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Treasured Reminders of Our African-American Past

Bernice Elizabeth Green
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Evidence of lost and forgotten chapters in America and world history merged in the lobby of the Brooklyn Museum last Saturday for an event to remember: The Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture’s  Save Our African-American Treasures: A National Collections Initiative.

 Dozens of local residents gathered during five spectacular hours to show off acquired remnants 0f our African American past, brought to the museum in shopping bags, fabric and, in one case, the wire basket of a bicycle.

 There was a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles of James Hammond Frederick (great grandfather of a Bed-Stuy resident)nestled in a 19th century eyeglass case imprinted with the optician’s name (Dr. C.G. Thomson) and location, Barnwell, S.C., a photograph of Medgar Evers College professor Doris Withers’  family members posed on the lawn of their vast homestead; 1920’s hand-crocheted furniture coverlets with intricate embroidered pattern handmade in the nation of Colombia by Francesca and now in the possession of her great granddaughter, Carmen; box cameras, clothing items, coins dating back to 1886 and a 1917 dollar bill; newspaper clips, obituaries slave shackles on which Leon Stone successfully bid at auction; old books, including the cookbooks of the mother of Mrs. Rose Reeder, now over 80 years old —   all from a time long ago.

 The project is part of the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture’s ongoing quest to advise collectors and heirs on the preservation of artifacts, collections and heirlooms.  

“Many of the items that can tell us about the experiences of African-Americas from the 19th century until today are in our homes, attics, basements and garages,” writes Lonnie Bunch, founding director of the NMAAHC project. “These objects still exist, but they are at risk … some have been forgotten and some are slowly deteriorating because of inadequate care.”

 Thanks to Mr. Bunch, and his colleagues like Kinshasa Conwill, Radiah Harper, Esther Washington and Tracy Enright, a journey has become a national movement with families and individuals committed to “saving memories of ourselves”. “We are working to ensure that important relics … tucked away or long forgotten … are reclaimed and enjoyed for future generations.”

 For Little Wing  Lee  (named by her parents after a Jimi Hendrix song), her family’s consistent ritual of giving prominence at reunions, gatherings and holiday observances to old letters, photographs and other items, yielded another plus of great current value: a career.   Ms. Lee, an interior designer works in exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum, recalls going up to the attic to look at old things as a way of enjoyably passing time.  “We weren’t playing video games, back then”. While relics are not appraised at this project, the advice from experts will help to increase the long-term value of the treasured object.

 So how do you know what is valuable?  According to Mr. Bunch, “What is valued by you is valuable.  You are discovering something about yourself each time you find an item you may want to collect and preserve”. “Like any journey of personal discovery, let curiosity be your guide”.

 The “Five Basics” that should be known about caring for your treasures are:

1. Avoid bright light sources or direct sunlight.

2. Maintain a consistent room temperature and moderate humidity.

3. Keep objects clean and clean them with care.

4. Guard against insects and pests.

5. Avoid excess moisture.

At the event, participants received Smithsonian canvas bags containing other valuables:  white gloves, plastic photograph shields and a handy preservation guide.  (To be continued in upcoming issues.)

The Treasures program had its debut in Chicago, IL at the Chicago Public Library in January 2008.  For more information, visit the museum on the Web at nmaahc.si.edu

Exploring The True Three R’s (Responsibility, Relationships and Resources) Necessary To Unleash The Innate genius Of Our Children.

Aminisha Black
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In Memory of Trayvon – A Challenge

The pending celebration of “The March on Washington’s 50th Anniversary” reminded me of my relocation to New York City and accompanying my Postal Union to the historic event.   During the 60s my anger with and reaction to racism and oppression hurled me onto picket lines and into classes in revolutionary ideologies.  Some years later, disillusioned by the inability to move the masses and unify around common goals, I went into semi-seclusion.

In looking for an offensive position (because that’s where the scoring takes place) I say the family is the training camp for revolutionaries.  Revolutionaries operate from a spirit of love foremost (not opposition), love of themselves and consequently their people.  Three men come to mind immediately – Nelson Mandela, Maurice Bishop and Fidel Castro.  There are certainly more including females.

Where does one learn to love or for that matter not to love? Where does one learn to trust or not to trust?  Where does one learn acceptance of self?  One learns in families – immediate and extended, in school and the community at large.

Living in a capitalistic, materialistic, hypocritical culture, we don’t receive preparation to nurture   individuals nor relationships.   Surviving racism, sexism, and other isms   leave little or no time to create a program for saving the innate gifts of our children and their children.   While many forms of actions are in place demanding justice for Trayvon Martin,  I trust  every grandparent, parent  or adult who has a youth in their extended family implement create a family practice, the objective geared towards having the child accept and love him or herself, giving them opportunities to share and recognizing their gifts to the family.  Our children need to know from birth that they are valuable.  Their value of self can no longer be dependent upon having college degrees; although discovering one’s purpose, choosing studies that prepare for fulfilling that purpose and contributing the skills learned to create a community that works for all is certainly needed.  Again recovering our traditionally highest held value of relationships must be recovered for our children’s sake and the future. The question is can we unlearn the lessons we’ve inherited while physically surviving slavery? Can we adults, guardians of our young, restore relationships with others as a primary goal starting with the other parent of your child? Can our children overhear adult conversations composed of positive comments about others rather than derogatory ones?  Taking responsibility for the choices we made and make is the beginning.

My criteria for selecting a male (that is when I moved past thinking I should give my telephone number to any man who asked) consisted of assessing his looks, his training, his position and income.  I discovered in workshops held that I wasn’t the only one who didn’t realize that the most important issue was being left out; that of values, questions like “Are we headed in the same direction?” “Do we really believe the same things?” “Can we accept each other’s differences? We usually get caught up in the chemistry and wake up two or three children later heading to Family Court. Dr. Jawanza Kunjufu says that we use more care in buying cars than we do in selecting mates.    Our choices leave our families lacking when it comes to nurturing.  And when these poorly chosen, doomed-to-fail relationships end, we spend the rest of our lives in hostile, bitter struggle, which cripple the offspring emotionally while funding family courts and lawyers that ensure the war continues.

From where will our revolutionaries of love come? They can only come when we rid ourselves of the pettiness, the put-downs, the comparing, the competitiveness, and the gossip – all those traits we’ve inherited from living in this non-nurturing environment.  They can only come when we own our choices and be empowered by the lessons learned instead of pointing the finger.  They can only come when we take responsibility for our lives.

Warning! This is an adult conversation, one for those who are sick and tired of mediocrity in relationships, education, African American children and adults killing themselves and each other.  It’s a conversation for people willing to change themselves in order to change our communities.   Parents are invited to share challenges experienced in relationships and how their children won.  Remember our goal is to create a world for our children to discover and fulfill their purpose for being on the planet. For information on the 45 Day Challenge or to share your experience email: parentsnotebook@yahoo.com.

Tumble in The Bronx

Eddie Castro
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The New York Yankees are currently in fourth place in the competitive American League East division with a record of 53-47 as we go to press. A lot of it has to do with the constant injuries the team has been afflicted with all year long. Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Mark Teixeria and Alex Rodriguez are a few of the players on the Yankee roster who are nursing injuries and are on the disabled list.  The injuries have been so bad and difficult for Joe Girardi that they have already gone to 5 different third basemen to replace “A-Rod.” How bad are the injuries for the Yanks?  The 5 different third basemen have a combined batting average of .250 and only 2 home runs. With the rival Red Sox atop the division and the Orioles starting to heat up as well, the Yankees could find themselves in a world of trouble as they are on the verge of missing the playoffs for only the second time in the last 17 years. The Yankee offense has been horrible only averaging 3.5 runs per game.

Most of the attention has been on the Yankee offense, however their pitching has not been sharp either. Their ace C.C Sabathia has not been the pitcher we are all accustomed to seeing in recent years. Sabathia has been giving up home runs to opposing batters like it’s in style. Phil Hughes has had one of his toughest seasons as a Yankee pitcher with an earn run average of over four, Andy Pettitte has had a tough season so far posting an ERA  of over 5 his last 7 starts going 2-4 in those starts which is un-Pettitte like. You have to think where would the Yanks be if it wasn’t for their only ray of sunshine all season, Hiroki Kuroda. Kuroda is 9-6 with a fair ERA of 2.65, which is the lowest for any Yankee starter this season so far.  Indeed this has been a tough and busy year for Girardi managing wise, but he still has the team playing over .500 baseball.

With 60-plus games to go, where will the Yankees be at the end of September? It is not too late for the Yankees to catch the Red Sox in the AL East despite all of the nagging injuries the Yankees have been faced with. Granderson, Jeter and maybe even Alex Rodriguez are expected to make their way back adding some well-needed power to the lineup. As good as Boston has been playing, maybe the “Bronx Bombers” should focus on capturing one of the 2 wild card spots which are currently being held by the Rangers and Orioles. Anything can happen in these next couple of months. Girardi and company hopes it ends with a ticket to the playoffs.

Sports Notes: (Football) The New York Jets officially sign rookie quarterback Geno Smith to a 4-year $5 million dollar deal. (Baseball) On Monday night, Major League Baseball suspended Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun for the remainder of the season (56 games) for testing positive for a banned substance. He is the first former league MVP to be suspended for performance enhancing drugs. There have been many rumors that Alex Rodriguez may be next inline to face a suspension which could exceed 100 games.

New Yorkers Go To Surry, Va. To Challenge Pagones’ “Bogus” Garnishment Of Tawana Brawley's Wages

Mary Alice Miller
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By Mary Alice Miller

A contingent of 100 New Yorkers trekked to Virginia this week to support attorneys who are challenging the garnishment of Tawana Brawley’s wages by her accused rapist former Dutchess County assistant district attorney Steven Pagones. One quarter century since Tawana Brawley was found physically brutalized, Pagones has apparently decided to use the courts to abuse Tawana further. In an odd turn of events, the rape victim is being compelled to pay her accused rapist. Since Feb. 8, 2013, more than $300 has been taken from Tawana’s wages every two weeks to be transferred to Pagones.

Led by Alton Maddox, attorneys Fred Dean and Michael Kennedy Lloyd filed a response in a Surry County, Virginia courthouse to contest the garnishment as having no legal basis.

“What we have done is alert this court that Tawana will not be litigating any issue in a courthouse that is still under the power and domination of the Confederate States of America. This is one of those courthouses,” said Maddox. “We are being compelled all over this nation to go into courthouses with Confederate statues in front of them. That is the reason Tawana would not make an appearance.” Maddox added, “We are asking Blacks all over the country to join in that. You can’t get justice for Trayvon Martin as long as the mindset is still there.”

Calling the judgment “bogus”, Maddox explained that there were no court records supporting Pagones’ baseless judgment. “None of the court records were brought down here. The only people who have filed court records are us. Now the court can see what really happened in New York,” said Maddox. “The so-called judgment creditor, Steven Pagones, would not be here but for the U.S. Constitution and the full faith and credit clause of that. But you can’t give credit if you don’t have the records. Those are not just empty words: full faith and credit to the records and proceedings of another state. It can only have effect if you have those records. The first time that this court has had those records was this morning even though they started taking money from Tawana on Feb. 8 (2013).  Now we have made that record by being here.”

While the legal team was in court, dozens of New York supporters peacefully lined the sidewalk displaying posters expressing support for Tawana. Some supporters inspected a statue of a Confederate soldier prominently displayed directly in front of the courthouse. Below the soldier is a Confederate flag carved on the base of the statue with the etchings: “Our Heroes 1861-1865” and “To Confederate Soldiers of Surry County. Erected by the Confederate Memorial Association of Surry County A.D. 1909.”

“Today was a great step in the right direction. All the steps were completed in establishing and debunking the false foundation that Pagones utilized with respect to his claim of a default judgment against Tawana Brawley. We demonstrated it lacked foundation. The proper paperwork was submitted today which will eventually set the stage for all of that money he has collected so far to be returned to Tawana Brawley,” said Michael Greys, member of United African Movement. “We are confident that will happen.”

Greys further explained: “At the same time we made a statement for all of Black America to remind North America that it is unlawful to have a ‘badge of slavery’ in plain sight on public property. We raised the question that should have been resolved in 1865 when every vestige of the Confederacy should have been destroyed. We are reminding America that it has a responsibility to remove all badges of slavery. It is constitutional and morally right to do that. Certainly the evidence is in plain sight.” Greys asked, “Can you have a Confederate soldier in a place of justice?”

After submitting their response in the Surry Courthouse, the legal team led a caravan to Norfolk, Virginia to serve Pagones’ local attorneys, Glasser and Glasser. “We had the opportunity to go to the local attorneys for Mr. Pagones to present him with a copy of the documents we have filed in the courthouse,”

said attorney Michael Kennedy Lloyd. “One of the attorneys for Glasser and Glasser came out and informed us that he was not interested in accepting any of our papers so we left them on his receptionist’s desk. As we departed, he informed us that it was his intention to deposit our papers in the trash if we left them on his receptionist’s desk. We thank him for his courtesy and exited. The issue is did we deliver the papers to the attorney’s office and clearly we did.”

Tawana’s mother Glenda Brawley and her stepfather Ralph King accompanied the caravan during its entire time in Virginia.

“Tawana, my family and I really thank the supporters and Alton Maddox and his family from the bottom of my heart,” said Glenda. “I am so honored and proud of my people who came down to support her after 25 years. I think it really shocked a lot of the opposition because they didn’t feel this would continue. The case was so outstanding and so long and so horrible that people didn’t feel she got justice. She didn’t get justice.”

Glenda Brawley said her daughter was labeled as telling a hoax, but the opposition perpetrated the hoax.  “She has never said anything that would be a hoax. She was attacked, abused on her way home by police officers and assistant district attorneys. She was not allowed to see pictures of the people she described. Her rape kit disappeared; the police department was probably involved. She was taken farther away from the first hospital they were supposed to come to when there is a crime committed and they have an injured person,” said Glenda.

Tawana’s mother has not wavered from her position. “All of this was set up by crooked ones in the police department. They were covering up for her rapists. We found out later her rapists/murderers (referring to the death of police officer Harry Crist hours after Tawana was found)/liars are all the same,” said Glenda. “Once you cover up for a rapist and a liar, you are just as guilty as they are. You have to continue covering up for them even though you may not want to cover up to protect your own self. Something is definitely wrong. It is a cover-up going on.”

Glenda said Tawana is doing fine. Tawana did continue her education and now is a nurse. “I am very proud of her and the way she held up through this because the average person wouldn’t have. We encourage her to stay strong and be all that she can be. That is what she has done,” said Glenda. “We are so proud of her even through all the negativity and people who didn’t believe her story.”

Glenda believes the defamation suit that is going on against Tawana “is a way to make her come out and apologize so Pagones can keep his position and keep fooling people.” According to Glenda, Pagones is only fooling himself because the people who were surrounding him were probably tired of it by now because they constantly have to lie for him. “They are putting their lives and their jobs on the line for this person who is a rapist and murderer and abductor,” said Glenda.

Tawana, 15 years old at the time she was abducted, raped and tortured, was never served to appear in any defamation case involving Pagones. A law guardian was never appointed to be served on Tawana’s behalf. Tawana never testified in any defamation lawsuit. Incidentally, Pagones sued Alton Maddox, Al Sharpton, and C. Vernon Mason for defamation. Maddox won, Sharpton and Mason lost. An upstate jury found there was the likelihood Pagones participated in the physical abuse of Tawana over a four day period in November 1987.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA on TRAYVON MARTIN

Editor, Our Time Press
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President Barack Obama made the following remarks regarding the “not guilty” verdict in the George Zimmerman trial at a surprise appearance at a press briefing, July 19, 2013.

First of all, I want to make sure that once again I send my thought and prayers, as well as Michelle’s, to the family of Trayvon Martin, and to remark on the incredible grace and dignity with which they’ve dealt with the entire situation. I can only imagine what they’re going through and it’s remarkable how they’ve handled it.

The second thing I want to say is to reiterate what I said on Sunday, which is there are going to be a lot of arguments about the legal – the legal issues in the case. I’ll let all the legal analysts and talking heads address those issues.

The judge conducted the trial in a professional manner. The prosecution and the defense made their arguments. The juries (sic) were properly instructed that in a – in a case such as this, reasonable doubt was relevant. And they rendered a verdict.

And once the jury’s spoken, that’s how our system works.

You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot, I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me, 35 years ago.

And when you think about why, in the African-American community at least, there’s a lot of pain around what happened here, I think it’s important to recognize that the African-American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a – and a history that – that doesn’t go away.

There are very few African-American men in this country who haven’t had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. That includes me.

There are probably very few African-American men who haven’t had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. That happens to me – at least before I was a senator.

There are very few African-Americans who haven’t had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off.

So – so folks understand the challenges that exist for African-American boys. But they get frustrated, I think, if they feel that there’s no context for it, or – and that context is being denied. And – and that all contributes, I think, to a sense that if a white male teen was involved in the same kind of scenario that, from top to bottom, both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different.

But beyond protests or vigils, the question is: Are there some concrete things that we might be able to do? I know that Eric Holder is reviewing what happened down there, but I think it’s important for people to have some clear expectations here. Traditionally, these are issues of state and local government. The criminal code and law enforcement is traditionally done at the state and local levels, not at the federal levels.

Number three – and this is a long-term project – we need to spend some time in thinking about how do we bolster and reinforce our African-American boys? And this is something that Michelle and I talk a lot about. There are a lot of kids out there who need help, who are getting a lot of negative reinforcement. And is there more that we can do to give them the sense that their country cares about them, and values them, and is willing to invest in them?

You know, I’m not naive about the prospects of some grand new federal program. I’m not sure that that’s what we’re talking about here. But I – I do recognize that, as president, I’ve got some convening power. And there are a lot of good programs that are being done across the country on this front. And for us to be able to gather together business leaders and local elected officials and clergy and celebrities and athletes and figure out, how are we doing a better job helping young African-American men feel that they’re a full part of this society and that – and that they’ve got pathways and avenues to succeed? You know, I think that would be a pretty good outcome from what was, obviously, a tragic situation. And we’re going to spend some time working on that and thinking about that.

But we should also have confidence that kids these days, I think, have more sense than we did back then and certainly more than our parents did or our grandparents did, and that along this long and difficult journey, you know, we’re becoming a more perfect union, not a perfect union, but a more perfect union.  Thank you, guys.

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