Thoughtful Thursdays, Stayed on Freedom’s Call page 47, and Song

       How do melodies help keep us going, and even connect us to community?

     I wrote this book in the belief that song is a powerful way to help bring people together, and that remembering the stories around those songs can help us learn from our history.  I hope, as we come to the end of my book, Stayed on Freedom’s Call, that this journey has been a valuable one for you (last week was Page 46…):

 

” …  7.   Washington Ethical Society: 7750 16th Street NW

Proudly built in Shepherd Park specifically because it was an integrated neighborhood. This humanist congregation is part of the history of Civil Rights, and the present of community cooperation.

Sometimes you can hear folks standing outside the building, next door to the former home of NAACP lawyer Frank Reeves, singing:

“I woke up this morning with my mind,
stayed on Freedom… ”

8. Tifereth Israel Congregation: 7701 16th Street, NW

The shul stayed, and is helping to Repair the World, one step at a time down Georgia Avenue. Now we finish up the tour looking down 16th Street, toward the White House if we could see that far along what was once the nation’s Prime Meridian, and we close with a niggun, a melody that both soothes and recalls hope, as we recall the ideals which inspired men two centuries ago to found a nation predicated on the fundamental equality of all men.

“Yai daaiii dai daii, yai daaiii dai daii,
yai daii dai dai dai daii daiii aaayyyii…”

 

47

      “

    So, it turns out that I might have needed to explain a bit more about niggunim?

Page 46 was last week, next week will be Page 48…

Action Prompts:

1.) Share your thoughts on how this page from Stayed On Freedom’s Call helps continuing empathy-building cooperation, and may also  help, or hinder, inclusive thinking.   (You can download the entire book for free here from The Internet Archive…)

2.) Write a story, post or tweet that uses those thoughts.

***************** 

Click here to read, if you like:

Narrative and Prose Nonfiction,     

Holistic High School Lessons,

           or Historical Fiction Serial Stories

 

Thoughtful Readers, if you are on Twitter, please consider following   #Project Do Better  on Twitter.

Shira

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Ann and Anna, (serial short story, Part 16): Power

      …  Parts 15 (Knowledge),  14 (Words),  13 (Interruptions),  12 (Gifts),  11 (Punishment),  10 (Warmth),   9 (Found),  8 (Lost),  7 (Rock),  6 (Believe), 5 (Naming), 4 (Home), 3 (Trust), 2 (Hope), and 1 (Nightmares) have posted on previous Sundays…

—

     Anna looked at us, her mischievous smile mirroring that of little Tilly.  They looked at each other, and Anna gave a slight nod.  I was sure there had been a wink of her eye in there, too, although her head was turned away from me.

 

Little Tilly skipped over to the writing desk, withdrawing a particularly small but official seeming document with great care.  Then, turning to face me, she folded her body into the most graceful curtsy I had ever seen from a child so young.  I glanced in confusion at Anna, who merely lifted an eyebrow at me.  Tilly arose from her curtsy and carried the paper to me, holding it out with her head bowed, as if I were…

 

“No, oh, no, Tilly.  Anna -”  I shook my head as my eyes began to fill with tears.  I would not play the role of those from whom we had so lately escaped.

 

“Yes, Miss Willow, it must be this way.  And you must conform.”  The steady look Anna placed upon me was almost stern.

 

Poor Mrs. H. looked quite bewildered.

 

“I cannot do it.”

 

“You can, Miss Willow, and for all of our sake, you must succeed.”

 

Anna crossed the few steps separating us, which had suddenly begun to seem like a great chasm.  She took my hand in both of hers, those hazel eyes looking directly into mine.

 

“Willow,” she whispered, “this is our best chance to get away safely, all three of us.  Free .”

 

I’d begun to tremble so violently that I could hardly speak.  This was apparently what Anna had been expecting, for she nodded once again to Tilly, who turned, now facing Mrs. H., and held out the paper to her.  Mrs. H. patted the tiny hand as she took the paper and glanced at it, before looking back up.

 

Tilly held her hand out for the paper again, which Mrs. H. relinquished.  Again, that demure approach, deep curtsy, and the paper held up to me, with her head bowed.  Anna squeezed my hand, nodding toward Tilly.  I felt like a small child being encouraged to eat.  I reached out for the paper, hefting its weight as if it were my sewing scissors.  I looked at it, waiting for the marks on the paper to resolve themselves into words.  None did.

 

I looked up at Anna in despair, but she merely nodded again, this time winking her eye, at me!  What was going on, here?

 

I looked back at the paper, knowing that I had missed something.  It became our old game once again, as I sought for words that Mrs. H. had shown us, now not on the printed page, but on a handwritten paper.  Mrs. H. had been schooling us in reading her handwritten copy of that passage through the Sea which I loved so, and we grew to love her, for that great labor.

 

“My hand” was the first phrase I was able to make out.

 

I jumped slightly, as Mrs. H. nodded her approval.  She had drawn very near, reading the paper over my shoulder as I worked to puzzle out the handwritten words.

 

Anna nodded at me again, encouraging my return to our reading game.  This challenge was far greater, but I now understood how great would be our reward.  I must not fail.

 

“Servant!”

 

I looked up in time to see a rapid look pass between the two women, no longer shocking me by it’s equality.  I was now too bound up in the task at hand.  The final word on the paper sprang out at me, setting my teeth on edge as it came clear.  The one word I would know without ever needing to be taught.  My throat caught as I read out the name of that odious Dominion.

 

 “Virginia.”*

—

 

*Readers not from DC or Virginia may not know that this Commonwealth is also known as The Old Dominion.

       This is the continuation scene in my historical fiction series  Ann&Anna.  I  hope that this series will move you to learn more ways to help use our history to build new tools.

  Part 15 (Knowledge) was last Sunday, and Part 17 will be next Sunday.

I look forward to your thoughts.

Shira

Action Prompts:

1.) Share your thoughts on how this story may encourage empathy-building cooperation, and might help, or hinder, inclusive thinking.  It is my personal contribution to Project Do Better.

2.) Write a story, post or tweet that uses those thoughts.

Dear Readers, have you ideas on learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning, on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking at least for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write

-we can learn from the past via Stayed on Freedom’s Call,

          by Teaching and Learning (Lesson Plan list) in the present, to

                                                                                     Do Better:  to create a kinder future

 

Peace    

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

the year, 2021 CE = year 12021 HE

( 5 month GED lesson 28 of 67 plans…),

       and Ranger M.’s Babylon 5 review posts, because story inspires learning, and historical stories inspire tool-building, right?  “Of course right!”

Stayed on Freedom’s Call
(free: https://archive.org/details/StayedOnF…)
includes two ‘imagination-rich’ walking tours, with songs, of Washington, DC. New interviews and research are woven into stories of old struggles shared by both the Jewish and African-American communities in the capital city.

Shared histories are explored from a new perspective of cultural parallels and parallel institution-building which brought the two communities together culturally and historically.

 If you have time, please let us know, here, if you do read Stayed.

Shira 

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Fun with Languages Fridays: Lupin, 1:3

 

                 Fun with Languages Friday:  mostly English, and a little stream-of-consciousness…

     ***Spoilers!!

French Fridays with Lupin, Omar Sy style!

   This third episode is all about how Assàne kidnaps Commissair DuMont, brilliantly.  And Dumont eventually asks his forgiveness.  And the school, paid for by the “generous donatrice” where this kid did not lack courage!  Launching at three kids all by himself!  🙂   So there we see his history of bravery, already shown back in the 2nd episode!   I’ve not yet read LeBlanc’s story  where Lupin kidnaps a person and never leaves the building, but the policeman afficcionado of the stories references it as he figures it out, leading his colleagues to Dumont.

 

Poor Guidira:  “Patron… Pas Lupin encore!”   He’s right, but no one believes him!  His middle name should be Cassandra!! 

 

And Dumont should have stuck to his guns, 25 years ago!!

Before he went back to smoking…

 

—

 

 

    And now, Dumont’s wife knows he’s a liar, and so do the police.  And best of all, Assàne knows that Pellegrini is implicated…

 

 

     I also have a short historical fiction series called  Ann & Anna.  I  hope that this series will move you to learn more ways to help use our history to build new tools.

  Chapter 2 was last Friday, and Chapter 4  will post this coming Friday.

I look forward to your thoughts.

Shira

Action Prompts:

1.) Share your thoughts on how language learning may encourage empathy-building cooperation, and might help, or hinder, inclusive thinking.

2.) Write a story, post or tweet that uses those thoughts.

Dear Readers, do you have ideas on learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning, on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking at least for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write

-we can learn from the past by keeping Stayed on Freedom’s Call,

         by Teaching and Learning (Lesson Plans list) in the present, to

                          We can  Do Better: a Vision of a Better World to create a kinder future

 

( 5 month GED lesson 26 of 67 plans),

   and  Babylon 5 review posts, from a Minbari Ranger’s perspective: story inspires learning…

Toward Peace,

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

Shira

the year, 2022 CE = year 12022 HE

Stayed on Freedom’s Call
(free: https://archive.org/details/StayedOnF…)
includes two ‘imagination-rich’ walking tours, with songs, of Washington, DC. New interviews and research are woven into stories of old struggles shared by both the Jewish and African-American communities in the capital city.

Shared histories are explored from a new perspective of cultural parallels and parallel institution-building which brought the two communities together culturally and historically.

Please let us know here that you’ve read it!  🙂

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Thoughtful Thursdays, Stayed on Freedom’s Call page 46, and Legends

       How do you hear the local legends in your neighborhood?  How do you know if they are right?

 

     I started my own walking singing tour company in the belief that legends were a powerful way to help bring people together to learn from our history.  Some of what I learned is in my book Stayed on Freedom’s Call (last week was page 45…):

 

” … the 1980’s, when the practice was finally prohibited.

“They won’t admit they love us, and so,

how are we ever, to know? They always tell us, Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps…”

4. The site of Pomona: 7714 13th Street, NW Shhh.  Don’t tell the local residents, but this was not really the mansion of Boss Shepherd.  Lots of long time residents seem to be sure that it was, but this Victorian era home was actually the home of dry goods merchant D. Clagett. Best to just keep on going, and whistle a happy tune…

“How much is that doggie in the window?

How much can that little doggie be…”

5. Shepherd Elementary School: 14th and Kalmia Rd, NW Dedicated in 1932 as
an all White school, in a neighborhood where the houses had covenants prohibiting
their sale to people of color, and now, it is, 1963. Thirty years later, Bobby Kennedy
is standing here giving an award to Marvin Caplan on behalf of Neighbors, Inc. from his brother the President! They say that the North Washington Neighbors, Inc. chapter was emulated as a model for stabilizing integrated neighborhoods in cities all across the country!

This truly is a time when every one of us can join hands and sing, all together:

 

“We Shall Overcome…”

 

6. The Shepherd Playground: 15th and Kalmia Rd, NW

          It is 1948, and frightening changes are about to come. Will the neighbors stay, now that colored families could move in, or will they go?    It is so nice here, close to Rock Creek Park and all of the walking and hiking trails.

“Don’t you let nobody,

Turn you ’round, turn you round, turn you round,

Don’t you let nobody, Turn you ’round,

Walking on the Freedom Trail…”

46 …

      “

    So, it turns out that I might have needed to explain a bit more about Home Rule in Washington, DC, too…

page 45 was last week, next week will be Page 47…

Action Prompts:

1.) What are your thoughts on this page?  (You can download the entire book for free via the Archive link below…)

2.) Share your thoughts on how this page from Stayed On Freedom’s Call helps continuing empathy-building cooperation, and may also  help, or hinder, inclusive thinking.

4.) Write a story, post or tweet that uses those thoughts.

Dear Readers, ideas on learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning, on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking at least for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport

-we can learn from the past via Stayed on Freedom’s Call,

          by Teaching and Learning (Lesson Plan list) in the present, to

                  help build a kinder future:  Project Do Better: we can build a Better World

 

Peace     ! שָׁלוֹם

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

Shira

the year, 2021 CE = year 12021 HE

(5 month GED lesson 22 of 67 plans…), and

                                              Babylon 5 review posts, and my historical fiction serial Ann&Anna posts show how story inspires learning…

Stayed on Freedom’s Call
(free: https://archive.org/details/StayedOnF…)
includes two ‘imagination-rich’ walking tours, with songs, of Washington, DC. New interviews and research are woven into stories of old struggles shared by both the Jewish and African-American communities in the capital city.

Shared histories are explored from a new perspective of cultural parallels and parallel institution-building which brought the two communities together culturally and historically.

 

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Ann and Anna, (serial short story, Part 15): Knowledge

      …  Parts 14 (Words),  13 (Interruptions),  12 (Gifts),  11 (Punishment),  10 (Warmth),   9 (Found),  8 (Lost),  7 (Rock),  6 (Believe), 5 (Naming), 4 (Home), 3 (Trust), 2 (Hope), and 1 (Nightmares) have posted on previous Sundays…

—

     Not long after beginning our lessons, Mrs. H. had noted a peculiarity about me.  While Anna was quick to learn her letters and put them together as sounds, spelling out her name and mine, I was not.  One evening, wishing to hear the story of Moses leading the Children of Israel through the Red Sea, I had asked Mrs. H. if she would read it to us.  She did so with excellent cheer, pointing to each word as she spoke it.  Not long into our reading, she was suddenly called away, and had handed me the Good Book to continue looking at it.  It was wondrous in my eyes, having always been forbidden the liberty of seeing any books, and having been closely watched for any signs of excessive curiosity.  Even my embroidery was forbidden to use any lettering.  The samplers one sees in the homes of white women were forbidden to my eyes, and thus I had to make due with flower and other designs taught to me by Miss Mary.  That evening, I had eagerly grasped the chance to devour these words.

The memory of sitting there, free to drink in both the words before me and the scent of my dear Anna, brought the first joy I had ever felt:

“Shall we see what we can read now, Miss Anna?”

I’d lowered my head just a tad, and favored her with my best coquettish regard, batting my eyelids twice for effect.  It had worked.

“Are you inviting me to try reading from the Song of Songs, Miss Willow?”

She’d moved closer to me on the bed, her warmth spreading over me like the softest of comforters.  I blushed now to remember how I had quite nearly forgotten myself.

“Well, I do not know how we are to find the right place in this enormous Book, but I…”

She had taken my hand in hers.  I had then found myself lost for words, gazing at her lips, feeling the smooth paper in one hand, and the softness of her fingers in the other.

“Let us start at the Beginning, then, my dearest Willow.”

All I could do was nod.

Anna and I had made a game of it, seeing which words we could puzzle out for ourselves.  Imagine our surprise upon finding that looking back at the words to which Mrs. H. had pointed, I could recall each of them perfectly, even in other places in the good Book.  Now, that strange ability, it seemed, might come to some good use.

“Mrs. H. you must put our dear Willow here to the test, if you please.”

Anna’s voice shook me from my reverie, as I realized that the good doctor’s wife was standing in our room, somehow having managed to escape my notice.  This was very odd, for I never missed the sounds, however slight, of a person approaching my doorway.  I took it as a sign that I must be coming to feel safer in this place.  Sadly, I knew that we couldn’t stay much longer.  Each day that we passed here put us all in greater danger.

“Why of course, young Joe.  What did you have in mind?”

The doctor and his wife were always calling her Joe, now that little Tilly was here.  Perhaps preparing for the roles we must play upon departing this station.

“Well, Mrs. H., I have an inkling of an idea, but I believe that it hinges upon Miss Willow here being able to use her particular talent to recognize certain words where ever they might appear.”

We both looked at her with questions in our eyes.  Little Tilly simply smiled.  What did this young child know that we did not?

—

 

       This is the continuation scene in my historical fiction series  Ann&Anna.  I  hope that this series will move you to learn more ways to help use our history to build new tools.

  Part 14 was last Sunday, and Part 16 (Power) will be next Sunday.

I look forward to your thoughts.

Shira

Action Prompts:

1.) Share your thoughts on how this story may encourage empathy-building cooperation, and might help, or hinder, inclusive thinking.

2.) Write a story, post or tweet that uses those thoughts.

Dear Readers, have you ideas on learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning, on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking at least for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write

-we can learn from the past via Stayed on Freedom’s Call,

          by Teaching and Learning (Lesson Plan list) in the present, to

                                                                                     Do Better:  to create a kinder future

 

Peace    

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

the year, 2021 CE = year 12021 HE

( 5 month GED lesson 28 of 67 plans…),

       and Ranger M.’s Babylon 5 review posts, because story inspires learning, and historical stories inspire tool-building, right?  “Of course right!”

Stayed on Freedom’s Call
(free: https://archive.org/details/StayedOnF…)
includes two ‘imagination-rich’ walking tours, with songs, of Washington, DC. New interviews and research are woven into stories of old struggles shared by both the Jewish and African-American communities in the capital city.

Shared histories are explored from a new perspective of cultural parallels and parallel institution-building which brought the two communities together culturally and historically.

 If you have time, please let us know, here, if you do read Stayed.

Shira 

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Fun with Languages Fridays: Lupin, 1:2

 

                 Fun with Languages Friday:  English translation right after the French!

 

French Fridays with Lupin, Omar Sy style!

 

   Wow!!

Bon il a bossé son technique d’évasion.

 

C’est vrai. Elle n’est pas innocente.   Et son fils, il sait déjà distinguer.  Mais pourquoi allait-il en prison?  !!

Son père était très attentive al ortographie quelque chose que seulement son fils  soura.  Mais non il n’y a pas de hasard dans la vie.  Sûr tout quand on avais une lettre, un mot de suicide comme ça. 

Évidemment il va utiliser les mêmes techniques qu’a utilisé Arsène Lupin en allant en prison lui-même.  Comme dans les histoires.   Le coût de menottes !  Chouette !!

Et voilà la fille de la Mère dans sa cage dorée parce qu’elle savent Ou son les cadavres.

 

Et le pauvre policier qui sait qu’il est en train de voir les histoires d’Arsène Lupin dans la vraie vie mais personne ne le croit.

 

Et le drame le plus haut et honorable possible :   nettoyer le bon nom de son père.

 

 

 

He has definitely improved his technique of getting away. It’s true she is not innocent and his son already knows how to distinguish. But why is he in prison?  !!

 And his father was very particular about spelling. That’s a detail and only his son would know. Nice.  And there is no such thing as coincidence when it comes to a letter like this a suicide note.

And obviously he’s going to use the same techniques, going to prison, as Arsène Lupin did in the stories.

 

Oh god, the Foster /orphanage place was just like the prison!

Ah, right, the one the daughter of the one who knows where the bodies are hidden.

 

Poor policeman!

And the best highest noblest drama possible to clear  the good name of his father.

 

 

—

 

 

    Wow!

 

 

     I also have a short historical fiction series called  Ann & Anna.  I  hope that the series about two (or three!) young women escaping bondage will move you to learn more ways to help use our history to build new tools.

  Lupin Chptr 1, and Chptr 3…  (and all of these reviews will be listed on the Lupin page…)

I look forward to your thoughts.

Shira

Action Prompts:

1.) Share your thoughts on how language learning may encourage empathy-building cooperation, and might help, or hinder, inclusive thinking.

2.) Write a story, post or tweet that uses those thoughts.

Dear Readers, ideas on learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning, on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking at least for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write

-we can learn from the past Stayed on Freedom’s Call for free,

         by Teaching and Learning (Lesson Plans ) in the present, to

                         We can  Do Better: a project for a Better World to create a kinder future

 

( 5 month GED lesson 25 of 67 plans),

   and narrative  Babylon 5 review posts, from a Minbari Ranger’s perspective: story inspires learning…

Toward Peace,

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

Shira

the year, 2022 CE = year 12022 HE

Stayed on Freedom’s Call
(free: https://archive.org/details/StayedOnF…)
includes two ‘imagination-rich’ walking tours, with songs, of Washington, DC. New interviews and research are woven into stories of old struggles shared by both the Jewish and African-American communities in the capital city.

Shared histories are explored from a new perspective of cultural parallels and parallel institution-building which brought the two communities together culturally and historically.

Please do let us know here that you’ve read it!  🙂

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Thoughtful Thursdays, Stayed on Freedom’s Call page 45, and “Farther Along”

       How do neighbors in your town come together?

 

     I started my own walking singing tour company in the belief that song was a powerful way to help bring people together to learn from our history.  Some of what I learned is in my book Stayed on Freedom’s Call (last week was page 44…):

 

” … 1. The site of Bleak House: Geranium St, NW, between 15 th and 14 th Streets, NW

   It has been here since the year 1870, and now “Boss” Alexander Robey Shepherd’s mansion Bleak House, named for the Dickens novel which he and his wife read
together, is finally being torn down. Now that 1916 has arrived, so have developers who want to subdivide and build houses in this lovely area.   For the “Better Classes,” of course.   What will it be like in forty more years, we wonder?

“Que sera,
sera,

whatever will be, will be…”

2. Marvin Caplan Park: triangle bounded by 13 th Street, Holly St, and Alaska Ave, NW

    Traveling to the year 2009, if he could see this, Boss Shepherd would be rolling in his grave.

When he moved here in 1957, Marvin Caplan saw a problem that he was uniquely suited to solve, having lived among people of color for years, and the next year formed Neighbors, Inc to create a solution.

He continued a tradition, going back at least to 1933 and the sharing of tactics between labor movement and civil rights advocates begun with the New Negro Alliance, of cooperating with fellow advocates for change. He went on to tell the story of that cooperative endeavor,
describing it in his autobiography,

“Farther Along,”   after his favorite song.

How serendipitous!    Here is a group standing in the park singing it right now!

“Farther along,

we’ll know why, oh,

farther along, we’ll know why …

we will understand it all by and by…”

3. Thirteenth Street, North West: 13 th and Alaska Avenues

Welcome to the boundary line.

Thirteenth Street was the unofficial dividing line that the real estate agents used to use when directing customers wishing to purchase a home.

West of 13 th street to 16 th was white, and between

13 th Street and Georgia Avenue was colored, even until…

45 

      “

    So, it turns out that I might have needed to explain a bit more about Negro Spirituals, and the historic Black Churches (like Mt. Zion UMC!!)  in Washington, DC, too…

 Page 44 was last week, next week will be Page 46…

Action Prompts:

1.) What are your thoughts on this page?  (You can download the entire book for free via the Archive link below…)

2.) Share your thoughts on how this page from Stayed On Freedom’s Call helps continuing empathy-building cooperation, and may also  help, or hinder, inclusive thinking.

4.) Write a story, post or tweet that uses those thoughts.

Dear Readers, ideas on learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning, on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking at least for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write

-we can learn from the past Stayed on Freedom’s Call for free,

          by Teaching and Learning (Lesson Plans offline) in the present, to

                  help build a kinder future:  Project Do Better: we can build a Better World

 

Peace     ! שָׁלוֹם

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

Shira

the year, 2021 CE = year 12021 HE

(5 month GED lesson 22 of 67 plans…), and

                                              Babylon 5 review posts, and my historical fiction serial Ann&Anna posts show how story inspires learning…

Stayed on Freedom’s Call
(free: https://archive.org/details/StayedOnF…)
includes two ‘imagination-rich’ walking tours, with songs, of Washington, DC. New interviews and research are woven into stories of old struggles shared by both the Jewish and African-American communities in the capital city.

Shared histories are explored from a new perspective of cultural parallels and parallel institution-building which brought the two communities together culturally and historically.

 

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Book Review and Mild Rant

This might become more of a rant, but I doubt it.  This book needs more circulation, and Black History needs more attention.  See the book review first:

A Free Man of Color and His Hotel: Race, Reconstruction, and the Role of the Federal Government by Carol Gelderman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Here is another important book on Black History in DC that I read in 2013, but neglected to review, in the rush to finish editing Stayed on Freedom’s Call. This book details the success of a man who rose to importance and wealth in DC before the Civil War, and is generally not spoken about on the DC Tour circuit. That was part of what I tried to include in my walking tours of different parts of the city, and I hope is remembered in the new free walking tours of various neighborhoods of DC.

View all my reviews  and now, the rant:

I’m shocked by how little I can find of Black History, or of Black Historical Fiction,   in comparison to Regency, WWI, or other types of history on the blogosphere.  Am I just looking in the wrong places, or is the lack of attention to issues concerning BiPoC also here in blog land, too, and if so, how do we address this lack?

 

Action Prompt:

      Consider some ideas you may have on how our society can solve homelessness and child abuse, starting right now.  Share them with us in the comments, here, please, and write a story, post or tweet that uses those sources and your thoughts.

Dear Readers, ideas on learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning, on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind?

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking at LEAST for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport

Read, Write

-we can learn from the past Stayed on Freedom’s Call for free,

         by Teaching and Learning (Lesson Plans offline) in the present, to

                      We can  Do Better: a Vision of a Better World to create a kinder future

 

( 5 month GED lesson 21 of 67 plans),

   and  Babylon 5 review posts, from a Minbari Ranger’s perspective: story inspires learning, and historical fiction can also inspire courage…

Toward Peace,

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

the year, 2021 CE = year 12021 HE

Stayed on Freedom’s Call
(free: https://archive.org/details/StayedOnF…)
includes two ‘imagination-rich’ walking tours, with songs, of Washington, DC. New interviews and research are woven into stories of old struggles shared by both the Jewish and African-American communities in the capital city.

Shared histories are explored from a new perspective of cultural parallels and parallel institution-building which brought the two communities together culturally and historically.

Please leave a review, if you can, on the GoodReads page, and please do let us know here that you’ve reviewed it there!  🙂

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

 

for the sake of and in service to HumanKind…

Shira  

Ann and Anna, (serial short story, Part 14): Words

      …  Parts 13 (Interruptions),  12 (Gifts),  11 (Punishment),  10 (Warmth),   9 (Found),  8 (Lost),  7 (Rock),  6 (Believe), 5 (Naming), 4 (Home), 3 (Trust), 2 (Hope), and 1 (Nightmares) have posted on previous Sundays…

—

 

Part 14: Words

 

     Anna looked back at me, shaking her head ever so slightly.  Now was not the time for questions.  Apparently the state of things was more delicate than I had surmised.

 

“Well, no decisions should be made on an empty stomach.  Young Tilly has helped me to prepare dinner, and there is to be pie afterward.  Then, and not a moment before, we will find some manner of resolving this situation.”

 

The doctor’s wife had spoken, and not an objection was there to be heard.  The doctor placed the sheaf of papers upon the writing desk by the bedside, nodded at both of us, and left the room, his wife having already gone down to see to dinner.  The smell of pie was now being joined by that of what seemed to be a collection of roasted vegetable smells, as though it were Sunday after church.

 

The three of us shared a basin to wash up and dress for dinner, only just sitting in a row on the bed by the time the doctor’s wife arrived carrying a larger tray than usual.  Anna and Tilly helped her arrange our place settings, while I made sure that all remained in equilibrium, seated as we were upon the bedside.

 

“I must return and dine downstairs with my husband, in case any curious neighbors look in, but I shall come back up shortly to collect the dishes.  I do wish you all a good meal.”

 

We each nodded our thanks, and she gave a gracious nod in return before closing the door behind her.  I looked at Anna, nodding toward little Tilly’s plate.  Anna turned to the child, encouraging her to eat, but the little girl shook her head.

 

“Grace.”

 

By all the heavens.  At last!  I was overjoyed to finally be able to say grace without seeming to be a troublesome patient.  Anna smiled, and all three of us bowed our heads.  Tilly looked up at me, and I decided to give some small thanks to the good Lord for getting us here safely.  Then, our hearts more at ease, we ate with less worry.  It was still plain that each of us feared this new development, but things suddenly seemed just a little bit better.

 

After clearing about half her plate, seeming to be absorbed in her thoughts as she ate, Anna looked up at me.

 

“Miss Willow?”

 

“Yes, Miss Anna?”

 

“How do you feel about your reading, now?”

 

My heart sank.  I had been sure that this question would come soon, and equally sure that I would not be up to the challenge which the question was meant to represent.

 

During the time I spent convalescing at the home of Dr. H., we were not idle.  The doctor’s wife spent every spare moment, it seemed, showing me a new eye chart, with diverse characters of the alphabet.

 

This served two purposes.  First, in checking my vision after each meal, we could all see the progress of my recovery.  Second, and most urgently, Anna and I were learning our letters.  We would need to know how to read if we were to make sure our escape, for many papers and postings made mention of our evasion, and according to a certain Mr. Bacon, knowledge was power.

 

Little did we know how soon the need for such power would arrive.

—

 

 

       This is the continuation scene in my historical fiction series  Ann&Anna.  I  hope that this series will move you to learn more ways to help use our history to build new tools.

  Part 13 was last Sunday, and Part 15 will be next Sunday.

I look forward to your thoughts.

Shira

Action Prompts:

1.) Share your thoughts on how this story may encourage empathy-building cooperation, and might help, or hinder, inclusive thinking.

2.) Write a story, post or tweet that uses those thoughts.

Dear Readers, ideas on learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning, on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking at least for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write

-we can learn from the past via Stayed on Freedom’s Call ,

        by Teaching and Learning (Lesson Plan list) in the present, to

                     We can  Do Better:  Project Do Better proposes a path to create a kinder future

 

Peace    

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

the year, 2021 CE = year 12021 HE

( 5 month GED lesson 22 of 67 plans…),

       and Ranger M.’s Babylon 5 review posts, because story inspires learning, and historical stories inspire tool-building, right?  “Of course right!”

Stayed on Freedom’s Call
(free: https://archive.org/details/StayedOnF…)
includes two ‘imagination-rich’ walking tours, with songs, of Washington, DC. New interviews and research are woven into stories of old struggles shared by both the Jewish and African-American communities in the capital city.

Shared histories are explored from a new perspective of cultural parallels and parallel institution-building which brought the two communities together culturally and historically.

Please let us know, here, that you’ve read it, and what you think.

Shira 

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Thoughtful Thursdays, Stayed on Freedom’s Call page 44, and BlockBusting

       How do neighbors in your town come together?

 

     I started my own walking singing tour company in the belief that song was a powerful way to help bring people together to learn from our history.  Some of what I learned is in my book Stayed on Freedom’s Call (last week was page 43…):

 

” … doctrine of Separate But Equal.  That famous ruling, and indeed the preceding rulings in 1948, set the stage for the protests of the 1960’s necessary to secure enforcement of the rights gained in the court room.

Let us go, now, to Upper Northwest, into the “tree streets” of Shepherd Park where a group of neighbors inspired cooperation across the nation.

Uptown Black-Jewish DC: Shepherd Park

Countering Blockbusting, Creating Integrated Community

        We travel back in time just a little to the turbulent 1960’s to the fight to keep neighbors and synagogues from leaving Shepherd Park, working to build common ground. In three short years, “Boss” paved the streets, but cost the city both its money and its votes.

Many asserted that the Colored 24% of the City’s electorate had much to do with the 1874 loss of Home Rule.

This flower and tree-filled section, where the streets are named for the plants which the man who gave his name to this neighborhood cultivated, has always been an exclusive part of Upper North West.

 

Page 44  …

      “

    So, it turns out that I might have needed to explain a bit more about housing covenants in Washington, DC, too…

page 43 was last week, next week will be Page 45…

Action Prompts:

1.) What are your thoughts on this page of the book?  (You can download the entire book for free via the Archive link below…)

2.) Share your thoughts on how this page from Stayed On Freedom’s Call helps continuing empathy-building cooperation, and may also  help, or hinder, inclusive thinking.

3.) Write a story, post or tweet that uses those thoughts.

Dear Readers, ideas on learning, especially multiple #LanguageLearning, on-going education and empathy-building, to #EndPoverty, #EndHomelessness,  #EndMoneyBail & achieve freedom for All HumanKind? 

Support our key #PublicDomainInfrastructure  & #StopSmoking at least for CCOVID-19:
1. #PublicLibraries,
2. #ProBono legal aid and Education,
3. #UniversalHealthCare, and
4. good #publictransport
Read, Write

-we can learn from the past Stayed on Freedom’s Call for free,

          by Teaching and Learning (Lesson Plans offline) in the present, to

                  help build a kinder future:  Project Do Better: we can build a Better World

 

Peace     ! שָׁלוֹם

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

Shira

the year, 2021 CE = year 12021 HE

(5 month GED lesson 22 of 67 plans…), and

                                              Babylon 5 review posts, and my historical fiction serial Ann&Anna posts show how story inspires learning…

Stayed on Freedom’s Call
(free: https://archive.org/details/StayedOnF…)
includes two ‘imagination-rich’ walking tours, with songs, of Washington, DC. New interviews and research are woven into stories of old struggles shared by both the Jewish and African-American communities in the capital city.

Shared histories are explored from a new perspective of cultural parallels and parallel institution-building which brought the two communities together culturally and historically.

 

Shira Destinie Jones’ work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.