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

[Marianna Bailey]

I think it is Bernard

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: W. J. 
  To: Order Ecumenical Community 
  Sent: Monday, November 12, 2007 12:46 PM
  Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] the dead don't get no respect...


  Bill, do you spell his name Benard or Bernard?
  Marshall


  Bill Bailey <bailey03132 at charter.net> wrote:
    Yes, Benard is dead.

    Bill Bailey

    -----Original Message-----
    From: oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net [mailto:oe-bounces at wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of W. J.
    Sent: Sunday, November 11, 2007 8:27 PM
    To: Order Ecumenical Community
    Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] the dead don't get no respect...

    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






      _______________________________________________
      OE mailing list
      OE at wedgeblade.net
      http://wedgeblade.net/mailman/listinfo/oe_wedgeblade.net

      _______________________________________________
      OE mailing list
      OE at wedgeblade.net
      http://wedgeblade.net/mailman/listinfo/oe_wedgeblade.net

    _______________________________________________
    OE mailing list
    OE at wedgeblade.net
    http://wedgeblade.net/mailman/listinfo/oe_wedgeblade.net





------------------------------------------------------------------------------


  _______________________________________________
  OE mailing list
  OE at wedgeblade.net
  http://wedgeblade.net/mailman/listinfo/oe_wedgeblade.net
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://wedgeblade.net/pipermail/oe_wedgeblade.net/attachments/20071112/83d18a5d/attachment-0001.html