Though I had not planned to write anymore this week (don’t miss my post below), this is a moment I want to mark in the history of my life and country.
This evening Barack Obama has been officially nominated as THE candidate for the Democratic Party. He is, of course, the first African-American to be given the honor. Though I sometimes think I have lived to long after seeing so much outlandish human behavior, I am glad I have lived to see this moment. Like my maternal grandfather was Barack Obama is bi-racial. He is only a year older than I. He is an inspiring, charismatic, and positive individual whose meteoric rise brings out admiration, jubilation, fear, loathing, or just plain ole’ envy depending on what side of the fence you are on.
Being a student of the workings of the past, I know that rarely does the chronicles of history contain leaders that are statesman. Most world leaders over the many eras were at best mediocre and at worst blunderers to put it mildly. I think that Obama has the makings of a statesman. Even though I do not agree with every thing he advocates, because I am no blind follower of any man or woman, I do agree with the majority of what he stands for and what he says he would like to bring about for this country. I do not have the naiveté to believe that he has a panacea for America’s many “diseases” which are nearly at a terminal level now here and abroad. It would take more than a man or woman to bring about a cure. Nonetheless, I do feel, being an African-American who is only four generations removed from slavery, that this is a redeeming moment for this country even if Obama does not win in November. Deep down I feel he might be able to stave off the rot for awhile that is gripping us, whereas John McCain will only hasten our demise.
This should be a time of deep reflection about our history and our present. Instead of making petty and selfish excuses, we all need to think about how far we have come since the 1960s when Dr. Martin Luther King and others accepted abuse peacefully to get us where we are now. Because of Dr. King's work that is often underrated or slightly ignored here, other minorities have come to America since then and benefited because of the humiliation experienced and blood shed by some of my people. Rarely are we thanked for that. African-Americans could have taken the violent route like so many who have sought or who are now seeking freedom and justice, and America would have been torn apart long before now. Due to what was going on when I was a baby and a little girl, this day has come about. Ironically, before his death Dr. King made a comparison in a speech between America and the Roman Empire, long before the blatant excesses that we have now.
The romantic in me hopes for change, but the realist in me is skeptical even if Barack Obama is earnest. If he is elected president, he will have to battle long held mindsets on so many fronts. He will face a wrecked economy here at home and a tainted reputation abroad. He has the confidence and the drive though. Still, will he able to have even a few victories?
Here are five of my favorite Barack Obama childhood photos. The one at the top of the post is my favorite of him as an adult.
Do we know where we’re going to…Who would have thought?
Still has that brilliant smile:)
Barack and his grandpapa. Today he has an African-American version of his grandfather's face.
I decided to begin a randomly scheduled saga of some of my discoveries on StumbleUpon.com. I will also include items shared with me and my own findings on the web which I think are worthy of sharing with my readers.
Thank God for the smorgasbord the internet is. I love it most for being a treasure chest of information on some of the things I love like history, cultures, and art. The kid in me loves the visual aspects of it with its wonderful offering of paintings and pictures. To me, the internet is the world and beyond in a box/notebook.
I present to you some goodies to close out the week. Have fun, learn, and until sometime next week when I plan to return, have a great rest of the weekend:)
*****Cynthia Marie is a blogger who is also a poet. She posted this beautiful poem about love on her blog on Thursday called Breathing Lessons.
*****Some might perceive Barack Obama as too elitist and a stuffed shirt and his wife Michelle as bitter, but what can be said about their wonderfully relaxed wedding photo?
*****Ever thought of caves being prime real estate? Well, they are in Cappadocia, Turkey.
Cappadocia has one of the most unusual landscapes on earth with its fairy chimneys and caves all produced by volcanic eruptions eons ago. The Cappadocian caves also contain hundreds of old churches from Byzantine times. Here is a site with some beauties in Cappadocian real estate. Also more photos taken in Cappadocia which should give you an idea of the surreal quality of the landscape there can be accessed here. I hope to eventually visit Cappadocia.
*****Vladimir Kush is a Russian born artist who lives in America. He describes his art as metaphorical realism which came about because of influences by some of the greats of the Renaissance on down to modern times. More of his art and information on his life can be seen here.
*****Veysel Gencten is a Turkish photographer. More of his photos of Istanbul, Turkey shot through a special lens can be seen here.
******On Bella, an online magazine for women, can be found a piece of non-fiction of minute length called What Women Want.
******I've heard that this summer, travel for my fellow Americans has been torturous due to high fuel prices, delays, cancellations, and mediocre to poor service. The last time I heard, our airlines are once again on the verge of bankruptcy like they were after 9/11. If you don’t want to go through the hassles of travel especially internationally, Google and Flickr have partnered and come up with a site called Earth Album. Just click on the Earth Album map wherever you would like to go in the world, and then click on the thumbnail photos, and see the sights anywhere you would like without luggage weight worries or security checks. Start globetrotting here.
*****I first heard of and saw Professor Howard Zinn on C-SPAN last year. I also just learned that he taught at the college I went to my freshman year, the all women's Spelman College in Atlanta. Dr. Zinn is one of those Americans we don’t hear about much because what he says and writes has substance. It's safer to focus on the trivial, and it does not take a lot of effort either. It is also difficult for an individual or a nation to look within and see its' failings. Dr. Zinn's interesting take on America past and present can be seen in the video below called A People’s History of the American Empire. It is certainly much more different from the American history I was taught in school.
There have been two monumental events that have meant so much to me as a person of color in the past nearly 2 decades. The second of these monumental events was on Thursday in Berlin when Barack Obama spoke before an estimated 200,000 people. The video of his speech there can be seen above. Barack Obama has such an aura of elegance, sophistication, and intellect which is so rare in today’s politicians in my country. For the last 8 years I and those in the world who has a sense of good taste have seen too much crudeness, fearmongering, brutishness, and vulgarity coming out of Washington. Money does not always take the peasant out of a person. Then there are poor peasants who display class and integrity. The world is strange to me at times, frustrating, and exciting. Thursday was one of those exciting times. February 11, 1990 was another day of excitement when a tall, elegant, but long imprisoned man of color left his prison cell with courage and dignity in South Africa. That day was immensely inspiring to me. Read about his day of release here.
July 24, 2008 is a date that should show young African-Americans everywhere in this country that they can aspire to more than being a thug, a ballplayer, an entertainer, a “ho” (slang for whore), a rapper, a jailbird, a drug dealer, a welfare queen, a crack head, an unwed teenage mother, a ghetto queen, food for the worms in a cemetery at a young age. July 24th should show them that they can stop placing so many limitations on their lives.
I hate labels and restricting myself to just a tiny corner of the world. My blog shows this. Yes, I am African-American. I am a citizen of this country, and I know its’ faults first hands and its’ triumphs. But for me, I am first and foremost a Christian which is not a restriction to me on exploring this world and others; in fact it helps me to aspire to reach more than mediocrity in behavior and outlook that so many people set for their lives. My faith comes before even my citizenship. Due to my faith, I keep trying to aspire to more than just a gut level of living. It helps me to try and love the most difficult and trying of my fellow men and women.
As blogger I do not restrict myself to one or two categories to write about. My outlook is global. I refuse as an African-American blogger to have every blog listed on my blogroll those that are authored only by blacks. My blog includes bloggers from every continent. We only have one short life on earth, why should I restrict myself to my own box? I get out of my box from time to time and go over to other people's boxes.
Barack Obama is the son of a Kenyan who was a goat herder. He mentions this in the video of the speech he gave in Germany on Thursday and which can be viewed above. Barack Obama, Sr. came to America and earned a doctorate. He had the courage to look at Barack’s mother who was a white girl from Kansas and only see another human being to be loved. She obviously reciprocated his feelings because they married. The love did not last, but just the act of a white woman and an African man to marry here in 1961 was a big challenge to the system and an act of courage. Their act showed that we can all be heroic rebels if we desire to. We do not have to settle for the status quo in any area of our lives. It was not until 1967 that interracial marriages were declared legal here in the US. On Thursday, the world saw the proud product of this union.
Here in the states there was a lot of hemming and hawing about Barack Obama’s tour de force in Germany coming from poor, old John McCain and others in the government and the media who feel so threatened by anything that does not continue to follow the usual business as usual mentality. I was not surprised an iota by Obama’s reception in Germany. I expected it. As a black person who has lived abroad, I know about the receptiveness to blacks of many Europeans and others. In Turkey, the positive attention I got was almost overwhelming at times. Obama’s skin color may be an issue with some here, but many abroad look back at the last 8 years and feel that their and the world’s plight might have a sympathizer in a person of color like Obama. He is a handsome and gallant figure unlike the cartoonish roughness of an Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson. There are some of us in the African American community who strongly long for refinement like that which is seen in an Obama or a Denzel Washington or a Dr. King.
I love it that Obama can take the jabs and all the mud slung at him and still hold on to his dignity with a tenaciousness that many African-Americans cannot do. Maybe it is his African heritage. I have noticed that when Africans can get out of the treacherous limitations that some of their societies impose on them, they shine as brightly as the sun. Nothing seems to stop them. They have an amazing tenaciousness and focus on whatever meaningful prize they seek. Few give Africans credit for this, but I am doing it here. Obama has this ability in withstanding his critics, his own type of tenaciousness. He refuses to stoop to their uncouth level. People cannot understand and they try to over look that he even offered to pay the campaign debts of his opponent Hillary Clinton. Hence the accusation that Obama is too good to be true. Many here want to think of America as a Christian nation, but have we forgotten a basic Christian tenet of turn the other cheek? Surprisingly a supporter of President Bush is going to publish a book about Obama’s faith, and he is not claiming Obama is a Muslin either to the surprise of the Christian fundamentalist Taliban types. Now I am sounding mean:) I do believe that Barack Obama will display more of the qualities of a true Christian if he is elected president than George Bush has in the nearly 8 years that he and his clique have nearly single-handedly wrecked our country and destroyed another.
In conclusion, despite the whining about Obama acting like he is already president and poor, old John McCain’s little, lame statements, Obama showed his greatness and his ability to transcend “race,” color, nationality, religion, and all the petty things that keep us humans so often degraded and defeated.
As an aside, CNN has been running a series this week about the challenges facing blacks in America. The African-American community is in a huge crisis which the outside world does not know about. I know some of these challenges first hand by being an educated black female. I have long knew that there are “brothas” out there who feel as uncomfortable and threaten by an educated and cosmopolitan black woman as a Taliban member would about an educated and cosmopolitan Afghan woman. This is rarely revealed outside the African-American community, but it is a reality, just as being intellectual is perceived by many blacks as being white. However, America in general does not look favorably on those who are too intellectual. That is why we have words like “geek” or “nerd.” Nevertheless, please take a look at the CNN website about the program called Black in America.
Whew! For those of you who have been following my posts on the Hapsburgs, I finally completed the series this morning. Writing the posts was fun and a little exhausting. Nevertheless, I really appreciate the responses I have received about the series both on and off my blog. My final post in the series is just below.
Now I want to present some words from one of the wise, a person from my culture. Zora Neale Hurston was one of America’s greatest writers. Some of her novels are standard reading fare in high school and university literature courses. She was one of those unique mixes that I love: female, African-American, writer, folklorist, and anthropologist. The times she lived in restricted her, but she did not allow her mind to be restricted. She was also living proof that no matter what your circumstances are, you can be positive. Positivity/hope like negativity/hopelessness is a choice.
The following words in boldface are hers. In a time such as this when people are willing to kill with guns, bombs, missiles, or words, Hurston’s words are relevant to all “races,” religions, political and ethnic groups. She had plenty to be bitter and hostile about since she was a black woman in America before the Civil Rights Movement had picked up momentum and before Women’s Rights, but she kept on moving and smiling. What an example for us all!
The Sum of Life
I have no race prejudice of any kind. My kinfolks and my skinfolks are dearly loved. But I see their same virtues and vices everywhere I look, so I give you all my right hand of fellowship of love and hope the same for you. In my eyesight, you lose nothing by not looking just like me. I will remember you in all my good thoughts, and I ask you kindly to do the same for me. I have touched the four corners of the horizon. From hard searching it seems to me tears and laughter, love and hate, make up the sum of life.
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. ---George Santayana
This is the first in a three part series about three tragic members of the imperial family of Austria-Hungary, or the house of Hapsburg-Lorraine. The Hapsburgs ruled over portions of Europe from Spain to the Balkans for centuries. The assassination of one of their family members, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, led to World War I. Here I will present Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph or Maximilian for short. He was the archduke’s uncle and was executed years before in a foreign land where he had journeyed to rule with the best of intentions.
On June 19, 1867 under the Mexican sky a tall, blonde Austrian of 35 faced a firing squad along with two Mexicans who had been his loyal generals. Far away in Europe, his wife was descending into madness after fleeing Mexico to unsuccessfully plead her husband’s case to the heads of France and Austria, and the pope. The Austrian who stood ready to die that day was the former emperor of Mexico, Maximilian or Maximiliano I. Who was Maximilian and how did he who was Austrian and who grew up along the Danube end up in Mexico?
Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph, the future Emperor Maximilian I, was born in Vienna, Austria on July 6, 1832. He was the second son of the Archduke Franz Karl and his wife Sophie. From the beginning there were contradictions about Maximilian. He looked nothing like his father or his brothers. In fact, it was said that he closely resembled Napoleon II, the Duke of Reichstadt who was the son of Napoleon I and the Archduchess Marie Louise. Maximilian’s mother Sophie had developed a tender friendship with the Duke that might have been transformed into passion love. From the time she had arrived in Vienna when she was 19 and the Duke had been 14, they had been extremely close. They had shared similar interests in books, beauty, opera, and liberalism. Napoleon II was the opposite of Sophie’s husband and siblings who were dull and prodding. In contrast to them, the Duke was tall, blonde, and glittering, especially once he became a man. Was Maximilian the product of this intense friendship? No one will ever know. When the Duke died at 21 of tuberculosis or as some have suggested, poisoning, Sophie never recovered from the loss of her best friend.
Maximilian would grow up to have a sparkle and a contradictory uniqueness about him. His dabbling in liberal politics would cause his elder brother Franz Joseph, the last emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, fits. Maximilian was an eager learner showing early on a love for the arts and science. He also loved the military, and rose quickly to become a high ranking officer in the Austrian navy. His first stint as a ruler was as viceroy of the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia.
In 1857, he married Princess Charlotte of Belgium. The two were opposites in looks and temperaments. Where Maximilian was tall and fair, Charlotte was short and dark. Maximilian could be lively and frivolous, while Charlotte was quiet, serious, loved the music of Bach and books on history. In their case, which is often the case, opposites did attract.
Maximilian’s half brother, the Emperor Franz Joseph finally got fed up with his younger brother’s progressive policies. So he dismissed him from his position as viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia. Maximilian and Charlotte retired from public life and lived in Milan.
In 1859, Maximilian was faced with a highly unexpected proposal. He was approached by Mexican conservative monarchists to be their candidate as the emperor of Mexico. Maximilian eventually consented to the proposal, since he had a love for adventure and the exotic. His decision also fell in completely with Napoleon III’s desire to have permanent European control of Mexico.
In May of 1864, Maximilian and Charlotte landed in Veracruz, Mexico. Maximilian had spent the time since he had accepted the throne, learning enthusiastically all he could about his new country. Mexico was in turmoil when the couple arrived. French troops had been sent there after Mexico’s president Benito Juarez had been unable to repay foreign loans which Mexico had received from France, Spain, and Britain. Napoleon had used the issue of the loans to intervene militarily in Mexico. Maximilian and Charlotte had unknowingly arrived in the war torn country believing that a plebiscite by the Mexican people had declared him emperor. The plebiscite had been done under the gun with French troops around dictating that the Mexicans vote according to French plan. The majority of the population did not want foreigners running their country. They already had a leader, President Benito Juarez.
Like Maximilian, Benito Juarez was a remarkable individual. Where Maximilian had come from the halls of palaces, Benito Juarez had come from the dust. Juarez was an Amerindian of peasant stock. He said of his parents that they were "Indios de la raza primitiva del país," which in English means, "Indians of the primitive race of the country." He was the first pure blooded Indian to rule a nation in the Americas in over three centuries. Juarez grew up not even speaking Spanish. He spoke an Indian language, Zapotec. Until he was nearly a teenager, he worked as a farmer and a shepherd. A lay Franciscan noticed his high intellect and encouraged him to go into the priesthood. Juarez was a dedicated seminary student for awhile, but eventually his interests turned to law. He graduated from the seminary, but he also went on to earn a law degree.
Still not suspecting that they were dupes, Maximilian and Charlotte planned to have a coronation in the Metropolitana Cathedral in Mexico City. The coronation was never held because of constant unrest in the country. Maximilian and Charlotte made their home in Chapultepec Castle which is on a hill which had once been a retreat of the Aztec emperors. Since they were childless, they adopted a young Mexican child named Agustin de Iturbide y Green and his cousin Salvador. Both had been the grandsons of a former emperor of Mexico who had been forced to abdicate and was later executed. Agustin was to be Maximilian’s heir. Maximilian’s decision like so much he did in the beginning was an attempt to pacify the masses. Agustin was of Mexican, Spanish, and American descent. His mother had been an American named Alice Green. Perhaps Maximilian thought that by declaring a child of Mexican, Spanish, and American blood as his heir apparent, the Mexicans, Europeans, and Americans would see in a future ruler of mixed heritage someone who might be less threatening to their interests in the region. America was still engaged in its’ own turmoil with the Civil War. However, even though with it’s plate full, the American government did not feel comfortable with French interference in Mexico. The Monroe Doctrine clearly stated that European countries were not to interfere in any of the newly created states in the Americas. After the Civil War was over, the Doctrine would spell the end of Maximilian’s adventure.
Mexico had two rulers now: the Emperor Maximilian and President Benito Juarez. Maximilian began to steal ideas from the Juarez camp in an attempt to buy the trust of the Mexican people. He copied Juarez’s ideas on religious freedom, land reform, and voting rights which would go beyond the landholding classes. He offered Juarez amnesty if he would only swear allegiance to the crown. Juarez and the people were not about to be pacified by an unwelcomed, usurping foreigner. When pacification did not work, Maximilian ordered that all followers of Juarez be shot. This was in response to the republican (Juarez’s) force’s practice of executing followers of the empire. This draconian measure really turned the tide against Maximilian’s rule.
Once the American Civil War had come to a close, the US government began to ship arms to Juarez’s government. Napoleon III got nervous. With so much unrest in Mexico, being slapped by the Monroe Doctrine, and worries about mounting German power on the European continent, he suddenly withdrew all French forces leaving Maximilian and Charlotte (now Carlota) to fend for themselves. Betrayed and alone except for a few loyal followers, Carlota encouraged Maximilian to never waver in his determination. She reminded him that being a man of honor, it would be better to fight it out and die than to run back to Austria in defeat and disgrace. When they had accepted the throne of Mexico, they had relinquished any titles they had had back home. While Maximilian tried to hang on to power, Carlota went on an odyssey to France, Vienna, and Rome to plead her husband’s cause. When everyone looked the other way, including Napoleon III, who had been Maximilian’s chief supporter, Carlota had a nervous breakdown which turned into insanity. For 50 more years she would live in seclusion dying in 1927 at age 86.
Back in Mexico, Maximilian tried to hold out again the republican forces of Benito Juarez. While trying to escape through enemy lines, he was captured. He was imprisoned, court-martialed and sentenced to death. Many of the crowned heads of Europe including the author Victor Hugo sent letters and telegrams to the Mexican government begging that Maximilian’s life be spared. Benito Juarez refused. He wanted to send a clear message to the world that any government imposed on Mexico by foreigner powers would never again be tolerated. So on June 19, 1867, the former emperor of Mexico, Maximilian I was shot along with two of his generals Tomas Mejia and Miguel Miramon. This is Eduard Monet’s artistic view of the event. Maximilian did not wear a sombrero, and he did not stand in the middle. He asked that his executioners fire at his heart because he wanted his mother’s last view of him to be with a face unmarred by bullets. However, a possible stray bullet hit him in the eye. When his body was embalmed, a glass eye was positioned where the bullet had struck him.
Maximilian’s last words may have been either,
“Mexicans! Today I die for a fair cause: the freedom and independence of Mexico. May God allow my spilling blood to put an end forever to the disgraces of my new homeland. ¡Viva México!"
or
"I forgive everybody. I pray that everybody may also forgive me, and my blood which is about to be shed will bring peace to Mexico. Long live Mexico! Long Live Independence!”
Like his great aunt Queen Marie Antoinette 70 years earlier, Maximilian had been died violently so far from home. This macabre photo is of Maximilian's corpse. In 1939, Warner Brothers Pictures produced the drama Juarez with Brian Aherne as Maximilian, Bette Davis as Carlota, Paul Muni as Benito Juarez, and Claude Rains as Napoleon III. Aherne's Maximilian is almost saintly in his idealism. Also in the movie, Juarez’s hero and role model is President Abraham Lincoln, whose portrait he always keeps with him almost as if it is a religious icon. When Juarez asks one of his spies about the appearance of Maximilian, the man describes him as a “magnifico, who is tall and fair with hair like the summer corn.”
Below are two clips from the movie. In the tragedy of Maximilian and Carlota, the lessons of history have been forgotten by many, especially when we look at some recent events that have occurred on the world stage.
The beauty above is my dream mode of transportation.
Like a German friend once said to me, “Americans are such children.” I did not take offense either when she said it because I know some of us are perpetual whiners like some small children are. We really do need to grow up and stop being so afraid of everything that disrupts our rhythm in life.
One thing that is disrupting our rhythm is gasoline prices. Though prices have never been this high in the history of our nation, we Americans have been paying far less for gasoline to fuel our road hogs than our counterparts, particularly in Europe. Here is an article published in May on CNN Money comparing our prices to other countries. It is a little dated since the average price of gasoline has gone over $4.00 a gallon here since that time. A few years ago when we were spending half of what we are now, many Europeans were paying well over $5.00 per gallon of gas. Now that we are just over $4.00 a gallon, we are crumpling and mourning about the possible loss of our wasteful way of life. I believe the government banked on us being able to grab Iraq’s oil and keep everything cheap for our gas tanks, but c’est la vie. Where our counterparts in other places have not bought the most expensive homes, the most gas guzzling huge cars; have tried to maintain saving accounts, we have wasted gasoline, gotten into astronomical debt, and have generally been irresponsible because this is America and most people want to compete and try to have some of the accoutrements of the stars. We need to face facts and get out of our fairytale world inspired by our favorite television shows. We are not all stars, sports figures, rappers, or multimillionaires. Even they can go bankrupt or foreclose on their homes like the recent examples of Ed McMahonand Evander Holyfieldhas shown.
As for me, I never got into the rat race because the rat race did not inspire or interest me. Cookie cutter lifestyles are for the masses, the empty, and the unimaginative, as far as I am concerned. I do my own thing. Because I do not feel I have to drive a certain type of huge vehicle to be important, I have fell in love with scooters. When I first saw on film young people racing around the streets of Rome on these vibrant vehicles, I wished it was me. There is a romance and sophistication about scooters that cars and trucks do not have. To me, one of the most romantic images to me on the road is a guy with his girlfriend or wife behind him on a scooter. Last summer when I was in Fethiye, Turkey I saw couples on the road zipping along on scooters.
We Americans are so isolated these days. We don’t answer our doors to avoid potential criminals. We don’t bother to get to know our neighbors even though they have lived next door to us for 15 years. We don’t answer our telephones to avoid bill collectors. We don’t take time to do anything but work for all the unnecessary things that put us deeper in debt and destroy the environment often at the same time. We need to get off our dependency on oil. We need to conserve. We need to develop a massive and workable mass transit system that connects all towns and cities of this country so that we do not have to rely always on a car. We need to buy scooters and get out there in nature instead of riding down the streets and highways of this nation in huge air conditioned boxes.
This week the main newspaper of my town ran an article and a column about the virtues of scooters. Scooters are said to get from 60 to 100 miles a gallon. They can be easily ridden and controlled by almost anyone, unlike a motorcycle. In my city alone, scooters are being purchased so quickly by consumers that the retailers cannot keep them in stock. I am hoping scooters will become more of a wave of the immediate future here, with people keeping one car to drive around in when it is very cold, but using the remainder of the year to commute to work by scooter.
We have to change our way of thinking. I think the difficult times that this nation faces will make or break us. We will either become real men and women standing up to the challenge or we will remain spineless jellyfish crying and stamping our feet like small children whenever things don’t work out for us.
I think the day of the scooter has arrived in America. Here are three more beauties that I would not complain about owning.
You might be wondering about my world. I write a lot about the far away, historical, and the exotic. But what about Sincerae’s world? Well, my world began in the city of Athens, Georgia. Athens is a city of close to 200,000 inhabitants. Good things do come in small packages. Note the following about Athens.
My home town began as a trading settlement in the late 18th century along the Oconee River. Oconee is a Creek Indian word which means people, place, or nation. On January 27, 1785, the Georgia General Assembly established a charter which was written by one of the nation’s Founding Fathers and signer of The Declaration of Independence, Abraham Baldwin, to found The University of Georgia which is the country’s first state-supported or public university. The first students were the sons of wealthy white plantation owners. Exactly two centuries later in March 1985, I, a descendant of African slaves and a female would proudly receive my bachelor degree at this institution.
During the 1800s, Athens was given the nickname "the Manchester of the South." Like its' counterpart, Manchester, England, Athens was a mill town specializing in the processing of cotton.
For such a small place, Athens, Georgia has a rich history. After the US Civil War, freed slaves came to Athens in search of new educational opportunities provided by the Freedman’s Bureau which was an agency which aided refugees of the war. By the turn of the last century, this little southern town had a significant black professional and middle class. I have been told that shortly after this period in which blacks did not have civil rights, some distant cousins in my father’s family were quite well off by the standards of their day, owning significant amounts of land right outside the city limits.
For such a small town, Athens has a highly creative music, artistic, and intellectual environment which is situated mainly downtown in proximity to The University of Georgia. An eclectic range of individuals and musical groups had their origins here. R.E.M. and the B-52'sare bands that were formed in Athens. My father did some upholstery work for one of the members several years ago. White rapper Bubba Sparxxx began his journey as a southern hip hopster (sic) whose genre is called Country Rap or Dirty South. A number of other alternative music bands had their origins here. When I was a university student, the now defunct Athens Observer newspaper and the still existent Flagpole Magazine constantly contained advertisements by university students and other youngsters seeking members to help them establish or augment their bands.
Athens also has a literary scene which includes former residents and Pulitzer Prize winners Deborah Blum and Edward Larson. Acclaimed writer and poetess Judith Ortiz Cofer. Ms. Cofer was born in Puerto Rico and is a professor at the university. Poet Coleman Barks, who is one of the foremost translators into English of the poetry of Mevlana Jelaluddin Balkhi or Rumi the 13th century Afghan poet, Islamic jurist and theologian who died in Turkey, also resides here. I was a student of both Cofer and Barks at the university.
Emmy Award winning journalist Charlayne Hunter-Gault was one of two African-American students who courageously helped desegregate The University of Georgia in the early 1960s. Her attendance there even sparked a race riot. Most people do not attend a university where their lives are under attack by intimidation and threats, but Hunter did. The racist jibes and threats against her did not deter her. She graduated, and her later achievements prove that the experience did not embitter her but apparently made her strong and determined and an inspiration for not only African-American females but to anyone to never, ever give up.
Academy Award winning actress Kim Basinger was born here. As a graduate student, I saw her mother come several times into the large pharmacy where I worked. Long before Paris Hilton and others made it popular, Basinger’s mom carried her toy dog around with her safely tucked in her arms. My dad even saw Basinger’s dad a few times when they were both young men. Her father was a loan office manager.
My Athens, though in the south or as some call it “The Bible Belt,” is considered a liberal town because of the intellectual currents that flow from The University of Georgia. Over the years, downtown Athens has been the home to many interesting shops selling everything from vintage and ethnic clothing to antiques and used and rare books. There is a newsstand with more than your usual magazine and comic fare. There have been shops selling used cassettes and records and gourmet candy. Stores selling fine jewelry, shoes, clothing, musical instruments, art supplies, health food, and unique gift items are there. There are and there were interesting and fine restaurants sometimes catering to the vegetarian palate and the yogurt and soul food lover. Then there are innovative bars where most of the recording artists and bands that were formed here got their start.
Wikipedia lists Athens, Greece as the sister city of my Athens. Perhaps it is, but Wikipedia though a good encyclopedic source has its’ shortcomings. Unless it has changed, Cortona, Italy in Tuscany is the sister city of Athens, Georgia. Every year art students from The University of Georgia go to Cortona as exchange students to soak up the artistic and historical atmosphere of the town to enhance their artistic perceptions and abilities.
Other areas of attraction are The Georgia Museum of Art, The Georgia Botanical Gardens, and The Athens Creative Theater. The Healing Arts Center offers regular classes in bellydance/oriental dance.
Below I have posted some photos of my town. These are not my own but were taken from various sources. A promotional video on Athens can also be seen here.
The Morton Theater of Athens (below). A historic building centering on African-American arts and entertainment.
Stegeman Coliseum on The University of Georgia campus. My high school graduation ceremony was held here. The "home" and playing field of the Georgia Bulldogs football team, Sanford Stadium, on The University of Georgia campus. The favorite hangout of local football fans.
The conservatory at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia (above). To take the virtual tour of the gardens, you must download Quicktime. See the small red help on the right hand side of the map of the Botanical Garden map. The download may be slow, but seeing the tour of the garden is worth the wait.
The oldest house in Athens the Church-Waddel-Brumby House (above), circa 1820. It is also the Athens Welcome Center.
Athens' Stonehenge monument at the entrance to Stonehenge Subdivision, a housing area.
City Hall where decisions for Athens-Clarke County are made (above & below).
The annual Twilight Criterium bike race for professional bikers.
The Georgia Theater, a downtown Athens landmark hosting good less than mainstream bands and films.
The T. R. R. Cobb House (above). A antebellum (pre-Civil War) mansion in the Greek Revival architectural style. A story about it can be read in this 2006 Christian Science Monitor.
I walked this same path for years as an undergraduate student on East Broad Street crossing from The University of Georgia north campus.
The University of Georgia arch at the entrance to the campus (below). It faces the street and the crosswalk in the above photo. There is an old wives' tale about the arch. The warning is to never walk underneath it because if you do, you will become sterile. I was told this when I took my orientation tour of the campus prior to transferring there as a sophomore. I never walked under it, neither does the majority of students who come that way.
Clock tower at the fire station in Five Points on Milledge Avenue (below). The clock tower is one of several symbols of Athens on logos.
These homages (below) to the Georgia Bulldog football team started appearing around town a few years ago. Some have criticized them as eyesores. I once agreed with them somewhat, but now I think they are cute in a campy sort of way. One sits beside the public library. Children love to play on it, and some parents take photographs of their toddlers that they perch on its' back.
Though I had not planned to write anymore this week (don’t miss my post below), this is a moment I want to mark in the history of my life and country.
Barack and his grandpapa. Today he has an African-American version of his grandfather's face.
