Cruelly Treated

In my childhood my father told me about a horror he witnessed as a child. The story I remember is that my father saw a black kid murdered near Milstead, Georgia. The boy's offense? He was accused of stealing a watermelon from a field. 

My mother remembers the story differently. She remembers that Daddy said the kid was "treated cruelly" but I have believed since my childhood that he was murdered. Maybe Daddy censored what he told Mother, or maybe my childhood imagination exaggerated it, but that is my memory.

That story had a profound effect on me, as I think the experience had a profound effect on my Daddy. I did not know the word "lynch" at that point, but I knew the concept very early. 

In the last day or so a friend posted an antique postcard - A POSTCARD -- depicting a dozen corpses hanging by their necks from rough ropes. The card looks like a celebration of lynchings. Surely there is a special deluxe section of Hell awaiting those responsible for such atrocities AND those who chose to celebrate such depravity. I cannot bring myself to post such a hellish artifact on my blog. But...

In the 21st century the atrocities continue.

Michael Brown.
Trayvon Martin
The Bible Study group at Mother Emmanuel Church
and just this year, Ahmaud Arbery

and many more.

Racism is real. It infects everyone. Yes I said everyone, myself included. We must face up to the fact of the unfair racial attitudes that pervade our culture. I walk around mostly oblivious to the privilege I enjoy simply by virtue of skin color every minute of every day. That doesn't make me a bad person. That's human nature. We experience the world from our own point of view and must really work to understand the different realities that others face. No I'm not a bad person, but I owe it to myself and to those I love, and to the society of which I am part to recognize inequity and try to do my part to make things better.

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I wrote the above 24 hours ago. And now we have the privileged young woman videotaped in New York blatantly using a man's skin-color as a weapon against him.

Then the terror of the nation witnessing the apparent murder of an unarmed black man by a stupid policeman for a charge of non-violent crime (I have relatives who have been/are principled officers of the law). He seemed to heartlessly, without any apparent emotion, strangle the helpless, handcuffed man with his knee.

So we add the name George Floyd to the list of unarmed black persons who have died for no good reason.

When will these atrocities end?

Perhaps things will get better when we know each other and learn to recognize the humanity of those who look different, or worship differently, or speak with a different accent. Perhaps we should be INTENTIONAL about knowing each other, about learning to see from others' points of view. And maybe we should restore moral leadership to our executive branch and our senate.

I ache for my black friends tonight, who have been reminded AGAIN that some of their fellow Americans do not see them as part of the "all men" of the Declaration or part of "We the People" of the Preamble. I ache for my country so in need of inspiration and leadership.

Gleaning Facebook: 100,000 Deaths

I fought George W. Bush tooth and nail. He and I are on different ends of mainstream American thought. 

BUT I never doubted he (or his Dad or BO, or Clinton, or Reagan, or Carter or Ford or, - even - Nixon) loves America. I would, given the power, replace the sick narcissist in the current White House with Bush43 at a moment's notice.

It is just unimaginable that ANY other US president would have been so incompetent, insecure, ignorant, self-centered as to allow America to suffer the worst outcomes of any advanced nation in this pandemic. We learned of Covid at the same time the South Koreans did. We had much more time to prepare than many countries that have done better. 100,000 deaths, nearing two million cases. I have friends who have lost their kin. I have acqaintances who have suffered debilitating bouts of it.

Donald John Trump's record on this is shameful, bordering on criminal. There were safeguards set up. He had lots of warning. He refused to listen to scientists. He refuses still.

Gleaning Facebook: Young Bards

Juliana Washington won the 2017 Debby Brown YoungTales Storytelling Competion. She will be a featured teller in the National Storytelling Network's pre-Conference Youth Spotlight Performance, Saturday May 30, 2020 at 5 p.m.
Tickets are available at www.storynet.com.

Sara Grace Abernathy won the 2018 Debby Brown YoungTales Storytelling Competion. She will be a featured teller in the National Storytelling Network's pre-Conference Youth Spotlight Performance, Saturday May 30, 2020 at 5 p.m.
Tickets are available at www.storynet.com

 

Gleaning Facebook: Mother & Starbucks

From Carol Johnston's Facebook: 

I brought my espresso machine to my mother’s and made vanilla lattes for us this morning. They were very good! I might make caramel macchiatos later.

Lori Grasso

Yummy!! We’ve been prayerfully mindful of your Mom and of your traveling to see her .God’s blessings to you both. 

Carol Shaw Johnston

Lori Grasso thank you for your prayers, Lori. Mother gave us a scare on Friday - but is doing so much better now. Only one night in the hospital. 

Lucy Gibson
Didn't know about you Mom until I read this! Love and prayers coming from us

Nancy Estes
Sounds great. How sweet.

Lynne Kelly Loveless
Enjoy your visit. Tell your Mother hello from the Kellys

Cathy Smallwood
Yummy!!!!

David WN
Looks really good. I have a French press and a mini-whisk (electric, $1 at my fav "fell off the back of a truck" store *heh*) that I use with heavy cream and either ground cinnamon or vanilla extract when I want a flavored coffee. Froths up nicely. I do it this way cos I'm too cheap to spend $$ on an espresso machine. *heh*

Jill Baird McCart
Glad to hear that Aunt Ruth is feeling better! Expresso looks yummy!

Susan S. Carter
I know y’all are having a great time!

From Janice Crouse's Facebook:

See what I mean about Carol! She is amazing.

Of course, so are Terrell Shaw, Deborah Shaw Lewis and Joan Shaw Turrentine who do the everyday work necessary to enable mother to live in her home — they are the ones who visit EVERY SINGLE DAY to provide interaction, conversation, love and relationship! Plus, they take care of hundreds of big and small issues (take trash to curb, pick up rx, fill pill boxes, take mother to shop, pick up grocery necessities, etc, etc, etc).

Because we lived nearby and she later lived with us, Gil and I did that for his mother but because we live a full-day’s-drive away, we are unable to do that for mother. I am so very grateful to my wonderful siblings who lovingly enable mother’s independence!

Sheila McCloud Ervin

Can she take care of me when I get older and need help???

Janice Shaw Crouse

Sorry. I already have dibs! 

She has breakfast on the table for mother. She cooks meals in duplicate so she can leave individual servings in freezer for mother to enjoy home cooking anytime! 

Sheila McCloud Ervin, Mother, who never drank much besides water and iced tea, now asks with a twinkle in her eye when Carol is not there, “Where’s my Starbucks?” We don’t dare tell her how much Starbucks costs! She is so frugal, she wouldn’t be able to enjoy it!!

Sandra Caruso

I totally understand ! My morning coffee is sacred because without it I cannot function !! 

Gleaning Facebook: The Boat Parade and The Chamber

(Where did the picture go?)

With my brother David about 1992. Laurie Craw do you recognize my t-shirt? And this was during the time that I was active in the Chamber of Commerce... hence the hat. The CofC and I parted ways for a couple of decades a few years later.

Howard Smith I like that Chamber hat! It brings back some memories. I remember when we passed them out to members.

Michael J. Burton Great memories

Kyle Doegg I have that hat and still wear it!

----------------

(Where did the picture go?)

With my bride.. note the Coosa River Christmas sweatshirt. I miss that event. It was an annual decorated and lighted boat parade during the Christmas season on the Oostanaula River that lasted five years or so. I think a series of weather problems on the parade date did it in.

Howard Smith
I remember the parade!

Lydia Simpson
That parade is one of my favorite childhood memories. Such a shame they stopped doing it!

Leigh Whittenburg Callan
I miss that parade. It was such a special event for the season. I think the unpredictability of river levels made it hard to plan and execute safely at night. I wish it could be tried again.

John Paul Schulz
You sure got the pretty girl

Terrell Shaw
John Paul Schulz You and I both married up.

Jim Howell
I was manger of Landing Restaurant during that period. I sponsored and decorated a Christmas Boat. Would love to see it start back up.

Trinity: Griffith Window

The Griffith window is in the front entrance to the church beneath the bell tower. These windows were part of a fairly major renovation in the 1970s I think. They replaced much simpler geometric stained glass designs.

Does anyone know the name or significance of this cross design? 

Sheila and I have been ringing the bell at Trinity every Saturday morning and evening at 7:14. We are supposed to ring it seven times, pause, then ring it an additional 14 times. This is to commeorate Second Chronicles 7:14
___
2 Chronicles 7:14 King James Version (KJV)

14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
___
These visits to an empty church building have given me an opportunity to ponder the saints of old whose names have been engraved during the last 134 years. 

I think Mr. Griffith had died by the time our family came to Rome in 1962. I remember Mrs. Griffith a little. I think she died during the first year or so that we were here. This plaque goes with the window in the front entrance to the church beneath the bell tower.

What do you remember about Mr. & Mrs. Griffith?

Comments:

Terrell Shaw

Here's Thom Holt's memory of Mrs. Griffith:

"As a 5-year-old I sat with Mrs Griffith. She always had something to keep me quiet. She kept me so my mother could sing in the choir. She lived on Avenue A past your house [728] on the left.
She had a daughter that lived with her. 
When she got in bad health Mom would go see her after church and tell her the sermon -- with me in tow as a 12- or 13-year-old “

Michelle Williamson Wilson
Terrell is there any information on our bell? Where it came from? How much it weighs?

Terrell Shaw

I don't. Michelle.

Our River Basin

From the Los Angeles Times (Click on a picture to read the full article)

Op-Ed: One of America’s great wildernesses is being destroyed, bit by bit, in a silent massacre

Hidden away in the heart of the Deep South, one of the nation’s greatest wildernesses is being destroyed, bit by bit, in a silent massacre.

You won’t find people chaining themselves to trees to protect this place, or national environmental groups using pictures of it to sign up new members, because few know it exists. And yet, here it is — the Mobile River Basin, one of the richest in the world in terms of the sheer number of species and types of habitat. The major rivers and thousands of creeks feeding into this basin together form the largest inland delta system in the United States, second only to the Mississippi in how much water it dumps into the Gulf of Mexico.

The river system, the fourth-largest in the country in terms of water flow, stretches from the northern edge of Alabama to the Gulf, draining parts of four states, and encompassing hundreds of thousands of acres of forest, from Appalachian hardwood stands to haunted cypress swamps. A dedicated band of locals know it for the incredible hunting and fishing it affords. But few know it for its greatest distinction. That’s a shame, for this is America’s Amazon, far and away the most biodiverse river network in North America... (Click on a picture to read the est of the article.)

 

Gleaning Facebook: Lillian on Mother's Day

Last weekend Lillian visited for the frist time since the pandemic hit. We carefully kept our social distance, but Lordy it was good to be with that girl. Here's a picture and my sweet daughter's Instagram post honoring her mother and grandmother a week later for Mothers Day --- by the way her father also thinks she is beautiful and smart and kind.:

Comments

Ann Gore

Beautiful women! And it is hard during these times when we can’t hug our children and grands and our friends!

Barbara Garvey

You look cute!

Buddy Childers

You have every right to be proud and boast. There’s nothing more beautiful nor anything more important than your family. 

Gleaning Facebook: Bumbling Crooks

Put aside the denials and downplaying,

put aside the passing of the buck,

put aside the lies,

put aside the fascistic attitude towards justice and elections,

put aside the promotion of quack cures and disinfectant treatments,

put aside the juvenile taunts and insults,

put aside the selfishness and monetizing of government,

put aside the treachery...

these guys are unprecedentedly incompetent.

.

Good Lord, Bush's response to Katrina looks orderly and effective by contrast to the chaos and thousands of deaths a day of the Trumpist response to Covid. We have known since the first American cases were reported from a retirement facility in Washington state that nursing homes needed special attention to avoid the pandemic. NOW, months later, Trump and his goons are finally paying attention. These sleazy Bozos are not just crooks, they are bumbling crooks.

Rachel Maddow reports on a Mike Pence publicity appearance in which he placed boxes of PPE in the doorway of a nursing home, part of a promise to deliver more across the country, though this is the first such gesture from the administration after 20,000 have already died from COVID-19 in nursing homes. (Click picture to see story.)

Joe Biden Buttons

 Y'all know I collect political items. My earliest items were from my work in the 1964 presidential campaign and the 1966 gubernatorial campaign. I first joined the American Political Items Collectors group in the 1970s. I'm a cheapskate so the few relatively valuable pins I have kinda fell into my lap in one way or another. But I have hundreds of pins dating from an 1840 William Henry Harrison metal "log cabin" clothing button (pretty common) to the Joe Biden buttons I added today.

My favorites are the ones I actually wore or collected during campaigns... LBJ, Ellis Arnall, RFK, Maynard Jackson, HHH, Carter, etc. and ones given me by great friends, neighbors, or family who worked campaigns or attended conventions like Mike Bock, Charles Graves, Audley Tucker, Mildred Knight, Joan Ledbetter, and Wendy Davis (I'll stop there -I'm leaving out bunches!)-- even one of my Republican sisters. And a couple of items I inherited from my grandfather who was a delegate to a Georgia Democratic Convention in the forties.

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I enjoy arranging and displaying the ordinary little evidences of the most essential of our national patriotic duties in our republic: politics. Even in the midst of the Civil War and World War II We the People held elections and debated politics. As an old civics teacher I am so disappointed to hear folks, many of whom get teary eyed to hear the Anthem, talk about "hating" politics. No! Politics is what a republic is all about. Hate bad leadership, hate greed and corruption, hate hatred and racism and sexism and homophobia and xenophobia, hate apathetic citizenship, but seize your franchise, claim your part in We the People, donate/work/vote for the good guys, make republican ideals work the way they should.

Here's my collection of Joe Biden 2020 pins so far. All are fairly common I think.

Y'all BOLO for pins and posters for me the next six months.

Gleaning Facebook: Happy Mothers Day!

Three mothers, each with one of their children. Happy Mothers Day to Ruth Baird Shaw, Sheila Matthews Shaw, and Brannon Shaw Carlin shown here with Clemmie and me way back in July of 2018.

 

The Talk (by Artagus Newell)

This year — in 2020! — in my home state, an unarmed young black man, peacefully jogging, was stopped and shot and killed. I cannot imagine that this would have happened had Ahmaud Arbery had fair skin. He died because of the attitude of the shooters toward people of color. This was a lynching.

I want to weep when I think of my wonderful minority students of the last fifty years who could find themselves confronted by similar unreasoning prejudice, and who DO daily meet less violent but just as unreasoning racism.

Today I read Artagus Newell's heartfelt post. Artagus invites the reader to see this horror through his eyes. I ask my white friends to open your hearts and minds to Artagus's words.

From Artagus's Facebook:

Artagus Newell

Ahmaud Arbery was lynched. The year is 2020. The place, Brunswick, Georgia, United States of America. Now, read that first line again. There’s so much I want and need to say in this post, but I will miss something.

All Black Kids at around age 10 or so, start to be given “the talk”. This is not the discussion about the “birds and bees”, this how you are perceived, will be/have been treated, how to/not act, stand, do, walk, carry yourself, and so on. This is not just be polite and respectful, it is to help ensure your safety- your life. Our parents were preparing us to be marginalized, and how to deal with it. We were warned, and rightly so, that we would not be seen as equals, that you’ll have to twice as good, to even be considered as a potential equal. Our parents told us this, not because of irrational fear, not because of one incident they heard of back in the day, but because they knew, that it would always be the subtle jabs about our hair, our “unusual names”, our manner of speech, what we eat, etc., but more importantly, when we started driving, when were at the mall, when were walking to our friends’ house several blocks away from where they knew we had no protective watchful eyes of our parents or others who knew us and looked after us. They knew that once we were elsewhere, we needed to aware of what situations may arise. They knew, that there would be white people would would like, trust, or give us the same respect, grace, and basic human dignity afforded to our whites friends.

We have all been followed in stores - not because of an over eager salesperson trying to make top seller, been called n......, been shamed in various ways, spoken to in a condescending manner, all of it, and you know what we do, we take it. Not because we’re okay with it, but because we know that by internalizing it, letting it roll off our backs, not saying or doing anything other than a forced smile or chuckle, will be perceived as being aggressive, uppity, out of place, and to some, gives them a cause to react. So, we simmer with constant anxiety coupled with rage, because these are things projected onto us so constantly by others, that they either don’t even know they’re doing or they do and simply don’t care and are completely okay with continuing to do so. Again, we still calm, because any form of what might be seen as “aggression” can quickly escalate to “I was in fear for my life” while our lifeless one is sprawled on the ground. But don’t worry, the receipt gathering will commence. Oh, that’s when our life is vetted after the fact of “ why were they there? What’s their criminal history? What are all the facts? Let’s not jump to conclusions!” You know the drill. Meanwhile, our parents are making funeral arrangements while having to defend their dead child’s name from others who again and still, don’t value our lives on par with their own. A friend of a friend literally stated and owned the receipt gathering mentality about Ahmaud. I can’t say I was surprised, he at least admitted where others think it, but aren’t willing to publicly admit it. This. This is the what we live through and try to survive EVERY DAY OF OUR LIVES!

I’ve gotten the nasty, piercing glares, as I took a stroll, in walking in my own neighborhood, not just in Rome, but Carrollton, as well. It’s a sad thing, when you have anxiety about going for a walk, because you don’t wanna have to deal with the potential of dealing with folks who don’t think you belong, or worse , an escalation. So, if you go, you don’t walk too fast, that’s aggressive, you don’t walk too slow, that’s suspicious- what’s he casing?, you wear your UWG hat and souvenir shirts and brightest colors, doing your best to “fit in” and be “okay’d” to continue on, and hopefully safely back home.

Even with all the decades of warnings and girding yourself, the lynching of Ahmaud Arbery happened.

To my white friends, you need to listen to your friends who are people of color, when they do try and explain their feelings or experiences, and not be dismissive of or try to explain away what happened or why they feel a certain way. We aren’t being dramatic or extra, we are being truthful, and honestly, if we confide these feelings to you, that means you’re someone we feel comfortable enough as a friend to do so- it’s not something we take lightly so please don’t brush it or us off.

This lynching, again, what this is, is just the latest in a string of occurrences that has left POC dead, their names and reputations sullied, while others try to find some justification as to why they’re dead. The culmination has me absolutely crestfallen.

I implore my white friends, especially those who have children and family members who are POC, to know and empathize, that they will not be seen through the same lens as you are. Their experiences WILL be different, and oftentimes difficult. And for the love of God, the “I have a black friend” or posting something from the likes of Candace Owens, or that ex-officer Brandon from YouTube is about the worst you can give to us, as that’s a hollow retort, and they and their ilk, while certainly entitled to their opinions, are NOT representative of the vast majority of black and brown people.

If you’ve gotten this far, thanks for reading. More importantly, if it made you uncomfortable, then good, maybe it will be lead to some introspective thoughts you maybe hadn’t had before. I needed to say this. I needed to get this off my chest, and anxiety and blood pressure, while still up, are a bit better than it’s been.

Stay well.

Artagus.

Gleaning Facebook: Politics is what a republic is all about!

Y'all know I collect political items. My earliest items were from my work in the 1964 presidential campaign and the 1966 gubernatorial campaign. I first joined the American Political Items Collectors group in the 1970s. I'm a cheapskate so the few relatively valuable pins I have kinda fell into my lap in one way or another. But I have hundreds of pins dating from an 1840 William Henry Harrison metal "log cabin" clothing button (pretty common) to the Joe Biden buttons I added today.

.

My favorites are the ones I actually wore or collected during campaigns... LBJ, Ellis Arnall, RFK, Maynard Jackson, HHH, Carter, etc. and ones given me by great friends, neighbors, or family who worked campaigns or attended conventions like Mike Bock, Charles Graves, Audley Tucker, Mildred Knight, Joan Ledbetter, and Wendy Davis (I'll stop there -I'm leaving out bunches!)-- even one of my Republican sisters. And a couple of items I inherited from my grandfather who was a delegate to a Georgia Democratic Convention in the forties.

.

I enjoy arranging and displaying the ordinary little evidences of the most essential of our national patriotic duties in our republic: politics. Even in the midst of the Civil War and World War II We the People held elections and debated politics. As an old civics teacher I am so disappointed to hear folks, many of whom get teary eyed to hear the Anthem, talk about "hating" politics. No! Politics is what a republic is all about. Hate bad leadership, hate greed and corruption, hate hatred and racism and sexism and homophobia and xenophobia, hate apathetic citizenship, but seize your franchise, claim your part in We the People, donate/work/vote for the good guys, make republican ideals work the way they should.

Y'all BOLO for pins and posters for me the next six months.

Here's my collection of Joe Biden 2020 pins so far. All are fairly common I think.

A How Come Story: Joegah Learns to Wash His Food

The folks at the Rome-Floyd County Commission on Children and Youth asked me to share some stories online for the kids stuck at home in our area during the coronavirus pandemic. This is one of the ones I recorded for them.

This story is based on a story that I first heard from wonderful Native American storyteller Joseph Bruchac. I asked his permission to tell some of his stories at Arrowhead and he graciously agreed. Joe Bruchac has written over a hundred books for children and adults. You can find some of them in your school library. You can also find videos of his storytelling on YouTube. Also check out the links at the bottom of this webpage. You can find other versions of this story online as well.

You will notice that I said my story is "based on" a Native American story. It is not an effort to tell a strictly traditional native American story, since I am not a Native American. That would seem a bit dishonest to me. As I have told these stories for the last seven years they have evolved. Since I tell stories not just for fun but also to illustrate things I want to teach as a naturalist at Arrowhead Environmental Education Center my version differs significantly from the traditional story. For example I already have a "playing dead" story ("Is It Deep Enough?") so I decided to add the "washing food" habits of raccoons in this story.

Some folks really object to making changes to stories from other cultures. I understand the wish to preserve traditional stories, and I certainly want to do that. But I also grew up in the tradition of the folk process. I could never tell any story exactly the same way twice. Even my family stories change. I do not tell my Daddy's stories exactly as he told me. One of my sisters (also a storyteller) and I have differing versions of our stories that were born from the same shared experience. I try to respect original sources by noting them and, when possible, noting ways to enjoy more original versions. But I tell stories from the pictures in my head, and those pictures seem to change a bit from time to time and new elements make their way into them. The characters seem to take on the forms of folks I know and the settings become the places I know.  What comes natural to me is telling stories to fit my time, the settings that I know, my goals, and my culture. I don't think that is disrespectful of the original sources but instead honors the traditional folk process of storytelling. I suspect that all folktales over the centuries have been changed to some extent by each generation, whether they are stories from Native American, African, Jewish, Hawaiian, Arabic, Appalachian, or any other groups.

Here's my version... (about 25 minutes)





After you listen to my version of the story above, take a few minutes to see the wonderful animated version of the more original story produced by the Oneida Indian Nation that I have imbedded below... (about 12 minutes)



Raccoon & Crawfish from Four Directions Productions on Vimeo.



Here are some links:
• Joseph Bruchac's homepage. You can order many of his books from the website or even schedule a visit from this outstanding storyteller to your school or group.
• Order Joe Bruchac's CD of Iroquois Stories
• Hear my version of Turtle on the Warpath
• Terrell Shaw's YouTube Channel
• Arrowhead Environmental Education Center Facebook Page