WILLIAM WHIPPER -NON VIOLENT ADVOCATE

excerpt from A SALUTE TO BLACK PIONEERS VOL. III, An Empack "Black History" Publication Series

"William Whipper, a leading Black intellectual, was a famed abolitionist, shrewd businessman, and banker.  He was also one of the earliest advocates of the non-violent movement in America, twelve years before Thoreau wrote his famous essay on civil disobedience, and a hundred years before Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, ajr. made the theory world-famous.

"He was born in 1805, the son of a Columbia, Pennsylvania White businessman.  His mother was a Black domestic slave in his father's household.  He was raised in his father's house and was treated much the same as his White half-brother.  Early in life, he was given the opportunity to acquire sound principles of financial investment and management.  His father left him a small lumberyard when he died.  With his partner, Stephen Smith, Whipper built a successful wholesale business which expanded to other cities in Pennsylvania....

Smith became one of the wealthiest Blacks in America because he devoted his energies only to the business aspect of their partnership; conversely Whipper chose to share his wealth with the Black movement.  In 1870, Whipper stated: "I would prefer to be penniless in the streets, rather than have withheld a single hour's labor or a dollar from the sacred cause of liberty, justice, and humanity."  He gave considerable sums of money to help Black slaves and to aid the Union during the Civil War.  In 1880s, Whipper devoted much of his personal time and money to the Negro Convention Movement, the first nationwide effort by Blacks to plead their cause in America.

Whipper, the forerunner of Thoreau, Ghandi and Dr. King advocated moral suasion and non-violence.  He wrote a famous article, entitled An Address on Non-Resistance to Offiensive Aggression, which was published in the Colored American.  In it, he claimed that non-violence "is not only consistent with reason, but the surest method of obtaining a speedy triumph of the principles of universal peace."  William Whipper died in 1885, but his doctrine of non-violence is still practiced by many present-day congtemporaries."

COMES THE DAWN

excerpt from WISDOM OF OTHERS, (see Aug 31, 2010)

COMES THE DAWN


After awhile you learn the subtle difference
between holding a hand and chaining a soul,
and you know that love doesn't mean leaning,
and company doesn't mean security,
and you begin to accept your defeats with
your head up and your eyes open,
with the grace of woman not the grief of a child,
and learn to build all your roads
on today because tomorrow's ground
is to uncertain for plans, and futures have
a way of falling down in mid-flight,
after awhile you learn that even sunshine
burns if you get too much,
so you plant your own garden and decorate
your own soul instead of waiting
for someone to bring you flowers,
and you learn that you really can endure,
that you really are strong,
and you really do have worth,
and you learn and learn....
with every goodbye you learn.

                            -author unknown

REMEMBER THEIR NAMES - 1492-1890

information and excerpts from BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE, An Indian History of the American West ,by Dee Brown

Why do we have grave stones? Memoirs? biographies?  To  honor those we care about.  These tribes and their leaders had families, homes, and prayed to the Great Spirit.  I wish to remember them, please join me.
LOCATION                                     TRIBE                                   LEADER

San Salvador                                   Tainos                                unknown
   "                                                    Arawak                             decimated by 1502
Virginia                                            Powhatans                          Wahunacook,Pocahontas   
Massachusetts                                 Pemaquid                             Samoset
          "                                            Wampansags                        Massasoit, Squanto, Hobamah,
                                                                                                    Metacom renames King Philip
Northwest                                       Chesapeake, Potomacs,
                                                       Pequots. Montauks, Nanticokes,
                                                       Machapungas, Catawbas, Hurons,
                                                       Eries, Mohawks, Senecas,
New York                                      Mahicans, Raritans
Southwest and Southeast               Five Nations of the Iroquois
                                                         Cherokees
                                                          Chickasaw
                                                          Choctaw
                                                          Creeks
                                                           Seminoles 
Great Lakes                                     Ottowas                                      Pontiac
Midwest                                          Shawnees                                     Tecumseh
Ohio                                                 Miamis
Illinois and Iowa                                Sauks and Foxes                         Black Hawk
Illinois                                                Winnebagos
  "                                                       Pottawotomies
Illinois and Iowa                                Kickapoos
Southeast                                          Cherokees                               Trail of Tears to Oklahoma,
                                                                                                         Hundreds hid in hills of NC
Pacific Coast                                      Modocs                                  Kintpuiash
           "                                             Mohaves
          "                                               Paiutes                                    Wovoka
          "                                               Shastas, Yumas
Western Plains                                  Dakata (Sioux)
                                                              Santee                              Minnesota
                                                              Teton                                Dull Knife
                                                              Oglala                               Red Cloud,  
                                                                                                       Crazy Horse
                                                              Hunkpapa                         Sitting Bull
                                                              Brulee                            Spotted Tail
Colorada                                               Cheyenne                      Black Kettle
                                                                                                  Tall Bull
                                                                                                  Roman Nose
                                                                                                  Litttle Raven
Southwest                                      Araphoes, Kiowas              Santank,Santanta
                                                                                                 Lone Wolf
                                                                                                 Kicking Bird
      "                                                Apaches                             Mangas,Colorado
                                                                                                  Cochise,Victorio
                                                                                                  Delshay,Nana,Geronimo
   "                                                 Comanches                        Ten Bears,Quanah Parker
Rockies                                         Utes                                   Ouray
California,Oregon,Idaho                 Nez-Perces                        Chief Joseph

"During the following thirty years (1860-1890) these leaders and many more would enter into history and legend.  Their names would become as well known as those of the men who tried to destroy them.  Most of them, young and old, would be driven into the ground before the symbolic end of Indian freedom at Wounded Knee in December, 1890.  Now, a century later, in a age without heroes, they are perhaps the most heroic of all Americans." p.12                            
                                                                                                  l                                                                                                                          

239 DAYS AND UNIVERSAL PEACE - 1912

excerpts from 239 DAYS, ABDU'L-BAHA'S JOURNEY IN AMERICA, by Allan L. Ward

excerpts from  THE PROMULGATION OF UNIVERSAL PEACE, by Abdu'l.Baha

On April ll, 1912, the son of Baha'u'llah, the Prophet Founder of the Baha'i Faith, Abdu'l-Baha arrived in New York City, to visit.  He traveled across the country and gave 139 talks in churches, synagogues, learning centers, the Bowery, homes and meeting places thoughout the country.  The newspaper articles and eyewitness stories of this time is relayed in 239 DAYS.  The content of each talk is given in PROMULGATION OF UNIVERSAL PEACE.

I took as a project for the second time in my 41 years as a Baha'i to combine these two books and read on the anniversary of each day these events took place and follow His journey myself.

On April 17,2011, I read the following from April 17, 1912:

"Abdu'l Baha, the Exemplar, served these friends a meal which He prepared Himself at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward B. Kinney. ' It was,' Mahmud wrote, 'a magnificent supper.'  Abdu'l-Baha told the friends, 'Become as waves of one sea, trees of one forest, growing in the utmost love, agreement and unity.'"
                                                             -239 DAYS, pp. 26,27

"....Day by day become more closely attracted in order that the love of God may illumine all those with whom you come in contact.  Be as one spirit, one soul, leaves of one tree, flowers of one garden, waves of one ocean.

As difference in degree of capacity exists, among human souls, as difference in capability is found, therefore individualities will differ one from another.  But in reality this is a reason for unity and not for discord and enmity.  If the flowers of a garden were all of one color, the effect would be monotonous to the eye; but if the colors are variegated, it is most pleasing and wonderful.  The difference in adornment of color and capacity of reflection among the flowers gives the garden its beauty and charm.  Therefore, although we are of different individualities, different in ideas and of various fragrances, let us strive like flowers of the same divine garden to live together in harmony....

I am joyful, for I perceive the evidences of great love among you.  I go to Chicago,and when I return I hope that love will have become infinite.  Then will it be an eternal joy to me and the friends in the Orient."
                                                                  -PROMULGATION OF UNIVERSAL PEACE, pp. 24-25

PRAISEWORTHY

excerpt from BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE, An Indian History of the American West, by Dee Brown

"It began with Christoper Columbus, who gave the people the name Indios..... As was the custom of the people when receiving strangers, the Tainos on the island of San Salvador generously presented Columbus and his men with gifts and treated them with honor.

' So tractable, so peaceable are these people,' Columbus wrote to the King and Queen of Spain, ' that I swear to your Majesties there is not in the world a better nation.  They love their neighbors as themselves, and their discourse is ever sweet and gentle, and accompanied with a smile; and though it is true that they are naked, yet their manners are decorous and praiseworthy.'

All of this, of course, was taken as a sign of weakness, if not heathenism, and Columbus being a righteous European was convinced the people should be made to work, sow and do all that is necessary and to adapt our ways.'  Over the next four centuries (1492-1890) several million Europeans and their descendents undertook to enforce their ways upon the people of the New World....

Arawak resistance brought on the use of guns and sabers, and whole tribes were destroyed, hundreds of thousands of people in less than a decade after Columbus set foot on the beaches of San Salvador, October 12, 1492"


When I lived in Cherokee NC, I saw a t-shirt with the words "We've known about terroism since 1492".


What is wondrous and awe-inspiring to me is the deep spirituality and nurturing present in my friends in Cherokee and other Indians I have met along my way.

ASA PHILIP RANDOLPH - UNION ORGANIZER - 1889-1979

excerpt from A SALUTE TO BLACK CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS, An Empak "Black History" Publication Series Vol. IV

Asa Philip Randolph, a powerful union organizer and civil rights leader, spent forty years of his life in constant battle for better working conditions and higher wages for all laborers.  He founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters in 1925 and became its first president.

Randolph, born on April 15, 1889, in Crescent City, Florida, was the son of James W. Randolph, an itinerant minister of slave parentage.... After completing high school, Asa traveled to New York City and entered City College....

By 1925, the Pullman Company, builders, operators of sleeping cars and parlor cars for the nation's railroads, was the largest single employer of Blacks in the United States.  It paid its 12,000 porters about $60.00 per month for 400 hours or 11,000 miles, whichever came first.  Porters were required to pay for their meals and ...their own uniforms.... They  also worked straight through without layover time. 

Ramdolph was secretly asked to organize the porters because he was an outsider and could not be hurt buy the Pullman company.  After several meetings, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was formed on August 25, 1925.... Twelve years to the day, August 25, 1937, Pullman's president announced to the Brotherhood negotiators, "Gentlemen, the Pullman company is ready to sign.".... This contract included a wage settlement of $1.25 million, and the porters' work month was reduced from 400 hours to 240 hours....

Also, between 1940 and 1948, Randolph was highly instrumental in desegrating the war industries, federal employment, and the armed forces.  In 1963, he was responsible for organizing and bringing together over 250,000 people, of all races, in the historic "March on Washington" for jobs and freedom.  It was at this gathering that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" address, which stirred the souls of the nation.

The greatness of Asa Philip Randolph and his contributions to Black Americans can never be forgotten, for they are recorded in the pages of history and remembered in the hearts of men.  He died at age ninety in 1979.

YES, I REMEMBER, EVEN AFTER 70

excerpt from ANNE'S WRITINGS (see Aug 31, 2010)

When the touch of his hand on my arm caused a spark to travel over my skin and tingle.

When he walked into the room and a butterfly beat it's wings in my chest.

When his arms came around me from behind and cocooned me I felt safe and cherished.

When the touch of his lips on mine created a hungry, seeking energy.

When the smell of his bathrobe was uniquely sweet.

When a specially chosen gift to me made a lump in my throat so painful I could hardly swallow.

When he held our hours old newborn and introduced her verbally to all his relatives, I grew warm inside.

Yes, I remember with sadness and gladness.

ahr 3-19-08

STEVE BIKO - 1946-1976 - SOUTH AFRICA

excerpts from BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS, STEVE BIKO, edited by Millard Arnold, Biko's testimony during a trial of his supporters.  The complete transcript is recorded in this book.

excerpts from NEWSWEEK, 10, 1997, REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT,  by Donald Woods (South African Journalist and Biko's friend)

remembrances from CRY FREEDOM, movie in 1987, sensitively and articulately portrayed with Densel Washington as Biko.

remembrance of song called BIKO by Peter Gabriel, sung during a concert in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, in 1977 and  South American Amnesty International  Conspiracy of Hope Concert with Sting in 1986.

-----
In February, 1997 during the South African TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION, five South African security policeman confessed to severely beating Stephen Biko, which caused his death due to a  massive brain hemorrhage.

WHY the murder?  To silence ...."Bantu Stephen Biko, that country's (South Africa) most important Black leader, stepped forward to testify on their behalf and thus broke the ban on his public speaking.  In the late 1960s, Biko, founded the Black Consciousness movement which called for the psychological and cultural liberation of the Black mind as a precondition to political freedom....

'(Biko speaking on Black Consciousness as witness in court for some of his suppporters)....they would no longer use the term Non-White, nor allow it to be used as a description of them because they saw it as a negation of their being.  They were being stated as 'non-something', which implied that the standard was something and they were not that particular standard.  They felt that a positive view to life, which is commensurate with the build-up of one's dignity and confidence, should be contained in a description which you accept, and they sought to replace the term Non-White with the term Black...you tend to begin to feel that there is something imcomplete in your humanity, and that completeness goes with whiteness.  This is caried through to adulthood when the Black man has got to live and work....I no more work in order to live, I live in order to work.'"

In the movie CRY FREEDOM, the dignity and efforts of this man, Biko, and his fellow countryman were impressively and sensitively portrayed.  The end is tragic but the message conveyed is powerful and enlightening.  Washington conveys this very effectively.

The song BIKO by Peter Gabriel moved an audience worldwide by the poignancy of Biko's life and message.  I was moved as few things have ever moved me.  You can hear the song if you go on internet and search for Peter Gabriel - Biko.

APACHE WEDDING PRAYER

Found this in one of my scraps of paper and was again inspired.

WEDDING BLESSING

Now you will feel no rain
For each of you will be shelter
for the other.

Now you will feel no cold
For each of you will be warmth
for the other.

Now there is no more loneliness
For each of you will be companion
for the other.

Now you are two bodies,
But there is only one life before you.

Go now to your dwelling place
To enter into the days of your togetherness.

And may your days be good
and long upon the earth.

-Author unknown