Why Its Important to Recognize the Youth as well as Rosa Parks

The Brown decision is one of the most well-known moments of the civil rights movement, but the driving role a group of high school students played in it is much less recognized. Prince Edward County teenagers weren't the only courageous youths to make a huge impact on the movement. Fearless when adults were not, many youths led the way for all of us.

Historian Jeanne Theharis, in A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History (2018) explains that most of the narratives that you read online--except for here on the MZMF site where "Research is Respect"--often silence important parts of the story or emphasize unimportant elements that have little significance to the actual history.  One of the most common misuses of civil rights history, Theoharris explains,  is the focus on the heroic actions and iconoclastic actions of a single activist from the non-violent direct action period of the movement from 1955-1965.  Take the example of Rosa Parks, who refused to move to the back of the bus, and her defiance sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which led to bus desegregation in Alabama.  We celebrate her birthday every year and honor her actions that allowed this nation to end its practices of racial segregation and move forward with the light of freedom.

I left the names of a lot of people out of that story.  Martin Luther King Jr., for example, and the attorney for the bus desegregation suit too.  Also, by framing that story as having ended racist practices and allowed the nation to move forward, I have invalidated any contemporary protests of inequality that might occur since I tell you that she ended racism.  By framing the story of civil rights as heroic and good, but also in terms of her actions only, being over, and in the past, I have set the stage for the trivialization of present-day inequalities as mere political correctness, or unfair complaints against the real victims--the racists. 

So here is the rest of this story.

In 1955, months before Rosa Parks made her stand, two teenagers—Claudette Colvin and Mary Louise Smith—refused to give up their seats on the bus and were arrested. The Black community was outraged, particularly following Colvin's arrest, but a mass movement did not develop, in part because Colvin and Smith were young and adults did not fully trust them. 

C. Colvin

But both cases, particularly Colvin's, mused rising indignation within Montgomery's Black community and contributed to the decision, when Rosa Parks was arrested, to call for a boycott. If these young women had not done what they did, it is unlikely people would have taken the action they did after Parks's arrest. 

Both Colvin and Smith became plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle, the federal case that Montgomery activists, with lawyer Fred Gray, proactively filed three months into the boycott. These two young women agreed to take part in the case when most adults did not have the courage to do so. Gray could not find a minister or other male leader to serve as one of the plaintiffs—and one of the original plaintiffs, Jeanetta Reese, pulled out a day later when she and her husband were threatened. 

These two teenagers paved the way for the movement that emerged after Rosa Parks's bus stand, and then went the distance in signing on to the federal case. 

In May 1956, three judges of the Middle District of Alabama heard the case. Both Colvin and Smith testified. "Our leaders is just we, ourselves," Colvin explained. Colvin and Smith met for the first time at the hearing. "I was proud" Colvin recalled, "that two teenaged girls had stood up."

The case ultimately went to the US Supreme Court and led to the desegregation of Montgomery's buses. 

Again, teenagers played a decisive role in that victory and it's important to complicate the narratives of history and remain conscious of the ability of people to misuse and manipulate history for nefarious ends.  I might try and connect this story to the present day somehow at this point to validate the long struggle and the continued efforts of citizens and activists to ensure we maintain the rights afforded to us under the Constitution. Vigilance and youthful vigor remain important when looking forward as well as into the past.

Pastor Dawson Blesses the Grave of Charlie Burse

A major storm threatened to move the dedication of Charlie Burse’s headstone indoors until about 2:30 on Saturday afternoon, March 9, 2019.  The rain stopped, however, and at around 4:00 pm the sun came shining down onto the water-logged Rose Hill Cemetery.  By the time Christian Stanfield, of the Side Street Steppers, delivered his welcoming address to the seventy people who braved the inclement weather to attend, the sky was clear, blue, and bright.  Without a cloud in the sky, we had an amazing backdrop for the blessing and prayer of Pastor Leonard Dawson, the lone caretaker of the abandoned cemetery, who Mt. Zion Memorial Fund affiliate Bill Pichette tracked down in early 2018 to help organize the rehabilitation of the burial ground.

The blessing was followed by several speakers, including Memphis writer Tom Graves, National Jug Band Jubilee board member Michael Jones, the grandchildren of Charlie Burse, Cynthia and Perdido Burse, and Alan Orlicek, the Arcola stonemason who made the marker that everyone came to dedicate to a stalwart of the Memphis Jug Band.

The unveiling of the headstone was followed by musical performances by David Evans and the Last Chance Jug Band, Arlo Leach, Bill Steber and the Jake Leg Stompers, Moses Crouch, the Side Street Steppers, Tony Manard and Nancy Apple, all of whom joined together form the finale performance of  “Stealin, Stealin’” to close out the dedication and adjourn to the reception across town at the Midtown Grille.

It was an amazing event that almost never happened due to weather, but we made the right decision and stuck to the original plan, which proved a fitting end to a project that stands as an example of how the goals of community engagement, cemetery restoration, and the memorialization of musicians buried in unmarked graves are achievable with some patience, trust, serious research, and a little faith that the sun will coming shining through in the end.

Heavy Duty 24x14 Prints of Belton Sutherland

24 inches by 14 inches - Each one of these prints from the headstone dedication of Belton Sutherland was handprinted by old-time tuner, rounder, and artist John Fabke on extra heavy cardstock.  These prints look and feel amazing, and it gets no deeper into the blues than Belton Sutherland.

Up to Three

Option 1 $20.00 USD Option 2 $35.00 USD Option 3 $50.00 USD

Note: Overseas shipping costs are the same for 1 or 3 - $25

Why the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund is Important - An Open Letter

I've written posts before stating why I think Mt. Zion Memorial Fund is important to support. 

Here is another one. 

Not only citing the academic research, and the memorials created, I've also tried to relate the relief I felt to find an organization that was putting blues in the overall context of African American and world history...past and present! 

Also, I've pointed out the importance of MZMF to dig into issues beyond the surface, call out blues hypocrites, consult with community members before the placement of monuments to help them understand the goals of MZMF and including them so that they feel invested in the project--as opposed to just moving in and taking over in a quasi-blues Manifest Destiny manner. 

After making my posts, I then shared it with as many people as possible. I tagged blues fans, musicians, non-profits, blues organizations, blues FB pages, as well as civil & human rights groups, teachers, black arts groups. etc. I also strongly encouraged all to donate and reshare my posts with everyone in their network of blues and justice-minded people.

Every fan/member/follower/etc can do it.  It's easy. Plus, it's cathartic to one's soul!

The MZMF is breaking the blues out of the one-dimensional boxes that the power structure holds sacrosanct, that leads so many into thinking that the blues is irrelevant to current issues in the African American community--which are really ALL of our issues.  

The MZMF has also taken on the scourge of self-defensive, redneck, so-called blues lovers, who want zero to do with the reality that the blues--though many things to many people simultaneously--was always music of protest. Often those protests had to be masked in metaphor, but they were nevertheless still protests.

The efforts of MZMF--their hands-on, getting your hands dirty, deep in the Mississippi mud of things--to have these memorials built--for over a quarter of a century have been crucial to bringing so many of these truths to light.

Now, others are also carrying on the fight in their own communities from New York to Nepal, from St. Louis to Beantown, from Ottawa back to the Motherland of Africa!  We can all help but we all can't be in the critical areas of blues tourism where the battle is still being waged.  So keep bringing the fight to your own areas, and help support MZMF in every way possible to keep the fires burning, so they can keep the heat to the feet of those who must be warmed & woken. 

Let's hear your MZMF story. Just start typing.  Pretty soon your story will direct you.  Just like the blues.

 If you are new to MZMF please check out their FB page and web site.

You'll be blown away.

Sincerely, 

T.J. Wheeler