[Oe List ...] the dead don't get no respect...

[John Cock]

Thank you, Marshall, for the great story telling you've done over the years
through all kinds of media. Event, story, event. . . .
 
John

  _____  

From: oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net [mailto:oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net] On Behalf
Of W. J.
Sent: Sunday, November 11, 2007 7:03 PM
To: oe at wedgeblade.net
Subject: [Oe List ...] the dead don't get no respect...


I've been having an amazing time recently putting together the elements of
the two DVD's that will shortly be available through ICAI. It's been a
journey back through our whole history together since 1965 and even beyond
that.
 
And one of the last-minute tasks has been assembling an 'honor roll' of
Fifth Citizens who changed history by their intentional expenditure and died
their deaths. I've called them the Fifth City Pioneers, since that word
'saint' is so out of fashion if you're not Mother Teresa.
 
So we have our own Fifth City Saints, and the first qualification of a saint
is that you're dead. I decided that the second qualification is that
somebody remembers your name. And the third qualification is that you're
standing in for the many who will not be remembered. There's no moral
hierarchy here. No saying that one was better than another, or that one
contributed more than another. 'Cause death is the great equalizer. And they
all did their profound doing together, along with those of us who remain in
this world. But what sets them apart from us is their profound dying.
 
So here's my text so far:
 
We celebrate
the courage and creativity
of these Fifth Citizens 
who pioneered in
Human Development
on behalf of all
communities
 
Allen Adams
Eugene Beasley
James Carter
Anna Conar
Dorothy Cotton?
Helen Eskridge
Evelyn Mathews Edwards
Ray Fox
Flozell Foy
William Glover
Joseph Wesley Mathews
Joseph Pierce
Mildred Robinson
James Steplight
Charlie Stewart
Gregory Thomas 
Tom Washington
 
It's interesting that there are many we don't remember clearly or don't know
for sure have met the first criterion. But there they are. Quite a list,
huh? Kind of like that scene in Our Town where all the dead people are
sitting in rows of chairs in the cemetery and talking with each other. About
us!
 
And...someday we'll all be added to the list.
 
I said to Ruth Carter that I wanted to finish this DVD project so I could
die happy. And that, y'know, we don't have a cemetery in Fifth City where we
could all be buried and maybe remembered with a tombstone. Then I thought:
that whole place is holy ground, not just the cemetary we don't have. We
don't have the tombstones to remember people by, but we will have the DVD
that will carry their names on a digital list and tell our stories.
 
Then I put together a second list, this one with the names of the living
legends of Fifth City. Here it is:
 
...and the extraordinary service
of these Fifth City leaders:
 
Ruth Carter
Booker Davis
Minnie Dunlap
Lillie Fox
Gladys Hamilton 
George McNeil
Lela Mosley
Bertha Pinkston
Floyd Stanley
Verdell Trice
 
Also quite a list! They may be old, but they're not yet totally dead, as far
as we know.
 
So if you have any stories or reflections you'd like to share about any of
these folks, please do so. And if there are any names that you'd like to add
or subtract, please let me know.
 
Marshall Jones
 
 
 
 
 
 
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