LETTERS FROM BLACK SOLDIERS

"This section of the country presents a vivid picture of the desolating effects of the 'Slaveholders' Rebellion '. Extensive tracts of land that were formerly plantations, owned by those who would be lords of the earth, have been abandoned, the dwellings and sugar houses knocked down, leaving only their huge chimneys standing, cotton gins gutted, slave quarters ventilated, and here and there you see a Freedman or woman, or a returned rebel on a half-starved horse or mule, riding in great agony through what is at present an over-grown weed field. "We have been endeavoring to find out for which of our many sins we have been sent here to be punished . "It is going on the third week since we landed here, and we have yet to get a mouthful of fresh meat. The rebs, when they went to Texas, did not only drive their slaves with them, but everything else that could be driven. Consequently, they stripped the place of horses, mules , cattle, sheep, hogs, &c, and now they have the impudence to be sneaking back to look for what is left and to lay claim to it. "But thank God there is one fact demonstrated here, 'The Freedmen can take care of themselves,' notwithstanding the desolation and the barren condition of this God-forsaken section of the country. "The Freedmen are industriously and perseveringly engaged in the cultivation of small portions of lands, raising for themselves and their families what they need to subsist upon ...rations. Let the enemies of the Freedmen put that in their pipes and smoke it....slaves can make industrious Freedmen...others. Give them 'Fair Play.'... "There is no church nearer than Vicksburg, which is twenty-five miles from here. "The people hold meetings in their quarters, in their old plantation style. I propose to preach to them, at least once a Sabbath. I desire the prayers of the faithful that my labors among them may not be in vain." P.195-196, "Occupation Duty," A GRAND ARMY OF BLACK MEN : LETTERS FROM AFRICAN AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN THE UNION ARMY, 1861-1865 edited by Edwin S. Redkey (1993) [This excerpt is from a letter written by George W. LeVere, Chaplain, 20th USCI, Millikens Bend, Louisiana, dated August 30, 1865, later published in the 'Weekly Anglo-African ' on November 4, 1865. Chaplain LeVere was a black Congregational minister from Brooklyn, New York.]

IMAGINING POWER

IMAGINING POWER Imagining its existence, seeing its fruition or development, precedes the invention of all things. Seeing it in the mind's eye enables the heart to fire the body's members toward its creation or improvement. Sharing what one has imagined with others may inspire, in fact, has inspired, the expenditure of their time, resources, energy, toward its development even in distant eras. Imagination is powerful, is divine. Icarus imagined that man could fly. Jules Verne imagined a submarine. All that now exists on earth was either imagined by man or by God. But once imagined, however, some work must promptly begin on its realization, or the image will recede into vacuity or be forgotten, be lost. Many imagine. Few do. More must do. A new order of relations on the earth among men, by men, must be imagined. Then, their construction , their realization, may be pursued by men among men. Imaging is always the first thing preceding all others. The Bible calls it "vision." "Where there is no vision the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he." Prov. 29:18 Imagine. See. Do. It's up to you!

DR. T.R.M. HOWARD--HERO

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._R._M._Howard Today, I added a new hero to my awesome menagerie, Dr. T.R.M. Howard of Mound Bayou, Mississippi; Chicago, Illinois; points in between, who mentored many, helped and supported even more, including Medgar Evers, Jesse Jackson, Rosa Parks, Charles Diggs, Harold Washington, Fannie Lou Hamer

BEAUTY

Beauty is intuitive empathy that breathes, that seethes, through you in love in light in synchrony.

Los Angles, Black History & Me

Los Angeles, black history & me IN the summer of 1973, I traveled to Anaheim, California , as part of a delegation from the National Cable Television Association, where I was then employed as a summer intern. We were traveling there to attend the National Cable Television Convention, our huge trade show and political exhibition for our then nascent cable industry. Cable was moving away from remote, hard-to-reach rural and mountainous over-the-air-television locations to the big cities, suburbs & to big money. I knew and watched our lobbyists working from our 16th & K Street offices, but was essentially naive. I was going to the Howard University Law School at the end of summer, so was more concerned elsewhere. Once in Anaheim, down the street from Disneyland in my Holiday Inn room, I called my relatives in Los Angeles, and skipped the Mickey Mouse revels that were scheduled. A highlight of my experience at the convention was the opportunity to meet, be photographed with, and to interview Tom Bradley, LA's first black mayor. He and many other politicians of all kinds were there at our convention. My late Aunt Susie McDonald framed that photograph, of me and her newly elected Mayor, which I had sent to her in gratitude for their hospitality. She proudly posted it in her and Uncle Walter's dining room, for many years afterward. It was still there in 2004. These thoughts came rushing back among many other recollections, as I read through the "Los Angeles Times'" February 2016's black history pull-out that was mailed to me by a friend, who knows of my love for that subject matter. Funny is it not, or sad, that we once thought that black elected officials, even at the mayoral level, could surely leverage economic benefits, if not parity, for our people in those halcyon days, as was previously done when other minority groups rose up to assume political power. We had thought that we would get the cable franchises and allied contracts among other spoils that had historically accrued to victors. Not for us! Empty offices no spoils. The Supreme Court's Croson decision slammed that expectant door against our attempted entry in Richmond Virginia and elsewhere ! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/…/City_of_Richmond_v._J.A._Croso…. Bygone memories of the way we were, then, these are. They were all dashed on the confiscatory altar of Reagan, Rehnquist, and Scalia's "conservative" U. S. Supreme Court. Those 1973 memories yet lie, forlornly, "moldering in the grave," with the stentorian refrains "John Brown's body!" battle song!

Ancient African Christianity

Some scholars of African culture have regrettably acquired a persistent habit of assuming that Christianity began in Africa only a couple of centuries ago, strictly imported from 'the West' or 'the North.' They appear to view Africa as only two or three centuries deep, not two or three millennia. This false start is repeated frequently in some well-intended African theological literature. Even the best of African theologians have been tempted to fall into the stereotype that Christianity came from Europe. This is a narrow, modern view of history, ignoring Christianity's first millennium, when African thought shaped and conditioned virtually every diocese in Christianity worldwide . "African theologians in the last half century have been singularly preoccupied with fighting the dominance of the modern West, especially during the period in which the struggle for political independence and national identity was crucial for African consciousness. They have fought, in part, by asserting the legitimacy of African traditional religious patterns , motifs , rituals, and memories. But they have fought without their best and nearest weapon: the ancient texts of African Christianity." P.25-26, "Introduction ," HOW AFRICA SHAPED THE AFRICAN MIND : REDISCOVERING THE AFRICAN SEEDBED OF WESTERN CHRISTIANITY by Thomas C. Oden (2007)

TWEAKING "MARCH MADNESS"

TWEAK "March Madness" ! "March Madness" could be made better by scrambling the brackets so that the number 1 seed does not always play the lowest seeds first! That way, the lowest seeds may have an increased opportunity to win a game or two, among more comparable teams, before being eliminated from the annual top college basketball tournament by the very best teams eventually. Now they lose by design from the start, before they ever get to play! As matters stand now, the little guys with the automatic bids from HBCU's like the MEAC, SWAC, CIAA--and the like--are almost gone from the very start! They often end up losing by 30 or 40 points. This is demoralizing and in derogation of recruitment options for those better black athletes, who are already bewitched by the big-named schools marketing allures. I remember a very exciting game between Kansas and Jackson State some years ago, which Jackson State almost won, due to its having an outstanding shooter, just barely losing in overtime . Such games are rarities, however memorable! Much more common are embarrassing, predictable blowouts in them all. The system needs fixing not by expansion, but by scrambling, by tweaking. The best teams would still play the same number of games, as ever, inevitably rising to the top, overcoming all comers. But, the basketball mystique will be made better, being enhanced by eliminating "bracketology," where the highest play the lowest seeds. Instead, substituting fairer lottery selection methods, i.e., "chance," to determine who will play whom within each region, so that the little guys get a fighting chance, will be result. Right now, the tournament is designed to eliminate the small schools first. That is discriminatory. The element of chance, not design, will enhance the excitement and would not necessarily hamper the advancement prospects of these little historically black colleges and universities, as now, who normally are clobbered early-on by their lack of athletic talent, great coaching, or confidence, to their fans' sorrow! Deleting built-in bracket design disasters, as described above, in favor of regional lotteries will improve the competitiveness of the process and promote enjoyment !