[Oe List ...] those who die on the march shall renew their strength

[W. J.]

I want to thank those of you who helped me so much with the task of compiling the list of Fifth City Pioneers. Just rehearsing those names has brought back to me such a rich flood of memories.
   
  I'd also like to share with you how I came to this moment.
   
  I always envisioned that there would be two DVD's. One is the public and secular story of the ICA, and the other is really the internal story of The Ecumenical Institute's former staff, which is the symbolic Order, the extended Order, the movemental Order, and the Fifth City Order, if I may use that term.
   
  At first I wanted to dedicate the second DVD to Joe Mathews, not just because of his symbolic role in the Order, or because of his personal contribution to who we are, but as the representational figure who is the symbolic sign of the presence of all of us: the embodiment of the thin red line.
   
  But then I remembered that Joe said that the one thing he was most proud of in his life was being a Fifth Citizen. So that brought to mind the concept of the Fifth City Pioneers (or saints, to use the traditional jargon). And I placed Joe symbolically in their midst, which is where he wanted to be.
   
  Then there arose the issue of where to draw an arbitrary line, because there were many in the Order who served there with Joe, and many who were assigned elsewhere and who never had the privilege of working in Fifth City. And since Joe never worked alone, it was obvious that I would need to symbolically recognize other names representing of all of us who were in the Order and worked directly or indirectly in Fifth City.
   
  So my somewhat arbitrary decision was to recognize those among the first seven families who died on the march. That would include Lyn Mathews, representing all the women. And Joe Pierce, representing all the men. And finally I added John Mathews, representing all the second generation of the Order who were always as fully engaged as the adults.
   
  So with those four symbolic representatives of the symbolic Order clearly named, the bulk of the list of Fifth City Pioneers that we honor are the people from the community, not the symbolic Order.
   
  And my, oh my, as Slicker would say. Resurrecting the memory of those dear ones brings back so much richness in our history. It's a very mixed bag, which is quite wonderful in itself, and includes people you may have not thought of in decades, and who  may never be remembered for what they did by any beyond ourselves.
   
  For example, there's Ola the cook, who was up at 4 am every morning. And preschool teachers who taught five days a week for thirty years. And Helen Eskridge, who was there every time the door opened and went on a global odyssey. And Bernard Higgenbotham the gang leader who protected us during the riots and then died of an overdose in the alley behind the community center. And Charlie Stewart. And I could go on and on.
   
  Do you sense the glory of this bunch? They weren't particularly the best and the brightest who could get into Harvard, but they were the intentional and the committed. And I'll stand with them any day.
   
  God bless us every one,
   
  Marshall Jones 
   
   
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