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

Mon Nov 12 03:48:38 EST 2007

George, I really like this story. It adds so much context to a name that I barely remembered, and reminds us of social realities that weren't always pretty, but part of the concreteness that forced us to struggle with both necessity and freedom. That grittiness is part of our story that we don't integrate very well.

  I like the idea of naming as one of our 'saints' a gang member who was probably murdered for who he was in deciding to stand with us. Maybe it wasn't that simple -- the really real rarely is -- but let's remember that he gave his life for something, even if it was just trying to stay alive as best he could.

  Marshall

  OK, Lingo, what about him?

George Holcombe <geowanda at earthlink.net> wrote:
  I'm not sure of the spelling of the last name.  He was Veronica's brother, a member of the Unknown Vice Lords, an associate of GeGe Thomas.  He was found dead back in the 70's, I was told, in the alley behind the 5th City Center, while I was on assignment in Asia back in the 70's.  He was part of the group that helped protect us during the riots and was often in attendance when JWM met with the gang members.  Lingo would know him.  
      George Holcombe
  14900 Yellowleaf Tr.
  Austin, TX 78728
  Home: 512/252-2756
  Mobile 512/294-5952
  geowanda at earthlink.net

    On Nov 11, 2007, at 7:26 PM, W. J. wrote:

    Thanks, George. That name rings a bell and sparks some memories. Is he dead or alive? And could it be 'Higgenbotham'? Or 'Higginbotham'?

  Marshall

  I think it will take all of us to put together a really good list. It's amazing how much slips my mind after all these years.

George Holcombe <geowanda at earthlink.net> wrote:
  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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