Portland observer., March 16, 1994, Page 2, Image 2

P age
M arch
A2
16, 1994 • T he
i . i
P rof . M c K inley B lrt
READER HAS JUST
TAKEN ME TO TASK
FOR NOTINCLUDING A
FEMALE IN MY PORTRAITS OF
BLACK CONTRIBUTORS TO
MEDICINE.
Z\
I was saving this gem for a spe­
cial monograph to be published this
spring, but let me add this b it o f
reassurance to those women who
m ight wonder i f they had carved a
place in the early history o f the heal­
ing arts.
M ary Seacole, bom in Kingston,
Jamaica (1805) was a nurse whose
reputation just after the Crimean W ar
in Europe (1853-56) rivalled or sur­
passed that o f the renowned Florence
Nightingale. Again, I am indebted to
that international “ Electronic In fo r­
mation Superhighway” fora con tin u-
ous flow o f documentation o f im por­
tant elements o f black history. A t the
end o f this article you w ill find cita ­
tions o f several key sources.
M a ry ’s mother was a competent
practitioner o f Jamaican traditional
medicine and kept a boarding-house
where she cared fo r invalid officers
and their wives. She is said to have
“ soaked up” medical knowledge from
early childhood and in early youth
had gained a reputation as “ a s k illfu l
nurse and doclress” . Before and after
marriage to a H oratio Seacole, she
traveled w idely — twice to England
and then, in 1851 during the C a lifo r­
nia Gold Rush, she joined her brother
Edward in Panama where she opened
a hotel.
D uring this period she saved her
first cholera patient and began the
foundation fo r a well-deserved inter­
national reputation. L ik e our other
medical pioneers o f color Mary suf­
fered outrageous slurs and insults. “ A
white Am erican suggested that she be
bleached in order to make her as
acceptable in any company as she
deserves to be” . A woman o f high
intelligenceandquick w it, Mary wrote
the man a stinging letter which ended
“ ...as to the society which the process
(o f bleaching] m ight gain me admis­
sion into, all I can say is, that, judging
from the specimens I have met w ith
here, I don’ t think I shall lose much by
being excluded from it. So, gentle­
men, I d rink to you and the general
reform ation o f Am erican manners” .
The autumn o f 1853 found her in
London where news came o f the col­
lapse o f the B ritish arm y’ s nursing
system in the Crim ea and the agonies
heightened by gross mismanagement.
Volunteering here services she re­
peatedly turned down, even by one o f
the noted Florence N ightingale’ s as­
sistants. M ary said, “ I read in her face
the fact that had there been a vacancy,
1 should not have been chosen to f ill
it” . Fortunately fo r the B ritish and
thousands o f suffering soldiers, she
had a relative called Day w ith whom
a business enterprise was formed and
they proceeded to set up a store and
hotel at the main B ritish army camp
in the Crimea.
M ary Seacole’s British hotel (and
army store, dispensary, hospital, etc.)
opened its doors in the summer o f
1855 near the besieged tow n o f
Sevstopol, Russia, a lieutenant in the
63rd West S u ffo lk regiment wrote,
“ She was a w onderful w o m a n -a ll the
men swore by her, and in any case o f
any malady would seek mary ’ s ad vice
and use her herbal medicines, in p re f­
erence to reporting themselves to their
own doctors...her never fa ilin g pres­
ence among the wounded al ter a battle
and assisting them made her beloved
by the rank and file o f the whole army” .
It was w ith Russen, the firs t mod­
em war correspondent who made Mary
ELL.THISYEARTHERE
Seacole famous in England, “ This
HAVE BEEN A FEW
kind and successful physician” , he
PROTESTS, ALBEIT
wrote in a dispatch dated September
14,1855,” doctors and cores a ll man­ MUTED. BUT, WHAT CAN YOU SAY.
ner o f man w ith e x tra o rd in a ry IF IT IS YOUR’ HISTORY AND,
success...I have seen her go down UNLIKE MANY OTHER PEOPLE IN
under fire and a more tender or s k ill­ THE W ORLD, YOU DO NOT
ful hand about a wound or a broken CELEBRATE IT, EXPLORE IT
lim b could not be found among our EVERY MOMENT OF YOUR
EXISTENCE-USE IT EACH DAY AT
best surgeons” .
OPPORTUNITY
TO
But the end o f the war left M ary EVERY
back in England, broke and w ith a lot MOTIVATE YOURSELF AND YOUR
o f unused m ilita ry stores on hand. A CHILDREN.
Do we really
letter in the London Tim es asks,
“ W hile the benevolent deeds o f Flo­ need hosts o f psy­
rence N ightingale are being handed chologists, consult­
down to posterity...are the humbler ants and other pro­
deeds o f Mrs. Seacole to be forgot­ fessional motivator
ten?” Lord Robley and another B rit­ to build our self-
ish commander in the Crim ea staged image? M uch o f
a gigantic four-day musical benefit this w orld is our
for her at the Royal Gardens—1000 own creation.
I, am ong o the rs, have lo n g
performers, nine m ilita ry bands. So it
recognized
the im p o rta n c e o f h a v­
is that she did not die in poverty and
in
g
an
e
n
d
u rin g and p erm a ne nt
left forgotten.
co
nce
pt
o
f
s e lf-w o rth --w o rn e v ­
M ary published an autobiogra­
e
ry
day
w
ith
p rid e and n o t a p e r i­
phy in 1857, “ W onderful Adventures
o
d
ic
th
in
g
lik
e s p rin g flo w e rs o r
o f M rs. Seacole In M any Lands” .
the
w
in
te
r
s
o
ls
tic e . B la c k c o n tr i­
Other citations are Alexander and
b
u
tio
n
s
to
the
w
o r ld ’ s c u ltu re , the
Dewjee, M ary Seacole: Jamaican
lite
r
a
tu
r
e
,
s
c
ie
n c e s , r e lig io n s ,
National Heroine and Doctress In
m
ath
em
a
tics
and
so fo rth re p re ­
The Crim ean W ar, Brent L ib ra ry
sent
a
w
e
ll
s
p
rin
g
o f su pp ort o f
Service, 1982. Ed. W.J.S., W onder­
the
s
p
ir
it
and
psyche
th a t is a l­
fu l Adventures o f M rs. Seacole In
Many Lands, James Blackwood, 1858 w ays w ith in reach. I rem em ber
and Frederick Robinson, D airy O f the phrase fro m o u r h ig h sch oo l
The Crimean W ar, Richard Bentley, L a tin class, “ semper eadem ” (ever
the same).
1861 (P.290).
A n d , c e rta in ly , in o rd e r to
p ro m o te a decent le v e l o f c o e x is t­
ence w ith o u r c u ltu ra l and e th n ic
n e ig h b o rs , I t is re q u ire d th a t they
U.S -Cuba Friendshipment Caravan, be k e p t a c q u a in te d w ith “ w ho
w hich w ill include contingents not A fric a n A m e ric a n s re a lly are” --
o nly from the U nited States and c c rta in ly n o t the v ilif ie d trib e as
Canada, but also from M exico, En­ described by both te x t and m edia,
gland, Sweden and Germany. There and re in fo rc e d by the e d u c a tio n a l
w ill be over 100 vehicles and 10 little e s ta b lis h m e n t. I t is an absolute
y e llo w school busses.
Pastors fo r Peace asks
those who believe that
people in Cuba should
have fo od , m edicine,
wheelchairs and other
hum an itarian aid
to
w rite or call the W hite
House, the State Depart­
ment and the U.S. De-
partm entof theTreasury
(o f w hich the Customs is
o u re his
an agency) during that
time. And i f you’re in ­
terested in supporting
Congressman Rangel’ s
le g is la tio n , le t y o u r
congressperson know.
The right to food and
to medicine is a funda­
AND
m e n ta l hum an rig h t.
How long can the U.S.
go on denying this?
That’s It? Over 6000 Years Of Glorious
Black History Crammed Into One Month?
Civil Rights ^ouwal: WhyTh© Cub© Embargo?
by
B ernice P owell J ackson
To Americans the little yellow
school bus is a symbol fo r children
and education. It is a sign o f the future
and at the same tim e brings back fond
memories o f childhood trips from
home to school.
L a st sum m er the little y e llo w
school bus became a d iffe re n t k in d
o f sym bol when the Pastors o f
Peace led a caravan o f 95 tru cks
and cars and three y e llo w school
busses across the U n ite d S tates/
M e x ic a n b o rd e r along w ith 100
tons o f h u m a n ita ria n a id fo r the
people o f Cuba. Pastors fo r Peace,
an arm o f the In te rre lig io u s F o u n ­
d a tio n fo r C o m m u n ity O rg a n iz a ­
tio n , had c o lle c te d th is a id , in ­
c lu d in g fo o d , m e d icin e , w h e e l­
c h a irs , B ib le s , b ic y c le s , soap,
toothbrushes and co m p ute rs fro m
churches and o rg a n iz a tio n across
the U n ite d States to be g ive n to
the peo ple o f C uba th ro u g h the
M a rtin L u th e r K in g , Jr. M e m o ­
r ia l C en te r in H avana. The busses
them selves w ere to go to a p ro ­
gram fo r m e n ta lly im p a ire d p e r­
Z '
-
sons and to c h u rc h ’ y o u th groups
in Cuba.
For the past 34 years, the United
States has embargoed a ll trade to
Cuba, including food and hum anitar­
ian supplies. Thus, Cuban hospitals
cannot purchase prescription m edi­
cines from U.S. companies and C u­
ban churches and other humanitarian
organizations cannot receive relief.
Food itself is a scarce comm odity to
most Cubans, w h ile we in this nation
s till grow more than we eat.
Pastors fo r Peace decided to chal­
lenge what they believed was an un­
ju st law. Thus began their caravan,
collecting re lie f in cities across the
nation and culm inating in a border
crossing last summer en route to Ha­
vana. But U.S. Customs o fficials were
unhappy w ith this attempt at circu m ­
navigation and w hile they allowed
across two o f the school busses, they
forced the caravaners to carry across
much o f the aid by hand and confis­
cated the third little yellow school
bus.
In early M arch, watch the news­
papers and television for news o f the
(©fcrserrier
(TI tc
^ w S S illS Il
p e r s p e c tiv e s
The Magnificent Healing Lady
by
*
P ortland O bserver
Y
m ust th a t there be w e ll-d e s ig n e d
v e h ic le s fo r th is c o n tin u in g p ro ­
cess. It is n o t n e a rly enough that
y o u r 'd if fe r e n t’ associates s im p ly
regard you as a good frie n d o r a
c iv il fe llo w e m p lo y e e --n o t w ith a
d e n ig ra tin g m ed ia in an a tta ck
m ode 2 4-h o u rs a day.
A n e x c e lle n t m od el fo r the
e ffectiveness fo r such an approach
is m y e xpe rie nce w ith the U n ite d
States Forest se rvice w ith w ho m I
had a succession o f c o n tra c ts to
“ a c q u a in t th e ir
p e rso n n e l w ith
th e fa c t th a t
A f r ic a n s and
A fric a n A m e ri­
cans had made
the a fo re m e n ­
tio n e d c o n tr i­
b u tio n s to man
K in d --a lo n g w ith la te r and c o n ­
te m p o ra ry a chieve m en ts in te c h ­
n o lo g y and the arts and sciences.”
Indeed, the e x p e c ta tio n s associ­
ated w ith th is end ea vor p ro ve d
m ore than ju s tifie d w hen 'h a rd
c o re ’ p e rso n n e l m anagers and a
race -o rie n te d w o rk fo rc e w ere, fo r
the fir s t tim e in th e ir liv e s , b ro u g h t
up a gainst d ocu m e nted and ir r e ­
fu ta b le e vid en ce o f b la c k ta le n t
and a b ilitie s .
The h ir in g o f m in o ritie s p ro ­
ceeded apace w ith these re v e la ­
tio n s as m y sem inars presented in
an in te re s tin g and fa s c in a tin g
fashion hundreds o f essential facts
a bo ut a g ro u p o f A m e ric a n s --th e
v e ry co re and ela n v ita l o f a
p eople, p re v io u s ly ig n o re d or d e ­
lib e ra te ly hid de n by the educa­
tio n system , m edia and o th e r e le ­
m ents o f the s y s te m -in c lu d e the
c u ltu re tra n s fe rs o f the extended
fa m ily .
As I ’ ve becom e m uch m ore
a c tiv e in respect to in te rfa c in g
w ith o th e r agencies and the b u s i­
ness c o m m u n ity as w e ll, I fin d
that the n o v e l ideas I in itia te d
back there in the ’ o ld ’ days are
now considered “ in n o v a tiv e ” and
o f a “ c r itic a l im m e d ia c y ” . The
‘ fu tu ris tic ’ interfaces and c u rric u ­
lum s I presented to p u b lic agen­
cies and e d u ca tio n a l c irc le s fro m
1966 to 1977 are now co n sid e re d
‘ c u ttin g edge” te c h n o lo g ie s .
Because I used A fric a n and
A fric a n A m e ric a n s c ie n tis ts and
in v e n to rs to in tro d u c e m y m o ti­
v a tio n a l concepts there is in cre a s­
ing a tte n tio n fro m in d u s try e le ­
m ents w ho are fe a rfu l o f even
m ore p ro b le m s in the e d u c a tio n
c o m m u n itie s . T here is n o th in g
lik e h a v in g the m ost p ra g m a tic
m em bers o f a c o m m u n ity on y o u r
side, peo ple w ho liv e in a ‘ real
tim e ’ w o rld and are w illin g to
back a person w ho shares th e ir
v is io n . T hat 1 96 6C om p ute r/C om -
m u n ic a tio n s D e m o n s tra tio n in
T he D a lle s , O regon w on a N a ­
tio n a l Science F o u n d a tio n a w a rd -
-and d ocu m e nted the fa c t th a t A f ­
ric a n in v e n te d the “ B in a ry M a th ­
e m a tic a l S ystem ” used in C o m ­
p u te r and C o m m u n ic a tio n s T e c h ­
n o lo g y.
W here m any educators have
seemed a lit t le “ s lo w ” in c o m p re - '
h en ding the trem endous m o tiv a ­
tio n a l and le a n in g im p a c t (and
s o c ia l) such facts can have upon
students o f a ll ages, in d u s try has
sw ung in r ig h t b e h in d m y p io ­
n e e rin g c o n ce p t o f a s tru c tu re d ,
y e a r-lo n g p re sen ta tion o f the k in d
o f b la c k c o n trib u to rs I ’ ve h ig h ­
lig h te d in T he O b se rve r N ew sp a ­
per. L o c a lly and n a tio n w id e we
are g o in g to break o u t o f th is
“ One m o n th b o x ” .
'
role model,
mentor,
friend
master
chef.
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