The only vestige of Negro League baseball today is remembered in Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. I am and think we all should be proud of the honor bestowed upon the league and the legendary stars who played in the league. Such as the great Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, James “Cool Papa” Bell, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ernie Banks and Jackie Robinson, who is credited with breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball in 1947.
This is where I have a problem – “Breaking the Color Barrier”. Could it be that this is a polite or a sanitized way of disguising the wretchedness imposed upon a race of people as a result of the Plessey Supreme Court decision that made segregation the law of the land for more than fifty years? This decision was so wretched that Blacks were not allowed to drink from the same water fountain or use the same toilet facilities, let alone play a game. Let’s be clear baseball is a game or should I say a business. This is simply what this event was about – business.
A few years after Mr. Robinson, who was not the best player in the Negro Leagues, crossed over he won the Major League’s most valuable player award, which means he was better than all the white players playing that year. To put this into prospective, the Major Leagues were losing money and the Negro Leagues were flourishing. Therefore, the “scheme” was to take the Negro players and bring them into the Major Leagues and as history shows by doing so the Negro Leagues was put out of business because all the great players followed.
Again, I want to be clear that I take nothing away for Mr. Robinson or any of the greats because they were GREAT, which was why they were marketable from a business standpoint. To prove my point, when was the last time you saw a baseball player successfully steal home in a game, something that Mr. Robinson was able to do and did regularly?
Let me close by paying homage to the greatest man in Negro Leagues history, its founder Andrew “Rube” Foster, whose vision has become little more than a footnote to the Leagues history. And that’s my Thought Provoking Perspective…
Some tunes stand the test of time, like “My Girl” and the same can be said about some groups. When you hear the melodies and incomparable classic of the Temptations today you immediately think of the greatest group of voices that ever sang a song.
The Grammy-winning Temptations achieved their legendary fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. It’s rare for someone to change the course of time but this group changed the face of music. Often imitated be rarely duplicated!
The original group included second tenor/baritone Otis Williams, first tenor Elbridge “Al” Bryant, bass Melvin Franklin, first tenor/falsetto Eddie Kendricks and second tenor/baritone Paul Williams (no relation to Otis). Among the most notable future Temptations were lead singers David Ruffin and Dennis Edwards both of whom became successful Motown solo artists after leaving the group. Other members included Richard Street, Damon Harris, Ron Tyson, Ali-Ollie Woodson, Theo Peoples, G.C. Cameron and others.
The history of the Temptations started in Detroit the home of Motown Records around 1961 as the Elgins. Overtime, as members came and went the new members carried the torch with finesse for decades. I would say this was accomplished because of the group’s mantra was “no one member is bigger than the group” and although the lineup frequently changed their impeccable sound did not.
A Motown-centric biography on the Temptations would start pretty glumly. Success eluded the group at first. Working at Motown was a “Dream Come True,” but even that song didn’t bring lasting fame. In 1963, a violent scuffle between Elbridge Bryant and Paul Williams preceded “Al’s” exit. Enter David Ruffin whose weathered tenor injected intriguing angst into the sweetest songs.
The Temptations with David Ruffin and new tunes by Smokey Robinson was the injection of magic and the just kept coming. The Kendricks led song, “The Way You Do the Things You Do,” broke pop’s Top 20 and “My Girl,” 1964 became their signature. Meanwhile, Ruffin switched off with Kendricks at lead was like nothing that has come before or since.
Norman Whitfield, a rival producer, offered brawnier hits than Robinson’s, like “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” and “I Wish It Would Rain.” By the late ’60s, his collaborations with Eddie Holland, then Barrett Strong, had earned him exclusive control over the music of the Temptations.
The group developed its own recognizable style. The Temptations wardrobe ran the fashion gamut: tuxedoes, capes, leather, linen, blues, limes, you name it. But the Tempts always looked sharp and fun in their costumes. Eddie Kendricks held some sway over this easy sophistication.
Under the direction of Broadway hoofer Cholly Atkins, the Temptations became renowned dancers, as well. Daily two-hour rehearsals ensured their movements were precise and spectacular enough to rivet fans from bare stages. Paul Williams’ choreography, including the Temptation Walk, oozed sheer erotic energy.
Onstage, group harmony ruled. Offstage, conflicts abounded, particularly between Ruffin and the others. Too much ego and flakiness cost him his membership in 1968. Though he released his own smash, “My Whole World Ended,” solo super-stardom was not meant to be.
Enter, ex-Contour Dennis Edwards’ convincing vocals, new songs by the Temptations re-emphasized the ensemble. Whitfield’s ambitious “psychedelic soul” phase fused denser grooves with sociopolitical observations, helping fans dance and think at once. Commercially, the Tempts stayed put on “Cloud Nine.”
In 1971 brought both returns and departures after “Just My Imagination,” a throwback to their tender ballads. Exit Eddie Kendricks for a solo career and the disco-esque hits, “Keep on Truckin’” and “Boogie Down.” Exit Paul Williams died as a result of suicide. Two new tenors, Richard Street and Damon Harris gamely met the challenge and held their own against the older classics.
In 1975 things shifted from Harris to Glenn Leonard. Then from Dennis Edwards to Louis Price to Dennis Edwards (who’d leave and come back several times). Then from Motown to Atlantic in 1977, then back to Motown in the early ’80s. Just in time for a reunion tour with David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks!
Enter the great Ali Ollie Woodson who played an integral part in keeping the Temptations from becoming just a nostalgia act. I would refer to him as the Temptations Temptation. I mean this in the sense that by the early 1980s, the Temptations were no longer posting hit after hit as they had in the 1960s and ’70s with songs like “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” “My Girl,” and “I Wish It Would Rain.” The soared once again with Ali!
In 1989, in flesh and in spirit, the six classic members shared the stage once more at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Smooth spokesman Otis Williams, beloved Batman fanatic Melvin Franklin, ethereally elegant Eddie Kendricks, dynamic David Ruffin, and hard-hitting Dennis Edwards all accepted the award post harmoniously for the late Paul Williams.
All I can say is thanks for the spirit of the great men for their contribution to the world. The Temptations will live for all times. Thank you fellas! And that’s my thought Provoking Perspective…
I came from a time when there was a woman named “Big Mama” and not the clown character in the Martin Lawrence movie. She was the matriarch of the black family. A woman of wisdom, strength, and courage; moreover, a proud woman who understood her roll which was to guide, direct, and give love. Her roll also included leadership used to teach young girls to be ladies and woman. Oh, do we miss Big Mama today!
I won’t try to teach or tell anyone how to be a woman but I do have a perspective from a man’s point of view. Just like a woman cannot make a boy a man – I won’t try to tell you how to be a woman. However, I am suggesting for the sake of your daughters that you try to recall the lessons taught by Big Mama. For those who read my writing, you know, I like to use examples in order to make a point.
I once gave a speech and took out a $20.00 bill and to the audience I asked, “Who would like to have this $20 bill?” Hands started going up. Nearly everyone! Then I said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this.” I crumpled up the $20 dollar bill and asked, “Who still wants it now…?” Still nearly all hands were raised. Ok, great! “What if I do this?” I dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with the bottom of my shoe. Then I picked it up the now crumpled dirty bill. “Who still wants it?” Still the hands went into the air.
No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions you make with regard to how you appear. The moral of this exercise was a very valuable lesson. The way you appear causes people (men) to want “IT”, but like the money it does not mean they want “You”. The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by who you are and that comes from your presentation.
I have another profound message Muhammad Ali’s once gave to his daughters. An incident transpired when Muhammad Ali’s daughters arrived at his home wearing clothes that were quite revealing.
Here is the story as told by one of his daughters:
“When we finally arrived, the chauffeur escorted my younger sister, Laila, and me up to my father’s suite. As usual, he was hiding behind the door waiting to scare us. We exchanged many hugs and kisses as we could possibly give in one day.
My father took a good look at us. Then he sat me down on his lap and said something that I will never forget. He looked me straight in the eyes and said, “Hana, everything that God made valuable in the world is covered and hard to get to.
Where do you find diamonds? Deep down in the ground, covered and protected. Where do you find pearls? Deep down at the bottom of the ocean, covered up and protected in a beautiful shell.
Where do you find gold? Way down in the mine, covered over with layers and layers of rock. You’ve got to work hard to get to them.”
He looked at me with serious eyes. “Your body is sacred. You’re far more precious than diamonds and pearls, and you should be covered too.”
It is not my intent to offend anyone, but you see what I see and if you knew Big Mama – you know better. I believe, if Black America is to redeem it greater glory – ladies it starts with you. And that’s my Thought Provoking Perspective…
The genius of William ”Smokey” Robinson, Jr., the most prolific singer-songwriter of our lifetime, is priceless. A thousand years from now you will hear Smokey’s music. To prove my point, “My Girl” first recorded by the Temptations is timeless and the recording sounds as fresh today as it did in 1965. Smokey is also a record producer, former record executive, and one of the founders of the music label that changed the world – Motown.
Robinson is most notable for being a songwriter, sure, but he was also the founder and front man of The Miracles, for which he also served as the group’s chief songwriter and producer. Robinson led the group from its 1955 origins as The Five Chimes until 1972 when he announced a retirement from the stage to focus on his role as Motown’s vice president.
Smokey was born in Detroit and raised on the city’s North End section. At one point, he and Diana Ross were next-door neighbors; he said he has known Ross since she was eight. He later told reporters when he was a child; his uncle christened him “Smokey Joe”, which he assumed was a “cowboy name for me” until he was later told that Smokey was a pejorative term for dark-skinned blacks. He once said that he remembers his uncle saying to him, “I’m doing this so you won’t ever forget that you’re black.”
In August 1958, Robinson met songwriter Berry Gordy, who had recently stopped writing songs for Jackie Wilson after getting into a royalty dispute with Wilson’s label. Gordy took an interest in Smokey and his group to which Gordy was more impressed at the fact that Robinson was a writer than as a singer. Gordy agreed to work with them and with his help; the Matadors released their first single. Following this, the group changed its name to The Miracles after Claudette Rogers replaced Emerson Rogers.
After a number of failures and difficulties with money, Smokey suggested to Gordy that he start his own label, which Gordy agreed. Following the forming of Tamla Records, later reincorporated as Motown, the Miracles became one of the first acts signed to the label. In late 1960, the group recorded their first hit single, “Shop Around”, which became Motown’s first million-selling single. Between 1960 and 1970, Smokey would produce 26 top forty hits with the Miracles.
By 1969, Robinson had voiced his opinion on wanting to retire from the road to focus on raising a family with wife Claudette and their two children, and to also focus his duties as Motown’s vice president. However, the late success of the group’s track, “Tears of a Clown”, caused Robinson to stay with the group until 1972. Robinson’s last performance with the group was in July 1972 in Washington DC.
After a year of retirement, Smokey announced his comeback with the release of the album simply titled “Smokey” in 1973. The album included the Miracles tribute song, “Sweet Harmony” and the hit ballad “Baby Come Close”. That same year, former Beatle George featured the track “Pure Smokey” as a tribute to his idol. In 1974, Robinson’s second album, Pure Smokey was released but failed to produce hits.
Robinson answered his critics the following year with A Quiet Storm, released in 1975. The album launched three singles – the number-one R&B hit “Baby That’s Backatcha”, “The Agony & The Ecstasy” and “Quiet Storm”. With his nearly sixty years in the music industry, he is still one of the most respected and gifted musicians to grace the stage or play the game.
Try to imagine for a moment what the world would be like if we had never been blessed with the legend known by the name – “Smokey” – we love you and thank you for paving the way. God Bless you and that is my Thought Provoking Perspective…
The next city in the “Brownsville Series” is Upton in Baltimore, Maryland where I found one of the most affluent African American neighborhoods in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. As I continue my quest to resurrect the ghost of those storied segregated communities of a time long past I will examine the “Jewell of the Chesapeake”. Today, B-more is called “Charm City” which should have been the name given to this splendid community back in the day – called Upton.
In Upton, Pennsylvania Avenue was the main drag connecting all African American life in the city and beyond. To the south and west of Upton were the poor and working class African American neighborhoods of “The Bottom” – to its east were the German American and Jewish American neighborhoods. Upton is about a fifteen minute walk from Downtown Baltimore but blacks of that era had no need to go downtown, for obvious reasons, they were not allowed to patronize or enter through the front door of the white establishments – unless they were working.
Baltimore is best known for crabs, crab cakes, delicious seafood, and of course a good time, but let’s never forget it rich history. Upton was home to the most educated African Americans, property owners, and professionals to include doctors, lawyers, retailers who served the middle class and an upscale clientele. On the Avenue, as it was called, was home to a premiere shopping strip for black Baltimorians, inspiring comparisons to Lenox Avenue in Harlem. Upton had it all jazz clubs, dance halls, theaters, as well as other public and private institutions for the black community.
Upton was also the staging ground for much of the local and national civil rights initiatives. It was a crossroad for many great African Americans who fought for equality and improving conditions for communities suffering from the ridged “separate but equal laws” and cruel amoral agendas. People like the great Frederick Douglass, Justice Thurgood Marshall, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey all visited Upton and organized in its local churches. The Baltimore chapter of the NAACP was based in Upton as well as the New Negro Alliance who rallied for justice from this proud community.
In the mid-20th century, Upton’s population swelled due to the popularity of the neighborhood and the pressures of segregation that kept African Americans confined to certain areas. Single family homes were subdivided into small apartments and Pennsylvania Avenue’s sidewalks were crowded on Saturday nights, as loud music and heavy drinking became popular vices on the strip. There were several notable venues hosting great entertainment like the New Albert Hall, the Savoy and the Strands that drew many performers and partygoers.
But it was the Douglass Theater, renamed The Royal Theater, at Pennsylvania and Lafayette, that became famous and a mainstay on the Chitlin Circuit on par with the legendary Apollo Theater. Cab Calloway grew up in Upton and Eubie Blake performed his debut in a club on Pennsylvania Avenue. Stars such as Ethel Water, Pearl Bailey, Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, James Brown, Stevie Wonder and the Temptations all performed at the Royal. It was like the Apollo in the sense that you had to play the Royal to get your chops.
Churches were also a huge part of this community providing safe havens for its people. Since the 18th Century, African American churches have nurtured their souls, feed the hungry, clothed and housed the poor but their roll was far more important. The church community was a launch pad for activism and served as a communication networks, which was the backbone of the community. The church community fought for civil rights, supported business initiatives, and job placement. From the beginning going back beyond the Underground Railroad, Baltimore’s churches were a place of empowerment through worship and serve as incubators for organizing and planning regardless of domination or faith.
Baltimore has produced prominent businessmen such as Raymond Haysbert who was the owner and founder of the famed Parks Sausage Company that became the first black-owned company to go public in 1969. The Parks Sausage Company was a legend in Baltimore and you could hear its slogan “more Parks Sausages mom” everywhere. After the company experienced financial difficulties two former National Football League Hall of Famers Lydell Mitchell and Franco Harris partnered to come to its rescue maintaining the company’s black-owned legacy. James Brown, the “Godfather of Soul”, was also a prominent businessman in the city owning WEBB, a local radio station, and several other businesses.
Upton also produced its share of colorful characters known as “hustlers” who were legendary. One of the most famous was “Little Willie” Adams. Mr. Adams or “Little Willie”, as he was known, opened a shoeshine stand on the Avenue when he was 18. Sources say he was an ambitious young hustler with dreams of being his own man. One day a flamboyant numbers man got in his chair, he popped his rag like a firecracker while talking jive making him laugh. He convinced the numbers man that he too was a businessman, solid and dependable, and he wanted in on the numbers game. The hustlers slapped palms and Little Willie started at the bottom the next day as a runner.
Hustling was a family business and Little Willie was taught by his grandfather who ran an after-hours gambling house on Madison Avenue were most of Baltimore’s established hustlers and entrepreneurs enjoyed their favorite vices. Little Willie was a welcome star at grand pop’s gambling house as he was eager to learn this way of life, as early as age seven. By age 34, the young dapper Adams was already a living legend and the King of B-more. Little Willie was known to say, after he became the numbers czar, “This was our thing started by slaves”. I’m told he would say that “prayer is good but when you get up off your knees. You’ve got to hustle”.
Then there was Mr. Melvin Williams who was the inspiration for the enormously popular HBO series “The Wire.” Known as “Little Melvin”, also featured the documentary “American Gangster” where he told his story, his way. Before he was old enough to shave Little Melvin possessed a genius I.Q. of 160 but he says it’s closer to 200. Despite being a high school dropout, he can talk tax codes, inner-state commerce, calculus and physics with the best of them. Little Melvin, a legend at age 15 years old had made a few hundred grand in the gambling haunts and alleyways along glittering Pennsylvania Avenue.
When heroin addiction exploded in the 1960’s, Mafia drug traffickers sought out connections in big cities that were accustomed to dealing in large sums of cash and were smart enough to keep their mouths shut. They needed to look no further than to Melvin, known in street lore today as “the man who brought heroin to Baltimore.” For three decades Melvin ruled as the uncrowned king.
Frustrated with their inability to penetrate his operation, Baltimore police framed him by planting a hand full of pills in his pocket during an orchestrated bust. Five years later, Melvin emerged from prison a bitter man out for revenge. He accomplished his mission accumulating untold millions in narco-profits but ultimately paid the price by serving 26.5 years in prison.
His street legend was larger than life, when the Baltimore riots erupted after the 1968 killing of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., there came a knock on Melvin’s door on the fourth morning of fire and rage. In walked National Guard Gen. George Gelston, state Sen. Clarence Mitchell III, and Police Maj. William “Box” Harris. “We think you can help stop the rioting,” they said. “We’ll give you a bullhorn and a bullet-proof vest.” Williams says he told them “I’ll take the bullhorn. Give the vest to Senator Mitchell.” That afternoon, as thousands stood at Pennsylvania Avenue and Mosher Street, Williams told the crowd that they’d expressed their rage, they’d made their point — and now it was time go home. The streets quickly emptied, and that day the riots were over.
In the 1960’s and 70’s, controversial urban renewal projects destroyed much of Upton’s historic architecture, especially in the southwestern portion of the neighborhood. However, it only replaced a portion of what was removed. Once the buildings were razed it was difficult to secure developers to build new construction. The famed Royal Theater was demolished in 1971. Further problems faced Upton during this time in the form of economic depression, housing abandonment, crime, and racial rioting.
Pennsylvania Avenue is now lined with sneaker shops, dollar stores, other low-rent commercial uses, and many abandoned storefronts. The Avenue Market sells produce and holds occasional events such as jazz shows. According to the city, 60% of Upton families with children under 5 are living in poverty. The median home sale price in Upton in 2004 (not including Marble Hill) was $28,054. Many of the row houses in the neighborhood are vacant, either abandoned by their property owners or owned by the city.
Yes, the ghost of what was our creation has been stained and the Jewell of the Chesapeake has lost its luster. Unfortunately, the city of Baltimore, known as Charm City, forgot that Upton was responsible for a large part of its charm but African Americans know it lure looms large, and its legacy will never die.
This is the second article in the Black History Month series I’m calling “Brownsville”. As you travel with me on this journey exploring the rich history of those African American communities that have become little more than footnotes in the annals of time. I hope you will be empowered by knowing more about the greatness that once was our proud history. These segregated communities were the result of an unholy system imposed upon people of color commonly referred to as “Jim Crow” and every city or town in America had such a place.
This leads me to the next examination of a “Brownsville” located in Washington DC – Georgetown. DC is the capital of the free world with its avenues of grand marble structures that are more or less a crystallization of magnificence for tourist to admire. These magnificent architectural marvels are symbols of the power associated with America’s wealth. This area downtown is known as the Federal Triangle because it is the area established for federal government entities.
However, there is a hidden Washington that some have called a tale of two cities. Just blocks for these symbols of opulence live the disenfranchised, downtrodden, and neighborhoods of the forgotten. Prior to 1967, the city was run by and under federal control, which is why it is called a District – i.e., the District of Columbia. It was President Johnson who appointed Walter Washington, an African American, as the city’s first ever Mayor-Commissioner in an effort that came to be known as home rule.
The city has always been predominately African American with no real authority over its direction. The “District” as many locals call it was at that time a sleepy southern town not much different than a town in South Carolina or Mississippi as far as African Americans were concern. It was run by Dixiecrats to this point and the Dixiecrats were worst than what we know today a Conservatives or Republicans. What you may not know, even today Washington has no voting representing in Congress making the capital of the free world basically a plantation.
Washington has many African American enclaves that have long storied histories but did you know Georgetown, one of Washington’s most renowned upscale communities, was once one of them. It is probably best known today as the home of Georgetown University and its championship basketball teams coached by the legendary John Thompson, and now by his son, or the many luminous sports figures produced by the institution. You may also know Georgetown because of its world renowned nightlife, shopping or maybe a place home to famous people. One of its most famous residents was a young John Kennedy and his new bride Jackie, who called Georgetown home prior to moving into the White House.
It is also worth mentioning that many notable African American figures resided in communities around town such as the great orator Fredrick Douglass who owned a home in Anacostia. Carter G. Woodson the creator of the concept “Black History Month” also owned a home in the city. These great men and all prominent African American politicians, artists, entrepreneurs, scholars, athletes and socialites were relegated to live in a town divided by the harsh separate but equal laws of the day.
Georgetown began as a Maryland tobacco port on the banks of the Potomac River in 1751. When Congress created the District of Columbia to be the nation’s capital in 1791, its 10-mile square boundaries were drawn to include this port town, as well as the very similar Virginia tobacco port of Alexandria just across the river. Alexandria was given back to Virginia in 1846 but Georgetown remains as one of Washington’s most lively urban neighborhoods.
Georgetown historically had a large African American population, including both slaves and free blacks. Slave labor was widely used in the construction of new buildings in Washington just as they were used to provide labor on tobacco plantations in Maryland and Virginia. Let me be very clear, slaves and their labor was the workforce that built the White House, Capital, and most of the grand marble structures of opulence.
Georgetown was also a major slave trading deport that dates back as early as 1760, when John Beattie established his business on O Street and conducted business at other locations called “pens” around Wisconsin Avenue and M Street with both locations being just a short distance from the White House. Slave trading continued until the mid-19th century, when it was ended on April 16, 1862. Many former slaves moved to Georgetown following their freedom establishing this thriving community.
When African American’s settled in Georgetown the free men established the Mount Zion United Methodist Church that remains today, which is the oldest African American congregation in Washington. This feat due to their strong religious convictions was a testament to their fortitude after experiencing the horrors of slavery. Mount Zion also provided a cemetery for free burials to Washington’s earlier African American population. Prior to establishing the church, free blacks and slaves went to the Dumbarton Methodist Church where they were restricted to a hot, overcrowded balcony.
I’m sure a sense of extreme prided was evident in Washington at the time because it became the home of Howard University. Although not in Georgetown, this preeminent university was established for Blacks in 1867 with the aid of the Freedmen’s Bureau. It was named for the commissioner of the Freedmen’s Bureau, General Oliver Otis Howard. The Freedmen’s Bureau was intended to help solve everyday problems of the newly freed slaves but its most widely recognized achievement was its accomplishments in the area of education. Prior to the Civil War, no southern state had a system of universal, state-supported public education for “Coloreds” but Washington now had an advanced school of learning.
In the early twentieth century new construction of large apartment buildings began on the edge of Georgetown. The eyes of the elite became trained on the area. John Ihlder led efforts to take advantage of new zoning laws to get restrictions enacted on construction in Georgetown. However, legislators largely ignored concerns about the historic preservation of Georgetown until 1950, when Public Law 808 was passed establishing the historic district of “Old Georgetown”. The law required the United States Commission of Fine Arts to be consulted on any alteration, demolition, or building construction within the historic district. As you can imagine, this proper and official sounding solution was not designed to benefit the African American citizens living in Georgetown.
Georgetown began to emerge as the fashion and cultural center of the newly identified community. While many “old families” stayed in Georgetown, the neighborhood’s population became poorer and more racially diverse, its demographics started to shift as a wave of new post war residents arrived, many politically savvy, well-educated, and people from elite backgrounds took a keen interest in the neighborhood’s historic nature for their own benefit. It was during this time that the Citizens Association of Georgetown was formed. It is my understanding that the Old Georgetown Act was really a polite, or maybe not so polite, way of saying gentrification.
I am not implying nor suggesting that the Act was designed to remove African American’s and poor residences from the community (wink) but it did create an environment where people of low to moderate income could no longer afford to live there. High-end developments and gentrification have revitalized the formally African American neighborhood and what was viewed as a blighted industrial waterfront. The Districts old refuse incinerator and smokestack preserved for years as an abandoned but historic landmark was redeveloped in 2003 to become part of the most pronounced feature of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel (see photo).
Let me conclude with the concept of what happened in simple terms according to the thinking of the day; someone decided to trade a penny for a pound, and very effectively.
I am keenly aware that I stand on the shoulders of the ghosts of the greats who suffered, died, and sacrificed so much for a people degraded and scorn to which some might say cursed by the wretchedness of slavery. Let me say that one of my major faults is that I understand the power of words and know that finding written words can produce truth. Taking into consideration, often times, those word were written for the times and used to sway or justify that which one might want truth to remain hidden.
Someone I know sent me an email that contained the “Confessions of Nat Turner”. I had never read it before and knew very little about the man Nat Turner other than what his-story tells. I was so surprised because it was, in my opinion, unfathomable to believe much of what his supposed attorney wrote as truth. This caused me to do my own research and see what facts were available to reinforce the only known account of the Nat Turner Rebellion. What I found was many different interpretations of the events of that rebellion. There were few facts. What we know is that there was a rebellion and he was hung. Everything else is conjecture!
Here are the facts: Nat Turner was born into slavery October 2, 1800 on a Southampton County plantation. On August 21, 1831, he led a violent disorganized insurrection. The incident ended the emancipation movement in that region and led to even harsher laws against slaves. Benjamin Turner, his owner, allowed him to be instructed in reading, writing, and religion. Sold three times in his childhood and hired out to John Travis 1820s. He became a fiery preacher and leader of slaves claiming that he was chosen by God to lead them from bondage.
Believing in signs and hearing divine voices, Turner was convinced by an eclipse of the Sun in 1831 that the time to rise up had come and he enlisted the help of four other slaves in the area. An insurrection was planned, aborted, and rescheduled for August 21, 1831, when he and six other slaves killed the Travis family, managed to secure arms and horses, and enlisted about 75 other slaves in a disorganized insurrection that resulted in the murder of 51 white people.
Afterwards, Turner hid nearby successfully for six weeks until his discovery, conviction, and hanging in Jerusalem, Virginia after a trial that lasted twenty four hours, along with 16 of his followers. The incident put fear in the heart of Southerners, ended the organized emancipation movement in that region, resulted in even harsher laws against slaves, and deepened the schism between slave-holders that would culminate in the Civil War. This is all we know as fact.
Among many, perhaps most, African-Americans in the antebellum period or even today, Turner’s legacy takes on heroic status as someone willing to make slave-owners pay for the hardships that they enacted upon the millions of children, women and men they enslaved. He is not mentioned in the same vain as the KKK in that they murdered, under cover of law, countless men, women, and children in what was nothing more than state sponsored terrorism. Like John Brown, Turner also thought revolutionary violence would serve to awaken the attitudes of whites to the reality of the inherent brutality of slave-holding.
My research shows one thing clearly. The supposed confession taken by attorney Gray is a myth written to produce financial gain and to induce fear. Turner was called a beast and a savage – maybe. I would argue that is what he was made to be, as he and others were sold like animals, to which his knowledge of the Old Testament told him that even God worked through acts of violence and inflected extreme punishment upon his enemies for his people.
It is reported that Turner said before he was hung that “they crucified Jesus didn’t they”. And that’s my Thought Provoking Perspective…
This is one of the few times I’ve delved into the sports arena via this blog, but as you know I might share a Thought Provoking Perspective on any topic, particularly if it relates to an African American issue. I must admit, I normally reserve my comments for those subjects that are more meaningful to life’s empowerment. Nonetheless, as I watched this year’s Washington Redskins I had a flashback with respect to the organization history of mistreating African American players.
I am going to talk about Mr. RG III, who like Jason Campbell and Doug Williams, follow a long list of players abused by this group. I realized as sure as something’s change they remain the same. Many Washingtonians, as well as fan in many other places, are endeared to the Redskins football team, which is their personal choice. Unfortunately, I am not of them, and not just because of the team’s name, which in my view it is akin to calling African Americans the “N-Word”. Surely that must be the view of Native American’s, if not, it is disrespectful at best.
Back to RG III, seeing what appeared to be humiliation on his face caused the hair on the back of my neck to rise, because of the teams sorted past and the teams long history that support this position. The NFL’s color barrier was broken in 1946; it inexplicably took George Preston Marshall, the team’s owner, 16 more years amid legal threats and community pressure to bring Bobby Mitchell, their first black player, to the Redskins. Former quarterback Eddie LeBaron, who knew Marshall, said he never believed he was a racist. However, they were the last team in the NFL to sign a black player and were forced to do so.
In more recent memory, do you remember Quarterback Doug Williams? He was sent packing a season after he made history winning the Super Bowl. Now, let’s look at what happened to Jason Campbell when no one in management stuck up for him while he’s getting killed behind his offensive line and also sent packing. I won’t even mention Big Albert or any of the career ending situations involving the running backs over the years. Oh, let’s not forget about Donovan McNabb?
What they did to this already injured play, meaning III, by putting him in as a starter for this playoff game when the doctor has claimed he did not clear him to play was tantamount to treason if this was a war. I have no skin in the game I will admit; unless you consider the fact that I am a Cowboys fan, and yes I know they have not been much for a decade. But it is not about the rivalry, rather the mistreatment of or, I dare say, destroying the careers of quality African American players.
I’ll say Wrong-way (coach) erred in his judgment as it appears and repeatedly. I have to raise the question; is there an elephant in the room – RACE? Surely this is noticed and reverberates in the minds of those who know and remember the history of this organization, which is significantly rooted in questionable decisions concerning black players. Looking back at this history, what happens is you start to wonder.
In 1965, his father, James Blackstone Sr., wrote a letter to the acting president of the Redskins, Edward Bennett Williams. Like most African American fans at the time, Blackstone was offended by the Confederate flags in the stands and the band’s playing of “Dixie” during games. Less than a month later, Williams wrote back to Blackstone, saying he agreed. After 1965, the Redskins band did not play “Dixie” at another game.
They were the last team to integrate with Bobby Mitchell. Then Bobby was never given a shot to be the general manager. You throw in Doug Williams dismissed after he was the Super Bowl MVP, Art Monk and Brian Mitchell unceremoniously going to Philadelphia, and the list goes on.
There always seems to be an undertone, at the very least disrespect, with this organization that is not easily dismissed. Now, the beat the Cowboys twice and won the NFC East – great! Let’s look at it this way; they played a Dallas team that is not very good nor was any other team in the East!
The issues I raise is the very reason why there are so many Cowboy fans in Washington, because many black fans refused to support a team that would not employ an African American player for so many years. So they became fans of the team’s arch rival. They have kids and they became Cowboy fans – and so on and so on – and most of them have never even been to Dallas. I agree totally because that is why I am a Dallas Cowboys fan.
A prominent syndicated radio host Tom Joyner of the popular Morning Show thinks Washington Redskins Coach Mike Shanahan is a modern day slave owner. During Joyner’s broadcast on Monday morning, Joyner expressed displeasure at Shanahan for keeping Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III in Sunday’s playoff game against the Seahawks even though the star player seemed hobbled by an injured knee. Joyner compared Shanahan to the Mississippi plantation owner Calvin Candie, who Leonardo DiCaprio plays in the movie Django Unchained, directed by Quentin Tarantino.
“He’s as bad as the mean white man in Django,” declared Joyner. Mr. Candie is a cold-hearted slave owner with a lust for Mandingo fighting, where slaves were forced to fight to the death like dogs or roosters used in animal fighting. “If you saw the movie, just like DiCaprio had the Mandingos fighting in the room. That’s what he did. That’s what he did to RGIII,” said Joyner.
I am not willing to go that far in this instance. However, I will say that today’s athletes are more like “Million Dollar Slaves”. Nonetheless, today III underwent surgery to repair the damage done to his LCL. God Speed III. Some say he will be out all next season. I’ll say this with certainty that he will never be the same! The history of why African Americans are so sensitive is not made up or unfounded, particularly in light of segregation, Jim Crow, and slavery.
The prevailing thought, in my mind, is leadership and this team seems to have issues with the complexion of the leader. Or dare I say chattel!!! And that’s my Thought Provoking Perspective…
Sane and humane people of the world are you as shocked as I am? I came across this article written by writer Karu F. Daniels concerning the despicable fact that there are now ‘Django Unchained’ action figures for sale. I was also surprised that the mainstream media has said virtually nothing about this disgraceful action, considering we are well into the 21st century.
I want to make sure that credit is properly given to those responsible for bringing this sad news to light. (Credit: Amazon.com) I have taken the liberty to re-post because YOU/WE NEED TO KNOW AND PROTEST!!!
“Little White kids can play Calvin J. Candie and make Django and Stephen ‘Mandingo fight’ or they act like they’re selling Broomhilda or just call them ‘nigger’ all day long. The possibilities are endless,” Columbus, Ohio, blogger Jeff Winbush wrote on Facebook when he heard the news.
On amazon.com Monday, a customer reviewer identified asE. Tucker wrote:
By Monday, Hassan Hartley of Chicago had started a petition on change.org asking Tarantino to “Stop the sale and distribution of ‘slave’ action figures.” And in Los Angeles, “A coalition of civil rights and African-American community leaders,” led by Najee Ali of Project Islamic Hope, planned a news conference for Tuesday calling for a national boycott of the action figures, EURWeb.com reported.
As news, the story was a no-brainer, right? Wrong, Daniels told Journal-isms. “This story shouldn’t have been ignored — especially by editors at mainstream outlets,” he said by email. “I was even shocked. I pitched this two weeks ago to prominent ‘news’ outlets. So happy the Daily Beast editor (who’s British) GOT IT.” The British editor was Gabe Doppelt; Daniels wouldn’t identify those who turned it down, saying he still does business with them.
Asked for comment, the Daily Beast provided this statement from Allison Samuels, the senior writer who edited the piece:
“An action figure made of a black man, real or fictitious is not something that happens every day so we felt it was well worth discussing. Given the controversy already swirling around ‘Django’ taking a deeper look at a doll based on a freed slave has certainly been of great interest to our readers on The Daily Beast.”
Here’s how the story made it online, as Daniels explained it in an email:
“I got a press release about the product line/partnership a few months before the movie came out, but seeing the actual images of them later on took it to another level. I didn’t see the movie until after it opened. I’m no Spike Lee, but something about it didn’t sit too right with me,” Daniels said.
“And I like some of Tarantino’s stuff and love the actors’ works. But the idea of dolls — which were put on sale a week before — stirred something inside of me. Granted, there’s an ‘action figure’ of the Brad Pitt character from ‘Inglourious Basterds.’ I saw that was selling for $700. But he wasn’t a slave. Certain types of people can try to rationalize it how they want to, but the fact remains: none of those characters in Tarantino’s other movies were slaves.
“If you want take [a] light and lively approach to the ‘idea of these dolls,’ Django could work (he was free, kicking ass and taking names throughout most of the movie. But Stephen and Broomhilda weren’t. And that’s not funny.)
“The radio silence about the dolls was quite jarring, to say the least. I’m always encouraged to pitch pieces that are ‘broad’ and ‘timely’ to editors. And you can’t get no more broad and timely than this piece. Hollywood and the entertainment media have had a romantic love affair with this movie. People can form their own opinions why. So it’s pretty obvious why some outlets wouldn’t touch it. And The Weinstein Company spent a lot of dollars in advertising. But the facts are the facts. The dolls were made and marketed in tandem with a controversial movie about slavery.”
In his Daily Beast story, Daniels wrote, “. . . Last fall, the National Entertainment Collectibles Association, Inc. (NECA), in tandem with the Weinstein Company, announced a full line of consumer products based on characters from the movie. . . . After repeated attempts to get someone to go on record about the collection, NECA spokesperson Leonardo Saraceni declined to make anyone available, would not comment and referred all queries to the Weinstein Company. No one at the Weinstein Company was available for comment by deadline and no one responded to questions posed.”
Daniels continued for Journal-isms, “In a sense, I understand why publicists from the movie studio and toy company wouldn’t speak, but getting some of our folks to talk was another ball of wax. I reached out to many talking heads, pundits and self-styled image experts, who I thought would’ve been perfect for the piece. All silent.
“At first I thought it was the holiday weekend. But it’s 2013. People are more accessible than ever before. How do you think I corralled an Academy Award winner (Louis Gossett, Jr.) and a real, legendary image activist (Bethann Hardison). I was told by a black film expert that they couldn’t talk to me for the piece because they didn’t want to infuriate Harvey Weinstein.
“Another told me, ‘oh, it’s just a movie. It’s just toys.’ Contrast always makes a great story and I was really hoping for more of a reaction from some but it’s like what Nick Charles (a former boss) used to say to me, ‘everyone is always waiting for the shoe to drop.’ And once the story finally went live on Sunday, the social networks were ablaze.”
Among journalists, the most common reaction to the news of the “Django Unchained” action figures was a version of “oh, no, they didn’t!”
Journal-isms asked some who had written or otherwise opined about director Quentin Tarantino’s so-called “revenge fantasy” whether the existence of the action figures should change one’s opinion about the movie and/or the phenomenon. They replied by email:
Amy Alexander, media writer
Amy AlexanderNews of the “Django Unchained” ‘action figures’ creates a bad taste, doesn’t it? Even if it is the case that the studio marketing division cooked up this ‘tie in,’ it still ultimately circles back to the creative team behind the film itself, in particular Tarantino. At the very least, it is in poor taste, considering the fact that the bondage of blacks is the main theme of the story. It does make you wonder who officially ‘green-lit’ such a dubious and insulting marketing strategy. And correctly or not, it feeds the escalating criticism of Tarantino as an out of control hipster who thinks he gets ‘the Black Thing’ but doesn’t really.
Jelani Cobb, associate professor of history and director of the Institute of African American Studies, University of Connecticut
Jelani CobbIt doesn’t change my opinion of the movie since I thought the film was exploitative of slavery in the first place. I do think this adds a new level of distaste. It should be fairly obvious that making slave action figures is problematic. That the studio didn’t recognize this supports my belief that this director lacked the sensitivity to handle a project like this.
Jarvis DeBerry, columnist, NOLA.com | the Times-Picayune, New Orleans
In his book “Why Black People Tend to Shout,” Ralph Wiley talks about taking a field trip from school — I think it was to the circus — and being sold a Confederate battle flag that he proudly waved all the way back home. When he walked into the house, his mother took a match and incinerated it.
I wish I had a story as dramatic, but I don’t. I seem to recall a Hot Wheels car in my house — OK, in my room — that had the Confederate flag logo on it. It was the General Lee of “Dukes of Hazard” fame. I bring that up to say that I guess there’s a history of regrettable images fashioned into toys.
I wouldn’t necessarily mind the figure of Django being sold as an action figure, but if you sell Django, it would seem to me, you’d have to sell his nemeses. And in that, you’re going to run into problems. Who’s going to buy the white action figures? White children? And do we really want them to play the role of little budding slave owners? And if black children buy the white slave owner figures, then we got a whole ‘nother problem on our hands.
I don’t know that this information changes my mind about the movie itself. There’s enough reason already to raise eyebrows at Tarantino. But it does make me shake my head and wish somebody had — to borrow a line from Blazing Saddles — cut this off at the pass.
Tony NormanI think I dislike the film even more, now . . . LOL! Action figures? Really? A Stephen doll? I know there’s an unseemly nostalgia in some quarters for Jim Crow and slavery-related collectibles, but this is ridiculous. This is either a very elaborate joke or a sign that we’re on the verge of losing our collective minds. This is what happens when we go out of our way not to talk about race. The conversation we should be having gets sublimated into soul sucking nonsense like this. Who will buy this? Irony-drenched white hipsters? Blacks with non-existent self-esteem? Clueless movie nerds? If nothing else avails itself, I’ll write a parody column for Friday. Tomorrow’s column is already written.
It’s like a virtual slave auction and shows that Weinstein and Co. will go to any length to make money from this vile film, which, like “Amistad,” “Lincoln” and “Django Unchained” has blacks as onlookers, while whites debate their fate, when, without black direct action, there would have been no Emancipation. My idea for an action figure would be one showing [Jamie]Foxx carrying [Leonardo]Di Caprio and [Christoph] Waltz on his back, because they’re getting all of the nominations, while, so far, Foxx and Kerry Washington are receiving none. This latest racist travesty is not unique in Hollywood, which makes you wonder why there has been no outcry about segregated Hollywood’s receiving over $400 million in tax write-offs, while the latest figures show $10 billion in earnings.
Finally, the spin from Weinstein Co. is that this movie is similar to Tarantino’s other mess, “Inglorious Basterds.” Not so. In “Django Unchained,” the leader of the state, “Hitler,” is murdered. Foxx does not get to murder the prospective confederate president Jefferson Davis. That would have turned off southern audiences, who have had a veto over Hollywood content for decades. [W.E.B.] Du Bois, [Marcus] Garvey and Walter White would turn over in their graves to see this thing nominated for awards by the NAACP.
I broke down, woke up Saturday morning, grabbed my son and went off to catch a screening of Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino‘s mash-up of spaghetti westerns, blaxploitation films and revenge fantasies. I came out two hours and 45 minutes later feeling it wasn’t Tarantino’s best and it wasn’t his worst. It was okay. Nothing more. It certainly never rose above pure escapist fare. I have no problem with junk food movies, but let’s not pretend like Tarantino has anything new, fresh or original to say about race or slavery. He just knows how to kill the maximum number of cartoon bigots in the most graphic way possible.
However, the Django action figures go far beyond bad taste. It’s not kitsch. It’s not memorabilia. It’s not a gag. It’s making a buck off the backs of Black people and it’s insensitive as hell at best and borderline racist at worst.
Tarantino’s status as a White Hipster who is down with the brothers and sisters has been reaffirmed by the enthusiastic support of African-American audiences for Django Unchained. Goody-goody gumdrops for him. But he has no ghetto pass to profiteer from America’s original Holocaust and even if it means I won’t be considered one of the cool kids, I refuse to join the stampede to anoint Tarantino as some great thinker on the Original Sin.
I would not dare hold myself to the stature of the above mentioned journalist but I do have a voice and a voice of one who has experience American society as a second class citizen. There’s no way, Quentin Tarantino or the Jewish community would allow a line of starved bald headed concentration camp dolls to be produced. We shouldn’t allow anyone to trivialize the horrors and wretchedness of slavery. These slavery dolls action figures are a slap in the face to our ancestors. Who would have thought these people would stoop so low! And that’s my Thought Provoking Perspective…
Bitterness and deception always manage to find their way to the surface. Be Still & Know is a novel about finding love after devastating heartbreak and the challenges of learning to trust again.
Kai Bennett never believed that she was worthy of love. Too many years of being mistreated left her bitter and uncertain of her own self-worth. Finding validation in men, money, and trinkets, she has little use for a man becoming a permanent fixture in her life. That was until she met Alvin. What starts as a game of cat and mouse quickly develops into something Kai is unsure she is ready to handle.
Alvin Reigns discovered long ago that in love, there were no happy endings. He had fallen in love once, and vowed to never again allow any woman that much control over his heart. Kai Bennett was an unexpected surprise who made him want to believe in the possibility of a happy ending. After many years of self-preservation, Alvin is unsure if he should trust Kai with his heart. How will Alvin and Kai learn to trust and create their own happy ending?
About The Author
Cassietta Jefferson is a contemporary Christian author, publisher, and blogger. She is the newest Editor in Chief for Journey, the For My Sister Friends newsletter, and the founder of Virtuous Ink Publishing. She has a passion for reading and writing, and seeks to provide her readers with the best in contemporary Christian literature. Cassietta is currently preparing for the release of a collection of short stories as well as the much anticipated follow up to her first novel.
It's been said that there are no words that have not been spoken and no stories that have never been told but there are some that you cannot forget! "Legacy - A New Season" is the perfect complement to that statement.
It is the sequel and the continuation of "Just a Season" and a stand-alone story rich in history on a subject rarely explained to children of this generation concerning the African American struggle.
Just a Season is a luminous story into the life of a man who, in the midst of pain and loss, journeys back in time to reexamine all the important people, circumstances, and intellectual fervor that contributed to the richness of his life...
“Knowledge is power and power produces an understanding that education is the single most important ingredient necessary to neutralize those forces that breed poverty and despair.” — John T. Wills
Thought Provoking Perspectives
