Sail on brother Jesse...
Portland Obaarvar April TO. 1M0 Paga S
By Nyewust Askari
J Railroad Depot t
Appliance Sales *
Tonight is such an inadequate time
tor me. Another Black man is dead,
trim m ed, gone from this earth
Kene...and a cold, bitter, A p ril rain
beat against my kitchen window pane
■ w
Jesse. Jesse
HOURS WtMdo« S lo iS d
A p ril 1980; there is rain, I com­
plain. but even a 1936 West German
mud ca n't stop Jesse’ s feet from
‘bursting us into the select pages o f
World History.
Feet don 'tfa il him now.
Jesse...a special Black man.
Owens...a Black history maker,
brought to me first by ABC .
Something is very wrong here; a Black
history maker on ABC racing against
a horse!
Feet don 'tfa il him now!
On this day, ABC is H ilte r 1936,
the horse is a 1936 German sprinter
and we are 1936 fans cheering them
on. How many are cheering fo r the
horse? How many for Jesse?
Feenie meenie my-nee moe
You 'll never catch Jesse by his toe
Feet d on ’t fa d him now!
Oh Allah! forgive me for my trans­
gressions. For too many years,
A B C /N B C /C B S educated me to
dislike this great Black man. It was all
about images; images o f a Black
history maker reduced to racing
against horses, against commericals,
against pale faced, dog eat dog TV
directors, and people like me who
thought the 60s educated us to pass
logical judgement against those whose
Blackness we considered null and
void.
Allah! please let me know that you
understand what I'm tryin g to ex­
press! W hat did I know? 1 d id n ’ t
know anything about 1936, or what
brother Jesse went through just to live
thiough it all; Hilter, West Germany,
and the thousands o f whites who had
been told by Hilter that Jesse and his
kind were “ Baboons” and the
“ dregs” o f all humanity. I confess my
ignorance.
Times were hard then as now, but
much harder then. A Black m an’ s
chances o f survival against the Hitters
o f the world were almost nil. So, what
do I, a product o f the 60s understand
about Jesse, a product o f 1936? We
k ill our heroes too easily w ith in ­
tellectual bullshit. 1 was born in 1945,
but it took until the late 60s fo r me to
even realize that 1 was Black. Brother
Jesse knew it back in 1936.
A ll he wanted to do was run. A ll
sister Rosie Parks wanted to do was
sit at the front o f the bus; brother H.
Rap Brow n ju st wanted justice ;
M artin wanted justice for all; sweet
Jimmy Lee just wanted a jo b so he
could provide fo r his fam ily...Black
history makers, tired o f walking, tired
o f ta lkin g, tired o f standing while
others o f a d iffe re n t c o lo r were
allow ed to sit; ju st w anted to be
B lack, understood and treated
equally; just wanted to be known as
dignified men and women and ended
up being history makers. What do I
know? I have yet to help write our
h isto ry o r do som ething w orth
remembering. Brother Jesse did both,
on the up and down stroke.
He just wanted to run, have some
fun and win Gold Medals. As he so
often said, “ at the time, 1 didn’t know
anything about politics.” A t least he
was honest. It would have been hard
tor me to admit a lack o f political in­
sight. But, what do we really know
about the politics o f haters, when we
spend so much time trying to love? 1
confess my ignorance. The politics o f
haters are the miseries o f lovers o f
hum anity and brother Jesse never
defined h im self otherwise. Never­
theless, me and others like myself,
tried...oh how we tried! On any given
day Jesse was this that and the other,
but never a brother, never a history
maker worth honoring. Allah forgive
me for my transgressions.
T o my parents, Jesse was the
Muhummad A li o f 1936. A different
kind o f A li, but a A li all the same. He
was the firs t Black man to w hip
Hilter. He didn’ t care about H ilte r’s
madness, wasn’t afraid o f it at all,
yet, here I am in 1980, experiencing
deep fear whenever a police car drive
slowspeed past my house, in the
night time. There is knowledge to be
learned here.
Feet d o n ’t fa il me now.
I see the sun now...feel strong...feel
a strange breeze touching my face;
feel love surging through my body;
feel the need to claim this Black man
and I w ill. I shall, fro m now on,
honor our Black history makers, no
matter the gap in time, no matter the
difference in political paths. There is
no way I could ever feel what brother
Owens felt back in 1936 or in 1980. I
will never really know the depth o f his
trib u la tio n s , his loneliness, o r his
yearning fo r a little understanding
from brothers like myself.
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Jesse Owens visits with Ernie Warren during Portland visit
m ust ftuard. p ro te c t and
eventually come to guide our Black
history makers when they reach the
point in lite where they are unable to
do it themselves. We must not let the
likes o f A B C , NBC, and CBS steal
(Photo: Allan da Lay)
and reduce them to “ thangs” we dis-
pise and dehumanize.
I learn from Black history and now
I know that there can be no Black
H is to ry w ith o u t Black h istory
makers. A nd a ltho the event took
Sears
M o st item s at reduced price:
place back in 1936, I am proud to
have seen him alive in 1980. Now
that’ s an honor w orth w ritin g and
teaching about.
Sail on brother Jesse, sail on! We’ ll
finish the race from here...
YOUR VOTE
DOES MAKE A
DIFFERENCE.
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Sale prices shown in effect until April 12th
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12-ft. aluminum semi-vee
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car-top size boat. 555-
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_ Reg.
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14-ft. sembvee, reg. $59 9................. $549
61394