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

[Len Hockley]

Marshall,

You might add Wendy Jo Hockley (first funeral) and Elaine Hockley 
(co-founder of the Jets) to the
pioneers.

Len

At 04:02 PM 11/11/2007 -0800, you 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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