered into a plea agreement that is basically a slap on the wrist
that allows Limbaugh to get off without serving a day in prison. However, this
is not a dismissal of the charges, which is what Limbaugh told his blindly
faithful audience. Instead, it is the preferential treatment reserved for the
rich and famous, especially white Americans. Hundreds of black people languish
in prison for less than Limbaugh's doctor shopping to support his hillbilly
drug addiction.
Disgruntled says:
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge John Garrett Penn approved an agreement between
the Secret Service and Judicial Watch requiring the service to turn over White House
visitor logs from January 1, 2001 to the present. Judicial Watch, a public
interest group, sued the Secret Service after the agency failed to respond to
its request under the federal Freedom of Information Act for the logs, which
identify when and with whom convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff visited at the
White House. According to press reports, Abramoff, who raised $100,000 for the
Bush campaign, bragged about his influence inside the White House. Team Bush
has basically tried to distance itself from the lobbying scandal, which
includes a scheme that employed the services of former Christian Coalition
leader Ralph Reed to fleece Indian tribes. Only the deaf, dumb and stupid
believe the upper management of the Bush administration had no contact with Abramoff.
Disgruntled wants to
know: As George W. Bush's approval rating tanks, the saber rattling
escalates. The fear mongers would have us believe Iran poses a serious threat
to US national security based solely on its nuclear ambitions. To keep fear
alive, we were treated to another installment of the Osama bin Laden tapes. It
is downright odd how those taped messages get released. One wonders, is there a
statistical correlation between falling poll numbers for Bush and Osama's
tapes?
A Time 2 Love
By John Burl Smith
I was just a young man when his high-pitched voice came blasting over the radio for the first time. Singing and playing the harmonica, "Little" Stevie Wonder broke onto the scene jamming Fingertips Part 2. Just 13 years of age, "Little Stevie" stole the hearts of black Americans young and old. Although we loved him dearly, none of us had any idea we would still be listening to and loving his music more than forty years later. A phenomenal artist and a national treasure, Stevie Wonder has hit the stores with yet another "Wonderful" CD-- A Time To Love!
Infusing the millennium with the love he has shared with music fans for more than four decades, Wonder spices up hip hop with the essence of "Songs In The Key Of Life." Not just another rap CD to "wonder" about, A Time To Love is classic Stevie with all the brilliance, lyricism and rhythms music lovers have been anticipating since "I Just Called To Say I Love You."
According to Wonder, "My thing has never been creating music on some sort of schedule. To create experiences that are worth sharing with the world, you have to live life and be inspired by life." It is little "wonder," A Time To Love is a continuation of Stevie's love affair with music and life. Wonder melodically shares timeless truths and lessons in today's terms with such cuts as "So What The Fuss," "If Your Love Cannot Be Moved," and "Positivity." The consummate gadfly, Wonder etches these new critiques into the mind of the listener like flashbacks of "Living In The City," "Big Brother," and "You Haven't Done Nothin."
Collaborating with young artists, such as Kim, Aisha and India Arie, Wonder mentors the next generation as he passes on his legacy. "A Time To Love is saying that there is a need, now, more than ever to bring love back into the forefront. We're talking about all forms of love. Whatever your passion is, this project was made with every level of love in mind." Wonder's commitment to love comes through in "Moon Blue," "Shelter In The Rain," "From The Bottom Of My Heart," and "My Love Is On Fire."
For those who were not as fortunate as I to have enjoyed Wonder's music from the very beginning, A Time To Love is your chance to get in the game late in the fourth quarter with the clock ticking down. You will be able to experience a "Wondrous" triumph of Stevie's musical magnificence and share his creative genius. "Ever since In The Key Of Life, I feel it's been a blessing from God in giving me the titles, but all songs must stand on their own. I've always written about love, but the ones that spoke to me the loudest are the ones you'll find on "A Time To Love."
Mailbox: E-Mails, Faxes and
Telephone Calls
Email www.truthout.org Fitzgerald to Seek Indictment of Rove...By Jason Leopold... 28 April 2006...Despite vehement denials by his attorney, who said this week that Karl Rove is neither a "target" nor in danger of being indicted in the CIA leak case, the special counsel leading the investigation has already written up charges against Rove, and a grand jury is expected to vote on whether to indict the Deputy White House Chief of Staff sometime next week. ...Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, was informed via a target letter that Fitzgerald is prepared to charge Rove for perjury and lying.
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