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

[John Montgomery]

Carrrie Neff

 

John C. Montgomery

monkeyltd at comcast.net

john.montgomery at acfb.org

678-468-4913 (personal)

 

Visit My Blog - Notes From the Balcony

www.monkeyltd.blogspot.com

 

 

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From: oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net [mailto:oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net] On Behalf
Of Lynda Cock
Sent: Sunday, November 11, 2007 7:38 PM
To: 'Order Ecumenical Community'
Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] the dead don't get no respect...

 

What a list!  

I'm afraid to start naming folks for fear of leaving some out,but I thought
of all the preschool teachers who have been there for eons.  You'd have to
get the full names from Ruth Carter.  One who was the teacher of  our son
Jeremiah (30 years ago) is still there: Mrs. Manuel.  Wonder how many
children have been touched by the 5th City Preschool?   

 

I also thought of the block club work that Mr. Connie was so instrumental
in.  Thank you for your work in pulling this together.    

 

Lynda 

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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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