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

[George Holcombe]

How about Benard Higgenbottom?

George Holcombe
Asbury United Methodist Church
1605 38 1/2 St.
Austin, TX 78722
Home: 512/252-2756
Church: 512/477-8122
Mobile 512/294-5952
geowanda at earthlink.net




On Nov 11, 2007, at 6:02 PM, W. J. wrote:

> 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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