sunschild57 |
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sunschild57
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personal message...Some may say that I am a slave to my past. I say that I am a student of my past so I am able to understand my present and shape my future. Do you know where you`re going? ****************************** *********************** Here is a time line of early events in my life that have shaped me into the person I am today. 1957...At 5:25AM on March 26, 1957 a 7lb 3oz colored girl was born at Queens General Hospital Jamaica, New York. My mom says I came out fighting and screaming. Welcome to the world! 1961...listened to Miles Davis` 58 Sessions "My Funny Valentine" for the first time. Miles Davis dida JOB on that song!(I know you jazz heads are saying he recorded that song in 58 but I diddn`t listen to it til 61). 1963...March on Washington. I realized that the constitution of the united states did not apply to me or people who looked like me.I did not get to go but my neighbor, Mr. Rogers did and said it was remarkable. He said Reverend King sho had a way with words! The end of 63 President Kennedy was assassinated. Black people all over the country were sad. Personally, I diddn`t get it, he was just a white man who got shot dead...I was 6. 1964...Going to a desegregated school. I hated it. First, I had to get up early to catch the bus, no racial tension on the way to school, I just missed the 4 block walk to my old school. What I experienced once I got to school was pure HATE! Comments like "I don`t want to sit next to the niqqer" or "my mother says niqqers smell bad and i`m not to go near them". The teachers weren`t any better. One teacher said we weren`t capable of learning at the same speed as white kids. Boy, I missed my old school!To make me feel better, my dad bought me a cello,I wanted a Bass.He told me a cello was a Bass for kids,I believed him. Playing the cello was fun. 1965...Got a glimpse of the man called Malcolm X. Voting Rights Act becomes law. Hey, the negro was finally a fully recognized citizen of the United States. My parents were so happy, they had a party. I asked my mom if this meant the white kids would stop calling me niqqer, they DID NOT! In November, NYC had a blackout. Boring night, we all went to bed early. I should say boring for me, not my parents. 1966...Bought my first Jazz album with money I had been saving for 6 months. I had a crush on Cannonball Adderley and had to have his album. My cousin Oliver said Cannonball was ok but when I got older I would appreciate John Coltrane. By the end of the year, I was a Coltrane fan big time! Noticed a Muslim Temple opened up on Northern Blvd. All the women were wearing white head pieces, I thought they were Nuns! Oh yeah, remember the blackout,well my younger brother was born in August,9 months after the blackout, do the math! 1967...The Langston Hughes Library opens.I go there everyday, it`s the greatest place in the world. They have books written by black people! I go to the Muslim Temple often, mostly to buy bean pies. Got to meet a nice man named Mr. Louie. He lived around the corner and loved to play music. I told my mom about our meeting. She told me he was Louis Armstrong, the Jazz Ambassador. I diddn`t care that he was famous,I just knew he had lots of music and made great lemon aide! 1968...Martin Luther King, Jr is assassinated, everyone is sad and crying, including me. Robert Kennedy is killed a few months later. Seems like advocating equality is a dangerous profession. 1969...I join the Black Panther Party. My mom washes and cuts my hair into an afro. Power to the People! My dad makes some bad business moves and we end up losing our house.We have no place to go. All of the people who called themselves friends did not help us. We sleep in the car for a couple of days. My mom finally calls on an old friend who takes us in.I go from being an honor student to the type of student those white teachers said I would be. But, the library was still my favorite place in the world...The evolution of the Revolutionary child continues... ****************************** *********************** My favorite quote from the 60s... "You do not wipe away the scars of centuries by saying: `now, you are free to go where you want, do as you desire, and choose the leaders you please.` You do not take a man who for years has been hobbled by chains, liberate him, bring him to the starting line of a race, saying, `you are free to compete with all the others,`and still justly believe you have been completely fair. . . This is the next and more profound stage of the battle for civil rights. We seek not just freedom but opportunity not just legal equity but human ability not just equality as a right and a theory, but equality as a fact and as a result." (Lyndon Johnson, June 1965) My question...Are we there yet? My new favorite quote... "They who can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." (Ben Franklin) CLICK HERE FOR MY OTHER PAGE! The evolution continues. favorite pages |
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