[Oe List ...] the dead don't get no respect...
Janet Sanders
jsanders at bconnex.net
Mon Nov 12 08:39:02 EST 2007
----- Original Message -----
From: W. J.
To: Order Ecumenical Community
Cc: Charles Allen Lingo, Jr.
Sent: Monday, November 12, 2007 3:48 AM
Subject: [Oe List ...] the dead don't get no respect...
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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