Calloused: poetry which speaks to the heart

Calloused*

Calloused are our hands from all this threshing in the wheat
Tired are our minds from lengthy battles o’er the fields
We seek reprieve in our own land
A prayer to stay the plight

Weathered by this vain contrition wrought with lost accord
Our heads bowed in due remorse, and shackled by our debtors
We sing for time to persevere
On to the house of pass and stow

But this lawless liberation
Steals life away from me
And the strike of empty gavel
Strips time away from me

Our brows they quench the soil and our labor sows the earth
While darkened skins and weary bones cry out for our relief
The horizon plays a tune
Through the corn and through the grain

Song of Shaw and water wading bid us through the fray
And prose of King makes loose the chains of apathy’s regret
Where salvation rises like the sun
A rhyme endures the fight

Still this lawless liberation
Steals life away from me
And the strike of empty gavel
Strips time away from me

Rub our calloused eyes and weary souls that day may break the night
Soften those with calloused hearts endear them to our plea
That we may finally reap a harvest
Our grounds through strife meet cause’s fate

Now this jubilated justice
Offers life again to me
And resounding gavel strikes
Turn the clock backwards for me

*anonymous

Social justice conceptual model at TAMFT

Social Justice Team III is heading to Galveston to the annual conference of the Texas Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. They will be presenting a poster on Friday entitled, "Therapy to Advocacy: Principles to Practice, A Conceptual Model." On Saturday afternoon they will present the materials in a research forum that brings together MFT programs and students in Texas to present what is happening in their programs.

Here is an abstract of what they'll present:

"Marriage and family therapy and other social science disciplines have developed emphases in social justice over the past several decades (Toporek etal., 2006; McDowell & Shelton, 2002). If MFTs are true to the mantra of “theory drives practice,” then such will be the case for the transition from “therapy to advocacy, from principles to practice” for those of us who think and practice from various systemic orientations. Specifically, this poster attempts to develop a modest conceptual model which embraces structural and narrative theoretical orientations in an effort to express the complexity of structure (Minuchin etal., 2006), i.e., institutions of power and privilege upon the lived experiences, i.e., stories of people (Epston & White, 1992). In particular, this poster will integrate curriculum, co-curricular activities, and institutions of various sorts, via one people group and their struggles and resiliencies, African American farmers and families (Gilbert & Eli, 2000)."

Their names: Kimberly Cherry, Rebecca Culver, Michelle Finley, Sarah Hugman, Heather MacLeod, Scott McBryde, and Brian Wingfield. I'm proud of these students and the paths that they are walking in an attempt to make the world a better place, one therapy session at a time and one advocacy effort at a time. Maybe we can post some pictures of them here after the conference.

What do you think?

I get those google alerts every day. Perhaps you've tried them on specific topics yourself. One of the three that I retrieve daily is on "black farmers." Google with all of its technology sends the latest and not so latest web sources on the topic.

Last week one came and it was over the edge in terms of inflammatory. The author, a reputable writer for reputable newspapers in the east, had a variety of topics related to the theme "we've paid our dues to Black people." With that theme in mind, off the author of the blog went, giving information and mis-information to his readers. Granted, it was from a post written in 2001, but it was also one re-posted to the web in March, 2008. What caught my attention was his calling the Pigford case a frivolous lawsuit. Whatever it was and is, it's not nor will it ever be frivolous. Inadequate? Yes. Misguided? Yes. In some ways a violation of constitutional law with regard to procedural matters? Yes. Did some do well in it? Yes. Did it fail some miserably? Yes.

Misinformation can be corrected. I'd like to be bold enough to say that what my students and I are writing on these pages is opinion, experiences, and facts. We've laid out various sets of data about the Pigford case and its inequities. If not here, then that information is found at a variety of other sites including http://www.ewg.org/. That, in my opinion, is the best one source of information.

What was more inflammatory was the tone of it all. "WE have paid OUR debts," so step back and get on with life. So, I'm just wondering today, "How do WE get to decide whether OUR debt is really paid back or not? Who gets to decide what a kidney or an eye or a spouse or a farm is worth to those in whose body it was found, or whose family is now shattered, or whose livelihood is now destroyed?" Those who perpetrated don't, in my opinion, get to decide when it's finished.

I think those upon whom our perpetrations landed get to make the final call as to "debt paid in full." I'm also suspicious these days that there are still closet racists amongst us. Not intending to sound more judgmental than necessary, but still, how does the end of our indebtedness come to people upon whose backs this country was built, and within the boundaries of which institutional racism continues to exist. On the other hand, I do believe we need to work in some meaningful fashion to craft a reconciliation effort that works for all.

Here's the link. I think you'll find it interesting.

Then, yesterday, while driving home from my downtown office, I was sitting at the traffic light behind a vehicle registered in a southern state. There, on the rear window, was the confederate flag. That evoked another set of emotions. Images carry with them words, thoughts, feelings, and experiences. I know people who love that flag. I know people for whom that image is one of unspeakable degradation..........

Just yesterday I was asked by a student, a well-meaning person whose heart belongs to the King of Kings, "Dr. Hinson, if you weren't working with the black farmers, would you have been offended if one of your sons dated a black woman?" Stopped me in my tracks. Made me think. Made me recall my family of origin and times of complexity for a child of the south. I hope my answer would be "the color of her skin would not matter, just the content of her character."

I'm a work in progress. Surely you are as well. All of us are works in progress.

There's much work to be done.

Interesting and related blogs and pages

Here are some interesting web pages and blogs that relate to what we're attempting to write about on these pages:

Spencer Wood's web page up at KSU. He's the expert in black land loss. Be sure to peruse his pages.

Gary Grant, BFAA President, has developed a new blog: http://www.bfaa-us.blogspot.com/

Here are some others that I'm enjoying reading:

http://sisterdoc.blogspot.com/

http://brotherdoc.blogspot.com/

http://diaryofananxiousblackwoman.blogspot.com/

Others are found just to the right of this page. And, these are just the ones that relate to social justice. There are others I'm reading as well that make me think about things that matter.

There are some things the world just needs to know about, and the more voices speaking them, the better.

Our paths have crossed before

March 19, 2008

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

Your path and my path have crossed on two occasions over the years, and with this letter I am hoping for a third criss-crossing of those paths. In the late ‘80s when you were owner of the Texas Rangers, on more than one occasion you greeted fans and signed autographs outside of the old Arlington Stadium. There are a couple of your signatures on game ticket stubs in my collection. My oldest grandson is laying claim to one of them. Then, in 1997, while you were governor of the State of Texas, you appointed me to serve an unexpired term on the Texas State Board of Examiners of Marriage and Family Therapists. I have gladly served the people of our state since then as part of a second appointment by Governor Rick Perry.

I am respectfully writing you out of concern for one specific family in North Carolina, and symbolically via this family, voicing a concern for other families in similar circumstances. Recently U.S. Marshals delivered a Writ of Execution regarding foreclosure proceedings to Gary Grant and the other heirs of Matthew and Florenza Moore Grant in the New Deal Resettlement Community of Tillery, NC. While never denying their responsibilities for any and all debts that they incurred, the Grants have proven that they were racially discriminated against by local USDA offices. This family's Civil Rights complaints against the USDA and its former agency Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) have been proven time and time again. According to what I have discovered, even this Writ is the result of discriminatory practices by the USDA and its agent(s) on loans made to the Grants. The effect of this discrimination is that the family has accrued additional debt on loans made over 20 years ago. That this family has led Blacks in North Carolina and their community and refused to accept second-class treatment has effectively made them a target of the local agricultural power structure. In numerous ways they have not received the same consideration nor flexible assistance offered their white counterparts in the county.

As you are aware, farming is an inherently risky and capital intensive enterprise. The bulk of the debt in question for the Grants was acquired during the early 1970s and persisted due to a series of “declared disastrous” years. By aggressively pursuing the family’s debt, the local agricultural structure hoped to send a clear message to the other Blacks in the community that “they should stay in their place.” Similar small debts were easily dealt with among white farmers in the county. Mr. Grant, who was a successful farmer when he came to the former FmHA at USDA for loans, was placed on supervised loans; made loans at higher interest rates than white farmers all around him; and he, like other Black farmers, received his loans late. That this family has been in a struggle with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for more than 20 years over such a relatively small sum, is a signal that something has gone awry in the process for citizens to settle Civil Rights Complaints with the department.

I further understand that USDA in 1996 failed to live up to a Final Judgment that covered four years of USDA discrimination against Mr. and Mrs. Grant. This is especially troubling because the document was signed by all parties, including the USDA’s Office of Civil Rights. Perhaps if this document had been executed as agreed, the Grant children would not be facing the current Writ of Execution. The USDA reneged on this document of trust just as it has with many such signed agreements involving others. Such an obvious disregard for the well-being of potentially successful small family farmers is shameful for the government offices President Lincoln originally called “the people's department.”

I did not get to know the late Mr. and Mrs. Grant, but I do know their heirs. My wife and I participated in a “wreath laying” ceremony at their tomb on the Grant land in July, 2005 out of respect for these two citizens and others who have died prematurely under the stress of farming and facing racist practices and attitudes. I know that this family is a family of leaders. They are hard working, tax paying citizens who love justice and equality. Sadly, representatives of our government have dragged them through this torture and hardship because they refused to accept second-class treatment and worked to make their community a better place. In addition to being the first Black president of the Roanoke Electric Cooperative, the first Black on the North Carolina Rural Electric Cooperative Board, Superintendent of his church’s Sunday School and a church trustee, Matthew Grant was also an entrepreneur and for a time served as President of the Lower Halifax County NAACP. Like all of the previous NAACP leaders from the Tillery Resettlement Farms Community, Matthew Grant had his land and livelihood threatened. Although deceased, he is the only past president to still have his land, though it is under attack.

Mr. President, you have the power and influence to end this family’s struggle against racism and bigotry. You can cause these actions and any other action against this family to cease and desist.
You, as the President of the United States, have the opportunity and duty to rectify the mistakes and/or oversights made by departments under your direct control and other branches of government, such as the Department of Justice (DOJ). So you are now being asked, at a time when the 2007 Farm Bill is in “Committee” - which might provide a modest sum of money for the cause of the socially disadvantaged farmer - to use your power in these matters related to the Matthew and Florenza Moore Grant Family and send a clear and present signal to the DOJ, USDA and the FSA that you will not tolerate the mistreatment of our citizens.

Thank you for your consideration of these complicated matters. Again, I hope our paths will cross for the third time.

Respectfully,

Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.
Professor
Mentor, Social Justice Team III
Department of Marriage and Family Therapy
Abilene Christian University

It was happening then and is happening now

In 1973 Robert Browne compiled a massive amount of data as part of a project funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in conjunction with the Black Economic Research Center. At that time, he wrote that black land loss "continued unabated," noting the decline of black owned farm land from 12 million acres in 1950 to "only six million acres" in 1969. He suggested that land owners were not those who migrated north.

The leading causes for black land loss in 1973? He pointed to tax sales, partition sales, and foreclosures.

He summed up the land loss issue by saying, "In effect, land ownership in the rural South confers on blacks a measure of independence, of security and dignity and perhaps even of power, which is of crucial importance to the elevation of the status of the black community generally” (p. 25).

Writing 35 years ago, he suggested five ingredients for success for black farmers: land, experienced labor, managerial expertise, operating capital or equipment, and credit (at reasonable rates). Part of the solution he proposed involved preventing further loss, developing technical resources, and developing new approaches to achieve success.

Much of what he had to say sounded like it could have been written yesterday.

Much that could lead to the successes of black farmers is less about skills and more about access to land, credit, and other available options which are open to all farmers.

There are a few groups committed to stopping land loss. Try this one, this one, and this one.

It's a serious problem. It needs to be fixed. That'll take the policy makers and the policy implementers, but it'll also take folks like you and me who can stir the pot with those who have the power to make substantive changes.

Finally, Summit Photos

The 10th Annual Black Land Loss Summit was held February 15-17, 2008 in Tillery, NC at the Community Center and in Whitakers, NC at Franklinton Center at Bricks. It was an interesting gathering of people from across the nation who care about land loss, Black farmers, and justice.

The team from Abilene Christian University poses in front of the dormitory with Gary Grant, BFAA President. Left to right are Sarah Hugman, Rebecca Culver, Kimberly Cherry, Gary Grant, Ty Mansfield, Ruquyyah Samia, Charla Hinson, and Waymon Hinson

Gary Grant and Waymon Hinson entertain questions following Hinson's presentation on the impact of discrimination on the health and well being of farmers and families.

Scott Mexic, Director of External Affairs, Office of Civil Rights, USDA, converses with Gary Grant.

Lloyd Wright, former Director, Office of Civil Rights, USDA, and Hinson talk about racial discrimination and Black farmers.

Michael Watts, Acting Director, Office of Adjudication and Compliance, USDA, speaks to the assembly.

Spencer Wood, Ph.D., professor at Kansas State University, receives the "Man Called Matthew Award" from the Grant family for substantial contributions to the cause of Black farmers in America.

Cary White, President of the Concerned Citizens of Tillery, with ACU Social Justice Team members Ruquyya Samia and Rebecca Culver.

A summit attendee talks with ACU's MFT Social Justice Team.

Gary Grant, BFAA President, and Sherie Henry, Associate Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, USDA, talk during a break between sessions.

GaryGrant and The Watermelon Man, Vern Switzer, show his children's books.

"We Are The Ship"

Kadir Nelson has done the world a great service. If you care about justice, baseball, baseball history, and the Negro Leagues, then Nelson has done a great thing for what is important.

Recently, while walking through Books a Million in search of the Spiderwick series for a young reader, there the book stood, tall and visible in a sea of books, and my eye was immediately drawn to the book. The book? We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball, depictions of stars and game scenes from the vantage point of the artist. Check out this link to learn more about Kadir Nelson and his work. He has at least three new fans of his work.

"Negro leagues baseball (1920-47) was an exquisite flower grown from poisonous soil--the ugly racial attitudes of 20th-century American--and nurtured by men who refused to allow the ignorance that barred them from the major leagues to extinguish their passion for the game," writes Phil Taylor in a recent issue of Sports Illustrated.

Nelson worked eight years on the project, buying vintage uniforms, wearing them, taking photographs in them, studying them, and then painting familiar faces and telling familiar stories of those great athletes who played whenever the big league team was out of town in their stadiums, or in places where they could simply draw a crowd, or in Cuba, or in places where they could set up their portable lights. Some faces and stories are not familiar and they are told as well. Amazing text and even more amazing paintings.

The text is written from the perspective of the athletes themselves, telling their own personal stories. Nelson has studied them well. Interesting, though, that he's only 33 years of age. His art and his text say that he surely has captured the spirit of the times and the stories of these great athletes.

The art work is awe inspiring. The details in the heroic figures of Buck O'Neil, Josh Gibson, and Satchel Paige are amazing to see. Taylor in his article speaks of the relationship between artist and the athletes as they "became partners in the process, creators of a thing of beauty that, like the legacy of the Negro leagues, will last forever." Prints of those paintings must be purchased and placed on walls of people who care about art, baseball, and justice. That book must be purchased by parents and grandparents and given to the young.

There's an eight year old in Oklahoma who's been reading the book and admiring the paintings. Yesterday he called and asked if we could talk about Cool Papa Bell.

So, Kadir Nelson, I owe you one.

We Don't Neet Your Help

I was talking to a friend the other day about the election, and the idea of universal health care came up. I asked her about her stance on it, and she told me that though she believes that all children should have health care, she doesn't believe that the government should provide it- Her reasoning being that taxes would increase. If people wanted health insurance, there were companies that provide it that low-income people could work. She alluded to me, who recently got a job at HEB because they offer insurance to part-time employees. She said she didn't think it was fair for her hard earned money to go towards providing health care to other people when they could get it themselves.

Fast forward a week or so later, and I'm listening to one of my favorite financial adviser's radio show. He starts talking about the election also and how he does not like any of the candidates. He says he's scared of government officials trying to "help" him which made me believe that he is not in favor of many social welfare programs. My suspicion was confirmed when I was watching him speak a few weeks later and he was talking about getting rid of debt. He was reviewing how cash advances, rent to own, and other financial products for the poor are rip-offs. His basic point was that you will always be poor if you use these poor ideas, but you should start saving and paying off debt and you'll gain wealth and become rich. He made a few other remarks about how 90% of millionaires are first generation rich. They did not have anything else going for them, but basically worked hard and did rich things. Not to mention those bootstraps.

I understand the point of my friend. Why would you, someone working 40+ hours a week and going to graduate school while making sure your family stays financially stable, want to pay extra money for someone who OBVIOUSLY is not managing their finances correctly? And for this financial planner, one who had millions of dollars, lost it, and gained it back after budgeting and managing your money: why would you believe that people are really having a hard time rather than not working hard enough? I understand these points.... but they're lacking.

The truth is that there probably are some poor money management skills going on in low-income families. BUT, I think most families do have a budget and the problem is that their minimum wage jobs do not pay enough to have anything left over. Bills DON'T get paid for so that they don't go into debt. Families go MONTHS without a telephone and other "necessities" so that they can eat. And yet, they are still blamed for not having a savings account.

And as for insurance, what does it matter if your company offers insurance if they're going to charge your $200-300 a month for it? That's rent! That's food! That's electricity!!! That's too much to invest in something so intangible.

The problem is there is systemic oppression. No matter how long someone's bootstraps are, there are still several stories of ceilings for them to bust through. Race plays a part into whether someone gets hired. Gender plays a part into whether someone gets a promotion. The exorbitant price of childcare prevents people from working longer hours. Poor funding to minority-laden school districts prohibits education that would give children better jobs. There are issues plaguing the poor on all directions and it's unfair for those who have (who have probably not stayed at the soup center for community service long enough to see the struggle) to assume that people aren't working hard enough.

I know this friend and this financial celebrity are good people. They are Christians who profess their spiritual gift to be giving, and truly live it. Both of whom have given to me cheerfully without expectation. However, in their deliverance of these opinions, the underlying message is that it's not their problem. When the bill shows up on the ballot, they will mark that they are against universal health care... and forget about it.

The problem is we DO need your help. And "you" is not just white people - it's anyone in power. And "we" is not just poor people- it's anyone who is oppressed and left out by the system. Don't just mark no on the ballot box. Think of an alternative. Write to your legislator and suggest how you would change it. You don't have to have a doctorate in public policy to come up with good ideas. Just don't turn your head…

I mean, suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well, keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

Shena Sandle

Some people want to know

There's apparently quite of a bit of controversy in DC the last few days over a squabble related to Civil Rights complaints in the USDA Earlier this week the Office of Civil Rights, United States Department of Agriculture, ordered auditors from the General Accountability Office to leave its offices. Though the office had apparently been cooperating for months on an audit of Civil Rights complaints, Michael Watts, Acting Director, Office of Adjudication, wrote via email to employees telling them, "You are hereby instructed not to meet with any member of the GAO today, or until this matter is resolved," per the Associated Press. Apparently at issue here is whether or not the Civil Rights office had been providing false information about the progress of things. J. Michael Kelly, Agriculture's deputy general counsel, reported that the GAO investigators were intending to speak to specific employees, that the GAO is a wing of Congress and not criminal investigators with authority to investigate legal matters.

Lawrence Lucas, president of the USDA Coalition of Minority Employees, told the press service that GAO had several people willing to talk to the "independent, nonpartisan investigative
office."

Several from Congress have entered the fray: John Conyers, Bennie Thompson, Artur Davis, Bobby Scott, G. K. Butterfield, and Barack Obama, all Democrats, and all involved in various ways in efforts to fix the controversial outcomes of the Pigford Consent Decree as more than 70.000 Black farmers missed filing deadlines. The lawmakers are accusing the USDA of failing to address these serious complaints of discrimination.

Interesting times and interesting people. Justice Team members and I have met some of these folks, Lawrence Lucas, in Memphis at a land loss conference in Memphis, in January, 2006, and Michael Watts in Whitakers, NC a few weeks back.

Interesting, more than interesting, and these events make the team and me sit back and wonder.......

Here are some links with more information. Try this one. Or, this one. I'm just looking forward to reading the letter.