Review: The Talented Tenth, by W. E. B. Du Bois, on GED Lesson Plan Set Day 49/67

     This essay came as a bit of a shock, given how much my Pre-Engineering classmates and I were told that we had a responsibility, as part of the talented tenth, to give back to the community. The phrase was also part of my grandparents’ generational idea of Black uplift, and being “a credit to the race.” So, seeing just how men-only and elite focused this work is should never have shocked me, but it did. Every school assembly started/ended with a reminder of the Dunbar legacy, in DC, and Lift Every Voice and Sing, as a reminder that we had a duty to give back, and to lead. But it was never this strikingly clear just how elitist that idea could be, until I finally read the essay that popularized the phrase, but which I was again shocked to learn that Du Bois did not originate. Nevertheless, much of what he said remains valid, even to this day, sadly.  Especially what he says about the need for rigorous education, but I would extend that need to all citizens, more especially in the area of local financial debt laws, which Day 49 aims at in part.

Just a few of his comments, and mine, as I read the essay (via The Internet Archive):

“There can be but one answer : The best and most capable of their youth
must be schooled in the colleges and universities of the land. ”

No, this is not current popular grass-roots ideology, but is it true that anyone can do quantum physics? Every person capable of grasping higher concepts must be encouraged to do so, for the benefit of all human potential.

47.62% ” …it placed before the eyes of almost every Negro child an attainable ideal. ”

On the importance of teachers as role models…

59.52% ” Negro teachers have
been discouraged by starvation wages and the
idea that any training will do for a black
teacher.”

This includes the still low expectations for us by most white people.
Even to this day.

Pretty abrupt end to the essay, and it makes a devastating point.
Please read it.

Shira

Action Items:

1.) Share your thoughts, please.

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

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B5, Hakan: Muhafiz/The Protector, Sihirli Annem,  Lupin, or La Casa de Papel/Money Heist, and El Ministerio del Tiempo Reviews

Holistic College Algebra & GED/High School Lesson Plans,

           or Long Range Nonfiction, or Historical Fiction Writing (including Ann & Anna…)

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading about #ProjectDoBetter.  This review is my personal way (as opposed to founding the Project, overall) of contributing to building tools that can help increase empathy and compassion in our world.  Story, as part of how we see our world, helps us make sense of and define our actions in this world.  And remember how important story is also as part of this project. Let’s Do Better.

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

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Review: Secret City: A History of Race Relations in the Nation’s Capital, By Constance M. Green

An excellent survey of the mostly forgotten history of Washington, DC (particularly the city’s 2nd race riots, in 1919, which we were not taught about at Dunbar!). The only fault is that Morty Kaplan was actually Marvin Caplan, of Shepherd Park, founder of Neighbor’s Inc. Otherwise, Green does a superb job of describing a history which needs updating (which was partly why I wrote “Stayed on Freedom’s Call,”

StayedOnFreedomsCallGoodReads

which of course cites Green and many others in the history of Black-Jewish cooperation in DC.

We can Do Better.

Shira

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B5, Hakan: Muhafiz/Protector & Sihirli Annem,  Lupin, or La Casa de Papel/Money Heist Reviews

Holistic College Algebra & GED/High School Lesson Plans,

           or Long Range Nonfiction, or Historical Fiction Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading about #ProjectDoBetter.  Guest post writers welcome.

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

Shira

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Library Book Review: Snow Storm in August, By Jefferson Morley

DCPL had several different editions of this book.  It has excellent and extensive work documenting the circumstances surrounding the Snow Riots in DC.   Read for my book: Stayed on Freedom’s Call.

StayedOnFreedomsCallGoodReads

:

I have written a bit about this book earlier,  “Snow-storm in August about how Moreley, in his book, Snow-storm in August : Washington City, Francis Scott Key, and the forgotten race riot of 1835, edition of his book, not only puts together a sound context for the Snow Riots, but also draws together strands which began then, and still define, he claims, our politics today.  I found most striking his juxtaposing of property rights and individual vs. community as well as freedom of speech, and whether free speech is applied best for owners (elites) vs. the people (the 99%).

Snow, the almost unrelated star of the event, was in the habit of  placing very attention-getting, and mouth-watering ads to   attract customers, and was a manumitted former slave who’d established a very successful Epicurean Eatery in DC,    described in Morley’s excellent book, which I got from the DC Public Library.

He makes further interesting points in his fascinating book on DC´s 1st race riot (available via DC Public Library, but most certainly worth buying…).  He build some excellent arguments showing direct causal relationships between events and ways of thinking then, and events and ways of thinking now, worryingly.

A second version of his book (Snow-Storm in August: The Struggle for American Freedom and Washington’s Race Riot of 1835) This book needs to be read not only for the excellent analysis of how our political history led to our political present, but also for logic. The logic of mob mentality, the logic of blame, and the logic of ‘divide and rule,’ as our British friends say. White workers against Free men of Color rioted for mistaken reasons, but for understandable anger.

And another excellent quote regarding “The South’s violent reaction,” from page 174. Deliberate, even if indirect, incitement to violence is inimical to the cause of Democracy.

This book shows why when some are enslaved, none are free.

Excellent work.

Link here:
http://www.worldcat.org/title/snow-st…

ShiraDestinie

This is another work that needs to be resurrected from the forgotten oblivion to which our society has consigned it.

   Continuing Education is crucial to our republic, and to our future.  Reading and critical thinking on the work like this is crucial to how we vote, as well, in the immediate term.  Over the long term, empathy, built through tools like free adult education, probono legal aid, and #languagelearning, is crucial.

We really can Do Better.

Shira

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan: Muhafiz/Protector & Sihirli Annem,  Lupin, or La Casa de Papel/Money Heist Reviews

Holistic College Algebra & GED/High School Lesson Plans,

           or Long Range Nonfiction, or Historical Fiction Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading about #ProjectDoBetter.  Guest post writers welcome.

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

Shira

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Library Copy Review: Subversives: Antislavery Community in Washington, D.C., 1828-1865, By Stanley C. Harrold

 Noting that the DCPL did not have a copy of this book, but I was able to read it at the Library of Congress -thank you to our public libraries!

This is an Excellent and extensive work documenting cooperation in DC.   Read for my book: Stayed on Freedom’s Call.

StayedOnFreedomsCallGoodReads

Particularly:

Free Negroes in the District of Columbia, 1790-1846 [WorldCat.org]

quoting Cook’s need “to be very particular to do nothing knowingly, that would in the least tend to disturb the public weal…” P. 41 of Harrold, Subversives, 2003

and
“best known” Israel Bethel (split from white Ebenezer, 4th st.) minister. Mentioned with Mt. Zion Negro Church, 1814 in Georgetown (earliest Black church in DC) contrasted with cut ties to mother denomination. Praised with Wesleyan Metropolitan AME Zion church aka African Wesleyan Society on D St, (S.E?) split under Abraham Cole. Began welcoming white abolitionists to their churches -P. 41, No Segregated Seating!!

and

American slavery, 1619-1877 (Libro, 1993) [WorldCat.org] worldcat.org
Harrold (in “Subversives” LSU, 2003) uses Kolchin to claim that most Whites saw Black ppl as needing slavery to control..

found this related info. in the bibliography of “Snow-storm in August : Washington City, Francis Scott Key, and the forgotten race riot of 1835″, p. 4   (I will post an article combing the three reviews I’ve somehow managed to write but not post as proper blog articles…)

Congressional spitting/coarse lang. <-slave-owners; Slave despair & falling #s=slavery vulnerable in DC. Defense of slaves in DC <->legitimate institutution. P.6: 1850 GA secede if DC slavery abol. MD manumissions <-$ ->darker skinned free ppl, seen as more threat than mulatos. P. 16 Judge Cranch, 1821 ruled William Coston grandfathered out of new $20 free Black good behaviour bond. Black-White Cooperation: Quakers Tyson (est. school) & Lundy (pub. Genius of Univ. Emancip.). Mary Billings, George Drinker & Joshua Leavitt (1834 slave pen tour), Charles Torrey & Elisha Tyson (1840s), John Needle & William Chaplin (1850), M. Miner & (Gtown) Maria Becraft. Snow, Cook, Bradley. 1836 Gag Rule. J.Q.Adams, Gates, Giddings, Leavitt & Weld, Child & Torrey. P. 37: Geog. vs. Relational Community
ShiraDestinie

This work needs to be resurrected from the forgotten oblivion to which our society has consigned it.

Please, please, please, read this book, which I was fortunate enough to be a District resident when I needed to read it, as DCPL did not have it, but the Library of Congress did.  Sitting in the Jefferson Reading Room to take notes was amazing, given the size and history of that room, which is more the size of a lecture hall.

   Continuing Education is crucial to our republic, and to our future.  Reading and critical thinking on the work like this is crucial to how we vote, as well, in the immediate term.  Over the long term, empathy, built through tools like free adult education, probono legal aid, and #languagelearning, is crucial.

We really can Do Better.

Shira

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan: Muhafiz/Protector & Sihirli Annem,  Lupin, or La Casa de Papel/Money Heist Reviews

Holistic College Algebra & GED/High School Lesson Plans,

           or Long Range Nonfiction, or Historical Fiction Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading about #ProjectDoBetter.  Guest post writers welcome.

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

Shira

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Review: Farther Along: A #CivilRights Memoir, By Marvin Harold Caplan

      I was certain that I’d reviewed this book earlier, as it is one of the most important references for both the singing walking tours of DC that I created back in 2010, and also an important reference for my book Stayed on Freedom’s Call, about Black-Jewish cooperation in DC. That is because Marvin Caplan practically personified that cooperation, by 1963. He courageously spent years in the deep south organizing Black workers into unions, and then came up to DC to find his neighborhood threatened by blockbusters. So he founded Neighbors, Inc, to stop them.

 And it worked.

Please, please, please, read this book.

   Voting in the current midterms is crucial to our republic, and to our future.  Reading and critical thinking on the work like this is crucial to how we vote, as well, in the immediate term.  Over the long term, empathy, built through tools like continuing education and #languagelearning, is crucial.

We really can Do Better.

Shira

*****************

Click here to read, if you like:

B5, Hakan: Muhafiz/Protector & Sihirli Annem,  Lupin, or La Casa de Papel/Money Heist Reviews

Holistic College Algebra & GED/High School Lesson Plans,

           or Long Range Nonfiction, or Historical Fiction Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading about #ProjectDoBetter.  Guest post writers welcome.

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

Shira

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Why Searching Matters on Juneteenth

For years, many newly freed people searched across the country for their formerly enslaved loved ones who had been sold away.   

             Heartbreaking advertisements for missing family members appeared for years after the emancipation.    

From the first Compensated Emancipation in DC, to the ratification of the 13th Amendment, freed slaves moved around “restlessly” seeking their people, whom they remembered and loved, who had been sold from plantations and away from families by owners, traders, speculators, or debt collectors.   Please find  more examples, as there are many records of this, dear friends.  And I wonder if, in a few years, Willow and or Anna will be engaged in this same search for lost loved ones? 

    I look forward to your comments on honoring True Seekers this Minbari and Juneteenth Monday, Thoughtful Readers.

Shira

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B5, Hakan: Muhafiz/Protector,  Lupin, or La Casa de Papel/Money Heist Reviews

Holistic College Algebra & GED/High School Lesson Plans,

           or Long Range Nonfiction, or Historical Fiction Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading about #ProjectDoBetter.

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

Shira

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Why Emancipation, Parenting, and Education All Matter on Day 16/67

   First of all, no one can be free in any way without legal freedom, from the first Compensated Emancipation in DC,  which had long been celebrated as Emancipation Day on April 16th, with a parade, even, through the early 1900s or so, in The District, to the final end of that process, for areas in rebellion to the Union, on Juneteenth in Texas, although most border states like Maryland, which had remained part of the Union, had also emancipated slaves, except for Delaware and Kentucky.  Slaves in those states had to wait until ratification of the 13th Amendment.

(src: The Washington Post)

      Then, no one can be entirely free of self-doubts without a loving, respectful, and supportive father.

    Finally, no one can be wholly free to expand and thrive without education of various types, on Day 16/67.

    I look forward to your impressions, Thoughtful Readers.

Shira

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B5, Hakan: Muhafiz/Protector,  Lupin, or La Casa de Papel/Money Heist Reviews

Holistic College Algebra & GED/High School Lesson Plans,

           or Long Range Nonfiction, or Historical Fiction Writing

Thoughtful Readers, please consider reading about #ProjectDoBetter.

Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil, MAT, BSCS

Shira

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Do Neighbors Still Have Block Parties?

      Here is a question I’ve had for a while that may partially explain the lack of empathy today. Back in the 1980s, in DC, folks used to block off  either end of the street, and share food and smiles for a few hours with all of the neighbors.  Is that common, still?  

 This might help building understanding, maybe?

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Shira Destinie A. Jones, MPhil

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La Vérité et Réconciliation par l’Empatie

(English version here…)

C’est presque le fin des Paques, donc on partage les histoires de la Liberté. J’ai creé qulqus uns avec des histoires inconnues a Washington, DC.

C’est avec le but d’aider de trouver les moyennes de nous soulager de l’histoire de l’ésclavage.

La Réconciliation ne peut venir qu’aprés la Vérité:

  Donc, il faut connâitre la vérité.  L’histoire c’est important, et on a de l’espoire, comment cette lettre de manumission pour un esclave:

   letter…

Choses a Faire pour aider l’espoir:

1.) Chercher des histoires d’esclaves ou vous habitez.

2.) Comment et ôu est que on peut trouver ces histoires ?

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Des Revus de B5, La Casa De Papel/Money Heist,  ou Lupin, ou Hakan: Muhafiz/The Protector

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Shira

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Freedom (and still French) Fridays for Truth and Reconciliation via Empathy

It’s nearly the end of Passover, so share your stories of Freedom, please. I tried to incorporate some untold stories into the tours I developed in DC.

First, some suggestions for every Community College or Continuing Education campus below, that I consider part of the processes of repairing some part of the damage done by slavery:

1.) a small library or study area, for students with no quiet home,

2.) workshops given by recent local graduates, to mentor current students,
3.) an on-site nurse paid for by medicaid, and
4.) access to public transportation, such as shuttles between campuses,

Now, the tours.

Since I’ve been a bit lacking on my study of  Language this week, I must fall back on my study of tours in DC, from 2011!

2011-10-27 19:11:00
“The Ghosts of Slave Pens Past!” walking tour of DC
Join me, licensed DC Tour Guide Shira D. Jones, as we walk past places that recall the Dickensionan horrors of Victorian era jails, but with inmates whose only crime was being born to the wrong mother -a slave.

This unique Black History related tour of downtown DC will focus on places long forgotten, but which should never be forgotten. Dress for the weather and to walk!

Tours on a sliding scale.
Peace!
(This tour drew very little interest…)

My notes thus far:

–

Slave pens are important.

No one knew that one slave pen was where the FAA building was, and that the DC City Jail was essentially used as a free slave pen.

–

So, it turns out that history matters, after all: but here is a ray of hope in the form of a manumission   letter…

Action Items in support of   hope that you can take right now:

1.) Search for two different resources to locate slave pens or locations that coffles may have passed by in your area.

2.) Share your thoughts on how you like each of the resources you found,

3.) Write a book, story, blog post, or tweet that discusses slavery.

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B5, La Casa De Papel/Money Heist, & Lupin & Hakan: Muhafiz/The Protector Reviews

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

Shira

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