tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70244908832479184842024-03-14T05:37:10.532-05:00let justice rollWaymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comBlogger225125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-66928064295176355962015-02-28T15:41:00.000-06:002015-02-28T15:52:27.408-06:00Where do you sit and The Cross and the Lynching TreeI had a conversation with one of my grandsons after breakfast today. That is not unusual except for two things. One, he lives across the street, so we rarely have breakfast together. Second, we talked about a book I was reading by James Cone, <em><a href="http://patch.com/illinois/elmhurst/scholar-presents-cross-and-lynching-tree-elmhurst-college-0">The Cross and the Lynching Tree</a></em>. I was not much older than him when the story I tell below happened. It was one of those times in which the cross and the lynching tree collided, not literally but symbolically and historically. The fact that my friends had to sit apart was an artifact of those horrific times. I was more naïve then. He is more informed now. He cares deeply about these sorts of things.<br />
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After that conversation, I remembered this post from days gone by. And by the way, I still tally who sits where in church.<br />
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For several months now, I have been noting on Sunday mornings exactly where members of my family sit in church. I sketch out the pews on a piece of paper and note who sits where. Sometimes we sit on two rows. Sometimes we take up almost the entire length of one row. One of my grandsons asked why I did that. My response to him was that I just wanted to remember. <br />
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Sometimes the grandsons sit between their mema and me. Sometimes they sit to the left and to the right of us. One Sunday it will be one grandson to the left or the right and on another Sunday, it will be another grandson. Always the same people, but we often sit in different locations. There seems to be no rhyme or reason, just the will of folks at the moment.<br />
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I remember from days gone by a rather curious and demeaning decision about where people were to sit. It made an impression on me, or in some ways it may have scarred me or spurred me on.<br />
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The small town church I attended was having a "gospel meeting." The meeting started on a Sunday and ended on a Wednesday night. In my zeal to invite people to attend the gospel meeting, I invited members of the black church of Christ in town to attend. I was in my mid-teen years and worked at a grocery store, probably the point of contact with African American brothers and sisters. So, on a given evening, five or six of our brothers and sisters showed up for church. It caused quite a stir. We greeted them, shook hands, and nervously invited them in to sit. I was actually glad to see them. Others were noticeably distressed. <br />
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At first, my black brothers and sisters sat on the very back row in the small church building on the right side of the auditorium. Then, with a burst of energy, some of the men of the church went into the back classroom and brought out two old pews from days gone by. These pews were placed to the front and left of the pulpit from which the preacher would be preaching. There the pews were placed and there our African American brothers and sisters were invited, or rather told, to sit.<br />
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It was an embarrassing occasion. It was the mid-60s. Brothers and sisters in Christ were troubled by the social rules of the day. Lost are lost. Black is black. White is white. Invite, maybe. Sit together, no.<br />
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This act of segregation and separation actually caused more of a distinction than would have happened if they had been allowed to sit on the back row.<br />
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I felt guilty about that then and I bear some of the scars now. Through my naive and well intentioned actions, some of my people embarrassed some of my people. Some of my people were embarrassed by my people. What was perhaps usual and customary for them at the time was new and novel for me. That scene is still emblazoned in my memory.<br />
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I was not a political man, or even a political kid. I just was on fire for God. Just trying to do right in the world.<br />
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Those were the times.<br />
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I was just a kid.<br />
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On those days when I note who sits where in church, I remember.Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-6421098728068765002015-02-24T16:54:00.000-06:002015-02-24T17:13:13.937-06:00Putting black land loss in its proper contextI just posted the following to the <a href="http://www.gofundme.com/jgaaq4">gofundme.com site</a>. I think it is important enough to repost here.<br />
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Thanks to the authors for allowing this. <br />
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The following excerpt from the pens of Drs. Spencer Wood and Cheryl Ragar and their article, "Grass Tops Democracy: Institutional Discrimination in the Civil Rights Violations of Black Farmers" (2012), captures the importance of land for the Black community. <br />
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The Grant place has its own conflicted history. Stepping out of Gary’s front door and looking east, you see, with a little imagination, a once-thriving agricultural enterprise surrounding Matthew and Florenza’s (deceased 2001) house. The house, now occupied by Evangeline, Gary’s sister and eldest daughter of the family, is a “project house” built around 1935, during the New Deal Resettlement Administration’s experiment in land reform and active involvement in the area. The machinery, in sheds filled with the trappings of farm life, sits unattended as do the out buildings and garden. A glance northwest toward the timeless Roanoke reveals an innocuous brushy wood lying in the middle of a farm field, unkempt and untilled. The indentations scattered throughout the wood are the sunken graves of the former enslaved who once worked the plantation that has since been partitioned to yield part of the Grant farm.<br />
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The cemetery of the enslaved stands as a poignant reminder of the area’s slave-holding past, connecting the struggles of the Grant family to a much larger and more inimical tradition of racism and racial inequality. The Grant family farm stands, listing for the time being, in staunch defiance of the persistent mechanisms used to maintain racial inequality. It represents emancipation, equality, and opportunity. Sharing physical and cultural space along a continuum from bondage to freedom the farm and cemetery symbolically encapsulate the colonial origins of global racism and nearly five hundred years of struggle. Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-16911274707370203772015-02-12T17:14:00.000-06:002015-02-12T17:14:02.312-06:00Black Land Loss Summit: Howard University, February 20 and 21Willie still farms on a place his grandfather purchased years ago. His modest single-wide sits beneath a beautiful oak tree whose limb stretches across the sandy loam road named for his deceased wife. His candor and gift of hospitality caught me off guard, as did his stories of how he almost lost his land.<br /><br /> It was a "ball and chain," he said, the practicalities and the humiliation of working under a supervised account, something that the white farmers did not have to do. He could not buy used equipment that would serve him well. He had to buy what the supervisor told him to buy. He got poor advice from an agent he trusted and lost money on his corn crop and pig farm operation.<br /><br /> While other farmers were getting their farm loan operating money in December, he would get his in April or May. That was too late to lease the good land, purchase the best seeds, get fertilizer into the soil. While his crops were just beginning to break through the dirt, his neighbors' crops were maturing. "My darkest days were when I would get a letter in the mail saying they were going to foreclose on me."<br /><br /> To supplement the family income, he had to drive hours away from the farm. His children grew up without him. His wife had health problems. She was diagnosed with asthma. She died from congestive heart failure. All, Willie says because he could not afford good medical care.<br /><br /> He came very close to losing his land, the land his family owned for generations. He prevailed under Pigford I. He barely kept his land. <br /><br /> His story is deep with themes of struggle and resilience. The stories left me stunned. <br /><br /> "My name is written in the land," he said. His story is written on my heart. I am committed to telling his story and stories of other farmers in places and spaces where they cannot go. <br /><br /> The stories must be told.<br />
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You will find more information at: <a href="http://www.gofundme.com/jgaaq4">http://www.gofundme.com/jgaaq4</a><br />
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Would appreciate your support in getting black farmers to the summit at Howard University on the 20 and 21st, Washington, DC.Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-17539243294645643572015-02-07T12:00:00.000-06:002015-02-07T12:00:50.274-06:00The Summit is ComingThe list of names is impressive, perhaps the most impressive of any BFAA Summit in recent years.<br />
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The effort needs your help in raising funds to send Black farmers from their farms in the rural south to Howard University for the Summit. <a href="http://www.gofundme.com/jgaaq4">Here is a link that describes those needs.</a><br />
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Here is a photo that is powerful as well. Thanks to Shoun Hill for his creative photography that captures the people and the work.<br />
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This of presenters includes farmers, Pete Daniel, Cassandra Jones Havard, Spencer Wood, Gary Grant, Ridgely Muhammad, and others.Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-70268822756210572712013-11-02T18:28:00.000-05:002013-11-02T18:37:15.792-05:00Historic Wiley CollegeA while back my wife and I meandered along some new and old trails from New Boston down to southeast Texas. The scenery was wonderful, the food was great, and the conversations along the way were inspiring.<br />
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We were especially interested in walking the campus of <a href="http://www.wileyc.edu/">Wiley College</a>. We had heard about the school for several years, but the Denzel Washington movie, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Debaters">The Greater Debaters,</a> placed it higher on the list. The afternoon was a bit dreary with a slight mist in the air. We parked and headed onto the campus. Immediately a young woman asked if we were visitors. We replied in the affirmative and she stopped to chat with us. She told us the story of her path from Memphis, Tennessee to Marshall, Texas, her interest in music, and how in the week to follow, she was going to meet Denzel Washington. The young woman with the unique name and story, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab8v4AXhims">Diamonique Jackson,</a> you can hear <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qldMrX3G1M">more of her story here.</a> She was amazing both in person and on the stage in those two videos. Not long into our conversation, another college student, Terrell, joined us. Also from Memphis, he was on the Wiley campus to get a degree and job in the tourism and hospitality industry.<br />
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A distinguished gentleman also walked by and called out to us, "Are you visiting?" "Yes, we are." "Then come to hear students discuss JFK's death tonight. At 6:00 there in the library." We thanked him and he went on. <br />
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At 6:00 we returned to the library. There was the young musician, participating along with 30 or so other students in a variety of groups, debating and discussing a variety of theories about President Kennedy's assassination. <a href="http://www.ksla.com/story/19710828/great-debaters-weigh-in-on-the-presidential-debate?clienttype=printable">Professor David Whitehead</a> skillfully led the class and the presentations. The students competently presented their materials and handed in their papers to Professor Whiteside. One student had graduated the previous year with a degree in chemistry. She had also worked on last year's debate team. She was proud of her school's national championship. Here is one picture. Hope you enjoy it. <br />
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We were stirred. On the same campus as the debaters. Students with inspiring stories. A professor with a passion for his material and his students.<br />
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Glad we dropped by. Would like to have stayed longer. Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-20802519894178505212013-06-22T12:14:00.000-05:002013-06-22T12:14:22.375-05:00Where has the time gone: Thinking About Then and Now and Points in BetweenMy journal for 5/6/08, Tuesday, is decidedly understated for such a significant day in the story of Charla and Waymon Hinson. It simply says, "Told -- Reese, faculty, staff, students -- Charla told office staff." That was the day five years and a few weeks ago when we had reached our decision to move to Ada, Oklahoma to work for the Chickasaw Nation and to develop its family-oriented programming. I remember that the man who would become my administrator and then later my Secretary, Department of Family Services said, "We will take you whenever you can get here, but the earlier you come, the more you'll be able to shape policy; the later you come, the more you will work to program policies that someone else developed." Or something like that. I appreciated his candor then and now.<br />
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And so, on that day, I announced to the students and then later had to reiterate in a supervision setting to one who had not attended the original meeting that I was indeed leaving. It was a hard conversation, one of many between then and August.<br />
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Just a few days later, I wrote a post sharing with students and the few readers of my blog what the move was all about. <a href="http://letjusticeroll.blogspot.com/2008/06/moving-but-not-going-anywhere.html">You can read that original post here, if you'd like</a>. That was a meaningful post. It contained what was important to me then and what is important to me now. So, the last few days, I have been reflecting upon that post against the current status of things. Here are a few thoughts.<br />
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I love what I am doing. I love the people with whom I get to work. It is stirring to consider working with an incredible Tribe, attempting to bring family systems theory, or "family ways of thinking," to this part of the world, and to anticipate that it will make a difference for years to come. Those things keep me moving day to day. Connecting the old ways with this current time and place.<br />
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At that time, my position was that of director of one office with input in two other areas. Today, I am honored to serve the Chickasaw People and other American Indian People as well as employees of the Nation and anyone who touches the life of an Indian child via my role as Executive Officer of a division that has seven offices and more to come. It has been a learning curve of immense proportions. Trust has been both obvious and unspoken by leaders of the Tribe. They know and I know why I am here and the end toward which our efforts move, that of serving the People.<br />
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Five years ago, we anticipated a clear linkage between the Tribe and my former university in Texas. That did not happen and perhaps won't happen for a variety of reasons. Disappointing, and time to move on. Instead, I am committed to enhancing the quality of MFT education in Oklahoma and within the Tribe. Various partnerships have been forming across the state and within this small city. It involves advocacy and efforts at the state regulatory board and legislative levels. It also has involved intentional conversations with universities about efforts the Tribe is bringing to the table, so to speak.<br />
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Within the Tribe, and this particular area of work, we are developing a Family Therapy Training Academy with its three tiers, a ten module, year old project; supervision of supervision which is being produced by quality employees and a professor from a nearby university with an MFT program; and the ongoing monthly case staffings. Yesterday was a good illustration of these efforts as we brought an outside speaker to our employees and offered CEU credit for the licensed employees. It is an area of which I am most proud and pleased. The benefits for the People are seen often. <br />
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Five years ago I wrote of a desire to continue working in the area of African American farmer and advocacy efforts by developing teams of student advocates around here. Frankly and disappointedly that has not happened. Charla and I are still deeply committed to advocacy efforts. We support the movement. We speak often in public and private places and spaces of these efforts. <a href="http://www.bfaa-us.org/">BFAA </a>and <a href="http://spencerdwood.weebly.com/index.html#SlideFrame_1">its supporters are among our closest friends</a>. <a href="http://www.academia.edu/1990239/Black_Farmers_United_The_Struggle_Against_Powers_and_Principalities">Here is an incredible article that lines it all out.</a> These are good friends. These people are my people. We communicate often with members of those early justice teams, following them as they make differences in the world in all of the places in which they live and walk. They know who they are. <a href="http://mananutrition.org/">Here is one of the efforts</a> of these good people, students then, advocates in the real world now.<br />
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I will die with this effort close to my heart. We have much to do there. There are unspoken conference presentations. There are unwritten research articles. There are undeveloped land loss summits and music events on the soil of Tillery, North Carolina. There are unwritten posts on this blog.<br />
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However, and that is an important however, there have been deep and rich advocacy efforts on behalf of Indian people. Administrative decisions have been made, <a href="http://www.chickasaw.net/services/index_6994.htm">programs have been developed,</a> leaders have been hired and appointed, and there have been great front line staff and clinicians hired. Stories from their efforts in the tornado relief effort fill my heart. From the upper reaches of NW Oklahoma City to the farthest edges of the Chickasaw Nation service area just north of the Red River, and from east to west here in the service area, people are being served. Advocacy efforts of various sorts are occurring for the Native People. <br />
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Enough! We have indeed moved from Abilene to Ada, from Texas to Oklahoma, from a university to a Nation of the Indian People. <br />
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We will continue to work on behalf of African American farmers. <br />
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At the end of the day, so to speak, this was the answer to a calling, a "yes" to the next chapter of our lives and work. We are glad we made it. And I say "we" intentionally. Most "I's" of me come with the "we" of us, Charla and me. Always has been. Always will be. The way it is meant to be. So, yes, these people are my people regardless of skin color, race, gender, and ethnicity. We move on to drum beat of righteous causes.<br />
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For those who read the words of these pages, please feel free to respond. Thanks for following. I hope we can continue to stay in touch on behalf of the causes of righteousness within our land and in our world.<br />
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Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-49588057510565826442013-05-25T11:28:00.001-05:002013-05-25T11:28:41.977-05:00Whatever you want to call itWe live in perilous times, though probably not much different than any other time. In the news, on the television, and on our smart phones there it is. Tales of suffering and woe, tragedy and loss. Though there are numerous and plentiful stories of miracles, or heroic efforts, or heartwarming acts, the losses are there. They are global, they are country specific, they are community laden, and then they are personal. From around the world to my back yard.<br />
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There are numerous attributions. Beyond our control. Acts of God. Willful theft. Some with no one to blame. Some intentional. Some careless.<br />
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A loss to people and property and lives these days are the stories in Oklahoma with the myriad of tornadoes that have touched land and life. <br />
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Losses of immeasurable sorts go back to<a href="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/"> the days of Jim Crow</a> when lynching was upon the land. People and groups took what was not theirs to take, lives of people. Striking fear in the heart of people of color who did not know who or whose would be next. In Hale's work, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Making-Whiteness-Culture-Segregation-1890-1940/dp/0679776206">Making Whiteness: The culture of segregation in the South, 1890-1940,</a> it was public theater. People came and watched and even left with souvenirs. <br />
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I cannot use that word, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching">lynching,</a> because it is not a part of the culture of my people, though it is a part of the stories of people for whom I care deeply and with whom I have worked since the early to mid-90s. I do recall an African American professor who described theft of her original work on Emett Till as a lynching. Another African American professional in the midst of social and organizational mistreatment called it a lynching. Genocidal.<br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_of_Tears">Trail of Tears</a> is another story or set of stories of loss, and again, not my story, but stories of people for whom I care deeply and with whom I have worked since 2008. Loss of land, culture, language, and identity. Perilous losses. A blight on the history of this land. Genocidal. <br />
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My personal story of loss pales by comparison. A bi-cultural team, a bi-cultural group with their stories of suffering and loss, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_dishonesty">academically fine-tuned processes</a> for the social sciences. Agreements to honor their stories confidentially bound to specific names. Agreement to coauthor. Materials written by me, then written by me for a group, and then with no advanced warning, out in the public domain with no attribution to the writer/s and group participants. The work of a group appropriated or rather mis-appropriated by one. The ironies are striking. I still have the original documents. Who did what is very clear. Professionals still wonder as to how and why it all spun out this way. Frankly, I do as well. <br />
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I still recall the day when upon reading a published piece, I thought, "that reads like something I would write." True enough. There it was.<br />
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From there, relationships lost, vilification and other things. Lessons learned, and some relearned: I exist in an institution only insofar as I help to perpetuate that institution's ideals, sometimes we vilify the whistle blower, ethical codes contain both aspirational and enforceable aspects of professional life, justification does not make right, and among other things, the one who has lost something has to decide what to hold on to and what to let go of. I do, though, ponder what goes on the head of the justifier and the protected.<br />
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I will spend some time over the next few days with those who have lost much. I will also spend time with those who have spent time with those who have lost much. My losses are minimal compared to those who have lost much if not all: my African American friends' ancestors, my American Indian friends' ancestors, my employees' friends', and the citizens of this state and others.<br />
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I will still advocate for those who have lost their lands by various and sundry egregious means. I will still advocate for those whose land, identity, culture, and language were taken from them. I will still advocate for righteousness in all of our dealings.<br />
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May God have mercy on us all.Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-31428801198477172692013-02-18T12:21:00.000-06:002013-02-18T15:13:57.468-06:00Still I Rise: A Graphic Novel of African Americans<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ_N4s8-3AFODli322QGjJ_46w3FIzGFpnJ_sYU-x0hugsrfucCny10u22p0lzbSvLc9PXdT6hhwqRIFPZUWV6eOIlfkcBY0rrNXUsn4aBT0M6LG_Lb3qT_E5taGrN4aWVG6iTJ71MBZQ/s1600/516F7arLpRL__SY300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ_N4s8-3AFODli322QGjJ_46w3FIzGFpnJ_sYU-x0hugsrfucCny10u22p0lzbSvLc9PXdT6hhwqRIFPZUWV6eOIlfkcBY0rrNXUsn4aBT0M6LG_Lb3qT_E5taGrN4aWVG6iTJ71MBZQ/s400/516F7arLpRL__SY300_.jpg" width="270" /></a>A while back my oldest son was in a comic book store, or maybe it was just a normal book store. He laid eyes on a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Still-Rise-Graphic-History-Americans/dp/1402762267">particular graphic novel</a> that he thought, "That's up my dad's alley," or something to that effect. He was right. Originally released in the early '90s, Laird, Laird, and Bey re-released <strong>Still I Rise: A Graphic History of African Americans</strong> shortly after President Obama's election. I'm glad they did. <br />
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The history of African people in the United States is told in<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Still_I_Rise:_A_Graphic_History_of_African_Americans"> comic book form</a>, or graphic novel form, from the shores of Africa to Dr. Martin Luther King to President Obama. Obviously it has to be short and concise. The histories of other people are told: Sojourner Truth, C. J. Walker, Ida B. Wells, Malcolm X, Carter G. Woodson, and Deadria Farmer-Paellmann, and many, many more. Critiqued as a "first rate scholarship" effort, and full of "sometimes acerbic, other times perceptively humorous, and always powerfully honest," I recommend this book to you.<br />
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It appeals to me as a student of Black farmers as I understand even more the context within which blacks were meant to work the land but never to own the land. It informed me again and again as to how the USA has been built on the backs of blacks who were enslaved and then continually disenfranchised by the privileged white society. <br />
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Epic struggles are laid out, key events in US and black history, and contributions of blacks to science, industry, agriculture, and the US military. <br />
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Buy it. Read it. Read it to your children. Give it to you children to read. All will be perturbed and blessed, and blessed to be perturbed again. That is a good thing.Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-56801376659535505612012-11-23T21:44:00.000-06:002012-11-23T21:44:20.272-06:00Dear God, If You Please<div align="center">
Dear God, If You Please (1992)</div>
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Matthew L. Watley</div>
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Dear God, if you please, let me be paranoid.</div>
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I know this sounds like the strangest request.</div>
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But it's the only thing can fill this void.</div>
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And until it is fulfilled, I'll find no rest.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
It seems today that the world is against me,</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The only reason being that my skin is black.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I try to convince myself this just isn't true,</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Yet all of the evidence shows it as fact.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I see poor education and unequal chances.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I see people mistreated---their skin like mine.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I am told these things don't really exist,</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
But I just don't think they're all in my mind.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Why then would I still not believe?</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Because I'd lose all my hope, I'd lose all faith.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
If I accepted my suspicions simply as truth,</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Then wouldn't this world be an evil place?</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
So, God, you must see the need for me to be paranoid,</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Then this world really wouldn't be so bad.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Then all that I see is not a true picture.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Lord, let me be paranoid so I know I'm not mad.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<em><strong>Conversations with God: Two Centuries of Prayers by African Americans by James M. Washington, 1994, HarperCollins.</strong></em></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-27395438789255429702012-10-15T16:12:00.000-05:002012-10-15T16:12:21.827-05:00<a href="http://open-site.org/blog/social-media-election/"><img alt="Social Media Election" border="0" src="http://open-site.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/SOCIAL-MEDIA-ELECTION.gif" width="550" /></a>Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-79319371692501339042012-07-28T17:09:00.000-05:002012-07-28T17:09:08.686-05:00At the carwashIt was a Saturday morning. The truck had sat under a sap-producing tree for too long. While on a trip through town, my wife and I noticed a group of young people washing cars on a lot adjacent to an auto tune business. "They'll get the sap off the truck," we both agreed. Sure enough it was a group of college students from <a href="http://www.ecok.edu/">East Central University</a>, the dance squad and the cheerleader team. <a href="http://www.ecok.edu/campus_life/cheerleading.htm">You just might find him on this page. </a><br />
<br />
One of the cheerleaders notice my t-shirt with the logo from the Negro League Hall of Fame in Kansas City, Missouri. Nice shirt he said. Thanks, but puzzled by his comment. Yes, now to mention it, that is one of my favorite shirts and favorite spots for Negro league baseball. Said he had one with all of the Negro league teams and their logos on it. Said I could have it if I'd give him my address, that he'd done the same a while back for a friend who'd liked a Michael Jordan shirt he was wearing. Honored at your generous thought, but, no thanks. Keep wearing it and showing the love about things that matter. He could wear it in crowds where I could not go. People need to know about the Negro leagues and their contribution to baseball and justice.<br />
<br />
We also talked about black farmers and social justice. Not a long conversation, just a short one while they were cleaning my truck.<br />
<br />
The point? We live in a small world. People notice. People chat things up. <br />
<br />
I was moved by this brief conversation.<br />
<br />
I am going to google his squad, find out his name, and follow him and his cheer leading squad through his years at East Central University. <br />
<br />
Thanks, young man, for the chat. Made my day.Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-91313608206714401732012-04-07T18:27:00.001-05:002012-04-07T19:06:23.842-05:00Shoun Hill, Photographer, Black Farmer CauseI met Shoun Hill a couple of years ago. We were on the land at a function sponsored by the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association. We had music, food, furniture, t-shirts, and golf carts all around. The stage was Gary Grant's front porch. A marvelous occasion.<br />
<br />
Shoun had come up from Georgia where he was doing a photography fellowship. My first image of him is that of Shoun emerging from a cloud of dust, camera in hand, as he took photographs up close and personal of a black farmer harvesting peanuts in Tillery, North Carolina. At that time he was doing work that he describes in this video that follows.<br />
<br />
Now, he is fund raising for an important photographic project that will tell the stories of Black farmers and their struggles to hold on to their land. Art, photography, and music are incredible ways to tell the story.<br />
<br />
Early on there was John Ficara, an incredible talent with his camera.<br />
<br />
Now there is Shoun Hill. Remember that name. Shoun Hill. <br />
<br />
I plan on supporting his work via my pocketbook. I hope you will consider doing the same. There are some tax write-off possibilities as well as perks that he will put in our hands. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/Plight-of-African-American-farmers?c=home">Here is the link to his fund raising page.</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.shounhill.com/">Here is the link to his photography page.</a><br />
<br />
Please forward these links around to your family and friends.<br />
<br />
It is a noble cause.Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-91592567121238426092012-02-20T10:54:00.002-06:002012-02-20T10:55:19.228-06:00No More, No MoreListening to "No More Auction Block" on spotify this morning got the blood flowing again. Versions of the song by Bob Dylan, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Paul Robeson, Ella Jenkins, Odetta, Pete Seeger, The Harvesters, Frantz Cialec, and others stirred my soul, especially Dylan's and Odetta's. That reminded me of a stirring several months back when the muse was active, to put words to that marvelous old tune that would chronicle in some ways the stories of black farmers.<br />
<br />
On these pages and in thousands and thousands of other pages the stories have been told. To the white farmer goes the advantages, and especially to the large corporate farmer, and goodbye to the small family farm, and more so to the black-owned family farm.<br />
<br />
Here is Robeson's version:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4EYOW3ShOpY" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
Here are Waymon's words reflecting upon the plight of the black farmer. These words are copyrighted to me, but feel free to sing them. Sing them loud and sing them with feeling.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No more sleepless<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>nights for me,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>No more, no more<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No more sleepless nights for me,<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Many thousands gone.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No more wonderin’ when for me,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>No more, no more<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No more wonderin’ when for me,<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Many thousands gone.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No more govm’t threats to me,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>No more, no more<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No more govm’t threats to me,<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Many thousands gone.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No more idle fields for me,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>No more, no more<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No more idle fields for me,<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Many thousands gone.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No more courthouse steps for me,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>No more, no more<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No more courthouse steps for me,<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Many thousands gone.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No more land loss tales for me,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>No more, no more<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No more land loss tales for me,<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Many thousands gone.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No more hangin’ from a tree,<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>No more, no more<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No more hangin’ from a tree,<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Many thousands gone.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No more empty promises for me,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>No more, no more<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No more empty promises for me,<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Many thousands gone.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No more IRS duns for me,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>No more, no more<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No more IRS duns for me<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Many thousands gone.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No more injustices done to me,<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>No more, no more<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No more injustices done to me,<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Many thousands gone.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No more courthouse steps for me,<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>No more, no more<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No more courthouse steps for me,<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Many thousands gone.<o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
Things to ponder. Many things to ponder.Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-6552165378873163192012-02-11T12:15:00.004-06:002012-02-11T12:21:16.503-06:00Satchel Paige: Graphic NovelThere are several comic book readers in my family. Comics got me onto the path of reading. My youngest son gifted me recently with a 1955 Classic comic about Davy Crockett. It brought back a lot of memories. Those were the days of Archie, Batman and Robin, the Green Lantern, and Superman. In my personal collection are the Book of Genesis Illustrated, word for word from the King James text, and Miller's Holy Terror, and a couple of others, along with a few others. Rumor has it that justice oriented graphic comics are here somewhere, gifts of my oldest son, but I can't find them. Maybe they've been misplaced in our moves over the last few years.<br />
<br />
While my sons and grandsons still read and collect those comics, my reading interests have changed. I enjoy keeping up with the old favorites via them. My interests lean toward social justice themes. One overlap popped up recently. <br />
<br />
<strong>Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow</strong>, written by James Sturm and Rich Tommaso with an introduction by Gerald Early, and published by The Center for Cartoon Studies, is a wonderful graphic novel. Written through the lense of Emmet Wilson, sharecropper and former baseball player, the story gives the historical background of farming while black on someone else's land and how it was simply another version of slavery and the plantation days. It was dangerous to speak out against the white landowners. You might wind up wounded or dead. Ask Mr. Wilson.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjocFwyaufMYqxlvBf6Pj1yXihph2K9K19Pam5OZHM3XeWAVApp3_-gV9fV3HWaN6sDntnByfmrtdSqU1mowSXZDyFOPZXsoYejnvHVUa6eBM1H_v5nu20J9VAOETJ3Y2qL-ZaAJEtyXKc/s1600/cover+paige.12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjocFwyaufMYqxlvBf6Pj1yXihph2K9K19Pam5OZHM3XeWAVApp3_-gV9fV3HWaN6sDntnByfmrtdSqU1mowSXZDyFOPZXsoYejnvHVUa6eBM1H_v5nu20J9VAOETJ3Y2qL-ZaAJEtyXKc/s1600/cover+paige.12.jpg" /></a>Against this story of pain, suffering, and humiliation arises Satchel Paige, one of the most notable players from the Negro Leagues, a rookie for the Cleveland Indians in `1942, and an inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971. His story is remarkable. He helped change history. Though he came across as the consummate showman, he was a serious and gifted athlete.<br />
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I'll not rob you of the pleasure of reading the entire book. I hope you'll purchase it and read it to the children so that our future can be different from our past. One quote though. Long after Emmet had retired from baseball due to an injury, and during the hard days of working the land, he also had a son, Emmet, Jr. One day he pulls out a souvenir from his baseball days, the day he got a hit off Satchel and got an autographed baseball from him. As he gave the ball to his son, he said, <em>"For the first time, I told Emmet, Jr. the story of how his daddy went head-to-head with Satchel Paige. And unlike them Tuckwilla boys, his daddy came out on top. For the first time since I played ball, since Emmet, Jr. was a baby, I felt somethin' on the inside. I remembered the type of man I am. I gave Emmet, Jr. that ball....I hope it reminds him of who he can be."</em><br />
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Here are some links. <a href="http://cartoonstudies.org/books/paige/">Here is the book. </a> <a href="http://blogs.publishersweekly.com/blogs/shelftalker/?p=358">Here is a review of the book.</a> <a href="http://www.satchelpaige.com/index.php">Here is the official Satchel Paige web page.</a>Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-3363151817566989772012-01-21T19:15:00.003-06:002012-01-21T19:22:07.287-06:00Red Tails, the Movie, A Must SeeThe story of Tuskegee airmen in WWII is a must see for those who care about justice and for those who are unwilling to let stories of courage die. Directly from the Jim Crow rule of law at the time, facing the reality that Jim Crow ways of thinking and living were alive and well on the battlefield, these men fought Hitler's army, sometimes their own fellow airmen, and for freedom in America, creating along the way an incredible legacy.<br />
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See <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Airmen">this link</a> for more details.<br />
<br />
Check out<a href="http://www.tuskegeeairmen.org/"> this one as well.</a><br />
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Put at the top of the use of your entertainment dollar that of seeing this movie. I'm also going to <a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/Red_tails_black_wings.html?id=3L8hAQAAIAAJ">go buy the book</a> from which this movie was taken.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0H_FNDDF_EM">Hit this link for some background</a> on the movie.Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-79752123024990232392012-01-16T17:22:00.001-06:002012-01-16T20:46:40.117-06:00On Martin Luther King Day 2012Today is a day of reflection and service. My pondering has led me into such places as the current status of civil rights for people of color, for women, for marginalized populations. I am wondering how we as a society are better all of these years after Dr. King's death. How are we the same? Some matters are heartening, others not so.<br />
<br />
Today is also a day of personal wonderings. How would my own personal world be different had Dr. King not given the ultimate sacrifice? What have I been able to experience because he came. What would be missing had he not come? Here are a few personal reflections.<br />
<br />
Dr. King gave his life as the ultimate sacrifice and because of that sacrifice I was able to have Dr. Robert Lee Washington as a high school teacher; Charles, a friend from upstate New York, my wife, and I had that experience of looking for an apartment in Memphis long ago and were able to make sense of it; the N-word is not a part of my vocabulary; and bringing together kids of all groups, black and white, rich and poor, public school and private, middle and upper class neighborhoods and projects was an important effort at the church in Memphis.<br />
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Developing four social justice teams at Abilene Christian University in the COAMFTE-accredited MFT program happened and all of our lives are different as we explored Black farmer, Black Indian, and white privilege issues, and as we presented at various forums around the country, Christian and secular.<br />
<br />
Meeting and engaging BFAA, Gary and the Grant family, Dr. Muhammad, Dr. Spencer Wood, and farmers in North Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas have been rich and challenging. Hearing story after story after story and gathering health and well being information, for me have been life changing.<br />
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Publishing a modest piece with Dr. Edward Robinson and seeing it referenced in several journal articles says that the work is being noticed. Ours was just one piece that this researcher and preacher of the gospel was working on at that time.<br />
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Walking the farmers' land in Georgia, North Carolina, Louisiana, Texas, and other places brought a gripping reality to the progress and the lack thereof in matters related to the USDA.<br />
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Meeting USDA officials at one meeting and being encouraged by one person to just tell the farmers to get over it and move on and at the same conference feeling moved as one speaker had us shut off our microphones as she spoke from the heart about injustices.<br />
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Participating in mediation hears with DOJ and the USDA brought home the reality of how persons in governmental positions saw Black farmers versus how Black farmers viewed themselves and their stories. I am swayed by both. Power and privilege and the lack thereof will forever be significant concepts and realities.<br />
<br />
Meeting Harry Young and marching on his behalf in Kentucky with Monica Davis, Charla Hinson, Dwayne Burger, and others provided an insight into organizing protests. Attending the community action meeting with Gary Grant and others in Scotland Neck, NC as that community attempted to save its local schools and their kids from six hours on a bus every day gave me a perspective on community activism and its influences.<br />
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Walking through Sweet Auburn and reflecting on a friend's words, "Several years ago we would not have been able to do this," meaning that a black man and a white man could not walk across the street in that section of Atlanta or any other black section of America had it not been for Dr. King. <br />
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Considering the fact that I now live in Indian Country, work for an American Indian tribe, bringing a family way of thinking to a people who still experience the impact of historical trauma. Those experiences at ACU and with Black farmers prepared me for this work. Thinking, talking, and strategizing about how to bring music and lyrics of farmers' struggles into the mainstream is something I do often<br />
<br />
The questions are still the same. In what societal ways and in what personal ways are you and I different because Dr. King came? In what ways are we personifying his "I Have a Dream" speech that day in DC? In what ways are we helping to remove Jim Crow ways of thinking from the hearts of people? <br />
<br />
Just wondering this evening. Just recounting a few personal stories.Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-71437346630380183182011-06-04T10:54:00.000-05:002011-06-04T10:54:55.732-05:00Troubling My Soul<strong><em>Few things trouble my soul quite like the challenges the Grant family in Tillery, NC has with holding on to their farm. Their story is well chronicled in many places on the web. Gary has been an activist since he was a youth. His sister, Van, likewise. My wife and I love them and respect them deeply. </em></strong><br />
<br />
<strong><em>Please take the time to read the letter that follows. Pray for this family. Contribute to the cause of this family. Help us to help this family. They have given much to the righeous cause of justice, and justice especially for African American farmers.</em></strong><br />
<br />
<strong><em>This letter is addressed to Eric Holder, Attorney General of the US. Feel free to cut and paste it and send it on under your name.</em></strong><br />
<br />
<strong>TO: </strong><br />
<br />
<strong>The Obama Administration</strong><br />
<strong>Attention: Eric Holder, Attorney General</strong><br />
<strong>U.S. Department of Justice</strong><br />
<strong>950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW</strong><br />
<strong>Washington, DC 20530-0001 </strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>askdoj@usdoj.gov </strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>FROM:</strong><br />
<strong>_____________________________________</strong><br />
<strong>_____________________________________</strong><br />
<strong>_____________________________________</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Ph: ____________E-mail: _______________</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>RE: Matthew and Florenza Moore Grant - (Gary Grant v. USDA)</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><br />
<strong>I am very concerned that the legal case of Matthew and Florenza Moore Grant vs. USDA was recently and unfairly thrown out by a North Carolina District Federal Court.</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>For over thirty years the Grant family has been fighting for justice and is now being buried once again in legalized minutia, with serious consequences. These are the facts that are not disputed: USDA has played a dangerous and proverbial game of “cat and mouse” offering the Grants, on three occasions, a settlement which never materialized, though never because the Grants rejected it. At the same time not one employee of USDA has been penalized, fired, or denied their retirement benefits. The USDA, whose employees perpetuated all the years of discriminatory policies against the Grants and other Black farmers, remains unscathed.</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Now the courts are retreating from addressing these claims as they sense political pressure from right-wing ideologues and right-wing zealots such as columnist Andrew Breitbart and Representatives Steve King (R-IA) and Michele Bachmann (R-MN), who are trying to stop Black farmer settlements by arguing that there is “rampant fraud” among the claimants. Not only are these claims unsupported, but no one has ever made any such claims regarding the case of the Grant family. The “investigations” by Breitbart, King, Bachmann, and others are sadly more racialized witch-hunt than objective fact finding.</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>There have been many important struggles in the Civil Rights Movement. Discrimination against Black farmers is an important civil rights struggle today. The Grant family has been, and continues to be, part of the Black farmer leadership cadre. In what appears to be an effort to attack the leadership of this struggle, the USDA, Department of Justice, and various courts have singled out the Grant family and other families who have stood as part of the Black farmer leadership by drawing out their cases. Most recently emboldened by a shifting political climate, lower-level courts have single-handedly dismissed the legal demands of several leadership families. This is a stunning and legally unsound tactic that perpetuates the egregious suffering of Black farmers. This is all occurring while no one disputes that these families suffered devastating discrimination at the hands of local USDA officials.</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Mr. and Mrs. Grant both died in 2001overwhelmed and broken-hearted because their government had failed them so miserably. As progressive farmers, their land and way of life, and their happiness and well-being had been racially exploited and were in serious jeopardy. </strong><br />
<br />
<strong>I want to add my influence and voice to support the settlement of the Grants’ legal claims. This tragic outcome can be readily remedied with the settlement they were promised and deserve through your thoughtful and rigorous leadership.</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Regarding the struggle for equal treatment of the Black farmer, history will ask…. “What did you do?” </strong><br />
<br />
<strong>cc: Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC) - http://hagan.senate.gov/contact/ </strong>Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-1229675735474280782011-06-04T10:18:00.000-05:002011-06-04T10:18:06.706-05:00Thanks for the OpportunityIt is a rare occasion on which my wife and I both get to speak of our commitment to the cause of African American farmers. This summer at our church, a variety of folks are invited to speak of their vocations or avocations, and the ways in which God is involved.<br />
<br />
Charla and I traced the history of our involvement, told stories that illustrate the plight of farmers against the racism of the USDA, and placed all of these issues against the larger context of God's Kingdom Come, and the place that social justice has in the greater threads of the Christian movement.<br />
<br />
Frankly, we were reminded once more of how the stories have impacted our lives. We think the audience was more than curious about the Cause. <br />
<br />
So, thanks to <a href="http://www.adacentralfamily.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=56&Itemid=69">Eddie Poblete</a>, minister of the <a href="http://www.adacentralfamily.net/">Central Church of Christ, Ada, Oklahoma,</a> for inviting us to speak. My prayer is that more activists for the Cause have been found.Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-7470308388489022612011-05-28T10:44:00.001-05:002011-05-28T10:46:44.633-05:00Auction Blocks and Courthouse StepsFor several weeks now I have had various words and tunes in my head that parallel auction blocks and sale of Black-owned farms on courthouse steps. Not that these two situations are entirely analogous, but that they do have some curious and demeaning parallels. "No More Auction Block" by Robeson, Odetta, and Dylan is the standard. At the end of the day, I may just add some lyrics to that haunting tune.<br />
<br />
In the midst of doing some research on auction blocks, I came across the book, <em>Bullwhip Days: The Slaves Remember. </em><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1475958.Bullwhip_Days">You can read a review here</a>. It is not a warm-hearted read, but it is a "I need to know and respect and remember" read. One remembrance that especially moved my heart and fits into the conversation about lyrics and tunes is one by James Martin. Here he is in his own words:<br />
<br />
<strong>The slaves are put in stalls like the pens they use for cattle--a man and his wife with a child on each arm. And there's a curtain, sometimes just a sheet over the front of the stall, so the bidders can't see the "stock" too soon. The overseer's standin' just outside with a big blacksnake ship and a pepperbox pistol in his belt. Across the square a little piece, there's a big platform with steps leadin' up to it.</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Then, they pulls up the curtain, and the bidders is crowdin' around. Them in back can't see, so the overseer drives the slaves out to the platform, and he tells the ages of the slaves and what they can do. They have white gloves there, and one of the bidders takes a pair of gloves and rubs his fingers over a man's teeth, and he says to the overseer, "You call this buck twenty years old? Why there's cup worms in his teeth. He's forty years old, if he's a day." So they knock this buck down for a thousand dollars. They calls the men "bucks" and the women "wenches."</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>When the slaves is on the platform--what they calls the "block"--the overseer yells, "Tom or Jason, show the bidders how you walk." Then, the slaves step across the platform, and the biddin' starts.</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>At these slave auctions, the overseer yells, "Say, you bucks and wenches, get in your hole. Come out here." Then, he makes 'em hop, he makes 'em trot, he makes 'em jump. "How much," he yells, "for this buck? A thousand? Eleven hundred? Twelve hundred dollars?" Then, the bidders makes offers accordin' to size and build.----</strong>page 291.<br />
<br />
These images must not be denied nor forgotten.<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4EYOW3ShOpY" width="425"></iframe>Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-31493016350585152032011-05-08T20:48:00.001-05:002011-05-08T20:50:01.609-05:00Just a Few More WordsThe previous post from today deserves a few more words. As most of you who read the words on these pages know, I have been actively involved with the Black Farmers and Agriculturalists Association since 2005. A modest faculty renewal leave from Abilene Christian University led to an engagement with Gary Grant, President of BFAA. Justifiably so, this organization needed to check me out. From there, my wife and I went to Tillery in the summer of 2005 followed by trips to North Carolina, Georgia, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Texas to interview African American farmers who had experienced discrimination at the hands of the USDA.<br />
<br />
That partnership led to Memphis, TN and a Black Summit, and then Summits in North Carolina, and even a modest role on the board of BFAA. Interviews with both Black and White farmers in the region.<br />
<br />
Along the way, my role was very clear: tell the stories of Black farmers in places and spaces where they will not or cannot go, explain the impact of discrimination and "farming while Black" on the health and well being of farmers and families, and get the stories and the health challenges to as broad an audience as possible.<br />
<br />
Along the way we also developed four Social Justice Teams at ACU. You'll find them within the pages of this blog. Those people and those efforts flow through my veins unlike any other work with university students. To this day, those students and I talk on occasion about those days, and they tell me about what they are doing for the cause of justice in this world. I am proud of them and the work we did.<br />
<br />
At the 12th Annual Black Land Loss Summit, immediately after lunch, we assembled for the beginning of afternoon presentations and conversations. First, there was an award to Rose Sanders, a hero in the fight for justice as she worked on behalf of farmers involved in the Pigford Class Action Suit.<br />
<br />
It was then my turn to present. Instead, Gary Grant asked for me to come forward. I was in my own world of thinking about the presentation (it is noted a post or two back). He also called in Charla from the booth outside the conference hall. I do not recall what Gary said, but I do recall the family gathering around, and Charla saying some words that only she can say in ways that only she can say them. I whispered to Gary,"I'll say a few things in my presentation." Photos were taken. <br />
<br />
I moved to the front to speak. Words would not come. Emotions did. Words would not. It is not like me to draw a blank. All I could say was "stunned." Fighting through the tears, I babbled a few things and moved into the presentation. Thankfully the moment is memorialized in the <a href="http://myprogressnc.com/index1.htm">Commonwealth Progress</a>. There we all are. I looked stunned, Charla is in tears, the family is clapping, and one grandson looks on in curiosity.<br />
<br />
So, I do not feel deserving of this award. That is what some have said. I am honored to receive the award named for a man who died before I came along. I am honored to have on my wall an award in his name. I love his family. <br />
<br />
My wife and I are committed to the cause for which he and his beloved wife died.<br />
<br />
That is the best that I can do.<br />
<br />
There is much to be done.Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-33932582964515985672011-05-08T20:24:00.001-05:002011-05-08T20:25:26.765-05:00"A Man Called Matthew Award"<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">May 8, 2011</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiruyL6ZLp4uRoGHDoswsLV_4FH9Gm_3g_3QgkQOurrc-JvfTIC8j9qKlzKEZ9JxSOL0Ech5uYDGJzPitEaAk3wCoLAaEMm9o_34gLTXbVtHj09HJBjbktOrDB4Rz9A8KB-w6S_BdkOsFA/s1600/mail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; height: 249px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; width: 240px;"><img border="0" height="200" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiruyL6ZLp4uRoGHDoswsLV_4FH9Gm_3g_3QgkQOurrc-JvfTIC8j9qKlzKEZ9JxSOL0Ech5uYDGJzPitEaAk3wCoLAaEMm9o_34gLTXbVtHj09HJBjbktOrDB4Rz9A8KB-w6S_BdkOsFA/s200/mail.jpg" width="148" /></a> </div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The Grant Family</div></div>Concerned Citizens of Tillery<br />
P.O. Box 61<br />
Tillery, NC 27887<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Dear Friends:<br />
<br />
The list of past recipients of “A Man Called Matthew Award” is lengthy and impressive, and for my name to be listed alongside theirs is an honor unlike any I have ever received. Those men and women form in my limited estimation a hall of fame of those who have immersed themselves in the fight for justice for African American farmers.<br />
<br />
Unlike that afternoon at the 12th National Black Land Loss Summit when I could not find the words to express my gratitude, the time since has allowed moments of reflection upon the intersection of our paths and convictions. A modest faculty renewal leave in 2005 from Abilene Christian University, the visits to Tillery, the friendships that you have formed with my wife, Charla, and me, engaging with students from the Social Justice Teams, the Summits at Tillery and at Franklinton Center, and the encouragement to tell the stories of farmers and families, all form an amazing tapestry of our mutual commitment to the cause of justice for African American farmers and families.<br />
<br />
Some matters are simply intellectual pursuits and look good in a faculty member’s tenure and promotion file, but justice is at the heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a reflection of the reign of God’s kingdom in this world. Our calling as followers of the Man from Nazareth is to leave the world a better place than we found it, one act of righteousness at a time.<br />
<br />
Simply put, I am very grateful for your willingness to entrust to Charla and me the stories of your lives, and to allow us to walk with you and to fight with you on behalf of African American farmers and families. My commitment is to “wear” the award with dignity, respect, and humility.<br />
<br />
With love and respect, and on behalf of Black farmers and families,<br />
<br />
Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.<br />
Activist/Advocate/Researcher<br />
<img height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiruyL6ZLp4uRoGHDoswsLV_4FH9Gm_3g_3QgkQOurrc-JvfTIC8j9qKlzKEZ9JxSOL0Ech5uYDGJzPitEaAk3wCoLAaEMm9o_34gLTXbVtHj09HJBjbktOrDB4Rz9A8KB-w6S_BdkOsFA/s1600/mail.jpg" style="filter: alpha(opacity=30); left: 497px; mozopacity: 0.3; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 34px; visibility: hidden;" width="71" />Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-69248624110589936222011-05-01T19:07:00.000-05:002011-05-01T19:07:05.403-05:00No More Auction BlockI was recently introduced to Bob Dylan's version of this song. This one by Odetta is incredible.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/IYiVKhbOtcs" width="425"></iframe>Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-57440566943899605262011-04-17T17:48:00.000-05:002011-04-17T17:48:39.437-05:0012th National Black Land Loss Summit<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilAVzPE17GF4qdeLVcgPCjZPCnAMnV6-PbECsBKNl37elwN-Cyk90kSOD86Wt0vwruoKMLNiE4AEw5S_bZSyxw7uqxuFUfFxIxRe3o2LAGUEBDhCJuFi6qBqBiMSC-ei4jeuhCBlwPm-M/s1600/photo%255B4%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilAVzPE17GF4qdeLVcgPCjZPCnAMnV6-PbECsBKNl37elwN-Cyk90kSOD86Wt0vwruoKMLNiE4AEw5S_bZSyxw7uqxuFUfFxIxRe3o2LAGUEBDhCJuFi6qBqBiMSC-ei4jeuhCBlwPm-M/s1600/photo%255B4%255D.JPG" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">The Summit title was gripping enough, "Still Fighting, Still Farming, and Still Eating," but the list of previous Summits and where this one fell was also of much interest. From 1997 to 2011, other Summits have been Black Land Loss: And Then There Was None; Justice for Black Farmers; Steps to Healing the Land; Ten Years After Pigford--Moving Forward; A Vision for the Future; and Save the Land--Benefit & Rally, just to name a few. </div><br />
The Summit has a rich background against the legacy of land loss and discriminatory practices of the USDA. The Concerned Citizens of Tillery and the Land Loss Fund are also rich in history. See this link for a summary of these <a href="http://www.bfaa-us.org/history.html">historical times and places</a>.<br />
<br />
Multiple goals were set for this year's Summit including reversing African American land loss, increasing the number of Black farm families in operation, and developing an inventory of what farm families produce around the country. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm2QnxbkCEfjD4sb6rYtboM0pWPAk6S_axsAvKDaoNJ6ojQl1e_ljwqn6wyqWNrDKmfd4ZW5PpNiG_icD3X320l9ducXGxKNZ8RsOZeedqqcLorTE_MrSojTj2UMrJ-o7O_Mfo97diTYo/s1600/photo%255B5%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; height: 217px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; width: 269px;"><img border="0" height="150" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm2QnxbkCEfjD4sb6rYtboM0pWPAk6S_axsAvKDaoNJ6ojQl1e_ljwqn6wyqWNrDKmfd4ZW5PpNiG_icD3X320l9ducXGxKNZ8RsOZeedqqcLorTE_MrSojTj2UMrJ-o7O_Mfo97diTYo/s200/photo%255B5%255D.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Dinner at the Tillery Community Center, a walk through the Tillery History House, and viewing and discussing the documentary "We Shall Not Be Moved: The History of the Resettlement Farm" got the Summit off to a good start.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1uRRgfwQ432ud0T1VB7-zPZpRhShtuyZXeVLEA4v66bGPYhjfG5zddR5uhMyga_cjINk7MP4qJULIiDSape3Y2Ae98GHXxsShDN0mJINo5VU1sKI28A_9mx1c1hseNTdXuc0tFIJ5TWs/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; height: 356px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; width: 201px;"><img border="0" height="150" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1uRRgfwQ432ud0T1VB7-zPZpRhShtuyZXeVLEA4v66bGPYhjfG5zddR5uhMyga_cjINk7MP4qJULIiDSape3Y2Ae98GHXxsShDN0mJINo5VU1sKI28A_9mx1c1hseNTdXuc0tFIJ5TWs/s200/photo.JPG" width="200" /></a>On Saturday morning, a panel of Gary Grant,<a href="http://www.bfaa-us.org/"> BFAA president</a>; <a href="http://biography.jrank.org/pages/2993/Tour-Faya-Ora-Rose.html">Rose Sanders</a>, legal counsel for Black farmers under Pigford; and <a href="http://www.muhammadfarms.com/">Dr. Ridgley Mu'min</a>, Minister of Agriculture and director of the Nation of Islam's farm participated. The two-hour session was a review and history of the <a href="https://litigation-essentials.lexisnexis.com/webcd/app?action=DocumentDisplay&crawlid=1&doctype=cite&docid=87+N.C.L.+Rev.+1230&srctype=smi&srcid=3B15&key=94b0d7c5faef86a044b385a255e1acca">Pigford Class Action Suit</a> and what it achieved and what is has left unaddressed. This was a fascinating time as three passionate leaders presented similar and different view points on Pigford.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://www.wakecountybar.org/wcbasc/2009/Bowens.pdf">Stephen Bowens, Attorney at Law with Bowens Law,</a> PLLC, presented the history and complications of Wise v. Veneman (2000) and most recent developments for the families and their cases following the decision by the courts to not certify a number of families as a class. In short, the courts are often not a place to seek justice in this day and age.</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">After lunch, I presented "Living, Dying, and Thriving: Family Life and the USDA." After several years of interviews, hours of discussing matters with farmers and family members, the verdict is clear: farming is hard work, farming for Black farmers is even more difficult, and when the USDA gets involved (as in the case for Pigford claimants and others), many signs and symptoms of the impact of discrimination are seen in the life, health, and family of the farmer and family.</div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://spencerdwood.weebly.com/#SlideFrame_1">Dr. Spencer Wood</a>, sociology faculty, Kansas State University, presented a complex set of data and interpretations related to Black land loss in "Land Loss, Confusing Statistics, & Economics of Land Ownership." He is the premier expert on this topic. In short, it is not a pretty picture.</div><br />
<a href="http://operationspringplant.blogspot.com/">Doroathy Barker</a> facilitated a group of panelists from the USDA on "USDA Rural Development and Forestry Divisions--Operation Spring Plant," in which options for the use of land were presented. If matters can be trusted, there are multiple options available for minority farmers to work the land successfully.<br />
<br />
Crystal Matthews, attorney with the <a href="http://www.landloss.org/">Land Loss Prevention Project, Durham, NC</a> described the "Land Loss Prevention Project's Smart Growth Business Center." Interesting material. See this link for more.<br />
<br />
Scott Muhammad, Co-Director with his wife, Erica Henry, of Students for Education and Economic Development (SEED, Inc.), Eutaw, Alabama, presented a challenging and captivating presentation on how to get city cousins onto the land. More specifically, his 16-week apprenticeship program looks like a doable venture. <br />
<br />
Planning for the future brought together Gary Grant, BFAA president; Eddie Wise, farmer and entrepreneur from North Carolina; and Willie Wright, research associate from UNC to the table to discuss "Where Do We Go from Here? Planning for the Future." The struggle for justice in the USDA and its policies, diversity in farming, and the future of Black land ownership were discussed.<br />
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Again, there is much to be done.<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizQd4gdT4x9pYH04O1-syHgFnsxYjRrFQyrcYoqQryBzHeUsMVEF616zmTVslHLd1_VMd_s8M2TEBpYNt2vM1zYieibBSib-s4fF0gahBKfkGl7hFbUQbcEyEozysJeUKQbJNTMvSPkiQ/s1600/ROSE.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizQd4gdT4x9pYH04O1-syHgFnsxYjRrFQyrcYoqQryBzHeUsMVEF616zmTVslHLd1_VMd_s8M2TEBpYNt2vM1zYieibBSib-s4fF0gahBKfkGl7hFbUQbcEyEozysJeUKQbJNTMvSPkiQ/s1600/ROSE.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div>Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-20797616200576827792011-04-17T15:27:00.019-05:002011-04-17T16:17:09.069-05:00Black Land Loss Summit: Personal Thoughts<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error">Tillery</span> is both a place in space and time and a personal space and place for my wife and me. We first met Gary Grant, members of the </span><a href="http://www.bfaa-us.org/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Black Farmers & Agriculturalists Association</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">, the </span><a href="http://www.cct78.org/about-cct.html"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Concerned Citizens of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Tillery</span></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">, and the Open Minded Seniors in June, 2005. Seems like we've been friends for much longer. The actual number of times we've traveled to this rural, farming community escapes me at the moment. There are the other occasions in which we have met up with these good people and other advocates for justice. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This event required preparation in a number of ways. Knowing that I was to speak and knowing the gravity of the Summit required time and energy well in advance. I am never quite prepared for events, conversations, and presentations. They have taken on a life of their own with us. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">"Still Fighting, Still Farming, Still Eating" reads like a riveting title. 12th National Black Land Loss Summit is likewise riveting. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Biblical passage printed on the conference brochure reads like something from church, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Sound familiar? Paul's letter to the Ephesians, chapter six, verse 12. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We fly into <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">RDU</span>, travel by rental car to Roanoke Rapids, marvel at the beauty along the way, check in to the motel, rest a bit, and then meet up with Gary and Spencer. It's on. A challenging evening of conversation, issues, and challenges and opportunities is just the beginning. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The next day, we head out to the Community Center after doing a few errands in town. First task of the day? Sweep the floor. We are family. We sweep the floor. After a light lunch, we set up the display table, a chronology of previous summits and gatherings in the form of t-shirts and booklets. Participants begin to arrive. The crowd swells. Dinner, "We Shall Not Be Moved," and more engaging conversations. On the way back to Roanoke Rapids from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Tillery</span>, we sing songs and tell of their origins with a person who has flown in from Alabama to join us. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Saturday morning, we shift to Halifax Community College. Displays set up, technology in place, the people begin to arrive. A stimulating day of debate, information, food, conversation both public and private, new friends who have traveled hours and hours to get there, and plans for the future. The "A Man Called Matthew Award" will remain memorable as long as I have memory. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Photos taken, goodbye exchanges made, more dinner conversation, more goodbyes, and a final trip back to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Tillery</span>. That is a skeleton outline of the weekend. More in the next post on this page. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">How to capture it? People, racism, farming, farming against all conceivable odds, different perspectives of the world, a collision of ideas and ideologies, friends forever in a common cause for justice. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">There is much to be done.</span>Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7024490883247918484.post-18209803959716762162011-04-03T17:51:00.006-05:002011-04-03T18:20:17.504-05:0012th National Black Land Loss Summit<div align="left"><strong>12<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">th</span> National Black Land Loss Summit</strong> </div><br /><div align="left"><strong>Still Fighting, Still Farming and Still Eating</strong> </div><br /><div align="left"><strong>April 8-9, 2011</strong> </div><br /><div align="left"><strong>Historic Site of the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Tillery</span> Resettlement Community</strong> </div><br /><div align="left"><strong>and</strong> </div><br /><div align="left"><strong>Halifax Community College, Weldon, NC</strong></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">Friday and Saturday, April 8 and 9, promise to be interesting and challenging days.</div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">The 12<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">th</span> National Black Land Loss Summit will be held in the beautiful farming community of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-error">Tillery</span>, North Carolina, site of the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Tillery</span> Resettlement Community and on the campus of Halifax Community College, Weldon, NC. Check out <a href="http://www.blogger.com/bfaa-us.org">the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-error">BFAA</span> web page </a>for complete details. Check out <a href="http://www.blogger.com/visithalifax.com">the Halifax web page </a>for the greater Halifax area points of interest.</div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">Special rates are offered at the <a href="http://visithalifax.com/Holiday-Inn-Express-Suites-in-Roanoke-Rapids-NC.html">Holiday Inn Express, Roanoke Rapids</a>, for attendees.</div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">The event begins at 4:00 pm on Friday and runs until 9:00 or so Friday night. There will be good food and good conversation around <a href="http://www.folkstreams.net/film,212">the documentary</a>, <strong>We Shall Not Be Moved.</strong> You will be moved at the presentation and discussion of this important piece of history.</div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">On Saturday, beginning at 9:00 am on the campus of <a href="http://www.halifaxcc.edu/">Halifax Community College,</a> and ending around 5:30 pm will be a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">riveting</span> schedule of speakers and topics. </div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">The speakers are farmers, advocates, attorneys, and researchers. They are affiliated with the USDA, the Land Loss <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Prevention</span> Project, or the Nation of Islam. Are care deeply about land loss among African American farmers. All care deeply about families.</div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">The topics range from the real truth of <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">Pigford</span> I and II, the Wise Class Action Suit denial, the impact of discrimination on the health and well being of farmers, rural development options for farmers and families, the Land Loss Prevention Project's ideas relative to business, and getting youth back into farmer. There will be much, much more.</div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">These events are always stirring and memorable. My wife and I have been to several. We hope to attend more.</div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">Here are some <a href="http://letjusticeroll.blogspot.com/search/label/11th%20Annual%20Black%20Land%20Loss%20Summit">reflections on the last Summit</a>. You'll see some photographs as well.</div><strong></strong>Waymon R. Hinson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17033715707543751829noreply@blogger.com